Pay It Forward: "Take A Seat At The Table and Make Your Voice Heard"
"One of the best lessons I can pass on is to 'always ask the question' if you’re not sure about something," says Christina Champness of Lendlease New York Construction.
Christina Champness, project executive, Lendlease New York Construction
Area of expertise or focus: Healthcare Construction.
Christina Champness is a 15-year veteran of Lendlease and project executive for the firm’s New York Healthcare construction team. Champness was integral to Lendlease’s work with a New York-area hospital at the start of the pandemic to pivot from its ongoing construction program into COVID-19 response.
What has been the biggest challenge in your particular role and how have you overcome those obstacles/? As I’ve developed in my career, I’ve stepped into a senior leadership role where I’m overseeing multiple projects for multiple clients in multiple locations. Managing across these projects and the different clients, architects, engineers and other project partners involved takes a certain level of multi-tasking that I’ve worked to perfect. The key has been building a strong team to support me on each project so that if I’m pulled in a different direction on any given day, I know the project is taken care of and any issues that arise will be resolved. I’ve trained my team to operate effectively and handle client needs so we can all work together to build successful projects. At the same time, I’ve also learned the importance of delegating as I’ve progressed in my career. It’s something I’ve worked to develop like any other skill, but trusting my team is that much easier thanks to the great people I work with every day.
What about your current role/position at the company are you most happy with? I’ve spent my entire career with Lendlease, and it’s always been an incredibly supportive working environment where I can ask questions, suggest ideas and develop new skills. I’ve had the opportunity to work toward leadership roles that draw on my prior experience and my focus on healthcare construction – an area I find incredibly rewarding.
What is the best advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry and do you have any advice specifically for the next generation? Someone I worked with early in my career once told me to step up and “take a seat at the table.” As a woman in a historically male-dominated industry, I’ve taken this to heart. It’s especially important for women in this field to not just be present “at the table,” but also to make their voices heard and add their own unique perspective to the conversation. Ultimately, that benefits everyone – from project teams to the companies we work for – by creating an environment in which everyone feels recognized, respected and supported.
For the next generation, my piece of advice is that if you want to grow your career, you’re the only one stopping you. You are the one who can take control, seek out opportunities to develop professionally, and talk to management or leadership about your goals so they can support you along the way. On that note, I can’t say enough about the importance of ongoing education and training. I joined Lendlease as an intern while I was completing my engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame, and since then, I’ve continued to be proactive about seeking out opportunities to further my education and professional development to stay ahead of the curve. Many of those opportunities have come from inside Lendlease – from on-the-job training to internal leadership development programs to working full time while I pursued my part-time MBA – and I took advantage of every one that was available to me.
In our industry, ongoing education can also come simply from working across different property sectors. But it’s also important to pursue formal certifications and accreditations that supplement real-world experience, demonstrate a lifelong commitment to learning and carry weight when applying for leadership positions or engaging with new clients.
Would you advise any younger person to begin a career in CRE? I’d recommend a career in commercial construction for anyone who likes problem-solving, a lot of variety in their workday, and the excitement that comes from starting a new project. Personally, I was drawn to this field because I knew I didn’t want to sit behind a desk doing the same thing every day, and after 15 years in this industry, I can say that no day is the same as the day before.
A great way to get a foothold in the industry is through an internship program. It’s such a valuable experience for a young professional to get a firsthand understanding of what a particular career really involves. That was especially true for me as an engineering major because there are so many things you can do with that degree. Before interning with Lendlease for two summers I was pretty sure commercial construction was the path I wanted to follow, but it was my internship experience that helped me confirm this field was a good fit for me. I encourage any young professional considering CRE to seek out an internship program, either by making those connections through their school or by talking to people working in the areas that interest them, to help inform their career decision.
Please share with us the best lessons learned in your unique career journey. One of the best lessons I can pass on is to always ask the question if you’re not sure about something. That can be intimidating as a young professional, but remember that no one is expected to know everything, and you won’t learn and grow unless you ask questions. I took that mindset to heart when I was first starting out in commercial construction. Even though I never intended to work ‘in the field,’ I took advantage of every opportunity to visit job sites so I could walk projects with the senior superintendents and find out everything I could about what went into them. In construction management you spend a lot of time in the office managing projects from a budget, cost and scheduling standpoint, but getting that field perspective was incredibly important to my understanding of how things are built, how work is coordinated, and all the various components and considerations that go into any given project.
In your opinion, what takeaways did we learn from the COVID-19 crisis? As a healthcare construction professional in New York City at the onset of the pandemic, nothing was more important than flexibility, adaptability and collaboration. Those elements have always been the foundation of the work we do in construction – this industry is all about problem-solving and getting the job done, even in sometimes challenging circumstances – but the pandemic illustrated just how quickly the world can change and how critical it is to be able to respond accordingly. For example, at the start of the pandemic, my team was working on several smaller renovation projects at a New York City hospital. We put everything on hold and within a week pivoted to building multiple COVID-related projects for that same client on a 24-7 shift. It was a collaborative effort between us, the client, the design team and our subcontractors to figure out the simplest and most efficient way to achieve what we wanted to build. Everyone was willing to come together and work for the common good – even when we were just starting to understand COVID and the risks it posed – and as a result we built some great spaces in a very short amount of time. It demonstrated that when the pressure is on and there’s a common goal, great things can be achieved.
One permanent takeaway I think we’ll have from COVID is an appreciation for how efficiently we can address issues on projects by just saying “let’s all get on a quick call and figure it out.” Pre-COVID, in-person meetings were the norm in construction. In this industry it does help to see an issue on a job site in person – and for that reason we’ll always continue to have in-person meetings – but now everyone is so much more confident and efficient with Zoom or Teams calls. If you can’t get everyone on site or around a table, you can usually get them on a 30-minute call, and that efficiency has become part of our regular operations.
What three terms would you use to describe your work mindset?
- Set priorities each day. When I arrive at work each morning, I make a list of three priorities that need to happen that day. That quick list focuses my mindset and keeps me organized and on task, especially once calls and emails start coming in and it’s easy to get sidetracked.
- It takes a team. No one is building a job on their own – we have to work together as a team. The key to successful collaboration is a team that’s cohesive and has a rapport and comfort level with each other so we can all work together to build some amazing projects.
- Get everyone on the same page. I have the opportunity to work with a great group of people, and open communication is so important to keeping us all on the same page – from project managers to field staff. Sometimes that happens naturally, but sometimes you need to be purposeful about having a 10-minute check-in to say here’s what’s going on today and here’s where I need your help to make sure everything’s moving forward.
