Josh Rizzo, Keynote Speaker
Guest speaker Josh Rizzo understands what it feels like to keep crippling pain inside and not share it with anyone. As a veteran who has battled anxiety, depression and trauma, Rizzo turned his personal struggles into a mission to help people recognize the power of prioritizing mental health, especially leaders.
“What’s the problem with us leaders? We take care of everyone else but ourselves,” he said.
Rizzo pointed to sobering statistics from 2023: the construction industry lost an average of three workers per day to jobsite fatalities, while 14 people died each day by suicide and 44 from overdoses.
“That’s 58 deaths a day connected to how we’re feeling,” he said. “There’s a lot we can do to address it. It starts with us. In how we look at things and show up for each other.”
He urged leaders to begin by caring for themselves. His own practices include morning meditation, box breathing and journaling about gratitude.
“In this industry, we’re always looking for what’s wrong. But in life, what you search for will arise. So, I’m looking for the good,” Rizzo said.
He also encouraged people to be kinder to themselves, noting that while many offer encouragement to others, they can be their own harshest critics.
Rizzo said setting perspective is another daily practice. “The most important decision we make each day is to be in a good mood,” he said, adding that happiness should be viewed as a vehicle, not a destination with relationships and connection being the strongest indicators of happiness and longevity.
For leadership, Rizzo emphasized three priorities: clarity, growth and trust. He said workers often perceive uncertainty as negative, so leaders should communicate what’s ahead. They should also provide opportunities for people to develop skills and take on responsibility.
“Leaders create other leaders,” Rizzo said. “Most leadership is caught, not taught.” Trust, he said comes from showing care. “They don’t care what you know until they know that you care,” Rizzo said, nothing leaders can demonstrate that by listening well and spending time with their teams.
“Leadership is about how we make people feel,” he said.