Hailing from a family of contractors and property developers, Jad Maroun has a passion for the construction industry. “I always knew I wanted to get into the construction game,” he says. “I’ve been around it my entire life.”
As a 31-year-old, Jad encompasses all that you might expect from a young leader: energy, zeal and ambition. His age certainly doesn’t mean a lack of experience; Jad spent 13 years in residential and commercial construction before founding Lords Group in 2016.
“I was ready to build a brand that was synonymous with high-quality construction, bespoke projects and high building performance.” He calls his company an “honest contractor” because it looks after the best interests of its clients, subcontractors and stakeholders.
“We want to be the organisation that outperforms and over-delivers for our clients. We also want to ensure our clients keep us front of mind when they consider a quality contractor for their next project. Profits come second to this.”
In the past three years, Lords Group has established itself as a high-performing and reputable company that is now competing against businesses Jad looked up to growing up in the industry.
“No-one knew our name when we first entered the industry and it was difficult to sell our value,” he notes.
“Our clients are now experiencing our project delivery approach and quality focus firsthand and are able to compare and appreciate what we have to offer against higher-tier organisations. It is comforting to know that we have been able to position Lords Group at that level in such a short time frame.”
High quality and challenging projects are what motivate Jad. “We want to be partnering with developers who have large ambitions to change the face of residential and commercial mixed-use apartment living in Australia,” he states.
“With these partnerships we can provide opportunities for the Lords Group team to work on iconic and challenging projects.”
Jad’s ambition drives him, and he’s willing to put in the hard yards it takes to get to the top. “It takes a high level of energy but we want to outperform. Our team is also not intimidated by complex or high-spec projects; they will face them head-on. Each project is a new opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities, experience and skills.”
You could call Jad a visionary. In a world full of stagnant companies, his is providing a renewed vigour. “As the years pass, it is effortless to continue doing what you’re doing,” he says.
“It requires us to let go of our individual pride to advance the organisation for the benefit of the wider team.”
Jad instils in his staff the mentality that, to advance, you must reflect on and critique where you are and where you want to be. He is open with them and ensures that if there is a way to improve, they will.
“I’m honest with my team, and they’re honest with me,” he says. “If they ever feel they need more from the organisation, the team are not shy to openly discuss and challenge each other to ensure we end up with the best outcome.”
The organisation is mindful and strategic from tender through to completion of a project. Taking the opportunity to complete multiple quality and defect inspections throughout the project, rather than just at completion, is just one of the many methods adopted.
“Skills to some degree can be taught, but you cannot teach attitude and you cannot force passion.”
“We schedule multiple quality inspections to satisfy our own high expectations prior to handing over to our clients for their inspection. We also keep our projects running at high momentum so that we provide sufficient opportunity at the end to focus on the quality,” he continues.
“As a young company, we need to stand out among our competitors. We’ve invested in systems and financial management software that’s utilised by leading Tier 1 organisations, giving our teams the tools they need to execute projects to a high level consistently.”
With great ambitions of growth in the industry, Jad states that Lords Group needs to “maintain a great deal of momentum and energy within its teams”.
To achieve this, he says, “I spend a substantial amount of time and effort with current employees and potential candidates, evaluating what motivates each person and what aspirations they have for their career, rather than focusing only on their technical capabilities. Skills to some degree can be taught, but you cannot teach attitude and you cannot force passion. It is either in you or it is not.”