My most personal blog to date - perhaps it resonates?

They say be authentic. Be yourself and bring all of your relevant experiences to the table. BUT what they actually want is for you to conform, to play a predefined role, and to accept the limitations that come with that.

Sound familiar?

By they, I mean society at large. It's not necessarily the fault of small or larger organisations or specific project teams, it’s bigger than this. If you say you're an architect, people just can’t help but assume what that entails. Likewise, if you say you’re an engineer, a project manager, a design manager or anything else - it comes with a predetermined set of parameters.

Not all bad. 

It's helpful that as an architect, nobody assumes that I have the financials of a project completely under control. But, it doesn’t mean that I don’t care, or that I don’t want to be armed with more intelligent information that I can use to improve the design quality and project outcome. I DO want the project to be on budget, and for the programme to reflect the time required to navigate its complexity. But I also want the design, environmental and social agenda to be highly valued - just like the budget and programme are. To have the ability to negotiate the best possible terms for the stakeholder engagement of a project, its design development, and ultimately, its delivery.

Please don’t assume that architects ONLY care about the design at the expense of everything else. If they do, you simply have the wrong design team in place. 

BUT also, please don’t assign an unrealistic budget that may have been acceptable 5 years before you started or that excludes a design and a procurement component that can’t be negotiated once the strategic circumstances surrounding your project become clearer.

As you can probably tell, I’m an advocate for architects who have a grounded perspective of their role as custodians of the built environment. AND I have a deep respect for the experts that must collaborate with architects to form strong and constructive design teams. 

Some of the best design teams that I have had the privilege of working with have been incredibly diverse in their skillsets. This is not a coincidence. 

BUT it is a leadership challenge. 

How do you sensibly bring together such a diverse pool of talent and yet productively move towards a desirable project outcome? It’s tricky, sometimes messy, and at times frustrating. 

By just communicating about design, because as an architect I CAN only contribute to the design outcome - I get very little traction and face the same issue two weeks from now. 

This has been my reality.

I have felt like a courageous leader trapped inside of a role with too many limitations on what I can contribute. I want to help clients to understand how they can best utilise their teams, the talents hidden within, and the impactful role that effective leadership plays in all of this.

I genuinely believe that for many projects, if there are courageous leaders in place, they don’t necessarily have the right support to be truly effective. This harms the leaders, their teams, and ultimately the project outcome. 

Please reach out if you are a courageous leader who is interested in more support.

I am keen to spark conversations for leaders within the built environment so that they can share their experiences and lighten their load. I have written a book that is intended as a pragmatic blueprint to support courageous leaders in pursuit of high-quality project outcomes.

Our industry has some amazing opportunities and challenges ahead, that can use collective wisdom. You can check out my new book BUILD SUCCESS or follow me with the links below. 

Enabling your success!