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MF: Trust is earned by demonstrating consistent integrity and respect. As it relates to client relationships, trust is built by honoring our word, taking our work seriously, managing expectations, and proactively communicating. Assuming a leadership posture during a project rather than being reactive is also key. “Trust is earned by demonstrating consistent integrity and respect. As it relates to client relationships, trust is built by honoring our word, taking our work seriously, TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? MF: My wife has played a huge role in my career. First, she has always understood that client work doesn’t necessarily stop at 5 p.m. Throughout my career, she’s been extremely understanding and accommodating when I need to travel and when I need to work after normal business hours to meet deadlines and keep our team moving forward. In addition, she has a degree in marketing and her “people skills” are far superior to mine. There have been many times when she’s helped me to understand someone else’s perspective. That’s helped me to make better business decisions. She enjoys knowing what’s going on with my work, so there is some overlap there. But I do work hard to create margin and shut work down and enjoy my family time as well. TZL: What skills are required to run a successful practice? What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now? MF: For the first half of my career, I think I overvalued my contributions to the organization and undervalued the contributions of others. Time has a way of dealing with that type of arrogance, but honestly, I wish I could take a mulligan on those early years. I now know that I would have been far more successful if I had been more encouraging and looked harder for ways to promote others and to help others around me to succeed. Focus on others is a huge part of what it looks like to be a successful leader in any endeavor. It can take many forms, but helping others around us to do their very best is a great managing expectations, and proactively communicating.”
way to multiply your contribution to the organization. I’ve also come to believe that there’s much more room for workplace flexibility today. I’m proud that KSA has adopted a workplace flexibility program that provides the opportunity for employees and supervisors to develop custom flexible work plans. TZL: It is often said that people leave managers, not companies. What are you doing to ensure that your line leadership are great people managers? MF: We’re in a hyper-competitive market for talent today. Recruiting and retention is critical for every firm leader I know. It’s important that the people we select as supervisors understand that they need to work with their direct reports in full alignment with our core values which include mutual respect, consistent integrity, collaborative teamwork, commitment to excellence, and future focus. When we live those values out, we’re much more likely to be the kind of supervisor who someone wants to work with. But more specifically, we provide leadership development training through KSA University that targets this issue directly. One of the areas that we consider in annual performance reviews is how well our supervisors are leading their teams. “Firm stability creates resilience. Organizations learn from experience, and as you navigate issues together, you can become better at navigating similar issues moving forward, creating a stronger company.” TZL: How are you balancing investment in the next generation – which is at an all-time high – with rewards for tenured staff? This has always been a challenge, but seems heightened as investments in development have increased. MF: I don’t think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. It’s important that all employees relate the profitability and financial health of the company to their profit-sharing rewards. That’s one of the benefits of a monthly, open-book management meeting and a quarterly profit-sharing program. All generations benefit from that type of program.
HEADQUARTERS: Longview, TX NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 151 YEAR FOUNDED: 1978 OFFICE LOCATIONS: ❚ ❚ Amarillo, TX ❚ ❚ Austin, TX ❚ ❚ Longview, TX ❚ ❚ Lufkin, TX
❚ ❚ McKinney, TX ❚ ❚ Norman, OK
❚ ❚ San Angelo, TX ❚ ❚ Shreveport, LA ❚ ❚ Sugar Land, TX ❚ ❚ Tyler, TX SERVICES: ❚ ❚ Municipal services ❚ ❚ Aviation ❚ ❚ Architecture ❚ ❚ Federal services ❚ ❚ Surveying ❚ ❚ UAS services ❚ ❚ Land development
❚ ❚ Projects ❚ ❚ Airports ❚ ❚ Architecture
❚ ❚ Municipal ❚ ❚ Surveying ❚ ❚ Land development
See FOCUS ON OTHERS, page 8
© Copyright 2021. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
EMBER 6, 2021, ISSUE 1419
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