According to a 2021 Global Leadership Forecast, 77% of surveyed organizations report a leadership gap, and 63% of millennials said their leadership skills weren’t being fully developed. In the construction industry, more and more people are entering retirement age, making it more important than ever for companies to devise a clear leadership succession plan.

In October 2021, more than 40 current and upcoming leaders within The Unified Group met in Texas for the 2021 Leadership Forum.

“One of the highlights was seeing friends for the first time in a long time,” said Frank Quintanar of J&J Air Conditioning. “The positive energy this group has can't be put into words — it’s a feeling.”

After introductions on the first day, guest speaker Jeff Ruby of RedRock Leadership took over for the rest of the day with focus on building and maintaining mental toughness, building positive relationships and creating actionable goals. Ruby’s dynamic strategies for business growth and leadership have directly impacted his clients through increased sales/profitability, growth and development of future leaders, clarity of strategic directions, increased effectiveness of leadership teams and overall cultural change. Members participated in interactive activities, small-team breakouts and full-group discussions.

“The exercises that helped bring everything together were very effective and eye-opening in regard to the positive impact I can have on myself and those around me,” said Jake Emerson of Service Unlimited Inc.

Tom Dacers of VHV Company launched day two by discussing how to implement a level 10 meeting — a 60-minute format designed to keep leaders on track and more efficient. Following, Bryan Peterson of A&G Services shared his best idea of assigned Service Technicians as team leads. Juan Flores rounded out the best ideas by sharing his experience with Evernote and Todoist Applications. After a Q&A session, Ruby engaged participants on the topics of leveraging time, motivating your team, coaching and holding your team accountable, and building a culture of trust.

The final day of the Leadership Forum began with Chris Reiter of A&G Services sharing how his company uses Interplay Learning, and the training benefits their technicians have gained. Mark Hottel of Harvey W. Hottel Inc. shared a CompanyCam demo and explained how it helps make photo sharing easier on the job. After both presentations, Ruby finished the meeting by bringing all the content together through examples, videos and answering any outstanding questions.

“In order for me to be successful in leadership roles, I really needed these sessions to focus on me and my strengths and weaknesses,” said Josh Byler of Blauch Brothers Inc. “This was really eye-opening.”