Leadership Presence: An important skill for project managers in a construction management firm

Spotlight on William A. Berry & Son

You’d probably guess that the work of a construction management firm like William A. Berry & Son, based in Danvers, Massachusetts, is all about building tangible things, like hospitals, universities, and corporate facilities—and you’d be right. But it’s just as much about building relationships.

Whether they’re pursuing new work through client interviews, troubleshooting on-site, or consulting with subcontractors, project managers at Berry need skills and confidence in communicating and connecting with people. In short, they need presence.

Berry understands this, which is why Christina Carico, the firm’s Director of Special Projects, was charged with initiating a training program that specifically addressed this need. Carico hired Carla Kimball, who developed a yearlong, once-a-month program in presence-building skills targeted to project managers and managers-in-training.

“Our people are often on the spot handling tough situations, dealing with people who have many different styles that they need to be able to adapt to,” says Carico. “One of the qualities that helps people succeed in navigating those relationships is a sense of presence and being able to establish an instant sense of trust. Some of it is tangible skills—eye contact, a firm handshake, cadence of speech—but some of it comes from deep inside, a sense of comfort in themselves. Carla helps develop that.”

Josie Corcoran from the first year's Presence group delivering a slide show presentation at Berry's 2006 company-wide Safety Dinner.

In the program, which is now in its second year, participants learn the fundamentals of presence and practice handling the kinds of day-to-day communications they deal with on the job, from facilitating meetings with clients to conversations with colleagues. The program culminates with each participant creating a presentation that is delivered first to an audience of their choosing and then to the entire company. Carla also coached the first-year group in preparing for mock client interviews conducted with an in-house team. Carico says that those who worked with the seven participants in the first “Presence Group” report a marked improvement in their confidence and people skills.

Traci Jaroszewicz from the second year's Presence Group speaking at the company-wide 2007 Safety Dinner.

“I see this as having a ripple effect,” Carico says. “It helps people in handling day-to-day situations and raises their self-awareness, and the seeds Carla plants will percolate for the rest of their careers. The people who go through her training are better role models for young people in the firm who will eventually work for them.”

Carico says Carla is helping the company make a cultural shift that is also occurring in the industry as a whole. “It’s a very competitive marketplace and we have to be savvy people-wise,” she says. “Just Carla’s being here says to people, ‘This is important.’”

For more information about William A. Berry & Son, founded in 1857, visit http://www.berry.com.

Spotlight on William A. Berry & Son