Rocky Plemons Is Committed to Managing People

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Leaders who want to be successful like Rocky Plemons must be committed to managing teams. It’s a commitment that’s helped him build recording-breaking power plants, lead projects in different countries, and pave the way to a legendary career spanning over 50 years.

“Think of it like you’re going to your daughter’s wedding,” explains the vice president of construction and fabrication at Fluor. “If you get a flat tire on the way, you change it because you’re not going to miss that wedding. If your car breaks down on the side of the road, you call a taxi or do whatever you need to do to get there. If you have that kind of commitment as you manage people, you’ll always be successful.”

These days, Plemons spends a lot of time giving advice, going out of his way to mentor leaders and employees sitting in seats he once sat in, and navigating issues he has learned to contend with. When he speaks, they listen, compiling his best practices to be used long after he retires.

For him, the efforts are about giving the next generation of leaders the tools that helped him make it so far. One of them is a “three-legged stool,” a key approach to thinking about managing teams amid quality, safety, and production priorities.

“Safety gets you the opportunity, but quality and production get you invited back by your clients,” Plemons says. “We often stress too much on one of the traits, but my approach is to apply equal effort to all three. It’s like a three-legged stool—if one of those legs is too long or too short, that stool will turn over. You can have the safest project in the world, but if you don’t produce, it won’t be successful. You can have a real quality job, but the production cost might make it over budget. You can give all your effort toward production, but if someone gets hurt on the job, you still weren’t successful. All three need the same attention to have a successful project.”

Plemons grew up in a construction family. From the time he was old enough to carry wooden boards, he was involved in the family business. He expanded on those experiences at a trade school in the 1970s, where he learned more about general building trades. He went on to work with a construction company that would be acquired by Fluor—his home away from home.

“Working with Fluor has been like working with family,” he says. “It’s just a good, ethical company. The greatest motivator for staying in a company so long is when you see its successes each year, enjoy the work, and the people.”

For the first 25 years, Plemons worked on fossil fuel power plants, pulp, and paper mills, and fiber and chemical plants. As he rose the ranks and became a leader, he realized early on that a project’s success was directly tied to how people were managed. An important part of that is how a leader listens.

“As a type A person, you have to listen to understand instead of listening to respond,” the VP says. “Too often, someone comes in with some issue and before they finish their thought, you’ve already turned around and gave them an answer. But if you listen to their full spiel, you’ll pick things up and become a much better manager. That’s why the good lord gave you two ears and one mouth. Let the person get their thoughts and feelings out.”

As Plemons eyes the next chapter of his life, he has his mind fixed on two things: how to leave the company better than he found it and how he will spend his days post-career.

He also wants to continue being a support system for young professionals who could benefit from the lessons he learned. “One of the most important things they can do is to invest in themselves,” Plemons says. “We are not born with work ethic. You develop it. What you put into yourself is what makes your self-worth.”

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