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TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? CS: Being here for more than 32 years, I consider Raba Kistner and its employees to be part of my family. I am just fortunate to have a great family at home and at the office. I married my wife just five weeks before I started at Raba Kistner, so to say the lines between the two are blurry would be an understatement. My family at home, as well as our employees’ families, are the motivation for what I do and guide many of the professional decisions I make. I still remember being at a company picnic one summer and was watching our founder, Carl Raba, looking out over the crowd. I asked him what he was thinking about and he said, “Chris, we have a tremendous responsibility. We have to do our jobs really well so our employees can take care of all these people.” That mindset is the main reason I have been with Raba Kistner for 32 years. It is not a coincidence that our Purpose Statement is, “To provide professional consulting services with passion and integrity, to help build a better world for our employees, their families, our clients, and the communities we serve.” Our families are one of our stakeholders and they factor into the equation with every business decision we make. “Right now, I’m admiring our industry as a whole for how we reacted during the pan- demic to take care of our clients, our employees, and our families. I think our in- dustry was better positioned than most because we solve problems.” TZL: Diversity and inclusion are lacking. What steps are you taking to address the issue? CS: I think the current thinking is that equity is part of the diversity and inclusion conversation, and I agree that it’s an important part. The first step for Raba Kistner and for any company is acknowledging that it’s a problem in our industry, and some of the excuses we have relied upon for years such as the makeup of college graduates in our industry are no longer valid. As I recently commented on a Raba Kistner LinkedIn post regarding it being “Construction Inclusion Week,” I’m a firm believer that diversity in all of its forms makes
us better – better thinkers, better problem solvers, better people, and a far better company. I also think diversity in thinking is another important part of the equation. Our former CEO, Gary Raba, commonly quoted Winston Churchill: “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.” Being in Texas, we’re very fortunate to have a diverse workforce, but we need to make sure the “E” and the “I” become a part of our culture. At Raba Kistner, we’re starting this process with the formation of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, but the key is that we have identified it as one of our major culture initiatives moving forward. TZL: What type of leader do you consider yourself to be? CS: A servant leader. I’m fortunate to have that luxury because of the state of the company when I took over. Many times, when you step into the CEO role, it’s because things are not working well, and a transformational leader is what’s required. I think I could be transformational if required, but it’s not my natural space. We have a wonderful senior leadership team that runs our operations well and know how to run their businesses in a sustainable manner. Inheriting such a strong leadership team allows me to serve in the role that I love as a servant leader. The ACEC Senior Executive Institute training program taught me a lot about leadership styles and being able to self-identify where you belong. It was a long time ago that Booker Washington said, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up somebody else.” That is what motivates me. TZL: The firm recently acquired Drake Environmental. What was the impetus for the acquisition and howwill it affect the dynamics of the firm moving forward? CS: Drake Environmental is a key player in the environmental and compliance field and well respected for its exceptional client service and relationships, innovative stormwater solutions, and commitment to the communities they serve. The partnership will allow us to expand our industry reach and build upon our extensive environmental sector expertise. As part of Raba Kistner, Drake Environmental will help to expand the firm’s environmental services in the Southeast, Central, and North Texas marketplaces and bolster construction phase services by bringing additional expertise in erosion control and stormwater management during the construction phase of projects. I love adding new services that can help our existing
HEADQUARTERS: San Antonio, TX NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 600
YEAR FOUNDED: 1968
NUMBER OF OFFICE LOCATIONS: 12
MARKET SECTORS:
❚ ❚ Civil infrastructure
❚ ❚ Commercial
❚ ❚ Education/K-12
❚ ❚ Energy
❚ ❚ Federal
❚ ❚ Healthcare
❚ ❚ Industrial
❚ ❚ Multi-family housing
❚ ❚ Sports/public facilities
❚ ❚ State and local governments
❚ ❚ Transportation
❚ ❚ Utilities
PURPOSE: To provide professional consulting services with passion and integrity, to help build a better world for our employees, their families, our clients, and the communities we serve.
See OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED , page 8
© Copyright 2021. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
EMBER 13, 2021, ISSUE 1420
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