How Baseball Strategies Can Help Your Team

Nov 2

Take me out to the ballgame! Today we’re re-airing a great conversation we had last year with Angie Simon.

Angie can hit a nasty curveball, but when she’s not standing at the plate, she’s working in one of these roles:

Advisor to the Board at Western Allied Mechanical. (She was CEO when we recorded this interview.)
Immediate Past President Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA)
President and co-founder of the Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE), an innovative program that introduces high school students to opportunities in trades.

Our conversation today starts out with Angie and Eddie geeking out about the similarities between baseball and construction. Here are some of the analogies they draw

A team with mediocre talent but exceptional cohesiveness can outperform a team with superstars but no trust.
When you’re on the field, you should be talking–not just to communicate with your teammates, but to cement in your own mind what you need to do.
Practical IQ–an understanding of how to approach a complex situation–is more important than some sort of technical giftedness or talent.
Leaders who genuinely respect the workers in the field will have stronger teams.

Angie talks about the repeat business that her company gets simply because they do really, really good work. They produce this kind of quality output because of the culture of trust that exists within their team. She explains the importance of getting a sense of buy-in from your team when you’re facing decisions. Communicate. Explain the whys and hows. Answer their questions.

We go on to talk about the ever-present issue of workforce development. Angie explains that 40% of the sheet metal workers in the country will be retiring in the next five years. Incoming apprentices are averaging 27 years of age. This means we need to get more focused with our recruitment. So, Angie’s doing something about it.

Angie spearheaded the Heavy Metal Summer Experience. When we recorded this episode in 2021, they were just about to run the first 12-session camp experience. If you want to see Angie share more about how this program has gone, check out this video. Angie also tells us about a number of other programs that she is working with to increase workforce diversity within the construction industry.

Angie’s Megaphone Message: The construction industry is a great industry. To participate in the process of building something is exciting, and there are so many opportunities. Construction workers make a difference in the world.
Learn more about Angie: Angie on LinkedIN - Angie’s SMACNA page - Angie talking about the HMSE program

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