Advertise on podcast: Greatness Podcast

Margot Brassil, Director, Construction Leadership Group, Infrastructure New South Wales (NSW), the state containing Sydney in Australia, joins the Greatness podcast.  With A$118 B in infrastructure projects in the state over the next four years, NSW is committed to creating a more gender balanced construction industry to facilitate success. An initial A$20.2 million investment has been renewed, funding strategies such as choosing 23 pilot projects with a full time person dedicated to the effort and over 30 $300,000 entrepreneurial grants to fund trail strategies to attract and retain women. As Margot says, this is not a challenge that will be solved in three years, and men must be a part of the conversation.

When I first saw Perlla Deluca speak at the Women Construction Owners and Executives National Conference last March I knew that she was not only a force in the construction industry but a deeply caring person. Perlla makes many great points during our discussion of how to attract more women into construction trades, including the fact that they must like it. She also provides concrete tips for how men can support women in our industry.

I had so much fun appearing on Karalynn Cromeens' podcast to talk about my book about women leaders in construction that I invited Karalynn onto my podcast to discuss her three books on construction law! Karlynn is an amazing leader in our industry and has a wealth of practical knowledge about construction contracts. Are contracts fun? No! But contracts drive behavior in our industry and I wanted to share Karalynn's wisdom with the world, including tips on how our industry can become more transparent and collaborative.

Work Futurist and leadership authority Cherie Mylordis spent five years delivering the 2000 Sydney Olympics, a daunting yet fulfilling adventure that shape her as a leader. Cherie shares her thoughts on how leaders create psychological safety and empower high performing teams. I appreciate her three "D's" - Dare, Ditch, or Dial,  the concept of "consious unbossing", and advice on how leaders inspire their teams with bold visions.

I feel so fortunate to have met Jeffery Tobias Halter, Founder of YWomen, a decade ago. Like many of us, it was a story told to him by a Black friend of being stopped weekly in his Jaguar, in his neighborhood, because he was a Black, that caused Jeffery to realize that not everyone is experiencing life in the same way. What differentiates Jeffery is that he had the courage to step up in a big way and start YWomen, and much of his work over the last 25 years has focused upon engaging men in women's leadership advancement. Jeffery and I share a passion for allyship and for understanding that building inclusive organizations and industries is about the business case for attracting the best talent. I encourage you to visit his website to access resources such as his Actions for Advocates.

One of the best outcomes of appearing on construction industry podcasts like Justin Neagle's Building Scale to talk about my new book is the connections I continue to make in the industry with people who care about helping women thrive. Justin introduced me to Move Over Bob founders Angie Cacace and Kate Glantz, two tradeswomen who are doing amazing work to attract teenage girls into the construction industry. Their strategy of a free "sassy little magazine" for not only these girls also but their parents, guidance counselors, and teachers with specific information on how to explore a career in construction trades is incredibly creative.

Do I know all there is to know about leadership? Absolutely not! Which is why I love bringing leadership experts like William Davis onto the Greatness Podcast to share their insights. William's book, How to Lead Without Just Managing, is an excellent resource on how to serve those you lead and develop the leadership skills that lead to high-performing teams of people.

Do you matter? Do the people you work with feel that they matter? Employee engagement, despite becoming a $1 billion industry, is at a 10-year low. Only 39% of employees say someone cares for them. My good friend and fellow PhD student Zach Mercurio joined the Greatness Podcast to share research-based insights from his latest book, The Power of Mattering. Sixty-percent of people are in what Zach calls "front line, low choice occupations", and leaders help all people find meaning in their work by "adding rigor to caring". "We expect people to care before they feel cared for." We also create systems that reward for things other than caring. Caring is a skill that can be learned and Zach shares specific actions leaders take that make people feel they matter, such as "schedule good intentions".

What I love about former Microsoft executive and management and leadership expert Sabina Nawaz is that she is so forthright with her own challenges as an inspiration for her coaching and books. Sabina joined the Greatness Podcast to share her top tips from her new book, You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (And Others Need), taken from 12,000 pages of data from interviews of leader's teams. Practical tools and tactics to offset what she calls the "dual cocktail of power and pressure" abound. "The role of self care is job number one."

What better way to celebrate Women in Construction Week in the US than a podcast about my soon-to-be-released book, Building Women Leaders: A Blueprint for Women Thriving in Construction. I'm grateful to fellow author and friend Gabrielle Dolan for taking the time to interview me about the book on my Greatness podcast. It's been an honour to write this book and I look forward to kicking off my book speaking tour at the Associated General Contractors (AGC) conference in April.

How do you double the percentage of women on a construction project? Improve wellbeing? And achieve better project outcomes?  Dean Riha of Fulton Hogan shares an incredible case study of the implementation of the construction industry Culture Standard in Australia that focuses upon increasing 1) time for life, 2) wellbeing, and 3) diversity while improving productivity and project outcomes.  This pilot project finished on time, on budget, and people worked 21 days less with no loss in take home pay and no loss in productivity. RMIT's academic research showed an improvement in engagement and wellbeing. The project had 21% women and over 8% women in the trades versus the typical 2-3% (a third of the senior leadership was female as well).

I love connecting with women throughout the world who are working to lift up other women. Uma Thana Balasingham, Founder and CEO of ElevateAsia and builder of Lean In Singapore shares her incredible life journey of personal success. From growing up in Malaysia to now focusing upon helping other women succeed, Uma is making an incredible impact in the world. She credits having a strong "why" as an important factor in her success. Uma joined the Greatness podcast to share how she is inspiring a network of women to succeed in Asia, and these lessons are transferable to all of our efforts to advance women. ElevateAsia Website: https://elevateasianetwork.com/about-elevateasia/

I believe that being intentional about your personal leadership brand and how you are authentic to your personal purpose and values is critical to great leadership. Harrison Monarth, Executive Coach and NY Times Bestselling Author, agrees, and I was inspired by his HBR article on the topic to invite him to share his wisdom on the Greatness podcast. This is not about disingenuous manipulation. It is about deeply understanding your values, what you stand for, and understanding if this is indeed how people are experiencing you as a leader. Harrison shares amazing tips for understanding and conveying your personal brand.

Suicide has impacted so many of our lives and I'm saddened by the high rates of suicide in the construction industry. In Australia, someone in the construction industry commits suicide every other day, and workers are eight times more like to die by suicide than by a job site accident. Brad Parker, CEO New South Wales (Australia) of Mates in Construction, joined the Greatness Podcast to discuss their great work in the industry to create "mateship" and normalize conversations about mental health.

Do you know a gender diverse person in the construction industry? You may have seen my earlier LinkedIn post about the amazing Evelyn Lai, Site Engineer for Nacap, A Quanta Services Company. Evelyn participated in a recent leadership panel I facilitated at the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association annual conference and shared their experiences of being a gender diverse person in our industry. I immediately realized that this was a story I wanted to share more broadly with the construction industry. I really appreciate Evelyn taking the time to join the Greatness Podcast and candidly share their journey. Understanding how we create an industry where all people feel they belong is critical for our sustainability.