Enough is Enough: Construction Needs Leaders Who Are Real
I’ll never forget that sunny summer morning. We were vacationing at the lake and the kids were excited for a day on the water. While sipping my morning coffee out on the deck and enjoying the view, my phone rang.
“We need you to do this meeting today.”
It was the CEO and there was truly no one else that could do what they needed. I wish I could say that was the only time I was called to work while on vacation. It wasn’t.
And the part that really bugged me? Day in and day out, this company would preach “core values”, painting them on the wall in the hallways, creating awards, recognizing them at company meetings. Integrity. Respect. Accountability.
But when the rubber hit the road, feeling valued was an afterthought. Behind the curtain was a culture where the best performers were rewarded with one thing: more work. The expectation wasn’t that you’d be recognized, it was that you’d burn hotter and longer than everyone else, until you had nothing left. Leaders berated employees, convinced that humiliation was the fastest path to results. And toxic personalities were not only tolerated, but often celebrated, as long as they hit their numbers.
Meanwhile, those of us trying to live out the “values” on the wall felt like we were merely slamming our head against it. And if you dared to call it out? Well, let’s just say you quickly became the problem.
And that’s the nature of construction, isn’t it? This constant gap between what companies say and how they actually behave. It feels like a broken record.
Recently a quote really hit me, “People would rather follow a leader that is always real than a leader that is always right.” It hit home because I’ve lived this. And today, I see the same lesson written all over our industry.
The Reputation We Built (and Can’t Escape)
The truth is, construction has a culture problem, one we created ourselves. In many ways, I don’t know that we can even spell culture. For decades, we’ve worn toughness like a badge of honor, as if long hours and mental strain were signs of strength. But beneath that tough exterior lies a very different reality.
Construction workers are three and a half times more likely to die by suicide than the average American. Let that sink in.
In an industry that prides itself on building safe workplaces, our people are literally dying in silence because they don’t feel they can speak up. Half of new workers leave within five years, not because they can’t handle hard work, but because they can’t handle a culture that grinds them down.
And women, who make up barely more than a tenth of the workforce, still fight for basic respect, opportunities for advancement and even properly fitting PPE.
Yet we wonder why we can’t recruit the next generation. It’s not a mystery. We’ve spent decades creating an image of construction as an “old boys’ club,” and then we act surprised when young talent doesn’t want to join.
Being real means admitting that this reputation wasn’t handed to us. We built it.
The Conference Broken Record
If you’ve been to more than a couple of construction conferences, you know exactly what I mean when I say this: the echo chamber is alive and well. It’s the same old faces on the stage, saying the same things they’ve been saying for 20 years. The names on the programs change slightly, but the script never does.
“Kids these days don’t want to work hard.”
“This is how we’ve always done it.”
“Our people’s safety is our number one priority.”
Sound familiar?
I sit in those sessions and wonder: how many times do we need to repeat the same company lines before someone actually does something different? Or better yet, how long will we keep blaming the next generation for not fitting into the world we grew up in, instead of asking how their world is different?
You see, that’s the danger of the echo chamber. It convinces leaders they’re still right, even when the world has moved on without them. We don’t need leaders who cling to being right, we need leaders who are real about what today’s workforce is asking for — balance, purpose, respect and support.
The Future Won’t Wait on Yesterday’s Thoughts
The labor shortage has become the industry’s favorite scapegoat. “We just can’t find people.” But let’s be real: people don’t want to join an industry that refuses to listen, adapt or change. They don’t want to work in places where slogans mean nothing and burnout is glorified.
I hear leaders talk about “kids these days” like they’re the problem. Don’t they get it? Younger generations are the solution. They’re telling us what it will take to keep them here:
Meaningful work
Opportunities to grow
A culture that respects their lives outside of the jobsite
And every time we dismiss those requests as weakness, we push them further away.
Being real means admitting that yesterday’s thinking won’t solve today’s challenges. It means recognizing that the people who build our projects today are asking for more and that we can no longer afford to ignore them.
Cracks in the Old Mold
Here’s the good news: there are cracks in the old mold. And those cracks are letting in some light.
When Bechtel put real money behind mental health ($7M dollars invested in suicide prevention and training) that wasn’t just a PR stunt. That was leadership being real about a crisis in our industry.
When Skanska built flexibility into its work model, they didn’t do it because it was easy. They did it because they listened to their people.
DPR Construction has made adaptability part of its DNA, not just a line on a poster.
Burns & McDonnell and EllisDon give employees literal ownership of their companies and forced accountability and inclusivity from the ground up.
And it’s not just companies. Individuals are stepping into the gap, too.
Josh Nieves is reshaping how we talk about the trades by putting real stories of craftworkers front and center, showing the pride and purpose that lives in the field.
Kate Campbell is breaking stereotypes and paving the way for women builders who want to see themselves represented.
Dave Garske has turned personal tragedy into a movement for suicide prevention in construction.
None of these efforts are perfect. But they’re real. They’re gaining traction. And that’s what makes them powerful.
Construction is Worth Fighting For
For all its flaws, I still believe construction is one of the greatest industries on earth. We build the impossible. We raise skyscrapers into the clouds. We carve highways through mountains. We build stadiums where millions come together to celebrate. The world literally does not move forward without construction.
But as inspiring as the work itself is, the culture behind it has to match.
And right now, it doesn’t.
We can keep recycling the same old messages and watching the next generation walk away, or we can decide to be real. Real about our problems. Real about our people. Real about the kind of leaders we need to be.
Because at the end of the day, leadership isn’t about always being right. It’s about being real. And if we can get that part right, if we can create a culture where workers feel respected, supported and heard, then we won’t just build projects.
We’ll build an industry worth belonging to.
And that’s an industry I’ll keep fighting for every single day.
Because construction is cool, tell your friends!