Leading in Public Works Means Showing Up Every Day

0:00:00.3 Vic Bianes: It’s estimated about 1.7 million folks will be leaving the infrastructure business, which equates to about 10 to 12% folks leaving each and every year. We have many of our public works and private folks telling us that the challenge they have is getting folks to step up and enter into the profession.

0:00:22.2 Bailey Dickman: You just heard from APWA President Vic Bianes. Vic has spent nearly four decades in public works administration, management, project management, planning, design, fiscal management, operations and maintenance, and construction. To say he’s seen it all would be an understatement. Welcome to the first ever episode of Public Works Radio, the official voice of the American Public Works Association. Each episode, we’re going to dive into a wide range of topics that are here to educate and inspire you. We want to make public works more visible for everyone. I’m your host, Bailey Dickman. I’m the senior digital marketing specialist with APWA. And in this episode, we’re diving into what many people are calling the most pressing challenge to the future of public works.

0:01:00.3 Vic Bianes: So leadership and workforce development are paramount.

0:01:03.4 Bailey Dickman: As Vic outlines, much of this rides on the leaders of today stepping up to offer the next generation a pipeline for new opportunities.

0:01:10.8 Vic Bianes: Did somebody take the time to help you grow and learn? Let’s play it forward together.

0:01:17.9 Bailey Dickman: And Vic also is going to recount to us an incredible story of what he witnessed as a young professional of, well, what not to do as a leader in public service.

0:01:27.0 Vic Bianes: Outside the office, I said, “Larry,” he’s an elected official. “Why aren’t we doing that?” He said, “Vic, there will be times in your career that you need to do the right thing, regardless of if this will cost you your job.” Two weeks later, that elected official’s office was wired and that person went to jail.

0:01:48.4 Bailey Dickman: We’re also going to hear from Margaret Medellin, an associate vice president with Hazen and Sawyer. Margaret is a strategic executive leader with a proven track record in the utility, water management and public work sectors.

0:01:59.6 Margaret Medellin: I think one quote that has stayed with me that I think about a lot, was Dr. Bertice Berry, who was a keynote speaker at PWX. And she said, “Your legacy isn’t what you leave behind when you die, it’s what you leave when you leave a room.”

0:02:19.6 Bailey Dickman: So let’s jump into it. Here’s my conversation with Vic and Margaret.

0:02:25.2 Vic Bianes: We actually meet with a number of public agencies, some of which are the large cities and counties all across North America. And three areas that they focus on is workforce development. They’re also concerned about making sure that there’s sustainable funding coming in and continuous improvement within their organization. And so leadership and workforce development are paramount to where we as a profession need to go in the future. It’s estimated about 1.7 million folks will be leaving the infrastructure business, which equates about 10 to 12% folks leaving each and every year. So APWA is truly focused in this area. We have many of our public works and private folks telling us that the challenge they have is getting folks to step up and enter into the profession. And so having basic training is essential for our growth in the profession. And we have a number of committees focused in this area. We have a national workforce development committee that is working with our membership to provide them with resources. We also have a national committee focuses on leadership and management. And one of the exceptional programs they put on is the Emerging Leaders Academy. And I’m fortunate enough to be one of those instructors.

0:03:55.9 Vic Bianes: And this program takes the very best in the entire nation, young professionals, they submit their nomination form, it gets screened by a panel of reviewers, and they pick the top 32 young professionals each year to go through a one-year program. And their whole focus is focused on being a better leader in their organization.

0:04:21.9 Margaret Medellin: Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s one of the best programs we have in public works is the ELA program, the Emerging Leadership Academy. It is a very prestigious group to become a part of. And someone has to, again, take that initiative. And then the process to select these individuals, I mean, there’s some type of magic that’s going on because every cohort I’ve been a part of or anyone I meet who’s been a part of ELA. It’s almost that dedication and commitment, not to getting more awards, more money, personal benefit things that come with leadership, but a commitment to their teams, to their communities. And that’s really, when we make a difference is when it’s not about us, it’s about our community. And ELA really, that’s a focus. The combination of picking the top talent in the country and in Canada, combined with that, whatever that inherent drive is within these young leaders is just pretty much magic. And when you bring them all together in one place, it’s really exciting. It is actually one of the favorite things that I do.

0:05:49.5 Margaret Medellin: I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is when you become a leader, it’s not about yourself anymore. Early in your career, early in life, so much of what we do is, competing and developing ourselves and a lot of focus on ourselves and getting to that point where you do need to distinguish yourself and you need to develop yourself in your profession. But once you become that leader, it’s not about yourself anymore. And I think that that’s probably one of the biggest lessons. And I think there are studies and research do point out that one of the hardest transitions to make in someone’s career is going from being a part of a team to being a supervisor. So that first leadership role where you’re now going from just being part of a team to now leading the team. And I think there’s just so much change that happens in the mindset and the way you approach work. And I think as quickly as you can start realizing it’s not about you, it’s about your team now.

0:07:18.4 Vic Bianes: And also from our chapter side of it, we hold a Public Works Institute where chapters put on four modules, focused on basic supervision and management, as well as advanced supervision, management, leadership, and basic public works experiences. And we also have opportunities where our chapters offer mentorship. So we all realize that the next generation is where we need to be focused on and give them the tools for them to be successful in their jobs. So one of the things that we’re doing here in San Diego with the local San Diego chapter, they’re actually working with the Linda Vista Innovation Center. And what they do is they pull children from disadvantaged communities into their program. And it is a separate school, elementary school, that has a principal and teachers, and they pull them out of their regular classes and have them come for three to five days, and they immerse them into public works: water, sewer, construction, engineering, utilities, power. And they have hands-on assignments that allow children to actually get a feel for what it is to work in public works. But most importantly, they also work with the parents.

0:08:26.5 Vic Bianes: Parents have a major influence on where a child goes. And what we’re finding from the disadvantaged communities is the children only are aware of what their parents have done, whether they’re custodians or they work in the landscape business. They don’t really have that experience of looking at other careers, so it has been extremely beneficial. Each year they put as many as 6,000 kids through this program focused entirely on public works.

0:09:26.0 Margaret Medellin: So I think a lot of it is really getting, you know, kids at an early age interested and and aware of how cities run and operate. And we do a lot of that through, we touch the truck events, and we actually go out with some of the heavy equipment and and let the kids, interact with with the equipment. And I think that there’s just a natural affinity, especially for our garbage collectors. Kids love the garbage collectors. And so I think some of it is just starting at a young age, getting kids to understand what does it take to to run a city, a community, and what are those pathways? And there’s so many different ways you can support a community with public works. A lot of the work we do in public works, if you’re an adrenaline junkie, there’s always something exciting going on when you’re talking about public works. And I think the opportunity to be out of the office, to be building and doing exciting things in the community. There’s just a lot of enjoyable things about our profession. I just think that we need to just start educating people more about it.

0:10:45.1 Vic Bianes: So those in the profession here today, like you and I, need to take the time to really help that next generation come up, both with their basic skills, providing them also with management and also leadership skills. So let me offer this up. Those of you who are EPs, experienced professionals, I really want to invite you to please step up. And so some of you who are EPs, reflect back when you were a young professional coming into the organization. Did somebody take the time to help you grow and learn? So what I’m asking you to do, let’s play it forward together. Take the time to reach down into your organization and help somebody else grow and learn and ask them, “What I’m doing for you, my expectation is for you to play it forward with somebody else down the road.”

0:11:49.3 Bailey Dickman: Can you tell us about a leader that you truly admire within public works? And what qualities do you think a strong leader in public works has?

0:11:59.1 Vic Bianes: There have been several leaders throughout my career that has played a major impact on my leadership skills down the road, but let me share this. Regardless of a good or bad leader, you have a wonderful opportunity to learn from everyone around you. There are exceptional leaders that you identify with and can relate to and say, God, I really admire that individual. I want to do the same, have the same impact and have the same qualities to help me become the best leader I can. And then some of you will reflect back, “Oh, yeah, I had some really, really bad leaders.” But you also learn from them what not to do, right? And so you have a wonderful opportunity to learn from everybody you encounter. You just need to stop and reflect on what that individual does well and what they don’t do well. But there was one gentleman in my life that really had a profound impact. His name was Larry Gardner. Unfortunately, he did pass away, but this guy was very charismatic. He really enjoyed meeting with people. He took the time to listen, strong integrity, really valued folks’ opinion, told you honestly the good, bad and ugly, and took the time to celebrate the successes.

0:13:41.8 Vic Bianes: I’ll tell you a quick story and the profound impact he had on me. I was a young, young professional and we were heading over to an elected official’s office. We were brought in and both sat down and the elected official was talking about a development occurring outside of the limits where we own a right-of-way project. And this elected official was asking us to do something that would impact our integrity of our pipelines in the area. And the elected official got very, very upset at my director here, Mr. Gardner, and said, “I can’t do all the dirty work. If you don’t support me, then I may not support some of the other initiatives you have going on for your department.” I was flabbergasted in regards to how direct this was, and my director didn’t budge. He said, “Okay, I hear you loud and clear, and I’m sorry, we won’t be able to do that for you. My focus is to protect our ratepayers in regards to facilities they had.” That elected official left very, very upset. And we left that office. And outside the office, I said, “Larry, God, that was… He’s an elected official. Why aren’t we doing that?” And he said, “Vic, there will be times in your career that you need to do the right thing, regardless of if this will cost you your job. Your job is to always have high integrity in all that you do.” Two weeks later, that elected official’s office was wired at the time period, and that person went to jail. So the example I give you is we never know. You as a public official always need to do the right thing. So that gentleman made a full impression on me with that example. And I live that today as a public official or doing infrastructure, we always need to do the right thing. My experience with Larry Gardner, wonderful, wonderful supervisor.

0:16:20.9 Bailey Dickman: I want to circle back to that because APWA has partnered with a a few different organizations like the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Society of Civil Engineers, to make like an engineering workforce consortium for specifically that like engineering, public works, workforce development. Can you tell us a little bit more about that effort?

0:16:42.2 Vic Bianes: Yes. Everywhere we go, and every industry that we’re in is always focused about that next generation coming in. So the American Public Works has done a very, very good job of working with other professional organizations that align with our mission. And so what we’re doing is collecting everybody’s support and going to Washington D.C. To plead our case in regards to setting aside funding to help with workforce development opportunities, looking to share what we’re doing across the nation. We’re looking at also holding events where we showcase the work that we’re doing in infrastructure. It’s called the roadshow, where we go out and highlight a number of key essential infrastructure projects twofold to one, recognize the folks that have accomplished this work. Also to thank the elected officials that have provided funding and support for this. And the third piece is to encourage that next generation to step up.

0:17:56.3 Bailey Dickman: What type of leadership challenges are there when you’re having to answer to the public, but also you live in the community, you have to answer to the public. You’re not necessarily a, you know, elected official. You don’t necessarily have to have to abide by all of those rules. What’s special about leadership and interfacing in that way?

0:18:19.0 Vic Bianes: So some of the challenges we have is being able to bring our messages across to elected officials in the public in layman terms. We on the technical side know all the issues in regards to the project, but bringing it down to their level. For example, if we give an example on a roof replacement for a homeowner, if we delay making those improvements now, may cost that homeowner much more money down the road. So having that political acumen is also going to be very, very important for a public works leader in regards to explaining why we do we are doing what we need to do. And at the end of the day, you give the presentation, both the pros and cons, and you allow our democratic process to move forward.

0:19:14.5 Margaret Medellin: When you work for a community, when you’re in public works, ultimately, at some point, there are going to be politics involved. And I think especially, when you’re working through an administration change, and especially as a leader who maybe was appointed or brought on by one administration, and then you go through an administration change, that can be a challenging time. And I think part of what I try to do is insulate the team from any of the uncertainty or volatility. They don’t need to worry about that. Like, let’s focus on the work that needs to be done. That doesn’t change.

0:20:01.6 Vic Bianes: At the end, public works, we’re always resilient. We’ll make what we can happen with what is presented in front of us. But as long as we’re truthful and accurate in our predictions and our presentations, we’ve done our job.

0:20:17.1 Margaret Medellin: A lot of the work that we do goes unnoticed when it’s working, but of course, when it isn’t working, it really does get noticed. And I think a lot of that is the same for being a good leader. And a lot of times as a leader, we’re supporting our teams. We’re behind the scenes making sure that things get done. And when things go wrong, and we’re the ones that need to step forward and take the accountability and and come up with the strategy to go forward. So I do think in leadership in general, but I think public works in particular, being a leader really means you need to support your team, make sure that you’re there and giving the praise away when things are going well, and when things go bad, you need to step in and take that responsibility. So definitely not a role you want to go into if you’re looking for a lot of recognition and praise.[chuckle]

0:21:14.7 Bailey Dickman: What’s the thing that makes leadership so interesting to you? What’s the thing that made you want to to step up?

0:21:22.8 Margaret Medellin: Early in my career, I really felt like the community shouldn’t worry about the work that we do. That they shouldn’t worry about where their water comes from. How their trash gets picked up, how the stormwater is routed. Yeah. I really began my career thinking the public doesn’t need to know about it or worry about it. And as I’ve kind of gone through my career, I really realize now, like, this is a partnership with the community. And we need them to understand and the more knowledge we give them, the better we can manage resources and water in particular. And here in Colorado, where I’m based, we depend so much on a limited resource. And every year it looks different. This year, right now, we have very low snowpack, that’s completely what we depend on for our water. And so it’s really vital for us to educate people and so that they know, like right now, yeah, you’re going up and going to your favorite ski resort and not much snow, which is an unusual thing at this time of the year. We need people to know and start to think now, like, that’s going to translate to this summer, we’re going to have water restrictions.

0:22:46.1 Margaret Medellin: And it’s important how our consumers use water. And kind of the same thing when we’re talking about our solid waste, getting people to understand the importance of recycling and minimizing waste and… So I think my thoughts have changed a lot. And now I definitely think that educating and partnering with the community. And there’s a lot of work, obviously, we do behind the scenes that we don’t… People shouldn’t worry about. They need to feel confident that their leaders are managing resources. But it is a partnership, so I definitely think getting the community knowledgeable and involved is important.

0:23:27.5 Bailey Dickman: What are the qualities that you think make a strong leader in public works?

0:23:32.7 Margaret Medellin: I think a strong leader is going to lead with curiosity rather than ego. I think really when you encounter someone that has a real curiosity for how things are working, how the team’s working, how they can support the team rather than coming in and starting to dictate or… I definitely think having that curiosity is really an important component. Being a team player, how does someone interact and collaborate with others? And the work we do, it’s… There’s nothing in public works that we do alone. Like, being able to work on a crew, on a team, interacting with the community. That’s really important. Someone who wants to put in that extra effort, just going above and beyond is important. And I think really the umbrella piece I look for is someone who wants to be a leader. I think it’s the way that they show up. It’s the way that they show up in a meeting. It’s the way they support their team. We talk a lot about servant leadership, really meaning that heart of wanting to serve our community, wanting to serve each other. And really putting not leading with the ego.

0:24:55.6 Margaret Medellin: And so those are some things that you start to see early in someone’s career. Are they supporting others? Do they understand the work we’re doing? Are they putting effort into developing themselves? At some point, self-recognizing. And if I’m talking with someone and I ask them, “What are your goals? Where do you want to go with your career?” And really if someone wants to keep going to that next level or ultimately wants to be a director or… That’s a path that we can start preparing them for, but I think self-identifying and starting to take that, the proactive steps to develop yourself. I think one quote that has stayed with me that I think about a lot, it was Dr. Bertice Berry, who was a keynote speaker at PWX. And she said, “Your legacy isn’t what you leave behind when you die, it’s what you leave when you leave a room.” I just think that is such a powerful statement that the importance of, as a leader, the importance of what do you bring to a meeting? What do you bring to the team?

0:26:21.3 Margaret Medellin: How do you show up? What energy do you bring? That’s important, and that’s every much as important as, the critical decisions we’re making or budget discussions. It is how you show up every day, and I just love that quote, and that’s something I think about a lot. She is amazing. There was, and I think she really gets our profession, and just… Yeah. She’s great. I also think, just a lot of the work that APWA does around first, making sure that public works professionals are recognized as first responders and that our fallen heroes are recognized. I think in a lot of the work I know that Vic is doing, is just so important. And recognizing we’re behind the scenes, but there are a lot of sacrifices that are made, and we need to honor and recognize that.

0:27:28.8 Bailey Dickman: What’s one thing you want people to go away from this episode knowing about leadership within public works?

0:27:35.7 Vic Bianes: So I’m going to actually give you three suggestions that I’ve learned through my career that I think would be beneficial. The first thing is, you are in charge of your career. So if it is very important for you to have education, very important for you to join an organization and learn, I encourage you. You are the one that is in charge of your career. It’s not your boss, it’s not your employer. And if they’re not supportive of you, maybe it’s time for you to maybe look around. The second piece is networking. Networking is extremely important down the road as you come across issues or challenges. Having a strong network of peers for you to call in on, because believe it or not, we in all of public works, we face the same challenges. Dealing with money issues, dealing with the public, dealing with elected officials, challenges with some of our projects. There’s a good chance somebody else had the same problem and either worked through it or solved it in a particular way. And the last thing I’ll share with you is what Mr. Gardner shared with me, “Do the right thing. At the end of the day, it is your reputation on the line. And even though it may down the road cost you your job, you know you did the right thing in the end for your profession and for the community.”

0:29:19.4 Bailey Dickman: Thank you for listening to Public Works Radio, the official voice of the American Public Works Association. Please make sure to subscribe wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Rate, review, and forward us along to a friend. And don’t be shy about dropping us a note over at podcast@apwa.org so we can hear your feedback directly. We’ll catch you next time.