Building the Leaders of Tomorrow Through Succession Planning
Release Date: 02/06/2025
Jan Rivkin of Harvard on the Barry-Wehmiller Case Study, Layoffs and Teaching Leadership
Truly Human Leadership
Over the years, we’ve talked about the Harvard Case Study that was written about Barry-Wehmiller in 2016. It’s a best seller, taught in over 200 universities to more than 30,000 students. On an earlier podcast, we talked to the authors of the case study, one of which is our guest today, Harvard Professor Jan Rivkin. The earlier episode kind of dealt with the how and why the case study was written, but on this episode, we want to go a little deeper. The Harvard Case Study of Barry-Wehmiller deals with layoffs, a subject that is very prominent in people’s minds today. So, on today’s...
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Aaron Witt, Building a Better Dirt World
Truly Human Leadership
Aaron Witt started his career as a kid who loved construction. But over the years, he’s built something bigger than he could have ever envisioned to support the industry he loves. Aaron is the founder of Build Witt. You can find out more about them at buildwitt.com and Aaron has his own website at aaron-witt.com. Build Witt is a company that creates microlearning software for the critical infrastructure industries, they operate the online community Connect and they host the Ariat Dirt World Summit. BW Chairman Bob Chapman was actually a speaker at the first Dirt World Summit. Aaron invited...
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Simon Sinek and Bob Chapman, An Experiment in Humanity
Truly Human Leadership
A few months ago, our friend Simon Sinek visited our BW Papersystems location in Phillips, WI to record an episode of his "A Bit of Optimism" podcast with Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman. It wasn’t the first time Simon had been to Phillips, WI, as you’ll soon hear, and for his podcast, Simon not only wanted to talk to his good friend Bob, but other BW teammates in Phillips, some he had met almost 15 years ago. That episode of Simon’s podcast is out now. I highly encourage you to listen to it or watch the video version on You Tube, which is almost a mini documentary. You can find...
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Randall Fleming and the Power of Caring in the Workplace
Truly Human Leadership
You may have heard Simon Sinek's recent "A Bit of Optimism" podcast that featured Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and a number of BW team member from our BW Papersystems company in Phillips, WI. One particular team member that was interviewed was Randall Fleming, who was a welder when we aquired (or adopted) Marquip, the company that would become BW Papersystems. While presenting our message of Truly Human Leadership, our CEO Bob Chapman is often asked: What about the people who don't get it? What about the people who actively work against positive change? Barry-Wehmiller has...
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Jason Lippert, President & CEO of Lippert Components
Truly Human Leadership
This week, we are celebrating the release of the new revised and expanded edition of , Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia’s book on Bob and Barry-Wehmiller’s journey to Truly Human Leadership. On today’s podcast, we want to share a story of Bob and the book’s impact on one particular leader. Jason Lippert is the President and CEO of , a global supplier of a broad array of highly engineered components for the leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, automobiles, watercraft and prefab homes. They also operate in adjacent markets, including hospitality,...
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Bob Chapman and Kyle Chapman, a Legacy of Leadership
Truly Human Leadership
This past week signaled a major milestone in the history of our company. We announced that Kyle Chapman is now CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, in addition to his existing role as President. His father, Bob Chapman, who has served as CEO since 1975, will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board. Barry-Wehmiller has been led by a Chapman since 1957, when William A. Chapman, Bob’s dad, became President after joining Barry-Wehmiller four years prior. It’s a very exciting time for us here at Barry-Wehmiller. And to celebrate this moment, on this podcast we bring you a conversation between Bob and...
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Love as a Business and Change Strategy with Mohammad Anwar of Softway
Truly Human Leadership
We told you in the last episode about the new revised and expanded edition of our CEO, Bob Chapman’s book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, which will be out Oct 21. Learn more about it at everybodymattersbook.com. If you read the original version, you know it’s a story of transformation. It’s about a leader who realized there was a better way to lead that was different than everything he was taught and thought he was supposed to do. And how his company changed because of those realizations and why others should change as well. On our...
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Bob Chapman & Raj Sisodia Discuss the 10th Anniversary Revised and Expanded Edition of Everybody Matters
Truly Human Leadership
If you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you’ve probably heard of Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia’s book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Treating Your People Like Family. Well, I’m pleased to be able to finally tell this audience that a revised and expanded version of this seminal book will be released Oct. 21. It has 75 extra pages, catching readers up to Bob and Barry-Wehmiller’s journey since Everybody Matters was originally released ten years ago. There are many new stories and insights that point to the thing we say at the top of each podcast: The way we lead...
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Unleash Your Team w/ Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute
Truly Human Leadership
BW CEO Bob Chapman often tells a story about meeting Steve Jones, who was formerly a high school football coach at Kimberly High School in Kimberly, WI. Steve led his teams to five consecutive state titles from 2013-2017 with an incredible run of 70 consecutive victories, a Wisconsin state record. With those impressive credentials, Bob asked Steve what he taught his players about winning and losing. Steve said they didn’t. He said that they teach them to play their position well for their fellow team members. Do it as an act of respect for their fellow team members. He said, “When people...
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The Changing Landscape of Leadership w/ Jane Adshead-Grant
Truly Human Leadership
Our friend Jane Adshead-Grant says this is key in furthering our hope to build a better world: "As we begin to share the message of what it means to be a Truly Human Leader, to take the responsibility of leadership and be this great steward of people who have been entrusted to us… What I see, time and time again is that there are few role models that enable our future generations to be this way. And so, for me, it’s about how do we role model this way of being in the world? And it isn’t just at work, you know, it’s how we show up in every day life." We are fortunate to have Jane as one...
info_outlineWe’ve all heard about those organizations who have a dynamic and powerful leader who brings everything to new heights of success and notoriety. But then, when the times comes where that leader moves on, things are never quite the same. Other able and competent leaders left because they never received an opportunity to grow and use their gifts because the organization so relied on that one dynamic leader. So, after his departure, the organization flounders, or worse, ceases to exist.
This is a scenario that Barry-Wehmiller has seen a time or two in our history of acquiring or, as we say, adopted companies and brought them into our family to hopefully give them new life.
One of the most caring acts of leadership and one of its greatest responsibilities is to provide a safe and stable living for those people who are in our organizations, who are within our span of care. That’s why the subject of today’s podcast is so important. We’re going to talk about succession planning, or strategic workforce planning. You may think you understand what that means, but after this discussion, you’ll truly understand why it should be a high priority of caring organizations.
Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people. Succession planning is at the heart of what Chapman & Co. does, helping those organizations identify, develop, and equip their leaders.
Today’s discussion features three Industrial Organizational Psycologists from Chapman & Co. — Melinda Bremley, Andrea Cornelius and Jenny Morton Eagen — and is moderated by Chapman & Co’s Jessie Turner.
As Melinda says during the discussion, "Succession planning requires people to stop and think more strategically about 'what are we looking for, what is needed now, what is needed in the future.' And that front-end piece of the process really is kind of the game changer for having a more strategic mindset."