“Manager involvement in the daily activities of a construction company is one of the guarantees of success, but this management model comes with several risks,” says Romas Paliulis, CEO of the general contracting company Gilesta. He explains that there are many ways to slip: too much involvement from leaders can turn into toxic micromanagement, which leads to employee dissatisfaction and demotivation; it may also mean that the entire success of the company is built around one person. The CEO of Gilesta shares how leadership involvement is calibrated within the company.
Involvement means understanding the team
“Manager involvement in everyday operations happens in two directions: inward, when the leader engages in the team’s daily work; and outward, when working with clients. Both layers carry risks that must be learned to manage — which often simply means the leader’s work with themselves. Naturally, when a company is founded and begins its operations, the leader is involved 100 percent, but as the business grows and years pass, it becomes important to recognize when it’s time to stop doing everything yourself and find ways to optimize your involvement for the best possible results. This is not easy, and many struggle with it until they learn. It essentially means giving credit of trust to the team, allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them,” says R. Paliulis.
In his view, an involved leader does not mean one who makes decisions for the team or constantly does the everyday work of colleagues — an involved leader is one who knows how the team feels, senses when help is needed most, and shows up in the project stages where their presence is truly required.
“In the construction business, projects are extremely dynamic and full of challenges. Some stages are lighter, others are more demanding and often exhausting for the team. A leader’s experience in business and construction means they understand exactly which stage is which and can step in at the right time to prevent burnout. When you see that employees are worn out from daily complex decision-making, you prioritize their well-being: you roll up your sleeves, go to the site yourself, help solve pressing issues, support them, and improve the atmosphere. If a leader is not involved in daily operations, this is impossible — you simply don’t know what is happening on the operational level. Without knowing, you can’t feel the team, you miss deteriorating microclimates, and you can’t anticipate problems. In my opinion, that is one of the worst things in a construction company, where teamwork is a fundamental component of success,” comments R. Paliulis.
Is leadership involvement the same as toxic micromanagement?
However, involvement in the team’s daily work also carries the risk of slipping into micromanagement — when employees are not allowed to make decisions and every step is monitored. This leads to major teamwork issues.
“You can find examples in any sector: managers who don’t let employees make decisions in order to avoid mistakes. Yes, when you are a leader who understands every aspect of your company’s operations, it can be hard to let employees make decisions without consulting you. After all, you know better and could save time, money, and help avoid errors. But if employees are not allowed to make mistakes, they don’t learn. Moreover, if employees don’t feel empowered to make decisions, their motivation decreases, their engagement drops, and this results in poorer performance or employee loss. And in today’s market, no construction business can afford that,” says R. Paliulis.
According to the Gilesta CEO, change occurs when the leader realizes they have a strong team and begins trusting it: “We must understand that there is no job in our field that can be done by one person — everything is teamwork. If the leader doesn’t trust the team, the company cannot function successfully. At Gilesta, we invest a lot of energy into strengthening teamwork — this is one of today’s priorities where we, as leaders, are deeply involved. We apply globally recognized methodologies and conduct various internal diagnostics to strengthen team capabilities. And it pays off — in finances, time, and quality of results.”
With clients, the leader is part of the team
Another area where leader involvement is important — yet also carries risks — is client work. According to R. Paliulis, the real presence of the leader in a project builds trust and speeds up decision-making, but it may also turn the company into a “one-person brand.”
“Of course, clients value when the leader is involved in their project. It increases trust in the process and allows for faster decisions. For example, if price negotiations are happening, the leader can make decisions instantly. But to avoid the risk of clients perceiving the entire company as just one person, it is essential to structure processes clearly and implement safeguards.
If the leader participates in every project stage or shows up alone during sales and negotiations, the client may later struggle to accept new team members and trust them. That is natural — they want to be served by the person who sold the service. This is why it is crucial from the very first meeting with a potential client to work as a team — not only with the leader but also with the specialists who will work on the project. Moreover, if the leader trusts the team, the client sees this too. Again, we return to the importance of the leader’s involvement in daily team life. A leader must be part of the team, not a separate flag-bearer who only sells and disappears. That is why I believe the leader’s role in client work is extremely important,” says R. Paliulis.
According to the Gilesta CEO, every team must find the format that works best for them, but he strongly believes that a well-calibrated level of leadership involvement in daily operations is a major advantage — both for the team and the client: “A team that works like clockwork creates projects that are delivered with clockwork precision — and that is what matters most to us.”