Rockefeller and Dealing With People

“Hard Skills” including the technical ability to design and build a project are the foundation of the construction industry.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

The “Soft Skills” such as the ability to deal with people is the glue that holds complex projects and contracting businesses together.  

Quote: The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun. John D Rockefeller

These are the skills that connect teams from different companies together effectively for the more collaborative project delivery we are seeing across all sectors of the construction market.  

These are the skills that both hold teams together and attract new people to that team.  This is exceptionally critical considering the shortages of talent in the industry that will continue to get worse.  

Combining soft and hard skills together is what makes effective teachers, coaches and mentors that develop others.  

These “Soft Skills” are purchasable as Rockefeller describes but they can also be developed.  In the current and future construction environment the contractors that master the development of talent will dominate.  


Schedule a call with us to learn more about how we help contractors accelerate talent development




Management Team Development Phases Within Each Stage of Growth
The management team leading a contractor through the different stages of growth will typically navigate three phases at each stage - Emerging, Hollow, and Ready. Understanding these phases guides growth planning, recruitment, development, and succession.
Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Union vs Open
The wins of a great incentive program tend to be the same for both union and open shop employers. The wins not only include retention of the employees that you already have, but recruitment of new employees.
Building a Systems Development Team - Apps
Can’t I just buy an app for that? One of the biggest shifts in the construction technology ecosystem is the transition from a few large monolithic packages to a mixed regime of comprehensive software packages and smaller apps.