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Serious question, a 19 year old helper on my crew asked why I never pushed to run my own crew, and the answer bugged me
Last Tuesday we were wrapping a glue-down job in Fort Wayne and this kid Marcus, who is 19 and been with me 8 months, asked point blank why I never took the crew lead job when it came open in March. I said the money wasn't worth the headache, but sitting in my truck after, I realized the real reason is I watched the last lead get chewed out over stuff he couldn't control, like late material and a GC who kept changing the schedule. The kid just shrugged and told me he'd take the stress if it meant a real paycheck, and that hit different coming from someone who still lives with his mom. Now I'm wondering if I've been avoiding the job or just avoiding getting blamed for other people's messes, and I can't tell which one it is. Has anyone moved up into a lead spot and found the extra money actually covered the extra grief?
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brooke_taylor445h ago
The kid has a point you're missing. Watching one lead get chewed out over late material and a GC changing the schedule means you saw the worst part of the job, not the normal part, and letting one bad stretch run your career is how guys stay stuck at the same pay for 10 years. Marcus is 19 and already gets that a real check comes with some heat, so maybe the better move is take the lead spot and be the guy who pushes back on the GC instead of the guy who hides in his truck.
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