Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

• New and noteworthy news

• A management perspective to consider

• Leadership insights to delve into

• And more…

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Alright, let’s get into it.

Noteworthy Headlines

Construction faces higher costs, weaker jobs amid PPI downturn (ENR)

Highlights:

• “Construction industry data have been particularly downbeat since March. With materials prices rising and construction spending shrinking, it’s hardly a surprise that the industry’s workforce is contracting.”

Construction planning booms, up 51% in 12 months (Construction Dive)

Highlights:

• The Dodge Momentum Index points to stronger construction activity in late 2026.

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Management Perspective

When filling a role, it’s tempting to hunt for the perfect candidate—someone who has done that job before in a similar situation. But those people are rare, and a lateral move may only entice them if a big pay increase is attached.

Recruiting often works best when you aren’t searching too strictly for competency and experience. Instead, more focus can be placed on a candidate’s potential to grow into a certain role.

Of course, there are perceived risks by going this route. What if the candidate doesn’t develop like you hoped? Or they are developing, but at a much too slow pace.

While the concerns are valid, the truth is that there are risks with all types of hiring strategies. Interviews, background checks, personality tests, etc., only go so far to indicate a candidate’s likelihood of fitting in with the team and being an effective employee.

Here are a few key traits to look for when identifying high-potential candidates.*

• Motivation - a strong commitment (discipline) to excel at endeavors that impact themselves and others.

• Curiosity - a proclivity for seeking out new knowledge, experiences, and relationships; an openness to learning and change.

• Insight - the ability to seek out and make sense of information, oftentimes with the use of mental models, to develop novel solutions.

• Engagement - a knack for using emotion and logic to communicate, connect, and inspire people.

• Determination - the gumption to fight for difficult goals despite challenges and bounce back from adversity.

With these traits in mind, you can structure recruitment processes and interviews to more effectively hire candidates with promising potential.

*Modified from Claudio Fernandez-Araoz’s “21st-Century Talent Spotting” article in HBR.

Management Insights

John Potter on forms of communication:

“Communication comes in both words and deeds. The latter is generally the most powerful form. Nothing undermines change more than behavior by important individuals that is inconsistent with the verbal communication.”

—

Steve Jobs on how victory looks:

“Victory in our industry is spelled survival.”

—

Viktor Frankl on how you respond to situations:

“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.”

Management Resource

Why energy is the best predictor of talent (World of DaaS)

What do you look for when you are recruiting talent? Daniel Gross, CEO of Pioneer, former founder of Cue, and former partner at Y Combinator, looks for energy.

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• Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.

• Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.

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Send me an email at [email protected]

Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.

Collin

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