It’s not the metaphor you’d expect to hear from Jim R. Miller. You’d anticipate some building terms from the president of the South Central region of JE Dunn Construction Co.
But no — Miller looks to music to illustrate leadership.
“We’re kind of like an orchestra,” Miller says. “We have a conductor — that’s our leadership team — and our job is to lead this whole team. The leaders [are] those that can put a team of a bunch of different people together with a bunch of different agendas, those that can get everybody on the same page and get all the pieces of the band playing the same music.”
With about 30 years of experience in the industry — all at JE Dunn — Miller has seen plenty of tempo changes. He now oversees Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas from the region’s Houston headquarters, and the recent recession has been the first dip many employees there have experienced. So maintaining their focus is a fresh challenge.
“It’s keeping all the employees moving in the same direction where there is friction due to the economy,” he says. “Communicating with that leadership team and making sure that those leaders communicate with the entire staff is very important. Today, more than ever, communication is very important to make sure that everyone feels like they know what’s going on and what direction the company is proceeding.”
Miller knows that keeping employees headed toward — and achieving — goals is a continuous and collaborative process of communication.
“If we can create the vision or the process or the game plan, then it’s identifying assignments and making sure everybody understands their role and then providing a check, an oversight to make sure that it’s happening the way it needs to happen,” Miller says.
