Your best leaders aren't out there. They're already working for you.

Many contractors believe top talent comes from outside their organization. My experience proves otherwise. The strongest leaders I know almost all grew up in their companies, learning the culture, people, and work from the ground up.

I discovered this truth during my near five years at the Mid-Atlantic's largest heavy civil contractor. They knew I'd return to our family business, but they invested in me anyway. What they taught me about developing leaders transformed how I think about our industry.

Why Leadership Development Matters

Some companies seem to have an endless pipeline of great leaders while others struggle to fill key positions. The difference? How they develop talent from within.

Their Emerging Leaders and Advanced Leaders programs showed me this firsthand. Picture sitting across from the company's owner at dinner as he shares stories about starting the business on a farm and building it into an industry leader. The next day, you're reviewing financials with the CFO and visiting jobsites across three states. A week later, you're learning how a superintendent manages a $200M interchange project and discussing risk management with the surety company.

This wasn't death by PowerPoint training. It was a practical MBA in construction leadership, taught by people doing the work. The division manager running 10 asphalt plants showed us his minute by minute schedule and how he handled difficult conversations. Each session revealed another piece of how successful leaders think and work.

Finding Your Why

Viktor Frankl, who survived the Holocaust, wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning that someone with a strong enough "why" can endure almost any "how." The best leadership programs help people discover their purpose. When you understand why you're doing what you're doing, showing up at 5 AM for a concrete pour takes on new meaning.

The program developed us as complete leaders - better managers, spouses, parents, and community members. Through 360-degree evaluations and detailed career planning, we learned about ourselves and our potential. The reading list included practical guides like Getting Things Done and relationship builders like How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Their message was clear: "We see your potential, and we're investing in your total growth."

What Makes Leadership Development Work

Here's what I've learned creates lasting impact:

Start with Values: Define your company's core values and mission first. These become the foundation for everything that follows.

Share Real Stories: Have your best people tell true stories about their failures, successes, and daily challenges. When executives show up and engage, it signals commitment.

Open the Books: Trust emerging leaders with real business information. Show them financials, introduce them to partners, and demonstrate how decisions get made.

Build Cross-Team Connections: Create opportunities for people from different departments to work together. Some of my strongest professional relationships came from meeting colleagues in field management, accounting, HR, and operations I'd never have encountered otherwise.

Focus on the Whole Person: Include resources that develop communication, planning, and decision-making skills for all aspects of life. One aggregates company brought in Alabama's strength coach to fire up their leadership team.

Create Memorable Experiences: Site visits, executive dinners, and special projects stick with people longer than classroom sessions.

Provide Practical Tools: Give people systems and frameworks they can use immediately in their daily work.

Show Clear Career Paths: Match emerging leaders with mentors who guide their progress and check in regularly.

Never Stop Growing: Leadership development isn't a one-time program - it's a career-long journey. Don't limit it to managers - your best operators and craftspeople need development too. New hires need management skills, mid-career leaders need strategic thinking, and veterans need to learn how to develop others. When growth stops, people leave.

The Return on Investment

When we brought these principles back to our family business, we adapted them to fit our culture while keeping the core idea: investing in people today creates great leaders tomorrow.

The results speak for themselves. Higher retention. Better engagement. Most importantly, people who see their work as more than just a job. When someone knows you care about their total development, not just their productivity, they'll run through walls for you. In today's market, where headhunters constantly call your best people, these programs create loyalty money can't buy. 

Leaving to come back home was one of my hardest decisions. These weren't just colleagues anymore - they were mentors who had invested in my growth and friends who had shared both tough days and victories. That's what happens when you build a culture focused on developing people: you create bonds that run deeper than work. Many of those relationships continue today.

Your Move

What are you doing to develop your next generation of leaders? Have you defined your core values? Are you getting buy-in from leaders and high potentials in shaping your company's future?

Building great construction leaders isn't just about profits and cranking out work - it's about creating a legacy that extends beyond the job site. It's about getting the right people on your team and giving them compelling reasons to stay.

Share your thoughts with me. I'd love to hear your experience.

Warmly,

Tristan

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership." - Harvey S. Firestone

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About the Author

Tristan Wilson is the CEO and Founder of Edgevanta. We make software that helps contractors win more work at the right price. 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]