Loyd is a dear friend of mine and someone that pushes me to ask important questions about how my work and identity overlap. He received his MBA from University of Kentucky and is currently a market development manager at a road construction company in Greenville, SC.

Loyd switched jobs a few months ago and moved cities to find the next step in his career that made the most sense for his professional and personal goals. Loyd’s work identity and life identity align deeply, and we’ll dive into that here.

How have you spent your last few weeks? Have quarantine and the coronavirus affected how you value your work?

Yes and no. Currently, I’m leading a road construction team and wearing many hats. Some days, I’m focused on market development, others are managing and training new guys, others I’m the mechanic. That still is my reality today. In this industry, we’re looking for people who are willing to work versus manage or run the company first. There’s a lot of money to be made, but you need to learn and put in the effort on the ground first. 

I work closely with the Department of Transportation (DOT). They’re helping facilitate faster work because less vehicles are on the road. Our projects are bid 6-12 months out, so we aren’t necessarily completing more projects—but there are small wins. For instance, the DOT is letting us do a 2-mile lane closure now versus the usual 1-lane closure. They’re giving us more freedom to do work more efficiently!

What I’m doing with this group is super similar to my old gig, where I worked for 4 years. I was based out of Nashville and traveled a lot to different construction sites around the nation and Latin America. It’s the same type of work but a different setup. In this role, I’m the local contractor trying to work with the DOT, versus the subject matter expert on the equipment. There’s politics and challenges at both places, but I can actually build and refine best practices in road construction here. I feel that energy and I was excited for that next step.

I knew I wanted to leave my prior role because I had this constant desire to refine the construction process and push it to be the best. I want to innovate in ways that aren’t happening currently, and I realized I need to be at an organization that has the capital and the buy-in from the higher ups to do so. My owner is completely onboard with and trusts my vision—I found the place for me.

I love what I do. I made a switch to this new company because I felt like what I was doing at my old job was moving away from my true passion. I want to redefine and better the industry I’m in as a whole. I think I’ve found that.

How would you describe your work and life identity?

I really identify with what I do. I also really love my life—personally and professionally. This is seen by the decisions I’ve made about my professional life that correlate with what I was seeking in my personal life—being closer to my career path in road construction and making decisions that made more sense for my loved ones and me, particularly for my relationship with my girlfriend, Jessie.

Success in my life is securing a means to earn the living you want and need by doing something you truly enjoy.

I think that if you don’t correlate the two (personal and professional success and fulfillment), you’re potentially going to miss an opportunity. When people say you can’t have both, I'm calling them out. You might not be able to have the fullest extent of both. You might miss your kids’ sports games and you might have to miss deadlines. You might be exhausted. But it’s well worth it. There’s a reason why they say, “personal life, professional life, and sleep—you have to choose two!”

If you are uncomfortable in your life, you have to make decisions to change your life. You must consult yourself and the people in your life to find that.

Further, if you are aware of being unhappy doing something, then it’s your responsibility to make a change. It's on you if you are cognitively aware of it and don’t make an effort to see progress or change. Even though some people can get manipulated by their work environment, you should try to be cognizant of that. If you’re not pushing yourself to another position that you love, you'll end up wasting your time. No one deserves that.

The largest career decision I’ve made to date was resigning from my last position six months ago. It was a big decision because it was a solid job with the potential for near future advancement, but it didn't align with what I truly want. It was the realization that the job is a means to the "dream," but not always the dream itself. 

It still wasn’t an easy decision—I was worried about letting customers and colleagues down who counted on me to pick up my phone whenever they called. Thankfully I had someone to talk honestly with throughout the entire process. Saying the issues out loud allowed me to knock them out one by one.

Ultimately, you spend 30-40% of your life working. If you aren’t passionate about your work, or if you aren’t doing it well, you’re being an idiot about it. You spend 30% of your life sleeping and you’d definitely make a change if your mattress sucked, wouldn’t you?

For me, if I’m not part of the team that is challenging the status quo and driving improvements, I know I’m in the wrong building. I’ll make whatever change I need to in order to be in the right building. Work has to be something you’re passionate about. If you are really going to do something in your professional career you have to be passionate about it. 

I remember wanting guidance in choosing a job after I graduated. I’ve since learned that your first job probably won't be your forever job, so put a dream out there and learn the skills necessary to achieve the dream.

How do you think your upbringing or early career has affected your work life identity?

I always knew that I wanted to have fulfillment in my work. I became unhappy at my old job because I didn’t care about the final product—it was coal, a process I don’t believe in. I could see the bigger picture because I received my MBA and learned the abstract of business. I learned that if you don't know the big picture, you can’t understand how your efforts have secondary and tertiary effects. There is an upstream and downstream to business, and the folks I was working with in coal were focused on the immediate results.

Hands down, my MBA defined me. Before my MBA, I was an engineer and a builder that always strived for the “correct answer.” Post-MBA, I understood the ramifications of my work and this was a game changer. The questions became less about  “what’s the right answer?” and more about “can it make money?” and “can we sell it in a cost effective manner?” and “can we sell it competitively?” If you can answer yes to these questions, you’ve got a business. Smart people can make a better widget for something you are already doing, but want to do more efficiently. We can figure out how to do something better.

That mindset has allowed my work to become a part of me. I want the big picture to be something that I feel good and passionate about. I want to do things better.

My Granddad instilled this desire to be interesting and business savvy in me. I lived with my grandparents for half of my childhood, and he was always pushing our family to have theologist conversations—dinner with Granddad lasted from 5PM to 9PM because of the conversations we would have. He believed if you’re not constantly blowing up your reality, then you’re not doing enough. He wasn’t the best manager, but he could intake information and tell his team that they needed to focus efforts on the big picture and the impact down the line. He asked them to focus on items in their day-to-day to achieve that end goal. He helped them with that north star.

Is there anything you love about how your work life identity demonstrates itself? Anything you’re trying to change?

I’m honest and clear to my team about my intentions and what I want out of them. I also try to live by the doctrine that you just don’t know what someone else is going through, what someone else knows, what their intentions are. I try to be cognizant of this even when I’m so energized by making the improvements to our process.

Still, I always consider both sides of the conversation. We should always try to fix a problem and not go straight to blaming the other side. If you notice a problem within your own life, you deal with it. I try to manage my team from this perspective. I want them to have the authority to make a change, solve a problem. I don't need to ask him to do something if you see that it could be a problem. I’d just tell them to do it. 

I’m really proud of my team. We’re diverse in age, race, education, and experience. Most of the guys I work with day-to-day didn’t go to college. Two of the guys have been on a construction crew for over 20 years. They are ambitious, and they push me to have conversations about what they want in the next stage of their career. I know I am not above them and that they’re way smarter at the task at hand than I am. We all have blindspots, and I’m not perfect. Just because I’m “responsible” for this project doesn't mean I need to make all the decisions. Ultimately the buck stops with me, but that doesn’t mean I have all the inputs, insights, and answers. 

Everyone should be on the same team on the job site. The hope is to instill tenacity and effectiveness in everyone in my group. I want them to feel ownership over their specific job, but know I’m available if they need me. I’m constantly trying to work on giving my team that independence. They can learn by messing up once or twice. I’m getting better at loosening the reins. 

If you don’t instill interest in your team, you won’t be effective. So I focus on this in order to get the most out of my team.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’ve always been attached to a couple quotes that lend themselves to how I think about my work. First, Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” is a great quote that I live by.  Also, this one: “All that one fails to achieve is the direct result of one’s own thoughts.” I’m always in my thoughts, making sure that I’m in the right headspace or seeking support and change when I’m not.