Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Manufacturing Greatness | Productivity | Retention | Profits | Continuous Improvement | Safety | Workforce Development | Labor Challenges | Skills Gaps | Industry 4.0

As a young engineer on the Ford Explorer line, Shawn Herbig chased a strange complaint. Drivers said their radios were changing stations on their own. Dealers swapped the units, and every one passed the bench test. The cause: in cold-weather states, drivers wearing thick winter gloves were hitting two of the small buttons at once. Nothing was wrong with the radio, and to the customer, it was still broken.

That moment started a career. Shawn founded IQS Research more than 25 years ago and his team runs the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers Wage and Workforce Study. He and Trevor get into why perception isn't reality but still changes behavior, what people outside manufacturing get wrong about what's behind the door, and why child care is underreported in workforce data.

What does it mean to be a good consumer of data? Shawn's answer: confirming data deserves the same scrutiny as contradicting data. You never run a study to confirm a hypothesis. You run it to test one. For plant leadership and manufacturing workforce development, that's curiosity applied to the numbers.

Shawn and Trevor share the stage at the Kentucky Industry Conference this week.

IQS Research 👉 iqsresearch.com

Bluegrass Bitters 👉 bluegrassbitters.net

Frequency Matters, by Kristin Mackey and Shawn Herbig 👉 amazon.com/dp/1504332938

Shawn on LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/shawnherbig

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

An HR professional in manufacturing told Trevor her onboarding program is strong for ninety days, and then it starts to dip. Her instinct was to extend it. The research says something else.

Once somebody is past three months, lack of onboarding is the last reason they leave. Toxic culture, unsafe conditions and feeling disrespected are at the top of that list. And on the stay side, job stability and competitive pay are almost tied, with a cluster right behind them worth nearly a third of first place answers: feeling valued by your manager, a positive team culture, and clarity of expectations. Not one of them is an SOP.

Trevor walks through what changes on day ninety-one, why pay climbs in importance with age while stability stays flat across every generation, and why the youngest workers rank being heard above being paid. Onboarding has an end date. The conversations do not.

Based on national research with The Center for Generational Kinetics and Crossover Solutions, 1,250 U.S. and Canadian adults open to working in manufacturing.

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Greg Harrod noticed something strange partway through a career leading cross-functional teams in manufacturing. He was getting more and more of the work he was best at, and enjoying it less and less.

That is not a workload problem. It is a sorting problem.

We hand out work based on two things. Is this person good at it, and are they available. We almost never ask whether the work gives them energy or takes it away. So the most dependable person on the floor gets handed more of what they are dependable at, and nobody notices what it costs until they quit.

Greg is a business coach, a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and he spent more than thirty years in manufacturing, including Johnson Controls and Caterpillar. He grew up in his family's welding shop. He and Trevor get into why the blue-collar instinct to just get it done eventually turns on you, what a design review taught him about who is actually in the room, and the simplest question a leader can ask on a Monday.

His line to sit with: that is okay until it isn't.

The Six Types of Working Genius is Patrick Lencioni's model, available through The Table Group at workinggenius.com.

Take Greg's free Leadership Clarity Scorecard at leadershipclarityscorecard.com. Find him at GregHarrod.com and on LinkedIn.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Walk into most plants and you'll hear the same thing. The new, younger people need everything spelled out. The veterans just go do it.

New research says that's backwards. Seventy-six percent of Gen Z expect clear expectations of their performance and responsibilities. Among Boomers it's 98 percent, and it climbs through every generation in between. The longer someone has worked, the more certain they are that clarity is the leader's job.

Trevor's take is that the quieter half of that finding is the one to worry about. The veteran who isn't clear will push back and ask. The new person often won't, because they don't know yet what to ask. The absence of questions doesn't equal clarity.

He also tells the story of a three o'clock meeting invite from his boss that threw off his whole day, and what a clear invite looks like instead.

Source: national research study by Crossover Solutions and The Center for Generational Kinetics, 1,250 U.S. and Canadian adults willing to work in manufacturing.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Dr. Sunita Sah asked nurses in a large hospital what stopped them from speaking up about medical errors. They gave her two answers. They were afraid of the repercussions, and they had learned that speaking up changed nothing. Then she asked their managers the same question. The managers did not name fear or effectiveness. They said the nurses were not taking responsibility, and did not have the skill set. Same floor, two completely different stories.

That gap is why near misses go unreported in your plant.

Sunita is a physician turned organizational psychologist, a professor at Cornell, and the author of Defy, a USA Today national bestseller. She joins Trevor to talk about insinuation anxiety, the reason we go quiet because speaking up would imply someone else is wrong, and about the piece almost every plant skips. We train for safety and we never practice the conversation. As she puts it, under duress you do not rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your practice.

Trevor tells the story of a termination he carried out because he did not say no, and it is still the worst one of his career.

Her line to sit with: compliance might be our default, but it is not our destiny.

Defy is available in hardcover as Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes and in paperback as Defy: How to Speak Up When It Matters. Find Sunita at sunitasah.com.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

You walk in Friday morning and the material is still sitting in quarantine. It was supposed to be relabeled and moved out Thursday, and you need that space today because corporate is walking the floor tomorrow.

What happens in the next ten seconds decides the whole conversation.

Trevor takes one real scenario from a manufacturing leader he was working with and runs it through all three gaps. How you show up, because how people feel determines how much they can engage with you. Whether Thursday was ever an agreement or just a date somebody said out loud. And what a real accountability conversation sounds like, which starts with what got in the way rather than why it wasn't done.

The question to steal: if this had been done, what would have been different yesterday? It will not move the material any faster. But there is going to be another Friday morning.

Also in this one, a short update on the book, out May 11, 2027.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Karin Lindner has spent fourteen years trying to make manufacturing attractive to the people who work in it, and she says it is still not there. Her new book, Making Manufacturing Sexy, argues that most manufacturing leaders are not leading. They are surviving, stuck in a system that rewards firefighting.

Karin and Trevor both worked at Magna. In this conversation they get into what actually changes a plant, and it is not the equipment. Karin shares the coaching tagline she uses with every client, be curious rather than furious, and the story of a general manager who described himself as passionate when what he meant was that he lost control under pressure. Trevor tells the story of the whiteboard he once wrote on, and the shop floor leader whose feedback stopped him cold.

They walk through the five non-negotiable shifts from the book, starting with the way you open your very next production meeting, and finishing with the one every leader avoids: stop tolerating what hurts performance.

Karin's line to sit with: we judge ourselves by our intentions and we judge others by their actions.

Making Manufacturing Sexy by Karin Lindner is available now. Find Karin on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/karinlindner and at karicosolutions.com.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if the reason nobody applies has nothing to do with what you pay? In new research across the United States and Canada, concerns about physical safety ranked as the number one barrier to even considering a job in manufacturing. Pay came in fourth. Trevor assumed that was a perception problem, an old black-and-white picture nobody had bothered to correct. So he went looking for proof, and could not find any. The people closest to the industry name safety right alongside everybody else. What he found instead was a gap inside the plant. Employees named physical safety at forty percent. Managers, forty. Executives, thirty-three. The people who approve the capital are the least likely to name the barrier keeping people off the floor, and it is not because they do not care. An executive learns about the floor through a report and a recordable rate. An operator learns about it through their body. Same plant, two completely different pictures. Trevor tells the story of a hundred-person meeting where somebody raised a hand to say he could not get gloves, and what it took to find out why. Then three questions to take back to your plant. A practical look at manufacturing recruiting, the manufacturing labor shortage, and manufacturing team leadership for plant managers, operations leaders, and frontline supervisors.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

When was the last time somebody stopped your line and you thanked them for it? Toyota built the andon cord into the line decades ago and most plants still treat pulling it as a failure. Dr. Michael Gillespie, organizational psychologist at the University of South Florida and co-author of Distancing with David Marquet, studies why the person closest to a problem is often the least able to see it. Being locked inside your own point of view is the default setting, not an occasional lapse, which is how five people can walk up to one stopped line and each honestly see a different problem. Nobody is lying. Everybody is immersed. Mike walks Trevor through the three moves that create distance, be someone else, be somewhere else, be sometime else, and shares the research on why higher performing hospital units report more errors rather than fewer. Trevor brings the plant floor version, including the moment he admits he spent years defending his own department instead of the whole line, and applies temporal distancing live to a month-end budget decision every operations leader will recognize. Ends with one exercise you can try tonight, and it sounds cheesy until you read the research behind it. A practical conversation about decision making, critical thinking, and manufacturing team leadership for plant managers, operations directors, and frontline supervisors.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

You inspect for hazards every single day. When did anybody last inspect the culture? In new research across the United States and Canada, a toxic or unhealthy work culture ranked above unsafe or hazardous working conditions as a reason people would leave a new manufacturing job inside the first three months. Forty-seven percent against forty-three. Most leaders hear that and file it under the soft stuff. Trevor takes a different position. Four points apart is not two problems, it is one. Culture is a safety system. A plant where people do not speak up is a plant where near misses go unreported, and an unreported near miss is an incident waiting for its turn. He walks the mechanism one link at a time, from the grinding shield nobody wants to cross the plant to get, to the fork truck rolling a stop sign on midnights when nobody is watching. Then four questions to take back to your plant, starting with the one most leaders never think to ask: what does your near-miss reporting rate look like next to your incident rate?

Also inside, why the most experienced workers are the most certain that culture is the dealbreaker, and a confession from fifteen years as a materials manager about what really gets communicated when the truck is late. A practical look at safety culture and manufacturing team leadership for plant managers, operations leaders, and frontline supervisors.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Your best people rarely quit in a dramatic moment. They leave a little at a time, and by the time they give notice the decision was made weeks ago. Gallup ties about 75% of voluntary turnover to the manager, and our own national research found that 35% of workers open to manufacturing have never had a single one-on-one development conversation with their manager. You can't keep people you never really talk to. Darcy Eikenberg, executive coach and author of Red Cape Rescue: Save Your Career Without Leaving Your Job, joins Trevor to turn the retention problem around: instead of replacing the people who leave, how do you help a good employee rescue the job they already have? A practical look at employee retention and manufacturing team leadership for plant managers, operations leaders, and frontline supervisors tired of watching good people walk out the door.

🎁 Free: 10 great questions to ask your leadership and drive engagement → manufacturinggreatness.com/subscribe and get bonus content in our newsletter!

Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Why do six in ten of your people feel unheard at work? Trevor goes one level up from the first-week mentor: the new leader nobody onboards. He unpacks why a badge and a shift turn your best technician into a command-and-control boss, what the study of 1,250 manufacturing workers with Crossover Solutions and The Center for Generational Kinetics says people actually want from a leader, and what to build into a new supervisor's first 30 days so the concerns keep coming.

🎁 Free: 10 great questions to ask your leadership and drive engagement → manufacturinggreatness.com/subscribe and get bonus content in our newsletter!

Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if the only machine in your plant with no maintenance plan is you? Trevor sits down with productivity expert Marcey Rader, author of Reclaim Your Workday, to bring health-powered productivity to the shop floor: the red headphones rule that protects deep focus without an office door, why burnout comes from lack of recharge rather than workload, the burn-it-down audit nobody runs on the supervisor's role, and the rule of three that separates relentless prioritization from endless optimization in manufacturing team leadership.

Connect with Marcey:

Website 👉 helloraderco.com
Book 👉 reclaimyourworkday.com

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if your newest hire decides whether to stay in their very first week? Trevor opens a new solo series built on a national study of 1,250 manufacturing workers, run with Crossover Solutions and The Center for Generational Kinetics. The frontline wants a first-week mentor far more than the leaders who sign off on one, and that blind spot is feeding turnover. He names the Expectation Gap and shares the near-zero-cost move in manufacturing team leadership that closes it before your next hire walks in the door.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

A reporter calls Jason Bates every week looking for the big layoff story. The five-hundred-people-let-go story. Jason keeps telling him the truth: layoffs are happening, in small numbers. So is hiring. But the catastrophe the headlines want isn't what he sees across hundreds of Ontario plants every day. Trevor sits down with Jason, Manufacturing Consortium Manager at EMC, Canada's largest manufacturing consortium, to unpack what's really going on, the plants that are quietly adjusting and diversifying, and the peer community most owners haven't tapped into. Growth doesn't sell papers. Manufacturing team leadership doesn't happen inside your four walls. The vast majority of plants are doing just fine. Most owners don't know that.

Connect with Jason:

LinkedIn👉 https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jasonbates3

Website 👉 emccanada.org

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

When's the last time you said yes when everything in you wanted to say no? Every yes is a no to something else, usually the work that mattered more, and we end up drowning in our own yeses. Trevor breaks down the hidden math of saying yes, why productive beats busy, and how to say no without burning the relationship, even when it's your boss asking. You don't refuse, you reframe: I want to help, here's what I'd have to move, which option works best. It comes down to capacity and priorities, the heart of manufacturing team leadership.

🎁 Free: 10 great questions to ask your leadership and drive engagement → manufacturinggreatness.com/subscribe and get bonus content in our newsletter!

Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if the team member you've quietly given up on is the one your plant needs most? Trevor sits down with Nir Eyal, author of the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief and the global bestsellers Hooked and Indistractable, to apply the three powers of belief (attention, anticipation, agency) to manufacturing talent development. The judgment trap stops development cold. This conversation breaks it open. Manufacturing team leadership starts with the beliefs you carry about the people on your floor.

Connect with Nir: 

Website 👉 nirandfar.com

Book 👉 geni.us/beyondbelief

Free belief change guide 👉 nirandfar.com/beyond-belief-live LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nireyal

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

It's Wednesday afternoon and the report due tomorrow isn't going to be in on time. Do you push harder, or fix what actually broke? Trevor takes a real plant scenario, a report feeding a hiring decision, and walks it back through three gaps: how you showed up, whether "done" was ever clear, and what happens when no one follows up. You'll hear why chasing harder is manufacturing midness, and the one move that keeps next Thursday from looking like this one: question yourself first.

Applies the Manufacturing Greatness model from Episode 170 👉 https://mindfulnessmanufacturing.libsyn.com/manufacturing-leadership-development-the-3-conversations-that-fix-accountability-alignment-and-results-170

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if the most important leader on your shop floor doesn't have the title? Trevor sits down with Jason Hopper, a thirty-year manufacturing veteran who rose from the floor into team leadership and then chose to go back to the floor, on what good leadership actually looks like to the people being led. They get into the trap that catches almost every leader, why safety has to mean stopping, and the coaching, trust, and patience that keep good people in the role.

🎧 Mentioned in this episode: Episode 14 with Horst Prelog and Scott Turner, on slowing down to go fast (June 3, 2020). Listen 👉 https://mindfulnessmanufacturing.libsyn.com/horst-prelog-and-scott-turner-part-1

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Have you ever walked past your visual management boards and still not been able to tell if your team is winning? Trevor takes you inside a global food company where executives kept saying "we told them the standards" and supervisors kept saying "we need more clarity." Both were right. Neither was fixing the board. Inspired by Shane Zutz's High Impact Leadership newsletter, Trevor unpacks why accountability is usually a clarity problem in disguise, and walks through the three questions that close the gap between the top and the shop.

🎁 Free: 10 great questions to ask your leadership and drive engagement → manufacturinggreatness.com/subscribe and get bonus content in our newsletter!

Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

What if the hardest person to lead in your plant is you?

Trevor sits down with Ryan Forte, Owner of Jefferson Metal Products, whose team had quietly built one unwritten rule: keep the boss happy. Ryan introduces the five-step curiosity model — a new way to think about manufacturing team leadership that starts with getting curious about yourself first. When Ryan made that shift, his culture changed, his people grew, and turnover at the plant dropped by more than half.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Have you ever written up an employee and felt sick the second they walked out of the office? Trevor unpacks the third gap in the Manufacturing Greatness framework: the Accountability Gap. He walks through what happens when leaders skip the conversation and go straight to progressive disclipine, and the three questions that turn pressure into partnership.

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Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Trevor sits down with Josh McKain, founder of Throughput Mastery, to unpack why manufacturing owners get stuck putting out every fire, and the three-part framework for building a culture of ownership: create the environment, model the standard, install the system. Ownership isn't a personality trait. It's a structural condition you can design for.

Connect with Josh:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshmckain

Website: throughputmastery.com

🎁 Free: 10 great questions to ask your leadership and drive engagement → manufacturinggreatness.com/subscribe and get bonus content in our newsletter!

Connect with Trevor: 

LinkedIn 👉 linkedin.com/in/trevorblondeel 

Website 👉 manufacturinggreatness.com 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Have you ever assumed your team should just know what you expected, and watched the project go sideways anyway? In manufacturing, the expectation gap between what leaders think is expected and what teams actually understand drives missed deadlines, rework, and six-figure mistakes. Most of the time, it comes back to communication skills.

In this solo episode, host Trevor Blondeel goes back to a Friday night on the floor of a Ford assembly plant, where a missed conversation shut down the line and changed how he thinks about plant leadership forever. After 25 years running plants and a decade of leadership development coaching, he walks through the communication skills every frontline supervisor, operations manager, and plant leader needs to stay aligned with their teams, protect production efficiency, and build a safety culture grounded in trust. Trevor shares three questions that close the expectation gap in any conversation, makes the case for curiosity over judgment, and shows how clear expectations head off performance management problems before they start.

This is part two of a three-part series on the Manufacturing Greatness framework, sitting between the Showing Up Gap and the upcoming Accountability Gap episode. Want 10 more questions to close the expectation gap on your team? Sign up for the newsletter for leadership development tools and resources we don't share on the podcast, plus early access to Trevor's book, Manufacturing Greatness, releasing May 11, 2027.

1:00 — The expectation gap quietly drives missed deadlines, rework, and six-figure mistakes, making communication skills the most overlooked tool in production management.

1.50 — A late-night production line shutdown reveals how a frontline supervisor going it alone left plant leadership powerless to respond.

3:30 — After 25 years in plant leadership, Trevor reframes unclear expectations as unkind, challenging leaders to swap judgment for curiosity in their leadership development.

05:00 — Three communication skills questions help any shift supervisor or frontline supervisor align on what "done" actually looks like across quality management and process optimization.

7:00 — Closing the expectation gap in just five minutes builds the trust, employee satisfaction, and production efficiency that drives Manufacturing Greatness at every level.

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

What if the biggest threat to your production efficiency, workforce development, and manufacturing productivity was not a supply chain disruption or a failed kaizen event — but the voice inside your own head?

On this episode of Manufacturing Greatness, learn more with Dr. Jenn Donahue, a retired U.S. Navy Captain with 27 years of military service, combat veteran, civil engineer, and one of only 3% of Navy officers to ever reach her rank. She holds a doctorate from UC Berkeley, has been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, and is the author of Becoming the Warrior.

Jenn brings her hard-won leadership experience to the shop floor, connecting the mental battles fought in combat zones directly to the self-doubt that holds back frontline supervisors, shift supervisors, and plant leadership teams every day. We cover practical tools for performance management, communication skills, and leadership development — including why the voice in your head might be the real reason your toughest conversations keep getting pushed to tomorrow.

If you're serious about change management, talent retention, and building a stronger safety culture and operations management system, this episode is your starting point.

1:00 — Promoting top performers into leadership roles often creates a confidence problem, not a skills problem.

01:30 — Self-doubt shows up even in the most high-pressure environments, and recognizing it is the first step toward stronger leadership development.

03:00 — Several competing internal voices influence decision making every day, and building self-awareness around them is critical for frontline supervisors and plant leadership teams.

04:30 — The Mean Little Voice quietly erodes confidence by convincing leaders they are not worthy of their position, undermining performance management and talent retention.

05:00 — The Sneaky Little Bastard redirects leaders away from difficult conversations and hard decisions, creating real gaps in accountability, communication skills, and production efficiency.

08:30 — Instinct and intuition are distinct forces in leadership decision making, and understanding the difference helps leaders assess whether hesitation is rational or just self-preservation.

10:30 — A simple gut-check question — am I being rational, or am I being selfish — can help manufacturing leaders cut through avoidance and act in the best interest of their operation.

14:30 — The four-step Perceive, Assess, Ready, Act framework gives leaders a practical tool for working through self-doubt and taking confident action under pressure.

22:00 — Humility and imposter syndrome are not the same thing, and confusing the two causes leaders to discount the experience and results they have already earned.

29:00 — Recalling past wins, people developed, and problems solved is one of the most powerful ways to build the positive bias that drives confident leadership on the shop floor.

Connect with Dr. Jenn Donohue

Visit her website

Find free tools and resources here

Connect on LinkedIn 

Read my book report on Becoming the Warrior

Buy Becoming the Warrior

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Most manufacturing leaders believe that if they were clear, the message landed. But there is a gap that almost no one sees — the distance between how you think you show up and how your team actually experiences you. In this episode of Manufacturing Greatness, Trevor Blondeel shares a story from his own time running a manufacturing plant, where good intentions and clear communication still cost him 10% in production output. He breaks down what he calls the showing up gap, why it quietly undermines lean manufacturing, kaizen, and continuous improvement efforts, and the one question that can help you start closing it today.

00:50 — The showing up gap is the hidden distance between how leaders think they communicate and how their teams actually experience them.

01:00 — A clear directive on cycle times lands poorly with the team, even when the what, the why, and the how were all covered.

02:00 — A visit to the shop floor reveals the meeting pulled the team off a strong production run and would likely cost 10% in output.

03:00 — The root cause was a monologue — real communication requires dialogue, curiosity, and a safe space for teams to surface competing priorities.

04:00 — When curiosity replaces direction, the answers that were already in the room finally get heard.

04:30 — Finding one truth teller who will honestly reflect how your leadership is landing is the first step to closing the showing up gap.

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

What if the biggest obstacle to your lean manufacturing results isn't the process at all? It might be the person leading it.

In this episode of Manufacturing Greatness, learn more with Debra Clary, author of The Curiosity Curve, about one of the most overlooked blind spots in plant leadership. You can run kaizen events, map your value streams, launch six sigma projects, and roll out 5S methodology across your facility, but if the mindset isn't right, none of it sticks.

Debra brings real-world experience from the shop floor, starting with her early days at Frito-Lay, and makes a compelling case for why curiosity might be the most underrated tool in your leadership toolkit. She covers topics why certainty shuts down problem solving, how communication skills and conflict resolution play a bigger role in process optimization than most leaders realize, and what it actually takes to drive meaningful change management in a manufacturing environment.
This episode also discusses what's shifting on the floor right now, from managing a millennial workforce and Gen Z manufacturing talent, to diversity and inclusion, burnout prevention, and talent retention. Because production efficiency and manufacturing productivity aren't just about automation, Industry 4.0, or smart manufacturing technology. They're about the people running the operation.

If you're a frontline supervisor, shift supervisor, or part of a plant leadership team focused on leadership development, workforce development, and building a safety culture that supports continuous improvement, this one's for you. Better KPI management starts with better people leadership. And better people leadership starts with asking better questions.
00:00 — Lean manufacturing efforts fail not because of process but because leaders rely on certainty instead of curiosity, limiting true continuous improvement in Manufacturing Greatness.

01:30 — Early frontline experience at Frito-Lay builds strong operations management skills and a deeper understanding of production planning and supply chain management.
04:00 — A kaizen approach that asks why a change will not work unlocks better problem solving, communication skills, and employee satisfaction on the shop floor.
06:00 — Involving frontline workers in decisions improves production efficiency, workforce development, and trust across shift supervisors and plant leadership.
10:00 — As leaders gain experience, certainty replaces curiosity, weakening leadership development and reducing innovation in lean manufacturing and six sigma environments.
12:00 — Bringing in fresh perspectives helps teams break through roadblocks in process optimization, value stream mapping, and manufacturing productivity.
13:30 — Strong plant leadership focuses on facilitation over direction, building coaching skills, ownership, and accountability in frontline supervisors.
15:00 — Lean manufacturing must be practiced as a daily mindset rather than isolated kaizen events to drive sustainable quality management and production management results.
18:00 — Curiosity-driven leadership strengthens employee satisfaction, talent retention, and engagement, especially across Gen Z manufacturing and the millennial workforce.
24:00 — Leaders who develop people instead of just solving problems improve performance management, problem solving, and long-term manufacturing productivity while reducing burnout.

Learn More with Debra Clary
Visit her website
Buy The Curiosity Curve

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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If you've ever thought "I already explained this" but still are not getting the results you expect, the problem may not be effort, it may be alignment. In this episode, Trevor Blondeel explores how gaps in communication skills and unclear expectations impact production efficiency, manufacturing productivity, safety culture, and employee satisfaction across plant leadership and operations management.

Drawing on Manufacturing Greatness, lean manufacturing, six sigma, and continuous improvement practices like kaizen, value stream mapping, and 5S methodology, Trevor introduces a simple framework built on three key conversations. This approach supports process optimization, quality management, and stronger performance management while helping shift supervisors and frontline supervisors improve coaching skills, problem solving, and conflict resolution. It is a practical model for driving change management, workforce development, talent retention, and sustainable results in today's Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing environments.

01:05 — Introduction to the Manufacturing Greatness model as a practical approach within operations management to improve manufacturing productivity through clearer alignment and more effective communication
01:45 — The three critical gaps are introduced as key drivers of performance management, highlighting how they affect workforce development and execution across plant leadership and the shop floor
02:45 — Simple, repeatable conversations are positioned as a universal tool similar to lean manufacturing and kaizen, helping teams drive continuous improvement and strengthen process optimization
03:15 — The showing up gap explains how leadership behavior, tone, and intent shape perception, directly influencing engagement, safety culture, and the effectiveness of coaching skills
05:00 — The expectation gap focuses on clearly defining what success looks like, aligning on outcomes to improve quality management, production planning, and reduce errors and rework
07:00 — The accountability gap emphasizes setting clear commitments, timelines, and consequences to strengthen KPI management, build trust, and support talent retention and burnout prevention
08:30 — Consistent behaviors and strong communication skills help build a culture that supports change management, diversity and inclusion, and long-term workforce development
09:30 — A preview of upcoming insights into applying the model within smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0, along with broader connections to supply chain management challenges

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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In today's manufacturing environment, the biggest barrier to productivity, talent retention, and employee satisfaction isn't equipment or process, it's connection. Organizations may invest in lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and process optimization, yet engagement, safety culture, and performance management often still fall short. The difference comes down to leadership. Strong communication, effective coaching, and intentional leadership development are what enable shift supervisors and frontline supervisors to lead teams successfully in Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing environments.

On this episode of Manufacturing Greatness, we're joined by Morag Barrett, a leadership development expert, executive coach, and keynote speaker dedicated to solving the growing disconnect in the workplace. She's also the author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships. Morag helps leaders strengthen relationships, improve change management, and build high-performing teams.

If you want to boost production efficiency, enhance workforce development, and lead with greater impact, this conversation offers practical tools to elevate both results and relationships.

00:30 — When trust erodes between managers and frontline supervisors, performance management weakens, talent retention declines, and manufacturing productivity suffers.
01:00 — Success in manufacturing is driven by connection, not just competence, especially when leading change management, workforce development, and process optimization initiatives.
03:00 — A common leadership gap occurs when organizations promote for results but fail to provide management training, coaching skills, and clarity on new expectations in production management roles.
05:30 — Relationship breakdowns create silos across production, quality management, and supply chain management, reducing collaboration, problem solving, and overall production efficiency.
07:00 — The "relationship ecosystem" highlights how workplace dynamics shift between allies, supporters, rivals, and adversaries, directly impacting communication, conflict resolution, and team performance.
09:00 — Transitioning from peer to leader requires intentional leadership development, clear expectations, and ongoing communication to maintain trust and employee satisfaction.
15:00 — The "relationship pulse check" introduces simple but powerful questions that strengthen engagement, support diversity and inclusion, and improve team alignment.
20:00 — Consistent communication and follow-up build psychological safety, strengthen safety leadership, and reinforce a strong safety culture across the shop floor.
25:30 — Sustainable manufacturing greatness comes from daily leadership habits like slowing down, building connection, and investing in people to support burnout prevention, work-life balance, and long-term manufacturing productivity.

Connect with Morag Barrett 

Learn more about SkyeTeam and complete your Ally Mindet Profile here

Connect on LinkedIn

Buy her book 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

In this episode of Manufacturing Greatness, we break down why manufacturing leaders plant owners, operations managers, and production managers continue to struggle with employee retention, manufacturing productivity, workforce engagement, and frontline performance on the shop floor. Even after hiring and onboarding new employees, many manufacturing organizations still face turnover, inconsistency, and performance gaps because leadership focuses on fixing team members instead of developing supervisors and strengthening frontline leadership. This episode introduces the Chocolate Fountain Effect, a practical manufacturing leadership model that shows how leadership behaviors at the top directly impact safety, quality, productivity, and employee engagement across the entire operation.

00:30 — The real cost shows up in declining production efficiency, gaps in safety culture, quality management issues, and burnout risk when frontline supervisors lack coaching skills, communication skills, and performance management capability.

01:00 — The "chocolate fountain effect" explains how leadership behaviors flow from the top through every level of the organization, shaping workplace culture, workforce development, and results in lean manufacturing, six sigma, and process optimization efforts.

02:00 — Engagement and manufacturing productivity are driven by how leaders show up, communicate, and lead change management, influencing employee satisfaction, diversity and inclusion, and retention across Gen Z manufacturing and the millennial workforce.

03:30 — Case study in plant leadership: when leaders bypass supervisors to solve production planning or supply chain management issues, it weakens accountability, disrupts operations management systems, and reduces effectiveness in KPI management.

04:30 — The turning point comes through leadership development and management training, where leaders step back, strengthen coaching skills, and empower shift supervisors and frontline supervisors to lead problem solving, conflict resolution, and team performance.

08:30 — Sustainable results in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 require investing in people as much as tools like kaizen, value stream mapping, and 5S methodology, focusing on burnout prevention, safety leadership, and building strong systems for long-term manufacturing productivity.

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In today's demanding manufacturing environment, frontline supervisors and plant leaders are expected to deliver higher production efficiency, stronger quality management, and better manufacturing productivity often while navigating workforce pressures and constant operational change. How does leadership resilience influence effective operations management, support burnout prevention, and drive sustainable performance on the manufacturing plant floor?

Learn more with guest Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier, an internationally recognized leadership psychologist, executive coach, and author of the award-winning book The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health. With more than 20 years of experience across corporate leadership, psychology, and governance, she brings a powerful perspective on how leaders can strengthen both work performance and mental health.

In this conversation, MH explore how manufacturing leaders can recognize the warning signs of burnout, build resilience strategies that support stronger leadership development, and create environments where teams can improve safety culture, employee engagement, and operational performance. The discussion also highlights practical insights that help plant leaders lead effectively under pressure while supporting both team performance and long-term workforce development.

00:54 — Plant managers to frontline supervisors face constant pressure to improve KPI management, production efficiency, and operational results.

01:38 — Resilience defined as the ability to navigate adversity and grow stronger, an essential capability for burnout prevention and sustainable leadership in manufacturing operations.

02:33 — Why the "just push through it" mindset often fails as leadership responsibilities evolve and operational demands grow more complex.

05:40 — Reframing performance reviews as coaching conversations that strengthen employee satisfaction, career growth, and engagement within manufacturing teams.

06:56 — Chronic stress reduces cognitive performance, problem solving ability, and communication skills—key capabilities for effective plant leadership and operations management.

08:59 — Burnout prevention should be treated as seriously as safety culture, quality management, and process optimization in manufacturing organizations.

10:50 — Teams that feel psychologically safe are more engaged, contribute ideas for process optimization, and help reduce burnout risk.

13:08 — Workplace culture and climate directly influence workforce development, talent retention, and employee satisfaction.

16:38 — Sustainable leadership requires recognizing that intense production periods should remain temporary rather than becoming permanent habits.

21:24 — Leaders become vulnerable when depleted, communication breaks down, and planning discipline disappears—similar to failures in operations management systems.

Learn More with Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier

Visit her website

Connect on LinkedIn

Find her on Instagram

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

If you have questions regarding workforce development in manufacturing operations in North America, email me at trevor@manufacturinggreatness.com and we will propose it in the project scope of research.

Why are manufacturing organizations struggling to recruit and retain great people? Let's find out together!

Manufacturing Greatness is launching a major research project on the state of manufacturing in North America. We're partnering with Crossover Solutions and the Center for Generational Kinetics to survey 1,250 people across Canada and the United States. This survey will focus on people who currently work in manufacturing or a similar industry, like logistics, industry, or construction.  Through this project, our goal is get real data about what's really happening in manufacturing and adjacent industries. 

As we finalize the survey, I'd love your input. What's one question you'd like to see included in the survey? What questions do you have about how to improve retention and engagement in manufacturing and similar industries?

To share your thoughts, email me at trevor@manufacturinggreatness.com.

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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In this episode, Vickie Lanthier  author of High Agency Human: Navigate Adversity and Live Big and former military leader with four deployments  shares practical strategies for building personal agency in high-pressure environments like manufacturing. Drawing from her 14-year military career and entrepreneurial experience, she connects resilience and intentional decision-making directly to the realities of operations management, production management, and modern plant leadership.

You'll learn why running at constant surge capacity undermines production efficiency and long-term manufacturing productivity, and how building operational "buffers" strengthens performance management, process optimization, and sustainable KPI management. This conversation is especially relevant for frontline supervisors and shift supervisors navigating daily disruptions while trying to maintain results without burning out their teams.

Vickie breaks down how proactive leadership development, intentional management training, and practical coaching skills improve workforce development, talent retention, and employee satisfaction  particularly as the millennial workforce and Gen Z manufacturing professionals step into larger roles. She also highlights the connection between personal wellbeing, safety leadership, and a strong safety culture, reinforcing that operational excellence starts with healthy, prepared leaders.

This discussion bridges the gap between human performance and operational excellence, showing manufacturing leaders how to move from reactive firefighting to intentional change management, stronger problem solving, and more resilient plant leadership.

2:00 – In operations management and production management, adversity is daily, making strong plant leadership essential to move from reactive firefighting to intentional execution.

04:30 – High agency thinking equips shift supervisors and frontline supervisors to lead proactive change management instead of blaming systems or circumstances.

06:12 – Building buffers during stable periods strengthens operations management, improves production efficiency, and supports long-term manufacturing productivity.

07:19 – Financial discipline at work reinforces responsible production management, smarter resource allocation, and stronger KPI management across departments.

09:44 – When leaders model financial clarity and career pathways, they support workforce development, talent retention, and engagement across the millennial workforce and Gen Z manufacturing employees.

14:00 – Promoting for readiness rather than desperation strengthens leadership development, improves performance management, and builds a sustainable bench for plant leadership.

16:27 – Prioritizing health, boundaries, and burnout prevention improves employee satisfaction, supports work-life balance, and protects overall manufacturing productivity.

18:33 – Investing in mental health awareness and proactive check-ins strengthens safety leadership, reinforces a positive safety culture, and improves team-level conflict resolution.

22:30 – Pulling the "emergency brake" during overload enables smarter change management, clearer problem solving, and better long-term process optimization.

25:09 – Running at 110% capacity without systems thinking undermines production efficiency, weakens quality management, and signals gaps in sustainable operations management.

27:00 – Clear contingency planning enhances production management, stabilizes KPI management, and improves responsiveness in high-pressure environments.

30:30 – Practicing skills during calm periods strengthens management training, sharpens coaching skills, and drives measurable gains in manufacturing productivity.

33:49 – Distributing responsibility beyond supervisors accelerates leadership development, strengthens communication skills, and supports long-term workforce development.

35:00 – Empowering junior team members to lead drills reinforces safety leadership, improves problem solving, and embeds resilience into everyday plant leadership.

36:30 – Sustainable high performance comes from disciplined operations management, intentional performance management, and continuous process optimization, not relentless pressure.

38:00 – Leaders who model high agency behaviors improve employee satisfaction, strengthen talent retention, and elevate overall production efficiency and manufacturing productivity.

Connect with Vickie Lanthier:

Find her online at https://www.vickiemlanthier.com/ and https://www.vickiemlanthier.com/high-agency-human

Connect on LinkedIn

Find her on Instagram: @highagencyhuman

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In manufacturing, most leaders don't struggle because they lack technical knowledge. They struggle because they're not connecting with their teams.

When skill gaps widen, labor shortages grow, and hiring challenges persist, it's rarely an operations problem. It's a leadership and communication problem.

That's exactly why I wrote Manufacturing Greatness, releasing May 11, 2027 with Page Two.

This book is for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors who want high performing teams that stick around and consistently deliver results. Leaders who are ready to move beyond telling people what to do and start leading through curiosity, communication skills, and deeper conversations.

Inside, you'll find practical tools to strengthen safety culture, improve employee engagement, support workforce retention, and build a workplace where teams work together, get results, and stay.

Now I need your help.

We've narrowed the subtitle down to five options, and I want the manufacturing community to weigh in.

1) How to Be More Productive with the People You Already Have
2) How Curious Leaders Strengthen Relationships to Improve Safety, Quality, and Productivity
3) How to Show Up, Clarify Expectations, and Instill Accountability to Streamline Your Operation
4) Three Conversations to Build High-Performing Teams that Work Together, Get Results, and Stick Around
5) Three Conversations to Build High-Performing Teams that Connect, Deliver, and Stick Around

Email me at trevor@manufacturinggreatness.com and let you know about favorite subtitle option! 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In this episode, Bruce Mayhew, corporate trainer, keynote speaker, executive coach, and author, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and trust building for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

You'll learn why traditional command and control leadership no longer works in today's plants  and how curiosity-driven leadership, authentic communication, and continuous improvement help manufacturing leaders close the skills gap, strengthen employee engagement, and drive real team performance.

Bruce breaks down how everyday leadership behaviors directly impact culture, safety, accountability, and results especially as manufacturing organizations face labor shortages, workforce challenges, and generational shifts on the shop floor.

This conversation connects soft skills with operational excellence, showing leaders how to move from reaction to intention, from blame to curiosity, and from siloed management to connected leadership.

01:30 – As generational shifts place millennials in leadership roles, it can create tension between siloed leadership and collaborative, flatter manufacturing cultures.
03:49–Purpose and meaning drive effective leadership, stronger relationships, and healthier workplace culture.
06:12–Disconnects between executives and the shop floor weaken teamwork and long-term manufacturing performance.
07:19–Self-awareness and emotional intelligence enable leaders to adapt communication styles across manufacturing teams.
08:58–Respect on the shop floor comes from meeting people where they are, not talking down to them.
09:44–High performance in manufacturing is unlocked through meaningful conversations rather than top-down directives.
16:27–Transparency grows when leaders listen first and elevate frontline voices.
18:33-  Shared pride in quality and reputation strengthens team identity and manufacturing excellence.
20:15–Curiosity-driven leadership replaces blame-focused problem solving with appreciative inquiry.
23:31–Positive exploration increases engagement by empowering teams instead of punishing them.
25:09 - Accountability works best when leaders replace interrogation with curiosity based performance conversations.

Connect with Bruce Mayhew
Visit his website

Buy his book

Find him on LinkedIn

Following him on Instagram @bruce.mayhew

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In this episode, Brian Herriot shares insights on manufacturing leadership, productivity, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Brian brings a practical, human-centered approach to help manufacturing leaders rethink work, leadership, and scheduling so they can build stronger teams without burning people out or lowering standards. You'll hear why traditional shift models are breaking down, how "time freedom" shows up on the shop floor, and what leaders can do right now to improve engagement, retention, and ownership amid labor shortages and skills gaps.

This conversation connects soft skills with operational results, showing how curiosity, authentic leadership, and better communication skills directly impact manufacturing culture, workforce retention, and daily productivity.

02:10 – Frontline leadership must acknowledge that traditional manufacturing management models no longer align with modern workplace culture or employee engagement in manufacturing.

03:30 – Gen Z expects leadership in manufacturing plants to adapt to their lives, not the other way around

06:55 – Great manufacturing culture comes from seeing teams as humans first, not just labor inputs on the production line

09:10 –Employee ownership models and open-book management strengthen trust in leadership, manufacturing relationships, and accountability in manufacturing

11:25 – Manufacturing retention improves when leaders focus on team engagement in manufacturing rather than just output and efficiency

12:45 –Frontline leaders must recognize that many employees juggle multiple jobs and need coaching in manufacturing that supports life beyond the plant

14:10 – Flexible schedules, job sharing, and project-based roles can close the showing up gap while improving manufacturing innovation and retention

15:35 – Time Freedom as a Leadership Strategy
Leadership transformation happens when manufacturing leaders design roles that allow experienced workers to scale back without fully exiting

18:55 –Helping employees understand their financial future reduces anxiety and strengthens employee engagement in manufacturing

22:35 –Deeper conversations about money, time, and work build emotional intelligence, vulnerability in leadership, and a stronger coaching culture

Connect with Brian Herriot

Learn more about Time Freedom

Pre-order Time Freedom and use the code Trevor to get free access to the audiobook

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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How do you turn a one-machine operation into a thriving business?

Find out in this episode with Ken Handsaeme, founder of On Time Precision. Ken's unique journey started as a machinist, but when he decided he wanted a better retirement plan, he started his own business, initially operating out of a barn with a single machine. It eventually grew into a thriving manufacturing company serving military, aerospace, and medical customers  and helped Ken fulfill his retirement dreams.

In this episode, Ken shares the lessons he learned throughout his career, ranging from the importance of intentional leadership and the root causes of common operational problems to how curiosity-driven conversations and trust-building behaviors drive retention, accountability, and long-term performance. He also shares stories from his own career, giving a practical look at what it really takes to build a manufacturing business that can grow, endure, and succeed beyond the owner.

02:00 – Operational challenges on the shop floor often signal leadership and communication gaps rather than process problems alone

04:15 – Shifting from working in the business to working on the business enables leaders to focus on production leadership and long-term operational excellence.

05:30 - Protected time for quoting is essential to production flow, customer trust, and employee stability

06:45 – Connecting the top to the shop creates shared accountability

08:55 – To accelerate growth, leaders must balance hiring, retention, and capacity planning in manufacturing plants.

10:10 - Structured one-on-one conversations are a powerful tool for supervisor development and deeper team engagement in manufacturing.

11:30 - Curiosity-driven leadership conversations outperform traditional performance reviews in building trust and accountability.

14:00 – To reinforce trust, respect, and leadership credibility, prioritize employee conversations like customer meetings

16:40 –Involving operators in problem-solving and process improvement builds ownership and continuous improvement culture.

17:55 – Have transparent discussions on transparency in manufacturing management, including sharing expectations without overwhelming teams with financial complexity.

20:30 – Self-awareness, vulnerability, and trust in leadership are foundational skills in modern manufacturing environments.

21:50 - Consistent leadership behaviors create workplace culture that supports retention and manufacturing excellence.

23:10 – To prepare for succession, you need to build systems, people, and leadership beyond the owner.

Connect with Ken Handsaeme

Connect on Instagram: @kenhandsaeme

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In manufacturing plants, the same leadership action can motivate one employee and overwhelm another. Why? It comes down to brain science, communication skills, and how leaders show up under pressure.

In this episode, guest Falisha Karpati shares insights on manufacturing leadership, employee engagement, and inclusive leadership for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Falisha is a Brain-Based Inclusion Consultant based in Montreal, Canada. She holds a PhD in neuroscience and brings more than a decade of experience studying how the brain works. Through her UNITING BRAINS framework, she helps organizations build human-centered cultures using practical, brain-based strategies.

In this conversation, Falisha explains how differences in brain wiring directly impact frontline leadership, communication skills, trust building, and team engagement on the shop floor. She breaks down the neuroscience behind introversion and extroversion, why uncertainty increases stress in manufacturing environments, and how leaders can improve manufacturing culture by asking better questions, minimizing ambiguity, and running more inclusive meetings

01:05 –Recognition can backfire when manufacturing communication ignores individual brain differences
02:12 – Neuroscience explains how self-awareness in leadership shapes perception, behavior, and relationships in manufacturing plants
04:54 –Manufacturing teamwork and employee engagement manufacturing improve when leaders understand natural brain diversity
9:53 – Brain science brings data—not opinions—into manufacturing management and leadership in industrial operations
11:20 – A powerful reminder that perceptions matter more than intentions in building trust in leadership and strong manufacturing relationships
13:39 – Curiosity-driven leadership starts by asking instead of assuming to close the showing up gap
15:32 – High-stimulus environments explain why leaders take shortcuts that undermine manufacturing culture and clarity on the shop floor
17:11 – Autonomy looks different for everyone, redefining supervisor development, coaching in manufacturing, and performance conversations.
19:55 – Minimizing uncertainty strengthens manufacturing safety culture, emotional intelligence, and consistent leadership behaviors
20:21 – Transparent expectations help close the expectation gap and improve accountability in manufacturing plants
22:40 – Inclusive meetings unlock manufacturing innovation by improving manufacturing communication and psychological safety
24:30 – Simple meeting practices support continuous improvement culture and better team engagement in manufacturing
28:53 – Inclusive discussions fuel operational excellence and authentic leadership across manufacturing organizations

Connect with Falisha Karpati
Visit her website
Connect on LinkedIn and Instagram
Read her newsletter

Full Transcript

[00:00:00] 
We have some changes today. We've changed the name of the podcast since 2019. It's been mindfulness manufacturing our company name changed a few years ago to manufacturing greatness.
So we're just aligning that 'cause we're gonna be here manufacturing greatness today, and we're gonna be talking about building some bridges and, and you know, how we continue to manufacture and, how we deal with changes people's moods and what's going on.
And it remind me of a time when we were, had a great manufacturing line at the kickoff meeting in the morning, we recognized one of the team members showed appreciation, [00:00:30] put this person's name and picture up and gave them a little gift. they were upset with us and we're kind of like, well, hold on a minute.
we did all this and this person's not very appreciative and getting to learn them a little bit more is that they didn't. They don't like that type of attention. people's brains are different. And in manufacturing it just complicates it for us 'cause we don't understand it.
So fortunately I have a great guest on and friend today, Falisha Caridi. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. [00:01:00] It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me. you are an inclusive consultant. You harness brain science to build inclusive human-centered workplaces.
You create space where all brains thrive. And you studied the neuroscience, having a PhD in neuroscience, which for those who don't know what it takes to get a PhD, it's a mountain.
So congratulations on that. Thank you. excited to get your knowledge and expertise to talk about this on the show what did we miss Falisha when we upset that team member? how are [00:01:30] people's brains working here? a key point is that everybody's brain works a little bit differently, 
Humans in general share a core brain structure. we generally have the same parts that do the same functions, but our brains also have differences. like how big certain parts are, how different parts connect to each other, and when different parts get activated. this connects with differences in behavior.
so when we [00:02:00] think, behave, communicate, everything we do. Is filtered and processed through our brain. there's a, well-known quote that I love, that says You don't see the world as it is. You see the world as you are. Mm-hmm. And what that means, it's really rooted in brain science.
And it means that everything you perceive, take in, think, and express. Goes through your brain. what happened [00:02:30] that day was there was a disconnect between what some team members who created that recognition process, thought this person would want and what they actually wanted, 
So if we take that recognition experience, maybe it's, getting an award in front of a group And having your name called out and going on stage. if you put two people in that exact same [00:03:00] situation, their brains might react completely differently. we don't necessarily know how people are going to react, what they like, what they don't like.
Unless we have those conversations and ask them. just diving into a bit more about why those differences exist, why can you put two people in the same situation and they can react completely differently? our brains are shaped by two main factors. the first is natural [00:03:30] variation in how we're born.
there's a wealth of research that shows genetics are connected with many aspects of how our brain works. natural variation is great. It's what keeps us interested. Yeah. We don't wanna, you know, be communicating with people who are exactly the same as us. the natural variation is there for a reason.
It's super productive and positive. the second factor is our environment. each of us is shaped from our observations and experiences over time. this includes a whole range of [00:04:00] experiences like our early childhood, our family and community environments. our experiences at school, at work, even our hobbies and interests can change our brain.
there's a huge body of neuroscience research that shows brain differences related to living in different cultures. practicing different skills, traumatic experiences and much more. Basically everything you're exposed to, everything that you experience over time, especially if they're repeated or intense, experiences, can change your [00:04:30] brain.
what really resonated with me is that Trevor's way is not always the best way. the way you explain like my biases, right? Like. My bias was show appreciation in front of the team. Right? And, and why would I need to check in with that person? in my early manufacturing leadership days, I missed the mark.
Often, I just didn't know better. Right? Like, I just thought, you start to learn that. that's why we're hoping that if you're driving into work today, through my mistakes and Falisha's knowledge, we can save you that pain. we're gonna leave you with [00:05:00] some ideas of, what you can do today, to get in front of that.
'cause it makes sense. What you're saying is that, we just have how we grew up and, and our different, you know, the. I think of Lisa Feelman Barrett and, and the theory of constructed emotions. your personality and emotions are based on your experiences and we have different experiences 
Right. they're just different. And that's what makes us unique and I like that. I was going through some of your material and I'm trying, 'cause I'm trying to, you know, like our listeners. To understand and better [00:05:30] equip ourselves so that we can, respond differently.
But you had some neat research on introverts and extroverts, and I was reviewing it with Ryan, a client today, and he's kinda like, Hey, I think you skimmed over, that whole concept on introverts and extroverts. So can you unpack that for us and help us understand?
Definitely. so I also wanna clarify, my background and what I'm doing now compared to what I did before. I have a background in neuroscience research, that was focused on brain plasticity and how our brains, are impacted by training.
so what I [00:06:00] do now is, work with the wealth of research that's there. I don't do, neuroimaging research anymore. I used to, so I know exactly how these things work and I bring that experience now into. Applying neuroscience research in organizational context. Mm-hmm. so I summarize research, I communicate it.
but the research, for example, an introversion extroversion is not something that I did myself. there's amazing researchers all around the world that have done this, so I'm more of a curator and a communicator Of the [00:06:30] research now. That's why you're on the show, right?
Because we need to apply. So you're kind of like the translator for us, right? Because we're not gonna go through all this research, but we need someone like you that can say, Hey, here's the simpler version of it and here's what you can do today. So thank you for doing what you do. Yeah, my pleasure.
I love it. so introverts, extroverts is one example of how. Our brain structure and how our brain works is really aligned with the behaviors that we see in the workplace and beyond. there's a spectrum of traits, of [00:07:00] introversion, extroversion. many people will fall somewhere in the middle and people can also express themselves differently. depending on different situations, different contexts might bring out, different types of behavior. so I'm just gonna generalize a little bit here, for time.
And so there's research that compares people who tend to, behave more introverted ways and people that tend to be more extroverted. introverted meaning, getting energy by recharging alone, extroverted meaning, getting energy from, spending time with [00:07:30] others. And there's a really cool study that, people were in the brain scanner and while they were in the brain scanner, they were showed a series of pictures.
Some of the pictures were flowers and some of the pictures were faces. So flowers is a non-social stimulus. and so, you know, we don't associate that with people, whereas the face is very social. the study found that introverts and extroverts showed different patterns of electrical activity in the brain in response to these images.
So [00:08:00] in the introvert, if there was a bunch of flowers shown in a row and then a face, their brain sort of went, eh, well, it didn't really process a difference, but an extroverts, when there was flower, flower, flower face, when the brain saw the face, It got super excited. So the brain really processed a difference between the non-social and the social images.
so that just shows that personality [00:08:30] traits and behaviors. And those differences we see in people are actually rooted in how the brain is processing information. we can also see structural differences. in how the brain is built, there's other research that has looked on that.
And they found that, introverts tend to have bigger brains in areas responsible for behavior inhibition. Meaning stopping yourself from behaving impulsively. that is a trait commonly associated with introversion is introverts [00:09:00] tend to think before speaking, before acting.
and extroverts, brain extrovert brains were bigger in areas responsible for regulating emotions. And smaller in areas related to social information processing. And the way that was interpreted is that extrovert brains can be more efficient at processing social information, maybe selecting what's important and what's not.
I could feel that I've had to work on pulling out my introvert. [00:09:30] I think we all have some of both, right. But I've had to practice not everything that I say people want to hear and just that filter and pause. I'm fascinated with the technology.
here we are working, manufacturing, all kinds of technology, but when I hear brain scans it's not people's opinions, It's the signals as a neuroscientist, with a PhD you can see that, right? that's just, wow.
Like you talk about, one of the sayings we have is that, you bring data. not opinions to a meeting and, well, here you're bringing the data. There are scans that says, Hey, this is what people do. [00:10:00] What I just did was, for that individual, I just had, a reaction which was negative to that person.
And if we don't, see that and recognize that, then we may miss that. I wanna bring back the, initial story with the recognition as well. now that we have some foundation about why our brains are different and how, our behaviors actually connected with brain differences, if we reflect back on that person getting recognized when that wasn't what they're inclined for, we can imagine what was happening in their brains.
[00:10:30] It wasn't. The reward circuits and the social connection circuits. It was the pressure, stress. Everybody's watching me. So that same circumstance of being recognized in one person can activate reward and in somebody else can activate stress and anxiety. we like to say that. perceptions matter more than good intentions.
Yes. Right. And I think that's what we're [00:11:00] focused on learning here. so I've got my manuscript I'm working on this week and I got, I got a hand in at the end of this week for my book, I've written a new chapter on this relationship audit. it's like an internal 360, but instead of.
Fixing what's wrong? We're just moving more towards what's right, right? We wanna do more of the behavior. So I've, you know, we've got some questions we ask individuals, direct reports, managers, peers, and we just ask 'em, when do you tune into me?
you know, what expectations do we have of each other? Those types of conversations. [00:11:30] And I think that this work that you are doing really helps us with ideas of. How can we be more mindful? Because what we did after that event is that before we ever gave someone an appreciation, we stopped surprising people and we just started asking them, are you okay if we mention you at the meeting this morning?
getting their permission seemed to work. and what I liked was when I went over, some of your material, you had three kind of takeaways That you can do now, maybe when you're [00:12:00] having one-on-ones with people or you're just interacting with them.
Absolutely. it's great to hear that you took action after, that experience and learned from it Asking people for permission to, to recognize 'em, to ask them something in public is a really great practice and not connect. With the first practice, area that I, like to share, which is asking people what they want, need or prefer.
[00:12:30] especially if people are really busy and don't have time and are overwhelmed, it can be really easy to make assumptions our brain naturally does that. there's a known brain bias. called the false consensus effect. Where we tend to think that people agree with us and have the same beliefs, behaviors, knowledge as we do, that's definitely me.
Everyone does it. It is a human brain bias. We all share that. especially in times [00:13:00] of busyness and stress, our brains do tend to fall back on those natural shortcuts to save time and energy. but they can end up causing some strains, some conflict, reduced productivity because we're making assumptions instead of asking.
So, hold on. You gotta say that again. We're taking shortcuts and what'd you say after that? we're taking shortcuts basically to save [00:13:30] time, to save time and energy. Our brains naturally do that in many different contexts. like there's so much information coming into our brains constantly 
Choosing what to filter, choosing what's important. That's a natural state. we're in that all the time. Can you imagine if your brain right now was processing. Absolutely every single thing that was present in your environment. It's impossible. We can't do that. Oh no. Hang on a minute. For the listeners.
Falisha has not ran manufacturing [00:14:00] plants. I. She hasn't even spent a lot of time with them, but she just described our life that is our life. this is why it's important. This is why we need to listen to you and say, okay, so what can we do? 'cause you just described manufacturing, there's so much stimulus.
it's how many parts we make the last hour. Is the machine running right now? is the quality inspection done? and then we take shortcuts. That's what we do. Thank you for describing us. [00:14:30] Brain science applies everywhere. I'm happy to hear that resonates and we can make the connection with the manufacturing processes as well.
so what can we do about it? So we know, you know, from the manufacturing experiences, from the brain science that. When we're busy, we take shortcuts and tend to assume instead of asking. making that intentional space to invite sharing is really important, and that can happen in some different formats.
It can happen in one-on-ones. It doesn't even [00:15:00] need to be a new one-on-one, just to ask what your work preferences are. if you're already having these kinds of conversations. We can integrate questions into that. So even asking someone a general question of, you know, what can I do? What can we as an organization do to make work more productive, fulfilling, enjoyable, whatever your objective is, to make the workplace better for you?
the reason you really got me thinking about [00:15:30] this was in our relationship audit was really looking as when we have a team of say, 10 people, one of the practices to sustain relationships is having regular, one-on-ones or certain touchpoints, certain meetings. but when I hear you say about, you know, ask people what they want.
Right. So just because. I say, you know what? We should have a one-on-one every two weeks. I'm the leader, but that may not be the right [00:16:00] approach. that's a great example. when we're asking people what they want, need or prefer, that encompasses so many things. It can be, how they work best, schedules, certain times of day they work best.
It can be a physical space, it can be communication preferences, what motivates them. There's so many different aspects here that we can touch on, and that's a great example with, how they would like to have communication with a leader How they would like to have check-ins. some people love space, [00:16:30] love autonomy, and autonomy is great for the brain.
in general, autonomy is awesome. some people love to have lots of autonomy and that can look like having a conversation once every two weeks and giving space. We'll have the chat, some general objectives, some goals for the next couple weeks, and then I will go and do my work on my own with my team.
I don't need to be checked in on unless I have a question. Okay. There are other people who, that [00:17:00] feels overwhelming and the way that, that their autonomy can be expressed is by choosing to have more check-ins. Someone might want to have a quick two minute check-in every morning. 
What's your objective for today? have those more smaller pieces that can feel a lot less overwhelming. It can feel like there's a clear map. It can feel like you know somebody's there and supporting them more frequently. Both approaches can be fantastic if they're [00:17:30] paired with the right people. But if there's a mismatch, that's when we start to get, more concerns.
Because if you imagine somebody that likes to have more space If they're being checked on daily, that can feel like micromanaging. They can feel like they're not being trusted. but then if we have somebody who likes those daily check-ins and those shorter goals, if they're not receiving that.
And they're left on their own when they didn't want to be. that [00:18:00] can add stress. Oh, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing today. am I on the right track? I'm not sure. so it's really just about adjusting everything from check-ins to how goals are set to really match with what's going to work for each individual.
For the listeners, I'm sorry, but it is, it is, you know, more flexibility in our part. Right. But this is, Hey, this is 2026. This is just where we're going right now. I don't see this changing of situational leadership. we gotta [00:18:30] ask more of those questions because North America.
Manufacturing got great when we did lower, more lean, had more standards, more structure. And that's great for, greasing a cylinder that we know is gonna fail after so many cycles. And we wanna do the same with humans, right? So we're gonna have a meeting every two weeks and then check on you, every three days.
the reality is that with the neuroscience that you have, we're not machines. And we're different. especially with the rise of technology now [00:19:00] and AI again, that's a whole conversation. something that I really work towards is creating human-centered workplaces.
We work with machines, which is great, and it really helps, advance many aspects of our society. But human-centered workplaces is really important to, Just to, to create spaces where humans can thrive, be healthy, be included, and do our best work to advance our society people who are treated like machines [00:19:30] are more likely to feel.
Stressed to not be motivated to not be expressing their creativity. And that just doesn't it, it doesn't do anything for the output either. when we focus on treating everyone like humans, and you know, we have. Feelings. We have brains, we have the word, you know, we have bodies that need to be taken care of.
when we really prioritize that, that's where we [00:20:00] spark the ideas, the creativity, the connection, all of the things that are great for us and also for our products. It's like going to the gym, right? you can't go to the gym for 24 hours, you gotta do a little bit of this every day, and then you build up that muscle 
I don't wake up in the morning and go to the gym and say, yes, I get to work out. But I do leave there thinking, this feels good. I've invested into this. I know this is gonna pay off. I feel better about it. like you said earlier we're taking shortcuts.
We're trying to take that, that quick fix where really we need to have discipline. Like when we're trying to save [00:20:30] money, you gotta put that investment now into those conversations and just how you described it. We need to keep evolving with technology and the only way we're gonna do that is if we're not spending time on lack of clarity, 
that was your second one Minimize. uncertainty. So yeah, minimize uncertainty. we spend a lot of time doing that. what are some ideas that we can spend less time on uncertainty.
our brains in general don't like uncertainty and [00:21:00] we can feel that when it happens. as an example, let's say you get an unexpected meeting invitation that says all company meeting tomorrow at noon. That's it. Your brain, most people's brains we're getting laid off. You're like, why?
Why is this happening? Did I do something wrong? Did my team do something wrong? Is the company shutting down? your brain tries to fill in the gaps by guessing what it could be, and [00:21:30] that comes from the fact that our brain is protective. Our brain is trying to figure out what those missing pieces of information could be.
So that we can feel prepared and better able to handle the situation when it comes. it's coming from a good evolutionary place, but it's really unproductive because we waste so much time and energy on trying to fill in those gaps. And half the [00:22:00] time we get it wrong and it's something we didn't even think of.
the other point here is that when there's something that's vague, it can also be interpreted in different ways by different brains. like we were talking about before, even the same thing can create a different response in different brains. Somebody might, maybe be like, okay, I don't know.
It's fine, no problem. And somebody else might, lose sleep that night and have a really tough time managing [00:22:30] that. and by providing that clarity, that certainty, the information when we're able to. that reduces the waste of time and energy and makes sure that everybody's on the same page about what's happening and prevents those different interpretations.
This is resonating because in the manufacturing greatness model, there's three gaps, the second gap's the expectation gap, and that's really that space between what we believe others expect and what we believe is expected, and that [00:23:00] can go in any direction.
So that's our model and it takes more conversations to close that gap. what were your tips around that? in general, if you're having communication, whether it's an email a discussion, a meeting or something else, provide as much information as is relevant. So, for example, with that meeting invitation, provide information in the invitation about.
What is the topic? [00:23:30] Why is this being, why is the meeting being called? What's the agenda, for example? What are the discussion questions that people might be asked to share on, just to make sure that people know, okay, why is this happening and what am I going to be expected to do or share when I show up?
And it's not just about meetings. transparency and clarity is also really important in the broader organizational structure. For example, sharing policies and procedures openly with the team. [00:24:00] Maybe that's like an internal shared drive, a binder with paper copies. There's lots of ways that can be done.
also being transparent about things like criteria for promotions and raises. So we don't need people to wonder, what do I need to do to get a raise? It's there. And that's also really great for fairness. and if you're having, for example, a social event. Sharing some information about what to expect.
So where are we going? Is [00:24:30] there games or activities? What's the plan for the day? that can make people feel a lot more comfortable knowing what they're getting into. It can help make it easier to choose whether somebody would like to participate or not.
it can help people prepare as they feel they need to. some people like to prepare themselves in advance in different ways, so it just gives the opportunity for them to do so. That's something that I believe. I've gotten better at, I know I've worked at it, but [00:25:00] you know, even just like for a podcast guest like yourself, right before I was like, yeah, just jump in.
We'll have a conversation. I got some feedback saying, It'd be better if I knew what to expect coming into your podcast. And I'd be like, that's fair. I was thinking about what I like, not about what you like, so I'm working on that That's an example of differences in communication styles 
some people would be very happy to jump in and have an informal conversation. other people share their best ideas when they've had some time to prepare. Both are great. They are different, and they [00:25:30] require having that conversation, in advance to make sure that discussion fits with both people.
So the last one here is, about manufacturing and our standards, we want Consistency, especially around safety, keep people safe. And then we get struggling around this fine line of also innovation, right? Where we can be more creative and have meetings and conversations that are more inclusive and, step outside the boundaries a bit.
that's around your third tip there. And just [00:26:00] making these group sessions more productive. So group meetings is, is one aspect of workplaces where I find that there's a lot of exclusion, a lot of unfairness, and people aren't having their perspectives considered. And a big root of that is meeting practices that aren't inclusive.
So I'll share some tips for how we can do better here. how can we [00:26:30] hold. Inclusive meetings and discussions that really facilitate equal opportunity for everyone to contribute. this connects back to the brains because each of our brains drives us to communicate and express ourselves in different ways.
that means people can share their best ideas in different environments and in different ways. for example, some people share their best ideas when they've had some time to prepare. Others like to think on the spot. some people [00:27:00] communicate best through speaking and others communicate best through writings or drawings.
And some people really thrive off the energy of big groups and lots of people jumping over each other. that's something I would say, especially in, North American culture, work meetings tend to be like 10 people diving in. but that also excludes a lot of people, because many people, and I'm one of them, feel really strongly about this 
it can be really challenging to know when to jump [00:27:30] in. I have an idea, I have something to share, but three people are trying to talk at the same time and I have no idea when I'm supposed to start talking. and what can happen there is people just won't, Hmm, they're scared of interrupting. I don't wanna cut somebody off and they just n never find the spot, and then the topic moves on.
those ideas get missed. some specific practices we can implement to make our meetings more inclusive. include, providing agendas and discussion questions in [00:28:00] advance. This overlaps with clarity and transparency as well. so team members can prepare their thoughts in advance if they like to do so.
We can give a minute to think after asking a question or presenting a topic, this can feel uncomfortable at first. We are not used to that at all. But it can make a huge difference to allowing team members to really process, yeah, what do I think about that? What do I want to share here?
and [00:28:30] then inviting responses, and I said try that out and see if, if team members are, have more contributions after they've had a moment to process. That's my challenge to you listener today, driving into work because you're gonna be courageous, like if you're facilitating a meeting or it doesn't really matter if you're facilitating it.
You can be a participant. it's interesting because we don't take that minute. When we do, it's even more powerful in our fields of manufacturing, logistics, transportation. [00:29:00] It's all so urgent that we don't allow.
The best ideas to come forward. even when I'm talking to a plant manager about getting their executive team to get together and just talk about the different, you know, how are we working together, right? Like, how are we sharing ideas? What's working and what's not? it's like, oh, I don't know if we can have time to have that discussion.
Well. you're losing the money, you're tripping over the dollars and picking up the penny sometimes because we're so busy. which to me means not productive. But hey, I appreciate you [00:29:30] sharing that today. I think we all need to hear that Falisha it can feel like we're taking a bit more time, but in the end, it can be more productive because we are getting the team's best ideas and we're inviting everybody to participate, which in the end can support a better product.
and a couple of last tips to help generate ideas from everyone. one of them is offering a shared document or a form where team members can share their thoughts in a written format. this can be during the meeting and also after. [00:30:00] sometimes. It can take a bit more time for a great idea to brew in somebody's brain.
it's, half an hour after the meeting and they're like, oh, I wish I could have shared that. So having that form or shared doc really helps, create a space for people to add their ideas when they come. lastly, starting a discussion with a turn-taking structure, where each team member is invited to contribute without interruption.
And if you are on a time crunch, there can be a time limit per person. what's [00:30:30] really important here is that everybody. Has a turn if they would like to share. They don't have to. They can pass, but everyone has a turn to share without interruption. you can ask a question, raise a topic, go around the team members.
this helps ensure that everyone who would like to share has equal opportunity to do so without having to navigate jumping into an overlapping conversation. And what I find when I implement this People [00:31:00] who weren't contributing as much in other meeting formats, share fantastic ideas and feel more connected with the team.
we get a broader range of ideas because everybody can share before we open it up. you can still open it up to discussion afterwards to build on the ideas and connect with each other, but That initial practice of giving everybody some space has benefits for the meeting, for team connection, for creativity, and, generating more ideas.[00:31:30] 
Listening to you, it's like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. you go around every person and ask them, but. We don't do it, it's just Okay, good. We got a solution. I think we just hit the whack-a-mole. We can, we can all get outta this meeting now. And, and three people never got to contribute and probably had a better idea.
I could go on for about another five hours with you, but how do our listeners get more of you, Falisha, and follow you, connect with you? what's the best basis for that? I've got a few [00:32:00] ways that we can connect, LinkedIn, Instagram, or my newsletter, brain Science for better workplaces. maybe we can put those links, in the description and I'd be very happy to connect with any of you.
please feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat more about brains. thank you. Shout out to Nina Na Doley, our mutual friend and previous, guest here that, that suggested you. so glad we got to meet I've already learned so much from you, Falisha, it's just these reminders of like, it's okay.
We're, we're, we're just hardwired [00:32:30] like this. We've been conditioned this way and We can make changes. We can build workplaces that align with how our brain functions. Thank you, Falisha. I appreciate you coming on the show. My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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In manufacturing, it often feels like nothing matters more than performance. Leaders are told to hit their targets, keep the line running, and solve problems as quickly as possible. But performance alone rarely drives real career growth. If you want to advance in manufacturing leadership, it's time to place more emphasis on visibility, curiosity, communication skills, and building stronger relationships.

In this episode, Susan M. Barber, a former Fortune 500 leader with more than 25 years of experience at Kraft Heinz, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, authentic leadership, and career development for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Susan is also the author of The Visibility Factor: Break Through Your Fears, Stand in Your Own Power, and Become the Authentic Leader You Were Meant To Be. She helps leaders build authentic visibility, overcome imposter syndrome, and close the gap between performance and recognition.

In this conversation, Susan offers a behind-the-scenes look at key lessons from The Visibility Factor, along with practical stories and strategies manufacturing leaders can use to strengthen communication skills, improve trust building, and increase employee engagement on the shop floor. You'll learn how curiosity-driven conversations, authentic leadership, and relationship-building directly impact career growth, workforce retention, and long-term performance in manufacturing environments facing labor shortages and skills gaps.

1:40 – Performance matters in manufacturing, but career growth depends on more than just shop floor results 
5:15 – Voice matters in leadership meetings
7:10 – Thoughtful questions are a powerful way for manufacturing leaders to build credibility and influence
10:45 – Louder voices often gain exposure over quiet high performers
12:55 - Leaders must go beyond their job descriptions to demonstrate readiness for the next level in manufacturing
15:05 - Trust, relationships, and visibility all play a role in how promotion decisions are made
16:55 - Ask  for what you want and "do the job to get the job" before the title arrives
19:05  - The 10–30–60 framework highlights how performance, image, and exposure drive career success
22:45 – Psychological safety, authenticity, and confidence are key factors in leadership visibility
25:40 – By reflecting on past visibility successes and missed opportunities, leaders can understand what holds them back

Connect with Susan M. Barber

Visit her website
Connect on LinkedIn
Find her on Instagram and YouTube

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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Welcome back to Kathy Miller, Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame member and former leader at General Motors, Delphi, and Rolls-Royce. She is the author of MORE Is Better, which provides practical frameworks for frontline plant leaders.

In this episode, Kathy shares insights on manufacturing leadership, employee engagement, and operational excellence for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors. Drawing on her background in applied positive psychology and real-world plant leadership, she explains how leaders can strengthen manufacturing culture, improve trust, and boost productivity without adding complexity.

You'll walk away with practical tools to improve accountability, reduce burnout, and build stronger teams on the shop floor.

1:22 – Representation and diversity strengthens manufacturing culture
3:02 – Positive psychology research is a valuable tool for frontline supervisors, plant managers, and shop floor leadership teams
5:03 – Strengthen manufacturing relationships through creative safety leadership and by supporting accountability without blame
7:22 – Authenticity improves team engagement and manufacturing retention, especially in high-stress environments
08:20 - Transitioning teams from command-and-control to inclusive lean leadership is essential for creating a continuous improvement culture
12:36 - Helping employees find meaning boosts employee engagement and manufacturing retention.
15:56 – Putting curiosity over compliances helps leaders avoid punitive approaches and improves performance conversations on the floor
21:15 – Creating psychological safety encourages employees to speak up early, which fuels continuous improvement culture and operational excellence
22:56 - Finding a balance between realistic optimism and toxic positivity is essential for credible manufacturing communication and decision-making
24:41 – Relationships are the core foundation of manufacturing teamwork
26:22 – Your mindset shapes manufacturing relationships and every interaction on the plant floor
28:37 – Active listening is one of the most effective tools for better coaching in manufacturing.

Connect with Kathy Miller
Visit her website and check out the MORE Mentor resources 
Connect on LinkedIn 
Buy MORE Is Better
Listen to her previous podcast episode 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Strong manufacturing leadership isn't just about process improvement or hitting production targets. It's about how we show up for people on the shop floor. And real leadership growth often starts with leaning into discomfort.

In this episode, Reggie Davis, founder of UpLift Coaching and Consulting and author of Better Together: Embracing the Discomfort of Difference, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and team engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Reggie explains how tough conversations strengthen manufacturing culture, improve employee retention, and build trust on the shop floor. You'll learn practical strategies for coaching in manufacturing, creating psychological safety, and developing frontline leadership habits that drive both accountability and performance.

From plant managers to supervisors, anyone responsible for production leadership or safety culture will walk away with new tools to improve communication, foster ownership, and build stronger teams.

1:15 – Inclusive leadership and authentic communication improves teamwork, safety, and innovation
3:21 – Discomfort can be a valuable tool for growth
4:33 – Better people create better parts
5:19 – Great leaders focus on results and relationships 
6:22 – When you welcome diverse perspectives, you drive teamwork and improve your processes 
8:09 – For better conversations, replace "why" with "tell me more."
13:50 – Be aware of how everyday language impacts morale and inclusion on the plant floor
17:30 – Invest in your people through coaching, frontline leadership, and communication training
19:31 – Stay focused on growth, even when the path is uncomfortable 
20:40 – Conversations and self-awareness are key to sustainable manufacturing innovation 
22:06 – To drive continuous improvement culture, lead with humility and openness 
26:39 – Always remember the human side of manufacturing excellence to build trust, reduce turnover, and create a stronger sense of belonging across teams

Connect with Reggie Davis
More about UpLift Coaching and Consulting
Buy his book

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

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Are you leading like a thermometer or a thermostat?

If you find yourself reacting to problems instead of setting the tone for your team, you may be acting like a thermometer. With the right mindset, you can become a thermostatic leader who creates stability, clarity, and accountability on the shop floor.

In this episode, Sheri Miller Holt, author of Thermostatic Leadership: The Quiet Power of Creating Balance and Influence, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Sheri explains how thermostatic leadership helps manufacturing leaders balance firmness with compassion, strengthen trust, and build shared accountability. You'll learn practical strategies to improve manufacturing culture, develop frontline leadership habits, and create workplaces where people feel supported, engaged, and motivated to perform.

2:20 - Leaders must decide whether they simply react like a thermometer or adjust and influence like a thermostat.
4:00 - Thermostatic leaders empathize, mobilize, and shift the energy in a room toward positive outcomes
6:50 - Real organizational change begins when leaders change their own behaviors and mindsets
8:30 - Leaders should remove barriers that prevent people from performing at their best
10:50 - The biggest obstacle to better leadership is simplicity — people think it has to be more complex than it really is
11:30 - Knowing your team personally builds trust and motivation
12:40 – Sheri's Dr. GRAK framework focuses on shared results, resources, accountability, and agreed-upon consequences
14:20 - Both leaders and their teams should share outcomes, both good and bad
16:30 - When people understand shared consequences, they self-manage and become more invested in team success
22:40 – Shift your "you" statements to "I" statements to avoid accusations and foster empathy 
24:50 - Compassionate leadership doesn't weaken accountability — it deepens it. When people feel cared for, they perform better and take ownership

Connect with Sheri Holt
Find her on LinkedIn and Facebook
Buy her book 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Change can be uncomfortable — but learning how to navigate uncertainty is essential for manufacturing leaders who want to grow their mindset, lead with intention, and show up stronger for their teams.

In this episode, Anne Bonney, certified speaking professional, leadership expert, and TEDx speaker, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, resilience, and communication skills for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Anne breaks down the psychology of change and explains how leaders can shift from panic to curiosity, manage fear of the unknown, and better understand how the brain reacts to disruption. You'll learn practical strategies to improve employee engagement, strengthen trust, and lead more effectively through uncertainty on the shop floor.

2:10 – Our brains react to uncertainty by triggering fear in the amygdala, but we can contradict this by shifting our thinking into the prefrontal cortex
5:35 – To cultivate curiosity and self-awareness, leaders need to embrace discomfort and aversion
7:30 – Practice getting out of your comfort zone with small, low-risk actions
10:00 – In moments of stress or uncertainty, take a pause
12:45 – With trust-based leadership, you can attract and retain Gen Z talent
16:20 – Gen Z thinks differently than other generations, so you may need to shift your thinking to meet their needs
19:15 – In times of changes, leaders need to be self-aware
21:30 – You must model the behavior you want to see in your team

Connect with Anne Bonney
Visit her website
Listen to her podcast
Listen to her Tedx Talk
Connect on LinkedIn 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

If you want to change your results, you need to change your approach.

In this episode, Maggie Harlow, co-owner of Signarama Downtown in Louisville, Kentucky, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, problem-solving, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Drawing from her experience in custom sign manufacturing, Maggie explains what it really takes to balance quality, speed, and culture in a high-mix, low-volume environment. You'll hear practical strategies for improving communication skills, building trust, and leading with curiosity — while maintaining accountability and performance on the shop floor.

3:06 – In high-stress environments, creativity and craftsmanship keep people engaged
6:08 – It is important to have communications between all departments 
7:00 – When systemic issues occur, remember that it may be a focus issue, not a people problem
8:14 – Quality is the most important thing
9:17 – As a leader, if you want something to improve or change, you need to bring it to your team's attention
10:28 – When leadership is present on the shop floor, it shifts perception
11:41 – To get sales and production to truly collaborate, you may need a cultural shift
13:09 – To find healthy balances between departments, have honest conversations 
14:35 – Focus on ownership, not blame
15:26 – When breakdowns occur, it's often because team members don't understand each other's realities 
17:44 – Give your team space to try, fail, and grow within safe boundaries 
20:00 – For honest problem-solving, assume everyone is doing their best

Connect with Maggie Harlow
Find her on LinkedIn
Visit her speaking website
Learn more about Signarama Downtown

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

anaging a multigenerational workforce baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z,can feel challenging, but building trust and engagement across all generations is possible.

In this episode, Michelle McCullough, nationally recognized speaker and workplace culture expert, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, employee engagement, and retention for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Michelle offers key research on how trust, support, and human connection transform retention and performance on the shop floor. You'll learn practical tools to improve communication, foster a resilient culture, and lead teams that feel valued and motivated regardless of generation.

2:50 – Emotional intelligence is especially important in a high-pressure industry like manufacturing
4:10 – Gen Z crave connection, purpose, and mental well-being in the workplace
6:30 – Older generations tend to prioritize stability, while younger generations want social connection
8:00 – When employees understand the impact of their work, they feel more connected and motivated 
9:50 – Show an interest in your team member's lives outside of work
11:00 – Understand that different generations have different motivations 
21:00 – Team building exercises can improve cohesion and morale
23:10 – Happiness and resilience training can improve mental health and team connection
24:15 – You should also understanding gender gaps in the workplace 
27:50 - When trust is broken, it can be rebuilt through intentional actions like growth, vulnerability, and transparent communication.
29:00 -  Employees are more likely to stay and be engaged when they feel supported and understood by their leaders.

Connect with Michelle McCullough
Visit her website
Follow @SpeakMichelle on social media

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

When you're dealing with disengagement or low morale on the manufacturing floor, a motivated team can feel like a myth. But with the right leadership mindset and workplace culture, you can improve engagement, productivity, and performance.

In this episode, Jim Pancero,sales and leadership coach with over 40 years of experience working with manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution teams shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Jim explains what truly motivates teams and how positive communication, trust building, and clear expectations drive retention and accountability. You'll learn practical strategies to reduce negativity, strengthen culture, and create a manufacturing environment where people want to show up and perform at their best.

1:43 – You can't always motivate people, but you can create an environment for self-motivation
3:30 – Build self-worth, recognize contributions, and create a culture where people are comfortable to engage
6:23 – Offering meaningful benefits can drive retention and a sense of belonging 
8:15 – The balance between positive and negative feedback directly influences motivation
12:27 – When you focus on problems rather than solutions, it hurts motivation
14:48 – Through positive affirmations, you shift the tone and drive a positive environment 
18:03 – Immersive onboarding helps new team members foster connection and builds empathy across teams
19:32 – Be curious and separate system issues from personal blame in your daily plant operations 

Connect with Jim Pancero
Connect on LinkedIn
Visit his websites at https://pancero.com/ or https://www.advancedsalesuniversity.com/ 
Find his videos on YouTube

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Do you want drive results, retain your team, and create a culture where people show up and stick around? Then it's time to embrace the art of powerful questions! Through curious questions and intentional conversations, you can change the way people think and work.

Learn more in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with guest Chad Littlefield, a TEDx speaker, bestselling author, and the creator of We! Connect cards, which help leaders ask powerful questions and cultivate deeper conversations. Chad shares stories that highlight the power of questions, unpacks the struggles many leaders face when it comes to genuine dialogue, and offers actionable tips for using curiosity and intention to engage your team. If you're ready to learn how to drive better results, ask stronger questions, and build a workplace where people want to stay and grow, you won't want to miss this conversation.

1:02 – In manufacturing, we often struggle with creating genuine conversations 
2:18 – Intentional plays a critical role in building safe conversations
4:17 – When initiative is met with gratitude, it can lead to long-term loyalty and promotion
8:14 – Expressing intentions directly creates clarity and stronger connections
14:40 – People want to work, they just don't want to work for someone who doesn't care about them
16:35 – Leadership at the top influencers your entire organization 
17:59 – Ask the second question to take a conversation to a deeper level
21:20 – Use open-ended questions to deepen reflection and learning 

Connect with Chad Littlefield
Watch his videos on YouTube
Visit his website and find free resources 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Are you ready to handle a crisis at your manufacturing plant? This episode focuses on crisis communication and how leaders can stay calm, clear, and effective under pressure.

In this episode, Angela Billings, a strategic communication professional with more than 20 years of experience in the Air Force, including during September 11 while stationed at the Pentagon, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and resilience for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Angela explains how strong crisis communication improves employee engagement, trust building, and team performance. She shares real world lessons on proactive planning, clear messaging, and empowering frontline teams so leaders can reduce uncertainty, strengthen accountability, and protect manufacturing culture during high stress situations.

You will walk away with practical strategies to improve leadership presence, support your people, and confidently guide your plant through disruption.

1:00 – In any field, you need to anticipate crisis and be prepared to manage and own them
6:46 – Having a chain of command and clear communication channels are crucial for effective crisis management 
9:12 –The proactive connection of supervisory teams is essential to crisis management 
10:14 – To prepare, do tabletop exercises to act out likely and worst-case scenarios 
12:04 – All employees should act as ambassadors for their organization 
15:05 – Media training can be a strong tool for employees at all levels, not just executives 
16:03 – To safeguard your brand, own your stories
17:32 – Even everyday issues need transparent communications 
19:30 – Consider the role of public communications channels 
21:21 – Apply the same urgency to communications that you do to everyday production challenges on the floor

Connect with Angela Billings
Visit her website
Learn more about Command the Crisis
Find her on LinkedIn 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

In modern manufacturing, employees want more than just a paycheck. To feel engaged and perform at their best, they need to believe they are part of something bigger. If you want to improve employee retention, productivity, and team performance, you must transform the way you communicate and connect with your people.

In this episode, David Sermersheim, team leader, public speaker, and founder of Celebrate Audio, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, communication skills, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

David explains how storytelling and curiosity strengthen trust building, improve culture, and increase accountability on the shop floor. You will learn practical strategies to use stories as a leadership tool, build stronger relationships, and create a manufacturing environment where people feel valued, motivated, and committed to shared results.

1:33 – Through personal and professional commitment, you can transfer customer-focused strategies to employee-focused leadership
2:51 – Autonomy plays a key role in employee retention rates
6:22 – There are many creative ways to connect with remote team members, like starting a podcast
7:35 – During new hire orientations, embed core company values and the "why" behind your organization
10:35 – Employees need to connect with something beyond just your mission statement 
11:51 – Make sure your job postings reflect your organization's value and purposes
13:18 – Connect orientation, behaviors, and metrics to your organization's core values
13:53 – Quarterly reviews and structured feedback sessions can improve job satisfaction 
18:20 360-degree feedback is important for self-awareness and leadership
22:02 – Be genuinely interested in the people you lead and take the time to understand everyone's unique story

Connect with David Semersheim
Learn more about Celebrate Audio
Email David at david@celebrateaudio.com 

Welcome to Manufacturing Greatness with Trevor Blondeel, where we work with organizations to manufacture greatness by leveraging resources you already have to achieve greater retention, productivity, and profits. To learn more, visit www.manufacturinggreatness.com and click here to subscribe to Trevor's monthly newsletter.

Now, let's jump in!

Are you tapping into your team's full potential?

As manufacturing continues to evolve, many leaders are searching for better ways to improve employee engagement, drive productivity, and build a culture where people feel motivated to perform.

In this episode, Christopher Santomassimo, lawyer and founding partner of Outside General Counsel Solutions, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, accountability, and workforce engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, and Shift Supervisors.

Drawing on more than 30 years of legal experience, Chris explains how transparent accountability strengthens trust building, supports retention, and helps leaders address personnel challenges. You will learn practical strategies for improving communication skills, fostering ownership, and unlocking the potential of your current workforce even as labor shortages and skills gaps continue to impact manufacturing.

2:30 – When companies hold people accountable in a transparent and uplifting way, they tend to see higher engagement and productivity 
2:58 – Accountability is about building trust and team spirit through setting clear goals and expectations 
7:10 – By listening to employees and celebrating their contributions, you can boost morale and retention
11:52 – Transparency fosters ownership and reduces negative incidents, like HR issues
14:47 – When employees feel like they're part of a team, it drives productivity and lessens workplace conflicts
16:37 – Accountability is about coaching and support, not penalization 
19:40 – For long-term improvement, you need consistent practices at all levels of your organization

Connect with Christopher Santomassimo
Listen to his Podcast
Connect on LinkedIn
Learn More About OGC Solutions