The key to forward progress

I think businesses are recognising more and more that the values a person has are just as important as their education and work experience. And yet, if we're talking about resilience, you might not know if a person has this until it’s put to the test.

I started out as an apprentice for a carpenter and joiner in central Hawkes Bay. It was just the two of us and because we were working in a rural setting, the work was everything from fixing barn doors, to building a house, making kitchens, or repairing roofs. Looking back, I can see how staying focused to the goal of getting my qualification made me flexible and helped me to navigate challenges and setbacks throughout my career. I was learning resilience.

In my twenties, I was desperate to see the wider world. Once I was qualified, I went abroad. I worked and ran my own businesses in the UK, Africa, Germany, and New Zealand. Settling in Christchurch, I have worked in senior management teams of large construction companies. From personal experience, I’ve learned that people and teams with resilience are far more likely to succeed when the inevitable challenges come.

Here at Home NZ , I see our company values like muscles; they need to be used regularly to build strength, so they are ready to go when needed. If you use them daily in small things, they will be there for the big challenges. It’s been wonderful to work with a wider team of staff and delivery partners that have been resilient in both attitude and actions. Being flexible and collaboratively looking for new solutions through a pandemic and material shortages has really enabled us to stay focused on our core mission of delivering quality housing for Kiwis.

Working in the construction industry requires us to be flexible and innovative when curve balls come our way. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes, but there is real value in creating an environment that doesn’t sweat the small stuff, that extends grace so we can share learnings and move forward. Failure can be a great teacher, but only if you have the resilience to reflect, adapt and try again. I am confident that if we continue to embrace resilience as a core value, no matter what challenges come our way we’ll keep moving forward together.

John Peez

Project Finance and Development Lead

#resilience #valuesdriven #thoughtleadership