Members of the Construction Contractors’ Alliance learned from keynote speakerGary Heilthat while leadership traits are important in a leader during periods of change, the environment and attitude of the company can be just as important. He found in his research that people tend to overestimate leadership characteristics and underestimate the impact of environment.

“The attitude of leaders and management team is important,” he told attendees of the Chicago meeting in September. “It’s positive thinking vs. negative thinking.”

The theme of change continued as members heard from Shawn and Matthew Erickson from C.J. Erickson Plumbing Co., and had an opportunity to visit its facilities. Matt recently bought the business from his father.

Attendees also received information from The Fulton Group on outsourcing inventory management. Joe Piro stressed that each company undergo a step-by-step process to determine whether outsourcing is the correct step to take.

The next CCA meeting, which is the group’s 10th anniversary celebration, will be Feb. 27-29, 2008, at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas