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 […]

How to Become a Certified Leadership Trainer (Without Leaving Your Day Job)

The Step-by-Step Path for HR Professionals Building Facilitation Expertise You’re the HR manager at a sizable company. Leadership development falls under your responsibilities. You’ve coordinated external trainers, managed logistics and watched consultants deliver content to your supervisors. But you’ve never facilitated the training yourself. Maybe you think facilitation requires specialized credentials you don’t have. Maybe […]

The Lean Manufacturing Paradox: Why Your Tools Aren’t Working

Your lean implementation is technically perfect and operationally failing. Manufacturing leaders invest heavily in lean tools. 5S programs roll out across facilities. Visual management boards appear on every wall. Standard work documents get laminated and posted. Six months later, productivity gains plateau. Employee engagement drops. The tools that should drive continuous improvement become compliance checkboxes. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

Aligning Leadership Practices with Company Culture

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis An organization needs more than a team of employees and a list of clients to thrive. It needs inspired action, a sense of purpose, and most importantly, a clear direction toward an agreed-upon definition of success. In other words, aligning leadership practices with […]

Leadership and Change Management: Guiding Teams through Transitions

Change is inevitable in the workplace. An effective leader knows how to manage change on a personal level and can constructively lead their team through pivotal transitions. Below are some strategies and best practices to help leaders manage change effectively.  Communicate Transparently A smooth transition in the workplace revolves around clear and open lines of […]

Enhancing Employee Performance Through Coaching and Feedback

“How well do you take constructive criticism?” It’s one of the most frequently asked questions in job interviews, and a main topic in employee performance. An equally important question that organizations should introspectively be asking themselves is this: how well equipped is your leadership team to provide actionable feedback to their team? A coaching approach […]

7 Tips for Building Trust in the Workplace

Trust is a two-way street. You want to know that the members of your team will work to complete the job that they have been hired to do. Your employees want to know that they are working for a company that has their best interests in mind. At the foundation of any relationship built on […]