Corey Clayborne sees himself as a coach.
When he started his journey toward leadership, he looked at some of the the greatest players in sports such as Michael Jordan and Tom Brady and how coaches helped shape their careers.
“I felt my role as I became an executive is more coaching folks and putting them in the right position to be successful, removing barriers and installing culture,” Clayborne said. “I felt like that was way more than me telling someone what to do.”
That’s part of the mindset he’s bringing to his role as the new president of the Construction Industry Round Table, a position he assumed earlier this month. CIRT is a public policy advocacy group that counts major players in the design and construction industry among its members.
Formerly an architect, Clayborn got his start as an executive leader by becoming the CEO of the American Institute of Architects Virginia chapter.
Here, Clayborne talks with Construction Dive about his initial passion for design and construction, the status of the industry and the biggest policy issues for CIRT to take on.
The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Construction Dive: What attracted you to the building and design industry?
COREY CLAYBORNE: I think that even as a young boy, I always had an interest in the built environment. And as I began to mature, going through college, I had a chance to see that architecture really does touch everything. Places and spaces and architecture and design impact everyone. Everybody has to experience it.
So, to have a stake in what that journey looks like for members of the community to me is just awesome. There’s nothing better than walking in the building that you had a part in shaping, and people are like, “Wow, this is amazing!” Like, that is really one of the best feelings that you could have, and it never gets old.
What made you want to pursue this leadership position for the Construction Industry Round Table?
I think what attracted me to this position was the membership base. CIRT is made up of about 130 of the top CEOs or key executives from the top design and construction firms in the U.S. It's very rare in your life that you get to work with those who are in the driver's seat of an industry. They're very instrumental players in the economy.
I'm driven by impact. And if you're going to be able to move on any issue — whether it's workforce development or mental health, whatever it is in the design and construction industry — if 130 of the most prominent influential leaders of these firms can't do it, then who can?
What are the issues CIRT members, these leaders, pay the most attention to?
Looking at our strategic plan, I would say workforce. That's always going to be a top issue. It's a crisis. We need to look into how political dynamics start to play with that, whether it's immigration policy or the image of construction. How do we start to recruit the youth into that space?
Also, the volatility of the economy. We have tariffs and many geopolitical aspects happening now, so what's the price of getting materials here? That's always going to be something that these members look at.
I would be remiss if I didn't say sustainability. Depending on where you work in the country, some sustainability requirements are coming into code. Understanding the regulatory environment, which is always changing and might differ from region to region, is important to us,
There's a laundry list of things that are worth grappling with that these leaders are looking into. And that's the power of CIRT. You can be vulnerable and have some candid conversations with other peers that you maybe can't have within your firm.
What do you see as the road map for CIRT’s future?
How I approach my position is in four phases. Right now I'm in the “understanding phase.” I’m immersing myself with members, with the industry, understanding the issues at a granular level, understanding where we're doing very well, where there's opportunity, where there's growth or strength opportunities for us to capitalize.
Then there is a phase called “exploration.” And that's the fun part, right? That's where you get to ideate on various solutions. And that's part of being an architect that gets me excited; doing a lot of sketches or concepts.
The third phase, “materialization,” says, “You have all of that, what are you going to do about it?” That's the building part. What does the solution start to look like?
Lastly is “reflection.” And I think it’s always helpful to pause, take a look at what's happened and are things going the way you thought they would? Where do you need to pivot?
It seems as though AI is everywhere. What’s your stance on the tech?
Here’s what I’ll say: I've never met anyone to fight technology and win. It’s undefeated. And so I think you have to figure out ways to embrace it. And often when used well, it should free up time for you to do the things that require more attention.
I think the second part is understanding where not to use AI. I don't think we talk about that enough. We don't talk about using it, but ask the question, where should we not use it? In my mind, there's a lot of the human relations aspect. That's so essential in running an association, that emotional intelligence. AI is not going to be able to do that for you.
