Layla McGlone - People. Process. Profits.

Having witnessed her family lose their home, property, and retirement plan during the 2008 recession, Layla McGlone vowed to help others avoid this fate. As the CEO of Building Excellence, this veteran coach champions construction companies to grow their teams and profits. She empowers owners to optimize their resources, simplify processes and run a "rinse and repeat" business with a thriving team. 

The majority of Layla’s career has been in communication, including different fields from broadcast news to radio; corporate team development; the mentoring of nonprofit teams and ultimately to coaching and consulting of business owners. She has been coaching since 2007 and consulting within the construction industry since 2017.  

Layla is joining us today to talk a bit about business growth, and challenges within construction companies so it’s my pleasure to welcome her to the show. 

Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
I think honestly, everything in life, whether you're in business or not, it's all about people. It's all about relationships. And if we aren't at our best, and we're only as good as our weakest member on our team, and so investing in yourself as a leader and as a business owner, and investing in the people you employ, is so vital to the health of any business that people feel valued, supported and set up for success. I mean, how many of us have had jobs where we don't feel like we're set up for success? And we're usually not, and we don't stay there long. So I like helping people create space for their employees that really set them up for long term success. Welcome to

Narrator  0:45  
cascade views a discussion with Central Oregon leaders. Your host is Michael SIPE, local business and community leader Best Selling Author of the Avada principle and candidate for Oregon State Representative for House District 53, which encompasses southern Redman sisters tremolo in northern bend. The purpose of these discussions is to share the views and insights of local leaders from a variety of community sectors on a range of timely and important regional and state issues. With that, now, here's your host, Michael SIPE.

Michael Sipe  1:19  
This is Michael SIPE, and I'm here with my friend Leila McGlone. Having witnessed her family lose their home property and retirement plan during the 2008 recession. Leila vowed to help others avoid this fate. As the CEO of building excellence, she champions construction companies to grow their teams and profits. She empowers owners to optimize their resources, simplify processes and run a quote unquote rinse and repeat business with a thriving team. The majority of her career has been in communication, including different fields from broadcast news to radio, corporate team development, the mentoring of nonprofit teams, and ultimately, to coaching and consulting business owners. She has been coaching since 2007, and consulting within the construction industry since 2017. Leila is joining us today to talk a bit about business growth, and challenges specifically within construction companies. So it's my pleasure to welcome her to the show. Hi, Leila.

Unknown Speaker  2:20  
Hello, great to be here.

Michael Sipe  2:23  
Let's get started today by you telling us a little bit about your personal journey to becoming a business coach in the construction industry.

Unknown Speaker  2:31  
Well, it's definitely been an interesting time coming to Central Oregon over 20 years ago, it was a season to really reinvent myself coming from broadcast and doing team development nonprofits. I found an open door here to be a director of operations for an international coaching company. And in doing that, I learned such a great way of more quickly growing teams with an intentionality. And as the oh eight recession hit. We all felt so strongly here in Central Oregon watch, so many families leave the area and, and my family included was hit hard. As I watched my parents lose their home and their retirement property. It was sobering to say the least. And I really started to shift my focus of using my coaching and consulting services to really serve people like my parents in construction, wanting to really help anybody else, mitigate those losses and come up with better strategies to have stronger businesses.

Michael Sipe  3:31  
Well, that's pretty interesting. Can you touch just a little bit more on your experience growing up with a dad in the construction business his whole life? How did that impact you in the career choice?

Unknown Speaker  3:42  
My dad's a riot man, he has motivated and inspired me so much. He is a man of true grit and integrity. at 70. Today, he is still pounding nails six days a week, and he doesn't complain. So from a young age, he instilled that work ethic in me. And he opened doors, I started working in high school, cleaning up job sites digging pure black holes, and I helped put myself through college by painting houses. So I'm not by no means a construction expert. But he opened those doors and pave that way. I I don't think I ever saw myself working in construction. And yet, my leadership skills and my corporate experience now marries with that heritage that I grew up with.

Michael Sipe  4:24  
He sounds like a great role model. Actually, I know him and I know he is a great role model. But shifting gears just a little bit walk us through your process. So when a company hires you for your expertise, what are the steps that you take to get started?

Unknown Speaker  4:39  
That's a great question. Every business is slightly unique, but I really do have a five step proprietary process to help people improve their people and their process and really drive profits because that's what they're in business for. Right? We don't do it all for the money but that at the end of the day that needs to happen. So we really start helping teams gain clarity on their true challenge areas, then we move into improving communications, because let's be honest, most business problems at the root are a communication issue. We don't always get it right. And that's okay, we're human. And after we improve those communication processes, we really focus on strategic team building, we apply coaching for greater momentum and accountability. And then finally, it's a refining growth process. So we kind of get all five of those elements working as concentric circles on clarity and communication, team building, coaching, and refining and growing in a constant process.

Michael Sipe  5:39  
Well, it sounds like each company is going to have their own challenges. But if you could kind of clump them together, what are three of the biggest ones that you see that are inherent in each company?

Unknown Speaker  5:50  
For sure, I don't think you can even get outside of the grocery store line without hearing laments right now in Central Oregon, about lack of labor shortages, and not lack of labor, but lack of labor. And it's so true in the construction industry. The other piece is supply chain delays, it is hurting and cramping delivery times, and people who are excellent experts at what they do, aren't being able to show up and do what they do. And last but not least, I really think because of the over stretching and pressures that are on these business owners right now, a lot of their teams are in a dysfunctional state, they've got their eight players wearing six different hats, and teams are really being pushed to their max capacity.

Michael Sipe  6:37  
So in light of all that, because those are all really tough challenges. Where do you start? Like, how do you sit down with a company and say, Okay, let's, let's push here. Let's do this one. First, how do you figure that out?

Unknown Speaker  6:48  
Right. I think some, honestly, some people just come directly and go help us get labor. And I'm not a miracle worker. But I really do help add capacity to their own, that they can stay on the frontlines, and help take over some of the HR demands. But honestly, with most teams, we sit down and we do a complete SWOT analysis. And I also leverage a tool called the core values index, which really is a scientifically founded assessment tool that shows how your team shows up and spends their time and where you can depend on them and where you're going to have challenges. And it gives me a really quick outside insight, as a consultant to come in and help them make some simple shifts that are really equitable and profitable for their team.

Michael Sipe  7:32  
I would agree on the core values index, that's a terrific tool. I've seen it work in companies in all industries. And it's one of our go to recommendations all the time. So it's a great way to spot weak points in a company and in an organization. So with all this work that you do, I bet there's some pretty cool success stories. Can you share a couple of success stories with this,

Unknown Speaker  7:55  
I would love to oh my gosh, I love bragging on my clients, I tell them all the time, they're like the best. I have one company that is now currently employing just over 100 staff right now. But as everybody, especially in 2020, they had so many people not come back to work or you know, want to work remote. And that doesn't really work in construction. So I created six action steps to really building a strong team and this company, unfortunately, they have an incredible HR director and, and she and the owners really set after to intentionally implement all six steps. So they went after really intentionally increasing their communication. So really being transparent with the whole team what their needs are and opening up doors for feedback, sharing what where, where they need that. So they because they're fearful. I think like so many people in construction, they're operating on a lean team and you're fearful burning out your eight players. So they just got really clear with what their needs were. They started creating a referral process that would help their happy existing employees bring in their friends from the outside, and that is really paying off for them and benefiting everybody. They changed the narrative. They stopped just doing traditional job postings, and really started creating an offering and communicating a career opportunity training opportunities. And they've even started working with local schools to create apprentice programs. And so in that in this last year, they have increased their staff by 20%. And yes, they still have had some bad hires where, you know, I talked to their HR director, and she's like, man, now after three days, they go through this and they did a no show. And I think everybody there's no one here that's listening to this that in construction that hasn't had that happen to him. And so we kind of can just chalk that up. But let's face it, not everybody has the grit to do the grind. And so that has just been amazing to watch them because the owner was he goes on I'm not going to compete with fast food companies at this high wage increase just to attract new new labor. And so they've gotten creative. And they've really reached out to their community and to their existing employees. And they've seen a huge change in that. So that's been fun to watch.

Michael Sipe  10:16  
Well, that's really inspiring. I've heard you talk about the three P's a whole lot, if I remember, its people, process and profits. And you talk about that all the time. So fill us in on that. What are the three P's all about?

Unknown Speaker  10:32  
I think, honestly, everything in life, whether you're in business or not, it's all about people. It's all about relationships. And if we aren't at our best, and we're only as good as our weakest member on our team, and so investing in yourself as a leader and as a business owner, and investing in the people you employ, is so vital to the health of any business that people feel valued, supported and set up for success. I mean, how many of us have had jobs, where we don't feel like we're set up for success. And we're usually not, and we don't stay there long. So I like helping people create space for their employees, that really set them up for long term success process is key to everything I work in the construction industry, these guys are the experts, they're the best at what they do. But their processes sometimes get messy. And so coming in to simplify those processes can really improve efficiency, and ultimately save on their bottom line. And if your people and your processes are in alignment, you're gonna see healthier profit margin.

Michael Sipe  11:33  
Well, I sure can agree that those are huge factors in business growth. So let me just begin to wind up here. Talk to us about your mission. What do you hope to see in the next couple of years, maybe with your clients or with your practice, or just just in general an overall picture of what your mission is?

Unknown Speaker  11:53  
I am so excited. I love that question. Because I am so passionate about the potential that is in Central Oregon. And I know that construction is the third fastest growing industry in the state of Oregon. And then within central Oregon. It is the in the top five employers of the region. And so I know that these businesses are critical to the economic health and stability of this region. And so it's my heart to invest in that. So my mission, by the end of 2024, is to come alongside 100 construction owners and help them break out of overwhelm, and to really strengthen their their businesses. And I believe that it is these health, it's healthy businesses in our region, whether you're in construction or not, that are going to sustain our economic development, they're going to support our families here. And they're really the pressure is on them to be the innovators to make away we've got history is faithful to repeat itself, we have clear writing on the wall. And we need business leaders to be leading with excellence to get us all through.

Michael Sipe  12:57  
Well, it's it's clear that you're passionate about this, obviously, the people that you serve are critical to our region, they're really the backbone of our region and of our whole state. So what keeps you going, you know, like, how do you keep that passion and that fire? What do you find to be the most fulfilling thing about your your work as a business coach, particularly in the construction industry,

Unknown Speaker  13:21  
man, I love what I do. I love the people that I serve. But there is nothing like that shift that happens when I when I'm working with a business owner that has finally done some hard work and has increased their capacity through delegation through replicating their their skill set their knowledge transfer, all of a sudden, they're less stressed, they're more confident, and the people they employ and those that they serve, get to benefit in a whole new level of their expertise and the fruit of their work. And so I love that when that all of a sudden they're they're less stressed, they're happy, and they're released to actually build their business and not just do the day to day management of it.

Michael Sipe  14:06  
Last question. If you had one tidbit of advice, you've worked with lots and lots of construction companies, you've you've grown up in the industry, you worked with a lot of quality business owners, a lot of construction companies, if you had one little tip, just a little nugget for construction business owners that are listening today. In the current environment that we have, you know, we face inflation and employee shortages and supply chain challenges and all these things. If you had just one tip for someone today that they could take away and and things would be better. What would you offer?

Unknown Speaker  14:48  
And that is an excellent question. Don't just grin and bear it. It now is the time to come up for a breath of air and get a clear strategy in in place, know that you've got a backup plan, you need to be asking yourself some hard questions right now what decisions can you make? I really believe that decisions we make today determine the sustainability of our business. And I just implore every business owner in Central Oregon construction or not, ask yourself what can I do in the next three, six to nine months that can better secure the financial foundations of my business and sustain my employees, whether that is pre paying your rent, it is moving your inventory, it is leveraging your lines of credit. However, that works best if people need to be asking themselves some of the hard questions not just doing the work. They have more than enough work right now. But do yourself a favor and look ahead a little bit. And I think that'll set you up for greater peace of mind long term.

Michael Sipe  15:53  
Well said Leila, thanks for being on the show today. And also thanks for the work that you do with people who are, are so critical to the health and the economic vibrancy of our region. I think my main takeaway today as it usually is from you, every time we talk, this whole concept of keeping it simple people process and profits, and more explicitly how good people and good processes lead to good profits. I think that's a great takeaway. So thanks very much for being on the show. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. You bet. My guest for the show has been Leila McGlone, founder of building excellence. You can learn more by visiting her website, which is building excellence dot Pro and building excellence dot Pro, very well known for what she does. Thanks for joining us.

Narrator  16:47  
Thanks for listening to cascade views with Michael SIPE. To find out more about Mike the upcoming election. The key issues he's focused on in his campaign to represent Central Oregon and Salem as a state representative. Visit www dot a voice for Central oregon.com that's www dot a voice for Central oregon.com You can get your own copy of Michael sites best selling book the Avada principle@amazon.com. And finally, please vote in the upcoming election. Your Voice Matters