The Construction Industry – Gentle Kindness Needed.

I have never really been someone who flaunts her feminist attitudes and ideologies loudly and angrily. I have always been someone who knows what she wants, grabs the bull by the horns and goes to get that which she knows she wants. Being a woman, an entrepreneur and a business owner automatically draws the label of FEMINIST on my identification, but when it comes to the industry in which I work and operate, it’s not really a feminist attitude that I want to talk about, but rather the fact that women are superior when it comes to the craft of construction.

As of the writing of this rant of a thought piece, the construction industry worldwide is dominated by men as a majority. Men who perceive the construction of this house or that commercial space as nothing but the way to lubricate their bank accounts and watch a fat deposit drop while they tend to cut costs at every corner to maximize profit. I have been doing this for 15 years and I can tell you that the minority are gentle, are in love with the work they are doing, care more about the details of their craft than the pay cheque and actually work with an ethic dictated by patience and the thrill of seeing their vision come to life.

The tunnel vision towards profit in the industry has made it so difficult to project emotion onto the projects being done. The design process is usually outlined and paved by a patient, empathetic and genuinely creative emotional skill. Designers are in tune with the harmony that the spaces create and have the emotional capacity to bring someone’s residential vision, their perfect home to life. When it comes to the building of that said vision, there is a rush, there is aggression, there is impatience and a lack of understanding towards the beauty being built. Being on site is a loud experience – laborers are underpaid in most contexts, they are rushed to finish the work regardless of quality, they are not informed enough about the final vision, they are motivated by the ‘Let’s pack it up and leave!’ chant of their supervisor and they are usually pushed to finish this job fast so that the next job can be attended to: the actual definition of quantity over quality.
 

On the other hand, let me tell you about the care and alacrity with which a woman would put on her nail polish. The gentle strokes, the coloring within the lines of the cuticles, the patience of applying another layer and the observant care she would take during the process. I know that nail polish is not a woman-only application, but I am using this for illustrative purposes! In my opinion, that gentleness, that patience, that crafted care and observation of details are what make women superior as construction managers.

It is also integral to not rush workers, to not push them to over-achieve in small brackets of time. There is an exploitation of these crew members that actually stunts their growth in the craft and the quality of their work. Construction crew need to have love for the work. They need to have a stress-free environment to make sure that every luxurious detail of the masterpiece they’re putting together is perfect to a t.

Suffice it to say, I was lucky enough to work with some construction crew lately and witnessed their dedication to their craft. We talked and we learned from each other. In this loud, aggressive, and impatient business, I humbly think that we are missing one little element that could change the whole modus operandi of this entire industry. We need a little kindness.

Nina