Being a construction project manager is exciting, rewarding and challenging. Juggling between ongoing demands from executives and providing leadership to your team can be difficult at times. If you want to thrive in your role, it’s important to develop your leadership skills. Below are some key leadership skills to hone in order to succeed.

Humility is Key

From politics to the corporate world, leadership qualities like confidence and charisma seem to overshadow humility. But leaders who lack humility are more likely to make avoidable mistakes, overestimate their own talents, and blame others when something goes wrong. Humble construction leadership is important to have because it promotes a healthy work culture that helps to increase job satisfaction. You can become a more humble manager by:

  • Not abusing your authority – Learn how to be a coach first by encouraging others to achieve their potential.
  • Promoting collaboration – Focus on healthy competition in construction by encourage teamwork.
  • Model integrity and trust – Don’t make promises about promotions, flexible work schedules, etc. to employees unless you can keep them.
  • Hold yourself accountable – Instead of hiding from mistakes, admit to them and show some vulnerability.
  • Show regular support – Set firm boundaries but focus on making learning opportunities out of mistakes.

 

Foster Systemic Thinking

Organizations can be complex because so many variables are influencing each other. Managers who excel are able to leverage systemic thinking by viewing the system as a whole rather than individual components. It takes a certain amount of self-control and clarity to get there. Instead of making it a priority to please everybody, managers need to focus on the big picture and look for patterns in relationships and processes to provide practical solutions for complex problems.

Keep Building Resilience

Winston Churchill might have said it best, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Stress and uncertainty are inevitable in construction careers and other professions, but leaders who can maintain their composure under pressure will succeed more often than those who don’t.

Boost Your Self-Awareness

Leaders should focus on these four facets when it comes to boosting their self-awareness: wisdom, identity, reputation and brand. Take time to reflect on your own experiences to cultivate leadership wisdom. Learning your leadership identity can be the key to building stronger professional relationships. It’s also important to ask questions about your leadership reputation to learn how you are perceived. Your leadership brand is based on the unique strengths that you bring to an organization.

It takes a specialized approach to lead different generations and personality types. Humble leaders succeed because employees tend to thrive working for them, and that improves productivity and engagement. Systemic thinking can help you overcome competing organizational demands, while resilience and self-awareness are two essential skills that will really help you rise to the top.

How can we help you?

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