Letter From the Chair

SO YOU WANT TO BE A MANAGER?

By: Shawn Worsham, Worley

Every so often in my career, I am asked by someone how they can become a manager or supervisor. Some see it as the pinnacle of success but far too often I find that their view of Management is limited. I am reminded of piece of advice I received when I was still an apprentice and a story, I sometimes tell about a young man who wants to be a fireman.

First the story. A young man goes to a fire station and asked to see the chief. He tells the chief that he wants to be a fireman. The young man seems capable so he tells him that he will give him a volunteer job helping until he sees if he can handle the job. He tells the young man to go help the crew that is cleaning and maintaining the fire engine. The young man says he doesn’t want to clean the engine, he wants to be a fireman. The chief looks puzzled but tells him to go work with the ladder company who is practicing making entry into homes and carrying pretend victims to safety. Again, the young man says he doesn’t want to do that he wants to be a fireman. The chief inquires as to what the young man thinks a fireman does. The young man says “I want to hold the end of the hose and spray water.” The young man in this story failed to understand all the work and effort that went into becoming a true fireman instead of a guy that just holds a hose. I often think that some view a Construction Manager or Project Manager as a person with a radio that walks fast and looks worried while pointing and giving direction. They don’t see the missed lunches for meetings that over-run, the review and study of the schedule, cost and progress reports, or the constant stress of making sure that everyone is working safely. They only see the outward tip of the role. Young professionals have many benefits. They are more open to new ideas or alternative ways of working; they are more technically savvy; they have more energy and willingness to take on stretch goals. The biggest downside is the one thing that only time provides, and that is experience. Some people have one year of experience that they have repeated each of the last 25 years. True experience and diversity of knowledge leads to a certain level of wisdom where we measure twice and cut once. I am a big fan of helping others take on opportunities to help them grow. I take great satisfaction in seeing people I have worked with advance and excel, but they must be aware that not every shiney rock in the river is gold.

My first field job as an apprentice was at the Papermill in Evadale, Texas for Brown & Root. The Pipefitter to whom I was assigned was a rough-cut individual named James Ortolon from a community called Devil’s Pocket, Texas. Everyone called him “Old Man” Ortolon but last I heard he is still alive and kicking at 88 years old. He had been in the Navy during Korea as a mechanic and had a colourful personality but did not mince words. He would give me little jobs to do that others wouldn’t approach because he wanted to expand my view. One was learning to mix fiberglass resin to join and patch fiberglass pipe; another was learning to fit cast iron pipe; yet another was working with thin wall, large bore stainless pipe and how much patience it takes to make the pipe round for the welder. Other lessons like how many welding rods I could bend across my neck and the hair moving in the water were a different type of lesson. Another guy that worked with us was constantly focused on buying a dump truck and using it to make a living. He wasn’t a very good worker, so I don’t know if he ever made it but at the time, I thought how limited his horizon was. Why not own ten trucks and hire people to run them for you? Now there is nothing wrong with driving a dump truck or in being satisfied as a driver, but it took me some time to understand that not everyone wants the same goals. Mr. Ortolon and I discussed this, and he told me that being a boss wasn’t for everyone. He had once been a supervisor and hated it. The welfare of his direct reports, production schedules, and the feeling that he couldn’t leave the job behind at five o’clock like everyone else were all negatives. He was happy just working and said that everyone has headaches and the “boss man” just has different types of headaches. I was still confident that I wanted to be a manager and worked to become one and welcomed the challenges that came with it. I hated being discounted because of my age and felt that I had opinions that could be of value, but many felt that I had not yet acquired the scars and grey hairs or wisdom. At times they may have been right.

If there was ever a more well-defined time period to show the downside of management, it would have been the last year when some tough decisions had to be made related to personnel and even management structure. These were not due to poorly run businesses or even factors within our control, but we had to react to the market downturn and postponement of projects. Low on the list of management perks is informing a person whom you have worked with for years that their position is being eliminated. It was through no fault of their own or poor performance but simply due to lack of work. The only thing lower on the list, is telling a family member that an employee has been injured with the lowest being to tell a family member that they won’t be coming home. The areas that ABC covers in Louisiana are not huge metropolitan areas where a few hundred furloughs go un-noticed. Construction is a small industry and we work in communities where we see the people that we work with at the grocery store, at church, or at sporting events. A downturn in the job market creates much larger ripples for us than you would see in large cities. Thankfully, we are seeing upswings in the market with moves back toward normalcy even if it’s a little different than before. Personal travel and spending are picking up which is driving demand for products that we have a direct hand in producing. The lack of employees in some sectors and inflation have become a focus as America re-opens for business but these are factors, we can manage. Some work will be different as work-from-home will remain for certain positions and the increased emphasis on sustainability through renewable energy, renewable fuels and a focus on energy transition and environmental regulations. This means a renewed focus on carbon intensity including carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS). I think Louisiana is well positioned to capitalize on the energy transition in addition to meeting the requirements of traditional facilities. Training the workforce to meet these demands and keeping free enterprise a focus remains keystones of ABC. Remember that despite the nature of the work in the industrial market being different, someone still needs to manage the effort, and someone still needs to drive the truck.