Don’t Know Every Trade? How Smart Supers Still Win The Jobsite

Don’t Know Every Trade? How Smart Supers Still Win on the Job Site

This blog comes from a great question I received recently:

“Jason, I’m a new superintendent. I don’t know all of the scopes. How can I still win over the trades, collaborate with them, respect them, and succeed on the job site?”

It’s a legitimate concern. Even if you have a construction management degree, or you’ve spent your whole life in construction, there will still be trades you don’t fully understand. That’s normal and it doesn’t mean you can’t lead effectively. In this blog, I’ll share the exact process you can use to connect with trade partners and succeed on any project.

The Truth: Every Superintendent Feels This

Here’s something nobody says out loud: every single superintendent feels nervous about certain trades. We don’t know the ins and outs of all scopes, and that can shake our confidence.

Take me for example, I’ll admit it: electricity is still a mystery to me. Volts, ohms, three-phase systems… it feels like magic. But concrete? That’s my jam. I grew up around it, worked as a field engineer, and I know it inside out.

The point is: you don’t need to know every detail of every scope. In fact, trying to “control” a trade you don’t fully understand is the wrong approach. Instead, there’s a better pattern you can follow.

Step One: Build the Team

Your team isn’t just your project delivery team. It also includes your trade partners. Yes, they may work for different companies, but they’re still part of your team.

Connect with them. Respect them. Ask questions like:

• “What can I do to support you?”
• “How do you want to approach this?”
• “What’s the sequence you need here?”

Here’s the secret: even the toughest, gruffest foremen want to be the expert. They want to help. They want to share their knowledge. If you already acted like you knew it all, you’d actually take away their chance to contribute.

So lean in. Ask good questions. Merge their wisdom with the rhythm of the job site. That’s how you lead.

Construction Is Like an Orchestra:

Think of construction as a large orchestra. The superintendent is the conductor, and the trades are the musicians.

Now, does a conductor need to know how to play every instrument? Of course not. But they do need to know how to read the music and keep the rhythm.

It’s the same for a superintendent. You don’t need to be the expert in plumbing, electrical, steel, or finishes, you just need to bring all the experts together and keep the project moving in harmony.

The Role of the Superintendent:

Here’s another critical point: the superintendent is not the senior-most foreman. The foreman is the senior-most worker.

If a superintendent tries to act like the lead foreman, they’ll micromanage, interfere, and step into areas they don’t belong. That slows everything down.

Instead, your job is to:

• Keep the rhythm of the job site.
• Shape the environment for productivity.
• Feed the crews with the information and resources they need.
• Maintain a clean, safe, and organized site.

Sometimes, knowing less about a trade helps you lead better because it forces you to focus on the big picture instead of micromanaging.

The Winning Pattern:

So, what do you do if you don’t know every trade?

• Good. You’re not supposed to.
• Focus on rhythm, flow, and environment.
• Support your trade partners by asking great questions.
• Provide them with everything they need.
• Build strong relationships.

If you do that, you’ll earn respect, collaboration, and trust and that’s how you truly win as a superintendent.

Key Takeaway:

You don’t need to be an expert in every trade to succeed as a superintendent, your real strength comes from coordinating teams, fostering collaboration, and ensuring the right environment for crews to perform at their best.