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By Morgan Stinson | Great leaders do not chase comfort – they choose difficult conversations, hard decisions, and accountability before crisis forces them to.

By GinaRenee Autrey | AEC marketing doesn’t fail from lack of expertise – it fails when firms keep telling safe stories in increasingly noisy markets.

By Duncan Robertson | Being able to turn challenges into lasting opportunities requires sacrifice, strategic risk, and strong teams.

By Ying Liu | These three common leadership personas quietly sabotage strategy execution.

By Kristi Weierbach | Incentive plans for employees should align unique performance measures with organizational success to drive retention, engagement, and results.

By Michelie Little | Saying yes to new opportunities led one engineer from design to construction – and to a more fulfilling career path.

By Sara Parkman | Zweig Group’s 2025 Rising Stars share what inspires purpose, loyalty, and change in the AEC workplace.

By Mailena Urso | The path toward success is shaped by your courage, curiosity, and resilience.

By Greg Sepeda | Success comes from creating a space where people feel comfortable asking questions, helping each other out, and wearing different hats when needed.

By Earl Mott | Thoughts from both sides of this mutually beneficial relationship over the course of a career.

By Greg Sepeda | Embracing a results-focused approach liberates us from the constraints of rigid processes, opening up new possibilities and opportunities for problem-solving.

By Greg Sepeda | Seizing opportunities fosters a mindset of continuous improvement, enabling us to refine our skills and expand our horizons.

By Morgan Stinson | Reading books across a wide spectrum of topics can help you develop the skills needed to calmly and confidently tackle the challenges you face as a firm leader.

By Fran Curtis | You’re shaping the next generation of leaders, so it’s important to be available to junior staff who are looking for a mentor.

By Reid Poling | As much as school can and does teach you, there are some lessons that can only be  learned “on the job.”

By Kraig Kern | Real innovation is about a shift in perspective to progress forward, not the latest gadget or software.

By Julia DeFrances | With the right tools and some best practices, anyone can create a persuasive and compelling proposal.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Campos Engineering (Dallas, TX), an MEP engineering, testing, adjusting and balancing, and commissioning firm.

By Julia DeFrances | Committees give employees a chance to lead, contribute, effect change, and make an impact beyond revenue.

By Matt Hoying | Young (or less experienced) engineers and designers may lack construction experience. Fast track their learning with these approaches.

Mentors open pathways for others, and outreach is key to achieving firms’ diversity and inclusion goals.

By Chad Clinehens | Embrace this period of rapid evolution and push yourself even further out of your comfort zone.

For many leaders, business development resides outside their core competencies and comfort zone, to their firm’s detriment.

Managing a client’s expectations is a delicate art that requires planning, restraint, and diligence.

Thankful organizations will grow with engaged employees, loyal clients, trusted partners, and supportive communities.

A small investment of your time, energy, and creativity can yield a large return with your clients. Start gently and build your confidence.

The future AEC workspace will be flexible but more connected than ever, so invest in data bandwidth and mobility.

A culture of employee empowerment will define innovative, leading organizations in the years to come.

In business development, many missteps can be traced back to a lack of understanding and acceptance of who we are.

If you request even a minute of precious time to meet with your firm’s leader, make sure you don’t waste the moment. If there is one thing I have learned growing up in an increasingly...

CEO of Apex Companies, LLC (Hot Firm #41 for 2017), a 700-person environmental engineering firm based in Rockville, Maryland. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There is nothing that drives value creation for an organization more than...

Tribes provide compelling places for support, validation, and direction, but tribalism cannot be allowed to thwart a firm’s success. I chose psychology as a major in college because I thought it would help me understand...

Get out of your comfort zone, take a risk, and jump at opportunities even if you don’t know where they will lead. As I approached my three-year anniversary at Zweig Group, I sat and reflected...

Evaluate where you are, how you can improve, rank yourself and your team, and then work through every way you want to perform better. Between wrapping up business and preparing for family time most of...

Clients have evolved, and if you want stay connected with them, you have to learn who they are, what they want, and where you fit. Change – a simple yet loaded word, particularly these days....

For many, growth means losing their beloved workplace. But think again. Growth can mean increased capabilities, not increased numbers. We talk a lot about growth here at Zweig Group. It’s a philosophy that underpins all...

If you’re looking around but not seeing many people like you, try Zweig Group’s new 2018 seminar, CEO Roundtable. Click here for more information. We hear it all the time: “It’s lonely at the top.”...

CEO and chairman of Mead & Hunt (#82 Hot Firm for 2017), a 592-person national firm offering services in planning, design, architecture, and engineering. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “There is something to be said for...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Marketers, what does your job really entail, and what should you be doing to move your company forward? Whether you are in an exclusively marketing related job or have a different title but actively participate...

For the next generation of leaders to be successful, they’ll need a mindset sculpted by strategy, new ideas, and a willingness to embrace the unknown. I routinely hear AEC firm leaders express frustration about finding...

Third-generation leader of multidiscipline firm embraces debate, seeks consensus, and likes anything with bacon. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent It started with his great uncle. Then his father. And now him. Firm president John Hiltz is...

Earthquake engineer Kit Miyamoto travels the world to dispense knowledge and training to those who need it most – those who have lost it all. By Richard Massey Managing Editor Globetrotting structural engineer Kit Miyamoto,...

Virginia landscape architecture firm was acquired by a much larger engineering outfit from North Carolina, and big and small didn’t mesh. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The owners of what was then called H&G Landscape...

In a good economy, it’s easy to take on a lot of work and fill the pipeline, but some of that work can be bad for your firm. In a robust economy like the one...

Niche positions sometimes require out-of-the-box thinking, increased diligence, and willingness to pivot in order to fill them. Finding the best and brightest people to work at your firm may require you to think outside the...

Yesterday was one of those perfect days. It was so nice that I almost felt guilty about it. I really should have been at my office getting ready for the next semester or working on...

It’s what we’re all looking for: young people that we can move up. And if we aren’t, we’re fools. Why would we hire someone, especially a younger person, who we don’t think has any potential...

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately, probably because I have been experiencing so much of it so fast. Moves are one type of change that most people find stressful. I know— I have...