Being a business leader can be a lonely place, said Matthew Mabie, president of Knoebel Construction, Inc. “Even my closest friends and family don’t fully understand the work that goes into creating the best possible company and team,” he said. However, after he was named a Titan 100 in 2023, Mabie said the community of titans and likeminded peers that strive for success in all aspects of life has been insightful.
“Since becoming a titan, I started the practice of mentoring ‘newer’ business owners,” said Mabie. “We meet monthly and I share some of my challenges and success from the past, as well as help them set monthly and annual goals.”
Fostering a collaborative team has been at the core of Mabie’s leadership style in his current role as president of a St. Louis construction company. Knoebel Construction’s primary industry is commercial construction, specializing in retail and restaurant development nationwide.
In the last year, under Mabie’s leadership, the company has redefined its guiding principles. “Not only did my team embrace the strategy and cultural changes but they took them and ran with it, exceeding my expectations in so many ways,” he said. “Without my request, they’ve come up with new procedures that embody the guiding principles that provide a better customer experience.”
The guiding principles led the company to eliminate all performance indicators that focused on profit, sales, targets or revenues. “While those are all important metrics to know, the focused was misguided,” said Mabie. “The guiding principles focus on building trust, exceptional customer service, innovate problem solving, provide quality that exceeds expectations and achieve timeliness in all aspects of our work.”
As a result, the culture improved exponentially within the team and with vendors and clients, said Mabie. “The challenges and changes in market conditions that can come up with a construction project were managed and resolved smoothly with proactive communication all along the way,” he said. “Solving problems has become an opportunity rather than a burden or frustration.”
The results include a rate of return of clients from 81% to nearly 100% and the bottom line shows the success. “I’ve been leading Knoebel for 13 years now and the lesson I needed to learn was that my strengths are what has made me a successful leader to date,” said Mabie. “There are always improvements to be made, but a focus on my strengths rather than a focus on my weaknesses has been monumental for myself and the organization.”
For leaning into his strengths as a leader, Mabie has been named a titan for the second time.
