Eric Marcoe is 42 years, married, two young kids, likes to canoe and hike.
Nothing out of the ordinary until you hear that for the past two years Marcoe has been Miron Construction’s “dream coach,” a position the Wisconsin-based contractor initiated in 2013 to help its employees achieve personal goals that sometimes—but not necessarily—coincide with the company’s work goals for them.
The genesis of Miron Construction’s Dream Project was in the form of a gift: Tonya Dittman, Miron’s pre-construction specialist, gave a copy of The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly to the company’s CEO and co-owner David Voss.
From that exchange emerged a program, which Miron Construction manages through its human resources department, that is unique because “it’s 100% personal,” says Marcoe.
His background included stints as a corporate trainer and coach. Prior to becoming Miron’s dream coach, he was doing organizational development for a healthcare company that involved leadership training and coaching. He has received International Coach Federation certification through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching.
But Marcoe doesn’t provide answers or advice to Miron’s employees. Instead, he creates space for the individual “to think, feel, and see [him- or herself] closely in the mirror” that Marcoe sees himself as representing.
Indeed, some employees come to Marcoe not knowing what they want to do. His role is to “pick up on” themes in order to help them identify goals and the obstacles that prevent their achievement.
The company has posted several videos on YouTube of employees who have gone through the Dream Project’s self-actualization process successfully.
Mary Cummings, a project accountant, came to Marcoe with the goal of becoming a published writer. This ambition didn’t come from out of the blue, Marcoe tells BD+C, as Cummings’s her mother and sister had been published, and Cummings (who has a degree in economics) has had a long-time interest in journalism, communications, and blogging.
As Marcoe spent more time with her, Cummings “grew into an awareness of herself,” and within two months (May 2016) she had placed an article with her favorite online magazine. This process, says Marcoe, also allowed Cummings “to see her potential in other areas,” and to see her larger goal as writing the chapters of her life. Cummings says the Dream Project helped her “learn a set of skills to allow you to accomplish whatever goals you have in the future.
Marcoe’s greatest success to date, in his estimation, has been Jason Fuhrman, Miron’s director of hard-bid estimation, primarily because Furhman was a skeptic. “He didn’t believe in the Project, and two months in, I was asking myself ‘what have I gotten myself into,’ ” recalls an amused Marcoe.
Fuhrman was unconvinced that he could have a dream “with all the stuff that’s going on with my life.”
In their early sessions, Marcoe and Fuhrman focused on how Furhman could delegate more tasks to others in his department in order to free up time at work and at home to do things he enjoys, like downhill skiing with his seven-year-old daughter.
“It’s really changed my life and has given me a more positive outlook,” says Fuhrman. He sees the whole point of the Dream Project “to give people at Miron a better life and home, and a better life in general.”
And Marcoe says that Fuhrman’s “conversion” to the process was a key to convincing more of Miron’s employees to participate. “Many employees now looking to meet with me have been encouraged by a coworker who has experienced coaching and has been inspired by the who they have become.”
Miron employs 1,200 people, and during his tenure as dream coach Marcoe has “encountered” more than 125 associates, and currently works actively with 50.
Marcoe says that he’d like to incorporate group coaching into the Dream Project. And longer term, he’s like to teach coaching courses, so that Miron’s culture “gets to the point where my role would be eliminated.”
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Feb 26, 2015
D.C.'s Dunbar High School is world's highest-scoring LEED school, earns 91% of base credits
The 280,000-sf school achieved 91 points, out of 100 base points possible for LEED, making it the highest-scoring school in the world certified under USGBC’s LEED for Schools-New Construction system.
K-12 Schools | Feb 25, 2015
Polish architect designs modular ‘kids city’ kindergarten using shipping container frames
Forget the retrofit of a shipping container into a building for one moment. Designboom showcases the plans of Polish architect Adam Wiercinski to use just the recycled frames of containers to construct a “kids city.”
Building Team | Feb 24, 2015
Call for entries: 2015 Giants 300 survey
The annual Giants 300 Report ranks the top AEC firms in commercial construction, by revenue.
Industrial Facilities | Feb 24, 2015
Starchitecture meets agriculture: OMA unveils design for Kentucky community farming facility
The $460 million Food Port project will define a new model for the relationship between consumer and producer.
Contractors | Feb 24, 2015
ABC economist: Year-end construction backlog drops 1%, but still outpaces 2013
Despite a quarter-over-quarter decline, the U.S. construction backlog ended the year at 8.7 months, 4.4% higher than one year ago.
University Buildings | Feb 23, 2015
Future-proofing educational institutions: 5 trends to consider
In response to rapidly changing conditions in K-12 and higher education, institutions and school districts should consider these five trends to ensure a productive, educated future.
Office Buildings | Feb 23, 2015
The importance of quiet and the consequences of distraction
Recent work style studies show that the average knowledge worker spends 25-35% of their time doing heads-down focused work. Once thrown off track, it can take some 23 minutes for a worker to return to the original task.
BIM and Information Technology | Feb 23, 2015
9 best practices for effective laser scanning
JE Dunn’s National BIM Director, Trent Nichols, offers tips and advice for mastering the art of laser scanning.
Modular Building | Feb 23, 2015
Edge construction: The future of modular
Can innovative project delivery methods, namely modular construction, bring down costs and offer a solution for housing in urban markets? FXFOWLE’s David Wallance discusses the possibilities for modular.
Contractors | Feb 23, 2015
Rising Nonresidential Construction Index comes with struggles, FMI reports
Construction companies face the challenge of having enough people to keep up with increasing backlogs.