Allen Harris is what many individuals would term a “self-made man.” But Harris would vehemently deny that label. The CEO of Bailey-Harris — an established, long-running construction company that he helped found as a young man — Harris insists that “there are no self-made men.”
“Self-made men adore their maker,” Harris says, acknowledging that those who think they have achieved success completely on their own merits are dead wrong. “I had a lot of help along the way.”
Scripture tells us that humility comes before honor, and Harris seems to embody that truth. Set to receive the Cornerstone Award — an annual lifetime achievement award for those in the trade industry — at the Nov. 7 Associated Builders and Contractors dinner, Harris again models an attitude of humility.
“It floored me,” Harris said about getting the award.
“Strangely, it’s worked as a motivator,” he added. “It’s motivated me to try to improve mankind, to do a better job to my people, to be a better teacher … to be a better person. I’m not a saint.”
Throughout his business career, Harris has done everything from bookkeeping to the hard work in the trenches.
When asked to identify some of the individuals who helped him get to the place of success he currently enjoys, Harris essentially pointed to a childhood foundation laid by traditional values rarely seen in today’s society.
For starters, Harris was surrounded by solid familial influences. His father, a sergeant during World War II, taught him to “be on time and do your best at whatever you do.” Harris later pared this advice with the “Be Prepared” motto he learned in the Boy Scouts — an organization into which his father incidentally pushed him.
His father’s early training was supplemented by other adults in his community. Harris particularly recalls the time his 103-year-old apartment caretaker spent with him – “Always had a Coca-Cola and he spent time with me” – as well as Vesta Sheers, the family maid. “She was the typical, African American, high-morality-standard-you-do-things-right” type of person, Harris said of the latter. “I learned more from her – and my brothers, too – she was a great teacher, and we loved her.”
But Harris also credits the school system as influential in his early formation – just not in the academic way one might expect. Miss Rhodes, his third-grade teacher, “gave me my first paddling,” he said, adding that Miss McCarthy, his eighth-grade teacher, “gave me my second paddling.” Mr. Miley, the junior high principal, “gave me my third paddling,” while the coach gave him his fourth. “I didn’t forget ‘em, and I deserved every one,” Harris acknowledged.
But he also noted another important aspect of his school career that is noticeably absent from today’s halls of learning:
“We had PE seven days a week, and looking back, I think that was as important as any class we had because it put us outside. We had a lot of free play, very little structure. Now in school, it’s too much structure and not enough free."
Like most high school graduates, Harris didn’t really have a clear idea of which direction to take as he headed into the adult world. He first enrolled in Jacksonville State University, thinking that he wanted to be a mechanical engineer. “If you’d asked me to do a job description then,” he admitted. “I couldn’t have done it.”
His plans solidified later, however, when a general contractor he met on a summer job suggested Harris get a degree in building construction, causing him to transfer to Auburn University.
That same summer job was an experience that taught him lessons in grit and perseverance, as he worked 90 to 100 hours every week pouring concrete.
“That summer almost killed me. Nineteen-years-old, and I almost didn’t survive it. It was just work and nothing more. But I made enough money to pay for two years of college,” he stated, noting that his parents couldn’t afford to help him.
Harris works with Bart Starr while acting as job superintendent for All American Inn in Auburn, Ala.
That difficult experience led him to the conclusion that students who work through college — even if they don’t get good academic grades — are laying a strong foundation for their future success. In such scenarios, young people have a chance to learn from a wide variety of individuals, gleaning insights that will help them along their career journey.
Harris encountered one of these individuals when he met Jack Bailey, who later became his business partner in Bailey-Harris. Bailey was “a man of wisdom, patience … leadership, and of care,” Harris recalled. The two joined forces over 45 years ago, and Harris never removed his partner’s name from the company after Bailey passed on from this life.
Their construction business started small, and they had to do a lot on their own – everything from the bookkeeping to the actual hands-on building work – but they finished their first project “on time and on budget,” Harris said. Again, Harris credited the connections and contacts they had as vital to the company’s early success, but he is also quick to note that the people they had on board with them throughout the years have also been a huge factor.
“I want my people to know I think they’re the best on the planet,” he said.
That doesn’t mean that the people under him don’t make mistakes, however. “Whenever we have a problem, it is 99.99% of the time caused by people,” he explained. “But 100% of the time, people are the solution.”
High expectations and good customer service are essential in the business, Harris explained, and he works hard to impress that upon his staff:
“It’s doing what you say you’re going to do. I can’t tell you how many times I wish I hadn’t said this, and wish I hadn’t said that, but I said it, and it’s done, and it costs money. It’s always expensive, but you just get it done.”
“The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a low price,” he outlined, quoting an old saying. “We produce an occasional excellence, but quality is something that is the only thing that separates us from our competitors. And we demand it, our people see it. … Do it on time, do it right.”
That commitment to quality is likely what landed Bailey-Harris some highly visible jobs, including the Dexter Avenue Office Building, in which the company “built over and around the existing – the first Alabama Supreme Court building,” Harris said. “When we built over it, we cantilevered out over the building and put seven floors over the cantilever,” he explains. “How we did that safely was an engineering feat that made the front cover of the Engineering News Record back in those days.”
For the outside observer, successes such as these seem likely to make it hard for a CEO like Harris to step back and let others take the reins. Admittedly, Harris did find himself in that place. Although he had placed his son in the company to eventually take over one day, the father-son workplace dynamic wasn’t always easy. But once again, humility saved the day.
“He finally came to me one day, he said, ‘Dad, I don’t think I can stay here.’ That rocked my world,” Harris said. “I realized, my world don’t matter, I won’t be here. It’s his world. And this company was born to live, this company wasn’t born to die.’”
That realization started Harris on a succession plan, and today, he realizes that the unwillingness of many of his fellow Baby Boomers to do the same is really harmful to the success of the next generation.
Handing the reins over to his son, however, has freed Harris to do other things, including serving on the board of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). “The ABC is very politically involved … so I got into politics on terms of helping the ABC,” he explained. “I had no clue what I was getting into.”
Yet seeing the political side of things through ABC, as well as a stint as a reserve deputy with the Morgan County sheriff’s department in the ‘70s, is likely why he encourages today’s young people to “be more civic minded.” Referencing his days in law enforcement, he recalled, “Back then, we had latitudes to use our own judgment, but now the federal government’s taken all those away.”
Times are different today, and as such, “This division among us might not ever go away,” he noted. “Make sure you find a group of like-minded people, and your friends – keep like-minded friends. … If you’re in a political sphere, you resist corruption, because it’s there every day.”
A visit from Sheriff Buford Pusser during Harris' stint as a deputy sheriff in Morgan County, Ala.
And for those who hope to follow in his footsteps and start their own businesses, Harris also has a few pieces of advice:
“Make sure you have some money to contribute, make sure you have the time and you give it all, and you have the drive and you do everything it takes, but also [know] that you might lose it.”
“You don’t have to be super intelligent, you don’t have to be rich/wealthy,” he continues, but you must have that drive in order to succeed and become a leader.
“Leadership is what’s missing, and it’s everywhere,” he advised. “It’s important to me that our country does well … Let’s get it fixed.”
Harris spends time with Herschel Walker and Tommy Tuberville during the 2022 elections.
Bryan Dawson is CEO of 1819 News. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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