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November 28, 2025
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The First 90 Days That Make or Break New Supervisors

Friday afternoon, you promote your best operator to supervisor. Monday morning, they’re responsible for managing the team they worked alongside last week. By Wednesday, they’re already making decisions that will define their effectiveness for years to come—with zero training on how to lead people. This is how most organizations handle supervisor promotions. Announce the decision, […]
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November 21, 2025
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Why Promoting Technical Experts Without Leadership Training Destroys Teams

Your top welder never misses a spec. Your best machinist can troubleshoot any equipment issue. Your most reliable operator shows up early and stays late. So when a supervisor position opens up, the choice seems obvious: promote your highest performer. Three months later, that same high performer is struggling. Their former peers avoid them. Productivity […]
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October 3, 2025
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The Manufacturing Leadership Crisis No One’s Talking About

Your best equipment operator just became your worst manager. Everyone’s focused on the “labor shortage” in manufacturing. Headlines report 3.8 million unfilled jobs by 2033. Companies invest heavily in recruiting efforts and retention bonuses. But here’s what the data actually shows: You’re not losing people because you can’t find them. You’re losing people because you […]
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September 26, 2025
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Manufacturing Can’t Afford Training Downtime. Or Bad Supervisors.

Manufacturing plants across the country are reporting the same problem. Nearly half cite insufficient labor supply as the main factor affecting their capacity utilization. You can’t find enough skilled workers, and you can’t afford to shut down production to train the supervisors you have. But here’s the brutal reality. Poor supervision is creating more operational […]
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September 12, 2025
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The Manufacturing Leadership Crisis is Getting Worse

Manufacturing is facing a perfect storm. The sector needs up to 3.8 million additional workers by 2033, but 1.9 million of those jobs could go unfilled if workforce challenges aren’t addressed. Here’s what’s making it worse. Companies are promoting their best technicians into supervisor roles without any leadership training. 75% of manufacturing supervisors manage people […]
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August 20, 2025
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Developing Managers in a Blue Collar Environment

You promoted someone good on the tools. Now they’re in charge of the crew. And things get weird. They don’t want to correct their buddy. They don’t want to report problems. They try to do it all themselves. Or they wait for someone else to handle it. That’s not a bad person. That’s a person […]
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June 19, 2025
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How Do You Develop a First Time Manager?

Most first time managers get tossed into the deep end. One day they’re the best on the crew. Next day, they’re in charge. No real training. No real prep. Just, “figure it out.” And it shows. They hesitate to give feedback. They avoid conflict. They either micromanage or disappear. The first time manager isn’t lazy. […]
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May 21, 2025
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Group Management Training: Empower Your Leadership Team

You’re in a room filled with your company’s top-performing leaders for team-based leadership training. Before you can raise your hand to ask another question, your colleague poses a question you would have never considered. Later in the session, you find yourself troubleshooting a challenge by bouncing ideas off a team member from another department. They […]
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April 24, 2025
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The Power of Accountability: Why It’s the Key to Stronger Teams

Your marketing team has been coordinating the launch of a new campaign for the past month, and the deadline is quickly approaching. Each team member knows exactly what’s expected of them and understands how their contributions are crucial to the team’s overall success. If anyone anticipates a delay, they communicate it early, keeping everyone aligned. […]
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April 16, 2025
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Managing Difficult Conversations: A Leader’s Guide to Managing Disrespectful Employees (Part II)

We all know the type. The person in every workplace who turns healthy disagreements into deadlocks, belittles team members, and makes everyone feel like they have to walk on eggshells just to keep the peace. This kind of behavior doesn’t just hurt morale – it derails productivity and undercuts your role as a leader. The […]
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