True Leadership, How We Work & “The Question”

I’m learning a lot about leadership these days as we get more entrenched in this project. I’m quickly learning that true leadership isn’t about the people on this project, nor is it about the building itself. True leadership is about providing a sense of what could be, and taking the first step forward.

True leadership is about paving the way for the future. It’s about paving the way for future leaders. The men and women behind this project, normal everyday people, are paving the way for people to do even bigger and better things. They’ve come together to do something audacious.

You see, this project has become much more than a really cool building. It’s become much more than it’s net zero goal, or even the collaborative construction process. It serves as an example of incredible possibility for the rest of us.

“If this is the only building of it’s kind, then we have failed.” This is the driving principal behind the project. Not to build something incredible for the owners to work in or for the architect to brag about in their portfolio, but to change the way we think about construction, our expectations of what our work environment should be, and how we think about our work-life in the future. It’s asking us to evaluate how we do our work, where we do it, and whom we do it with.

The people behind this project think we all deserve more from our work-life and the environment in which we work. Sure, they love the work they are doing on this project, but what they love even more is hearing our (Edmonton’s/Alberta’s/Canada’s/World’s) response to this project.

Will this be the first of many projects like it? Are we going to transform how we work in this city, province, and country?

Comments are totally welcome. Let’s hear it.