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THE ART OF LEADERSHIP
“What got you here won’t get you there.”
Marshall Goldsmith
Growth Requires Leaders to Outgrow Old Habits
Goldsmith’s quote is a direct warning to successful leaders. The habits that helped someone earn authority may not be the same habits needed to lead well at the next level. Past success can become dangerous when it turns into attachment.
As responsibilities grow, leaders must change how they listen, decide, and delegate. A high performer may be rewarded for solving problems quickly, but a senior leader must often slow down, build ownership, and let others develop judgment. What once looked like strength can become a ceiling.
The best leaders keep evolving. They do not defend every old habit just because it once worked. They ask for feedback, notice what no longer serves the Team, and choose growth over ego. Leadership maturity begins when success becomes evidence to learn from, not a reason to stop improving.
Identify one habit that helped you succeed before but may now be limiting your leadership impact.
COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION
Is heat enforcement now a big risk?
OSHA has updated its national heat emphasis program, keeping heat safety squarely in the path of commercial contractors. The program targets 55 high-risk industries and allows inspections to be expanded when onsite heat hazards are identified. Even without a final federal heat standard, summer work now carries real risks of compliance, productivity, and delays.
Contractors should treat heat planning as a preconstruction item. Add water, shade, cooling areas, rest periods, acclimatization, and supervisor checks to the schedule before mobilization. Require subcontractors to submit heat plans, crew rotation assumptions, and emergency response steps. If those costs are missing from bids, margins will absorb them later through slow production, injuries, or shutdowns.
Owners need to hear the schedule impact early. Concrete, roofing, steel, sitework, and exterior envelope scopes may require earlier starts, additional shifts, or adjusted sequencing during periods of extreme heat. Builders who document controls, train supervisors, and track daily heat decisions will be better protected during inspections and claims. Heat is no longer just a safety meeting topic. It is a delivery risk.
Build heat controls into every summer schedule.
INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY
Will BRIC funding reward your shovel-ready resilience projects?
FEMA’s BRIC grant program is back in play with $1 billion available for disaster mitigation work, and applications are due July 23, 2026. The relaunch favors infrastructure construction that can demonstrate immediate, measurable risk reduction, including flood control, wildfire protection, storm hardening, drainage, seismic upgrades, and code-driven resilience.
Contractors should not wait for awards to start positioning. Call city engineers, counties, utilities, and special districts now to identify which applications include construction scopes. Ask whether the plans are permit-ready, whether the environmental review is complete, and whether the matching funds are secured. Weak paperwork can kill a strong project before procurement begins.
Build a BRIC watchlist by owner, hazard type, project status, engineer, estimated bid date, and local match risk. Prequalify subs for concrete, drainage, earthwork, electrical, controls, flood barriers, and restoration. Push owners to define escalation, contingency, and alternate pricing early, because resilience work often becomes urgent once funding lands.
Track grants now before resilience projects hit procurement.
RESIDENTIAL RESEARCH
Can wildfire resilience become a builder sales advantage?
Wildfire-resistant construction is moving from niche upgrade to buyer concern. Recent reporting on California communities shows builders using noncombustible materials, ember-resistant vents, tempered windows, clear five-foot perimeter zones, and neighborhood-level design to reduce risk. The business driver is simple. In high-risk markets, insurance availability and monthly ownership cost now influence whether buyers can close.
Builders should make resilience part of the standard product conversation, not a late design option. Start with the site plan, spacing, roof class, vents, fencing, landscaping, and maintenance rules. Price the package as a protection and insurability feature, then document every measure so buyers, lenders, insurers, and appraisers can understand the value.
This week, builders in fire-exposed markets should meet with insurance partners before releasing lots. Ask which features may help buyers qualify for coverage or discounts, then turn that into a simple sales sheet. Do not overpromise premium savings. Instead, sell the buyer on reduced risk, cleaner documentation, and fewer closing surprises.
Build resilience into the base plan, not the upgrade menu.
TOOLBOX TALK
Are you drinking water before heat slows you down?
Heat stress builds before most workers realize they are in trouble. On construction sites, sun, humidity, heavy clothing, concrete, roofs, equipment, and hard physical work can push the body past its limit.
Do not wait until you feel thirsty. Drink water before, during, and after the shift. Take small, steady drinks instead of chugging only when you feel overheated. Use shade and scheduled breaks to let your body recover.
Watch yourself and your crew. Early warning signs include heavy sweating, dizziness, headache, cramps, weakness, nausea, confusion, or unusual behavior. If someone looks off, stop the work and check on them. Move them to shade, cool them down, and get help if symptoms are serious or do not improve.
Plan the hardest tasks for cooler parts of the day when possible. Rotate demanding work, lighten loads, and speak up when conditions change. Heat safety is not about toughness. It is about staying sharp enough to work safely and go home healthy.
Today, keep water close, use breaks correctly, and look out for the person next to you. Heat problems are easier to prevent than to recover from.
Drink early, before the heat turns effort into an emergency.
Your creative brief is due Friday. Viktor wrote it Tuesday.
Tell him the campaign. Viktor pulls last quarter's performance from Meta and TikTok, scrapes competitor ads, drafts the brief, posts it for review. You edit, he ships the creative requests to your designer. Inside Slack.
