It’s about removing barriers
Spotlight on Kenneth Bonin; recently promoted to Director of Construction Operations for the Kansas City Market.
“It’s not about adding steps…”
With McCownGordon for a cumulative 18 years, Kenneth Bonin started as a Senior Superintendent and rose through the ranks to Construction Operations Manager. He’s been involved in over 120 projects during his time in the construction industry with dozens of those projects winning awards. Obviously, Kenneth is no stranger to the operations side of the construction industry.
“I’m not here to add processes. I’m here to remove barriers.” Kenneth shared when asked to summarize his new role. “Now I can take my focus from just the healthcare, higher education and science & tech sectors to all of Kansas City.”
What’s the plan?
Kenneth shared that his favorite thing to do is to look at a process that’s often unquestioned and really dig into it. He asks questions like “Do we need this step?” or “Can these be combined to cut back on the delay?” and this is how he plans to handle his new role.
Kenneth attributes his success to his focus on putting people first in the creation of procedures. “My success is when the team succeeds,” he said. He noted that filling our company with strong people or “flooding the company with talent from the bottom up” would guarantee strong future leadership of the company and limitless opportunities for all associates ready for the challenge. A rising tide raises all boats.
Share some advice with us
When asked how he got to this point, Kenneth said he spent a lot of time in the industry and worked hard, but he did have a few pieces of advice for those looking to grow. His primary piece of advice was to have conversations with your manager. At McCownGordon, we have an award-winning Career Conversations program that helps associates connect and develop goals with their manager. He stressed how important it is to have a transparent relationship with your team. Finally, he added it’s sometimes easier to ask for forgiveness and be careful to not overload yourself.
Kenneth officially started his new role as of April 1 and report up directly to Freddy Allison, Vice President of Construction Operations. You can find Kenneth at the Kansas City office and connect with him on LinkedIn.
