Masonry Magazine April 2000 Page. 10
Leaders Of The Pack
By Michael Adelizzi
Executive Director
Mason Contractors
Association of America
The masonry industry is thriving, providing a greater standard of living than ever before for the hundreds of thousands of individuals employed by the industry. Although each of us works hard each and every day at our respective jobs, there are only a few in our industry who work diligently and selflessly to build the masonry industry into a thriving marketplace where each of us benefit from the brighter future that they guarantee. These individuals volunteer their time, money and effort serving on industry association committees, as elected officers of local or national associations, workforce trainer, industry marketer, or some other related industry activity. They volunteer their efforts, always without personal remuneration. They travel to industry meetings often at their own expense and the time that they take to serve the industry is often at the detriment to their own company's profitability. These individuals are true leaders of the pack within the masonry industry. Unfortunately, only a few are spotlighted in this article. However you may know someone in your area who has worked tirelessly for years to build a brighter future for our industry. If you know someone that would qualify as a true leader and not listed in this article, you should thank them for everything that they do for masonry. Then provide us with their name and accomplishments so they could be considered for next years "Leaders Issue".
But what exactly is leadership and how do we find it in people? There are several qualities that often exist in leaders. Integrity, diplomacy, the ability to learn from their own mistakes, consistency, tenacity and selflessness are often qualities most sited. Unfortunately, we often mistakenly view leaders in terms of who has the greatest financial success, those with the highest popularity, the largest bank account or even those who employ the most people. Webster's definition of a leader is "a person that leads, directing, commanding or guiding head as of a group or activity". Now I'm sure that we can find all sorts of people that fit Webster's definition.
We all know plenty of people that direct and give orders. But simply ordering people doesn't make a true leader. Sometimes, we are blinded by self-proclaimed leaders who claim to know better and who would sacrifice our futures simply to maintain control over our lives. We are most often let down by those self-proclaimed leaders because they lack one of the greatest qualities of leadership and that quality is the ability to inspire. Inspire us to take on greater tasks, to achieve higher goals, and inspire us to accomplish what we thought was impossible. True leaders are those among us who can bring integrity and a vision to the organization and possess the capacity to build common bonds with others to reach that vision. Real leaders are those in our industry who can say when they are all done, that they made a difference, that they mattered. In the following article, we have spotlighted just a few of those industry individuals who have made a difference. These individuals serve on local or national association boards or committees. They work tirelessly to expand the masonry industry, recruit and train our future workforce, fight our battles on code committees, all at a cost to their own firms. These individuals are the very reason why the masonry industry remains a very viable industry in which to earn a living and build a career. They contribute their time for the betterment of the entire industry with only the thought that the masonry industry will remain strong and competitive as their reward. This list of what we view to be leaders of the masonry industry is only a small list. Time and space prevents us from listing the hundreds of individuals who have worked tirelessly to build the future of the masonry industry.
Leaders of the Pack
Richard M. Johnston
Elected as President for the Mason Contractors Association of America, Richard "Mike" Johnston has served the masonry industry for many years at both the local and national level. Johnston has distinguished himself during his tenure on the board and has served as Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the MCAA before becoming President. His quick rise through the ranks of the MCAA's
The newly elected senior officers of the Mason Contractors Association of America. Seated is Richard Johnston, President. From left to right is Secretary G. Alan Griffin, Vice President William McConnell and Treasurer Frank Campitelli
10 MASONRY-MARCH/APRIL, 2000
MCAA
Richard "Mike" Johnston addresses members of the Mason Contractors Association of America at the Annual Meeting. Johnston was recently elected President of the MCAA at the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.