A 45,000-square-foot warehouse expansion, camaraderie with the guys on site, a look back at 100 years of women in the workforce: in this letter, Catherine Martineau shares a vision of leadership grounded in competence, reliability and authenticity. She also has a clear message for women in the industry.
> To see the photos from the evening, read our event recap.
TO THE WOMEN OF CONSTRUCTION
A leader first and foremost
When I was asked to come and talk about my journey as a woman leader in the flooring and construction industry, my first reaction was to wonder:
“What on earth am I going to talk about?”
Because in my mind, I’ve never really defined myself as a “woman in a man’s world.”
I’ve always defined myself as an authentic leader. Someone who gets involved. Who works hard. Who perseveres and looks for solutions. A positive person, but with both feet on the ground. A realist.
I’m also an achiever. I like to get things done, I see my files through to the end, and I’m not afraid to address issues along the way when I need to.
I don’t always have all the answers. But my instinct is to go and find them. I’m organized, and I do what it takes to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Because today, everything moves so fast. You absolutely have to be organized and proactive to run a business.
You also have to be present. Genuinely present. You have to be able to notice when someone on the team is going through a hard time. To listen, show empathy and be a pillar for our teams.
Showing humility matters too, and being willing to accept criticism. Constantly questioning yourself and always giving your best.
100 years of progress
I find it fascinating to look back at how far women have come in the workforce over the last 100 years. And 100 years is so short in the span of human history.
In 1926, about 25% of Québec women worked outside the home. Most of them were single. They earned 20 to 40% less than a man in a similar job. Women worked in factories, or else as servants, seamstresses, secretaries, salesclerks, teachers or nurses.
It was the awakening of the feminist movements. Women were starting to demand the right to vote.
When you think about what women have had to demonstrate, prove and sometimes even sacrifice to be recognized professionally, you realize just how far we’ve come in 100 years. And today, things are so much better, but I think there’s still something very important left to do:
Continue to normalize the presence of women everywhere they want to be and where they have the key skills to perform. There are no limits for anyone, regardless of their sex, how they define themselves or their orientation.
And for me, that comes down to something very simple: I don’t want to be recognized because I’m a woman. I want to be recognized because I’m good at what I do. Because I bring a positive culture and results.
And I want to live in an environment where it’s exactly the same for everyone.
Where it’s our know-how, our people skills, our attitude, our ability to collaborate, solve problems and move projects forward that speak for us.
And honestly… I’m lucky to work for a company where I feel that’s possible. To collaborate with an exceptional team that’s passionate, professional and dedicated to making sure the experience is a positive one for our customers, employees, suppliers, subcontractors and everyone else.
45,000 square feet of lessons
One experience that played a huge role in shaping the professional I am today was the expansion of the Centura Québec warehouse. It was an incredible experience. My General Manager was already talking to me about it in my job interview. He wanted to take on the project during my very first year, and I was completely fired up! I have to say, I’m not sorry we ended up starting it a year later. By then I had more experience under my belt and could make myself more available.
Because yes, a 45,000-square-foot warehouse expansion sounds great when you put it that way.
A big project, but SIMPLE. Growth. Beautiful plans. Schedules. Coordination.
On paper, everything is perfect. In reality… Let’s just say the site coordination was a little less than perfect. To put it diplomatically…
And that’s where I learned one of my biggest professional lessons:
There comes a time when you have to stop waiting for someone else to fix the problem.
You have to get up. Go out on site. Ask questions. Make calls. Follow up. Chase people down. Again. And again.
And you have to be able to stay calm when, inside, you’re asking yourself:
“Come on… how did we get here?”
So I got involved. Much more than was probably planned.
I found myself on the job site, surrounded by people who had their own ways of working, their own expertise, their own priorities.
And I learned. A huge amount.
I learned about construction. About coordination. About the unexpected. About communication. About patience. About managing emergencies.
But above all, I learned something about myself.
I can function in chaos. I can prioritize among priorities.
And sometimes… I’m surprisingly comfortable there.
The guys on site
And then there were the guys on site. I want to talk about them because this part of my story matters.
Because you could easily tell this as the story of a woman who walks into a man’s world and has to assert herself. But that’s not how I experienced it.
At first, of course, we had to build a relationship. They needed to know who I was. They needed to understand how I worked. And I needed to understand how they worked, too.
But quickly, something took hold. Trust. Camaraderie. And a lot of humour.
Because a job site without humour… I don’t think anyone would survive.
And little by little, they came to understand one thing:
If you come to me with a question, I’ll do my best to answer it. And if I don’t have the answer? I’ll find it. And if I tell you I’ll follow up? I’ll follow up.
And I think that’s where real credibility took hold. Not because I was a woman. Not because I was trying to prove I could do it. Simply because I was reliable.
I was present. I was committed. And I did my job.
Taking your place
And that, I think, is something I’d really like to pass on to the women in our industry.
You don’t need to become someone else to be credible. You don’t need to talk louder than everyone else. You don’t need to take on a personality that isn’t yours.
Be yourselves. But be prepared. Be curious. Be capable. Be present.
And above all… Don’t be afraid to take your place.
Because taking your place doesn’t mean taking someone else’s. It simply means accepting that yours exists.
I also think our generation of women has a responsibility. We’ve benefited from the work of those who came before us.
Women who had to be far more courageous than we are. Women who opened doors that weren’t always open. Women who sometimes had to work twice as hard to get half the recognition.
Today, our role is to keep opening those doors, and not to close them behind us.
Because a woman who succeeds on her own is wonderful. But a woman who succeeds and makes sure that other women succeed after her… That her DIVERSE TEAM succeeds… Now that’s leadership.
Leadership, differently
And I think leadership, in fact, is often misunderstood.
We think of the leader as the person out front. The one who gives directions. The one who makes the decisions. The one who has the last word.
But over the years, my definition of leadership has changed. For me, being a leader also means knowing how to listen.
It means recognizing that I’m not the most competent person in every room I walk into. And that’s important.
Because on a job site, there are people who know things I don’t. Here at Centura, there are dozens of people who know more than I do.
And I can learn from them. I can ask them questions. I can recognize their expertise. And in return, they can count on mine.
That’s what a team is. It’s not about who’s above whom. It’s about how each person can help move the project, and the company, forward.
And today, when I look at my team — all the people I work with every day — I think that’s probably what makes me proudest.
Because leadership isn’t just what I accomplish myself. Above all, it’s what we accomplish together.
The projects we’ve led. The problems we’ve solved. The days when everything went well. And the ones when absolutely nothing went as planned.
It’s also the conversations in the hallways. The urgent calls. The “got two minutes?” that end up being 45 minutes.
The decisions made quickly. The mistakes. The lessons learned. The wins.
And all those little things that, put together, build a workplace culture.
And that brings me back to something I really care about. Know-how and people skills.
Because along the way, I’ve realized that having skills is essential. But knowing how to work with others… That changes everything.
Being reliable. Being respectful. Being able to say “I don’t know.” Being able to say “I was wrong.” Being able to recognize someone’s work. Being able to make a tough decision. Being able to laugh when the day is completely crazy. Being able to stay human.
For me, that’s leadership too. And I truly believe that’s what will keep moving our workplaces forward.
Because the working world is changing. And women are changing with it.
But I don’t think our goal should be to erase the differences between men and women. On the contrary.
I think our strength comes precisely from the fact that we’re different. We have different ways of thinking. Of communicating. Of managing. Of solving problems.
And when you bring all those differences together, you get something much more powerful. A team.
Those who will come after us
So, if I had to sum up my journey in a few words today, I’d say this:
I never wanted to enter a man’s world to prove to them that I was capable.
I wanted to enter a professional world to bring what I had to offer.
And sometimes, I had to fight a little harder. Sometimes, I had to get much more involved. And sometimes, I had to prove myself.
But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not even the hard days. Because each of those moments helped me become the professional and the woman I am today.
And if I could leave just one thing with the women reading these lines, it would be this:
Don’t ask permission to take your place. Take it.
Not by crushing anyone. Not by trying to become someone you’re not. But by being so authentically yourselves that your competence, your passion and your commitment become impossible to ignore.
We are building the place of those who will come after us.
Perhaps that, in the end, is what Les Elles de la construction are all about.
Catherine Martineau
Directrice, succursale Centura Québec
Les Elles de la construction warmly thank Catherine Martineau for agreeing to share this text, and Centura for its generous hospitality at the event.
Would you also like to be part of a community where every woman can take her place? Become a member of Les Elles de la construction.
