PartnersINProgress SMACNA & SMART—Building a Future Together
September / October 2021
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PartnersINProgress SMACNA & SMART—Building a Future Together
JOSEPH SELLERS, JR. ANGELA SIMON Co-Publishers KAARIN ENGELMANN editor@pinpmagazine.org Editor-in-Chief JESSICA KIRBY jkirby@pointonemedia.com Editor
8 CONTENTS
September / October 2021 - Volume 15, Number 9
3 PARTNERSHIP IS VITAL There has never been a more important time for partnership. Be sure
Partners in Progress 2022 is part of your partnership plan.
4 BEHIND THE SCENES
The Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force has been hard at work on the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference since 2020.
6 IMPROVE YOUR MARKET IQ Identifying emerging markets takes strategy, research, and partnership.
POINT ONE MEDIA INC. artdept@pointonemedia.com Creative Services
Partners in Progress is a publication of the Sheet Metal Industry LaborManagement Cooperation Fund. All contents ©2021 by the Sheet Metal Industry Labor-Management Cooperation Fund, P.O. Box 221211, Chantilly, VA 20153-1211. Find Partners in Progress online at pinp.org or at issuu.com/ partnersinprogress. An archive of all issues is available and printed copies may be ordered for a minimal fee. For comments or questions, email editor@pinpmagazine.org.
Find out how to do it right.
8 REMEMBERING 9/11 SMACNA-Kansas City and Local 2 collaborated on the ultimate tribute—the
National September 11 Memorial Museum.
10 HOW TO CHALLENGE YOUR BELIEFS If you want to communicate well, solve conflict, and build bulletproof
teams, it is important to disconfirm your own beliefs.
12 NICK DOPJUDA: MY JOURNEY From hand detailed to project executive, Nick Dopjuda’s 40-year journey in
sheet metal has been the experience of a lifetime.
2 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
S HE E T M E TA L | A I R | R A I L | T R A N S P O R TAT I O N
Partnership is Vital Now,
More than Ever Before A few short days after the Partners in Progress Conference concluded in February 2020, the world changed in a manner few attendees could have predicted. For many participants, the 2020 conference was the last in-person meeting they attended before COVID safety precautions, lockdowns, and travel restrictions disrupted our work and our lives in general. While many of the pandemic-related challenges persist, important industry work goes on. A look “Behind the Scenes” on page 4 provides a glimpse of how the SMART-SMACNA Best Practices Market Expansion Taskforce (BPMETF) navigated challenges to begin working on programming and logistics for the 2022 conference immediately after the 2020 program concluded. The BPMETF has been busy nailing down industry experts for general and breakout sessions and has lined up two world-class keynote speakers to provide insight on two key components of a successful partnership—Leadership and Adapting To and Overcoming Obstacles. All sessions at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference will center around Building the Future Together. To thrive, leaders must recognize the importance of a solid plan and strategy in identifying emerging markets and industry trends. DeWayne Ables, president of Pioneer IQ, cautions that simply because a market is growing or an existing client has an opportunity in a new market, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good fit for all contractors and their workers. In “Improve Your Market IQ” on page 6, Ables dicusses some of the reasons industry leaders need to plan for new markets and some of the pitfalls that occur when they do not. Be sure to attend Ables’ talk at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference to learn how to plan, what to plan, and how contractors and local unions can work together to identify, deploy, and develop new markets for mutual benefit. There has been no shortage of life-altering events in the 21st century. The on-going COVID-19 pandemic is one of the two most significant to date. Dial back 20 years for another— the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. In “Remembering 9/11” on page 8, representatives from SMACNA-Kansas City contractor A. Zahner and Local 2 recount their memories of that solemn day but emphasize their collective pride applying their skills on a complex project for the National September 11 Memorial Museum that sits on the site of the former World Trade Center. Readers who visit New York City are encouraged to see the memorial and admire the amazing sheet metal industry engineering and craftsmanship that honors those who lost their lives on September 11. It is human nature to search for information and data that support our beliefs. So why would a large, successful company like Amazon challenge its company leaders to do the opposite and work to disconfirm their beliefs? In “How to Challenge
Your Beliefs” on page 10, John Millan, a leadership and communications expert, explains how actively challenging our beliefs in a world where we are inundated with information can help us to sift through that information to make the best decisions. This edition’s My Journey article on page 12 follows Nick Dopjuda’s 40-year career from sheet metal apprentice to project executive for Southland Industries. Nick explains why positive labor-management relations are so important and how his experience as a Local 105 member has helped him to bring a balanced perspective to his role as a management representative serving on SMACNA Southern California’s board of directors. As we enter the last quarter of 2021, the latest variants of COVID-19 continue to challenge us. As a society, we find ourselves more divided than ever on important social issues. The 2022 Partners in Progress Conference has always been a “must-attend” program for contractor, chapter, and union leaders who want to increase market share and work opportunities. Coming together face-to-face as management and labor to understand each other’s concerns, build trust, and plan for our industry’s future is more important now than ever. Make sure leaders from your area are represented March 1-2 at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference. ▪ Partners in Progress » September 2021 » 3
2022 Partners in Progress Conference
Behind the Scenes
The Partners in Progress Conference provides a level playing field, but it's no easy task to pull it together By / Natalie Bruckner The room is silent, and yet the buzz in the air from what just went down over the past few days still hangs in the room. It’s February 26, 2020, and the Partners in Progress conference has wrapped up after a successful two days in Las Vegas. New friendships were made, new ideas were explored, and bonds were strengthened. In a world that today seems rife with division, the Partners in Progress Conference is a place where differences are put aside and faith in the success of the sheet metal industry is restored. “When you can sit down across the table from one another and have thoughtful, rational conversations about topics, it’s much easier to get to a win-win result in negotiations,” says Local 280’s Business Manager/FST, Richard Mangelsdorf, who attended the conference. “It’s so important to see the success other Locals have achieved, and that’s what we get to experience at the conference. It’s hard to doubt the philosophy when you see it working in real life and hear the stories happening elsewhere across North America.” There’s no denying that in-person conferences have an innate ability to build trust. A study by Harvard Review found that 95 percent of people believe face-to-face conferences are a key factor in successfully building and maintaining long-term business relationships. Researchers say they are 34 times more successful than emails or Zoom calls. That’s the reason the SMACNA-SMART Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force (BPMETF) works so hard to pull these conferences together—not an easy feat, although 4 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
you wouldn’t know it in attendance with everything running so smoothly. The work that goes on behind the scenes to build the conference is impressive—and exhausting. As soon as one conference wraps up, the team barely has time to sit and reflect before their work begins again. “The process for the next conference starts almost immediately after the one conference is finished,” says Vince Alvarado, Local 49 business manager and a BPMETF member. A considerable amount of time and thought goes into picking topics that would best benefit members and attendees, and what will bring most value.
“We, as leaders, need to invest in our next generation of leaders. This is a great opportunity to show them that we believe in them, and we are willing to invest in their future.” —Carol Duncan, owner of General Sheet Metal and Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force chairperson.
“The BPMETF begins with a committee meeting and then the theme ideas are developed in smaller groups, followed by robust, engaging conversations until we land on a theme that will be relevant, inspirational, and engaging,” says Carol Duncan, CEO and owner of General Sheet Metal and BPMETF co-chair. “Topics and speakers are developed in a similar way.” “We begin by looking at what is going on in the country and start looking for speakers who would be able to bring light to and discuss these subjects,” Alvarado says. “There is a lot of research involved.” It’s a veritable jigsaw puzzle to piece it all together, and then there are challenges with speaker availability, finding a suitable venue, and getting the word out to potential attendees. But the payoff is worth all those sleepless nights because the general consensus by attendees is, “That was great! When is the next one? I will be there!” Mangelsdorf considers the conference imperative for building the sheet metal industry, increasing awareness and transparency, and solidifying relationships between SMACNA contractors and SMART craftspersons. “I think the hardest thing in our industry is the trust relationship. Everything hinges on it, and as soon as one side breaks trust and takes advantage of the other side, everything goes back to square one. We need to continue to drive home how important that is by embedding it into the numerous workshops and topics.” Conference attendee Ken Wiesbrook, vice-president at Wiesbrook Sheet Metal and past-president of SMACNA Greater Chicago, agrees, adding that nothing quite beats face-to-face interactions. “It’s imperative that SMACNA and SMART get along, so I am all for anything that can help that relationship,” he says. “Our partners attended the conference in Las Vegas, and we got to spend time with them. For me, that was so important because we got to know them outside of the office. It humanizes everybody.” While the benefits of the conference are clear, the BPMETF currently faces the challenge of attracting attendees beyond the “regulars.” “We need to rid ourselves of the country club mentality. Our generation [Baby Boomers] are at fault, as we tend to look at younger people and think they don’t know anything, but we need to get more youth and women involved. They are the future leaders in our industry,” Alvarado says. Duncan agrees, saying that it can be hard to pull people
away from their day jobs, especially for the younger people who need the support of their supervisor, employer, or union to attend. “We, as leaders, need to invest in our next generation of leaders. This is a great opportunity to show them that we believe in them, and we are willing to put a stake in their future,” she says. Not an easy task, but Alvarado has some ideas up his sleeve. “As far as Local 49 is concerned, we are restructuring who runs for office to get young people involved and to speak the language of Millennials and Gen Z. We need to find ways to sponsor young up-and-coming individuals to attend the conference, as they will truly benefit from it. It’s something I will be discussing at our next JATC meeting.” For Makenzie Loomis, second year apprentice with Local 83, that is music to her ears. She says she would jump at the chance to attend or be involved with the conference. She believes that bringing generations together and involving minorities is key to the industry’s future. But of course, money and time are major considerations for the younger workforce. With just five months to go until the 2022 Partners In Progress Conference at the Resorts World Las Vegas, it’s all systems go for the Task Force. So, what can we expect from the next conference? Duncan offers us a teaser: “We have two fantastic keynote speakers: former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott and retired Naval Commander Mike Abrashoff. Abrashoff is a leadership and teamwork expert, and Abbott overcame his disability to make it to the major league despite being born without a right hand,” she says. “Attending the conference might require a mind shift in understanding that the value is everywhere, from the sessions to casual engagements and new relationships . . . and that one idea or introduction can change a person, a company, and even an industry.” Visit pinp.org/conferences/2022pinp to register and to learn more about the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference: Building the Future Together. ▪ Natalie is an award-winning writer who has worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada. She has more than 23 years experience as a journalist, editor, and brand builder, specializing in construction and transportation. Partners in Progress » September 2021 » 5
Improve Your
Market IQ Pioneer IQ delivers information to the construction industry that is unique, thorough, and advantageous in identifying and developing new markets. Find out how company owner DeWayne Ables will inspire teams at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference. By / Jessica Kirby The sheet metal industry, like other sectors of the design and construction industry, has experienced challenges and disruptions the past couple of years, making it difficult for leaders to keep pace with today’s evolving markets. But according to market forecasting and monitoring firm Pioneer IQ, disruption drives opportunities. Are you positioned to take advantage of them? Sheet metal industry leaders are experts in building communities—Pioneer IQ is a team of experts in forecasting, monitoring, and qualifying new markets so industry leaders can convert market disruptions and trends into more partnerships and projects. Understanding disruption lays the foundation for stronger labor-management partnerships as contractors and Locals work together to prepare for the future. Anyone can come up with data and general market information, but Pioneer IQ owner DeWayne Ables says there are three things that make his company’s offering unique when helping industries understand or expand into a new market. “First, we help industry leaders specifically understand the greater need they serve and not just the type of projects they do or work on,” Ables says. “Second, we help them understand the specific types of partnerships they should be pursuing versus just going after projects and bids. That gets us way into 6 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
what sectors, geographic areas, cultural fits, funding guiding principles, and belief systems align with theirs and how to leverage those in inspiring productive discussions. “Finally, we have economists and market analyses specifically related to the design and construction industries, but we also have access to massive international data from which we can pull information on trends that are yet to hit the market.” Pioneer IQ has access to intelligence coming from China, Korea, Spain, Russia, and the United States, but it goes beyond standard economic forecasting numbers to social trends and influences. For example, 10 years before data centers were huge in the United States, the Pioneer IQ team spent six weeks in the United Kingdom to understand what in society drives the need for this service and how said need would translate in the design and construction industry. “We started getting into the minds of the owners to understand what they are looking for so we could help contractors and the workforce prepare,” Ables says. “This is also about helping leaders understand that just because a market is emerging or growing, doesn’t mean it is a fit for them. We are here to help people discover who they love to work with—who those people are and what their needs are—and then how to share
with their union partners how to prepare collectively for the needs of new market developments.” It is essential for industry leaders to have a firm and proven strategy for identifying emerging markets so they can create a formula within a company or organization that everyone understands and can get behind. Once people understand the formula, they will usually agree to it and work toward it collectively. “It is much easier for people to accept a decision that makes it through the formula’s criteria,” Ables says. A formula also provides objective and clear guidelines and removes emotions from the pursuit of opportunities. And finally, the majority of businesses get into new markets because their clients ask them to go and build something there. That is a big no-no. Having a formula in place helps guide the process in a more concrete and thoughtful way. “The number one pitfall businesses face in setting up a new or expanded market without a plan in place occurs when a client or existing partner has an opportunity for them in a new market,” Ables says. “If you want the work, go do it, but don’t open a new office there. A client-driven opportunity doesn’t qualify as a new market. What qualifies an investment into a new geographical market has nothing to do with one client.” Another potential hazard occurs when an industry leader has a general assumption that XYZ market has potential or is growing, and asks around to handful of peers—sometimes over a couple of beers—to find out what others are seeing in that market. Those peers are saying, ʻHell ya, it is blowing up!’ leaving the person asking with a tainted lens through which they see the potential of said market. In other words, taking anecdotal information at face value doesn’t qualify a new market, nor does filtering market information through overly optimistic lenses. A final mistake industry leaders make is not understanding the correct investment to properly enter or prepare for a new market. That means sending the right people, spending adequate time, and considering a reasonable investment of resources, training, and equipment to make that new market profitable. It also means a thoughtful and involved investment into learning how to “play the game” in a given area. “Just because a new geographical region might be the land of milk and honey, that doesn’t mean it is going to fall into your bucket,” Ables says. “A market might qualify and be a great cultural fit, but that doesn’t mean your company and workforce are immediately positioned to play the game, much less win. In Kansas, we play Texas hold’em differently than they do in Texas. You have to know that kind of thing, and you don’t usually get it without adequate investment.” In Las Vegas, Ables will teach industry leaders how to use the leaders in their organizations to objectively get market intelligence and to develop cultures that are in discovery mode, rather than operating purely in delivery mode.
“We are here to help people discover who they love to work with and then how to share with their union partners how to prepare collectively for the needs of new market developments.” —DeWayne Ables, owner, Pioneer IQ “We will talk about specific things leaders need to identify to objectively qualify and prepare for new geographical markets and industry sectors, and we will discuss how to develop, deploy, and empower teams to identify and make the best use of market intelligence.” Want to learn more about how to identify and qualify new markets, how contractors and unions can work together to train and invest in tandem, and how to avoid the pitfalls of poor strategy? Be sure to catch DeWayne Able’s talk at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference: Building the Future Together. Visit pinp.org/conferences/2022pinp to register for the conference and check out the list of speakers. ▪ Jessica Kirby is a freelance editor and writer covering construction, architecture, mining, travel, and sustainable living for myriad publications across Canada and the United States. She can usually be found among piles of paper in her home office or exploring nature’s bounty in British Columbia’s incredible wilderness.
2021 SAFETY DESIGN CONTEST Create your own safety message and design for a chance to win safety hats or shirts for your local!
Email your design to Elizabeth Musick at: EMusick@smohit.org to enter.
Designs must be received by December 31, 2021. Winners will be awarded at the 2022 Safety Champion’s Conference. OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING
Partners in Progress » September 2021 » 7
Remembering 9/11 On the 20th anniversary of the World Trade Center Attacks, SMACNA and SMART are honored to partner on helping America heal.
8 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
By / Sheralyn Belyeu Like millions of Americans, L. William Zahner, president of SMACNA-Kansas City member A. Zahner, knows exactly where he was during the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center towers. “I was in Kansas City, Missouri, meeting with an architect about the Bridge of Glass project in Tacoma, Washington,” Zahner says. Greg Chastain, business manager at Local 2, was also in Kansas City. “I was an apprentice instructor for our JATC, and I came out to make some copies at the office,” he says. “We turned on the TV after the first plane hit, and I was watching when the first tower fell.” Mark Stewart, a Local 2 journeyman sheet metal worker with Zahner, was in a Kansas City sheet metal shop when the first plane crashed. He called his wife and was talking with her when the second plane hit. “It was a surreal day, very weird, very solemn,” Stewart says. “When we went outside after work, there were no airplanes overhead, not even near the airport.” It’s fitting that these three men were hard at work in the Kansas City sheet metal industry when the attack happened because Kansas City sheet metal played a unique role in honoring the lives lost that day. A. Zahner and Local 2 craftspersons produced the metal skin that sheathes the National September 11 Memorial Museum on the site of the former World Trade Center. “We’re very proud of the fact that our contractor was selected to work on such an important project,” Chastain says. “The September 11 Memorial helps bring healing to our country, and it’s humbling that Local 2 is a part of that healing.” One might assume that a project as symbolic as the September 11 Memorial Museum would automatically go to a United States firm. In reality, the New York City construction market pulls in professionals from around the planet. Rivalry for the contract was fierce because of the project’s design and noteriety. But international competition does not intimidate Zahner. “There are fingerprints of Local 2 team members on projects all over the world,” says Chastain. “The members who work at Zahner are some of the most highly skilled in the country.”
“We’re very proud of the fact that our contractor was selected to work on such an important project. The September 11 Memorial helps bring healing to our country, and it’s humbling that Local 2 is a part of that healing.” —Greg Chastain, business manager, Local 2
The design called for horizontal stripes across the panels and six different finishes. Zahner took the designer to the shop floor to demonstrate a panel mockup. “When we showed the architect how the light reflected differently in certain aspects, I had my sheet metal team standing right with me, explaining what we were going to deliver,” Zahner says. “No one had ever seen it before.” Solving an engineering problem that looks impossible is typical for Zahner and the Local 2 workforce. “We never back down from a challenge,” Stewart says. “If somebody else can’t do a project, you need to let us take a look at it, because we probably can.” Succeeding on a world stage demands the highest levels of performance from everyone at A. Zahner Company. Zahner has personally written seven books on architectural metal. But he and the engineering team depend on world-class labor to bring their plans to reality. “The people who work here want to know things and they want to keep learning,” he says. “Sometimes other contractors ask me how I get such good people.” An extraordinary labor force starts with the Local. “We’re able to recruit some of the best, highest skilled, brightest people in the area,” Chastain says. “We have a great training program that helps with the process, and the on-the-job training and mentoring that our members provide for our apprentices is second to none.” The result is craftspersons prepared to meet any challenge. “Our team had to make these panels really well because the surface would show any flaw,” Zahner says. “When we V-cut and fold the panel edges, we get to within tenths of millimeters.” Every panel was distinct, with a unique combination of finishes and angles. “The depth of each V-cut had to be exact or it would break through to the face,” Stewart explains. “The location had to be right on the money because if it was off, it would change the angle of a tapered panel.” The striped finishes added another layer of complexity. “When you do a differential finish on a plate of stainless steel, it’ll change its shape,” says Zahner. “Each panel had to be perfectly
flat, so we had to do the reverse and take the stress back out.” Shipping also had to be exact. “I was in charge of making sure all the hardware was put on correctly, and that the correct panels went into the correct crates,” Stewart says. “When we build crates for international shipping, we make sure they can go overseas and not be damaged, so everything will arrive looking exactly the way it looked when it left our shops.” Decades of experience with international delivery have honed Zahner’s quality control processes. “We take pictures before they ship, so we verify that the material’s good when it leaves here.” Attention to detail pays off in the satisfaction of a job well done. “The September 11 Memorial is probably the top on my list as far as being proud of a job,” Stewart says. “When they showed it on the news for the 20-year anniversary, it still looked beautiful.” Zahner loves seeing his staff’s joy in the project. “The best thing that ever happens for me as the CEO is when the people in the plant or our engineering group take their families to look at the Memorial. You know they take pride in the work when they send me pictures.” Zahner has advice for anybody who visits the Memorial in person. “Look at the Memorial in different lights to see the way light reflects off the material and the metal. Every change in the light changes the appearance of the building. It’s a little jewel in that area. There’s reflective stainless steel on the surrounding buildings, but that one’s the jewel.” ▪ A Colorado native, Sheralyn Belyeu lives and writes deep in the woods of Alabama. When she’s not writing, she grows organic blueberries and collects misspellings of her name. Partners in Progress » September 2021 » 9
How to Challenge Your Beliefs
By John Millen While teaching listening skills at an all-employee meeting online this week, I included the fundamental need to have an open mind and consistently question your beliefs. With the great public divides on questions of fact, including whether the earth is a sphere, it is clear that each of us should actively challenge our beliefs for validity. In fact, we should proactively update our beliefs, as I’ve written before about Amazon’s Leadership Principles, which note that “[Our leaders] seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.” (my emphasis) It’s a novel statement for a company and one that few of us practice. Indeed, human beings, for the most part, practice the opposite: we work to reinforce and confirm our beliefs. This is known as “confirmation bias.” We search our environment for information to confirm our beliefs, we interpret data to support our beliefs, we discount evidence that might conflict with our beliefs, and some of us even attack people who hold views contrary to our beliefs. This is most apparent, of course, in our current political environment where we cocoon in segregated ideological communities with unlimited sources of “news” available to confirm our views. In this world, critical thinking is more important than ever. We are inundated with more information than ever, and we are more distracted than ever, which means we are left with impressions of the truth. We need to be able to sift through the information to find out what is actually true. 10 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
Critical thinking is the most important skill we must develop. But there is less of it on, of all places, college campuses where many students and faculty too often oppose campus speakers who hold views contrary to their own. Many of us also cling to our views, despite them being outdated and no longer valid. We often hold beliefs long past their expiration dates. With this in mind, here are a few tips to help you develop your critical thinking skills as you challenge your own beliefs: 1. Learn to listen without judgment When we hear others discuss ideas and beliefs, we are apt to judge them, their conclusions, and their motivations so quickly that while they’re talking, we’re already thinking of our responses. The fact is, our minds can’t multitask, so if we’re thinking about what we’ll say next or how we’ll fix the problem, we’re no longer listening to the person speaking. Instead, try to be fully present and hear what the person is really saying. Ask questions to go deeper and understand why they believe those positions. We so seldom really listen to people that it can be a remarkable experience for the listener to hear, as well as for the speaker to be heard. 2. Seek to understand In his seminal book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey emphasizes one of the key habits, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Covey shared an event he experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York that illustrates how we can hold mistaken beliefs:
People were sitting quietly—some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene. Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed. The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people’s papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing. It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, ‘Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?’ The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.” Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly, I saw things differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently. My irritation vanished. I didn’t have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man’s pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. “Your wife just died? Oh, I’m so sorry. Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?” Everything changed in an instant. 3. Proactively find conflicting views Instead of listening to news channels that confirm your views, seek out stations that promote the opposite viewpoint. If you watch Fox News, watch MSNBC. These broadcasts vividly illustrate how we can view the same information through our own colored lenses. Try to understand what information and experiences would bring people to hold those views. 4. Argue the other side In college, my favorite extracurricular activity was serving on the national debate team. In half of the debate rounds, my partner and I would argue an affirmative case for a legislative change, often a compelling issue of national controversy. In the other half of the rounds, we would argue against a proposal, often the same idea we had earlier advocated. This gave us the ability to fully understand all of the nuances of arguments for and against positions. We
developed critical thinking skills that allowed us to make better decisions and modify positions based on new and compelling arguments. 5. Kill your self-limiting beliefs I believe the most destructive beliefs we hold are about ourselves and our own capabilities. We are locked into self-limiting beliefs that keep us from achieving our full potential. We know we should try to achieve something outside of our comfort zones, which is where personal growth occurs, yet we are held back by our self-limiting beliefs. Often that is due to FEAR, which is often referred to as False Evidence Appearing Real. 6. How to question your beliefs I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t have beliefs, or that we should change them all on a whim. Instead, we should examine our beliefs. For additional help, here are questions that were developed by Owen Fitzpatrick, a consultant and speaker who teaches Neuro-Linguistic Programming (which is an article for another day). Fitzpatrick writes: Become more aware of what you believe to be true. About yourself. About the world. About others. About your problems. Notice how you describe them and how you think about them. And challenge them in the following way: What is the source? Where is the evidence? How does the evidence demonstrate that as a fact? Is it always true in every situation? What is a more useful way of thinking about it? What do you need to do about it? I wish you success in challenging your own beliefs. To share your stories and ideas with me, please contact me. ▪ This article was reprinted with permission from johnmillen.com/ blog/challenge-your-beliefs John Millen is a keynote speaker and CEO of the Reputation Group, a leadership communication company in Columbus, Ohio. John’s purpose is to help leaders and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and careers by tapping the power of their stories. Since founding the company in 2004, he has worked with more than 7,000 leaders. Learn more at JohnMillen.com. Partners in Progress » September 2021 » 11
NICK DOPJUDA: MY JOURNEY Project Executive Southland Industries I started in the sheet metal industry in 1981 when my brother-in-law, who was in the trade, encouraged me to take the apprenticeship test. I knew absolutely nothing about sheet metal and thought it had more to do with auto body and fender work until I showed up for the apprenticeship test, where there were over 600 applicants and only 25 would be accepted into the program.
I started my apprenticeship while attending Cal State Fullerton studying business communication. The plan was to work in the trade during the day and attend apprenticeship classes and my college degree classes at night. As soon as I started, I realized that the sheet metal industry offered exactly what I was looking for in endless career opportunities. The pay was around $7/hour for apprentices at the time, which included medical and a thing called a “pension”. I decided to put my college schooling on hold and to go all in, and I’ve never looked back. I proudly finished my four years of apprenticeship by graduating No. 1 in our class, and somehow, here I am still in the industry over 40 years later. I’ve always been mechanically inclined, but one thing I really enjoyed was the physical work and constant challenges of our industry. I’ve been fortunate to have worked for a company like Southland Industries that allowed me the opportunity to participate in some of the most challenging and complex projects around the country. I found it interesting and rewarding to work with such a diversified group of people. There are sheet metal workers who go back generations as well as professional engineers and owners. I started my apprenticeship working for ACR Mechanical and stayed there 11 years. ACR was a company that took great pride in mentoring and investing in its people and became a breeding ground for some of the top individuals in the sheet metal industry. My next opportunity came over 25 years ago with Southland Industries working on large scale commercial HVAC. As I explain the scale of this work to others, I note: “You know that little air-conditioning unit you might find on a side of a house? Our AC equipment is the size of the house.” The sheet metal industry is hard work. I equate it to a “full court press” in basketball, when you play both offense and defense with no chance to rest in between. You have to be on your game and up to the challenge, and you must dedicate yourself fully, as many people don’t make it. 12 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
I always kept my head down and worked hard. I was never trying to make a statement. I was told by my mentors that you can’t learn while your mouth is moving. My daily goal was to always work harder than the next guy, and eventually I worked my way up through the organization. I started as a hand detailer before CAD, which was a real craftsman’s position, and then went on to foreman, superintendent, and construction/operations manager. When I retire this year, it will be from the position of project executive, which means I work directly with customers and owners to provide executive level representation and to ensure the company is meeting the customers goals and expectations. I have been involved with Locals 420/102/105 (trustee and executive board) and SMACNA SoCal (director) for the past 30 years. Positive labor-management relationships are so important because we have common goals and interests. The success of our industry comes down to the cooperation of both labor and contractors; one does not survive without the other. I have seen a lot of situations where labor and management do not cooperate, and in those cases, we fail by not focusing on the long-term prosperity for each other and our industry. I came to the SMACNA SoCal board from the labor side, so I tried to bring unbiased fairness to the table. Labor and management had their sides, and I was that person in the middle who tried to bring sensibility and balance and what I thought was fair. Without balance, the whole thing leans left and right and doesn’t work well. The gears aren’t engaged. I always felt like Local 105 and SMACNA had an unwritten agreement to do the best thing for our industry. Embrace your choice to be in the sheet metal industry, and be passionate about it. Don’t make it work—make it a career. You have to be all in. Everyone wants to feel like what they do counts and matters. If you feel that passionate about something, the rest falls into place. If it doesn’t count and matter, then you just have a job. ▪
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