As a leader in the construction industry, you are either seeking to find the top project leaders or seeking to become a top project leader. But it can feel like you are trying to find, or become, a unicorn. A unicorn is a mythical creature with magical powers.
Researchers found that you can become a unicorn for the construction industry, and stand out from all the rest, if you use this one trait. By using this trait you will be propelled into the top 5% of project and business leaders. Whether you are seeking to find great project leaders, or to become a great project leader, looking for and using this “unicorn trait” is a great way to recognize what it takes to become a great leader.
The Unicorn Trait
The unicorn trait is to act fast and be ridiculously responsive.Take action to respond in some way within one minute. Waiting always sends the message that this isn’t important to me and that you aren’t important to me. Acting fast is the number one way to let people know that you have a sense of urgency around their issue.
Fear Prevents Your Quick Response
Let’s talk about the reason why we don’t act – it’s because of fear. The fear could be that you might be wrong and then get blamed. Or the fear could be that you don’t want to be judged, or that you don’t know this person or the answer. Fear tends to make you overthink things. Then it takes you time to “craft” your response when the other person needed a quick response so they can move on.
Your Quick Response Builds Trust
If you respond quickly to let the person know that you are working on things, what the status is, learn more about what they need, etc., they will feel like you care and that will build trust. It’s ok to act without knowing everything and if you act you may learn more. For sure, you will be seen as someone they believe they can trust.
Speed Comes from Confidence
The research shows that by acting fast you are indicating that you care and are on top of things, but our brains don’t want us to respond fast. Our brain is worried that we might get eaten by a sabertooth tiger. To overcome this basic fear response in your brain, you need to be confident in yourself and your abilities. Confidence grows the more you act fast. If you make yourself “act fast” in responding to the people on your projects and around your business, you will grow in confidence that you can do this, and that it makes a difference. Sometimes you don’t know that an issue was important until you acted fast, but for sure you will know more and be seen as a top trusted leader by your team, peers, and industry once you do.
You might be thinking this a daunting approach. And it is. You might be interested to know that the same research showed that the average response time was 48 hours and that the people who responded within the first minute also had the highest level of satisfaction.
Definitely something to think about and strive for.
Have a great month Construction Nation,
Sue
Sue Dyer, MBA, MIPI is a Master Partnering Facilitator & Founder for OrgMetrics LLC, WSJ bestselling author on Trusted Leadership for construction leaders, Founder of the International Partnering Institute, and President of sudyco® LLC. You can contact Sue at suedyer@orgmet.com or 510 504-5877.
