Mindfulness Manufacturing (Trevor Blondeel)

Welcome to part two of my podcast with my father Ziggy Blondeel and his long-term team member Ronny Ledoux, who are sharing the stories and secrets they’ve learned over the many years they’ve worked together at Ziggy’s business, Blondeel Nursery. In this continuation of their conversation, Ronny and Ziggy talk more about they’ve built and maintained a successful connection, plus share how leaders across all industries can use trust and respect to create positive, productive workplaces where employees want to do their best possible work. 2:05 – When an issue arises, approach it with calmness

3:14 – Think about the whole team when making big decisions

3:42 – When your treat your employees with trust and respect, they will treat you in the same way

6:22 – Leaders can create workplace environments where employees want to do their best possible work

8:00 – When a leader sets a positive example, it rubs off on everyone

10:17 – You get what you give

13:05 – How you make people feel has an impact on how they show up and engage

19:20 – When hiring a new employee, you can usually tell right away if they’ll be a good fit or not

20:44 – Make your best attempts to get along with other people, especially your team members

Do you want to improve accountability and encourage autonomy in your organization? It all starts with asking the right questions! In this episode, I'm joined by guest Jeff Nally, the president of Nally Group Inc. and a coach and speaker who uses neuroscience-based solutions to help leaders improve their workplace interactions. He shares the questions leaders should ask to foster accountability and autonomy in their organizations, plus offers some great stories of his own to highlight the importance of mission, vision, storytelling, and more!

1:52 - Many leaders think that their team members simply want to be told what to do

2:12 - The #1 thing teams want from their leaders is a clear picture of the mission and vision

2:33 - When people know the "end game," they are more likely to follow instructions, be more autonomous, and find more success

3:25 - Leaders need to communicate their mission and goals to their team

3:39 - Leaders also need to be great storytellers

4:00 - If you don't believe in your mission and vision, your team won't either

7:06 - To really show off your mission and vision, weave it into your everyday behavior and actions

7:16 - As a leader, you can help your team by asking the right questions

8:10: Ask simple question like "are you finished with this task? How close to completion are you? What do you need to get it done?" to hold your team accountable 

11:00 - Don't be afraid to ask "feelings" questions

11:52 - Support questions, like "what can I do to help you meet your goal?" are also very important for growing and encouraging your team

13:28 - If you hold your team accountable, you know they'll get the job done without you having to stay constantly involved

16:29 - You can also ask about concerns and apprehensions

19:58 - When a team is autonomous, it doesn't mean their leader has abandoned them

Connect with Jeff Nally

The Nally Group

LinkedIn

2:30 – Unconscious bias – we all have it!  Beliefs that we have about a person or group or conditions that we are not even aware of.  Great examples and explanation, self awareness development.

7:45 – We each are either racist or anti-racist.  And, here’s why: silence and inaction can equate to enabling, and this depends on your comfort level to speak up.  Hiring for diversity, and on boarding for assimilation does not help.  Be curious and engaging in conversation.  Bias sneaks in when we scan for threat, we are hard wired that way.  In groups vs. out groups.  Stretch yourself to also be in the company of people who think differently and have different experiences.

12:30 – To make a difference, depends on your comfort level to speak up.  One of the original meanings of the work competition come from the Latin word  Competere.  The original meaning was everyone striving together towards a common objective, and over the centuries, we have twisted this to in order for me to win, you have to lose.  There is room for everyone at the table.

14:40 – make an edit

16:00 – Any meaningful societal change in history did not happen at the top, it came from the people.  We can all take a step – do one thing - or make a commitment to change one percent of whatever you are doing. It does take all of us, collectively to generate change.  At some point we need the CEO or leader at the top to be modelling and be all in.   In supportive, not judgemental ways.  Consistent modelling.

20:00 – Context is crucial, each person has to evaluate how they can contribute and what are they comfortable with.

21:45 – You can be a good person and still hold bias, Michelle explains micro-aggressions and how they work.  The offence is measured at the ear of the listener, and not at the mouth of the speaker.  Intention does not always match impact.

25:00 – What to do when you become self-aware that you have said the wrong things.  You need to be in conversations.

27:40 – The difference between mindfulness and meditation – they are different, but related.  The purpose of being mindful meditation or practicing it, is to help our selves be grounded, focused, clear, and aware as well as to be compassionate, properly self-managed and high performing, filling up the well.  Mindfulness is to be present with what ever is happening with yourself, others and your environment.  If you are not aware of yourself, the level of awareness of others is probably low.  Mediation is another way of saying a focused attention practice.

36:00 – Michelle explains the Institute for Organizational Mindfulness where she serves on the board, and where we serve as the ambassadors for Manufacturing!  It is all about how we bring mindfulness to the workplace, built by people who have come from business.  IOM provides resources and courses to cultivate that skill set within yourself.  Join the effort by signing up for free here  www.iomindfulness.org/membership  and be part of the community membership program getting access to exclusive member content, webinars, news, and more.

How to contact Michelle or learn more about her work:

Michelle@Lucenscia.com the information about what it means and how it works. 

in/MichelleLMaldonado

www.Lucenscia.com

In the busy field of manufacturing, how do you make yourself stand out? Find out in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with Mark Levy. Mark is a “differentiation expert,” who helps his clients find bold, innovative ways to showcase their big ideas and differentiate themselves from the competition. Mark has worked with dozens of corporations, brands, and thought leaders, including Simon Sinek, Amazon, Harvard Business School, and Major League Baseball, as well as leaders from government bodies like the United Nations. He was also a recent speaker for Tedx Talk, where he spoke about using the obvious to stand out in business and in life.

In this episode, Mark talks more about the importance of finding your “big sexy idea” and shares compelling stories from his own consulting experience to show how leaders can differentiate themselves and communicate their organization’s values, mission, and other unique aspects in an engaging and memorable way.

2:18 – To inspire your organization, articulate your values and missions in clear, engaging, and memorable ways

3:44 – When making a claim or sharing information, back it up with stories and facts to make it memorable and relatable

10:22 – To help your team learn your organization’s key values, keep a sheet with facts and stories that highlight your organization’s strengths, mission, values, and other key facts

12:17 – In manufacturing, we often overlook successes in favor of focusing on problem-solving

26:11 – As a leader, communicate in a way that ensures your team members feel valued and integral to your organization’s success

27:00 – Consider staring your meetings by sharing proud moments and highlighting recent successes

Connect with Mark Levy

Watch Mark’s Tedx Talk

Visit his website

Welcome Mindfulness Manufacturing community!  Today enjoy some great discussions with Andrew De Haan.  He is a culture builder in automotive manufacturing.  A toolmaker with a love for people and leadership.  He touches on aspects of emotional intelligence, discusses his mistakes and successes, and shares a few laughs.  Including his mantra of -Do what is right, Do the very best you can, and Treat people the way you like to be treated.  

Part 1

1/ 4:55 Neutral to Positive or completely negative.  The instant feeling we get when starting a conversation with a person, are they thinking like a victor or a victim.  WE know this in the first part of a conversation with any individual.

2/ 6:30 Be confident in who you are.  Self awareness and confidence both have a very important part within a Leadership position.  Be confident in what you represent, helping the organization and helping solve problems, talking about the facts are good leadership qualities.

3/ 7:20 You can’t be 100% technical.  Andrew talks openly about the balance of technical skills and people skills. Explaining the role each plays as a leader and the importance of how both play a role in manufacturing.

4/ 9:10 Need to know who you are and add value to people’s lives.  Being self aware and clearly knowing yourself are key items to helping the people around you.

5/ 12:05 Focus less on me and more on others.  Spending time understanding the importance of helping others and less time focused on yourself is the job of a Leader.

6/ 13:45 Still about results. At the end of the day, results are what matter!

7/ 17:30 Culture of Engagement.  Gaining the trust of your people and instilling a sense of pride creates a culture of participation and engagement.

8/ 18:30 Frogger – an easier way to get across.  Watching people take a shortcut to get to the other side of a very busy highway made me realize I needed to do something different with my leadership team. Taking the time and having the patience and not looking for short cuts are essential to Leading a team.

2:32 – Knowing how people are going to react in different situations can make for great team building

3:04 – Differences in reactions can be handled through honest and efficient communications

6:32 – If emotions are trivialized or not respected, it can lead to retention and motivation issues

7:16 – Lack of emotional support in the workplace often leads to mental health issues or problems outside of work

11:02 – To create productive conversations, you may have to reframe things

12:47 – When needed, it’s okay to take a step back. Pauses have power!

13:07 – If there’s an issue, taken time to process and reframe instead of steamrolling ahead

17:17 – When people are overly emotional or don’t take a pause, it leads to low productivity and safety issues

19:46 – In times of “stretch” and challenges, there are opportunities for growth and energy

23:10 – Sometimes, tension can create energy

Connect with Kathy Parry:

Website

In manufacturing, we often emphasize complex processes and new technologies, like artificial intelligence. But to bring true change and productivity to your organization, don’t forget about your people!

In this episode, learn all about the balance of technical skills and human connection with guest Emily Nichols! As a professional engineer with decades of experiences in manufacturing and innovation, Emily has worked with organizations like PepsiCo, Janssen, and Henkel. She now works with organizations who want to strengthen the human skills they need to thrive in an increasingly technical world. In this episode, she shares more about the important role of human skills, and offers lessons and insights for forming stronger connections, breaking down systemic barriers, and how to improve your “people score.”

2:01 – Even in fields like manufacturing, human skills play a very important role

5:43 – Current and emerging trends, like AI, make human connection even more important in retention and recruitment

8:29 – To form connections, increase your presence on the shop floor

12:36 – Visual uniformity can foster better connections and help you break down perceived barriers

19:39 – If you want more connections, you need to listen to and respect the expertise of everyone on your team

20:37 – To support women in your organization, you need to address systemic issues

23:39 – Even small changes, like using more inclusive language, can have a big impact on your culture

25:06 – We are people first, not machines

Connect with Emily Nichols

Visit her website

Connect on social media: @connectbettertoday

In manufacturing, so much revolves around our brains. How we use our brain (and how well we take care of it!) can have a huge impact on many factors on the manufacturing floor, from how we communicate with our teams to how we budget our time. To gain a better understanding of the brain’s role in leadership, I welcomed Dr. John B. Molidor onto the podcast! Dr. John is the CEO and president of the Brain Based Leadership Institute and professor emeritus at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. In this episode, he shares some key details about brain structure and why people act the way they do, plus offers a few ways leaders can utilize a better understanding of brain power to help motivate, inspire, and empower others in their organization.

1:00 – Brains don’t fully form until we turn 25, so people from younger generations may have different ways of responding and behaving than older generations

2:42 – The main function of the brain is regulating energy

3:15 – Given a choice, your brain will focus on tasks that don’t expend a ton of energy

5:00 – To better help people understand and remember what you say, start with the big picture first, then move onto the details

6:17 – Your brain loves water, so stay hydrated!

6:56 – Later in the day, be mindful of the fact that people’s brains are trying to maintain their energy

9:15 – Help people understand the “why” behind your statements

10:40 – When assigning tasks to someone, try not to give them too many things at once

10:57 – If someone has a lot of tasks, they will probably focus on the easiest ones first

12:28 – Rewards and rest are important

13:51 – The brain is unique because it’s the only organ that can rewire itself

17:16 – Tell people which tasks you want them to focus on first, and what order you want them to accomplish the tasks in to help them prioritize

20:00 – Avoid “by the way” tasks thrown in with the others

21:02 – Set others by for success

24:00 – Brains are very predictive

27:00 – Culture often separates the head and the heart

Contact John:
Email

Is humor the secret weapon for bridging the connection gap in your organization? Find out more in this episode featuring Tim Gard, CSP, CPAE. Tim is a Hall of Fame speaker and business coach who uses his own humor-infused presentations to help others use humor to improve productivity, create stronger connections, and bring more resilience and resourcefulness to their organizations. In this episode, Tim shares why humor can be a powerful tool for combating disconnect and communicating with your team, all while sharing some humorous stories of his own!

2:49 – When humor comes at the expense of others, it fuels disconnect

4:14 – Self-effacing humor is a strong skill in the workplace, but can be difficult to master

4:49 – There is a difference between understanding humor and being humorous yourself

5:35 – If you can find humor in a stressful situation, it can lead to moments of connection for you and your team

7:04 – By figuring out what is humorous to your team members, you can find ways to bridge the disconnection gap with humor

10:25 – When you can work hard and laugh hard with you team, you can find results

10:58 – If you’re not connecting with someone, you have to adapt to their communication style and figure out what’s important to them

12:01 – You also need to be aware of your behavior and how others might interpret it or react to it

12:47 – If you don’t connect with someone at first, don’t abandon the process

15:32 – By having your own good mood and positive mindset, you can convey that to your team

17:34 – Humor can also be used to convey safety messages in your organization

20:07 – By using humor, you can draw others to you and your team and can get better results

22:35 – Harnessing your own positive thoughts and feelings is a powerful tool for connection

25:08 – We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we perceive and react

Connect with Tim Gard

Visit his website

Learn more about Sticky Safety

1. 2:19. My growing up phase.  Lianne talks about her discoveries around emotion and passion and how they can work for you or against you.
2. 4:40. Passion the definition.  Lianne talks about how she portrayed passion and how this was perceived by her Leader and others and the impact that had on her and her career.
3. 6:00. Mindfulness, the moment to moment awareness.  Knowing in the moment where you are at and the importance of talking through things.  Accept and let it go!
4. 8:37. I moved on.  Lianne goes into detail and explains the valuable lesson she learned years ago from a not so favorable situation.
5. 10:04. My message is not, not to be emotional.  Be conscious of what you do and say and try to learn this early on. Be aware of your emotions and knowing when it is good timing to show them.
6. 12:45. Gas or water, you decide.  As a leader and being mindful we have a choice to help resolve situations or add to them.  Do you know what’s inside your bucket?  Are you bringing gas or water, how are you showing up?
7. 14:45. The importance of H.R. experience and operations experience.  The group discusses the experiences and the power of having worked in H.R and also working in operations.  The value of being well rounded and how this helps.
8. 17:40. Lessons learned.Lianne explains the importance of learning from mistakes and how we don’t have to answer questions right away.  Take a moment to understand and then answer.
9. 21:00. You don’t have to be the first to finish the race.  The group discusses how manufacturing can be very hectic and it’s okay to take time to step back or away and ensure you are handling situations appropriately.
10. 23:10. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.  Lianne opens up the discussion on the importance of this statement and how important it is to allow yourself to be you.
11. 24:40. Employee involvement.  The power of asking the employees to assist in problems and creating ownership at shop floor level.
12. 27:45. Lianne's closing comments “One last thing woman need to think about”.

There’s a lot manufacturing leaders can learn from sharks—just ask Kenneth “Shark” Kinney! Shark is a speaker, marketing strategist, and podcast host who helps leaders use curiosity and fearless to improve their brands and drive real change, all by incorporating insights he’s learned for his passion for sharks and shark diving. In this episode, Shark talks about how manufacturing leaders can expand their brand, connect with their community, and grow their social media toolkit . . . and of course, I couldn’t resist asking him to talk a bit more about his unique shark diving hobby, too!

1:00 – We can use our personal brands to make real change

3:12 – Manufacturing leadership is a lot like diving with sharks—you need curiosity, bravery, respect, and boundaries. Be fearless and dive deeper!

4:40 – Your leadership image goes far beyond the four walls of your manufacturing plant

6:00 – When telling your brand’s story, be clear, concise, and always remember who your real audience is. Focus on community, not just the company

8:45 – Show the humans behind your brand and organization, not just “stock imagery”

11:00 – When it comes to matters like supporting a charity, think about the true identity behind your brand and think about what will engage your team and community

15:00 – Your employees are going to talk on social media, so why not work to make sure they always have something positive to say about your leadership and organization?

18:00 – LinkedIn is a powerful tool for building your brand and finding your community—one great tip for building your brand is to engage with other people’s post on LinkedIn

24:00 – When someone in your organization does a great job, don’t shy away from praising them on social media like LinkedIn

26:00 – If your employees are active on social media or talking about your organization online, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as you make sure they have positive things to say by treating your team well

28:00 – Social media is a great tool for showing your most authentic self

33:30 – You have to play an active role in your organization’s community, or else you’ll miss out on many opportunities for branding and engagement

Connect with Kenneth “Shark” Kinney

Website

Email

LinkedIn  

In an interaction with someone new, you only have about seven seconds to make a great first impression. What can you do to make every second count? Find out in this episode with guest Sylvie di Giusto! Sylvie is a consultant, author, and international keynote speaker, who uses her years of corporate experience to help other professionals use emotional intelligence and conscious decision-making to change their behavior and find the best outcomes. In this episode, Sylvie joins me for a conversation about first impressions, overcoming biases, and why behavior and communications play a big role in setting yourself up for great conversations and exciting connections.

3:19 – In the first seven seconds of a new conversation, we all make up to eleven major decisions about the other person

4:21 – We all have unconscious biases, which are built on our past experiences

4:33 – One of these is confirmation bias, which is when we search for something to show that our initial opinion about someone was correct

4:47 – Another is anchoring bias, where we cannot get rid of information or perceptions we already have

5:04 – Overall, there are around 185 biases that influence our decisions every single day

6:11 – To form stronger relationships and get rid of biases, take a step back from your own mindset and stay curious in conversations with others

7:39 – In a diverse industry like manufacturing, first impressions are particularly important, and you will have interactions with a wide variety of people, from clients to your team on the floor

8:37 – First impressions are also especially important for women in the manufacturing industry, since it’s a traditionally male-dominated industry

10:24 – Instead of letting your gender drive other’s first impression of you, make sure they see your experience, expertise, skills, confidence, and leadership

11:53 – Making a strong first impression comes down to five elements, or the ABCDEs of making a good impression

12:00 - A is for appearance, or the way you look, dress, and present yourself

13:21 – B stands for behavior, which includes factors like your attitude, your charisma, and your mindset and ethics

14:15 – C is for communication, and this also includes your listening skills

15:44 – While making a first impression, it’s important to always do your best, even if you make mistakes in those first seven seconds

17:30 – Your reputation is what people say behind your back, not what they say to your face

18:05 – Authenticity is a lie

18:58 - You can show up different ways in different roles, but you are still the same person throughout your day

20:10 – Your core values don’t change throughout your day, but you just deliver them differently in different situations, like when interacting with your children or with your team on the floor

21:21 – The first 11 words of a conversation play a huge role in creating a first impression, but many of us waste them on small talk

22:00 – In the ABCDEs of first impression, the D refers to how your digital footprint and how you present yourself in the digital space like social media

24:22 – E is for environment, or how factors like your office space, car, and family reflect on you

25:00 – By focusing on factors you can control, like your appearance, you can take the steps toward making a strong first impression and forging great connections

Connect with Sylvie di Guisto

Website

Take the free Perception Audit Quiz

Learn more about Sylvie’s new book, Discover Your Fair Advantage

Reach you to Sylvie on social media and let her know you loved the podcast!

2/ 7:45 Why are we not following the standard work?

3/ 9:35 How you say it and how you do it, and the message sent is not always in how it is received - self-awareness

4/ 11:30 Set the tone - sing a song - don't try to change the world, change yourself

5/ 15:00 Crowd control - keep things in perspective when the pressure is on

6/ 19:00 Walk slow - be present

7/ 23:30 Sharp elbows - developing into how Bill stopped being what people expected him to be and start being who he is - Authenticity 

1. 1:05 IOM.The Institute of Organizational Mindfulness.  Trevor talks about this institute and the benefits of the IOM.  Join the effort by signing up for their free community membership program.  By joining you'll get access to exclusive member content, webinars, news, and more! www.iomindfulness.org/membership
2. 1:55 Mindfulness Manufacturing introduces Deiric McCann.
3. 4:00 Challenges.Deiric explains the challenge of the name “Emotional Intelligence’ his own and others struggles with this title. He never had a really good definition of Emotional Intelligence that inspired people or turned them on.   He and his colleagues came up with a definition that made sense to them and others.
4. 9:25 Charisma.  Trevor asks the question can you be charismatic and not be emotionally intelligent?  Deiric discusses his findings writing his book and the challenge of finding a definition for charisma and what Leadership Charisma means.
5. 15:26 People, people, people.  Trevor talks about technology and people.  Deiric shares his insights and experiences with technology and people and how it has always been people, people, people. Sharing how technology has been introduced into organizations and how people can worry about this and the role emotional intelligence plays in all of this. 
6. 22:25 Advice. Mike asks, what advice would you give to someone who is interested in Leadership?Deiric states, to focus on developing the ability to work more effectively with people.   Two ways to develop emotional intelligence read a lot of books and start to pay attention to the way you show up, develop a mindfulness practice.  Develop a self-awareness to tune into yourself and others.   Start working on your emotional intelligence. https://www.capgemini.com/research/emotional-intelligence/
7. 27:27 One thing to leave the listeners.Deiric talks openly about the pandemic and how this snuck up on all of us and how big of threat it was and is.  He talks about building up the resiliency with the people he works with to handle these challenging times.  What we are seeing is an epidemic of stress in people over this.  People are just not talking about it.  He openly talks about it being normal to be stressed, it’s a normal natural reaction on how do we deal with this adversity.  The moment you say this is normal this is natural you take a lot of pressure off of yourself.   
8. 32:03 What was the first concert you ever attended?An Irish group called Aslan. Deiric explains his memories of this and other musical bands.
9. 33:10 Stranded on an island what band or artist do you bring with you?James Taylor.

What does manufacturing leadership have in common with running marathons or climbing mountains? Learn the answer in this episode with guest Steven Pivnik!

Steven is an entrepreneur, author, and international speaker, who took his company Binary Tree to great success during his time as CEO. He is also an endurance athlete who has reached the summit of mountains like Kilimanjaro and competed in the grueling Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

In his soon-to-be-released book Built to Finish: How to Go the Distance in Business and Life, Steven shares his stories about finding success in both entrepreneurship and endurance sports. In this episode, he delves into a few insights from his book, plus shares lessons on endurance, shortcuts, and connections that you can use to find more successful outcomes, whether you’re on the manufacturing floor or getting ready for your next athletic adventure!

2:19 - There are actually many tie-ins between endurance sports and entrepreneurship

6:11 – Avoid taking shortcuts, especially when it comes to tasks like hiring

6:55 – Shortcuts may feel good and lead to easy solutions, but they don’t always lead to long-term, sustainable outcomes

8:20 – Many people have the false notion that there is always time to do sometime twice, but there’s rarely time to do it right the first time

10:57 - If you rely on shortcuts, it can hurt you in the long-run

12:22 – Often, going slowly instead of rushing or using a shortcut leads to more positive outcomes and a greater chance of success

14:23 – When it comes to forming connections and having deeper conversations, it’s especially important to slow down and be intentional about your behavior and mindset

14:50 – In relationships, quantity supersedes quality

16:50 – Stronger connections come from building true relationships through work

18:43 – When people have strong personal connections at work, they are more likely to show up and productively engage with their organization

21:20 – Forming stronger relationships takes work and patient, but the benefits can be very rewarding

22:43 – Everyone has stories and greatness, and you can discover opportunities for new connections by being open and willing to learn

Connect with Steven Pivnik

Visit his website

Connect on LinkedIn

Pre-order Built to Finish

Results matters! Whether you’re looking at safety, quality, or productivity, you and your team want to know how you’re performing. But when it comes to people, it can be difficult to measure your return on investment.

In this episode, guest Martin Low walks us through the best strategies for measuring your team, plus shares great insights on why people matter most in your organization. Martin is the founder and CEO of On Plane Consulting, where he helps organizations transform and improve by building and leveraging their people capabilities. He also has over 20 years of human resources experiences at companies like Amazon and Blue Apron, and brings great insights on how to measure your team, clarify your processes, and create a culture where everyone shows up at their best.

3:23 – You can’t measure people in the same way you measure inventory, cash flow or other main areas of your organization

6:31 – If you don’t invest in your people, it leads to issues like high turnover and halted productivity

7:36 – If you don’t have a baseline, you can’t measure

8:45 – If someone on your team is underperforming, use curiosity to find the cause

8:52 – Establish a baseline for what good looks like within your team or organization

9:45 – If someone on your team has higher rates than others, study their process and see how you can implement their methods for your whole team

11:50 – When results don’t meet expectations, approach the issue with curiosity instead of judgement

14:08 – With clearer processes, your team can improve and your organization can reduce turnover

14:24 – As a leader, you should make your expectations clear and hold others accountable

15:33 – With clarity, your team members find more agency and can improve the way they show up

17:31 – Create a process where you and your team can use your energy in a productive way, instead of just trying to survive the day

19:37 – Surveying your team is a strategy for assuring everyone is aligned and understands your processes, values, mission, and goals

22:52 – With a survey, leadership can find solutions directly from their team on the floor

24:18 – Most people show up wanting to do a good job, and clear processes can help them improve how they show up

Connect with Martin Low

Learn more about On Plane Consulting

Contact On Plane Consulting at hello@onplane.com

Contact Martin at martin@onplay.com

Are you really doing root cause analysis (RCA) or only scratching at the surface of your organization’s problems? When a problem occurs in a fast-paced industry like manufacturing, you want to find the root problem—and you want to find it as quickly as possible! But if you’re not taking some mindful time to ask the right questions and understand the human element beyond your issues, you might be missing deeper, more sustainable solutions.

Learn more about the world of RCA in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with seasoned RCA expert Bob Latino! Influenced by his father, who pioneered research on equipment, process, and human reliability while working for Allied Chemical (now known as Honeywell), Bob profound understanding of both the technical and human aspects of failure. He is passionate about championing progressive leadership mindsets and helping leaders understand and improve systems, rather than simply assigning blame.

In this episode, Bob shares his insights on common challenges with RCA and shares tips leaders can use to move beyond simply fixing broken equipment to creating sustainable reliability through better understanding of human performance.

1:48 – RCA has a PR problem, and is typically only associated with technical failure rather than human factors
6:00 – To improve sustainability and reliability, consider how you approach accountability and blame
7:19 – When an organization is stuck in crisis mode, it looks very different from an organization with experienced reliability 
11:32 – “What does right look like to you?” is a great question to ask when a problem occurs
15:41 – Understanding the difference between proactive and reactive approaches can help you shift your mindset when it comes to finding solutions 
18:05 – Reliability and maintenance are different departments, as they have different focuses 
22:04 – With improved reliability, you can address issues like high turnover and poor leadership retention

Connect with Bob Latino 
Find him on LinkedIn, where he shares extensive content 
Visit the Prelical Solutions website 

On the manufacturing floor, you might not see rabbits being pulled out of hats or people being miraculously levitated, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t everyday chances to create magical moments. To find out how leaders can create moments of magic, surprise, and delight on the manufacturing floor, I knew I had to go to the expert: Jon Petz, an entrepreneur, speaker, bestselling author, and magician! In this episode, he shares why workplaces need more everyday magic, plus shares insights on how leaders can use intentionality, creativity, and mindfulness to turn simple, everyday moments into important connections.

3:11 – In the workplace, magic is all about creating moments that make your team feel valued, support, and like they’re part of something special

4:24 – To create magic, be intentional, lean into organic moments, and create moments of surprise

5:15 – Don’t overlook the simple moments

6:31 – Magical moments play a big role in improving productivity and efficiency

10:58 – Purpose drives passion and helps your team find ways to truly engage instead of just getting up in their role

12:39 – You can’t always plan for moments of magic, but you can think about what your team needs to feel empowered and supported

15:05 – Deeper conversations drive results and solutions

16:06 – Take a genuine care in your team member’s outside of their role in your organization

17:17 – Jon’s book recommendation – Work Plus Love by Marcus Buckingham

18:01 – Take steps to truly appreciate and recognize your team

20:45 – You also need to pay attention to other’s mindsets and see what they need to feel valued or encouraged

21:36 – With title comes authority, but title does not always come with leadership

Connect with Jon Petz

Website

Buy Significance in Simple Moments, now available in paperback

2:26 The last couple of years have really been a steak in the ground to make life changing decisions.

2:53 What is important in their lives? and how the world of work fits into what is important in their lives.

3:01 Friends that are energized and engaged, has to do with their work and has to do with how they are treated in the workplace.

3:36 Those who do not feel connected are making changes.

3:47 The world of work will never be the same.

5:08 People want to be valued and appreciated and empowered to get their work done.

6:31 It is all about how connected I feel, do I feel appreciated? do I feel valued? and am I engaged in my organization?

8:38 People feel empowered by being able to make choices.

9:19 75% of people leave their job because of their boss.

10:20 We never forget how people make us feel.

12:36 We don’t realize the tiny incremental shifts can create massive outcomes.

16:23 If I was totally present in a conversation what difference would it make?

18:16 Putting your phones down as soon as you get into conversation.

20:42 Top performers do their job and carry the weight of low performers and they don’t get the acknowledgment.

24:54 Organizations are realizing programs are needed to help enhance well-being and enhance people’s ability to become more mindful.

27:09 It is critical to be present and mindful

Contact Debbie directly at debbie.muno@genosinternational.com or at https://www.genosnorthamerica.com

1. 1:48 What was it really like working in that culture?Scott explains what it was like working for Horst and the type of transparency and culture he focused on.  Scoot encourages the listeners to listen to the podcast with him and Horst if you haven't yet as it will help understand some of the items he discusses.
2. 4:07 Leadership approach, what was yours?We had a lot of successes and in many cases the guys were promoted into leadership because they were the best tool and die maker, best engineer but we didn’t equip them to be prepared as a general manager.  We were just go, go, go and growing.  In this type of setting you better be a good listener!  We had to empower and help each of these guys and girls and be open to learn to be able to adapt to those different functionalities.
3. 7:30 Learning opportunities.Scott explains his strategy on helping the general managers to be great leaders.  We had regular interactions with them, and we created this “Lean leadership Development program “We integrated the leadership expectation with lean learnings and functions. Lean gives you the tools right on the shop floor, focused on the people and the floor.
4. 10:17 What’s the how look like?  Scott talks about the successful divisions and the only way this program was going to work is it had to start with me.  I had to start with me and being open to change and being that humble learning leader.  I had the most opportunity to change but it’s tough as I had to expose my weakness.
5. 12:35 How do lean and mindfulness go together?Scott talks about the humble learning leader and how my behaviors affect those around me.  I learned a lot about how my behavior was affecting others around me, I was always late for meetings and taking calls when I was talking to others.  So, it was a lot of self-reflection and making changes to be better.  I had to make a conscious decision if I can’t be on time then be early. 
6. 17:38 We would go to each division.Scott talks about the lean leadership transformation how himself and other leaders would visit each plant and learn and share what each of them were working on as part of their lean leadership journey.
7. 19:02 Leaders model.Some general managers were open to change, and some were not, they would push back, and I looked at it that they didn’t get it yet.  Scott talks about his role helping the general managers understand the program.  We would do a little bit of modelling certain things and sharing with others. 
8. 23:47 What were your results?Scott talks about the lean leadership program and the results from it.  The was really good impact but keeping in mind lean is a very long journey. We had much more opened minded general managers.  The financial crisis of 2008 happened, and everything went from long term to what is happening right now, and this pushed off the rails for a bit.  I feel good about the impact the program had on the capabilities of the general managers.  I don’t think enough of the lean stuck and I didn’t do enough aligning or creating measurable results.
9. 33:00 Are you a chicken or are you a pig?As we wrapped up Scott explains the breakfast analogy that he referenced over the years “are you chicken or a pig” this refers to are you committed?  In a breakfast the pig is 100 % committed and give its life for the greater good and a chicken is only partially in.  The same commitment is in your work and everyday life.  Are you a chicken or a pig?

Showing appreciation is a great way to connect with your team! But if you’re a leader in a busy organization, it can be difficult to find the time and discipline to show appreciation for your team. Or you might struggle to find the best ways to show appreciation, or even worry that you’re not doing enough. If this is you, don’t miss this episode on appreciation with guest Lisa Johnson. Lisa is a global human resources professional and the founder and owner of HR Know-How LLC, where she helps organizations bring consistency and humanity to their daily HR interactions. She is also the author of the upcoming Solutions for the Well-Intention Leader, which will release later this year. She offers her tips on how leaders can improve their ability to offer appropriate, genuine appreciation, plus shares some ways leaders can weave appreciation into their everyday interactions.

1:13 – The strongest managers and leaders have a consistent practice for showing appreciation

1:40 – Showing consistent appreciation has many benefits, including increased morale and employees who are willing to go the extra mile

4:10 – While general positive feedback is often well-received, it is even better to offer specific positive feedback to individual employees

7:00 – Appreciation shouldn’t be scheduled! Rather, you should weave it into your day-to-day interactions

8:15 – How you manage and organize you appreciation depends on your leadership style. One tip is to leave voice notes for yourself in your phone, so you can go back later and remember exactly what you wanted to say to your team member

11:58 – Giving appreciation can mean the difference between an average employee and an inspired employee who comes in feeling excited to work and ready to give it their all

14:37 – As a leader, you need to practice discipline to figure out the best feedback and appreciation practices

18:39 – Documentation matters. If you observe someone’s good behavior but later forget to say something, it won’t make a difference.

20:30 – Good appreciation practices can trickle-up to positively impact your whole organization

23:23 – Is there such a thing as too much appreciation?

24:00 – When showing appreciation, don’t forget to be transparent and specific

Connect with Lisa Johnson

HR Know-How website

Email

Trust is the antidote to so many common issues that can occur on the manufacturing floor. But how can you build trust—both in yourself and with your team? Find out in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with guest Justin Patton! Justin is a certified speaker professional and leadership presence expert, who challenges leaders to reimagine how they lead, love, and communicate. He’s also the author of Your Road to Yes: How to Build Trust in Yourself and With Others and the recently-released The High-Impact Manager: Your Blueprint for Bringing Out the Best in Your Team.

In this episode, Justin talks about the vital role trust plays in improving your leadership, empowering your team, and showing up as your best self, and shares why transparency, tact, and togetherness are the three key foundations you need to improve how you show up and built trust in your relationships.

3:10 – Trust requires transparency, tact, and togetherness

4:03 – Trust is your biggest competitive advantage

4:41 – When people don’t have all the information, they fill it in with fear or make up stories

5:59 – As a leader, you can create a culture of trust by having the courage to be transparent and vulnerable

8:39 – You have to speak your truth, but also take accountability for how you deliver it

10:41 – When an organization values results over everything else, it leads to issues like a lack of trust, increased disconnect, and poor leadership

12:22 – Think about who you are at your best, then work to show up for others as that best version of yourself

14:37 – To grow as a leader, you don’t have to fundamentally change who you are, but can learn how to lean into your best qualities and align your actions and behavior with who you are at your best

16:21 – Trust is built in small moments

17:46 – Find the balance between oversharing and transparency

20:51 – Trust does not leave people second guessing

21:20 – Choose discomfort over resentment

22:53 – There are also situations where building trust can require staying silent

25:43 – Every choice you make either gets you closer to trust or drives you away from it

Connect with Justin Patton

Visit his website

Learn more about his books

Check out my book reports of Your Road to Yes and The High-Impact Manager

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks for tuning it to another episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing! To learn more about Trevor Blondeel and Manufacturing Greatness, please visit our website or contact Trevor here.

If you missed part one with guest Jon Giganti, be sure to listen to Episode 103 here.

Jon Giganti is speaker, tech executive, and USA Today bestselling author. He is the author of With Intention, where he delves into how leaderships can use skills like agency, awareness, and ambition to find new success, take ownership of their past, and bring impactful change to their organizations. In this episode, Jon shares more lessons and insights about how leaders can use intentionality to form strong connections, find productive results, and serve their team in the authentic, impactful ways.

1:29 – Schedule white space or margins into your day to avoid overbooking yourself

3:29 – Quiet moments in your schedule give you a chance to rest your brain, body, and soul

8:06 – Setting aside time in your schedule is a way to invest in yourself and your future\

10:00 – Scheduling margins also gives you time to form more productive connections within your organization

13:27 – When you have a lack of connection, you have a lack of engagement

13:40 – Let others see your authenticity

14:22 – By building trust and serving as your authentic self, you can work toward stronger results with your team

15:57 – You need self-awareness to find the best ways to improve and serve

17:27 – Get below the surface to know yourself, including your identities, beliefs, and values

20:20 – If you don’t deal with what’s in your head, it will impact your heart

22:26 – By building relationships, you can impact others and drive change

25:45 – Vulnerability is a superpower

Connect with Jon Giganti

Visit his website, where you can learn about his speaking, podcasts, and With Intention course

Check out my book report of With Intention, then get your own copy

5:00 Try harder - does not work - those who Bill used to think were soft, actually had a lot to offer

9:00 Timing on when to send your message, positive or negative

13:50 Awareness of others

17:20 Mentors and why they are key - Bills favourite books - Give and Take by Adam Grant and Change Your Questions Change Your Life by Marilee Adams

21:00 The man who is always right will never know when he is wrong

24:00 Bill's final reflections - instilling confidence in others

Do you want to improve relationships at your organization and change the way you show up for your team? It all starts with self-awareness . . . and in this episode, guest Zovig Garboushian is here to show you the tips you need to become a self-awareness champion!

With years of experience in brand marketing, management consulting, and leadership development, Zovig now puts her passion and experience to use at Boldness Ablaze, a boutique professional firm that helps leaders overcome personal limitations and find authentic success. In this episode, Zovig delves into the important topic of self-awareness and shares her favorite tips on how leaders can use skills like curiosity and compassion to grow their self-awareness, form healthier connections, and find the life they want to have.

2:30 – Self-awareness is the key to having the kind of life you want to have

2:50 – It is also about the ongoing and evolving relationship you have with yourself

7:20 – Through self-awareness, you develop the ability to notice and change when something in your life feels incongruent with what you want for yourself

8:40 – The more we connect to ourselves, the more we behave in our natural ways

9:12 – Our essence is our unique way of showing up and adding value to the world

11:24 – Self-awareness also requires you to attend to yourself and practice self-care

13:25 – One way to practice self-awareness is to take small moments throughout your day to pause and reflect on how you want to show up

16:43 – Another self-awareness tip is to observe yourself, your behavior, and your interactions and reactions

18:40 – By staying self-aware and reflecting on your own behavior, you can improve your relationships with others in your organization

19:48 – Showing up with self-awareness takes courage

20:18 – Everything we do for others begins with ourselves

20:35 – Self-awareness includes curiosity, compassion, and acceptance for ourselves

22:05 – You’re never going to treat someone else better than how you treat yourself

24:26 – You deserve to take time for yourself

Connect with Zovig Garboushian

Visit her website

Email zovig@boldnessablaze.com

Connect on LinkedIn

01:45 - Just this week I’ve heard three different people say, ‘I gave this idea, but they turned it down.’ ‘They didn't listen to me.’ ‘Yeah, we've tried that.’

03:14 - Running through the glass door to get it done.

03:39 - But how do we stop Dave, and just be present so you can see more? Because when we're running to that task, or if we've laid down because we're just frustrated because we're not going get it done? What do you do?

04:00 - Which side of the fence am I on?

05:27 - What do they have going on? Is this the right time for me to be bringing something up, for me to be making a suggestion?

06:18 - We used to call it barfing on the table. Don't make your problem, my problem.

07:19 - Their job is to throw it over the fence and let somebody else worry about implementing it.

08:41 - What do I own in that?

09:14 – For the folks on the front line, there are some things that are obvious of needed changes.

10:35 - Don't say they didn't listen, there has to be a reason why they didn't listen.

10:52 - 20 ideas for others to do.

12:15 - Relationships are the foundation of dialogue.

13:14 - Paying attention to your own emotions first.

13:57 - Difficult conversations.

18:13 – What’s on the other person's agenda? Where are they at? Where am I at? And how can this be presented?

20:43 – Two different approaches with Charlie.

22:37 - So why do we need to talk about this?

24:22 – Takeaways.

25:39 – Share your feedback with us on different approaches. Reach out to us if you’ve got any thoughts on different topics and what's helpful and what's not.

25:52 - Closing

Stuff, things, literally, simply . . . how often do you use these words when communicating with your team? “Naughty words” like these might be popping up in your speaking more often than you think, as I quickly learned during this week’s podcast with Patricia Fripp! As an executive speech coach, Hall of Fame keynote speaker, and the first female president of the National Speakers Association, Patricia knows all the secrets for how manufacturing leaders can improve their speaking skills and find the magic words for inspiring action, creating well-crafted communications, and showcasing the best possible version of themselves and their organization.

0:45 – The best manufacturing leaders are the ones with the best communication

5:45 - “7% is what you say, 30% is how you say it, and 55% is how you look” – is there any truth to this?

8:00 - If your words are well crafted and well-delivered, you can change your organization

8:11 – In a busy industry like manufacturing, it can be easy to lose sight of the importance of words in our everyday lives

8:22 – When there’s a miscommunication, leaders might assume the other person just didn’t understand, but it’s often an issue with words and phrasing

8:36 – “Stuff” is a rubbish word

9:00 – By being specific with your word choices, you inspire confidence and build credibility

10:00 – “If it weren’t a thing, what would it be?” Use specific words to replace unclear words like stuff or things

10:30 – Specific communication is especially important when you’re speaking to someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language

11:57 – If it’s not fruit, it’s not a bunch! Use numbers and specifics instead

13:16 – When possible, use shorter sentences to communicate and keep your communications to one idea per sentence

13:40 – Speak with the aim of being remembered and repeated

14:20 – By taking a pause, you give yourself a chance to breathe and allow the other person time to process

15:11 – “Literally” and “simply” are also naughty words!

18:48 – To improve your communications, record yourself and listen to the words you frequently use

21:00 – Depending on their background and culture, people may express themselves differently

22:00 - To inspire commitment and quality, ask them if their work would be good enough to sell to their own mother

23:00 – Ask as an advocate for your audience

24:52 – Every leader needs to show the person they are beyond their position

Connect with Patricia Fripp

Website

Fripp VT

“Are you winning?” This is one of my favorite questions to ask when I enter a manufacturing plant, and it’s always interesting to see the variety of responses. To learn more about how leaders and their teams can do more to “win the day,” I’m excited to welcome my friend and former neighbor Eric Berdan to the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast. After years of experience in manufacturing and running factories, Eric now works at the business optimization leader for Nestle North America. In this episode, he shares some great stories about what it takes to win in the manufacturing industry, plus shares tips on how to motivate your team and find productive results.

3:28 – Every person in your organization has a different definition of what it means to win

3:55 – By engaging your team in their daily activities and their goals, you’ll find stronger overall success

6:11 – You don’t have to be perfect, but you still need to win and set up a winning streak for yourself

7:19 – To achieve results, you need to break your paradigms, be willing to push through challenges, and find ways to motivate others

8:56 – Momentum always plays a key role

10:28 – Let you team work within their own frameworks and set goals that are attainable for them

14:10 – You can’t expect everyone to share your goals or reach the same expectations you personally set for yourself

17:54 – By being intentional about how you start your day, you can set yourself up for wins

22:23 – Sometimes, a strong winning streak can actually hurt productivity

24:59 – Understanding how you’re doing at work requires many different senses

27:38 – Discretionary effort adds to win and productivity

28:19 – The key to success is tapping into emotion and getting your team emotionally connected to a goal

01:30 – Ryan Forte – Jefferson Metal Products

03:28 – You can’t do it by yourself

04:01 – When it’s time to engage others and break the pattern of what you’ve always done

05:52 – That critical moment where there was a turning point

06:30 – Wow! Everything looks great, the way I wanted it

07:00 – 360 feedback – what an eye-opener

09:30 – What would have come up in that 360?!

10:30 – Mindfulness manufacturing at it’s best

12:35 – If you always do what you’ve always done, you get what you always got

13:20 – What are you doing differently

14:00 – Consciously setting expectations

15:20 – How you show up

16:50 – The burning question on behalf of listeners

19:00 – Stress is contagious

20:50 – Holding up the fist – a symbol for the brain; it’s time to curb it

22:05 – A license to call you out

24:03 – We’re good, but we want to be great; so who does the heavy lifting

25:20 – Listen to your people, provide reasonable expectations and the tools

26:37 – Joy: this is what it looks and sounds like

28:28 – It’s raw, the real deal - what you see is what you get

In manufacturing, there’s a big link between productivity and mindfulness—and shifting to a more mindful approach just might be the key you need to unlock your team’s productivity, decreasing burnout, and creating a happier workplace for all.

Find out more in this episode with guest Sarah Ohanesian! Sarah is a professional keynote speaker and productivity consultant on a mission to fight burnout and increase happiness at work. She works with busy professionals who are career-driven but face work-life imbalance, stress, and overwhelm. In this episode, Sarah draws on her own experiences and background to discuss the link between productivity and mindfulness in manufacturing, plus offers actionable tips for intentional time management, combating burnout, and more!

2:36 – There is a difference between busyness and productivity

4:20 – You can improve your productivity with practices like setting daily intentions or saving time for end-of-day reflection and planning

12:10 – Follow Sarah’s COAT framework to clarify, organize, act, and take time

17:10 – To save time and be more productive, figure out which tasks are the most important and set clear priorities

18:32 – If you have a to-do list, keep it in a single, trusted location

18:40 – Be intentional with your schedule and time and don’t be afraid to say no to requests

21:14 – Allowing time to rest plays a key role in creating sustainable, long-term productivity

Connect with Sarah Ohanesian

Visit her website

Connect on LinkedIn and Instagram

When a mistake occurs on the plant floor, your mind might jump to one question: who caused this issue, and should I write them up for their mistake? But there’s a more productive approach you could be taking—and in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, guest Dr. Jake Mazulewicz breaks it all down!

With a background as a firefighter, EMT, and military paratrooper, Jake knows the challenges of high-hazard industries, and works with organizations to reduce errors and create safer, more reliable workplace environments. In this episode, Jake shares why you can’t procedularize everything, including the way you handle errors and accidents, and offers great insights and stories about how to use connection and curiosity to improve safety, address errors, and strengthen your organization.

3:35 – Procedures and policies are the work that is imagined, and on the floor is how the work actually gets done

4:19 – The work as-done is almost always radically different than the work as-imagined

5:20 – Even when you have standards and people show up wanting to do a good job, you can still see issues that need to be addressed

6:44 – There will always be areas that absolutely need to have procedures in place

8:02 – There are also adaptive jobs, which leans less into procedures and more intro troubleshooting and tacit human knowledge

10:56 - In an ideal environment, both mechanistic and adaptive models are used and respected and needed

12:11 – There are four levels, ranging from strict procedurals to looser guidelines that show what to do, but not how to do it

15:36 – Tacit knowledge gets shared through conversations

16:22 – A way to share important information is to have frontline experts record videos sharing their insights to problems, especially those that are not covered in procedures

19:44 – Through conversation and connection, more knowledge is shared

21:58 – Debriefing also plays a central role

23:45 – If you have strong discipline, you’ll find more freedom

25:31 – In most situations, errors are signals, not defects

27:07 – When an error occurs, be curious and find the deeper cause of the problem

Connect with Jake Mazulewicz

Find him on Linkedin

Visit his website

Get ready to challenge everything you thought you knew about confidence with this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing featuring guest Tracy Hooper! Tracy is the founder of The Confidence Project, where she works with clients to improve culture, clarity, and confidence in their organization. She is also the author The Now Hello: What to Say/What to Do in the World of Work. To help manufacturing leaders improve their confidence, she came onto the podcast to share tips on everything from eye contact to the best ways to successfully kick off—and end—conversations on the floor.

1:36 – Confidence isn’t something you’re born with. It can be learned from practicing and taking action

3:15 – Complimenting someone is a great way to kickstart a positive conversation—but make sure it’s an authentic compliment

6:00 – “How” and “what” are great magic words for starting a open-ended conversation with confidence, but avoid starting with “why” because it can make others feel defensive

9:00 – If you’re always talking and never listening, you’ll never really learn anything

10:06 – Use the three-sentence rule - saying three sentences, then pausing to let the other person speak or respond

11:15 – Pay attention to body language, too!

15:00 – Even introverted leaders can become confident speakers, especially if they practice first with people they respect and trust

16:30 – To speak with confidence, you always have to learn how to let others speak

17:20 – When giving difficult feedback, “I” statements can help you have a productive conversation without making the other person feel defensive

19:30 – There is power in being brief

23:00 – If you only have a few minutes for a conversation, be a timeframe and be direct by asking to-the-point questions

29:00 – Always look the other person in the eyes when having a conversation to make them feel valued and acknowledged

Connect with Tracy Hooper

The Confidence Project

Email

Buy The Now Hello

Mindful Employment:

Throwing the Baby Out with the Bath Water

with Trevor & Dave

#45

______________________________________________

02:07 – The “shortage

03:35 – We just need warm bodies

05:08 – The pressure on incumbents to feel valued

06:00 – Values and retaining your culture

06:41 – 6 X 12 workweek and its impact

08:18 – Are we driving our workforce away?

09:12 – Making mindful decisions as an employee and employer

10:56 – Intentionality

10:15 – “If you can label it, you can tame it”

10:50 – Turnover rationale

12:02 – Loving you workforce and why the relationship is sustained

13:48 – Go flip hamburgers somewhere. Really?

14:45 – Leaders’ mindfulness messaging and alignment

15:15 – The huge disconnect

16:00 – The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know

17:06 – The employment equation

17:47 – A Mindful word for the Employee

19:46 – A Mindful word for the Employer

22:20 – It’s time for us to talk about this

23:28 – Closing

24:00 - End

Relationships play a key role in fostering curiosity, building connection, and combating disconnection. But how do we create strong, authentic relationships? To answer that question, I’m joined by guest Corban David Jenai. Corban is an entrepreneur, artist, world traveler, and father. He also currently serves as the Chief Hope Officer at HopeGuide, where he draws from his own PTSD diagnosis and healing journey to help others find the freedom and connection they need to recover from their trauma. In this episode, Corban shares why vulnerbility and intentionality are important for building strong relationships, discusses why "being a witness" to others is the key to building relationships, and shares some authentic stories from his own journey.

3:14 – Talking about ourselves and real aspects of our lives is a way to kick off strong connections

4:00 – Vulnerability is a path to connection

4:23 – By listening and getting to know others on your team, you build a sense of trust, which in turn leads to greater results on performance, quality, safety, and more

5:03 – To show others that you care, you have to actually care

6:36 – To build connections, think about what is important to you, and work with the assumption that others might have feelings similar to yours

8:23 – While modern society gives us the chance to connect with many people, we don’t always have the time or capacity to form meaningful connections with every person we encounter  

10:15 – By connecting with smaller groups, we have the chance to be a witness to others, and they can be a witness to hear, see, and feel us as we are

11:06 – By investing in others at a deeper level, you can improve productivity and results

12:56 – Being vulnerable and open with your team allows them to see your humanity as a leader

14:38 – By looking at someone and actually seeing them, you can make a major difference, even if you don’t have a solution to their problems

16:51 – When people feel seen and heard, they are more likely to show up for you and your organization

20:06 – Even small moments of connection, like making eye contact, go a long way when forming connections

25:54 – Being a witness can help you show up better in all your relationships

Connect with Corban David Janai

Find Corban online at his website

Learn More About HopeGuide here

In our personal and workplace relationships, we’ve all come across this frustration situation: you’re telling someone about a topic that’s important to you, but the other person just isn’t understanding what you’re saying. In her fantastic book Emotional Magnetism, my friend (and fellow Canadian!) Sandy Gerber breaks why this happens and shares what we can all do to overcome our own communication blocks. In this episode, I’m excited to have Sandy as my guest to talk about her personal stories behind Emotional Magnetism, as well as how to use her “SAVE” communication motivators to improve communications and nurture relationships on the manufacturing floor and beyond.

3:11 – To get your message across, you need to connect emotionally with the person you’re speaking to

4:39 – Oftentimes, we’re too busy listening to rely that we forget to listen to understand

5:00 – When someone is telling you a story or about an experience, let them finish what they have to say instead of responding with your own story

9:23 – SAVE is an acronym for the four emotional magnets, safety, achievement, value, and experience

11:58 – SAVE and emotional magnets can be used to improve personal relationships as well as professional relationships

12:42 – To understand another person’s emotional magnet, you may have to shift your mindset and think about the best way to communicate with them

16:35 – Once you understand someone’s emotional magnets, you can approach conversations and conflict with more empathy and curiosity, which helps form stronger, lasting connections

20:00 – If you really want to connect with your team, you need to be engaged and open about your own communication blocks

20:59 – Taking the emotional magnets quiz can be a great exercise for strengthening your relationships and finding out more about yourself

22:29 – By getting rid of your own biases and assumptions about others, you take a big step toward improving relationships and understanding others

24:05 – By identifying your own emotional magnet, you can also get better at communicating what you need

Connect with Sandy Gerber

Website

Take the Emotional Magnet Quiz here

Buy Emotional Magnetism

Read my book report on Emotional Magnetism  

What does it take to progress your career when you are a woman in Manufacturing on the shop floor running production? Diana Soares joins us for this episode to discuss her journey over the past 30 years from loading parts, to leading plants through continuous improvement activities. As you may have already guessed, it has a lot more to do with mindfulness and relationships than it does being technical. Join us for some laughs and lessons to make your next day better!

1. 00:55 Introductions, Mike and Trevor welcome Diana to the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast.
2. 4:27 It’s a man’s world, isn’t it? Diana speaks openly about a comment made to her after asking a question.  Being a woman in a manufacturing environment and the challenges she faced in the beginning.  Diana talks about working very hard, her main goal at that time was to learn everything and understanding the equipment, doing every job as a focus when she started.
3. 6:58 Is everything okay, you don’t smile? This comment made by a team member took Diana back and really made her think.  Diana’s body language had the team members thinking she was upset and this changed things for her.  I had to show them that it is fun and I had to shift focus to be not only on the equipment but to ensure I spent time on the people. The team member that asked this question brought the mindfulness out in me and made me think about this.
4. 10:07 How do you become more intentional? Diana explains ways of being more intentional as a leader.  Be authentic!  Be open to listen to feedback and don’t be afraid to step back, listen to the people and be true to yourself and you can make it anywhere in any role.
5. 11:37 Do you remember the broom one Mike? Diana talks about an experience that she encountered a long time ago, first starting out.  I asked a team member to clean up and sweep and he said to her “I don’t’ get paid to sweep”.  Diana didn’t know what to do and headed for Mike’s office in a panic.  Diana and Mike took the time to role play the situation and practice on how to handle it.  Doing this helped to build Diana’s confidence and as time moved on with more role playing she became very good at handling all different situations.
6. 15:46 We also had fun! Mike opens the conversation with Diana, even during the stressful times we always laughed and this helped me so much.  Diana speaks about when we had to get the work done we did it and we genuinely cared about each other, we we’re a team and when we could we always had fun and this helped so much during chaotic times.
7. 16:30 Hotspot. Diana openly discussed about Mike putting her on the tougher areas, the “hot spots” She recalls one time being out on Line 12 a very strong male dominant team, we reduced from 18 to 11 and Diana thought how am I going to do this?  Diana speaks about taking the time to learn every station and this gained me a ton of respect.  Diana had people bringing her coffee and drinks and really warming up to her.  At the end, we produced more parts with less people and the team ended up being just amazing!
8. 20:02 Short notices and coming to help others. Diana shares her experiences on being asked to go to other divisions to assist with operations and helping to improve the numbers.  Another time she was asked to go to another plant and not to focus on the equipment, she was asked to help with the people and ultimately the culture.  3 months of talking with the people!  Another experience was going to a plant the unfortunately experienced a fire and help them rebuild and get production going. The corporate world knew who Diana was and the value she offered!
9. 22:34 So what do you do different? Diana had an AGM ask her, “so what do you do different’?  How do you get the numbers?  Diana’s reply was I don’t know and I truly didn’t know.  It was natural to be myself and be there working with the team, be yourself and be authentic.  Wherever Diana went the results followed and therefore those questions got asked.  Mike explains Diana’s ability to build a relationship was so great and worked very well and this is how she built teams and achieved results.
10. 27:10 You put me and a co worker on opposite shifts. Diana shares a time when Mike put herself and another co worker on opposite shifts to achieve results.  The chemistry Diana had with this other leader was like no other.  The two of them created a one team culture across two shifts which is very hard to do. They both took care of each other and it was important for them to be one unit and one team.  At times, some teams will work against each other. People struggle on how to get two shifts to perform as one.  The best way is to not point the finger at the team member but to get the leadership together and share ideas and see how we can help each other so we all can be successful.
11. 31:25 Spare me the labour pains, just give me the baby! Mike had a saying he said to Diana, “Spare me the labour pains and just give me the baby”! The intent was to deliver and don’t get caught up in excuses!
12. 32:26 What advice would you have, a couple key take aways for our listeners? Never give up, be authentic to yourself and don’t be afraid to take a couple risks.  Mike and Trevor pay their compliments and respect to Diana for all she has done for them professionally and personally.
13. 34:38 What was your first concert? Guns and Roses!  Stranded on an island what artist would you take with you?  Diana picks Eric Church! 

At Empowered Electric in Kanas City, Missouri, it’s all about people! That’s why I was so excited to welcome Empowered Electric CEO Josh Levin onto the podcast to talk about all the unique and amazing ways he puts his people over profit. In this high-energy conversation, Josh talks about how leaders in the construction industry and beyond can practice accountability, harness their passion, and focus on their organization’s culture to create an environment that encourages their team to show up.

0:37 – In some organizations, people are treated like batteries, which can be easily used and quickly replaced

2:04 – How can we shift our mindsets to focus on people over profit?

2:40 – If your team members don’t feel valued, they aren’t going to show up and do their best work

4:30 – Your employees, their needs, and their lives outside of work should matter to you as a leader

5:37 – Regular, thoughtful employee evaluations are a great way to show effort and retain employees

6:46 – Being the leader doesn’t mean you have to be the voice or face of the entire organization

9:17 – Even if your business has a great brand, you can’t thrive unless you have good culture

13:26 – Accountability and honest dialogue are an important part of building trust and relationships

14:45 – To improve, study the behavior of successful people—and pay attention to the behavior of non-successful people, too

20:18 – Remember that employees may have motives for showing up beyond simply loving your company, like needing to support their families

22:48 – As a leader, keep your “passion tank” filled

26:00 – Invest in your employees, especially those who are willing to put in the work

25:55 – “There’s never a traffic jam on the extra mile.”

28:10 – Someone’s past doesn’t have to dictate their future

Connect with Josh Levin:

To learn more about Empowered Electric, visit their website.

To make better decisions and increase the overall engagement in your organization or workplace, you need diversity of thought! This is why I’m always so excited to talk to women in manufacturing roles, like Kathy Miller! Kathy has held multiple executive roles in manufacturing, including roles at General Motors, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Rolls-Royce. She was also inducted into the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2021, and has written about her unique journey as a woman in manufacturing in her book Steel Toes and Stilettos.

In this episode, Kathy shares more about her experiences and successes as a woman in manufacturing, and shares how both male and female leaders can build stronger connections, find more diverse results, and show up as their most authentic, empowered selves.

3:29 – Steel Toes and Stilettos is inspired by the different roles women play to be both their authentic, feminine selves and hold their own on a shop floor

4:21 – A successful journey in manufacturing requires soft skills, which can be harder to develop than people realize

5:19 – To make a significant cultural transformation stick in your organization, you need to make it feel like it belongs to the employees, and make them feel it with their hands and the hearts

8:23 – To get more women and their perspectives into manufacturing roles, it’s important to get women into manufacturing roles at a young age

9:12 – Inclusive environments get better business results

9:35 – Every person in your organization has a heart, a brain, and a set of hands, and you have to tap into all three

11:00 – By giving others an opportunity to contribute, you can find new and better results

13:50 – Kathy’s equation for successfully improving plants involves relationships, realities, results, and authenticity

14:45 – Every single relationship matters

16:37 – Face your realities and work on what’s in your control

17:27 – Focus on where you are and you’ll find results

18:09 – If you’re a man in manufacturing, work to amplify female voices

19:05 – Women in manufacturing can also advocate for their authentic selves

Connect with Kathy Miller

Connect with Kathy on Linkedin

Learn more from Kathy and her coauthor Shannon Karels on their website

Buy Steel Toes and Stilettos 

1. 1:20.  The topic today is resiliency.  During these uncertain times keeping in mind we are not alone; we are in this together.  How do we adapt to stress and the different landscapes we are in?  With this comes growth and different ways of thinking and what will our world look like months from now.
2. 3:30.  If you don’t like what your focused on change it!  How do we do this?  If you can focus on others, who can you help, who needs your help?  Diverting your attention a lot of healing can come from that.  Make best use of your day to be better!  When you find meaning in your suffering it ceases to be suffering.
3. 5:36  Labeling it is important.  Once we identify something and label it we can focus on it and work through it.  It’s a good time to look deeper into self, ground yourself and look at what is important in your life.  Look at one day at time.
4. 8:00  It doesn’t matter what your situation is, if you are working or not working, everyone has level of being uncomfortable.   The fear is common for all of us, no better time for mindfulness and understanding our own emotions.  Every one of us are capable of observing on our own emotions.
5. 10:56  What will it be like in 6 months?  We know great things will come from this, not totally sure what these are but it will happen.  As the saying goes, you can go through it or you can grow through it!  Looking for different ways, people are very giving right now! 
6. 12:24  The thinking for resiliency!  We have the physical, how much sleep are we getting, exercise and finding ways to do new things.  Making good use of our time, relationships and connecting with people, who needs that phone call?  Using today's technology to see each other from all around the world.  Use the different platforms that are available to all of us.
7. 14:42  The only thing you can control is your reaction to what is happening around you!  We are all human and accept the situation, diffuse the emotion and gain control over it.  Have a little self-compassion.  Don’t be so hard on yourself.  If you miss certain routines that’s okay, get back on track and get back into your rhythm.
8. 17:05  Watch a movie!  Take the time to enjoy a movie, laugh and take your mind off of the everyday stress we are all faced with.  Focus on what your in control of!  Doing different things is so good during these times to help with these circumstances.
9. 18:48  Social media.  How can we use this to connect and express ourselves!  so many different ways to spend our time!

What do manufacturing leaders have in common with performers? More than you think! In this episode, I’m joined by Michael Port, a bestselling author, former professional actor, and the founder of Heroic Public Speaking. Drawing from his experience as an actor and speaker, he joins me in this episode to talk about how leaders can improve their performance skills to heighten their impact, grow their role in their organization, and find the most effective ways to inform, persuade, and motivate their teams.

3:30 – Putting on a performance doesn’t necessarily mean showcasing a fake version of yourself, and performances can still be intentional and mindful

5:02: To change what other people do, consider what you make them think and how you make them feel

5:30 – You need to earn the privilege of influencing how others think

8:11 – To be a person who others want to help, you need to create value for them

10:48 – Success is not just about numbers and goalposts, but about growing every single member of your team

12:05 – To build a long-term, sustainable organization, it always comes back to being intentional and thinking about how your team feels and how you make them feel through your leadership and behavior

15:28 – As a leader or manager, you need to be careful and deliberate about what you say on a everyday basis, and think about how others might interpret your words

17:14 – Before starting a conversation, especially in a time of conflict, think about how the other person might react to your words, and what you can say to start an engaging dialogue without them feeling attacked or defensive

18:40 – To increase productivity and create a healthier workplace culture, you need to make your team feel like they’re in a safe environment

21:11 – You want to present you team with something that can get excited about, and show them something of value they’ll get out of it

22:41 – Along with showing your team members what they’ll get from your initiative, you also have to highlight the consequences of not doing it

23:59 – Most people don’t really hear you until you’re sick of saying the point you want me to hear

25:21 – To be a person who others want to help, you have to show others you can both make and fulfil commitments

29:55 – If you always shut down other’s ideas, they will eventually learn to stop coming to you

30:27 – To have productive conversations, you need to keep them moving

Connect with Michael Port

Heroic Public Speaking website

Heroic Public Speaking Substack

Follow @HeroicPublicSpeaking on social media

On the manufacturing floor, have you ever walked away from a conversation feeling like you made a conversation more complicated? Or have you asked a team member to do something multiple times, then felt frustrated when they still didn’t do it? Your words might be the problem! In this episode of the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast, Phil M. Jones is here to help! Phil is a master of influence and persuasion, and the author of international bestseller Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact. In this podcast, Phil breaks down how leaders can change their mindsets and language to find the fuel for sparking productive conversations, plus shares some of his insights on how we can all use our words to change the world.

3:00 – Leaders are often asked questions from their team, customer base, and others. As a leader, it’s not always your job to provide an answer. Instead, what you often need to do is add an increased layer of clarity.

4:30 – “Help me understand” is a very powerful phase. Example: instead of saying “why haven’t you done this safety check?” ask “help me understand why you believe it’s important that we need to do a safety check.”

5:30 – Don’t default to “tell” mode. Be curious and think about the best ways to serve your community and solve the problem.

6:30 – Questions are usually a strong way to start productive conversations.

8:00 – In great conversations, intentionality is key. This is important in all industries and even relationships outside work, like with your partner or children.

9:30 – Conversations should be fueled from a position of curiosity.

10:00 – If you don’t understanding someone’s context, your content is not going to get through to them. Take time to earn someone else’s context before you add more noise!

10:30 – To find someone’s context, try questions like “when was the last time . . .” or “how do you think it made us feel?”

11:11 – If you’ve told someone to do something multiple times and they’re still not getting it, the problem might actually be YOU and your communication

12:30 – Don’t focus on what you need to say. Ask yourself what the other person needs to hear to understand what you’re saying.

13:03 – “I’m guessing you haven’t got around to it . . .” is another impactful conversations starter that sets you up for productive dialogue and finding solutions.

13:30 – Let others “own” the solution.

13:37 – You don’t want an answer—you want things to get done!

16:45 – Even if you think you’re able to think quickly, time some extra time to think about what you need instead of just blurting out the first thoughts that come to mind

19:05 – People do things for their own reasons, not for yours

19:45 – Questions start conversations, conversations become relationships, relationships create opportunities, and from new opportunities you can drive new actions

22:45 – When you need to get someone’s attention, assume everyone is always busy and be dirct and intentional with your request

26:15 – Using the right words is important when communications by email, too. Don’t put too many questions into one email and be sure you give the other person something to respond to.

Connect with Phil M. Jones:

Website

Find additional resources at ExactlyWhatToSay.com

Buy Exactly What To Say

Welcome Mindfulness Manufacturing community! Today we get some great insights from JC Wilkinson.  He is currently the  VP of Business Transformation for Vivid Impact based in Louisville KY.  Prior to Vivid Impact, JC spent 10 years as a COO/CFO for privately held organizations and another 10 years working with regional consulting firms providing accounting, tax, and operational support.  In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), JC is Six Sigma Greenbelt trained, a Charted Global Management Accountant (CGMA), and holds the designation of APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM).    

1. 1:10 Transformation.  Growing a company on what matters most and what matters least.  Listen how J.C. explains the challenges of execution and how everything starts with the Leader.  Leadership is commitment, devotion and alignment.

2. 5:35 Leadership, hours on the floor.  It’s important the leaders are on the floor.  J.C. explains how the process of tracking the number of hours each leader dedicates to the shop floor.  He talks in detail about leading with humility and developing a culture of respect.

3. 8:40 Language and people.  We start at the top and establish a cascading effect right through to the operator, linkage is very important.

4. 10:57 Measurement drives behavior.  Safety, People, Quality and Cost, the people are super critical, the hiring of the right people in the hiring process is the most important thing.

5. 13:34 Turnover.  Check first to see, am I treating my external customer better than my internal customer?  J.C. explains the impact the book, “The Dream Manager” had on him and how they incorporated this into their work place.

6. 15:04 Emotional connection.  We asked the team members, what are your dreams, what are your aspirations?  We put out a culture survey to capture data, with questions such as, “what can the organization do to help you be a better version of you”?

7. 17:10 Leadership alignment and consistency.  Common challenges, managing through the chaos and fighting fires.  J.C. explains the importance of standard work and how that helped to bring clarity and control to the work day.

8. 22:15 People wanting leadership positions.  Clarity, expectations are so important to people seeking leadership positions.  When we are faced with problems, we always bring it back to, “how is this helping our customers”?

9. 24:20 What do you look for in an employee?  We established a criteria matrix comprised of skills and behaviors.  We use a role descriptor not a job description and a team-based hiring approach.  We quantify each candidate.

:40 – Listener feedback: Kim reminded us that just being aware that sometimes we're very hard on ourselves and that it's okay, to not get everything done, nor show up as that person that's always doing the right thing, because that's how we learn. Our journey is more like the golf game, just trying to hit the green more often

02:16 – Introducing new co-host and guest for today Dave Baker

04:07 – The practicality of why Mindfulness in manufacturing matters

06:00 – Mindful contrasts of being masked and not masked

08:31 – Presentation to a CEO making no eye contact and the resulting impact

12:00 – Mindfulness of the blue-collar worker ‘pulling handles’ at 3:00 a.m.

17:36 – That ‘silly certificate’

18:57 - The money left on the table in the absence of discretionary effort

20:29 – A funeral and a tie. Underestimating the impact you have on people. That estimation that you have on others is what’s called mindfulness.

22:45 – Work the shutdown? Nope, and here’s why

23:48 - The one thing: pay attention to what you say how & how you say it

25:49 – What would be done all over again? Stepping forward to make mindful changes to facilitate positive employee relations to get better results

29:32 – Summary

30:05 -  Closure

What does a Taco Bell drive-thru have to do with manufacturing? Fast-food and manufacturing have more in common than you might think—and in her newest book Lessons from the Drive-Thru: Real Life Wisdom for Frontline Leaders, former Taco Bell general manager Monica Rothergy shares real-life stories to help leaders lead with ease, authenticity, and vulnerability, whether they’re working in a drive-thru or a manufacturing plant.

Monica recently came by the Mindfulness Manufacturing to talk more about her book and the career path that took her from a Taco Bell general manager to the first female chief operating officer and first LGBT executive for KFC US. In this episode, Monica also shares valuable insights for other frontlines leaders, including strategies for bringing more curiosity and vulnerability to leadership roles.

2:00 – Frontlines leaders often feel the need to jump in and fix problems themselves, rather than letting their team figure it out

4:00 – Shift your mindset to emphasize coaching and supporting, not micromanaging

7:00 – Practice servant leadership through supporting and recognizing your team

13:00 – Instead of just providing instructions, look for ways to observe and provide feedback

15:00 – When problems occur, have deep and curious conversations to find the root of the issue

19:00 – Training is often seen as the problem, but a lack of support can also lead to performance issues

22:00 – All employees are unique and have different standards, so be curious to find out the kind of support and recognition they need

Connect with Monica Rothgery

Buy her book

Visit her website

1. 1:07 Introduction, Horst Prelog and Scott Turner on Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast.  Trevor talks about these two gentlemen, their background, accomplishments and how this impacted manufacturing and 
2. 3:42 A challenging undertaking.  Horst spends time talking about taking over a successful organization and the challenges that go along with this.  Explaining how important it is to have goals and everyone moving in the same direction with good alignment.  Focus on the people and what is expected.
3. 5:50 People and Different mindsets.  We were great but how do we become greater?  Horst references good to great and not to become complacent and giving good direction.
4. 7:40 Hands on, Scott and I were hands on people!  We established a clear vision of where wewanted to go, what is our mission on this journey and what are the values we are achieving to get there.    We created a credo writing down our goals and what is important for everyone to have and understand. 
5. 10:04 A collaborative approach.  Horst talks about collaboration as well asnon negotiables for the team and how important this is with leadership.   
6. 12:00 The credo!  Horst explained the credoand how we wrote this down and handed it out to every person in the organization that created accountability and the team held us to it.  Respect, trust, values and commitment, we decided on and we always helped each other.  
7. 16:21 I can’t say that this is an easy thing to do.  Horst talks about if you choose not to follow these values you will find trouble down the road.  It’s a slippery slope violating our commitments and how important it is to stick to it.
8. 19:40 We changed the compensation model.  Horst explains how he and Scott changed the compensationmodel so each person's compensation (bonus) was affected if there were challenges.  This was not an easy undertaking but the right thing to do. 
9. 22:00 Howdo you handle that one plant who doesn't want to help the other plants? Horst explains how he would spend time talking with these plants and helping them understand and convincing them the right thing to do is help each other.  There are certain percentages who don't want to, and we would ask if they would want to be a part of this team.  The right seat of the bus and if you didn’t want to be a part of it then exiting the bus. 
10. 25:27 Scott and I were a fantastic team!  We worked so well together and as a leader you have to recognize what are your strengths and when do you need to fill in with people who can help you.  
11. 27:10 The learning environment, why is that so important?  Horst and Scott talk about the importance of being a learning organization and without that you are limited.  You always requirelearning; all businesses have to do this.  Firing people is not the answer, no one is perfect, and you have to learn that hiring and firing is not the way, becoming a learning company is the way.  Horst shares under his and Scott’s leadership the different leadership learning programs offered. 

2:54 – A lack of flexibility is a big challenge facing female manufacturing employees

3:58 – We need to address how we can help people live the lives they have while still flourishing in the workplace

6:19 – Workplace environments need to be accommodating for women and other primary caregivers

7:25 – By starting dialogues with their female employees about issues like flexibility, workplaces can reach the most productive outcomes

9:11 – Employees also need to have a level of accountability in order to create an open dialogue

12:58 – How can we lead differently to get more women into leadership positions in manufacturing?

13:81 – Even in female-dominated fields like healthcare, women and other minorities struggle to move up to leadership roles

14:54 – The best way to get women into leadership roles is to recruit them early

15:11 – Women can become better self-advocates and articulate what they need from their workplace

16:44- Generally, women only apply for jobs when they’re between 60% to 80% confident they will get the position

17:55 – People in leadership positions can encourage women to apply for higher-up jobs

19:25 – Women often hold themselves back out of the misguided belief that they must be experts before they can move forward to a higher role

20:49 – To invest in female leaders, companies should look at their recruitment tactics

22:22 – Cultural systemic change must also take place over time

Contact Nicole:

Bright Blue Consulting

Email

LinkedIn  

If you want to improve safety, quality, productivity, and results, the first step is looking toward improving connection. With more mindfulness and connection, your entire organization can thrive—and in this episode, guest Jon Gordon is here to show you exactly how you can improve connection and fight disconnect in your organization!

Jon is one of the top three leadership speakers in the world, and his talks on mindset and leadership have inspired hundreds of individuals and organizations. He is also the bestselling author of 28 books, including one of my favorites, The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy. In this episode, Jon delves deeper into some of the insights in The Energy Bus to share how leaders can use positivity and connection to improve results and combat difficult situations.

3:31 – You are always going to have to deal with negative people, or energy vampires, but overcoming them is a key part of your journey to connection

4:40 – Every negative person is a test for you to find your own power and resiliency

6:40 – We are meant to be connected, which is why disconnect and isolation leads to anxiety and other mental health issues

7:55 – The more united and connected you are, the stronger you’ll be as a team

10:10 – If you only focus on the results instead of the process, it can lead to disconnect and other negative outcomes

11:15 – Feed yourself with words of positivity and encouragement instead of listening to negative self-talk

12:30 – Understand the wound behind your negative thoughts, so you can find a way to speak truth to them

13:49 – By embracing opportunities to heal and grow, you become a stronger leader for your team

16:25 – A positive team starts with positive leadership

18:03 – Understanding the dynamics of your team can help you find ways to improve connection

20:23 – You need both love and accountability

22:48 – There will always been the need for difficult conversations, so find a way to deal with them and make them less difficult for you and your team

24:49 – You can’t be thankful and stressed at the same time

Connect with Jon Gordon

Visit his website

Learn More about The Energy Bus and his other books

Read my previous book report on The Energy Bus

Connect on LinkedIn and social media

Hear Jon's podcast with Alan Mullally

Just think positive! We’re all heard this phrase before, but thinking positively can be easier said than done, especially if you’re dealing with a painful situation or difficult challenge. In this episode, guest Dr. Paul Jenkins is here to help you find a new approach for positive thinking. Dr. Paul is a professional psychologist who specializes in science and practice of positivity. He is also a coach, author, speaker, and “black belt in positivity” who creates models to help others find empowering new ways to view positivity.

2:39 – Positive thinking is more than a trite motivational phase

4:35 – The equipment of your mind is amazing at what it’s intended to do

5:55 – Your brain’s job is to keep things really efficient

6:44 – Metacognition is thinking on a higher level, or thinking about thinking

7:06 – Metacognition creates a space where choice exists

9:19 – You are constantly judging and evaluating, so you brain can work to keep you safe and to prove you right

13:59 – You can’t always get rid of a negative situation, but you can find a sense of relief and gratitude by comparing it to something worse

17:59 – If you assume something is bad or has no upsides, your brain will work to prove you right

18:40 – You can’t tell others to just be more positive, and others can’t do the same for you

20:03 – Toxic positivity is when you ignore the difficulty and act like everything is okay

22:37 – Creation mode is all about what is to be and what doesn’t exist yet

23:34 – When you imagine that worse things are coming, it leads to anxiety

25:15 – What we imagine is our brain’s blueprint for moving forward, even if what actually happens doesn’t perfectly match what you envisioned

27:25 – The two stages of thinking are evaluation and creation

28:48 – As a leader, you can help others create their own positive visions

30:01 – Come to peace with how things are, then work to upgrade your situation

Connect with Dr. Paul Jenkins

Visit his website

Get your free positivity model here

In manufacturing, it’s easy to get stuck in the four walls of our organization. But when you look beyond your organization—and even beyond your industry—you can find the insights and lessons you need to transform your leadership, improve your culture, and show up for your team! In this episode, hear from outside the manufacturing industry with Dr. Renee Thompson!

Renee is the CEO & Founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute and works with healthcare organizations to cultivate a professional workforce by addressing bullying and incivility. Renee has authored several books and is one of only 30 nurses worldwide who have achieved the prestigious certified speaking professional designation. Through her work, Renee is on a mission to create a world where bullying and incivility are immediately rejected, and kindness, respect, and professionalism become the new norm. In this episode, she shares her strategic insights for cultivating a more inclusive and positive workplace.

4:14 – In the workplace, bullying and negative relationships can occur between coworkers, as well as between bosses and employees

5:34 – As a leader, it’s important to equip yourself with the skills needed to address bullying and incivility

7:57 – There are many psychological barriers that can lead to challenges or inaction when faced with problematic workplace behavior

9:30 – Scripting is a way to effectively handle difficult conversations

12:27 – Learn the difference between overt bullying and subtle, more convert bullying, and find the strategies for dealing with both types of behavior

16:40 – Even though all industries are different, strategies for addressing bullying and incivility can still be applied across different industries

Connect with Dr. Renee Thompson

Learn more about Healthy Workforce Institute

Find her on LinkedIn

Connect on Facebook and Instagram  

In manufacturing, it seems like it’s always go, go go! But what if we could take a moment to pause, think, and act a little more thoughtfully and intentionally? Learn what can happen in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with guest Darcy Luoma! Darcy is an author, consultant, and the creator of the Thoughtfully Fit approach, a dynamic and practical model for enhancing leadership capabilities, improving team dynamics, and navigating the complexities of leadership and teamwork.

In this episode, she shares a deep dive into her Thoughtfully Fit method, plus shares other tips and lessons leaders can use to strengthen their culture, connect with their team, and bring more accountability, intentionality, and thoughtfulness to their organization.

1:30 – Intentionally or unintentionally, culture is set from the top

2:39 – Using curiosity helps separate accountability from blame

4:21 – As a leader, you can help your team stay accountable by setting clear expectations and benchmarks

6:40 – Change your mindset to shift away from blame and toward solutions

8:26 – Don’t ignore your team’s dynamic, or else it can lead to issues like decreased morale and effectiveness

11:04 – By creating intentional space to address team dynamics and communicate styles, you’ll find better results

17:10 – Through a Thoughtfully Fit model, focus on pausing, thinking, and acting intentionally

21:31 – Practicing self-awareness as a leader can improve your team’s dynamics

23:20 – When applying Thoughtfully Fit principals, be consistent and practice even in small situations

Connect with Darcy Luoma

Visit her website

Take the Thoughtfully Fit quiz

 00:28 - Welcome

01:20 - Greg Morgan introduction and connecting Mindfulness to Manufacturing

02:15 - LinkedIn “Inspirational Leader” award even now

03:45 - What does Mindfulness have to do with it

04:58 - Top 3 things contributing to success of a start up in India

06:52 - Making the connection - we all have the same basic needs

08:00 - A Start Up vs. Existing facility - each location has its own personality

09:37 – The Old Ways & Callouses

11:54 - Do-Over's & Repeats

15:20 - People selection - everything must change from the top

16:54 - HR's role and getting others onboard with setting the culture

19:30 - Where do you start in recognizing the people side of the business

20:48 - What not to tolerate

23:22 - What we all have in common despite tough times

24:04 - Our egos and an inverted hierarchy mindset

25:44 - Engage & Enroll - that one thing!

28:55 – “The books says…” “this is how we did it where I came from…” No one cares.

30:34 - Too many cars and that '48 Buick

31:56 - Hey boys, this is what we were doing 30 years ago!

32:39 - Close

3:20 – building a network, not even realizing I was doing it, relationships

5:05 – any doubts came from within, Vice President support and getting surrounded by great people

7:00 – you must work hard, learning the fundamentals not so much the leadership skill, like going to school

8:05 – not asking for help, self imposter syndrome(for more science on this, check out Adam Grant's book Think Again)

10:00 – self-doubt more common, men verses woman may be different

12:00 – one on one coaching, identified my leadership style flexes from leading from behind and leading at the front

13:00 –leading from behind suggesting to the team, supporting them

13:55 – in the beginning, you may need to lead from the front, create the vision, help the team see what we wanted to look like

15:30 – Jim Collins, Good to Great, I or we, how LaVerne allows the team to take direction

16:30 – do more with the kernel, how it is received, will determine the next steps

17:54 – husband Scott says LaVerne is a bridge builder, not for LaVerne, for the excitement of what is going to happen when the connection is made

19:10 – when people can see you are not in it for yourself, people ask more questions about you

20:20 – finding the sweet spot-on building trust, finding the common ground, something we connect with

21:55 – you also must be a good listener, you can with enough ambition and desire achieve great things, and chart your journey, we are a lot stronger and smarter than we think

2:40 – Multi-tasking – technology has a huge role to play in what we can do, however combining two cognitive tasks – switch tasking is different and actually slows you down, it can take you 23 minutes to get back on track according to studies by Gloria Mark.  Office workers checking phones every 5 minutes, open our phones 50 to 80 times a day.

5:30 – How to get things done with an open door policy?  Productivity is very personal, Connor explains how Google managed and best practices.  Blocking time in your day and making clear expectations.  How that creates greater productivity through entire day, less meetings!

11:48 – The Make Time program, defaults are all around us.  Recognize and adjust – Larry Page felt that every person at the meeting over the total of 7, diminished the effectiveness of the meeting.  They are not for status updates.  Explains Asynchronous communication.

14:20 – If an agenda is not set out 24 hours ahead of time you don’t need to go – (I Love that!). Great advice on how to be more productive!

17:50 – Search Inside Yourself – the case for skeptics of mindfulness in the workplace – connecting to the broader scope of emotional intelligence.  Training yourself in self-awareness by practicing mindfulness.  Based on the foundation of Daniel Goldman and his book Emotional Intelligence and neuroscience.   Your software can change your hardware.  (Connor goes deep here check it out if you are a skeptic like I was!)

26:30 – Willpower – the dangerous idea, is it as real or as important as we think?  Research is leading to the environment structure being more important.

31:15 – The Infinity Pool – these apps are just never ending, like ESPN where they are designed to make it easy to consume more and more great content.  Technology is not evil, however they are designed to make it fun and keep you engaged.  Try deleting the app??

36:28 – Space to pause – the STOP method, Stop, Take a Breath, Observe how you feel and proceed.  ##Control your response

You can hear from Connor on his weekly newsletter, One Percent Wisdom, where he shares simple, sustainable tactics and strategies you can use to develop your mind and better your work 🧠 or follow connect with him on one of these platforms.

Website: connorswenson.com

Newsletter: connorswenson.com/newsletter

Twitter: @crswenny

LinkedIn: profile

Email: connor@connorswenson.com

01:33 – Rick Ezell; a workplace Chaplain

02:19 – The "boss’s role"

02:46 – Unpacking vs. Venting

03:35 - Work, Personal, and Relational issues

04:25 – The Paradox

05:25 – The impact of time, expertise, and geography

06:11 – The proven need to talk, be reassured, and reminded

08:55 – Listening for the trends

09:30 – Advice for leaders without the luxury of an onsite Chaplaincy service

11:14 – The rules and value of a “listening session”

12:53 – % of conversations at work tend to be about personal and relationships

15:12 – Anecdotal evidence for leader’s job requirements rarely recognized nor assessed

18:00 – The peril of ignoring the non-work-related issues

19:21 – The value of transparency and empathy

21:11 – Healthier people make better employee

24:40 – A manager’s role in partnering with others

26:29 – A renewing of the mind

27:25 – A culture of care and desire for a resource

28:50 – Summary and closure

29:09 – Share your feedback with us

29:43 – End

00:00 – Intro

00:35 – Martha Clarke introduction; Fremont Consulting Group

01:40 – Being mindful when you don’t have the answer

03:20 – …but what you do have to have

04:50 – Manufacturing ‘is the same’ everywhere

06:52 – Be mindful of what you want

07:35 – A perfect outcome based on your language

09:51 – The secret sauce to connecting with the ‘locals’

12:24 – It’s O.K. to smile – how your presence impacts others

15:05 - The difference between managers and leaders

16:02 – Showing up in a way to achieve the desired outcome

16:47 – Beginning with the end in mind

18:28 – Believing, Actions, and Outcome

20:12 – Digging deep to understand the Why behind your belief

21:11 – Closing off opportunities for breakthrough

22:35 – Belief without the trust of others

25:37 – The A shift vs. B shift phenomenon

26:52 – The final word: respect, believe, and communicate

27:42 - Closure

2:55 At Crossover we would not tell you what to do unless we are willing to do it ourselves.

3:32  We are always learning and don’t have all the answers but have enough to get started.

3:53 Holding people accountable is all part of the right outcome.

4:12 "How the heck did they get here?" "What’s so wrong that here’s where we’re at?" "Why did the emotion of a situation get so elevated?"

5:39 Make sure we protect the customer and support the employees of that organization.

7:14 Often times we are not given all the tools to be successful at the start, but find the best way to support.

12:52 We look for a way forward that is meaningful for everyone involved.

15:12 The experience and bandwidth to lend that type of help that is truly required. Something Crossover can support with speed and precision.

16:57 It’s not necessary to say you know how you are going to help me; "it's why you think you can help me."

18:51 First step is somebody realizing and recognizing that they potentially need help, this is a huge step and it takes courage.

25:11 Authentic self and how you show up today is extremely important.

Contact Michael at michael.forhan@xosol.com
Website
   xosol.com

00:00 - Intro

00:28 – Nikki Langman intro

00:51 – Emotional Intelligence and Safety in manufacturing

03:29 – Safety: the common denominator

03:57 – Safety is a ‘safe’ word – emotional intelligence not so much

05:03 – Taking ‘emotion’ out of the mix

06:02 – Psychological Safety training

07:48 – Results: 86% LTI(Lost Time Injury) reduction!

09:12 – Talking about trust, communication, accountability people make better choices

10:00 – Emotional Intelligence training can save lives

10:15 – The Genos Emotional Intelligence model

11:00 – The most impactful: Self-Awareness and Self-Management

13:50 – Opportunities for compromises. Really?

15:19 – The Leader’s overall presence and empowerment

17:03 – Managing emotions for a positive outcome

18:25 – A story of Shawn’s journey and realization – a life-changing impact

20:43 – You just don’t know what others are going through – ever

21:46 – Awareness of those around

22:06 – We cannot inspire others if we can’t inspire ourselves

23:06 – Becoming more self-aware

24:10 – The Wet Bathing Suit feeling

26:30 – What’s the trick to getting out of it as soon as you can? It’s time to Pause.

27:21 – Discomfort? An invitation to Pause.

29:04 – Tough conversations

29:50 – Closing

30:22 - End

2:50 - The 4 fears - loss, failure, rejection, and the unknown

5:00 - Dave talks about the fear of a new plant manager!

9:30 - Taking the armor off, turn the tables with a different approach

12:00 - Like riding a bike or a new leader in an organization

13:30 - Pull over and reflect, self-awareness looking at yourself, conversations can create more stress than reality

17:00 - Step out and watch the traffic, so the fire in your hair does not take you over

19:00 - Trevor talks about focus on himself early in his career, fueled by fear of insecurities

21:00 - New Testament - Love is when you benefit your neighbor 

22:30 - We are not alone, we all have fear, in this together, be who you are in being present

23:00 - Mark Twain - I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened

00:40 – 1 year of Mindfulness Manufacturing

01:54 – Jason Zenger; President of Zenger’s and ‘Making Chips’ podcast host

03:00 – A transparent business model based on relationships

03:53 – Every great story comes from a history of struggles

04:23 – A Legacy: I want my team to know that I lead them like I loved them

05:40 – How am I going to show up for work today

06:14 – Where’s the risk? What’s the cost?

09:27 – Responsiveness and lack thereof

10:30 – Displayed by the best of the best on our team: DO-BE-GO-LIFE

12:38 – Accountability to making the tough calls

14:26 – Groom it or Hire it?

16:46 – Your actions and behaviors supersede your words when it comes to loving others

19:17 – A commitment to establishing your mindset and staying grounded

22:27 – Rebounding from setback

25:40 – What it takes to swallow that humble pill

30:00 – Learning through uncomfortable times

32:21 – Closure

Contact information for Jason Zenger:

linkedin.com/in/jasonzenger

zengers.com  (Company Website)

MakingChips.com  (Blog)

00:47 - A great experience at the dentist? Yes

01:29 - Dr. Patrick Carter - Introduction

02:46 - The connection to Mindfulness Manufacturing and a Dentist

05:33 - What's different? Meeting people where they are and knowing that you care

08:29 - We've seen it before, but for others it's all new - it's all about Patience

10:18 - Leading the staff while wearing multiple 'hats'

11:29 - Setting the stage and expectations. It all begins when you walk through the door. Your team

makes all the difference and it begins with hiring the right people

12:45 - Making the human connection

14:45 - Open conversations to become more aware

15:51 - Creating a culture to evaluate times when things do not go well

17:28 - Taking the time to get buy in and execute

18:51 - Stress on all sides and leveling it out

21:25 - The conscious effort and putting it all in context

24:20 - The value of experience and learning throughout your career

25:20 - Rewarding experience: having a profound effect on how others think about themselves

27:33 - Building resilience and taking the time to recharge

29:30 - A morning formula to stay grounded

3:18 – To cut down on retention issue, create a great environment for your employees

4:20 – You’re only as good as your employees

5:25 – Without great team members, a leader can’t thrive and succeed

7:00 – It’s important to use empathy and understand that all employees have different needs

10:29 – It’s simple: respect others and they will respect you

11:50 – In both manufacturing and hospitality, a little connection can go a long way

13:30 – Opportunities for career advancement help to draw in new employees, especially young employees

15:25 – Take care of “your people” in the best way you can

Connect with Younes Hospitality:

Website

Careers

Episode 1:  Mike Hillman and Trevor Blondeel are excited to launch their new manufacturing podcast.  This episode provides information about how and why they decided to develop this resource.  Each episode will feature an interview with manufacturing leaders on the topics of leadership challenges.

Why does communication break down and lead to conflict? Can we find a way to harness emotions for good, or are we always doomed to division and misunderstandings? As someone who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, Dr. Irvine Nugent is no stranger to questions like these. Living in a time of great violence and turbulence has given him a unique perspective on emotions and body language, and he now uses his skills to help leaders understand and master their own emotions, discover the power of emotional intelligence, and transform their ability to engage with others. He is also the author of Lessons from the Pub, where he shares leadership lessons learned while growing up in a pub.

I’m excited to have Dr. Irvine as my guest for this episode, where he shares more about emotional intelligence, body language, and how to use emotion to build more meaningful connections.

1:57 – How we present our emotions has a big impact on how we forge relationships, avoid conflict, and find more productive outcomes

5:04 – Before you can lead others, you need to lead yourself

6:59 – One tip for increasing your self-awareness is to take a one-minute pause before entering a room and give yourself time to process your emotions and get rid of any emotions you don’t want to bring into the room

7:57 – You can’t always make your emotions disappear, but you can manage and acknowledge them

8:16 – If you don’t give people the information they need, they’ll fill in the gaps themselves and are more likely to jump to conclusions about your emotions and behavior

9:43 – Emotions are contagious

11:32 – By taking the time to have quality interactions, you can find better outcomes and change the way you show up for your team

14:54 – Leaders need to know the truth, and that truth becomes data

17:57 – On a strong team, everyone holds each other accountable

19:17 – Anger, fear, disgust, contempt, surprise, happiness, and sadness are the seven universal emotions

20:20 – By learning to recognize facial expression and body language, you can understand when you need to ask more questions or start a deeper dialogue

25:15 – Even in times of violence and conflict, there are always reminders of humanity’s resilience and potential

Connect with Dr. Irvine Nugent

Website

YouTube

More about Leadership Lessons from the Pub

If the front isn’t connected to the caboose, a train won’t stay on the rails for very long! The same idea applies to manufacturing: if top-level leadership isn’t connected to the shop floor, there’s bound to be miscommunications, productivity breakdowns, and more. What can leaders do to keep the leadership locomotive running smoothly? Find out in this episode with Jason A. Hunt. With a background in both education and manufacturing, Jason is full of great stories about why connection plays a critical role in problem-solving. He also shares his tips on how leaders can use skills like delegation to help their teams solve problems and develop their critical thinking.

3:17 – When you’re a leader, it’s all too easy to set out to solve one problem, then get distracted by another problem and forget to solve the first issue

4:53 – Many leaders believe they have to have the answer to every problem, and feel like always having the answers is part of their job or what makes them important as a leader

5:58 – By always solving problems, leaders may actually be taking away valuable opportunities for their team members to learn, grow, and develop their own problem-solving skills

7:33 – Delegating can mean the difference between losing three minutes or losing three hours

9:36 – When you ask people to solve their own problems, they may pushback or be upset at first, but it’s a valuable opportunity for them to learn how to think critically and come up with their own solutions

15:12 – Leadership is about far more than your title, your knowledge, and your ability to manage others

16:08 – If the front of a train is moving ahead without connecting with the other boxcars, it’s not going to get to its destination

18:15 – Instead of solely focusing on KPIs or getting your products out the door, think about what you can do to connect with your team and really develop your relationships

21:29 Turn This Ship Around by L. David Marquet is a good resource for leaders

23:23 – To build better connections, shift your mindset and spend more time thinking about how you can build relationships with others

Connect with Jason A. Hunt

Website

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn

My book review of Turn This Ship Around

How can we bring more mindfulness to the manufacturing floor without comprising speed or efficiency? With a background as an award-winning senior executive for agencies, brands, and team properties in NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula One racing, Mike Mooney knows all about speed! He now uses his unique background to help leaders accelerate culture, unlock potential, drive opportunity, and create traction.

In this episode, Mike shares why humans are high-performance vehicles, and how leaders can use presence, intentionality, and curiosity to improve communicates, reach creative outcomes, and improve their organization’s culture.

3:46 – Like racecars, humans are high-performance vehicles that needs building, fixing, innovation, and restoration

5:04 – Being high-performance involves being present, intentional, and curious

8:13 – You can still get work done well and efficiently without sacrificing your relationships or workplace presence

9:22 – To improve your presence and how you show up, commit to shifting your micro-behaviors

12:00 – Sometimes, you need to slow down to go fast

13:33 – In the space between stimulus and response, you have a choice to jump to conclusions or react with curiosity

16:22 – Curiosity opens up conversations and leads to more productive outcomes

19:10 – Great ideas can come from anywhere, not just the executive team

23:20 – With curiosity, any idea can be interesting

25:05 – We were all designed to be high-performance vehicles and with time and authenticity, you can become the leader your organization needs

Connect with Mike Mooney

Visit his website

Find him on LinkedIn

Connect on X and Instagram @mike_mooney

Connect on Facebook @mikemooney_speaks

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks for tuning it to another episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing! To learn more about Trevor Blondeel and Manufacturing Greatness, please visit our website or contact Trevor here.

In episode 92, guest Sylvie di Guisto talked about the factors that go into creating a successful and memorable first impression. One of these factors is appearance, particularly the way we dress. To dig deeper, I’m excited to chat with today’s guest, Morgan Wider! Morgan is a personal style expert, speaker, and the founder of Wider Style, as well as the author of Worthy Wardrobe: Your Guide to Style, Shopping, & Soul. Drawing on her decade of leadership experience at major retail giants, she now uses her speaking, consulting, and styling to help others increase their performance through their image. In this podcast, she talks more about why clothing and appearance matters, and how leaders—especially women in male-dominated industries like manufacturing—can use clothes to present themselves in an authentic, appropriate, and self-honoring way.

2:42 – You only have seven seconds to make a strong first impression, and your appearance is typically one of first elements others notice about you

4:03 – By dressing as your authentic self, you also encourage your team to be themselves and show up in their own authentic ways

5:18 – Even if your role requires a uniform, there are still ways to show your own authentic personality and style, like through hair or makeup choices

6:20 – In male-dominated industries like manufacturing, women may feel like they need to blend in with their fashion choices, but this can also keep them from showing up as their most authentic selves

9:12 – In your clothing and appearance, you need to be both authentic and appropriate

10:33 – Make style choices that honor who you are and truly present who you are in the best way possible

11:33 – By being mindful of factors like your body type, age, strengths, and weakness, you can dress in a way that’s both appropriate for your role and honors who you are as an individual

12:24 – When you’re comfortable and happy with how you look, it improves your productivity and morale, plus makes you feel better and more confident

13:23 – By putting effort into your appearance, you can get yourself into the mindset you need

14:39 – Different audiences and occasions can mean different style choices

18:40 – If you don’t put in the effort, it can affect how others perceive you and how you show up

25:30 – As a leader, think about what you can do to create a space than honors diversity

26:58 – If find yourself in a space or role where you can’t be your authentic self, it might be time to consider if it’s the right space for you

Connect with Morgan Wider

Website

More on her book, The Worthy Wardrobe

“What else can I do to help?” For Susan Baier, the founder and president of Audience Audit, this question changed the trajectory of her career when she received generous assistance as a recent college graduate. She now gives back through her work with Audience Audit, where she helps businesses grow their ROI through transformational thought leadership reputations and stronger marketing. In this episode, Susan joins me to share her story and insights about how leadership can shift their mindset and find ways to be “relentlessly helpful” in their organizations and lives.

2:08 – To be relentlessly helpful, ask other what else you can do to help them and think about what you can do to help the others around you or in your organization

3:44 – Shift your mindset to think about the ways you can have an impact on others

3:54 – We all know things that someone else doesn’t know

8:15 – The people with the greatest experiences and the most unique perspectives are often not sharing their information

8:40 – Being generous reaps huge rewards and builds goodwill

10:37 – Being relentlessly helpful can also be a way to break out of your own routine and make yourself feel better about your own role

12:36 – Some days may have more opportunities to be helpful than others, but there are always small gestures you can make or questions you can ask to support others

14:34 – Both overconfidence and a lack of confidence can impact the ability to be relentlessly helpful

14:54 – Organizations, not just individuals, can embrace a culture of relentless helpfulness

18:39 – Learning on the job is a critical component of advancement

19:45 – To understand what is helpful for others, you need to listen and communicate

20:33 – As you shift your mindset, you’ll grow your listening skills and find more way to be helpful

22:18 – We often dismiss our own knowledge and forget to think about how our knowledge can be important to someone else, even in a small way

23:34 – Just being open and available for conversation can help others

Connect with Susan Baier

Audience Audit website

Contact Susan  

2:05 – spending more time with your people than you do your family, and when you look forward to helping your people personally and professionally, it no longer feels like a job

4:30 – sometimes things evolve on their own, neighbour to neighbour

5:10 – changed 10 years ago our mission, from providing quality construction service, to wanting to have a positive influence, insight from John Maxwell – 15 invaluable laws of growth

6:10 – challenges turn into growth opportunities, with turnover less than 5% extremely low for the industry, care for the employees!  Not the highest paid, but fair, honest, and enjoyable to be around

8:30 – life is too short to put on a show, what transparency looks like in an owner

10:30 – start the morning with a devotional, keep the big thing the big thing

11:00 – Values, respect, innovation, safety, and ethics RISE

11:50 – Hard to find employees like ours – ask Chick-fil-A – Stopped focusing on the resume and skills, and now hire people that want to be part of a team and the right culture fit

14:35 – Referrals from employees still number one, and encourage team members to share and use social media

16:15 – When you are engaged you can grow – Challenge is not getting the business, getting more great people- watch the video focused on their employees the video is real

18:05 – Whole lot easier to be yourself, what is the impact you are having on other people.  To break down the walls, you must be open yourself

19:10 – have a positive impact on as many people as we can

19:30 – can deal with mistakes, not a lack of integrity

21:01 - on-boarding new employees is like your relationship with your wife, create opportunities for fellowship and personal interactions to build relationships

22:30 – Community dedication started from the Bible, keeps the mindset of doing for others

24:46 – What do you want your tombstone to say between the dates?  What do you want to be remembered by? 

Joel's website

https://jdavisgc.com/#about-3

Watch the great video on Joel's culture!

https://jdavisinc.com/culture/

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Do you want to grow your writing skills or find new ways to use words to inspire your team and grow your organization? If you’re ready to take the first steps toward writing a book, AJ Harper is here to help! AJ is an editor, publishing strategist, and former ghostwriter who now uses her skills to help others write transformational books, grow their leadership, and make a unique impact on the world. She shares her methods through workshops like her Top Three Books Workshop, and she is also the author of  Write a Must Read: Crafting a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own.

In this podcast episode, AJ shares more about Write a Must Read and her experiences as a ghostwriter. She also shares some practical methods manufacturing leaders can use to grow their storytelling skills, whether they’re getting ready to write a book or simply looking for new ways to engage their teams.

1:03 – In a previous episode with Michael Port, we talked about speaking and growing your speaking skills to improve your impact in your organization.

2:39 – As a ghostwriter for bestselling books, AJ gained the experiences and insights she now uses to help others craft must-read books

5:01 – Like manufacturing, crafting a good book means developing strong systems and processes

5:30 – By having a strong and repeatable system, you can overcome challenges like self-doubt or your inner critic

6:28 – A key point of strong storytelling is remembering details

6:48 – To remember details you want to write down or share with your team, write them down in your phone or even record them for later

8:33 – Even if you have a very busy schedule, you can still find times in your day to write

9:17 – Writing doesn’t have to be daily and you don’t have to write a ton of words every day, as long as you find time to write on a regular basis that works for you and your schedule

10:42 – Other people may have already written ideas similar to yours, but the world still hasn’t heard it in your unique voice

11:43 – To connect with your audience, you need to put your reader first

13:35 – By using the reader first concept, you can also find better ways to connect and communicate with your team

14:50 – Even by just acknowledging an existing problem or condition, you can still motivate and support your team or audience

16:37 – Think about the hearts and minds of your audience and demographic

19:12 – Having a script is a way to prepare yourself before speaking, even if it’s just a few key points

20:42 – Instead of only focusing on your own objective, think about how you want to make others feel

21:35 – Don’t expect to be great at first

Connect with AJ Harper

Visit her website, where you can sign up for her newsletter with more writing tips

Learn more in my review of Write a Must-Read

From convincing a valued team member to stay with your organization to motivating an employee to level up their performance, you use influence everyday on the manufacturing floor. But what exactly is influence, and how can you more productive ways to influence others in your organization?

Alyson Van Hooser has the answers! Alyson is a keynote speaker, leadership expert, and the author of Infinite Influence, which offers the keys to unlocking more productive relationships and outcomes. In this episode, Alyson uses personal stories and memorable anecdotes to show the importance of influence within teams and organizations, plus discusses how curiosity and intentionality can make a big difference in how you influence and communicate with others.

2:57 – There are many ways to influence people, from convincing them to stay on your team to influencing someone to level up their performance at work

3:19 – Change the way you think about everyone you know and recognize your ability to influence anyone, anywhere, at any time

4:27 – Influence is very different from manipulation

5:21 – You can’t motivate someone to do something they don’t want to do

14:52 – Instead of making assumptions, stay curious and think about what others need

17:25 – By making assumptions, you might not be meeting your team’s needs, if you are going in with good intentions

18:51 – You need a combination of good intentions and intentional actions

22:48 – Leading with biases and assumptions instead of curiosity and intentionality can lead to further disconnect in your organization

23:46 – You don’t need radical shifts to change your leadership. Instead, you can focus on small moments of building curiosity and intention

26:03 – To find the best way to communicate with someone, you need build a relationship and get to know their story

28:33 – Successful organizations are built through the support and investment of others

Connect with Alyson Van Hooser

Visit her website

Connect on LinkedIn

Learn More About Infinite Influence

Do you find yourself starting the day with positive intentions, then leaving your manufacturing plant at the end of the day feeling like you didn’t actually accomplish any of your intentions? You might be struggling with “intention deficit disorder!” This is definitely something I’ve struggled with, but I felt much better after reading With Intention by speaker, tech executive, and USA Today bestselling author Jon Giganti. Jon is also a friend and professional speaking colleague, and after reading his fantastic book, I wanted to hear more of his thoughts on how we can all bring more intentionality to our leadership and organizations.

That’s why I’m excited to have him as my guest for this special two-part episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing! In part one of my podcast with Jon, he shares some stories that lead to the lessons on intentionality he writes about in With Intention, and discusses why self-awareness, agency, and connections play a key role in practicing intentionality and improving results.

6:33 – To accomplish something, you need to show up, serve, and add value

7:08 – Intention is finding out what your priorities are, then living into it as much as possible

7:58 – Every day is a new day with opportunities to be intentional and make an impact

9:28 – In order to serve others, you have to serve yourself first by establishing a routine and setting yourself up for success

10:48 – To find sustainable results, you need to have self-awareness and self-intention

13:13 – You need to put yourself in the right position for success

14:08 – Your energy levels are not the same throughout the day, so being intentional about your time is important

15:44 – Journaling or writing down affirmations is one way to practice intentionality

16:34 – You should also set a core foundation yourself by working on your own standards and beliefs

18:30 – To accomplish what you want to accomplish, show up, and form habits

21:07 – If you want to be more intentional about how you lead or connect with others, start with curiosity, connection, and bridging disconnects

23:29 – To serve others on your team, act as a safe place to connect

24:00 – To get stronger results or find out what is driving a performance issue, stay curious and find ways to connect with your teams

24:39 – Trust also plays a large role in building connections and finding results

25:23 – Along with self-awareness, you also need agency and the ability to take ownership of your past, present, and future

Tune in next episode to learn more about intentionality with Jon Giganti!

Connect with Jon Giganti

Visit his website, where you can learn about his speaking, podcasts, and With Intention course

Check out my book report of With Intention, then get your own copy

Welcome Mindfulness Manufacturing community!  The legendary Brian Skerrett shares some of his wisdom gained through his 40 plus year career.  A pioneer integrating mindfulness and leadership training, it is a privilege to share this with you today.  His primary focus has been business coaching, with a niche in helping people to make individual changes today that will help them to grow and live more fulfilled and satisfying lives.

1. 1:50 The beginning of Brian’s career.  Listen as Brian talks about his experience meeting the one and only Stephen Covey and the mindfulness journey.
2. 4:00 Pushing yourself into a pretzel!  Brian talks about the purpose of mindfulness and how it is meant to quiet the mind and create a healthy body.
3. 5:40 EAP and the connection to mindfulness.  Both management and employees were hurting, conflicts not being resolved, creating anxiety and frustration.  That's when I introduced mindfulness practice and where do you put your attention.
4. 8:20 You gave me a gift that I never opened until many years later.  Trevor talks about meeting Brian and the approach to mindfulness.  Brian talks about how most people have to go at mindfulness and come back to it many times until they grasp it.
5. 12:16 Leaders intentionally creating conflict.  What do you tell Leaders who operate this way? Creating an uncomfortable environment does not create a better environment.  Brian shares how stress harms the body and the effects it has on us.  Fight or Flight?  Mindfulness allows us to avoid this type of behavior and not get hooked by the conflict and be present. 
6. 15:36 You’re not chained there.  You have options in how you handle things.  It’s only a gong show if you buy into the gong show.  Mindfulness is key.
7. 17:16 The speed of technology.  Brian shares his experiences with technology over the years and how mindfulness plays into it.
8. 19:00 Emotional Intelligence, it takes courage to embrace and stick with something.  Learn how to adapt and advance your culture.
9. 22:35 The sizes of our enterprises.  The large companies have a hard time adapting to challenges and mindfulness.  Working with the highest level and having an impact on the organization.  Brian shares some great quotes and perspectives on leadership.
10. 25:48 The bosses who listen to feedback.  Brian explains the importance of a boss allowing others to give feedback to them and the impact and the need. Today it doesn't happen often enough.
11. 27:42 It’s around trust.  It's a fundamental piece if a solid team, how do build trust, maintain trust and this is something that is sadly lacking.
12. 29:22 Mistakes and failures.  Brian talks about the leadership style of making mistakes and the learning opportunity.  It’s important in terms of people learning.
13.  31:28 What things are like at home versus what things are like at work.  Brian talks about the connection between home life and work life and the importance of these two.  People have to have a life of their own and have a balance.  Spending too much time working and not enough time at home.
14. 34:35 Legacy.  Brian describes what legacy means to him.  How companies can push you until you are dry, and some are more in tune to the employees needs and got good results, they cared.

In 2009, total engine loss forced US Airways Flight 1549 to make an emergency crash landing in New York City’s Hudson River—and thanks to the quick actions of the pilot, flight crew, and passengers, all 155 people on board made it safely off the plane. Now known as “the miracle on the Hudson,” this harrowing incident offers up important lessons on staying calm under pressure, coping with traumatic challenges, and making every moment count.

To learn more, let’s hear from a Flight 1549 survivor! Dave Sanderson is a nationally recognized leadership speaker and bestselling author, who draws from his inspirational story of survival to encourage others to do the right thing and find healthy ways to cope with their own struggles and adversity. In this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, Dave shares his own Miracle on the Hudson story, and offers powerful insights he learned from being the last passenger off Flight 1549!

2:18 – Dave shares his Flight 1549 story

8:11 – In times of conflict, whether it’s a plane crash or issue on the manufacturing floor, calmness and confidence play key roles

9:05 – To get through challenging situations, you need to manage your own mindset

10:05 – You don’t need to know everything to handle a crisis, but you have to be able to lead yourself first

11:09 – Every moment in your life happens for a reason

13:38 – How to react to and cope with a challenging situation depends on the meaning you attach to it

14:22 – By reframing the meaning you attach to a situation, you can find healthy and productive ways to react and grow

15:33 – Everyone assigns different meanings to different challenges, so it’s important to approach others with curiosity instead of judgement

17:56 – To truly understand others, you need be curious and have authentic interactions

21:52 – To feel included in an organization’s mission, people need and want certainty, variety, connection, significance, growth, and the ability to contribute  

24:48 – As a leader, it’s up to you to find creative solutions and create opportunity from challenges

28:57 – If you get casual, it can lead to safety issues, accidents, and other serious problems for your organization

Connect with Dave Sanderson

Check out his website and download a free copy of his Moments Matter Magazine

Connect on LinkedIn to see new blog content

12:18 – To be effective, invest in your relationships with people

18:17 – You never know what trials other people are going through

19:40 – Even if you do care, your empathy might not always show up through your behavior

23:00 – The final characteristic of great leaders is “challenge”

24:00 – Leaders who act tired, defeated, or like they’re not fully on board aren’t inspiring

24:39 – If employees don’t feel engaged or challenged, they will not step up in their role

00:00 - Intro

00:35 – Talent development and the awareness of others in growing your organizations

01:18 – Desen Lu introduction

02:01 – Let’s talk Talent. The confusion between Performance & Talent. Talent comes first – Performance is a byproduct of Talent

04:22 – Focusing on the upside of having great talent – not the cost of its absence

05:34 – What separates great talent from average talent - Ownership

08:21 – Ownership and daring to admit that you made a mistake

10:02 – What it looks like to admit mistakes – and the effect

12:00 – The team’s response

13:11 – The night and day difference in an organization’s culture where it’s o.k. to admit mistakes

14:56 – The ripple effect of ownership in talent development

18:15 – Failing your way to success

19:46 – Staying grounded

21:36 – Every day is a battle

22:53 – Diversify with experience opportunities on the ‘opposite side of the table’

24:50 – Mindset focus on what you gain on the backside of the storm

27:23 – Gratitude to check your mindset for the rest of the day

29:10 – “We grew a person” – the best news of all in a day!

30:47 – “Performance is a function of human equity” – Desen Lu

31:09 - Closure

00:38 – 2020: a year with much-needed empathy, resilience, and self-management

01:35 – Intro to Ben Palmer with Genos International

02:42 – Game-changing for business, life-changing for people

03:49 – “HR Puff & Stuff” - What’s NOT emotional intelligence (EI)

05:45 – Sizing up Anger. Anger that creates Engagement – not disengagement

07:14 – Here’s what emotional intelligence IS

07:49 – A No Crying Zone?

08:52 – The emotional intelligence experience in real life

10:33 – The Story of 2 Pens and your business

13:31 – Who takes care of who - Customer or Employee?

14:40 – The Ripple Effect and the effect on Safety

16:18 – A culture of ‘artificial harmony’ and ‘fear of confrontation’

17:15 – Magic moments and simple behaviors demonstrating levels of emotional intelligence

22:59 – The biggest predictors of your own mortality

27:33 – Introverted or Extroverted and the awareness of how we show up

29:10 – If you can walk and you can knock begin experimenting to learn

30:24 – Opportunities for 2021: Considering your Perspective, the need for Empathy, and your own Well-Being

33:40 – I just want 2020 to end. Why wait to start?

34:22 – Considering other’s perspectives – You don’t want to be ‘that guy’

35:11 – Wrap Up

35:52 - Closure

On the manufacturing floor, you don’t want your leadership and your team to be average . . .you want to be amazing! To learn more about how leaders can find the energy and inspiration to take themselves and their team to the next level of success, I’m excited to welcome my friend Dustin E. James to the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast. Through his work with Moments Leadership, Dustin uses motivational speaking and interactive learning experiences to help organizations find greater engagement, creativity, and inspiration. In this episode, he takes stories from his past experiences and turns them into lessons leaders can use to connect with their teams, find new inspirations, and manufacture greatness in their organization.

1:40 – Energy comes in many different forms

3:00 – What is the balance between having a routine and bringing fresh energy into work every day?

3:10 – There isn’t a single person on your team who doesn’t want to be recognized for their good—when your team feels like they’re being acknowledged for doing more than just the average, they’ll continue to show up with new energy and motivation

4:34 – As a leader, it’s your job to show your team how amazing they are

8:00 – We all have bad days filled with struggles, challenges, but there is always a life lesson to be found in hard experiences

8:25 – Even when you are doing something challenging or difficult, there are still opportunities to grow your own mindset or help or inspire someone else. You never know when you’ll find a great lesson!

8:45 – If we want to learn new lessons and find new energy, we have to show up and be present every day instead of just embracing “average”

11:09 – As a leader, it’s important to know your team member’s individual goals and what motivates them

12:22 – In order to really connect, you need to know what makes each team member tick!

14:03 – “I see that you’re doing your best” can be a powerful way to start conversations and better connection with your team

15:19 – As a leader, it’s important to recognize that your team members are often doing the best they can and embracing that fact can help you build trust and move forward in productive ways.

16:08 – Trying to get someone to improve to change their behavior can be a big drain of energy—what are some ways to deal with this?

17:16 – Everyone on your team has something good that can be said about them

19:04 – At the end of the day, it all comes down to showing up and being there as a leader to your team. There’s always going to be new challenges, but it’s up to you to find lessons and energy in each day

20:00 – Always give your very best. Don’t show up to be second!

21:52 – Our best days are always ahead of us

Connect with Dustin E. James

Moments Leadership website

01:23 – Adding value; a real-life story – Michelle with Grizzly Country Wildlife Adventures

03:50 – Welcome Bob Burg – finding ways to add value and create change https://burg.com/

05:00 – A story of Go-Giving: excellence, knowledge-base, needs, do you care, consistency, consider others as a human being, empathetic, conscience of fears, gratitude,

07:35 – The Go-Getter vs. Go-Giver vs. ‘a Go-Taker’

11:39 – When they call, you know instantly whether they are a Giver or Taker

12:32 – Human nature, we deal in truths and work successfully within those truths

13:04 – Getting stuck in our own silos and where leadership comes into play

15:35 – How would a leader know they are effectively self-aware. Being Aware of not being self-aware.

16:31 – Our ability to receive and the Law of Receptivity

18:00 – An Unconscious Operating System and the messages we receive

18:50 – Our relationship with money and prosperity

20:00 – Most wealthy people have achieved it by providing a product or service that others have willingly bought and is not inherently bad despite a tendency to think otherwise. Why?

23:08 – Giving: providing value and living within one’s values

25:19 – If you want to thrive, you have to help a lot of people

28:38 – The Go-Giver Success Alliance Community; taking it to the next level https://gogiversuccessalliance.com/

Close

When your team is aligned, it leads to more productivity, higher morale, and a healthier workplace . . . and on the flip side, a misaligned team can contribute to issues like high turnover or an inability to attract or keep great new team members. What can leaders do to enhance teamwork and bring more functionality to their organization?

In this episode, Mark Kenny gives the solutions! Mark is a speaker, consultant, and expert in team building and leadership. He’s also the author of The Hippo Solution: Eliminate the Territorial Thinking and Unleash the Power of Teams, which focuses on how leaders can transform their teams and create healthier, more productive cultures. In this episode, he uses stories from his own life to show the importance of team connection, plus offers insights manufacturing leaders can use to strengthen their team, transform their culture, and find the best solutions.

3:04 – There are some key differences between functional and misaligned teams

5:11 – When your team is disconnected, it can lead to issues like high turnover or struggles to recruit new talent

6:16 – As a leader, you play a critical role in setting the tone for your entire organization

8:07 – To strengthen your team, learn to look for dysfunctional team dynamics

10:17 – Connection, cohesion, and clarity are the pillars of a well-functioning team

14:47 – With more clarity and structure, you can improve your team’s functionality

18:39 – Improving your culture can be transformational for your team

24:31 – To find the best solutions, stay curious and build deeper connections within your team

Connect with Mark Kenny

Visit his website

Connect on LinkedIn

More on The Six Types of Working Genius

More on American Icon: Alan Mullaly and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company

In the busy and high-stress world of manufacturing, it can be hard to find your focus! What can you do to reset your focus and prioritize what matters most? Find out in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with “Focusologist” Penny Zenker.

Penny is as an international speaker, business strategy coach, and bestselling author who has been featured on NBC, Forbes, and more. She is also a leader expert in the psychology of productivity, and works with organizations to maximize results by eliminating perfectionism, distractions, and self-sabotage. In this episode, she shares her three-step process for building a reset mindset aligning yourself with what matters most to you, your team, and the productivity and culture of your organization.

3:46 – Focus always coming back to setting objectives and aligning your actions with those objectives

4:47 – To find your focus, you need to step back, get out of your daily cycle, and reset

5:29 – To engage in reset practice, you have to recognize the trigger for the reset moment and then take a step back to get perspective and realign

7:03 – The more you practice, the easier it is to build a reset mindset

7:53 – If you don’t give yourself permission to step back and reset, you increase the risk of errors that can hinder productivity and cause mistakes

8:53 – Taking small break is a way to relearn how to focus

9:30 – Another part of practicing a reset mindset is learning to recognize when something isn’t working, like getting rid of an unproductive meeting

11:39 – Stepping back can mean giving up control in some areas

12:14 – Being able to step back creates a culture with less bureaucracy and more trust and autonomy

13:59 – Sometimes we focus on the wrong areas, like focusing on micromanagement when it would be more productive to focus on fostering autonomy

16:30 – A reset mindset starts with creating reset moments for yourself

17:44 – Constantly look for ways to bring out the best in yourself and in others

18:22 – A reset mindset also requires curiosity and a willingness to adapt

21:24 – If one person in an organization can demonstrate a reset mindset, others will learn to do the same

Connect with Penny Zenker

Visit her website

Check out her Take Back Time podcast

7:09 – Get people rallied around a purpose, value, and mission

8:57 – Every business has a “why” statement and something that really matters to them

9:37 – Test and try your ideas and know that it won’t be perfect the first time

10:15 – Values are particularly important to Gen Z Employees

13:32 – Find a way to give people who are connected and interested a way to help give back

14:36 – People like to be associated with organizations with positive values

17:41 – Give your employees and leadership a chance to connect to something that really matters

18:59 – Employees who feel like they’ve had a chance to give back will provide additionally efforts and have greater engagement

19:24 – By treating employees holistically, we see great thing happen and that’s why flexibility and perspective are so important

20:29 – When you give to others, it grows your own mindset

22:45 – It’s all about delivering stories that everyone wants to be a part of

26:04 – The team that you have at the beginning of the process is a good indicator of how the entire organization will look

27:04 – You can’t figure out a company’s culture just from an interview

29:12 – It’s important for employees to search for accountability

32:37 – Through engagement, you’ll see value

Contact Jon:

Linkedin

Milwaukee Tool

Careers at Milwaukee Tool 

Serendipity: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. “Getting stuck in traffic” doesn’t sound like it fits the definition of serendipity, but it does for me and this week’s guest, Noah Graff of Graff-Pinkert and the Swarfcast podcast! Noah and I connected when he caught an episode of my podcast while stuck in traffic, and it led to a great conversation about his experiences as a treasure hunter who travels around the world to find interesting pieces of manufacturing equipment, and how he uses a serendipity mindset to find new connections, overcome challenges, and turn outdated or unusable equipment into new treasures!

2:00 – What does it mean to be a “treasure hunter” in manufacturing?

5:00 – Someone’s trash always has the potential to be someone else’s treasure—you just need to have the right mindset to find it!

6:22 – It’s amazing what you can find by keeping an open mind and always looking for the unexpected

9:00 – Serendipity isn’t just about being in the right place at the right time. You also have to be in the right mindset.

9:42 – What’s the difference between mindfulness and luck?

11:30 – Many leaders have either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, but leaders can also consider a “serendipity” mindset

12:00 – To embrace a serendipity mindset, one strategy is serendipity bombs, or seeking multiple people who can help you complete a task, like finding a piece of machinery or doing research for an article

14:00 – Another tactic is serendipity hooks, or opening up a conversation to find new opportunities

15:45 – By being open to new conversations with new people, you can find great and unexpected opportunities—don’t be afraid to be the spark for a conversation!

Connect with Noah Graff:

Graff-Pinkert website

Swarfcast Podcast

In manufacturing, mental health is not always at the forefront. But when you don’t pay attention to your team’s mental wellbeing, it can negatively affect your entire organization, leading to big issues from disconnected teams to high employee turnover. In this episode, find the insights you need to transform your organization’s approach to mental health with guest Adam Nemer. Adam is a former CFO and senior operations leader, whose own mental health struggles inspired him to start Simple Mental Health, an organization that partners with leaders to bring stigma-free mental health culture to their organizations.

In this episode, Adam shares impactful stories from his own mental health journey and offers great insights for how leaders can support their teams, implement stronger mental health practices, and play a transformative role in breaking down mental health stigmas in the world of manufacturing.

1:00 – In manufacturing, one out of every five employees struggles with a diagnosable mental illness
7:58 – To promote better mental health in your manufacturing organization, learn to recognize the signs of mental health struggles, like changes in appearance, behavior, or performance 
8:35 – Be aware of team members who might be showing up for work, but aren’t mentally engaged
12:25 – To improve mental health at work, you need to have deep conversations that go beyond just talking about work
16:20 – When your employees are unhappy or struggling with mental health issues, it can lead to a massive drop in productivity, as well as high turnover
21:46 – As a leader, there is power in sharing your own mental health experiences
27:45 – When leaders normalize discussions about mental health, it improves performance and transforms lives

Connect with Adam Nemer
Visit his website
Connect on Facebook and LinkedIn 
Learn more on YouTube

:50 – Brian Leising introduction

03:13 – How Mindfulness has contributed to Brian’s success

05:36 – Servant leadership

06:00 – “How are you going to turn this thing around?” P.R.O.U.D.

09:34 – Listening to understand, not just respond

12:00 – Modeling, Accountability, and Humility

14:24 – Rewarding aspects of being Mindful

15:50 – The fight to retain your Integrity

17:34 – The problem with blame. Accept responsibility and ownership

20:55 – The “Buck Stops” here

21:45 – Your decision is: to Stay or Go. If your decision is to Stay, own it.

23:39 – Transparency and alignment in communication of the What & Why

25:24 – Brian’s One Thing

27:25 – A ‘money pit’ and advice for an up and coming leader

28:49 – Contributing to Core Values & Beliefs

29:30 - Close

There’s power in your people—and if you learn to harness it, it can transform your organization! Learn more in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with guest Hugh Hornsby, the vice president of Everflow Supplies. With a long career and a remarkable track record of turning around struggling businesses—and his own unique journey of surviving a life-changing head injury—Hugh has great stories and insights. In his episode, he shares more about the success of Everflow and his personal journey, and gives insights leaders can use to transform their hiring process, practice everyday gratitude, and find their team’s hidden gifts.

2:27 – Everyone has a unique gift, which you can find by overcoming labels and looking for their personal potential

5:52 – Reframe the way you see others and yourself

6:25 – With a more progressive mindset, you can find more potential in both others and yourself

11:21 – If you invest in your team, they’ll invest in your organization

14:13 – Hire for personality and to find the right cultural fit, not just because someone has a strong resume

15:35 – The hiring process should be curious, not transactional and restrictive 

19:30 – Overcome your terror barrier

24:47 – Every day, find time for a gratitude check

27:00 – To transform your team, start by looking at the story you tell yourself

Connect with Hugh Hornsby

Learn more about Everflow Supplies

Connect on LinkedIn

Read my book review of Think and Grow Rich  

From DiSC assessments to the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator, there are many different personality assessments leaders can use to identify their personality type and how it impacts the way they show up on the manufacturing floor. To get a better understanding of this unique topic, I brought in Christy Smallwood, a speaker and author who helps leaders “supercharge” their organization and find their own ways to make a positive impact. In this podcast, she shares information about the different types of personality assessments, plus gives personality assessment insights leaders can use to connect with and support their teams.

1:54 – There are many reasons for manufacturing leaders to consider implementing personality assessments

2:29 – One major benefit of personality assessments is learning your communication style and the communication style of others on your team – this helps you understand what you need to do to get the best results from conversations

3:32 – “We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are”

5:03 – As a leader, it’s important to take advantage of any tools you can use to better connect with your team, including personality assessments

5:14 – There are many different types of personality assessments to choose from, and you can pick something that best suits your team or organization  

5:53 – One type of personality assessments is the DiSC assessment

7:26 – Some personality types assign an animal to go along with different personality traits

9:40 – If someone is acting differently from their normal personality type, it could be a sign they’re dealing with an issue, like a family problem outside of work

10:55 – In a personality test, there is no wrong answer

11:43 – When people have different personalities, it may sometimes lead to conflict or miscommunications – this is why it’s important to understand why others behave the way they do based on their personality

14:00 – With understanding, even people with vastly different personality types can get along

16:19 – Your personality type impacts the way you show up on a daily basis

18:31 – The COVID-19 pandemic has made personality assessments more important than ever

20:00 – By understanding a team member’s personality, you’ll have a better awareness of what they need to feel energized or supported

25:00 – We all have different aspects of our personalities

Connect with Christy Smallwood

Website

Dave  0:47 

That's crazy. I, first of all, I appreciate you admitting your work through your self-awareness because that's all part of the process here. But as we all are, especially me, but, you know, with kindness. A my take on that is, you can be kind all day long but if you're not aware of how you come across people read through that kindness perhaps as manipulative or a little bit of, it's not sincere. And you may be kind, but you're truly unkind, in the eyes of others and Tate's gets kind of cool and we've got Elizabeth guests with us here today and she is. Got a quote or a motto that is just phenomenal. It's, it's basically genuine kindness is tested and proven method and leaving people better than when you met them. And that's just, that's extraordinary and I used to say that about safety at work in a manufacturing environment. We want people to leave as good or better than they were when they came here but, Elizabeth, put a different twist on this relative to kindness, and we're going to jump in with Elizabeth today on this topic in many others I'm sure as we go but welcome Elizabeth, how are you doing today?

Elizabeth  2:17 

I'm doing well, thank you so very much Dave and Trevor for having me I am super excited and stoked to be here with you all today.

Dave  2:25 

Good deal. Good deal. Well, you know, from Queens, New York as a native of Queens, New York. With this migration south, you know, as I understand from back in oh six of kindness was not a part of your experience in one of the reasons that you moved to South Carolina. Right, I go in there and ask you to unpack that for us because you've got a great story there.

Elizabeth  3:00 

You see, in 2006 I didn't understand kindness. I was actually… I am a survivor of domestic violence and uprooted my family my three boys at the time and moved to South Carolina barely knew anyone here had some family here and I really just was looking for that fresh start. And you know, being from Queens, New York. Kindness is not really the thing that's associated with the New York, uh you know you've got the, you know I'm looking here kind of thing going on. And, you know, so I always felt that, yes, I was born and raised in New York but I believe I'm, I've always been a Southern belle but, you know, at heart, but kindness is just, to me it is just the most important thing to me it is the currency of success. It is what I have used it is tested and proven, and more than likely people will understand, you know how your interactions have impacted them and they'll want to experience those things over and over again, and the method that has to be included in that is going to be kind and how you continue to treat others and how you know that is reciprocated through relationship.

Dave  4:10 

Well, Trevor. I mean, don't ask me about kindness I mean you set me up in the beginning, but that's why I'm so glad Elizabeth is here today. Yeah, Elizabeth.

Trevor  4:23 

So what do you think about kindness then, you believe like everyone is naturally kind, and then our brains are kind of hardwired, and take stealing from Brene Brown a bit there, you know, we'd love to judge, and for some reason our, our brains if we're not intentional, just turn to that judgment, and it's not a good feeling and I catch myself doing it sometimes and it's kind of like, why did that unkind thought, Where did that come from because I don't want that. Where do you think that comes from or what are your thoughts on that?

Elizabeth  4:58 

I believe it's the understanding of kindness. Kindness is not the absence of judgment, it's not the absence of error, I think it is intentionality, it is you're making an intentional decision to treat someone better, you know than maybe they would expect to go above and beyond what's expected and kindness sometimes has this, I guess misperception of being weak, or you know just being you know no place in the workplace or, you know, I've got to be aggressive or you don't have to, you can have such significant present presence, and leave a kind, you know, I guess feeling with someone and just really just have an exchange that is pleasant. So, I can still have great influence I can still have great negotiating skills, but you may want to do business with me more because of the experience you have with me. I am all about experience, every experience, every interaction with someone should be five stars, or very close to it, where we should be striving to do it.

Trevor  6:05 

So how did you, like that's beautiful what you said, and how did you get from like that New York State to that. How well you articulate that, and I can just feel the passion in your voice when you say that. Was there something? How did you get there?

Elizabeth  6:20 

I think, if I may use just the experience of being a domestic violence victim, of course, you don't have a voice, you don't really know how to advocate for yourself, you know you're receiving things that are not kind or unkind and as he mentioned earlier. So I really had to learn first to be kind to myself, and one, and then I also had to learn to be kind to others because I was so suspicious of everyone, every interaction I figured this would bring some form of hurt, and there was a defense mechanism that was up, so I felt like you know, maybe I'm not going to show my kind side because I don't want you to take advantage and I started realizing I was running into these brick walls because I had such a tough exterior. And when I learned this key skill and actually transferred it over into my professional world. I'm telling you like my success with people just skyrocketed through the roof, because I was able to be vulnerable, and that's why I'm so transparent with my journey messy says everything that I've accomplished Hey, whatever I know I'm willing to share with you because I believe it'll help make you better.

Dave  7:37 

Well, so when you know when I think of the best compliment I've ever received is “Dave, you're one of the kindest people I've ever met!” And I'm not sure that I've heard that. But once or twice in my life. Right. And it's like, you know, why is that not. Why do I not hold that with greater regard? Why is that not a higher priority for me? Well, the bottom line is it doesn't sound or feel that ‘manly’. Right, living in a manufacturing environment it's about being tough it's about delivering it's about hitting the home, and, you know man-made, but I'll also tell you that I have fired people with the utmost kindness to where when they walked out of the room, they either shook my hand hugged me, smiled and said, thank you. In the end, I think that's just a real demonstration of kindness, kindness like you had said earlier is not a weakness. It's not something that shows the sign, you know, shows vulnerability, it's something that basically commands. The situation or commands the circumstance, and a kind person, can be kind in whatever it is that they’re doing. And that's, this is, this is awesome it's a great conversation.

But I want to change it up just a hair. I want to talk a little bit about something that I know about you, where you believe that you've got to have this mindset where average, and, you know, the average is average but breaking through this glass ceiling is like. You can do this, I can do this regardless of who you are and from your background, your, your life story, to where you are today. You know glass ceiling. Right? I know glass ceilings, believe it or not as a white guy. Right, I know a glass ceiling. I know when I see it I know when I feel it I know I’ve experienced it, but what's your take on the trick, other than kindness, right, which is in there, where what? Where's this coming from that this mindset of we can break this glass ceiling? Take us down that path.

Elizabeth  10:26 

So, I'm back to your analogy of glass ceilings, which is one of my favorite sounds, the sound of glass, hitting the floor after you have shattered the ceiling. I love it. I love being perceived as the underdog, and then just coming in and just kind of walking and leading the pack that's me. And I only learn that by taking advantage of all of the opportunities. So, for example, moving to South Carolina. I didn't really have any employment, um, when I first got here it was almost like you needed to know someone to get in here I knew I had skills but you needed to know someone. So I ended up traveling back and forth to New York for a year. The brain now might be. And so having to go back and forth, until I was able to find a position here. Once I landed a position here, I knew in my mind, I'm not going to waste this opportunity. I have been given a second chance. And so I'm going to take every opportunity given to me and just run with it. So, the first step is to really believe that you can be something other than what you've been so it does start with a mindset. It starts with something of saying, Okay, what I've done to this date, I want it to be different from what I do tomorrow. So even now if you look at my story now, it is so uncommon. I didn't graduate from college until I was in my 30s. I'm now a director of human resources I own a consulting agency I'm a Director of Human Resources for five branches at Carolina Foothills Federal Credit Union, which I absolutely love working there because it gives me an opportunity to get into the community, but all of that aside, all of that couldn't have been done without a renewed and retrained mindset. So all of those things would just allow me to say hey I'm just going to keep breaking barriers and just shattering glass ceilings, and that wasn't done by anything that I've done, it's not that I'm that great, that I was able to do it. It's a renewed mind that transforms you and kindness, helps more people take chances on me than rudeness. So being unkind, it's what allowed people to say hey I want to take a gamble on her, and they - they're winning.

Trevor 12:51 

They say I've got a whole, whole concept of you look externally to things but never trust someone that gives you a shirt that isn't wearing one. So it's that same thing of, you know, you, you got to look inside yourself. So, for the listeners then Elizabeth, how do they know or are they being kind to themselves and you have to do those things that those accomplishments that you've, you had to work on yourself first, and then note that because you got yourself in that right mindset. You were able to do anything you did anything you want to do, and how about for someone, when you talk to people, I know you've helped others, how do you help someone that's maybe stuck, and right now they're trying to touch that glass ceiling, they're not breaking through. What can they do listening and maybe driving into work right now?

Elizabeth 13:45 

One of the biggest things I believe is understanding your expectations. If we understand the frustration. Frustration is the unmet expectation, it means that I haven't clearly communicated my expectations to you and therefore, you can't meet them, I never told you what I was looking for. So, I think if that person understands truly what it is they're expecting from whether it's the organization, they're in, whether it's the business they're trying to launch the book they're trying to write whatever it is they're trying to do, they have to have that vision and goal.

Once you have that vision and goal in place, then you can begin to command the response that you're looking for, and I use Command very loosely because I don't use it in a way to where you have to come in a brace it and aggressive. You don't have to do that. I think if you're very clear in advocating for yourself. Also, giving out what you expect to receive.

So, if you're looking for support. If you're looking for genuine leadership, you've got to put those out there, you can't hoard all of your kindness to yourself and expect everyone else to divvy out their areas of kindness, it's just not fair. So, I think you have to be positioned in that to show the world what it is you're expecting for them and be okay to actually receive it and do something with it, and then be okay to give it out. You don't keep it, you give it. So hopefully that answers your question.

Trevor 15:14 

Yeah, I think that ties into that whole transformational aspect that, that I know that you have experience in your space, how does that tell you that that whole transformation. I think it is about transforming the area, most people, you can transform two areas. One internally, you can transform what's happening within you and within your mind. You also have the power to influence your environment. And that is really what I specialize in with leadership development is really teaching the leaders or whether it's emerging leaders or leaders that have been doing this for 15 plus years, you have the authority and ability to transform your environment, if you're willing and open to change.

If you keep giving out the words seven expensive words ‘we've always done it that way'. If you keep giving out those words you're never going to experience transformation is an intentional change. Change is disruptive, you have to be willing to disrupt your normalcy. So even in organizations. That's why I say relationships are so key and being intentional and building those relationships because it's going to require your change it's going to require you to do something different than you've always done.

Dave 16:30 

So listen, if you did something that you had never done before, in making the transition from New York to South Carolina but let's bring it up, maybe more recently and share with us I'm putting you on the spot here, but again, share with us a transformation that you've made recently that really took a, an intentional effort in checking your mindset.

Elizabeth  17:06 

So for me, um, and I'll talk about joining the credit union, if I may join the credit union, a whole new industry I came from a large retailer. And so I came from a large sports retailer and so going into the credit union was a totally different new industry. So I was coming in, brand new to an organization that never had an HR person at all, they've always kind of operated on their own. And I was tasked with, you know, having all these policies and procedures and things and, and, and I was fine with that. But what I asked for my seat, CEO is May I have time to just go sit with the employees. And he kind of, you know, looked at me a little perplexed and he said well, you know, do you want to start there and I said yes because I need their buy-in. I need to build relational equity with the employees. So my first two weeks I believe I went around to all the branches and I sat down one on one with all employees, and I went in thinking that I had to find out the problems to solve the problems, I didn't. All I had to do was sit down and listen to them, and influence them and make them aware that they were the solutions to the problems that they had. And there were some things of course that they that were out of their scope of control that I needed to take, take care of cool we can do that. But for some of these things, they're in your wheelhouse, you can do this, you can fix these things, and it was so amazing because it took me out of the mindset of a problem solver to a part of the solution that was already in place, so I was coming in thinking I needed to wear a cape and fix all these things, they already had what they needed, I just needed to help influence the change.

Dave  18:59 

Wow. And then so that transformation was not transactional, it was a process, it was relational.

Elizabeth 19:10 

It was relational. Too many times, you know, I remember and think about where, in order for me to transform to change, to take it to the next level, it's like, what box, do I need to check right from a performance basis, you know, what can I do as opposed to making that investment in overtime. In, with the relationships of the people, and look at it more of as a process.

Elizabeth 19:50 

Absolutely. I mean it, even and I'll add this to it if I may, it was a matter of just creating those just because moments, and I ended up and I still do these to this day where I just send a Skype, how are you, you know how's the family, what's going on with you and it's to the point where now, not only am I having conversations with the employees about HR issues and topics, but they're telling me, hey I just bought a house, I want you to see my daughter's you know dance recital, I'm so I'm ingrained in their life, and I think it's so important because they spend so much time at work, why would you want to spend time at a place where no one cares about what you have going on. So it's so important to build those relationship blocks and just continue to build upon them and they just kind of serve itself because now employees want to work. Now they want to come here now they want to share their successes so it's a give and take.

Trevor  20:46 

That's pretty cool how you're able to come in as a fresh set of eyes and. And they always say, you know the answers aren't within the four walls. Law those answers are there, you have every, every employee’s an engineer. And you, you have to have that give and take and the fact of, if you don't care about me personally. How can I trust and if I can't trust, how do I engage and it's just that whole circle that always comes back and forth and it's like the answer is right in front of us and it's like, and I was guilty of that of just getting so much on the task. And really it's kind of like as, especially as leaders. It's sometimes less effort we put in the greater results we can get and that ties into the whole coach approach right and just the fact of, hey, what's, what's going on, counts want to get to know you want to have that. If I want to help transform you and then I think that ties back into the whole, you know, kindness and not judging and just, Hey, I'm just curious, that's interesting, how you feel that way. Tell me more. And just, it just comes out and then all sudden and what, how can we didn't talk about this before I don't know where we are now, that's good.

Elizabeth 22:00

Exactly. Well, Trevor, I mean that was even, you know just such a great point that you just made, and even in that it is understanding, even as leaders, you know, this is not to beat up on leaders at all at all at all because a lot of times we are tasked with getting the targets done getting the goals that making sure we meet our goals is, you know, production up and a lot of times those things that noise crowds out the fact that hey I actually have I even checked on my people today have I even asked how to do it, you know, so a lot of times, it depends on what the noise frequency is of the organization. If it's goals, then that's fine. Let it be goals but let there be a section where you have a people strategy, where maybe you're tasked with keeping an eye on your people. So that could be something that that could be, you know, a fix to that too if you don't really have yourself finding the time to check on some kind of ties right back what you said earlier about just being intentional doesn't just happen. There's enough noise in the day and enough wind that it won't happen but if you're intentional and like you said there's some type of strategy, whatever that looks like for you, for you personally for your company.

Dave 23:28 

Elizabeth you're, you and I had, we don't go back years. Okay, but I can tell you, every interaction I have ever had with you, you're like, what is it a that's different, and it's clear to me now this, this woman is kind. She is like the epitome of kindness, that's what. Now I'm not saying that I'm saying that only to help me differentiate one person to the next on what is, what the attraction is right and, but for our listeners and for me, right, maybe it's no one else but you've got a husband and four sons.

Surely you are not kind, all the time in that environment. And we need to know, right, your listeners want to know at what point do you lose your kindness and say, enough's enough, you know, enough of the kindness guys, I mean it's time for us, what I mean, we're at breaking point, I just, I'm dying to know.

Elizabeth 24:45 

So I will let you in, I am from Queens, New York, don't get me wrong, so there is a thug, in here, I promise you.

I’m five feet tall. On a good day, so my oldest son is pushing six feet somewhere around in there. However, they know I've mastered the Mom stare, so I don't have to do a lot of talking. They say that I'm HR even in the house, so I’m HR, even in the house. But for them, I talk to them. I'm very intentional about it.

My husband is an amazing man he really is. He is my biggest cheerleader. He's the one that keeps me grounded and pushes me to do all these amazing things that I never knew I can do but he's, he's one of my clients actually I'm teaching him patience so even that kindness that I'm talking to you about today he's learning that. And don't get me wrong, I lose my cool, I get frustrated, I do. Sometimes I want to go off in a corner and scream that happens. But it is coming back to just being center, and understanding, you know, hey, let's go ahead and regroup, get yourself to get together, or with what I have to do.

Trevor  28:07 

Love that Elizabeth, you I can feel your passion through there, I get the whole act what Dave's been talking about, and what a great story to share with so many people. And I, for me I kind of take away this whole thing of just that reminder that one is, of course, being good to yourself and then looking at others, but I also take away today in our discussion is just that whole intentions thing and, and a portion of his vulnerability but a portion of it is, I know that when we say our emotions.

Even if like you know I'm nervous right now on this podcast if I say that, we know the cortisol will drop right and that will actually decrease, you know how much stress you have when you say hey you know what I noticed that I'm all nervous to approach you on this but my intentions are, I feel like I got this glass ceiling. And I just want to talk about that, and I think that is just such great advice just to start to break down some of those barriers and just so many things to take away from being so grateful to have you on here today, it was awesome.

We all love giving advice! But when advice is your default as a leader, you can fall into an “advice trap” that actually crushes curiosity, creates disconnect, and prevents your team from finding productive outcomes.

Bestselling author Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS) tackles this subject in his newest book The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever. In this episode, MBS shares some of the key lessons from the advice trap and his other books, including lessons and insights leaders can use to change their mindset, grow their curiosity, and create great new habits for building curiosity.

2:17 – With more curiosity, you can engage your people, boost morale and retention, and create a thriving organization

3:31 – Slow down in your rush to provide immediate advice

4:16 – As a leader, shift away from making advice your default response

5:13 – With curiosity, you can become a more strategic leader

6:11 – Defaulting to giving advice is often an ingrained habit

6:48 – When you start being more curious, you let others shine

7:17 – Curiosity can also strengthen your relationship with your family and others outside of work

8:40 – Forming new curiosity habits can take time and practice

9:47 - If you always give answers and advice, your team can become over-dependent, more disconnected, and less productive

10:48 – Through more curiosity, you and your team can find the purpose of your work

12:22 – While practicing curiosity and other new skills, approach it with patience and grace for yourself

13:28 – Be specific and deliberate in building your coaching habit

14:13 – Your team are your allies

15:19 – Instead of answering right away, stay in a place of curiosity a little bit longer

16:53 – Ask curious questions to find the root cause of issues within your team

18:48 – Asking questions can be more effective than giving advice

20: 11 – Your job isn’t to come up with the best answer, but to help your team come up with the right answer

21:42 – To practice curiosity, pay attention to your body language

Connect with Michael Bungay Stanier

Visit his website and download chapter one of The Coaching Habit

Learn more about Box of Crayons

Read my book reports of The Coaching Habit

02:38 – Selling ice to an Eskimo

03:29 – The unique ability to connect with others

04:39 – Where do these skills come from?

06:54 – DNA? Yes. But where’s the choice?

08:44 – 2,000 new relationships

09:25 – Managing expectations and focus of time

11:52 – Contacts change, but relationships remain

13:30 – 3:3 above & below

15:00 – Relationships and risks go hand in hand

16:30 – The task at hand and impact on others

17:48 - Relationships trump the perfect plan

19:25 – The challenge for new-in-career or those in a new role  

21:12 – Try to do something alone

22:04 – The more I let go, the more I have

22:49 – Getting the ‘mileage’

25:25 – Your greatest legacy may be how you’ve helped others

26:20 – Staying grounded

30:28 – Summary

31:36 - Closing

32:12 - End

In manufacturing, retention and recruitment are two of the biggest challenges. To attract great talent and keep your best team members, you need to set yourself apart from the competition—and you can start by improving your response times!

In this episode, join guest Jay Baer for a deep-dive into the tools and procedures you need to improve efficiency, strengthen your communications, and bridge the “uncertainty gap” in your organization.

Jay Baer is a researcher and advisor specializing in business growth and customer experience. He’s also a seventh-generation entrepreneur, the author of seven bestselling books, the creator of six multi-million dollar companies, and a popular tequila influencer and educator.

3:50 – There is a correlation between responsiveness and revenue

5:34 – People care about their time more than ever, which is why it’s important to respect the time of others

6:11 – Creating an efficient recruitment process is one way to be respectful of other’s time

7:43 – With a faster recruitment process, you won’t miss out on great talent

10:32 – Having an efficient system for replying and following-up cuts down on team anxiety and improves your culture

11:52 – You don’t always have to have the answer right away, but you can improve your relationships by giving a response

14:31 – As a leader, being responsive builds trust and helps you form better relationships within your organization

15:08 – Through responsiveness and strong communications, you can bridge the Uncertainty Gap

17:27 – People are trained to want more details and information

20:07 – Responsiveness should be a company policy, not an individual choice

21:40 – Find ways to continuously improve

23:57 – Customers will often go with the person who responds first, regardless of price

Connect with Jay Baer

Visit his website

Learn more about The Time to Win

Subscribe to his newsletter

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks for tuning it to another episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing! To learn more about Trevor Blondeel and Manufacturing Greatness, please visit our website or contact Trevor here.

3:20 – the foundation of Corrigan Electric and how it all started, from college to the 4-year apprenticeship program, and decided to get involved in IEC leadership

6:25 – electricians are hands on, and young people can come out debt free, and make great money.  Need for the industry is here to stay, look at electric vehicles

9:20 – need to be creative to keep employees

11:25 – cannot throw money to keep people, it is about the personalities, where do you want to be regarding culture

13:02 – they must know you care, by asking questions and being involved with them, open door process and be part of the team.  What can we do to help?

14:35 – remind us of what we were taught, recognize when someone needs support, and what action may come out of that conversation.  What’s going on?  Bottled up or blow up.

17:00 – we are all working on how we show up, we are all human.  Not just for me, it is for my team that I need to work on myself, learning skills in Leading with Emotional Intelligence

19:02 – conversations create a different experience and that creates culture

19:30 – love the discussions with staff, you always learn something about the person

20:02 – getting aligned with brother and partner Shawn, game changer

21:15 – we must be able to take the feedback from each other, having conversations to call each other out, better result for the team be the role model

21:35 – Trevor personal example of still missing signs, and the power of having someone to call you out

23:45 - gotta invest and take the time and you will have the outcome, and act on what you are learning or being reminded of.  Helped me learn and listen.  You probably don’t think you need it.

25:15 – stay in the zone, practice what you preach, and realize we all make mistakes

1:33 - When you look at the economy you have inflation rising, issues with supply chain, it will take a long time to work its way out.

1:51 – People are getting a little nervous, I think that it is at the business level but also at the household level and you can bring it into the office.

3:19 – One of the things that is going to enable any business to succeed is their ability to communicate effectively, it will always come down to that.

3:40 – True leader need to be super cognizant even more than you have been. About what you say and what you hear, because there is going to be a lot of questions and people are nervous.

5:06 – It’s ok to raise your hand and say I don’t have all the answers right now, but the authenticity, honesty, and integrity that you back it up with will carry the day and help sooth people’s nerves.

5:33 - Leaders need to be cognizant to allow people to voice their concerns.

6:07 – The one thing that is going to enable a company regardless of the balance sheet, or the economy is the people. The people in the business are what will make it win or lose.

12:54- What worked in the past I don’t believe will work in the next 12 months.

14:28 – Allow people to arrive to the answer and they will have a stake in it.

17:12 - It’s ok to be nervous and scared about things, it’s ok to have those feeling it’s what you do with those feeling that will determine your success or failure.

17:53 – Cultivating advisers outside your normal channels will make all the difference, especially when things get more difficult.

22:22- Making sure your team is diverse is a strength, and the smart companies are the ones that are cognizant of that and are working towards those goals.

01:51 – Lisa Ryan introduction and tie in of gratitude to manufacturing

02:41 – Gratitude starts within yourself

03:52 – “They get their paycheck every Friday”

05:25 – Discretionary Effort; a gamechanger

06:34 – Making a beeline to the office because I’m all that and a bag of chips

07:43 – Ideas are Free

08:18 – The companies that need it the most are the one’s least likely to make the investment

09:20 – Make the decision whether to stay in a toxic environment

10:30 – Negative Ned & Negative Nancy, changing the energy

12:55 – Persistence

14:01 – Tolerance of toxicity and who needs to be fired

15:30 – What do I own in it and when to walk away

16:58 - Positivity vs. Gratitude

17:50 – Making the shift in re-wiring your brain

19:56 – Accountability; 12 yrs and counting

22:56 – Starting today with the little things

23:38 – The 30-day challenge gratitude and a path to happiness

24:40 – Gratitude starts with you -> today

25:55 – Grounding yourself with what you DO have

27:05 – Closing

27:39 – End

1. 1:12 Do something small.  Horst talks about being a Plant Manager and you are behind financially and on resources, do something small, take a small step and this is not expensive and is better than doing nothing.
2. 2:59 You can’t be a spreadsheet manager.  You can’t drive results from a spreadsheet, you have to help people hands on and be an inspired manager and help build the teams.  I cannot promise anyone it is easy, in manufacturing as a leader it is challenging but very rewarding.
3. 4:26 How did you manage your ego?  Scott explains they helped each other keep it in check, talking and having frank discussions.  Even though he is my boss I had to more than once have a heart to heart and kick each other in the butt.  It goes back to our relationship and having different skills, we could move mountains and we did.  Horst talks about bringing some ice cubes and cooling down, honesty and saying what you need to say.
4. 7:40 A lot of it is around empathy.  Scott tells a story about Horst.  Horst didn’t get angry much but when he did we knew it and we called it, “you used to lose your lips”  your lips would tremble, we would talk about it and joke about it but that was always a cue for us and we would refocus.  It’s your job as a team to tell the leader when he is losing his lips or becoming angry, or driving off the cliff, if the leader is open minded and mindful, they will listen. This is key to a collaborative environment. 
5. 13:23 Alignment.  Horst talks about alignment and you as a leader being aligned with the organization, shareholders and your boss that's basically ownership.  If you are not you will eventually run into trouble.  This applies for everybody.  I would also focus on work life balance; I was mostly working so I would do that differently.  Scott talks about work life balance and his experiences with this.
6. 15:40 What is important for you?  Horst discusses the importance of each of us truly knowing what is important to us “The purpose of life is happiness” so you should ask yourself are you happy?  If you are not you should change it, it’s your life!  Do what make you happy!
7. 19:54 Go slow to go fast.  Sometimes you need to slow down and consciously make good decisions.  Horst shares his experiences on the importance of stepping back when under stress, step away and make good choices.  Most of the time we don't need to react right away, get all the facts and then make the move.  You have to “Go slow to go fast”!
8. 24:10 The 3-legged stool.  Horst explains his vision and the analogy of “The 3-legged stool”.  We used this analogy of having 3 parts of your business, your customer, investor and people.  It’s important that all 3 legs are successful and to focus on each of them.  One can be very strong but if the other legs are shorter or not as strong than your business is not balanced.  Each of them needs attention and balance.  The bottom line is you need a balanced business.  There will be times when one leg is stronger or shorter but over time the responsibility of the Manager is to balance these.  This applies to any business.
9. 31:04 What are you guys doing now?  Horst and Scott talk about their lives today and what each of them are busy at and enjoy doing.

“I want to take a vacation, but I’m worried about falling behind at work.” Have you ever heard a team member express this sentiment, or even thought about it yourself? Fear of falling behind is the number one reason why employee hesitate to take time-off . . . and this mindset is leading to retention problems, unhappy employees, and even the dreaded phenomenon of “quiet quitting.” In today’s episode, speaker and author Joe Mull joins us to talk more about the causes of quiet quitting and other dilemmas facing modern manufacturing leaders, plus delves deeper into how leaders practice skills like boundary-setting and storytelling to make their organization into a place where people love to work.

2:00 – There is a massive recalibration going on right now about how work fits into our lives, which is something that started even before the pandemic

3:45 – The modern employee is firm about their boundaries and what they want from a workplace

5:20 – The number one reason why people don’t take a needed vacation is fear of falling behind at work – how can we combat this?

6:00 – It’s on the organization and leadership to set boundaries that will help others take time off to relax and recharge. They need to implement policies that honor time-off and their team’s concerns about falling behind if they take a vacation

10:00 – As a leader, sometimes you have to learn to operate without the team members you need, so they can set boundaries and take time off

13:50 – People aren’t “quiet quitting.” They’re just updating to a job that better fits their needs and boundaries.

15:30 – What are some of the reasons for a decrease in the labor force, especially in industries like manufacturing?

18:43 – In today’s labor market, employees aren’t going to settle for less or put up with a job where they’re treated unfairly or not given time off

22:00 – Sometimes, employees quit but “forget to leave” and just go through the motions without much effort or passion – these are the quiet quitters

26:00 – Leaders can embrace storytelling to show their employees how they’re doing valuable work every day – show how your organization’s everyday work changes real lives

28:30 – With supply chain shortages and other issues, we need to sustain ourselves and the people who work for us

29:48 – Commitment is the key!

Connect with Joe Mull:

Website

Preorder Employalty

2/ 14:30 Always important to be self-aware. Knowing who we are is more important than what others think.  Every time you step into a new role you have a new opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t.  

3/ 16:00 Like to have a good time.  No one takes on a new role with the idea of failure in mind, but it happens.  If we feel we can influence or change or situations and there is a return on it then we should do it, if we can’t it is time to move on.

4/ 20:13 What to look for meeting people, 3 quick evaluation tools.  Does the individual know what they are talking about?  Can I trust them, which is purely instinctive, first impressions are important.  And do they care about me personally, do they have the ability to build a relationship?

5/ 27:20 The salty email she thought she would get fired for.   Always representing the values of the organization are so important, being direct and clear to help build people, coach mentor and guide.

6/ 30:40 When and how to speak your mind – awareness of others.  I have always been very vocal, always spoke my mind maybe when I shouldn’t have.  A little more tact would have been far better for me.  We learn from our mistakes, reflection helps.

00:00 - Intro

00:28 – If you’re going to coach others, you may want to look this guy up – Andrew Neitlich!

01:50 – Coaching: a term used rather flippantly

02:47 – What Coaching Is and what it’s Not

06:36 – When to Coach and when not to

08:02 – The most powerful technique to apply in real life

09:11 – The 1, 2, 3 Punch

11:00 – Accountability and powerful Coaching – an example

13:49 – Understanding and being mindful of what’s truly going on

14:43 – Ending a conversation with accountability with new actions

15:58 – “I don’t have time to Coach others”

17:19 – Being Mindful of where you are in the conversation

18:22 – Sick and tired of being sick and tired – there is a better way

20:22 – Coaching is imperative to being a great leader

22:02 – Getting a lot more by making a small investment now

23:35 – How do you know when they get it – “I can’t believe it!”

24:47 – Today YOU can do this… it’s a game-changer

27:20 – Labeling it as a Coaching Conversation

29:38 – The secret is out now

30:14 - Conclusion

31:10 – Outro

Contact Andrew Neitlich: andrewneitlich@centerforexecutivecoaching.com

Center for Executive Coaching: https://centerforexecutivecoaching.com/

Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewneitlich-executivecoachcertification/

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“I’m great in my role and have valuable information to share . . . so why doesn’t anyone want to work with me?” If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, this podcast with guest Karine Leblanc is for you! Karine Leblanc is a bestselling author and international public speaker who uses her unique engineering background to help technical professionals bridge the bridge between technical brilliance and human connection. In this episode, Karine shares her personal story of discovering the importance of self-awareness and emotional intelligence,

4:10 – In any role, there is much more to do that simply learn the technical role of your job

5:00 – By having a mentor or someone else you trust in your organization, you can gain valuable feedback and insights

6:18 – To better yourself through feedback, you need to be ready to hear feedback and make it clear to your team that you’re open to listening to them

8:30 – When you work on yourself and improve your self-awareness, it can have a positive impact on all levels of your information, including your relationships with clients

9:45 – Emotional intelligence is not about being happy all the time, but learning to be self-aware of your own emotions and behaviors

10:42 – Through being intentional conversations with your team, you can still find productive outcomes and dynamics even when you’re not at your emotional best

11:51 – Have the courage to be vulnerable

15:05 – By being self-aware and intentional, you can learn your own behavioral signals and find the best ways to navigate challenging situations

16:18 – Using emotional intelligence, you can also learn other people’s behavioral signals and triggers, and find the best way to communicate with them

18:12 – If you’re stuck, all you need is a fresh perspective

19:09 – To find new perspectives and feedback, take a pause and zoom out

21:23 – Through simple and honest dialogue, you can improve safety and find more productive results

22:37 – When you combine technical skills with human skills, magic happens

Connect with Karine Leblanc

Visit her website

Connect on LinkedIn

In today’s busy manufacturing world, leaders are feeling more stressed and stretched-thin than ever, as they deal with the staggering expectations and everyday demands on their time, energy, and attention. In this episode on how leaders can discover productive, healthy ways to free up their time and energy, I’m joined by author and leadership development coach Sara Canaday. Sara uses her years of corporate experience to advocate for leaders and help them grow the skills they need to strengthen their leadership skills, enhance their relationships, and thrive in today’s complex, competitive climate. In this episode, she talks about why leaders often end up feeling burnt-out, plus shares some unique practices organizations can use to best support their leaders.

2:16 – Leaders are meant to ignite fires, not constantly put them out. If you’re a leader who finds yourself constantly acting as a firefighter, it’s time to reconnect with the meaning of your role.

3:22 – We’re conditioned from a young age to be productive and to feel like we’re only valuable if we’re doing something, which impacts the way we lead and show up in the workplace

4:40 – Even when you’re doing nothing, your mind is still very productive, which is why it’s important to take a strategic pause to declutter your mind, find more clarity, and make better decisions and better serve your team

7:43 – Deep discovery and creative problem-solving can’t fully happen when we’re multitasking

8:26 – It can be helpful to reach out to others and let them add structure to your thinking and gain a broader prospective

9:40 – You have more control and agency over your own time than you think you do

10:00 – To gain more control over your time, dig deeper into your schedule and challenge yourself to think about what is the most important. For example, you could start skipping meetings that you don’t really need to be at, or send someone else to takes notes for you.

10:25 – Instead of just thinking about your to-do list, consider starting a list of things you can stop doing or delegate to someone else on your team

10:48 – As a leader, you have an obligation to think about how your can use your time in a way that best serves your team and your clients

11:43 – A change in scenery, like a stop at a coffeeshop on your way to your plant, is a great way to shift your mindset and build productive new habits

13:50 – Leaders should be responsive, but they also have to clearly show their priorities to themselves and the rest of their organization

15:05 – Leaders deal with exponential and even sometimes unrealistic expectations, especially when it comes to solving problems and facilizing productive conversations about important issues like social justice and employee mental health

16:08 – Leaders are doers and drivers, but they are also human beings and there’s only so much they can do

16:30 – There are many things team and organizations can do to support their leaders, including thinking about the most important priorities or even hiring someone to help with some of the leader’s other tasks

17:39 – Instead of impressing others, spend more time on thinking about what they really need to feel support and healthy in their role

20:00 – Shifting your mindset starts with putting aside your own biases and anything else that is clouding your judgment

20:43 – After putting aside your assumptions, spend more time discovering new, time-saving solutions by staying curious and seeking out productive, unbiased conversations with others

22:43 – If you’re not sure about something, don’t be afraid to just ask

23:00 – It takes courage to ask for what you need, but it’s important to find ways to protect your time and energy

23:42 – Leaders deserve a better experience, and a good experience can create a domino effect that positively impacts the rest of their team

Connect with Sara Canaday

Website

LinkedIn

Sara’s LinkedIn Learning courses

Becoming a leader—not just a manager or supervisor—can be a long, challenging process that requires tough conversations and changes to behavior. But in this week’s podcast, Dr. Andy Neillie is here to show that becoming a leader doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Dr. Andy is a speaker, corporate trainer, and coach with Neillie Leadership Group, as well as the author of The Golden Principle: Life and Leadership Lessons from a Rescued Dog. To help leaders find the skills and mindset they need to fully take charge of their team, he shares personal anecdotes about great—and not-so-great—leaders, plus offers insights on the four necessities of leadership.

3:30 – Due to COVID-19, the Great Resignation, and other recent events, leaders need to shift their mindset to understand their team member’s needs on issues like flexibility—as a leader, you need to evolve with the times

6:00 – As a leader, it’s not about you. It’s about your team!

7:00 “There’s nothing new in leadership. Once you get past Marcus Aurelius and Jesus Christ, there’s really nothing new.”

8:10 – To be a good leader, you first have to be a good person. If you show bad behavior or poor management, people will not respect you or want to work for you.

10:00 – “The four Cs of being a leader are conviction, competence, character, and covenant”

13:00 – If you shun hard conversations with your team, your employees will never grow, learn, or know when they’re missing an opportunity for improvement

14:45 – Being a leader takes bravery and you need to have the responsibility and stewardship to have those hard conversations and take care of the bottom line

15:50 – Once you’ve written someone off as no longer competent at their role, you’ve lost your title of leadership and your position to help them. If that’s your mindset, it’s either time for you to grow or let that team member go.

16:50 – It’s the leader’s responsibility to build and represent the rest of the team

18:00 – Your team isn’t necessarily your “family” because businesses have production goals and need to perform outward facing tasks – the goal isn’t to make everyone feel good about themselves, but to win the game when it comes to profits and production

21:05 – Don’t forget to document the positive feedback, too! However, you have to be geninue with your compliments and positivity

29:00 – “Extend grace to the teachable”

30:00 – Leadership takes courage

Connect with Dr. Andy Neillie

Download a copy of The Three Imperatives of Leadership Conversations here.

Website

Email

Buy The Golden Principle: Life and Leadership Lessons from a Rescued Dog