Kathy Passkiewicz said she wasn’t surprised a few years ago when her construction company executive-husband, Joe, started blogging about servant leadership.
Joe Passkiewicz’s blog, “Leading by Serving: Leadership is for Everyone,” has more than 1,400 followers.
“He loves doing the blog because he talks about leading by serving — and that really is what our life is,” Kathy said.
She just doesn’t know how her husband finds the time.
Along with his career as senior vice president of development for LandSouth Construction, Joe often helps lead mission trips abroad with his wife.
The parents of two adult children also provide and serve meals to low-income people every Saturday morning in Downtown Jacksonville with fellow church members and participate in other faith-based charitable endeavors.
Joe also works out at the gym every day, maintains an immaculate garden and is superbly talented in the kitchen.
“But that’s Joe,” Kathy said. “He always finds a way and the time to do great things.”
And to help others.
On a Costa Rican mission trip this summer that wasn’t supposed to include any construction projects, he and two others turned a dire emergency into a blessing by putting a new roof on a poor elderly couple’s house.
“I’m married to a man who is not an ordinary man, by any means,” Kathy said.
Joe said he wakes up each day with the notion of doing something extraordinary, including helping lead a company that has doubled its revenue each year for several years and expects to do the same in 2016.
But guiding others to leadership — particularly in service to others — is his passion. He’s had that knack at least since high school, when peers looked to him to take charge of class and service projects.
“We are all leaders,” the 53-year-old Michigan native said. “We lead households. We lead families. We lead teams. We lead groups at work. If you have influence on just one person other than yourself, you are a leader.”
Business is thriving
Founded in 1998, LandSouth specializes in multifamily, senior and mixed-use developments throughout the Southeast.
The company has completed more than 15,000 units with a value of more than $750 million and has earned many accolades, including being recognized among Florida’s fast-growing private companies by the state’s Business Journals.
LandSouth’s current Jacksonville projects include The Loree, a $28 million, 300-unit luxury community at Butler and Southside boulevards, and the Village on Wiley, a $4 million, 43-unit supportive housing project for people who are high users of crisis services.
The garden-style Loree project exemplifies a growing trend of developers opting for oversized units and amenities, such as grilling stations, dog parks, exercise facilities and game rooms. Cyber cafes and fitness facilities with indoor basketball courts are included in other LandSouth-constructed apartment communities.
“I think developers are working hard to develop a stronger sense of community,” Joe said.
The company’s completed Jacksonville projects include Lost Lake Apartments near The Loree and the four-story Valencia at South Beach condominiums in Jacksonville Beach, which Joe said are part of a trend to build taller multifamily complexes.
Especially benefitting from a post-recession apartment construction boon, LandSouth also is building apartments, mixed-use and senior housing developments in several Florida cities (Orlando, Bonita Springs, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Oviedo, Sanford and Davenport), as well as Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Collegedale, Tenn.
LandSouth is thriving as Joe, who joined the company in 2005, directs pre-construction services, estimating, quality control and operational aspects of complex projects.
“Joe is a technical, detailed, highly focused individual,” said LandSouth President and CEO James Pyle. “Although he has many years of construction experience, he is very well rounded as proven by his social media skills and involvement.”
Leading by example
An introvert with a construction engineering technology degree from Lawrence Technology University, Joe leans on the use of Six Sigma principles, employee accountability and engagement programs, and benchmarking and statistical analysis.
But what makes Joe particularly stand out in his field, Pyle said, is his character.
“Joe demonstrates leadership qualities through the day, but shows his servant traits in many areas, (including) volunteering many hours for people in need,” Pyle said.
There’s a famous, longstanding tale that Kathy keeps tucked away in a notebook because she said it exquisitely exemplifies her husband.
It’s about a man who asks three construction workers what they are doing. One said he is laying bricks, one said he’s building a wall and the other proudly exclaims he’s building a cathedral.
That’s precisely how Joe approaches his job, blog, family and mission work, his wife said.
Even his garden.
“He grows the most amazingly beautiful dahlias that you’ve ever seen and cooks the most amazing meals you’ve ever eaten,” Kathy said. “He takes great pride in his whatever he does.”
And he sees the best in people.
Building a team
While Joe said his key role at LandSouth is to help others become better, he said he learns as much from the LandSouth team members as he teaches them.
“We have a very special combination of trust and respect that is the key to unlocking the potential to do great things,” he said. “This is what continues to get me excited about what I do.”
In a November blog post, Joe provides tips about overcoming the fear of rejection, recalling a time in high school when he sat by a phone and thought about all the things that could go wrong in a prospective call with a girl.
“Fear is powerful,” he wrote. “Now as I look back at it, what is the worst thing that could happen? She said, ‘No.’”
In an October post, Joe discusses the importance of leaders to develop real relationships with team members. He said people in positions of influence often discount the fact that when they deal with people, feelings and emotions come with them.
“Be authentic. Share your struggles. Be yourself,” he writes in the blog entry titled, “Chicken Leader.”
“In 6 Ways to Build a Culture of Hard Work,” Joe discusses being born into a family of contractors and said motivating people on the job is more important — and challenging — than ever.
“Nothing is more deflating than to bust your butt and not feel appreciated,” he writes. “Take the time to thank or recognize someone for doing a quality job.”
Brooklynn Roshitsh, a LandSouth project administrator, read the “Chicken Leader” post and commented on the blog that Joe emulates what he writes and rolls up his sleeves when needed.
“While reading this, all I could think about is how there is no one who exemplifies the open-door policy more than you,” Roshitsh wrote. “There are few managers who would sort door hardware on a Sunday in a 104-degree garage or caulk thresholds on a Tuesday night because that’s what was best for the team.”
Deeply religious, Joe said he began to write simply because he felt he had a story to tell. While he said he may someday write a book, he intends to try to continue to be beacon of encouragement through his blog — and his life.
“The posts that get the best feedback are always about issues of the heart,” he said. “If you can really connect with your team and show them through your actions that you truly care for them and they trust you, all things are possible.”
As far as the couple’s call to service, Joe said, “it’s a heart issue.”
“If we simply look around, there are needs everywhere,” he said. “My message is to quit talking about the problems and get engaged in actually helping others.”