Since CONTRACTORS: Doing it Right Not Just Getting it Done has just officially gone live! (Don't forget about "100 in 30"!) I figured I would start promotion of the book by honoring the three people who wrote the forewords, Iris Harrell, Steve Klein, and Tom Capizzi Jr. Each week I will post a portion of their foreword for you to check out. This week we will meet Tom Capizzi Jr.!

•  - You can get the book on Amazon.
•  - Learn more about Iris, Steve and Tom here.
•  - I would love hear your opinion on the construction industry and where it is going here.

Here is a sneak peak at Tom's foreword:

In the early to mid 1990’s I began to make a deliberate effort to lead our company culture in a direction that would allow me to not be “handcuffed to the front door” of our business inhibiting me from pursuing other interests.  I had spent several years “handcuffed to the front door” of my business in which most of the day to day business activities had to go through me.  As a result, I was literally being mentally and physically handcuffed to the business.  Luckily, there weren’t too many years like that which ultimately leads to a cynical, burnt out, business owner – an all too familiar story; living inside a scenario in which your business becomes your only identity and consumes almost your entire existing, leaving no mental or physiological capacity for any other interests including family and personal, eventually sucks the life blood out of having any passion for your business or your life. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about not working long and hard at your business, especially when your business needs you.  Nor am I talking about becoming a totally disconnected, absentee owner who no longer knows what is going on with his business.  Nor having some delusional dream that one day your business is going to operate all by itself and that you can become totally irrelevant while they keep sending you bigger and bigger checks every week.   That is the equivalent of an investor in a business which could eventually be your business, but that is another story entirely.  What I am referring to now is how you being the leader of your business and the culture of your company can help shape your life inside that business and outside that business.

The first turning point for me was my desire to reside in San Diego for three months every winter.  My wife, Mary, has a very large family, most of whom live in San Diego, and we wanted to spend time there so that we, and especially our children, Heather and Thomas, could grow up having a relationship with their west coast grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We did this for six years, from 1996 through 2001.  While away I was still in touch by phone, fax, and email, just in a different state; at the time that was a huge leap for me since I had always been there with the exception of an occasional vacation. . .