Introduction
Josh McConaughey, Vice President at JE Dunn Construction in Charlotte, North Carolina, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to talk about leadership, how construction is changing and giving back to the community. Jack describes him as a transformational leader whose heart and hard work show in every business relationship and project.
Josh runs the commercial group for the Charlotte office and says his answer to what a construction leader should focus on has always been the same: people.
About the Episode
Josh opens with a recent example. A young employee who had been with the company for about five years said he was considering a new opportunity, and Josh realized the team had lost touch during the pandemic. For him it was a reminder that construction is a service business and that what it offers is its people. Even as an essential workforce, crews and office teams stopped coming together, so simple ways of connecting had to become intentional.
Josh tells his own path. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, grew up mostly in Connecticut, ran a lawn service business as a teenager and studied computer systems engineering and finance before moving into a graduate program in construction management. He started his career in Miami, moved to Charlotte in 2007 and joined JE Dunn in 2017. JE Dunn is a family-owned company with 25% employee ownership, and in the Carolinas Josh's team serves sectors such as multifamily, office, corporate interiors, hospitality and public work.
The pair then discuss why teams should come together early, how the pandemic affected office and hospitality clients, and what the next decade of building could look like.
Key Takeaways
- Focus on people: clients hire the leaders and the team, and leaders must stay engaged with both internal teams and clients.
- Empower and stay close: Josh gives teams room to run, checks in often enough to know when they need help and spends his own time on early pursuits.
- Treat trade partners as partners: paying on time and handling issues openly builds trust that matters when a project gets difficult.
- Assemble the team early: bringing designers and builders together from the start improves accountability and the experience of delivery.
- Look for aligned clients: JE Dunn seeks clients who value people and place, since it does not see construction as a commodity.
- Prefabrication will grow: moving risk off the site, as with CNC-cut drywall or prefabricated mechanical work, reduces safety and schedule risk.
- Give back without an agenda: community work has helped Josh grow and make Charlotte feel like home.
Highlights from the Conversation
What we offer and what we sell is our people.
Josh McConaughey
Getting the team together as early as possible is your best path to success.
Josh McConaughey
Construction is about people and I don't think people are commodities.
Josh McConaughey
Topics Discussed
- Why people are the core of a construction business
- Leading and empowering project teams
- Relationships with trade partners
- Early collaboration between design and construction
- Design-assist and design-build procurement
- Prefabrication, VR and augmented reality
- COVID-19 and its effect on office and hospitality clients
- Community involvement and nonprofit work
Why This Conversation Matters
Josh's case for bringing designers and builders together early matches how we work on architecture and interior architecture projects, where early input on cost and constructability keeps a design realistic. Our work with contractors, such as the Crowder Construction Expansion and the brand identity for Genesis Construction through our branding service, comes from the same belief that construction companies succeed through people and relationships.
About the Guest
Josh McConaughey is a Vice President at JE Dunn Construction in Charlotte, where he leads the commercial group. He studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, completed a graduate program in construction management and has worked in Charlotte since 2007. He is involved in several nonprofit organizations in the city. Visit JE Dunn Construction or connect with Josh on LinkedIn.
