Leadership and Management of Details

Building a great contracting business requires the right balance of leadership and management.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
August 17, 2018 2 minute read
discipline leadership management wisdom
Share

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” - Peter Drucker

This quote or a variation often gets used to describe the difference between strategy and tactics; leadership and management.

Quote: The man in charge must concern himself with details. If he does not consider them important, neither will his subordinates. Yet the devil is in the details... Hyman G. Rickover

While it is possible to separate them the truth is that many of the top leaders are relentlessly disciplined managers.  Think:

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who is considered the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” was a relentless and disciplined manager.  He oversaw every detail of building out then operating a nuclear submarine fleet with a record of zero reactor accidents.  

Contractors have to put together many thousands of parts coming from hundreds of suppliers and subcontractors across dozens of projects each year operating on very thin margins with tight cash flow and major safety risks.  

Disciplined management is a key to sustainable growth.

Improve your management processes

Calm and Deliberate Action
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. This advice is invaluable when leading a team through a crisis. Calm and deliberate action is what's required, often from incomplete and conflicting information.
Related Article
Construction Superheroes
Building a project and a construction business definitely requires heroic efforts at times, but full-time superheroes stifle growth, introduce risks, and rarely make for smooth successions.
Related Article
Creative Adaptability as a Company Culture and Capability
Ensure that your business and career thrives in the current COVID shutdown and in the likely post-COVID recession. Be like Batman and build yourself into who you need to be in order to thrive in all situations.
Related Article