Geoff Smith spent 30 years leading EllisDon from a regional builder into one of the largest construction companies in North America. He's a lawyer by training who openly admits he can't build a card house — and that vulnerability became the foundation of a leadership philosophy that shaped an entire organization.

In this episode, we get into:

→ How Geoff's people-first leadership style was born out of necessity, not strategy — and why that matters more than you think

→ Why EllisDon has no mission statement and no vision statement, on purpose

→ The "moments of truth" that define real culture — including firing profitable people who violated it

→ Why standard EAP programs failed EllisDon's people and what they built instead

→ Geoff's personal admission about his own mental health struggles and the realization that everyone around him was fighting the same battle in silence

→ The generational shift in construction leadership: "I spent my career looking for work. Kieran's gonna spend his career recruiting and retaining good people."

→ The six-word question Geoff wishes he'd asked 30 years earlier

This conversation goes places most construction leaders won't go publicly. Whether you're a CEO, a project manager, or just starting to figure out what kind of leader you want to be — this one's for you.

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