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O P I N I O N
The leadership abilities of you firm’s principals and managers will determine your collective success this year. Be a better A/E firm leader in 2021
F inding, developing, and keeping leaders is essential to any A/E firm (or ANY business, for that matter) that wants to be a going concern that lasts into the future and can out-survive its founders. You cannot get on LinkedIn or Twitter, pick up a business magazine or newsletter, or go to the business section at your local bookstore without seeing a wide variety of posts, articles, and books on the subject. It is so incredibly important.
Mark Zweig
2) Be an optimist. Someone has to believe there is no obstacle you cannot overcome if you really want to. Someone has to believe in the promised land. That someone is you. Be the one who sees the glass half full versus half empty. Be the one who makes the lemonade out of lemons and who knows you can do it before those lemons evidence themselves. This optimism can be contagious. 3) Be a hard worker. Put in the hours and show your dedication and willingness to sacrifice your time. This is challenging today with so many people working remotely, but there are ways you can demonstrate it to all. You need to figure out what those are and employ them because you, as a leader, set the pace. 4) Sell, sell, sell! Leaders of A/E firms sell projects.
2021 will be a pivotal year for many firms in this business. The leadership abilities of the principals and managers will determine your collective success. While I have talked about all of these things more than once in these pages, they bear repeating. Here are some practical things you – and everyone in your firm – can do to start being a better leader RIGHT NOW ! 1) Set the best possible example. Your personal example is always the single most important thing you can do as a leader. All eyes are on you. Don’t be one of those people who gripes about your employees’ late timesheets and expense reports that you must have to bill your clients when you yourself are not getting them in on time. It’s just like you can’t tell your kids to not text while they are driving and then do it yourself every time you get in the car.
See MARK ZWEIG, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 25, 2021, ISSUE 1376
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