Oxford Construction and Concrete Overview: Amanda Grace is the CEO of a corporat
ID: 365431 • Letter: O
Question
Oxford Construction and Concrete
Overview: Amanda Grace is the CEO of a corporation listed in the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For. She has been invited to participate in a webinar featuring three of the 100 Most Influential Female CEO’s of the Decade. In the transcript of the webinar, she provides an overview of her background, challenges, and reasons she has been successful as a CEO under 40 years old.
Objectives:
Explain how to establish leadership presence in an organization.
Debate whether CEO’s are predisposed for success naturally.
Discover the top errors of a CEO and what leads to their failure.
Explain the benefits of selecting a CEO through an internal promotion versus externally hiring.
Keywords: Leadership, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Board of Directors (BOD), leadership presence, leadership style, leadership traits, inspiration, interviewing, hiring process
Scenario: This is a transcript from a webinar interview.
Interviewer: Amanda, how did your interest in construction begin?
Amanda: As a child, I enjoyed building things. During our family summer vacations, I built spectacular sand castles on the beach and reinforced them with shell exteriors so the tide wouldn’t wash them away. My goal was to have the castle survive at least three nights at high tide. That was my first recollection of my interest. Overtime, I built a dog house, a 90-square foot tree house and a six-foot-tall miniature southern mansion in my family backyard.
Interviewer: That’s impressive! Where did you go to school?
Amanda: I earned my dual bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and construction management from Virginia Tech and completed my graduate work and my PhD in construction management from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.
Interviewer: Did anyone inspire you from an early age?
Amanda: My grandmother, Mother Theresa and Michelle Obama. They are three strong women for different reasons and their work motivated me to follow my dream and cherish happiness.
Interviewer: Why did you start your career at Oxford Construction and Concrete?
Amanda: I won a college scholarship, entitled, the “Inner City Community Development Scholar Award,” which covered my undergraduate tuition. As part of the scholarship, I traveled over the summers to Third World Countries promoting housing and fresh water supplies for the poor. After graduation, I wanted to continue my community service closer to home and give back to my community. I thought the best way to do this was to find a company that aligned with my personal and professional values and held a charitable footprint.
While researching opportunities, I learned that one company, Oxford Construction and Concrete (OCC) might be a perfect match. They were a large company who had been honored with a philanthropic award for building and donating houses in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami, one of the worst disasters in recent history. The company also sponsored and donated food and distilled water for 20,000 families while the construction of safe water reservoirs were completed. I also found that OCC was recognized by the U.S. Government for rehabilitating homes in New Orleans after the levees broke in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina and 273,000 residents lost their homes. (National Weather Service, n.d., para 2)
Based on this, Oxford Construction and Concrete was a company that used its resources to help those less fortunate. It was also listed on Fortune’s Best 100 Companies to Work For. Its vision and objectives were complimentary to my goals. So, I was determined to join OCC, and ultimately that’s what I did!
Interviewer: You have been at Oxford for seven years and moved up quickly. How did your career begin?
Amanda: Instead of sending my resume, I created a strategy to get hired. This included making an appointment with the Chairman of the Board (COB), Mr. Theodore Oxford. My goal was to capitalize on my platform from my scholarship and propose how OCC and I could partner and be catalysts for each other supporting countries suffering from natural disasters. During this meeting, Mr. Oxford inquired about my background and he was excited that my undergrad and graduate degrees were in construction.
Interviewer: What happened after that?
Amanda: I was invited back to meet with the COB the following Wednesday, to complete our conversation and determine next steps. Mr. Oxford had asked his administrative assistant to coordinate a meeting with several of the executives and myself. Unbeknownst to me, he also was strategizing and wanted to find a place in the organization for me. By having several of his leadership team members present, he achieved two goals. First, he hired me to be the spokesperson for OCC during the next natural disaster and secondly, he wanted to identify a position for me within the corporation. His team was informally analyzing me and ironically, I was doing the same, without a traditional interview.
Interviewer: What was your first project?
Amanda: My team was asked to design a temporary fix for a hydroelectric dam. There were elements of my previous graduate research that we capitalized on and modernized to be environmentally friendly. I led the project from design to the selection of contractors, site preparation, material procurement and construction.
Interviewer: When do you think the Company recognized you were destined to become CEO?
Amanda: Mr. Oxford asked me to relocate to Arizona and establish a new office. It was a difficult market because any construction had to take into account the rock beds which were costly to demolish. The margins for profit were narrow, so managing the expenses closely was critical. There was also a federal government contract that Oxford had been awarded and our Board of Directors had decided I was the best person to lead the project.
The project was to design a solution for a potentially dangerous situation that could occur in the future with the state’s water supply. Arizona received a large amount of water from the Hoover Dam and a fault line was discovered near it. The state was worried that an earthquake could threaten its access to water. It had contracted with Oxford Construction and Concrete to analyze the situation and provide three viable solutions without increasing taxes. I was proud that Mr. Oxford had trusted and believed in me but frankly, I was a bit scared.
I was given an office address and asked to start the following week. The company would cover all housing expenses for the next six months because the request to move was urgent. I arrived on Monday at 8 a.m. and was met by the building supervisor with the keys and alarm code. To my surprise, I walked into 15,000 square feet of empty space. There were only lights in the ceiling: no employees, no cubicles, no computers, no chairs, no phones, nothing! I thought this is either a joke or this is an opportunity to build the business and solve a critical issue facing the government. The outcome of the project was one of my greatest accomplishments.
Interviewer: Congratulations! Moving onto a different line of questioning. You work with mostly men. How were you received when you first started at Oxford and now?
Amanda: It was challenging and can still be. I have been told that I am a tall, attractive woman and my physical appearance created a distraction early on. I found that my expertise in construction was often dismissed so I worked hard on establishing my credibility and my leadership qualities. Intentionally, I lead most external meetings so that’s its clear I am the decision maker. The technique is often referred to as “V Formation”, which describes how birds fly in a flock. Everyone follows me. But, I have experienced other challenges as well.
Interviewer: Can you expand?
Amanda: There are several examples that I could share. Here are a few that others may have experienced similarly. These events have often driven my passion for change.
First, it has not been uncommon for colleagues and customers to ask me out. It’s uncomfortable. One time, an influential client invited me to attend the Kentucky Derby for the weekend. He was very persistent and the invitation included travel to Louisville on his private airplane, accommodations at a five-star hotel and an offer to accompany him to several VIP parties. I declined and Oxford lost future business. I am convinced that the loss in business was a direct result of my refusal.
Another time, Mr. Oxford and I arrived for a business meeting and the receptionist introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Oxford. I am still exasperated about that experience. What could the receptionist have been thinking?
And there are small things that have happened overtime, like assuming I would take the minutes of the meeting when our administrative assistant wasn’t in attendance. I can assure you, it was not because my penmanship was the best of the group.
Interviewer: What were some of your mistakes or regrets?
Amanda: A loaded question for sure! I am passionate about my work. In a meeting with several colleagues, my determination turned into emotion and I walked out of a meeting. I was disgusted with myself and couldn’t believe the group was not aligned with my thinking. It decreased my credibility instantly. I learned after that to hold mini-sessions with those I thought would be adversarial, ahead of a large meeting. I could forecast what obstacles I would face, plan and build support for my ideas before the group discussion.
Another mistake involved hiring. There is a saying that “your first hire, is your worst hire”. It came true for me. My boss at the time gave me lead on the decision for filling an open position. I selected a candidate for my team who interviewed well, and the person had strong references within the industry. I was in a time crunch to hire someone and bypassed our process of reference checking. Shortly after the hire, I found out that the individual did not work at one of the employers listed. I had to terminate him immediately for falsification. I had connected with the candidate’s personality, and the time crunch and “good feeling”, clouded my judgement.
Interviewer: You have been promoted several times over the last seven years and received Board approval to become the CEO of Oxford Construction and Concrete. Why do you think you excelled so quickly?
Amanda: I will start by saying, it has nothing to do with being a woman. It’s about my contributions and achievements over time and a shared vision with our Chairman and the Board of Directors, on the company direction, short and long term. I also hired a team that complimented my strengths yet also individuals who were comfortable with sharing opposing ideas. My belief is that leadership must embrace others thinking to “build a better mousetrap”. I have never been intimidated by others smarter than me and I have sought out the best in class employees who would challenge status quo.
Interviewer: What is your advice for anyone on the trajectory to CEO?
Amanda: Contribute fully. Be authentic. Push for improvement and take the company to a better place than it was before. Be a positive role model and for heaven’s sake, give credit where credit is due. Success is team based, and I cannot thank others enough for the growth and expansion of Oxford Construction and Concrete with me.
Question:
Amanda excelled in her chosen field in school and in her career. How did her childhood influence her success?
Why do you think Amanda was hired to work at Oxford Construction and Concrete?
Amanda’s high level of education suggests she is intelligent. Do you think all CEO’s exhibit high IQ (intelligence quotient)? Is intelligence a key factor to being successful as a CEO, or it is something else?
Amanda mentions her grandmother, Mother Teresa and Michelle Obama as inspiring her. How do you think each of these women influenced her in her life and meeting her goals?
Do you think being an attractive woman fostered Amanda’s career path? Why or why not?
Explanation / Answer
Amanda is the CEO of Oxford Construction and Concrete or OCC which is into construction field. In her childhood also she was very interested in construction of buildings and she used to build spectacular sand castles on the beach during summer vacations and more than just building she used to make it strong with shell exteriors so that tide would not wash them away. She wanted her castle to survive hide tides for at least three days and it shows her determination and interest in constructing strong buildings. Later she built a dog house, a 90 square foot tree house and a six foot tall miniature southern mansion in the family backyard. Her efforts in childhood in the field of construction influenced her to become successful while studying construction and her job in OCC.
Amanda was indulged in promoting community service activities wanted to find a company that aligns with her personal and professional values with a charitable footprint. OCC was also into charity and they have received philanthropic award for donating houses in Indonesia after 2004 Tsunami. They also donated food and distilled water for 20000 families and was recognized by US government for rehabilitating homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Amanda’s education and childhood was influenced by construction field and OCC is also into construction. I think Amanda was hired to work for OCC due to the similarities in both of their interests in the field of construction and charity.
I don’t think that all the CEOs exhibit high IQ. Intelligent quotient also plays an important role in being successful as a CEO. But more important would be hard work and ability set perfect vision for the company and align the employees to work towards achieving the vision. A perfect leader should accept positive and negative comments and should never be intimidated of negative comments. It should be taken as challenge to improve and push the company to a better position. A CEO should be a role model for the employees and should be always ready to show gratitude in case of growth and success.
Amanda’s grandmother, Mother Theresa and Michelle Obama motivated Amanda to follow her dreams. All the three were strong woman. I think her grandmother should have helped her to build houses in the childhood which influenced her to take construction field as the career. She became successful in career. Mother Theresa was a strong woman who worked for charity of the people all over the world. Mother Theresa influenced Amanda to concentrate on charity work. Michelle Obama was the first lady and she is also a community outreach worker. She is a lawyer and posses strong skills in delivering speech. Her leadership skills and charity works might have influenced Amanda to become a strong leader and work for the community.
I don’t think that being an attractive woman fostered Amanda’s career path. Instead it created many difficulties in her path. Her physical appearance created distraction and she had to work hard to establish credibility and leadership qualities. Some clients invited her for personal meeting as she is attractive and when she denied it led to loss of business.
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