Staples Center Construction Leader Shares COVID-19 Strategy

By Dennis Kaiser

Earlier this year, Jennifer Halstead commenced a new chapter in her professional career, taking over as COO and EVP at MATT Construction. In the newly-created position, she oversees all construction activities and reports directly to Steve Matt, Chairman and CEO.

Connect Media asked Halstead to share a few insights about the commercial real estate industry that pulls from an accomplished career in commercial construction spanning nearly three decades. The $2 billion roster of projects in which she’s been involved domestically and internationally includes such iconic developments as the Staples Center, Las Vegas MGM Grand Hotel and Seaport San Diego. Check out her responses in our latest CRE Q&A.

Q: What’s your philosophy on leadership, and how did it develop?
A: I thrive most on creating an environment of partnership and innovation that benefits from my team’s collective emotional intelligence and ability to maneuver through uncertainty. I also look inward daily to gauge how well I’m living up to my own standards, my own potential and the type of leadership I want to embody. It’s a never-ending process, but it’s crucial to staying real with myself and being present and available for my team.

Q: What is your philosophy for team building and how do you go about putting a solid team together?
A: Rather than making assumptions and charging ahead, as a team leader it’s far more important for me to serve as a teacher while also learning as much as I can about who my team members are. Once I’ve begun to understand their abilities, I can challenge them to grow and evolve through setting clear expectations tailored to their goals. Sometimes that means shifting responsibilities and encouraging people to step outside of traditional job titles and responsibilities.

Something crucial I’ve come to appreciate is that people don’t work to fail; they work to succeed. As a leader, it’s my duty to be clear in defining what success means for individuals, for the team and for the project. Then, I build pathways to help us all get there. I knew I’d found the right fit with MATT Construction when I saw founder Paul J. Matt’s quote: “It’s not what you can do yourself; it’s what you can do to help others succeed.”

Q: Walk us through a challenge you’ve encountered on a project and how you tackled it. What did that experience teach you?
A: Building the Staples Center Arena in downtown Los Angeles was a formative moment early in my career. Along the way, we developed many creative technical solutions that people told us would be impossible to implement. One of these challenges involved designing and installing the curved, canted and heavy pieces of custom glazing at the prow of the office wing. The glass had to connect to a steel substructure for support but still be able to move in multiple directions independent of the structure in the event of an earthquake. Bringing together a team of people with diverse skills and experience led to the effective design and construction of the structural connections for an innovative solution that kept the project on schedule.

Working on the Staples project gave me a reputation as someone who could shepherd large-scale, technical projects to life on a rapid timeline, launching me into an eclectic career working with small, medium and large firms alike as a consultant and as an executive, starting, acquiring and revitalizing companies, and gaining experience in all different aspects of construction in the commercial and federal sectors. This wildly broad array of experiences taught me one key attitude: never say no to a good opportunity.

Q: What thoughts do you have on navigating the current COVID-19 situation in your industry?
A: My last 15 years in construction share a common thread: helping people through change. The nature of the construction industry demands flexibility. We adapt to change with every project we build. No two projects are ever the same. We take unforeseeable elements as givens. That means all of us at MATT and all of our partners have confronted and dealt with enormous challenges before.

We are also always on the cutting edge of safety due to the type of work we do, and we’re incorporating evolving regulations and CDC guidelines into our existing safety plans while we keep our projects moving forward. We are harnessing new technologies and learning to connect without being in the same place. This historic moment in time is an opportunity for our industry to evolve rapidly. In my experience, change is more readily accepted when it’s a solution to a challenge. The COVID-19 situation has provided us with instantaneous motivation to do things differently. No doubt we will see rapid improvements in all aspects of our business from safety to production. We will continue to adjust to each new requirement to keep our people and our communities safe.

*Photo Credit: vesperstock – Shutterstock.com

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser