Real Estate and Construction
Teamwork
How to lead an empowered work force
By Abby Cymerman
Smart Business St. Louis | November 2008
Page 1 of 2
Tracy Hart
co-owner, president and CEO, Tarlton Corp.
Tracy Hart is not one to hogall the credit for a job well done.
Instead, the co-owner, president and CEO of Tarlton Corp. isfirst in line to give credit wherecredit is due.
“It comes into play all thetime,” she says. “For instance,somebody will say to me, ‘Youdid a great job on XYZ project,’and the best thing I can do is tosay, ‘We had a very talentedteam on that job.’ It certainlyisn’t my credit. I didn’t build thejob.”
Hart says it takes a healthydose of humility to lead her300 employees at her family’sgeneral contracting and construction management firm,which posted fiscal 2007 revenue of $108 million. And it’snot important that a leader becredited with every success.
“If you’re not worried aboutthat, then you’re going to dowhat’s in the best interest ofthe company,” she says. “Ifyou can think company first,that’s exciting.”
Smart Business spoke withHart about how to build a solidteam and why it’s important toacknowledge others’ success.
Acknowledge the success of others. It’s fun when you say, ‘Andthis team came up with thisgreat idea.’ If they had a success, share that with folks. Itgives away your power, andempowerment is fun.
We have the Monday morning memo, a weekly one-page memo that goes toeverybody in the companyby e-mail or hard copy forour job sites, and it talksabout our successes. Ourexecutive assistant collectsthe information, and anybody can put something in it.We’ve been doing it for atleast six or seven yearsbecause people need toknow what’s going on.
It’s important to communicate important informationthat your employees need ona weekly basis. When thingsstarted going electronic, westopped doing the company’squarterly newsletter, andusually, by the time it cameout, the information was oldanyway.
Talk and listen. Communicationis the key to collaborationbecause you have to spendtime talking to your teamabout all of the issues surrounding whatever it isyou’re leading. I go to different job sites, and I walkaround the building. Part ofit is discipline because it’seasy to hide behind our e-mails and not get out andtalk to people.
I do things like turning offthe computer when employees come in my office. It’sthat eye-to-eye contact. It’snot checking my Treo. Allthose things are just plaingood listening skills.
And then, I believe thatnone of us is as smart as all of us. You have to be willingto listen to ideas and suggestions and vet those ideas as agroup. Then you build consensus on what the appropriate solution is. When you dothings like that, it helps yougroom future leaders, aswell. Nobody has to be theman behind the curtain.
