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ON THE MOVE FRANCESCA FRANCHI AIA JOINS WINSTANLEY ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS WINSTANLEY Architects & Planners is pleased to announce that Francesca Franchi, AIA LEED has joined the firm. Franchi is a highly accomplished, award- winning designer with a long history in guiding architectural teams both nationally and around the world. With more than 30 years of experience, she is passionate about creating memorable architecture and designing tactical spaces that cross a broad spectrum of markets. Her experience is extremely broad and ranges from adaptive reuse of small existing structures to tall mixed use skyscrapers in China and beyond. Franchi’s professional objective is to accomplish architecture as creative problem solving and her approach to
reach the optimum results involves a total integration between the client, the teams, the program, and the site. She cares and understands ground planes and the intersection of how buildings meet and connect with the streets and context, thus her focus on retail. Her wealth of experience has been earned through the numerous projects she has successfully designed and has gained her the respect of WINSTANLEY’s clients and her team members. Franchi first began working with Michael Winstanley in late 1990s when the two teamed up to design multiple projects in the metro Washington area as well as many international assignments. She later went on to work with major international practices designing. “Francesca will be an integral part of our ability to delivery award winning
design work to our clients and I couldn’t be happier to be working with her again”, says Michael Winstanley AIA AICP, founder and design director. “Our collaboration over the years has produced amazing results and I look froward to her contribution to our firm’s design legacy”. A native of Lima, Peru, Franchi received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Ricardo Palma University of Lima and her master’s degree in architecture from Cornell University where she was awarded the Michael Rapuano Design Excellence Award. As a member of the DC AIA Design Excellence Committee, she is leading the South American Women in Architecture lecture series, which focuses on promoting the unique and outstanding design talent of women in the south of the American continent; a passion always present in her life.
least pleasant aspects of my job as a manager and probably one of my greatest failings. No one really enjoys having to tell someone what they are doing that is negatively impacting other people, yet it is sometimes necessary. Best to confront it early versus later. Approach it from the spirit of caring. You are trying to help that person. Yet be honest about how their behavior is hurting them and others. Keep your emotions in check – also easier said than done, but necessary. This is a critical role in team building. Always be working to equip your people with the skills they need to move up. You want everyone on your team to be ready for their next role so when a vacancy occurs for any reason there is someone there to step into their job. I’m a big fan of promoting from within. The older I get the more I appreciate how critical this is. Outsiders often take too long to get up to speed when hired in as managers. They don’t know the people and the culture and it takes time to figure that out. If they move too quickly they get shot in the back. If they move too slowly they get nothing done. My first preference is going to always be looking for someone who is already there for a management role and I will only go outside when absolutely necessary. I have never been a fan of “team building” exercises or forced company get-togethers as team building exercises, although I do think certain attributes of people may come out in the course of doing these things. You can see how social people are, and occasionally leadership qualities in people who aren’t managers may evidence themselves. Some business owners swear by them. So think about it. Can you do more than you are now to build a better team around you? If so, you had better get on it – now! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
MARK ZWEIG , from page 11
who don’t elevate themselves above everyone else find this part of their job easier than those who do put themselves above everyone else. So you’ve got to be willing to avoid some of the trappings of success at times, at least in my experience. Those trappings could be as simple as having a private office with a closed door that has an admin person posted outside who functions as a guard keeping people away from you. Or maybe it’s your reserved parking spot. Things that separate you from everyone else will create barriers when it comes to getting to know your people. Some people who work for you will seek out your mentorship. It has to be a mutual thing. Mentors and mentees can’t be assigned. Don’t play favorites, but at the same time, be willing to put extra energy and time into those who really want to learn from you. Effective leaders are mentors. I have found mentorship and the relationships I developed with certain people to be one of the most rewarding aspects of management over my lengthy career in this industry. Much like a coach of any sports team, you have to constantly be on the lookout for good people, and when you meet them, be willing to take a stab at recruiting them. This could happen at professional or trade group meetings, events at your kid’s school, or any number of other places. Some people feel self- conscious about recruiting. I never did. I always felt like we had a good company that a motivated and caring person could do well in, so I took a shot. You have to believe in what you are selling and I never worked anywhere I didn’t believe in. Even though I am retired from the business, I still try to get my best students working as interns or entry-level employees at the company today and there are a number of them working there as a result. Dysfunctional or disruptive people have to be dealt with or they can ruin morale. That, for me, was always one of the
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THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 5, 2022, ISSUE 1467
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