Episode 21: Tom Crane
E21: Tom Crane is China Construction America’s Head of Shared Services and Vice President of Human Resources & Communications.
The parent company is the largest construction company in the world.
He forms and provides operational management of the organization’s Shared Services Center functions, while increasing their long-term strategic and operational effectiveness, efficiency and speed of delivery.
Tom is also a member of the board of directors of Plaza Group Holdings, LLC.
He previously served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Skanska USA, where he led a 70-person team and $19 million budget and played a key role in Skanska USA achieving an 85%+ employee engagement level and limiting voluntary salaried employee turnover to 12% per year.
He served as Director of Media Relations for Honeywell.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University.
WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- Why a background in journalism and communications can provide a strategic advantage in the C-Suite.
- How to influence others through your writing.
- What Tom learned working as executive leader for three companies on three continents.
- The moment Tom learned to write under pressure when the stock price was at stake.
- The mental shift you must make to become an effective communicator.
- How to improve your communication by identifying patterns in others.
- What Tom learned from former Honeywell CEO, Larry Bossidy, about leadership.
- The “grassroots” approach to selling your idea to the C-Suite.
- The key for having tough conversations at work.
- When employee turnover is okay and when it’s not.
- The most important data points you should track when it comes to employee turnover.
- How a single relationship Tom built early in his career transformed into a big opportunity.
- How employees from under-represented groups can rise to the C-Suite.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Things to know when writing an email:
- Your mission.
- Your strategy.
- Your intent.
- Your audience.
Then bring all those things together.
Traits Tom would instill in every employee:
- Self-awareness.
- Spending more time thinking about the bigger picture
- Accountability and responsibility for the whole process even though you only have a part of it.
Tom’s advice for employees from the underrepresented groups in C-Suite:
- Establish a mentor relationship, both inside and outside of the company.
- Stay focused of what you can produce the best.
- Socialize your ideas.
- Don’t be afraid to be visible.
- Let people know that you have an opinion.
QUOTES:
“Make it better than you found it.”
“We are only the caretakers for the roles we have. That’s our legacy.”
RESOURCES:
On Writing Well, William K. Zinsser
Crossing the Unknown Sea, David Whyte
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy
An Immigrant In the C-Suite, John Lopez
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