From the Ground Up: Developing Leadership Skills in Construction Management

by Laura Cooley

Overview

Leadership in the construction industry is a popular topic that you could read and study in scores of books,  articles, posts, podcasts, classes, on and on and on. A few years ago, I embarked on a project to try to paint a picture of what leadership looks like across the spectrum of leaders in the construction industry. After a year of research and interviews, a leadership framework was developed containing 4 basic competencies supported by several knowledge skills, and abilities (KSA). Each of the KSA’s were examined to establish what behaviors would provide evidence of mastery at four tiers of leadership: individual contributors (team members), frontline leaders (team leaders), mid-level leaders (leaders of multiple teams), and senior-leaders (organizational leaders). The end product is a deep dive into what developing and enhancing leadership looks like as professionals grow.

What follows is a description of each leadership competency, supporting knowledge, skills, and abilities, leadership tiers, and summary of key, observable behaviors for each that show mastery at each tier.

There are several desired outcomes for this paper but the overall purpose is to answer this question:

What does leadership look like?

Other purposes are:

• Provide clarity for those interested in pursuing leadership positions within the construction industry so that they can have a better understanding of how to grow as a leader.

• Provide inspiration for self-assessment regarding your place on the leadership spectrum and highlight opportunities for your next efforts in your leadership journey.

• Provide managers and human resources with a vocabulary and framework to evaluate, coach, mentor, and guide learning for employees who aspire to attain higher and higher positions within the organization.

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