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At the York Jaycees, we always like to learn through real world examples and one of our members of the Lubbock chapter, Jasper Bryan, shared this great case study. Jasper provides commercial demolition services in Lubbock, TX and uses this case study when onboarding and training new employees at his demolition and excavation company. This is a great example of leadership skills in the work environment for contractors that can be applicable to all York Jaycees community members.

1. The incident:

Excel Demolition, a medium-sized company known for its efficient and safe construction practices, experienced a significant setback when an employee found himself victim to a relatively serious leg injury during the wrecking of an old warehouse. The incident occurred when a piece of falling debris struck the worker, causing multiple fractures.

2. The response:

Having been adequately trained in workplace safety and leaning on his decades of experience, the site supervisor immediately called for all operations to be paused. Under his guidance, the team commenced the company’s emergency response protocol that all team members had been coached on during initial onboarding. First aid was administered to the victim and 911 was called immediately.

Once the injured crew member was taken offsite for care, the rest of the team launched an investigation to determine what happened, and how it could’ve been prevented. The site supervisor and site manager, as well as all crew members on site, participated to ensure a full picture of the situation was determined.

The site supervisor lead with open communication and approached the team from a space of curiosity and not blame. This allowed team members to be comfortable, open and honest without fear of losing their jobs or getting in trouble.

3. Challenges:

Keeping employee morale high – times like this typically shake the crew because they’re afraid they could get hurt. Having the site super ensure that safety protocols are in place and followed gives the team reassurance that workplace incidents are considered highly important and high priority by management and the leaders.

Addressing negative PR – if the accident is grave enough, local papers and publications could shine the company in a negative light. The best way to stop this from happening is making sure the victim, victims’ family, and other stakeholders are actively engaged and on your side. Don’t be the bad guy they want everyone to know about!

Preventing future issues – getting to the root cause of the problem and figuring out how to prevent this from happening in the future is key. If extra precautions and safety checks and standards are needed, then they need to be investigated and implemented ASAP. If extra training is needed for the team, then leadership needs to take a stand and implement new solutions ASAP. The employees are looking to the construction company’s management for guidance in this situation.

4. Conclusion

The incident at Apex Demolition was a wake-up call. Luckily, the victim wasn’t badly hurt and will make a full recovery. However, the situation still highlighted the importance of strong leadership, a proactive safety culture, and effective communication in mitigating workplace injuries and the risks construction crew take every day, just by showing up to work.

Any time you’re dealing with other people, there’s bound to be situations where someone feels a certain type of way, another person is upset, and others could be flat-out pissed off.

That’s because every individual has their own beliefs, values, personalities, experiences, backgrounds, opinions, problems, and relationships. Also, you can’t control how other people act and what they say. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could?! Disputes are so common, that Lubbock County even has a dispute resolution resource!

In the workplace, you’re spending hours and hours a week with people you didn’t necessarily choose to have in your life, like you would when you’re spending your off the clock leisure hours. Five reasons why conflict occurs in a work setting are:

1. Lack of communication skills or misunderstandings
2. Different perspectives and opposite personalities
3. Stereotypes and biases
4. Different ways people learn
5. Perceptions of favoritism and feelings of unfairness

Most people have never been trained on how to handle situations with colleagues that get heated. As a York Jaycee, our community helps you build these skills so next time a negative situation arises, you’re equipped to handle it.

1. Avoid the problem – if the relationship and the situation are low priority, honestly, it’s not worth your mental energy trying to fight it. Sometimes, it’s best to just ignore and move on. Your peace is more important than getting caught up in drama and negative energy.
2. Competing – this is used when you don’t care about the relationship and your goal is really important to you. For example, you and another candidate are up for the same promotion. It’s best to be assertive and take a stand to show that you’re the right person for the job.
3. Accommodating – if the relationship is more important than the end result, then in this situation it’s best to go along with the other person. If you don’t have a strong opinion on the matter and someone cares very deeply, it’s easier to take back any objections.
4. Find a compromise – work with the other party to determine where you can meet in the middle. This can take time and effort to come up with something that works for both parties but doesn’t meet the ideal initial goal.
5. Collaborate – if both parties are firm on their stances and it’s very important that you don’t compromise, then spend time to get creative and think outside the box. Most likely, there’s a new solution that you haven’t thought about before. Approaching this with the right communication style so the other party knows that you’re willing and wanting to find a solution that works for both you and often automatically disarms the other party

For an additional resource, check out this Texas-based conflict resolution class.

This classic leadership book by Stephen Covey originally came out in 1989, and clearly the principals of this book have lasted the test of time. Leaders and students all over the world reach for this novel for guidance on how they can master the organization, big and small, that they lead.

We highly recommend you grab the Audible to listen on the go in the car or borrow a copy from the Lubbock public library. In the meantime, we’re going to breakdown the high-level principles of this book to pique your interest and get you going on your path to leadership.

This book outlines seven important habits that people striving to be seen as a good leader can implement into their day-to-day right away. The first three habits are about mastering yourself. Before relating and engaging others, you need to first make decisions independently. Habits three to six focus on collaborating with others. This covers communication and moving away from independence to interdependence. Note, we don’t say dependence.

Let’s start by defining these key terms first:

Dependence broadly speaking is relying on someone else. It could be for direction, validation, or simply a car ride.

Independence is functioning solo and not relying on others.

Interdependence is when you work with other people to achieve a common goal. This requires collaboration and communication.

The last and seventh habit is about creating a foundation for other positive habits.

Habit 1: be proactive

We learn that change starts internally. You need the self-awareness to navigate and take responsibility for our choices and our lives. Instead of being reactive, how can you determine your desired outcome and take actions to make this a reality?

Habit 2: start with the end in mind

First think about and visualize where you want to go. This can be for your overall life, a small task that’s on your plate, or a 5-year plan. Think about what you value, what’s important to you and start designing your life with intention.

Habit 3: prioritize

It can be overwhelming to try and do everything at once. With a plan in place, you can outline what’s most important to achieve first and stay focused without getting distracted. There’s only so much time, energy and resources so by creating a list and sticking to it, you can actually achieve what you set out to.

Habit 4: find a win-win solution

When your counterpart is someone that you care about, then you need to work towards a win-win solution. There is not such thing as a win-lose when you have a relationship with the other party it ends up being lose-lose if the other person feels slighted or lost. Get creative to find a solution that benefits and works for everyone.

Habit 5: listen and understand your counterpart first

Today, it’s so easy to try and convey what’s important to you and what you want. To influence others, first find out where they’re coming from and understand their motivations and desires. Then you can say your part and present your perspective.

Habit 6: find synergies

When two minds combine, you get a whole that’s greater than the sum of two parts. Lean into the perspectives and experiences of others to create a solution better than you would’ve come up with on your own.

Habit 7: invest the time to continuously improve

There’s always room to be better in all aspects of life. Commit to yourself that you’ve become stagnant, and you’ll seize opportunities for growth. By being a member of the York Jaycees, you’re already showing your commitment to your future self!

While some people are born to be a natural leader – think about the Queen Bee in high school, or the captain of your college football team, for most people leadership roles are daunting. Regardless of whether it’s easy for you to step into a leadership role or not, these are skills that are so necessary for all adults as they enter the workforce and grow in their careers.

At York Jaycees, we believe these traits can be honed in early during youth and can continuously be improved upon throughout adulthood. Like most personal development, you can always be better. New situations, workplace dynamics, opposing personalities provide opportunities for growth. Even outside of the workplace, leadership skills are applicable as a parent, as a member of a family, and as a member of a community or society as a whole.

We have a few tips that help you connect with those around you and allow others to see you as someone to look up to and learn from.

To start, come from a place of vulnerability. It’s easy to let ego get in the way and come off as a know-it-all… that no one likes. You want to assert yourself without being bossy. By sharing personal experiences and emotions, it’s easier to connect with others. When they see your guard down, they’re more likely to feel comfortable with you.

Start by listening. Everyone wants to be heard. So how can you listen first, without interrupting and without thinking about what you want to say next. This little tip can make you instantly more likeable. Have you heard of the book by Marc Reklau – “How to Become a People Magnet”. You can checkout a snippet at Good Reads here. In this book he shares how you can actively listen to others vs. being the one that’s always talking. Most importantly, no one enjoys being around people that talk about themselves! Do you?

You can also think about whether you communicate clearly. Many folks often use indirect communication. They don’t say what they mean and are relying on the listener to read between the lines and just “get” what they’re saying. Often times, women use indirect communication – pay attention to this next time you’re with the women of the family. Instead of directly saying point blank “I’d like to go to Chili’s for dinner, does that work for you?” an indirect communicator will ask their dining partner if they want to go to Chili’s for dinner. Well… its sounds like you do! A leader will make a decision vs. waiting for others to control their fate and decide for them. Note – being a leader doesn’t mean you’re mean or impolite. In fact, it’s impolite to not say what you mean and put the onus on someone else to understand what you aren’t saying!

Leaders also know when to delegate. They do this by training others properly and staying focused on what they’re best at. A good leader is invested in other people’s personal development, and they help train or build others’ skills while also being patient and kind.