In the blog.

Marek Production Conference 2016


What starts here makes us stronger.

More than 50 Marek Leaders convened in Houston on January 27th and 28th to capture the Strength from Within our talented field leadership. The conference focused on getting back to basics – those core best practices used every day at the gangbox.

Attendees included 25 Field Leaders – a sampling of top Foremen, Superintendents and Production Managers from every office – as well as the Mareks, senior executives, Estimating-Project Management, Workforce Development and others.

CEO Stan Marek and COO Mike Holland welcomed participants and shared the 2016 vision with a call to bring the vision to life by giving thanks, making it true and making it happen.

Field Leaders then took center stage in four key breakout sessions over the day and a half conference.

Core Best Practices: Field Leadership at the Gangbox

The first two breakout sessions focused on mining the team’s best practices for daily planning and managing to ensure success: Plan the Work, Work the Plan. Field Leaders detailed every aspect of a successful day on the job.

Challenges and Solutions

Breakout groups then identified current barriers to success and proposed solutions, sharing testimonials about what is currently working to engage their crews, lead and manage production and plan work. Field Leaders also discussed the latest tool and material innovations contributing to better results.

Objectives and Action Plans

During the final third of the conference, leaders tackled how to ensure these best practices become a reality on every job, every day. Breakout groups identified potential short- and long-term action plans and how to determine when progress is made.

What it Takes to be Marek Strong

Throughout the conference, Admiral Bill McRaven’s Top 10 Life Lessons from SEAL Training inspired the team to develop the Marek Strong Top 10. From doing the first thing right to finding something to sing about, the list calls all Marek team members to lead and learn.

Insist on the Best

Closing out the conference, Bruce and Paul Marek noted how in sync the team was and how impressed they both were with the energy and experience in the room and every day on the jobsite, the challenge before the group to pass that on to the next generation of emerging leaders.

Stan reflected he was humbled and blessed to be with a group of people, both within the room and within the greater community of Marek Field Leaders across the company, who embody what makes Marek great – leadership, commitment and integrity.

Mike highlighted the importance of legacy and the urgency behind developing others alongside each Field Supervisor – a leader’s job is not just to perform well him or herself, but to bring the best out of other people. He challenged the team to keep moving the ball, keep learning and insist on the best – from their crews, from each other and those who lead them. Never settle. Insist on the best.

What starts here makes us stronger.