It’s NOT about Technical Skills, Feat. Brandon Montero

The Problem Isn’t What You Know: It’s What You Want

Brandon Montero and Jason were driving to a boot camp talking about professional development. Not technical skill development. Not learning how to read plans or manage schedules or run CPM software. They were talking about the developing of who somebody is, the accentuating and making more alive of who somebody is, the development of their emotional range and their non-cognitive skills.

David Goggins calls them the non-cognitive skills. Grit, determination, discipline, accountability, things like that. The skills that separate the superintendent who knows what to do from the superintendent who actually does it. The skills that separate the project manager who understands flow from the project manager who creates it.

Brandon made the correlation clear. We all know that person who has years and years of technical skill but doesn’t know how to mentor. He doesn’t know how to train. He doesn’t know how to pass that information on. Somehow he’s never gotten to that level of management. He’s that genius guy out in the field, but for some reason, he hasn’t been able to grow.

Here’s why this matters. When Jason and Brandon train people on personal organization, team balance and health, keeping a field book, being disciplined with procurement logs, whatever it is, everybody knows what they should be doing. It’s very infrequent that they run across people who don’t know the intellectual what.

In the book Switch there are three parts to change. One is directing the intellect of a human being. Two is motivating their wants and desires. Three is shaping the path and making it easy for them. A lot of times, people know what to do and they have a clear path. The issue, the opportunity, is motivating their desires. And that’s what most construction leaders completely miss.

Why Dirty Sites Aren’t About Circumstances

Jason was writing a section in Elevating Construction Senior Superintendents about desire. He remembered this phrase: to every man is given according to his desires, whether he chooses good or bad, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.

Here’s what that means for construction. If a superintendent’s job is dirty, that’s because that’s where their set point is. That’s what they desire. They have low expectations. If their project is behind schedule, it’s a lot less to do with technical skills and circumstance and more with that’s their mental set point. That’s where their expectations are. That’s where their desires are.

If they’re not keeping a to-do list, if they’re not filling out a field book, if they’re not studying the drawings, there are so many people who come up and say “Can you just teach more technical skills?” and they ignore the personal part of it. But it really comes down to desire. That’s their set point. That’s what they’ve come to expect.

Jason hears from people all the time: no, just technical, just technical. We don’t need to teach anything other than that. But he thinks it’s zero percent technical skills and one hundred percent professional development desire skills or elevating somebody’s set point or getting them to expect more. That’s the problem.

Brandon agrees. The technical information is pretty widely available out there in the world. You can go find a YouTube video that will show you how to do almost anything. But whether you believe that you can do it, whether you believe that you can figure it out when things get complex, whether you have the belief that you can be successful, that’s another story.

Along with drive and desire, you need belief. Do you have the belief that you can be successful in a certain way? Do you have a belief that your job could be really enjoyable and satisfying to you? If you had that belief, what would you back it up with from an action standpoint or a desire standpoint?

Because we can figure anything out. There’s nobody in the construction industry who doesn’t know about lean or scheduling or finishing projects on time or doing it right the first time or achieving flow. These aren’t new things. Everybody knows they should do that. So how do we get that passion, that desire, that grind like Eric Thomas is talking about? By raising our mental set point.

What Raises Your Set Point and Elevates Your Desires

Jason was writing in the book about the things he does to elevate his desires. Here’s what works for him and what might work for you:

• The moral and ethical foundation from church and religion that provides purpose and accountability beyond just getting a paycheck or hitting metrics.
• Professional development from programs like Rapport or Tony Robbins or leadership trainings that challenge you to grow beyond your current capacity.
• Reading books that elevate desires and give a mental set point that’s higher than the default you’d settle into without intentional input.
• Getting a mentor or role model who’s always asking you to be better and holding you to standards you might not hold yourself to naturally.

The point Jason wants to make, and it’s a little bit forward and might even be offensive, is this: if a job is dirty, it’s not circumstance. That’s how that super and PM think. If the job’s unsafe, it’s not circumstance. That’s what’s in that PM or super’s mind. If a business is disorganized with bad financial records or a lack of control and chaos, that’s what’s in the business owner’s mind. Everything outside is a physical manifestation of the inner mental condition of the human being.

So what is our challenge? Our challenge isn’t “Hey, you should go clean the site” or “You should go organize your business” or “Hey, you should be safer.” They already know that. How do we get them to want to do it and to get the discipline and the grind and the determination to get there?

The Belief That Changes Everything

Brandon identified the really big concept he took away from Rapport leadership: belief in self is huge. What do you think that you deserve as yourself? Do you deserve to work for an employer who treats people well? Then are you part of that? If you weren’t, can you seek other employment at a place that more closely matches your set of goals and ethics?

If you feel that you deserve to work on a clean job, then would you take part in cleaning it up yourself? Would you take part in motivating others? If you’re a super or a PM and you feel like “If this job represents me, it’s going to have this particular look or feel to it,” then you’re going to follow through on that. Why? Because you deserve to work on that job and you deserve that it will represent you.

If you have that system of beliefs, there’s going to be something that comes along to back it up, and that’s going to come out of the work of your own hands. But if you don’t have that belief, if you just think things will turn out how they will, the job will run you over to some extent. You’re not really directing it. That’s a belief about your ability. That’s a belief about how much you put into place will actually stick with other people. And that’s a negative belief.

If you think that things will just run you over and turn out as they will, that’s probably what’s going on in your life in general. That’s probably a component of what’s there in your mind at all times. Jason loves this because when there’s a disconnect, when someone says “I’m not holding the line or holding people accountable on my job and setting high expectations,” the answer isn’t “I need more technical skills.” That’s silly. You’re dealing with other human beings. This is an interpersonal problem. This is a professional development, motivation, set point, expectations problem.

Would you want to put your name on that project? Because ultimately whatever that project is, that is you. If you’re the leader, you’re the super, you’re the PM. And Jason’s not letting anyone else off the hook either. If you’re an assistant super, a field engineer, a foreman, a director, anybody, and you’re like “The job’s not going well, it’s a bunch of circumstances,” first of all, you have to stop believing that.

With a lowercase g, you are the god of this world. You are the god of that world. You control everything if you’re the general contractor. And even if you’re a trade partner, you can affect a ton. We have to get our minds wrapped around the fact that you’ve got to own that.

The Two Choices When You’re On a Bad Project

Here’s something Jason wants everybody to hear. You’re getting out of school, you’re transitioning from being a foreman to being a field engineer, or an assistant super, or wherever you are. The worst thing you can do is to go be a part of a bad project. You’ve got two choices, and two choices only. You change that project to be successful, or you go somewhere else. You cannot stay on a bad project and not end up with a certain amount of learned helplessness.

People get out of school, they’re on a barn burner, then they’re on another barn burner, and then another barn burner, and then finally they just get used to it. They think “That’s how it is.” That shapes their desires. It shapes their set point. It shapes their expectations.

Jason and Brandon have seen people who have been on barn burner after barn burner after barn burner. To attempt to reprogram that out of them is possible. But it’s difficult. The people who get used to excellence also find it similarly difficult to accept substandard projects, because that shapes their desires.

Brandon adds an important point. We’re talking about ending up on these types of projects or being a part of a certain type of project. But this isn’t that the project was wonderful when you got there and it’s wonderful without you. It’s what is it that you’re bringing to it individually.

The Soft Skills You Can Add According to Your Desire

Maybe you don’t have the skill to make this project run smoothly yet. What is the skill set then? Here are some of the emotional and professional skills you might need to develop:

• The ability to deliver more direct, clear feedback so people know exactly what you expect and where they stand instead of vague niceness that doesn’t create accountability.
• The ability to hold authority in a way that’s more impactful so when you set a standard people take it seriously instead of treating it as a suggestion.
• More compassion or listening skills when dealing with trade partners because they haven’t bought into your plan and you’re unaware of that fact.

Brandon feels like a lot of people have the view that whatever set of professional skills, or emotional skills, they show up with is all they have. “Oh, he’s just like that. I’m just like that. I’m impatient. I’m this and that.” But just like a technical skill that you have the desire to learn and you take the time to go learn it, you can grab onto these professional skills if it’s what you want for yourself, if it’s part of your desire. You can grab those skills, change the way that you manage, change the way that you lead, and then change the outcome of the projects and teams that you’re leading.

Jason adds one final thought that sums it all up: desire finds the technical skill. The technical skill doesn’t find the desire. You start with setting your expectations and then somebody with the desire to get better will go find those technical skills. Somebody that desires to get better will go find the information. Somebody that desires to get better will go YouTube the information, whatever they need to do to get it done, and they’ll grind.

Don’t settle for less. Don’t ignore the human side of it. If you have a problem, we need to raise our set point. Remember, it is given to him according to his desires, whether he desires life or death, good or evil, joy or remorse of conscience.

You can either live a remarkable life or a horrible, learned hopelessness kind of life depending on what your desires are, your mental set point, and your expectations. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

FAQ

Q: Why isn’t more technical training the answer to most problems?

Because the technical information is widely available. You can find a YouTube video for almost anything. The issue isn’t that people don’t know what to do. It’s that they don’t want it badly enough to actually do it. If a job is dirty, it’s not because the super doesn’t know how to clean. It’s because that’s where their set point is. That’s what they desire. If they’re not keeping a to-do list or studying drawings, it’s not a knowledge problem. It’s a desire problem. Desire finds the technical skill. The technical skill doesn’t find the desire.

Q: What does it mean that everything outside is a manifestation of the inner mental condition?

If a job is dirty, that’s how that super and PM think. If the job’s unsafe, that’s what’s in that PM or super’s mind. If a business is disorganized with chaos and bad financial records, that’s what’s in the business owner’s mind. Your external circumstances reflect your internal set point, your expectations, your desires. The challenge isn’t telling people they should clean the site or be safer. They already know that. The challenge is raising their mental set point so they want it badly enough to actually do it.

Q: How do I raise my set point and elevate my desires?

Get a moral and ethical foundation that provides purpose beyond paychecks and metrics. Invest in professional development from programs that challenge you to grow. Read books that elevate your desires and give you a higher mental set point. Get a mentor or role model who’s always asking you to be better. Surround yourself with people who have high expectations. Work on excellent projects, not barn burners, because what you experience shapes what you come to expect. And ask yourself: what do I deserve? If you believe you deserve to work on clean, safe, well run projects, you’ll create them.

Q: What should I do if I’m on a bad project right now?

You have two choices and two choices only. Change that project to be successful, or go somewhere else. You cannot stay on a bad project and not end up with learned helplessness. People get on barn burner after barn burner and finally just get used to it. They think “That’s how it is.” That shapes their desires, their set point, their expectations. It’s possible to reprogram that, but it’s difficult. Don’t let bad projects shape you into someone with low expectations. Either fix it or leave.

Q: Can I really change my soft skills and emotional range?

Yes. A lot of people think whatever professional skills or emotional skills they show up with is all they have. “I’m just like that. I’m impatient. I’m not good with people.” But just like a technical skill you have the desire to learn, you can grab onto these professional skills if it’s what you want for yourself. You can learn to deliver direct feedback, hold authority effectively, listen with compassion, manage conflict. You can change the way you manage, change the way you lead, and change the outcome of projects and teams. But only if you have the desire.

On we go.