"I think it would have made me look over the horizon more, and it would have made me more aware of the correct processes in preparing for a project like this," he admits.
The course in question is the first of its kind in the construction industry. Fourteen people from various disciplines and companies came together at Henley Management College for a gruelling course designed to incubate the sort of leaders the industry needs: charismatic, inspirational, daring, caring and opposed to the silo mentality that afflicts construction. Six times over the last 18 months these professionals, holding down busy day jobs, kissed partners and kids goodbye on Sunday nights to drive to Henley for intense residential modules.
In 1999 the Design Build Foundation decided to invent a course for promising people in mid-career. Henley Management College was chosen for its MBA reputation. Called the Project Team Leadership Programme, the course focuses less on the minutiae of running projects and more on the softer issues of strategy, motivation and leadership, overlaid with the DBF's collaborative values. The DBF, now Collaboration for the Built Environment (or Be) after its merger with the Reading Forum, at first had trouble recruiting students. Companies had to sponsor their employees and it was a big commitment at around £12,000 for tuition, especially if fee-earners are dividing their attention on a course. But Be members eventually coughed up and now the first cohort of 14 is graduating from the pilot programme, which is also the first year of an MBA at Henley. We talked to three of them to find out what they learned.
Leaders are made, not born
As project director for the Millennium Bridge Trust, Malcolm Reading was certainly in the hot seat, dealing with almost as much chaos and shrill publicity as the Dome builders. That's why for him, one of the most revealing experiences at Henley involved an in-depth study of the BT Challenge round-the-world yacht race, where crews are placed under similarly strict pressure to perform.
"The skippers had certain intuitive skills," Reading said, "but what amazed me was just how good they were at conducting formal exercises in management. Crisis management, conflict management, programming. I always thought leaders were born but there's a lot of stuff you can learn."
Everyone joined the course for selfish reasons but Reading's motivations were somehow more selfish than others. As founder and managing director of his own company he was unique among his fellow students. He saw the course as a source of inspiration for taking his small company into the next growth phase. As such it worked. It pushed him to turn Malcolm Reading Associates into a limited company and offer employees equity in the business. It also forced him to delegate client care. In short, he now has a business plan. Having got over the more self-serving part, Reading started a process of more profound discovery into the inner workings of leadership, learning that people have triggers and drives which could be understood and manipulated to get the best out of the team.
I used to think a team was a team. not now
Malcolm Reading
"I used to think a team was a team, with natural and fixed limitations. I don't believe that any longer."
Follow your heart
For Nick Pettit, 35, the course opened a really difficult can of worms. As his soul was being scoured in the regime of self-discovery the course imposed, he realised he didn't like his job anymore. He was working for Wates as a technical adviser, and he was frustrated at being too far down the project chain of influence.
"My work-life balance was off," he said. "I wasn't walking in the door and smiling. I wasn't enjoying having small children. Basically I was not content in work."
The problem was that Henley opened his eyes to the bright world of strategic business leadership. Henley helped him understand how boards of directors see the world. It made him want to help clients at a strategic level.
"By the time you commission a building you're already a quarter of the way into a project life-cycle. Looking at it that way at Wates I would be getting involved half-way through the project. I wanted in on that first quarter."
So even though Wates had stumped up the £12,000 tuition fee and supported him with mentoring, he quit, and joined Davis Langdon Everest as a senior project manager. He agonised over the decision, but Henley had made it very clear what he wanted to do with his life. He joined DLE, taking a £10,000 per year pay cut. He's been there four months now and he's got three projects on the go. He said Wates was very generous and didn't demand its money back.
these relationships will pay dividends
Allan Davey
Pettit has come a long way in his career. He left school at 16 with one 'O' level. He apprenticed as a joiner and then did an HNC in building surveying. After working at an architectural practice for 12 years he joined Wates as a design manager. He says contractors need to undergo a similar journey in order to offer project management services to their clients.
"Contractors can do it and they want to be doing it," he said, "but they haven't got the skills yet. They are still not letting quieter voices come to the fore, repeating themselves more loudly if they're not getting their point across."
Not everyone's a project manager
Allan Davey used to work alongside Nick Pettit. Davey manages design at Wates and has a special interest in bringing Wates to the point Pettit describes. He credits the Henley course with revealing how to serve clients effectively.
"Everyone calls themselves project managers but they're not really," he said. "They all do a little bit of the role well. A good builder will care most about the programme. A QS will focus on cost. An architect on the look. We need a fundamental shift to the client's perspective."
As a Henley assignment, Davey is trying to prepare Wates for that role. He is working with another course participant, Andrew Pooley, a project manager with client Slough Estates, on what the market feels defines a leading-edge design and build provider.
Davey admits it's difficult to answer definitively how sending him on the Henley course will benefit Wates. But he suspects the benefits will be profound. His work with Pooley is an early indication of a profitable alliance.
"Even if it's only an opportunity to tender for a job with Slough Estates, at least we have the beginnings of a relationship. One successful bid will pay for my tuition. There is no instant return but those relationships will pay dividends."
Source
Construction Manager
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