Ryan Englin on Construction Champions Podcast: Are You Really Burned Out?

I went on the Construction Champions Podcast with Ron Nussbaum to talk about why so many construction business owners feel burned out and what that burnout actually signals about their culture, their vision, and their ability to attract and keep great people.

Here's what I know after almost a decade of doing this work. Most owners don't have a burnout problem. They have a clarity problem. They lost sight of why they started the business in the first place. I was on a coaching call right before this episode, and a client started telling me about his purpose. He said he loves helping people, loves creating opportunity for his team, loves the adventure of waking up every morning to something different. Then he stopped and said, "I've lost sight of that." He choked up. That's when I know we're doing our job. That emotion tells me we've hit the core.

When owners get consumed by the day-to-day, by the fires, by the projects running behind, by the team needing them every five minutes, they go numb to the things that actually drive them. And here's the ripple effect nobody talks about. When you lose that clarity, your people feel it. If you're not attracting good people, it's probably because you're not attractive to good people. People don't leave jobs. They leave people. They want to work for someone real. Someone who knows where they're going and why.

Ron and I spent a good chunk of the conversation on authenticity. Every employer I talk to says the same thing. "I wish candidates would just be honest with me." Then I ask about their interview process and they tell me they clean up the desk, hide Johnny in the back room because he curses too much, and put on a show. You want authenticity from candidates but you won't give it yourself? That math doesn't work.

I told the story about an electrical contractor I was sitting in an interview with. He starts dropping violent f-bombs out of nowhere during the interview. His logic was solid. They curse a lot and he wanted to know if the candidate could handle it. I told him I loved the intent but let's put that energy where it belongs. Let's update your job postings to reflect who you actually are. He pushed back hard. "You can't put that in a job ad." I said if you won't put it in your marketing, you need to ask yourself if it belongs in your workplace. That's recruiting as marketing in action. Your job ad is a commercial for your company. It needs to represent the real thing, not a sanitized version.

Another client, a mechanical contractor, refused to tell customers they were hiring. "We can't let our customers know we don't have enough people." So instead, customers call and hear "we'll see you in three weeks." That's not protecting your brand. That's letting fear run your business.

This all comes back to what we call the core. At Core Matters, we spend the majority of our time with clients on three things. Vision. Purpose. Values. Where is your company going? Why do you get out of bed every morning to do what you do? And what behaviors define how you operate?

I used the bus analogy Jim Collins made famous, but I extended it. Collins talks about getting the right people on the bus. The leadership team. But the bus has a lot more than four or five seats. You need your superintendents, your foremen, your craft workers, and your laborers excited about the destination too. If they're not clear on where the bus is going, they will get off at the first sign of trouble. First delayed project. First safety incident. First communication breakdown. Gone.

I shared a story about a client who hired someone for a key office position. Six weeks in, the guy turned in his notice. Didn't even give a full two weeks. He never stopped looking. He got on the bus with a gut feeling it wasn't the right one. That tells me the core story wasn't communicated well enough during the hiring process. If people leave that fast, they were never bought in.

When you nail your vision, your purpose, and your values, you can build what we call a core story. That story isn't just for you. It's for your entire team to share. It's what makes your best people your best recruiters. It's what makes candidates choose you over the company offering more money.

Construction is a grind. It's dangerous. It's hard. It's intense. But you chose it for a reason. Every single one of your employees chose it for a reason. When those reasons align, you build the most loyal teams you've ever had.

My book, Hire Better People Faster, came out right around the time this episode aired. I pulled back the curtain on all seven components of the system we take clients through. The entire process, from core work through finding, automating, hiring, onboarding, engaging, and assessing. It's designed so you can implement it yourself.

If you liked this conversation, I go deeper on vision, values, and the real reasons people leave on Titans of the Trades.