Getting a taste for what it was like to work toward a clear purpose offered a feeling I hadn’t really experienced elsewhere in my work life. Seeing the direct impact I could have on someone else’s career, and how that impacted their entire life, by sharing things I had learned that...
After nearly two decades with the same company, and most of that in one facility, I knew just about everyone I worked with daily on a first name basis. I also knew many of their family members and a fair amount about what the majority of them enjoyed doing during the little bit of time they had...
After more than a decade of leading the behavior-based safety process in my home facility, supporting other plants across North America with their processes, having a hand in other various Lean Manufacturing initiatives, and helping out with multiple human resource functions, I had the...
While doing all I could to fulfill my responsibility in the Lean Manufacturing process rollout, I stayed very involved in the behavior-based safety process I was a part of while I was still operating a press. In this role though, I was able to be more hands-on in supporting the new process...
Building purpose into any career path we help a team member pursue can provide a tremendous amount of fulfillment - for them and for us! Over time, the work we do to delegate tasks that provide them with exposure and build their overall skill set will also help us use our own time more...
Suggesting that I interview for a different position at least once each year was just one of things Kevin did to actively help me grow and move closer to achieving a purpose that mattered to me during the time he and I worked together on decreasing the safety hazards throughout the entire...
When we recognize and understand the purpose that drives each of our team members, and we’ve been able to determine how they’re most interested in working to achieve, the work we can do as leaders to help them in that process can become as rewarding as nearly anything else we do! I...
Helping our team members achieve real work/life harmony, rather than chasing the illusion of balance, by empowering them to work toward a meaningful purpose of their own will go a long way toward earning positive answers to each of the questions we just looked at. Keeping their purpose in front...
If empowering our team members requires a significant change in our approach, as compared to what they’re used to seeing from us, we’ll likely receive some curious looks and even some resistance - at least at first. We recently heard an example detailing exactly that as we kicked off...
I’ll say it once more, just in case you’ve drifted off… Leading a team effectively is hard! And so is being a great team member, staying engaged and working toward the organization’s goals and purpose. Just like having a clear purpose helps fuel those of us who have...
In a lesson I wrote several years ago, I referenced something I had first read in The Servant by James Hunter, suggesting that servant leadership requires the individual leading to determine what they’re team members truly need in order to best serve them. This falls right in line with what...
John sharing the perspective on work/life harmony - rather than work/life balance - opened up a whole new world to me. Working hard, and working a lot, wasn’t something I should be ashamed of. And I wasn’t putting myself at risk of burnout, like far too many people suggest as the...
