TZL 1315

ON THE MOVE JQ ANNOUNCES MULTIPLE NEW HIRES IN SAN ANTONIO TO SUPPORT THE FIRM’S GROWTH JQ is pleased to announce the addition of four new hires in its San Antonio office, according to JQ CEO Stephen H. Lucy, PE. Joining JQ are civil engineering team lead Erlath W. (Trey) Zuehl III, PE; Henry C. Casal, Jr., RPLS and survey manager; Brett Bechtel, senior technician and civil designer; and Matt McCabe, senior survey technician. “The San Antonio market continues to provide growth opportunities for our clients and strong demand for our services. With the addition of these senior professionals and technical staff, we are better positioned to serve our current clients and to win more work in the region,” says Lucy. Erlath W. (Trey) Zuehl III, PE brings 30 years of civil engineering experience to JQ. His experience in civil site design, utility and infrastructure design, hydrological and hydraulic analysis and design, construction

management and project management are sought after by clients. Zuehl earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. He is an active member in the American Society of Civil Engineers. Henry C. (Tres) Casal, Jr., RPLS is a professional land surveyor with more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of land surveying, including topographic, boundary, construction, as-built, TxDOT and ground control for photogrammetric surveys. Casal is the past president of the Alamo Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and is a current member. Brett Bechtel joins JQ as a senior technician and civil designer. Bechtel has 20 years of experience as an engineering technician producing design documents across numerous project types. He is proficient in AutoCAD Civil3D and able to take projects from initial survey to final plan preparation.

Bechtel earned his Associate of Applied Science degree from Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska. Matt McCabe joins the firm as a civil/survey technician with more than six years of experience in computer aided drafting and design using AutoCAD, Revit and Microstation, as well as surveying field work. McCabe earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Aided Drafting from Aims Community College in Greeley, CO. JQ provides structural and civil engineering, geospatial and facility performance services throughout the U.S. The firm is considered a leader in engineering design innovation and technology to support its complex, multi-state and multi-market projects. Recognized as a Best Firm To Work For and as a Hot Firm by Zweig Group, JQ has offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock and San Antonio.

LEO MACLEOD, from page 9

I then gave him an assignment that may seem overly simplistic, but surprisingly effective: Start each day at work by asking an innocuous question like, “How was your weekend?” This was not a big ask and so he did it. What he found over the course of five months was that by asking about little things that weren’t too personal, things shifted for him. People started to see him as more approachable. They started to bring him in on issues they were having about real work on their projects. As he invested more time talking to people, they became more interesting to him. What started as an academic exercise became part of his daily routine of connecting with people in a way that he hadn’t imagined. He learned, “It’s not just asking once and checking the box but taking a genuine interest in their lives.” Once he came to know someone’s story, he would ask about updates that showed he cared enough to remember the details of their last conversation – seeing how their son’s first job was going, if they had finished a wood puzzle they were making for a granddaughter, or if the CAT scan had revealed anymore cancer in their wife. “I’m not a big pet person, but for some people it’s their world. Just because it’s not important to me, doesn’t mean it’s not really important to other people,” he says. When people feel more connected on a personal level, working together is easier and smoother. “I’ve learned that by taking time to talk about personal things, they feel like a person rather than a number.” He had previously drawn a hard line between work and personal life. “I used to think of employees as resources. I valued them for how much they could produce and the quality of their plans,” he says. That strategy served him as a manager but not as an effective leader. So, what’s the big insight into building emotionally intelligent leaders? Start small. LEO MACLEOD is a leadership coach in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached at leo@leomacleod.com.

potential. If the connection between empathy and output is so strong, why is it so hard for people to embrace? One of the obstacles to greater empathy in the workplace is that some people draw a strong line between their professional and personal lives. Those who live on the left side of the brain tend to be more guarded and less open about their feelings, so it’s difficult for them to hear someone else express theirs. I worked with an engineer who managed a small team, who was very clear about his boundaries. “This is a place of work. I’m not comfortable with getting into emotional issues at work.” I asked him if it was a matter of being comfortable sharing his feelings. “With my wife and buddies, but not at work.” “The industry is in desperate need of future leaders not to engineer a solution to a technical problem, but to be aware of what’s going on with their own emotions, to manage their emotions, to read people, and to have the sense of how to talk to someone.” As a consequence, he appeared closed down and uncaring. People didn’t come to him with their problems. On one hand, it worked pretty well: If you don’t appear to care, people won’t even bother sharing how they feel and you’ll get more work done and get home on time! If you’re a patient listener and let people talk, there’s the potential it can monopolize your time. And if you’re really empathetic, a line can form outside your door. But when people didn’t come to him with project problems, he realized he was also out of the loop when it mattered. He wasn’t sure how to strike a balance between caring and not caring. He felt damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 7, 2019, ISSUE 1315

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