A Long-Time CEO’s Strategies For Success

Spanning more than three decades, Gord Rawlins has built a long-standing career at Toronto-based CMiC, helping to take the construction software company to new heights.

Rawlins has served as president and CEO of CMiC since 2002, where he leads the company’s overall business and product strategies. With a career at CMiC that began in 1989 as a product manager, Rawlins played a pivotal role in the development and launch of the company’s first Oracle-based construction management software.

Under his leadership, CMiC has implemented close to 1,000 enterprise resource planning systems across North America, transforming the construction industry. Rawlins’ strategic vision and technical expertise have been instrumental in driving CMiC’s innovation, growth and continued success in the marketplace.

We sat down with Rawlins to share his experiences and how he and his team strive to maintain a “community culture” within CMiC to foster more employee engagement and success.

In all your years at CMiC, what is an unexpected lesson you’ve learned that’s changed the way you run the organization? 

One unexpected lesson I’ve learned during my time at CMiC is how critical it is to build a robust business ecosystem that is supported by product experts and prioritizes customer success above all else.

I’ve also come to understand that failure plays a key role in growth and innovation. Not all initiatives succeed immediately, but even in failure, valuable lessons emerge that can be redirected to drive future success.

How has the office of the CEO evolved since you started in 2002? 

Security issues have become more prominent and need to be a top priority for any CEO these days. It’s important to ensure that your security team is well equipped, and that the entire organization is aligned with this as a priority. This isn’t something that CEOs can delegate—we need to be more aware of technological advancement today than ever before.

While CTOs play a critical role in determining a company’s tech strategy, CEOs must increase their awareness of what technologies are being utilized withing the organization, and how proper oversight and guidance can be shared as needed.

This includes AI. This landscape is progressing rapidly and failing to understand, adopt and leverage AI could lead to significant competitive disadvantages and an increased risk of lost revenue.

How do you foster a culture of innovation, learning and growth at CMiC?

At CMiC we encourage a “community culture”—which was established by our founder, Allen S. Berg, and is championed by our employees, serving as the backbone to our organization. This communal culture, rooted in our origins as a family-run business, continues to thrive under our “One CMiC Team” ethos, uniting our efforts toward continued excellence and innovation in the construction software industry.

We foster a culture of innovation, learning and growth at CMiC through our hands-on and inclusive approach to management, open-door policy, organizational structure and our emphasis on communication and collaboration. These factors create an environment where employees can feel empowered to share their ideas and feedback with senior leadership creating productive open dialogue. Additionally, it’s important to recognize high performance to ensure employees feel valued and appreciated. 

How do you approach building and maintaining a strong leadership team, and what qualities do you look for in your executive team members?

At CMiC we’ve approached building a leadership team by finding individuals who are committed to strengthening partnerships, perfecting our product and service offerings, maintaining a strong foothold within the construction software space and spearheading global expansion.

At the highest level, building and maintaining a strong leadership team requires a combination of vision, collaboration and trust. I look for individuals who not only excel in their technical and functional roles, but who also possess strong strategic thinking, adaptability and the ability to inspire and lead others.

Additionally, I look to our leaders to be true champions of the brand and who are able to evolve with the times, exhibiting an openness to new technologies, new practices and new ways of leading teams.