Roles

Who among us can claim that worry has resulted in a longer life? The same thing applies to business. Who among us can claim that worry has resulted in business growth? I’m confident the answer is no one.

Sometimes, our own viewpoint and limited line of thought can hinder us when we are confronted with an issue. This lack of perspective can make you your own worst enemy. But incredible things can happen if you take a step back and view a problem from the

Productivity Incentives

MASONRY Columnist Damian Lang gives us the keys to success.

Spanish translated Contractor Tip of the Month from the 2019 October issue.

Damian Lang provides insight into building teams successfully.

Have you ever searched for something, not knowing what you were looking for, and found it? No? Me neither.

You’ve heard the definition of insanity, haven’t you? It’s doing something the same way, over and over, yet expecting different results.

How can I set my company apart from my competitors and be successful? This is a question I get from a lot of contractors these days.

As a team leader, you deliver the same direction over and over again. Then, just when you think your team finally gets it, they take two steps back!

You want to grow your business, right? But you’re already doing all that you can. You’re at capacity and running so hard that you can’t go any faster. Sound familiar?

Yesterday, while I was flying back to Columbus, Ohio, from Kansas City, Mo., a lot of things were going through my mind.

As I’m writing this month’s tip, I am patiently waiting between events at my daughter Amy’s track meet. I’ve got a big smile on my face, as Amy has won her first two events.

In order to win at the game of business, you must recruit and field the right players for your team.

Remember when you were a little kid and your mom would put you to bed, telling you it’s “quiet time”? This is a lesson most of us forgot as we grew up and began purchasing things.

A lesson learned from those who dug water wells by hand years ago is that the harder you dig a hole, the deeper you will get. The deeper you get, the less the view.

Because there were so many siblings in my family, I developed a deep sense of “sharing.” This sharing has attracted wonderful employees, partners and customers to my company.

Why do contractors bid work, and then slowly sabotage their chances of getting the work by telling the perspective customer, “My price is high, but…?”

To quote the great Vince Lombardi: “Men respond to leadership in a most remarkable way and, once you have won his heart, he will follow you anywhere.”

I should have bought it. I should have done it. Ever hear someone say that when discussing a piece of equipment or house or property someone else bought at a fraction of its worth?

When discussing a change order, scheduling conflict, or any other issue on a project, remember there is a Golden Rule.

Throughout your career, you will have to make choices to get where you are going. Taking unnecessary risks regularly can take you down the road to disaster.

Unlike traveling a long and winding road, when creating wealth for yourself, there are alternative routes you can take to get you there quicker.

As a child, I ran away from home several times. With nine of us, and rules, getting along at home appeared to be a real “hardship.”

Just building a successful construction company isn’t enough. You have to have a succession (continuation) plan to keep it prospering without you.

Have you ever gone way low on a bid, and then out of some desire, you took the job anyway? Then, the job doesn’t turn out as good as you thought it would.

When things are going good, it seems you can’t lose. When things are going bad, it seems you can’t win.

In the book, “The Warren Buffet Way,” Buffet explains that, during your lifetime, there will be very few great opportunities that will present themselves to you. When one does, you must “grab it while you have the chance.”

Watertown Steel LLC taught me a big lesson, the hard way: “If your plan doesn’t work, cut your losses and get out as soon as possible.”

In order to make our dreams come true, we must do more than only think of them. We must take action to build them.

I was recently asked if people in my companies would be able to identify our vision, core values, and motto without hesitation. I had to admit that nine out of 10 would not.

A manager makes decisions every day. If decisions are made based on what people are saying behind the scenes instead of what's observed, she will be a poor manager.

A few years ago, I decided to purchase a tractor big enough to pull 11-foot rotary mowers behind it, to mow the 30 acres of grass I maintain.

Sherlock Holmes, Bond — James Bond, and Winnie the Pooh. Have you ever heard anybody say anything negative about these three? All three possess an unshakable composure.

I couldn’t sleep. The elephant on my chest was planted firmly. The deadline date was approaching, and I had to make a crucial business decision. Do we stay or go?

I hear from contractors daily about how bad the economy is. What do we do now?

Have you huddled your team up lately, to insure they know what to do in the toughest of times?

In today’s fast moving business environment, do you find yourself running so hard that when you you forget to give your loved ones your undivided attention?

Do you make money on every job you do? Or, like most contractors, do you work for nothing most of the time? Here’s how they successfully do it.

It’s not rocket science. Employees tend to stay at companies where they enjoy their work, and customers buy from people they like.

Do you know where you are going? Do you have a plan on how you will get there? Once a goal is set and put in writing, that goal is already 50% accomplished.

Without a “treasure chest,” we are all just one bad job away from going out of business.

Throughout the years of business, we have all made mistakes. Just like when I get together with friends, and one of us makes a mistake.

When the economy is good, it seems anyone can run a business. However, when the economy sinks and the waters get rough, only the strongest survive.

Have you ever done something you thought wasn’t possible, but then you did it? Then, when you looked back, you thought, “Wow, how did I do that?”

Whether or not you survive in business is really kind of simple. You must take in more cash than you pay out.

When a tree stops growing, it dies. If a tree grows too fast, it must be trimmed or it can get top heavy and collapse. A company is similar to a tree, when you think about it.

Do you take work from contractors or customers who you know, in the past, have been problematic contractors?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all we had to do to build a successful business is work hard?

Does this sound familiar? I have written tips similar to this. However, I don’t think it sunk into a lot of contractors’ minds. So, here it comes from another angle.

With the lack of work to bid, regulations, inflation, and health care costs, many of us get so tied up in mere survival that we forget we must remain positive.

If you work hard, you deserve what you get. It took some time for me to believe that. And I have a theory as to why it took so long.

America, 1984. Ronald Reagan crushed Mondale at the polls; the first Apple Macintosh went on sale; and I started up Lang Masonry in rural Watertown, Ohio.

Do you ever wonder why so many contractors are running non-profit businesses these days? Whatever the case, it doesn’t have to be that way.

When a position comes open in your company, do you promote someone from the inside, or go outside to find the talent?

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2013 MCAA Convention in Las Vegas.

Do you have something that just isn’t working? How far down will you go until you make the necessary changes?

As I write this article, it is Election Day in the U.S.A! Stuck on Chicago’s O’Hare Airport runway, I am pondering the outcome of the election tonight.

What do we do when it seems like nothing can go right? I can tell you what I did. I started from the basics and retrained my mind.

I still hear our people telling customers, “We can’t do that,” like it’s been programmed into us. It drives me absolutely crazy.

When you don’t have enough work to do, you will make work out of what you have to do. That’s what my mom told me years ago.

“How quickly can you do this job?” We hear this daily. It's great to be an optimist, but this is no time to answer the general contractor with optimistic time lines.

Proper planning prevents poor performance. Lang Masonry Contractors recently experienced first-hand the the issues that failing to plan can create.

How frugal are you when it comes to spending? Do you buy what you want or what you need?

When the economy dropped, like most other businesses, we had to make some painful management decisions.

One thing is almost over in all parts of the country, and it’s something everyone reading this article can help bring to an end more quickly: bidding work under costs.

A manager came to me recently with a terrible employee morale problem that he wasn’t sure how to fix. After asking several questions, the problem revealed itself.

Like cars, trucks, tractors and cranes, mixers are not what they used to be. Some are built on price, some on ergonomics, and some on quality.

Be careful of the words you say; keep them short and sweet. For you never know from day to day, which ones you will have to eat!

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2012 MCAA Convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

When you are under the gun, it doesn’t matter if it is Sunday or if it is a holiday. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

After being in business for more than 27 years now, I believe the most important quality a leader can have is honesty.

Regardless of how big or small companies were, the ones streamlined with the lowest overhead were best fit to survive this recession.

Hiring employees for your business isn’t hard, but keeping them happy is a never-ending job.

Has this recession kicked you in the teeth like it has almost every contractor in the country? Have you hit bottom yet? And, where is the bottom?

How far do you go to please your customers? One thing in business never changes: The Customer is always No. 1.

With all the bad economic news out there caused by things totally out of our control, one must keep a healthy mind by focusing on “feeling good.”

I network with business people from all over the country, and I’ve discovered something: The ones doing the best are goofy.

Tremendous service builds rapport with customers,, all because they made their customers’ jobs easy!

We cannot survive going forward with a guesstimate. In today’s business climate, you’ve got to estimate, not guesstimate.

Once you have the project, where do you risk losing the most money? The good job, or the bad one?

At what point do you give up on a potential job? When the customer won’t return your calls concerning your bid? When you’re told you weren’t the low bidder?

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2011 MCAA Convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

Do you have a plan — a goal — as to where you want to go? Or, are you just waiting to see where you end up?

A few months ago, I wrote about how we have to be willing to change. Now, after some soul searching, I have to be ready to take my own medicine.

Even in these tough times, when the bad things happen that are out of our control, we’ve just got to “Do It Anyway” to survive.

In a time when there is so much negativity, staying positive seems to lift people up. However, staying positive doesn’t mean there aren’t changes needed to survive.

No one dreamed the Titanic would go down, but it did. Do you have leaks in your ship? If so, are you fixing them, or waiting until you can’t keep it afloat?

Would you ever play poker with your cards exposed? If you play cards like that, your chance of winning is very slim. The same is true on a construction project.

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2010 MCAA Midyear Meeting in Chicago, Ill.

Profits are down, regulations are up, workloads are slim, building owners are demanding more for less, we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and I am telling you not to worry about it.

Mixers are no longer disposable as mason contractors demand more from manufacturers.

Remember those hot summer afternoons on the jobsite? Were you productive for those few hottest hours of the day? If the weather is in doubt, we sit it out.

Do you close the deal and get that contract? Or, do you just send out the bid in hopes that the owner or general contractor received it and will give you the job?

Tough competition, tight bids, fewer jobs…and the mason contractors we are competing against are idiots. Did I miss anything?

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2010 MCAA Convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

Do your customers know you are thrilled to be doing their work? Or, do you just complain about everything they do, and then ask them for that next extra work order?

The economy is brutal. Bidding is tight, and you are finally the low bidder on a big job. Life is good, until you find you missed something. Do you take the job anyway?

The report of the MCAA Marketing Committee presented at the 2009 Midyear Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

The MCAA Marketing Committee continues to be one of the most active and exciting committees within the association.