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By Mark Zweig | For AEC firm owners and top managers who say they care about value but keep acting like they don’t.

By Sara Parkman | The Zweig Letter is moving forward, shifting to more dynamic digital formats that better serve AEC leaders.

By Mark Zweig | There are nine reasons why selling your firm to the right buyer can strengthen opportunities, stability, and growth for your people.

By Nam Douglass | Neglecting immigration compliance during mergers or acquisitions can expose firms to costly consequences.

One of my all-time favorite Zweig Letter articles was written by no less than Mark Zweig himself, titled, “Frank Wouldn’t Be Happy.”  The “Frank” in this case was Frank Lloyd Wright, and the article described...

By Kyle Ahern | The latest data reveals rising firm values, stable key metrics, and the impact of market forces on AEC valuations.

By Will Swearingen | A well-thought-out, proactive plan is essential for ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of your firm.

By Ezequiel Tovar | The decisions you make today will have monumental impacts on your next generation of owners tomorrow.

By Mark Zweig | The ElevateAEC Conference in Tampa energized attendees, fostered invaluable connections, and showcased industry potential and success.

By Ying Liu | Five essential practices you can use to actively engage board members and forge invaluable business partners.

By Ezequiel Tovar | What qualities give founders peace of mind and the necessary trust to hand over the reins of their business?

By Ezequiel Tovar | Neglecting succession planning jeopardizes the future of your company’s internal transition.

By Mark Zweig | These are the practical implications of defining the culture you want and then making that a reality.

By Mark Zweig | Reflections and lessons learned over the course of 35 years, from the founding of the company to today.

By Ezequiel Tovar | The four pillars of ownership transition strengthen your firm and provide a foundation for success.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Transition planning takes time, and the results are gradual – but if you do it right, the rewards are endless.

By Kraig Kern | Identifying and fixing crucial problems is the job of leadership, but sometimes the most debilitating problems are with the leaders themselves.

By Mark Zweig | Many of these things will increase the value of your ownership in an external, or even internal, transition.

By Mark Zweig | The future will be here before you know it, so there is no time to delay your ownership transition planning efforts.

By Mark Zweig | If you want your business to be a multi-generational enterprise, you need to recognize when it’s time to step aside and pass the reins to your successor.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of LaBella Associates (Rochester, NY), a firm with diverse service offerings that can address any aspect of the built or natural environment.

By Mark Zweig | This isn’t easy, but it will ultimately make you more successful – not just as a business leader, but in life itself!

By Mark Zweig | You need to be identifying your successor and preparing the road for them so they can be successful.

By Kevin Token | Anyone who touches other people’s lives, whether personally, professionally, or in their communities, can choose to make a positive impact.

By Mark Zweig | There are many variables to consider when planning for an ownership transition in an AEC firm.

By Mark Zweig | Being retired from the day-to-day business for nearly three years gives you more time to think.

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of CallisonRTKL, a global firm that has created some of the world’s most successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions, and public entities.

By Will Swearingen | Problems can arise when two leaders have distinctly different philosophies about how to run a business.

By John Bray | Approachable steps you can take to prepare for a potential acquisition down the road, and why it’s never a bad idea to take them.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the common elements that are often present in the most successful leadership transitions.

By Mark Zweig | Many owners fail to understand how much value they can create in their companies if they make the right decisions.

Leading a successful organization takes the courage to try new ideas, weather many storms, and know how to say no.

“If you have lofty ambitions for the growth of your firm, but aren’t exactly sure of what you need to do to accomplish it, here is my best advice.”

A well-designed sabbatical program can combat burnout and disengagement, ensuring your organization’s long-term success.

“So many [A/E firm leaders] feel they are being pulled in so many directions that oftentimes, at the end of a day or week, it is hard to see what was accomplished.”

By Will Swearingen | As owners enter the final years of their careers and ponder ownership transition, they have to make some concessions.

“There is no question that after working as long as I have in the A/E industry with so many firms throughout the land, certain common undeniable truths present themselves.”

“I find that using some of these other ‘screens’ can actually lead to greater success in buying.”

“What causes AEC firms to fail? I have been a student of this business for 39 years now. Here’s what I have seen.”

“It’s a debate that’s been ongoing for years in our industry, thanks in no small part to the popularity of Good to Great, an academic study of huge, publicly-traded corporations and other organizations.”

CEO of SSOE Group (Hot Firm #44 for 2018), a global project delivery firm for architecture, engineering, and construction management based in Toledo, Ohio. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “All key positions within the company are...

“So many firms in the AEC business are making transitions right now. Aging boomers in their 60s and 70s are selling down, and their chosen successors are taking the reins.” So many firms in the...

Each week, The Zweig Letter features commentary from top-flight leaders of AEC firms. Here is a compilation of their thoughts on maintaining the leadership pipeline. By The Zweig Letter Staff Nic Andreani, president with W&M...

A failed leadership transition can destroy a brand. Take plenty of time, focus on the company, and beware of politics and interpersonal conflict. Several years ago I visited the church I grew up in and...

If you lead an AEC firm, you have a lot of tough questions to ask yourself, and the answers aren’t always pretty. But ask and answer you must. In a romanticized view of the business...

CEO of FRCH, a Nelson Company (Hot Firm #41 for 2016), a global design firm based in Cincinnati. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Everyone has access to the company’s financial information,” Tippmann says. “I believe this...

As hot as merger and acquisition activity in the A/E industry is – and it is hot (we probably get two or three calls/inquiries/RFPs a day now) – internal transition – selling from employees/owners to...

The art of business is one that is best demonstrated when the organization being managed has sustained success over a period of many years. Rarely does this happen. Surprisingly few companies ever make it to...

Passing on years of experience to those who will rise behind us is the epitome of leadership. One of the most important things leaders can do is create more leaders. Yet, too few leaders take...

We have an expression in the management consulting ranks at Zweig Group. It is this: “The names and faces change but the cast of characters remains the same.” What that means is we keep seeing...

At nearly 59, I don’t sleep so well. My mind doesn’t shut off. So much to think about. Here’s some of what is keeping me awake right now: You have to get the right people...

At nearly 59, I don’t sleep so well. My mind doesn’t shut off. So much to think about. Here’s some of what is keeping me awake right now: You have to get the right people...

By Mark Zweig | Those who are called “principal” should be cognizant of several important aspects of their roles. Here are a few of them.

Even minor changes in contract language can create major liability and insurance issues for design firms, so be aware of what’s out there and act accordingly. Today’s contracts involving design firms and owners, project managers...

Successful ownership transition is difficult to achieve, and for it to happen, the first tier has to embrace the transformation brought on by the second tier. Over the last two years, Zweig Group has supported...

For most of my career, I have defended the "new generation," i.e., those just getting out of school and starting their careers. The older people have always complained about the group coming in behind them,...

Make your firm more valuable by making yourself irrelevant and surrounding yourself with leaders. Firms that command high market premiums are ones in which the owners are, in many ways, always seeking to become less...

Taking the time to get these 8 items in order might make all the difference when seeking a buyer for your business. A lot of us don’t want to plan for it. We don’t even...

Though most everyone on your team is important, there are 4 major positions that no successful firm can do without. Managing your business effectively means the business grows, makes a profit, and has good employees...

Industry prosperity can’t last forever, but preparation now can help you be ready if – and when – the cycle ends. The A/E industry is hot right now, People! The overall industry is as healthy...

Build a better, more sustainable company with these suggestions from Mark Zweig. 2015 is shaping up to be a FANTASTIC year for firms in this business. It’s really fun to see how many firms are...

Think of leadership not as a single person but as a team of individuals, each with his or her own strength and talent. For years I’ve watched firms struggle with leadership transition, particularly firms started...

There may be something missing in your firm after the recession, Mark Zweig writes. The recession of the last six- to 8 years has been hard on the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. Many companies...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 996 Originally published 2/25/2013 Mark Zweig offers six suggestions on how to pick the right people and nurture them. But act with care....

By Hobson Hogan Principal, Investment Banking There is a time in everyone’s life when you are holding onto something too tightly. I was reminded of this fact by my son on Christmas Day. Santa had...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite As architects and engineers, we’re in a long-cycle business. That means we work on long duration assignments, often with extended start/stop cycles— waiting for a public hearing, an EIR to...

Rupert Stanchion was the founder and only CEO Stanchion Associates had ever had from its founding in 1980. Now nearly 60 years old, he was beginning to get the idea that some people thought it...

In observing firm leaders of A/E and other firms over the years, one quality stands out in the best of them. These leaders do something that endears them to all in their employ— they deflect...

A recent article in Fast Company magazine focused on Despair, Inc., the makers of calendars and posters that poke fun at those motivational posters from companies like Successories and others. The fact that Despair, Inc....

Ask any expert and they will tell you that you should be doing succession planning at all levels in the organization. What is succession planning? It’s simply answering who is going to take over when...

Last week, we held our first-ever conference on mergers and acquisitions, the 2003 AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Summit, at the Omni Parker House in Boston. It was a successful event with a wide range of...

Fifty-eight-year-old Frank Gristleling was a strong leader of his firm. Other than a three-and-a-half year tour with the Navy from 1968 to 1971, Gristleling worked at Johnson, Smatters, and Tattersham (JST) since he started as...

Cultural alignment, i.e., getting everyone in the firm— especially those at the top—on the same page, is something everyone in our business can tell you is critical. Without it, decisions don’t get made, opportunities come...

“God, it smells good out here,” Bob Trunkwater thought to himself as he started out on his early evening walk around the neighborhood. Trunkwater had just recently made the decision to start his own company....

Leadership is one of those subjects that, if you really want to be good at it, tends to lead to a more philosophical approach toward work and life. It’s conventional wisdom in our business that...

John Burgess, co-founder of Carter & Burgess (Fort Worth, TX), passed away on November 26th. He was a civil engineer who founded the now 1,400-plus-person firm with his childhood friend and fellow Boy Scout, Eugene...

You want to know something that drives me crazy— right up the wall? It’s all of the darn committees that A/E/P and environmental firms keep creating for one reason after another. Most of the time...

Scott Adams, the creator of comic strip “Dilbert” and author of the best-seller “The Dilbert Principle,” is clearly familiar with the absurd, idiotic stuff some companies do in the name of “better management.” In fact,...

“Leadership development” for our industry too often translates into another boring all-day seminar on liability reduction, or a weekend retreat with a soft-spoken consultant who walks us through “team building” exercises. We say we want...

Just about every A/E or environmental firm wants to grow. And there are a lot of good reasons for it. To paraphrase an old adage, “growth covers a multitude of sins.” When you are growing,...