We’ve all heard the clichés:

Construction industry participants face exposure to risks arising from the professional services that are required to design and construct a particular project. Professional liability insurance is a common tool used by contractors and designers to transfer risks from errors and omissions in the provision of professional services to third party insurers in exchange for payment of the policy premium. For design professionals these policies provide coverage for losses arising out of errors and omissions in professional design services such as those that result in the development of plans and specifications, as well as those arising from defective contract administration and consulting. Contractors purchase these policies to provide coverage largely to cover exposures from defective construction management.

Today's post is authored by guest blogger Jay Mattern, CEO of Villing+Company and TerraFirma Marketing. We hope you enjoy Jay’s leadership wisdom and insight.

Flashback Friday: I know my parents don't love this story, but it is one of our most popular blogs and the experience taught me some valuable lessons. 

“You know it’s illegal what they’re doing. Making you work and all,” said Larry’s mom. Larry and his family lived next door to my family growing up. He and I were typical neighborhood buddies. While Larry and I liked all the same things boys our age typically did, our parents were anything but similar.

As my 6^th grade year was coming to an end, my Dad made it known that it was time for me to “go to work.” I would have my choice of working around the house every day of my summer break doing various chores, for free; or I could find someone willing to pay me. But either way, I’d be working forty hours per week.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Nancy Owsianowski, Founder of RoundTable Consulting, LLC. We hope you enjoy Nancy’s wisdom and perspective.

What’s getting lost in translation within your organization or between your organization and others? Effective communication is the backbone of a high-performance organization. Statistics reported by Pumble indicate that more than three-quarters of employees and executives attribute workplace failures to a lack of effective communications. Similarly, when teams communicate effectively, productivity could increase by as much as 25%. Onsite, hybrid and remote working options place new demands on everyday communications. In addition, five distinct generations are now present and active in the workforce and need to collaborate.

Take a close look at your own organization. Are your habits of communication building bridges for collaboration and trust or creating barriers that fragment your company culture and undermine mutual respect?

The most common question I encounter daily is “How are you?” Typically, my response centers around being busy.

What does it mean to "live abundantly" in business and how do we take ownership of this mindset? There’s no shortage of information on what "living abundantly" means from a spiritual or philosophical perspective (22.7 million search results on Google) and specifically what it means in different faith traditions. However, the phrase takes on a bit of mystery when  reappropriated for the world of work.

It begins with humility and gratitude in knowing that we’re fortunate and empowered to attract opportunities and realize our potential. However, with current scarcity of resources whether through labor shortages, rising costs, or supply backlogs, it can be challenging to find pathways toward living abundantly in business.

At Gibson, our core values provide guideposts around what it means to live abundantly and how to take ownership of the mindset. Let's review some of these to get a better grasp on the idea of abundance in business and how it's applied within our organization.

The American Burn Association advises us to "leave the show to the pros” as we approach fireworks' highest selling holiday, but if you are planning to indulge in fireworks this coming Fourth of July, it is in your best interest to be aware of the safety precautions. The following are a few safety tips to be taken into consideration when handling highly dangerous explosives such as fireworks.

Flashback Friday: Do The Right Thing is still a value we live by at Gibson. Give this popular blog from 2014 a read. Does integrity “live” at your organization and in your relationships?

One of our Core Values is: Integrity Matters - Always Do the Right Thing. It seems elementary to ask why integrity matters. The answers are all too obvious, right? Yet all too often there are examples of integrity issues in our world, in business and in our personal affairs.

I checked out a few dictionaries online and they define integrity as: The quality of being honest and fair; the state of being complete or whole; an adherence to moral and ethical principles; to be honest and have sound moral character.

One of my partners, Mark Wobbe, pointed me to another website that offers a simple formula to define integrity:

Integrity = (Accountability + Competence + Ethics) – Corruption

“The common thread [of great teams] is tenacity and willingness to compete, but also the expectation of excellence.” – Chris Camacho

Chris Camacho, President & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, shares stories of leadership and teamwork from his years of athletic and economic development experience, noting the parallels between high-performing sports teams and business. Chris and host Tim Leman also talk about cultivating leaders and the expectation of excellence.