Ron Blum, CE ’71, speaking about the leadership lessons he learned throughout a 40-year career with international engineering firms to students, faculty and alumni for the Fall Hyatt Leadership Lecture series on October 15, 2026. (Photo by Melissa Fralick)
Sharing stories from his career across the United States, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, Ron Blum, CE 71, emphasized that leadership is not something learned solely through books or training courses. Rather, it develops through experience, relationships, mistakes, and a willingness to keep learning.
As the Fall 2026 speaker for the Hyatt Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series on October 15, Blum shared the leadership lessons that shaped his career.
Blum’s professional journey included leadership roles with two of the world's premier engineering and construction companies, Chicago Bridge & Iron and Bechtel. Over a 40-year career, he managed major infrastructure, oil and gas, and industrial projects around the globe. While his technical accomplishments were significant, he said the most important lessons came from working with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Characteristics of a Leader
“For me, what I did and learned and helped me succeed is empathy,” Blum said. “A good leader has empathy, communication, listening skills, learning, respect, integrity, empowerment, and decisiveness.”
What is empathy? According to Blum, empathy is learning about people. “You're going to work with so many different people. I worked with so many different cultures. You have to know those people. You have to know what drives them, what doesn't drive them,” he said.
Karen and John Huff school chair Don Webster, Ron Blum and associate chair Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy in the courtyard of the Mason building. (Photo by Melissa Fralick)
Visit the Flickr gallery for more photos of the event.
Blum noted that leaders often assume they have communicated clearly when they have not. Effective communication requires clarity, simplicity, and patience. Listening skills are an important leadership tool.
“You’ve got to listen more than you talk,” Blum said, “God gave us two ears and one mouth for a good reason.”
Finally, leaders must be decisive. After gathering information and considering different perspectives, they must be willing to make difficult decisions rather than postponing them indefinitely. “You can’t just kick the can down the road and try again later,” Blum said.
A Global Career
During his career, Blum lived and worked in 19 locations around the world, from the small town of Jesup in rural Georgia to the major cities of Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Johannesburg, South Africa.
An early lesson came from a superintendent named Ed Harold, who mentored him during his first construction assignment as a young engineer. When Blum was asked to find an unfamiliar piece of equipment, he spent considerable time searching rather than admitting he didn’t know what it was.
Harold explained to him that asking questions is a sign of strength, not weakness. From that experience, Blum learned the importance of humility and recognizing what one does not know.
Throughout Blum’s career, he learned valuable lessons from welders, laborers, technicians, and tradespeople as well as executives. Harold, who had little formal education, possessed deep practical knowledge and leadership ability. Blum learned leadership transcends titles and degrees from Harold’s treating everyone with respect and valuing practical expertise.
Another defining moment came when senior executives wanted him to move from construction into sales. Comfortable in his current role, Blum refused several times. His supervisor and company leaders persisted, believing the move was important for his development.
“In two weeks, your paycheck will be in Chicago, Illinois. You can pick it up there or that's it,” Blum said the executive told him. From this experience, Blum encouraged students not to reject opportunities simply because they fall outside their comfort zones.
While working on a major project in Australia, Blum had a transformative cultural experience with the construction crew.
Blum was leading a project that would use several large fans to raise an 847-ton roof into position on a cushion of air. Before raising the roof into place, indigenous people on the work crew asked to perform a traditional “haka dance” to recognize the importance of the occasion.
Although he had no idea about this traditional custom, he realized the employees were doing it to honor the project. “That taught me respect. Very important. They did that, and I let them do it, and we got respect back and forth,” he said.
Blum shared the concept of “paradoxical leadership,” offering several thought-provoking principles:
- To acquire wisdom, affirm ignorance
- To create unity, emphasize diversity
- To foster trust, risk losing it all
- To produce change, preserve the status quo
The principle he explored most deeply was, “Get the power, but never use it.” Leadership positions inevitably bring authority, he said, but leaders should resist the urge to dominate decision-making. Instead, they should encourage collaboration, seek input from others, and allow teams to contribute solutions. Innovation and commitment arise when people feel their voices matter.
In closing, Blum encouraged students to embrace challenges, pursue international experiences, remain passionate about their work, and never stop learning. Technical expertise may open doors, but lasting success depends on character, relationships, and leadership.