Tom Crane, CHRO China Construction - The Mental Shift You Must Make to Become an Effective Communicator
Lead the Team (Top 2% of Podcasts) · Ben Fanning
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Show Notes
E21: Tom Crane is China Construction America’s Head of Shared Services and Vice President of Human Resources & Communications.
The parent company is the largest construction company in the world.
He forms and provides operational management of the organization’s Shared Services Center functions, while increasing their long-term strategic and operational effectiveness, efficiency and speed of delivery.
Tom is also a member of the board of directors of Plaza Group Holdings, LLC.
He previously served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Skanska USA, where he led a 70-person team and $19 million budget and played a key role in Skanska USA achieving an 85%+ employee engagement level and limiting voluntary salaried employee turnover to 12% per year.
He served as Director of Media Relations for Honeywell.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University.
Tom’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbcrane
WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER:
● Why a background in journalism and communications can provide a strategic advantage in the C-Suite.
● How to influence others through your writing.
● What Tom learned working as executive leader for three companies on three continents.
● The moment Tom learned to write under pressure when the stock price was at stake.
● The mental shift you must make to become an effective communicator.
● How to improve your communication by identifying patterns in others.
● What Tom learned from former Honeywell CEO, Larry Bossidy, about leadership.
● The “grassroots” approach to selling your idea to the C-Suite.
● The key for having tough conversations at work.
● When employee turnover is okay and when it’s not.
● The most important data points you should track when it comes to employee turnover.
● How a single relationship Tom built early in his career transformed into a big opportunity.
● How employees from under-represented groups can rise to the C-Suite.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Things to know when writing an email:
● Your mission.
● Your strategy.
● Your intent.
● Your audience.
Then bring all those things together.
Traits Tom would instill in every employee:
● Self-awareness.
● Spending more time thinking about the bigger picture
● Accountability and responsibility for the whole process even though you only have a part of it.
Tom’s advice for employees from the underrepresented groups in C-Suite:
● Establish a mentor relationship, both inside and outside of the company.
● Stay focused of what you can produce the best.
● Socialize your ideas.
● Don’t be afraid to be visible.
● Let people know that you have an opinion.
QUOTES:
“Make it better than you found it.”
“We are only the caretakers for the roles we have. That’s our legacy.”
RESOURCES:
On Writing Well, William K. Zinsser https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548
Crossing the Unknown Sea, David Whyte, https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Sea-Work-Pilgrimage-Identity/dp/1573229148
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy https://www.amazon.com/Execution-Discipline-Getting-Things-Done/dp/0609610570
An Immigrant In the C-Suite, John Lopez, https://www.amazon.com/Immigrant-C-Suite-Journey-Business-Community/dp/1706577109
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/