Voices Within Evans: John De Lay

Behind the Culture Driving Field Operations

Our new “Voices within Evans” series encourages us to look beyond our daily work and explore the behind-the-scenes nuances that drive our people forward.

Backed by extensive global industry experience and recognized for his expertise in the field, John De Lay serves as our Senior Vice President of Field Operations. He shared his insights on what it means to lead with intent and how growing construction firms can make an impact in this industry. 

From your perspective as an operations leader, what has been the biggest driver over the past years to combat large market swings?

We’ve mitigated risk by expanding across multiple markets. While many companies focus on a single sector and face significant volatility as a result, our diversification strategy has been key. By building a uniquely skilled team with diverse backgrounds, we can adapt quickly and shift our focus toward emerging growing markets. This flexibility not only strengthens our resilience but also enhances our ability to serve a broader and more varied customer base.

What makes Evans well-positioned for continued operational excellence and scalable growth?

Sustaining operational excellence starts with maintaining a strong leadership culture. People don’t leave companies where strong leadership exists. We prioritize listening to our teams and driving efficiency by embedding optimized processes that create agility and adaptability in a dynamic market. Combined with a deeply customer-centric mindset, this ensures our solutions anticipate client needs and deliver superior project outcomes.

For scalability, we’re focused on building a resilient business model grounded in disciplined workload management, continuous training, and strategic investment in our people. By empowering our teams to take on larger and more complex projects, we drive growth that expands both capability and confidence. Our approach is to scale with purpose and precision, raising the bar for excellence with every project. After all, speed without intention burns more than it builds.

Looking ahead, what opportunities or priorities are most important to keep driving high-performance delivery and impact?

Over the next few years, one of the most critical opportunities lies in identifying and encouraging emerging leaders. These individuals must be committed not only to the success of their teams but also to elevating those around them. True leadership is not self-serving, it is self-sacrificing. Holding a position of authority does not inherently make you important; rather, it is the people under your leadership who are important. Cultivating this mindset will be essential to our success.