03 Aug Leadership Starts With Showing Up
Yesterday, I was talking with a candidate who recently accepted an offer from one of our clients.
During the conversation, he mentioned something that caught my attention.
His company had brought in a new Regional Director for Water/Wastewater a few months earlier. This person had been in the role for roughly three months and, according to him, had never introduced herself to the team.
No Teams call.
No short introductory email.
No message saying:
“Here is who I am, here is my background, and I would like to learn more about what you are working on, what you enjoy about your role, and where you may need support.”
Nothing.
To be fair, she worked from a different office. This was also not the sole reason he decided to leave. It was one of several things that helped him conclude that it was time to move on.
But still.
When someone steps into a leadership role—especially within a multi-office civil engineering organization—the first responsibility is not simply to review financials, attend meetings, monitor utilization, and evaluate project performance.
The first responsibility is to begin building trust.
And trust does not happen by accident.
Leadership Begins Before the First Big Decision
A new leader may inherit a great deal of responsibility on day one.
There may be clients to understand, projects to review, staffing issues to address, financial targets to evaluate, and internal politics to navigate.
That can be overwhelming.
But the people within the organization are also trying to understand the new leader.
Who is this person?
What does she care about?
How does she communicate?
What type of leader will she be?
Will she listen?
Will she support the team?
Will she make decisions without understanding how the offices actually operate?
When a new leader remains silent, employees are left to fill in the blanks themselves.
That is rarely helpful.
Introduce Yourself Early
An introduction does not need to be elaborate.
A short Teams call can work.
A thoughtful email can work.
A brief video message can work.
The method matters far less than the effort.
People should not have to spend months wondering who their new leader is, what that person’s background may be, or how leadership intends to interact with the team.
A simple introduction communicates something important:
I recognize that you are here, and I understand that earning your trust is part of my job.
That is a strong place to start.
Share Enough of Your Background to Create Context
Employees do not need a dramatic reading of your entire résumé.
They do need enough context to understand where you came from, what shaped your leadership style, and what types of experiences influence how you make decisions.
Perhaps you spent much of your career managing large municipal programs.
Maybe your background is heavily technical.
Maybe you have led office turnarounds, built new practices, developed clients, or managed distributed teams.
Sharing that information helps people understand how you may approach the role.
It also makes the leader feel like an actual person rather than a title appearing somewhere above them on an organizational chart.
Meet the People Doing the Work
In a civil engineering consulting firm, organizational charts rarely tell the full story.
The person with the most senior title is not always the person clients trust most.
The quiet Project Manager may be holding together three difficult accounts.
The Senior Engineer may be the unofficial mentor everyone turns to.
The younger engineer may have an excellent idea but lack the confidence or access to share it.
A new leader needs to understand the people behind the titles.
That means meeting individually with Project Managers, technical leads, office leaders, and employees who may be looking for direction or mentorship.
These conversations do not need to be long.
They do need to happen.
Ask Questions Before Making Assumptions
New leaders are often hired because someone expects them to improve something.
That creates pressure to act quickly.
But acting quickly without understanding the situation can create more problems than it solves.
Before changing processes, reorganizing teams, shifting client responsibilities, or setting new expectations, ask questions.
What is working well?
What consistently gets in the team’s way?
Where are employees overloaded?
Which clients require the most attention?
Where is the team understaffed?
Which systems are helping?
Which systems are making people’s jobs harder?
What has already been tried?
Employees generally understand that a new leader will make changes.
What frustrates them is when those changes appear disconnected from the realities of their work.
Listening first does not show weakness.
It shows judgment.
Learn the Office Dynamics
Every office has its own personality.
Some are highly collaborative.
Some operate in silos.
Some have strong technical teams but weak communication.
Some appear successful on paper while employees are quietly frustrated.
Some offices have long-standing relationships and informal ways of getting things done that may not be obvious to someone looking in from the outside.
A Regional Director overseeing multiple offices needs to understand those differences.
The same leadership approach may not work everywhere.
One team may need clearer accountability.
Another may need better staffing.
Another may need more autonomy.
Another may simply need someone to listen and follow through.
Leadership becomes much more effective once the leader understands the environment rather than assuming every office operates the same way.
Explain What You Are Trying to Accomplish
Employees do not expect a new leader to have every answer immediately.
They do expect some sense of direction.
What are the priorities?
What is leadership trying to improve?
What will remain the same?
Where does the team need to grow?
How will decisions be made?
How will success be measured?
Even a preliminary message can reduce uncertainty.
A leader might say:
“I am still learning the organization, but my early priorities are improving communication between offices, making sure teams have the support they need, and understanding where we can strengthen client service.”
That is not a detailed strategic plan.
It is still much better than silence.
People can tolerate uncertainty.
They struggle more with ambiguity and lack of communication.
Follow Up
The introductory call is not the relationship.
It is the beginning of the relationship.
A leader who introduces herself once and then disappears has not built trust.
Trust develops through consistency.
That means following up on concerns.
Checking in after difficult project milestones.
Recognizing good work.
Providing updates.
Explaining decisions.
Keeping promises.
Employees pay close attention to whether leaders do what they say they will do.
A polished introduction may create a good first impression.
Consistent follow-through determines whether that impression lasts.
Presence Is Not the Same as Proximity
The leader in this example worked from another office.
That can make communication more difficult, but it does not make communication optional.
Civil engineering firms increasingly operate across multiple offices, regions, and hybrid work arrangements.
A leader does not need to sit twenty feet away from someone to be present.
Presence can mean:
- Holding regular virtual meetings
- Visiting offices periodically
- Making time for individual conversations
- Responding to questions
- Providing context around decisions
- Being visible during difficult moments
- Recognizing people and their contributions
Employees generally understand that regional leaders cannot be everywhere.
They still want to know that those leaders are engaged.
The Little Things Matter More in a Tight Talent Market
Strong civil engineering professionals still have options.
Most experienced engineers are not actively applying to jobs every week, but they are paying attention to how they are treated.
They notice whether leadership communicates.
They notice whether their work is recognized.
They notice whether concerns are taken seriously.
They notice whether senior leaders understand what their teams are dealing with.
A lack of communication may not cause someone to resign immediately.
But it becomes part of the larger picture.
When another opportunity appears, those accumulated experiences influence whether someone listens.
That is why seemingly small leadership habits matter.
A short introduction.
A thoughtful check-in.
A question asked at the right time.
A promise kept.
None of these requires a major budget or strategic initiative.
They require awareness and effort.
A Leadership Title Is Not the Same as Leadership
Leadership is not simply having authority over a team.
It is showing people that you are present, engaged, and genuinely interested in the organization you are responsible for leading.
It is listening before deciding.
It is communicating before people are forced to guess.
It is understanding that trust must be earned, even when the title has already been granted.
Sometimes a lack of communication says more than a bad conversation ever could.
At least a difficult conversation shows that someone is willing to engage.
Silence leaves people wondering whether leadership sees them at all.
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