It's not every night that construction leaders take center stage, but four industry icons received the red carpet treatment at May 18th's CLC event. An Evening with Industry Icons was held at the Muvico Rosemont 18 and some of construction's most successful voices shared their wisdom with the crowd.

 

This Spring's panel featured Ian Lamp of Lamp Incorporated; Mike Lombard of The Lombard Company; Jim McShane of McShane Construction; and Keith Miller of K.R. Miller Contractors. Each of the panelists shared his personal experience of leading a business and navigating the industry. Topics ranged from the importance of having a solid marketing platform to the impact that technology will have on the industry moving forward.

 

"You can't have the right person in the wrong place," said Miller, as his peers nodded in agreement. There's more to leading an organization than spotting talent; you have to envision where that talent will thrive. 

 

Lombard said that culture is one of the most important aspects of a business and will determine if you can maintain your business.

 

"We are people building for people," he said. Asked what advice he would give to a someone just starting out, Lombard said he tells every new employee, "If you don't know, ask."

 

Lamp's comments focused a great deal on the importance of following your heart loving what you do.

 

"I've always told my children, two of them are here, to go out and find [their] passion and if you work your passion, you'll never work a day in your life. I'd love you to be the fourth generation of the firm, but if you're not, I'd be the first to fire you." 

  

The leaders also had heartening words to say about that ever-so-controversial generation, the Millennials. 

 

"I kind of wish I were a Millennial," commented McShane, after sharing his view that Millennials are hard-working, contrary to popular opinion. "Either we have a weird group of Millennials or they do care what they're working on. The lights are still on at midnight but maybe they were out picking up their sick kid from school for two hours. Maybe our families suffered and these Millennials have a different view on life."

 

Thank you to our Industry Icons for taking the time to share your wisdom with our CLC-ers! Many, many thanks for Assurance Agency for sponsoring the event. Keep an eye out for information about our summer CLC philanthropy event!