In the 1950s, Peter Kiewit built one of America's largest construction companies. Not with better equipment. Not with more capital.

With a card he carried in his billfold.

It was yellow and black. Small enough to fit in your wallet. And it contained the most important words in construction leadership.

Today, I'm giving you that same card.

Why Kiewit?

I grew up in South Louisiana. After Hurricane Katrina, a friend drove me to a job site where the Army Corps of Engineers was building massive pump stations.

At the end of a winding stone access road through the marsh, I saw something I'd never seen before: hundreds of construction professionals in the most organized, meticulously clean work environment I'd ever witnessed. Yellow and black trucks everywhere.

Kiewit had come to town.

I've watched a lot of contractors work over the years. Kiewit is different. Not just the equipment or the systems - it's how they operate. There's a culture you can feel but can't quite name.

That culture started with Pete Kiewit and a small card he gave to every person in his organization.

I found the story in "The Kiewit Story" by Hollis Limprecht - a book that should be required reading for every contractor who wants to build something that lasts beyond their own career.

Side One: Your Greatest Asset

"GOOD HEALTH is your most valuable asset. EXCESS WEIGHT is your greatest liability. MODERATION in all of your personal habits is essential to GOOD HEALTH."

Kiewit put health first on the card. Not productivity. Not profit. Health.

This was radical in the 1950s. It's still radical today.

Most contractors treat their bodies like rental equipment. Eighty-hour weeks, skipped meals, ignored sleep. Then they wonder why they're exhausted at 45.

Kiewit understood: Your health is the foundation everything else is built on. Without it, you're playing on borrowed time.

Side Two: The Words That Matter

We Believe: The least important word is WE the two most important words are THANK YOU; the three most important words are IF YOU PLEASE; the four most important words are WHAT IS YOUR OPINION; the five most important words are YOU DID A GOOD JOB; the six most important words are I ADMIT I MADE A MISTAKE."

WE - Teams accomplish what individuals never could. Ego kills companies.

THANK YOU - Two words that cost nothing and change everything.

IF YOU PLEASE - Courtesy isn't weakness. It's respect. You can demand results without being a jerk.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? - The people closest to the work have the best ideas. This isn't politeness - it's how you surface information from the people who actually know what's happening.

YOU DID A GOOD JOB - Specific recognition matters. People remember genuine praise for years.

I ADMIT I MADE A MISTAKE - Everyone screws up. Great leaders own it immediately.

The Problem We Don't Talk About

We're so busy we forget to tell people they did a good job.

You've got a superintendent who just crushed a difficult pour. Perfect finish. Ahead of schedule. What do you say?

Usually nothing. You're already thinking about the next problem. The late supplier. The change order dispute. The crew that's short-handed next week.

Meanwhile, that superintendent wonders if you even noticed.

Or worse - you noticed, appreciated it, but never said anything because you were busy. And six months later, he's taking calls from your competitor who tells him how valuable he is.

The same thing happens with "thank you." How many times this week did someone on your team do exactly what they were supposed to do? Show up on time, run a tight crew, keep the site clean, handle a problem without bothering you?

We notice. We appreciate it. We just don't say it.

Kiewit understood something fundamental: Recognition isn't a nice-to-have. It's how you retain your best people and reinforce the behaviors that make money.

When you tell someone "you did a good job" with specificity - not generic praise, but "that's exactly how we want every pour to look" - you're doing three things:

1. Confirming they did what you actually wanted (important when you're not there)

2. Creating a standard they'll try to match every time

3. Making them want to keep working for you

And it takes fifteen seconds.

These phrases are how Kiewit scaled himself - creating a culture that ran the same way whether he was on-site or not.

How It Actually Worked

Kiewit didn't just hand out cards and hope for the best. According to Buckley's book, he built an entire training system around these principles.

Starting in 1944, PKS ran formal training sessions - annual meetings, supervisory conferences, a four-week construction seminar called "charm school" where district managers, regional managers, and vice presidents learned not just construction skills, but how to lead people.

The card was a reminder of what they learned. A commitment mechanism you carried in your wallet.

At the 1970 construction seminar, Kiewit told attendees: "I am sure you realize that this is a new and unproven effort on our part to invest wisely some of your and other stockholders' money. It is an expensive effort and cannot be justified if it does not result in helping you do a better job."

He wasn't being humble. He was being clear: This investment in people only works if you actually use it.

Then he said: "Hopefully, these little cards will be placed in your billfold and referred to occasionally — as a reminder that at PKS the training process never ends."

Seventy-five years later, Kiewit is still around. Still growing. Still training people with these same principles.

That's not luck. That's culture that outlasted the founder.

Your Card

Print this. Carry it. Use it.

Side One: Your health is your most valuable asset.

Side Two:

• WE

• THANK YOU

• IF YOU PLEASE

• WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?

• YOU DID A GOOD JOB

• I ADMIT I MADE A MISTAKE

Start with two this week:

Tell someone "thank you" for something specific they did right.

Tell someone "you did a good job" and explain exactly what they did well.

Simple isn't the same as easy.

Thanks for reading. See you next week!

Source: This newsletter is based on Chapter IX "Classrooms for Construction" from "The Kiewit Story" by Hollis Limprecht. If you want to understand how one of America's greatest construction companies was built, read that book.

In Case You Missed It:

Tough Jobs Make Tough Contractors

Software Is Becoming Labor

My Roots

40 lessons from construction (at 40)

Enjoyed this newsletter? Forward it to a friend and have them sign up here!

About the Author

Tristan Wilson is the CEO and Founder of Edgevanta. We make AI agents for civil estimating. He is a 4th Generation Contractor, construction enthusiast, ultra runner, and bidding nerd. He worked his way up the ladder at Allan Myers in the Mid-Atlantic and his family’s former business Barriere Construction before starting Edgevanta in Nashville, where the company is based. Reach out to him at [email protected]