RC113 JulyAugust 2024 - Magazine - Page 8
LEADERSHIP
BETTER TOGETHER
How Chandos CEO Sean Penn provides collaborative
leadership in his construction projects by Connie Vitello
steady progress in various positions—starting out as
a carpenter and moving on to managing director, vice
president of operations and chief operating o昀케cer. The
board recognized his role in driving the success of the
organization and in fostering growth through leadership
and his commitment to Chandos’ core values of inclusion,
collaboration, innovation, and courage.
Despite the uncertainty
and health risks during
the COVID pandemic,
Sean Penn (left) toured
Chandos Construction
sites across the country
for six weeks.
Connie Vitello is
contributing editor of
ReNew Canada.
8
HE FOUNDERS of Chandos Construction wanted to
create something di昀昀erent than the construction
companies of the past. They even steered away from
using a traditional construction company name.
Rather, they opted to title the business after Chandos Lake—a crystal blue lake located in Ontario’s
northern Kawartha Highlands—a place that had a history
in both of their upbringings.
Chandos has been employee-owned since day one.
What started out as a single o昀케ce in 1980 has turned into
700 employees in seven locations across Canada: Vancouver, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Toronto,
and Ottawa. Over the years the company has established
itself as a pioneer in integrated project delivery (IPD) and
collaborative construction.
Sean Penn was recently appointed chief executive
o昀케cer (CEO). Over the course of 20 years, Penn has made
T
RENEW CANADA – JULY/AUGUST 2024
What’s behind Chandos’ use of the IPD collaborative
construction model?
There are a lot of contract delivery models and some of
these can have some negative side e昀昀ects. They can cause
confrontation between building owners and builders and
sub trades. But there have been recent advancements
in construction around collaborative construction and
speci昀椀cally IPD, which encourages early involvement of
key project participants for goal de昀椀nition and planning,
mutual trust and respect, equal sharing of risks and
rewards, open communication and use of cutting-edge
technologies and strategies.
I remember when we were 昀椀rst learning about IPD and
it’s like the clouds parted and the sun came out—true
collaboration is about everybody working together for the
good of the client and the project, and everyone sharing
ownership of all the good and the bad, celebrating the
good and working together through the bad. This is a major improvement over pointing 昀椀ngers and getting into
your corners getting ready to have a 昀椀ght over whose
RENEWCANADA.NET
CHANDOS CONSTRUCTION
What prompted you to enter the construction industry
and become involved in some major infrastructure projects? Were there certain mentors who may have inspired
you to get involved in the business?
Yes, as I think back I had so many people that I would
recognize as mentors. I always knew I wanted to be in
construction. There was just no doubt. I wanted to be in
the sandbox with the toys moving dirt and digging holes.
My grandfather was a farmer and an entrepreneur who
highly in昀氀uenced me. Even from a young age he took
the time to talk to me about high level business strategies
and he demonstrated an incredible work ethic. There’s no
way I would be here today without the care and knowledge transfer he provided.
