The following article originally appeared in the January newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.The phrase “company culture” appears regularly in business literature. Senior leaders regularly use it too, and acknowledge the importance of having a strong company culture. But it is worthwhile, as this new and more challenging year begins, to examine the meaning of these words and the actions they mandate.Google the phrase and you will find many helpful definitions. Synthesizing, they all contain statements that company cultures flow from the beliefs, values and attitudes of the owners and leaders that result in consistent behaviors toward each other and all company team members toward customers, toward businesses partners and toward their industry and community.
The following article originally appeared in the December newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.Dan Gilbane’s tweet carried the good news; so did his Linkedin post. Soon it was on the company’s website: “ENR honors Gilbane’s Charlie Nelson with Legacy Award.” All privileged to know this humble, authentic, and consistently effective leader are on our feet in a thunderous, prolonged standing ovation, some with tears in our eyes. Never has an individual been more worthy.The award recognizes an industry veteran, with many years of experience and extensive contributions to the industry and the community. Charlie significantly exceeds those standards. He is a 54-year veteran, the first 34 with Lott, the last 20 with Gilbane. He has been both a field engineer and a president, and the list of projects he has successfully shepherded is staggering.
December 23, 2015
Our construction industry has always needed legal access to immigrants, never more so than today. We all need to rally behind the efforts to obtain some legal status for those here now and those we need to bring tomorrow. Immigrants make outstanding citizens, in most cases, and build organizations that prosper, continuously create jobs and make our industry stand very tall.
November 27, 2015
Editor’s note: The following remarks were presented by Pat Kiley at the SER-Jobs for Progress 50th Anniversary “Building Our Workforce” Gala on Oct 16, 2015.In his current New York Times bestseller, The Road to Character, heralded author, David Brooks, reprinted this quote: “What people of character say about themselves, is the smallest part of what people of character give of themselves. People of character let their actions and their behaviors make their statements.” And by this standard, the family that we honor here tonight – this Tellepsen Family; these second-, third-, and fourth-generation descendants of immigrants from Norway; this family of demonstrated character by this high standard – is writing a body of work equal to any of the great literary or symphonic achievements.It is evident that they have been given a strong value-based foundation, values of faith, family, service to others and learning. It is also evident that they have been exhorted since their earliest days to “be involved with something bigger than themselves” and to “give when they did not have so they would be sure to give when they did.”
November 13, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the October newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.Now it’s Volkswagen; they have been deliberately cheating, spending corporate money to consciously violate the law. This news broke shortly after GM and Toyota paid fines respectively of $900 Million and $1.2 Billion for deliberate cover ups of their ignition problems that also resulted in several hundred deaths. These headlines bring back memories of the Ford/Pinto scandal, another deliberate cover-up of problems that resulted in deaths.Then there are the wimpy wonders of Wall Street, those brilliant minds that by their marginal schemes and lack of leadership guts brought us the markets of 2009-2012, the greatest financial collapse since the great depression. They now whine that they are “victims” of too many regulations as the five leading global banks paid fines of $5.7 Billion for deliberately manipulating the foreign exchange rates. And then there is “Deflate Gate.”
October 23, 2015
Pat Kiley points out the positive elements of the current economy in Texas, in spite of the current downturn in the oil and gas industry.
October 02, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the August newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.In this final article on Succession Planning, which we reiterate is THE hallmark of all successful organizations, we want to discuss two things: the critical steps that must occur when there is a change in the CEO role and ownership structure; and the critical relationship between the successor and the succeeded – this is key especially in a CEO change, but also important at all levels. Space and unequivocal support are the right approaches for the succeeded.Change of control in the CEO position impacts all major constituencies – employees, clients, building partners and professional partners. In privately-held and family-held companies, this is almost always a three part process: Succession (selection of the person); Business Continuity (transferring the bonding and banking responsibilities); and Ownership Transfer (sale and purchase of stock, which also can lead to changes in the board structure). Specialized legal counsel should be involved as many legal documents must be properly executed. Hopefully, especially at this level, the transition has been well planned, the successor well-mentored and coached, and everyone impacted well-prepared in advance. The actual occurrence is seamless. However, sometimes tragedy necessitates this action occurring rapidly.
August 21, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the July newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.This article continues the discussion of succession planning, reinforcing that it is the hallmark of all successful organizations, and that it is an inherent responsibility of senior leaders to ensure successors are in place for continuity and survival.Last month we discussed identifying your talent pool, particularly your high-potentials and then assigning coaches and mentors as appropriate. In this article, we will discuss methods of preparing those selected, in coordination their coaching and mentoring.The most proven method is to give them experiences that are directly related to the challenges they will face in their next role.
July 31, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the June newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.Last month, we introduced the subject of succession planning, a topic that will take several articles to cover. Key points are that succession planning is the hallmark of companies that move to the more respected status of becoming organizations, with foundations that last generations. In its most comprehensive form, it has three components: Succession Planning (identifying the people), a Business Continuity Plan (bonding and insurance considerations), and Ownership Transfer (sale of stock). The primary focus of these articles will be the people side, because it is a key part of any leader’s portfolio to create the future leaders for their organization, their division or their individual role.
June 18, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the May newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.Succession planning is a phrase that appears regularly in management literature and as a seminar topic. It is also the hallmark of companies that want to become true organizations, with foundations solid and deep enough to sustain themselves for generations. Succession involves many components. Some are financial (sale of shares); several are legal (contracts, minutes new corporate resolutions), and other actions affect the governance structure (new board members). These initial areas primarily affect top levels of succession. But every level of succession planning involves the careful selection and preparation of the successor(s) so that the business and the culture can continue and thrive, and employees can remain comfortable and committed.Many Houston companies are in the midst of this issue right now – most on an accelerated pace.
May 27, 2015
