46 - The Human Side Of Construction
From Constructive by Seth Kalkman
November 4, 2025 · 36 min · Season 1 · Episode 46
About this episode
Angelo Suntres discusses the mental health crisis and toxic culture in the construction industry, emphasizing the need for vulnerability and effective leadership.
In this powerful conversation, Angelo Suntres (The Human Side of Construction) confronts the industry's toughest challenges: the mental health crisis, toxic culture, and the cost of the "nice guy" approach to business. Angelo reveals the staggering statistics—construction workers are 5X more likely to die by suicide than from all workplace fatalities combined. Why? We're exploring the culture of suppressing vulnerability that leads to this crisis. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Why the construction "macho culture" preys upon vulnerability and prevents essential communication. The surprising reason that Angelo believes "nice guys don't win" in the transactional world of construction business. How to achieve long-term success by dropping your ego and asking, " Can you help me? " The real reason why the industry’s attempts at diversity and inclusion are sometimes failing—because the culture is not ready to accept new workers. Why the most effective leaders realize they're not managing projects, they're managing people. This is a must-listen for project managers, superintendents, and business owners ready to transition from a transactional…
People in this episode
Host: Seth Kalkman
Guest: Angelo Suntres
Topics covered
- mental health in construction
- toxic culture
- vulnerability
- leadership
- diversity and inclusion
- business success
Keywords
- construction
- mental health
- leadership
- toxic culture
- vulnerability
- diversity
- business success
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Human Side of Construction, Bensound
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