91 Connecting the Leadership Locomotive with Jason A. Hunt
Release Date: 05/17/2023
151 You Think People Don't Want to Work in Manufacturing? You're Asking the Wrong Questions with Chad Littlefield
Mindfulness Manufacturing
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...
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150 Lessons from the Pentagon: Commanding Our Chaos with Angela Billings
Mindfulness Manufacturing
Are you ready to handle a crisis at your manufacturing plant? Find out in this episode, which is all about crisis communication and how to lead under pressure. This episode’s guest in Angela Billings, a seasoned strategic communication with over 20 years of experience in the Air Force—including during September 11th, when she was stationed at the Pentagon. She is also the author of Command the Crisis: Navigate Chaos with Battle-Tested Public Relations and Communication Strategies. Angela shares gripping stories from her career and firsthand experience at the Pentagon, plus offers...
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149 No Manual for Leadership: Building Loyalty, One Story at a Time with David Semersheim
Mindfulness Manufacturing
In modern manufacturing, many employees want more than just a paycheck—to truly feel engaged and show up as their best selves at work, they need to feel like they’re part of something bigger. This means that if you really want to build momentum, drive greater results, and find higher employee retention rates, you need to transform the way you interact with your team. How do you do this? It all starts with curiosity and storytelling! I recently spoke with a storytelling expert: David Sermersheim, a seasoned team leader, public speaker, and the founder of Celebrate Audio, a podcasting...
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148 Keep Talent, Crush Risks: The Power of Transparent Accountability with Christopher Santomassimo
Mindfulness Manufacturing
Are you tapping into your team’s full potential? As the manufacturing industry continues to grow, many leaders find themselves searching for ways to engage their teams, drive productivity, and create a culture where everyone shows up ready to reach their full potential. In this episode, learn more with Christopher Santomassimo, a lawyer and founding partner of Outside General Counsel (OGC) Solutions. With OGC Solutions, Chris assists companies with a wide range of legal and business issues, from employment claims to compliance counseling. With over 30 years of legal experience, Chris has...
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147 You Are Not a Machine: Leading with Energy That Lasts with Kathy Oneto
Mindfulness Manufacturing
In manufacturing, we’re all about meeting goals, staying productive, and keeping up with new and ever-changing technology and machinery. If you’re a busy manufacturing leader, it might feel impossible to balance your goals and your role in your plant with setting boundaries, prioritizing your energy, and avoiding burn-out. But there is a way to create a sustainable path toward your goals—and you can find out more in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing with guest Kathy Oneto. Kathy is a consultant, advisor, facilitator, and executive coach, who shares powerful lessons on how...
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146 Manufacturing with Meaning: How Vision Motivates Results
Mindfulness Manufacturing
In manufacturing, it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day production numbers, KPIs, and hitting targets. But what about the bigger picture? How do we inspire our teams to not only do great work, but to actually want to be part of something greater? In this new episode with guest Simon Vetter, we dive deep into an overlooked-yet-powerful aspect of manufacturing leaderships: vision. Simon is a Vision Architect, executive coach, and speaker who helps leaders cultivate vision-driven, engaging environments. He’s also one of the authors of Leading with Vision: The Leader’s Blueprint for...
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145 Big Freakin' Change: Leading Manufacturing Through Uncertainty with Cara Moeller Poppitt
Mindfulness Manufacturing
Modern manufacturing leaders are currently facing unprecedented shifts, from tariffs and labor shortages to rapidly evolving new technologies. In the words of recent Mindfulness Manufacturing guest Cara Moeller Poppitt, manufacturing is seeing some “big freakin'’ change!” As the founder of two award-winning companies, Cara ranks among the top 2% of all female entrepreneurs. Through her speaking and coaching, she now guides thousands of other business leaders toward unlocking their full potential, breaking down barriers, and taking bold action to achieve their highest aspirations....
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144 From the Casino to the Factory Floor: How to Play to Win with Joel Block
Mindfulness Manufacturing
What does successful manufacturing leadership have in common with winning big at the casino? It’s all about being an advantage player! In this episode, guest Joel Block breaks down the strategies you need to win big, whether you’re at the casino or on the manufacturing floor. Joel is a former professional blackjack player, who later took his talents to Wall Street to work in venture capital and hedge funds. He’s a dealmaker, strategist, and trusted advisor who helps others grow the mindset they need to outpace the competition and win the game. In this episode, Joel shares unique stories...
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143 Beyond the Hammer: Transforming Manufacturing Leadership with Brian Gottleib
Mindfulness Manufacturing
In manufacturing, many leaders try to use the same tools to address different problems. But just like a hammer won’t work for all projects around your house, your routine leadership approach might not work for all your team members. This means you need to go “beyond the hammer” and find ways to have deeper interactions with your team. The hammer analogy comes from Beyond the Hammer: A Fresh Approach to Leadership, Culture, and Building High Performance Teams by Brian Gottleib. In this episode, Brian shares more about the lessons and insights in Beyond the Hammer, plus offers actionable...
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142 HR Partnerships in Executive Coaching with Kristin Rivait and Joe Carrothers
Mindfulness Manufacturing
When there’s a leadership shift in a manufacturing organization it leads to major change—and brings its own unique challenges like new team dynamics, cultural shifts, and general growing pains. With the right approach, a change in leadership can also lead to valuable opportunities for growth. Just ask Joe Carrothers and Kristin Rivait from SWT Group. Joe is the president of SWT Group who moved from being the CFO to being the president of the organization, and Kristin is SWT Group’s HR director who worked closely with Joe during this unique leadership transition. In this story-filled...
info_outlineIf the front isn’t connected to the caboose, a train won’t stay on the rails for very long! The same idea applies to manufacturing: if top-level leadership isn’t connected to the shop floor, there’s bound to be miscommunications, productivity breakdowns, and more. What can leaders do to keep the leadership locomotive running smoothly? Find out in this episode with Jason A. Hunt. With a background in both education and manufacturing, Jason is full of great stories about why connection plays a critical role in problem-solving. He also shares his tips on how leaders can use skills like delegation to help their teams solve problems and develop their critical thinking.
3:17 – When you’re a leader, it’s all too easy to set out to solve one problem, then get distracted by another problem and forget to solve the first issue
4:53 – Many leaders believe they have to have the answer to every problem, and feel like always having the answers is part of their job or what makes them important as a leader
5:58 – By always solving problems, leaders may actually be taking away valuable opportunities for their team members to learn, grow, and develop their own problem-solving skills
7:33 – Delegating can mean the difference between losing three minutes or losing three hours
9:36 – When you ask people to solve their own problems, they may pushback or be upset at first, but it’s a valuable opportunity for them to learn how to think critically and come up with their own solutions
15:12 – Leadership is about far more than your title, your knowledge, and your ability to manage others
16:08 – If the front of a train is moving ahead without connecting with the other boxcars, it’s not going to get to its destination
18:15 – Instead of solely focusing on KPIs or getting your products out the door, think about what you can do to connect with your team and really develop your relationships
21:29 Turn This Ship Around by L. David Marquet is a good resource for leaders
23:23 – To build better connections, shift your mindset and spend more time thinking about how you can build relationships with others
Connect with Jason A. Hunt
Connect with Jason on LinkedIn
My book review of Turn This Ship Around