Jun 17, 2020
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!
Enjoy part 2 and pick up where we left off on episode 14!
- 1:12 Do something small. Horst talks about being a Plant Manager and you are behind financially and on resources, do something small, take a small step and this is not expensive and is better than doing nothing.
- 2:59 You can’t be a spreadsheet manager. You can’t drive results from a spreadsheet, you have to help people hands on and be an inspired manager and help build the teams. I cannot promise anyone it is easy, in manufacturing as a leader it is challenging but very rewarding.
- 4:26 How did you manage your ego? Scott explains they helped each other keep it in check, talking and having frank discussions. Even though he is my boss I had to more than once have a heart to heart and kick each other in the butt. It goes back to our relationship and having different skills, we could move mountains and we did. Horst talks about bringing some ice cubes and cooling down, honesty and saying what you need to say.
- 7:40 A lot of it is around empathy. Scott tells a story about Horst. Horst didn’t get angry much but when he did we knew it and we called it, “you used to lose your lips” your lips would tremble, we would talk about it and joke about it but that was always a cue for us and we would refocus. It’s your job as a team to tell the leader when he is losing his lips or becoming angry, or driving off the cliff, if the leader is open minded and mindful, they will listen. This is key to a collaborative environment.
- 13:23 Alignment. Horst talks about alignment and you as a leader being aligned with the organization, shareholders and your boss that's basically ownership. If you are not you will eventually run into trouble. This applies for everybody. I would also focus on work life balance; I was mostly working so I would do that differently. Scott talks about work life balance and his experiences with this.
- 15:40 What is important for you? Horst discusses the importance of each of us truly knowing what is important to us “The purpose of life is happiness” so you should ask yourself are you happy? If you are not you should change it, it’s your life! Do what make you happy!
- 19:54 Go slow to go fast. Sometimes you need to slow down and consciously make good decisions. Horst shares his experiences on the importance of stepping back when under stress, step away and make good choices. Most of the time we don't need to react right away, get all the facts and then make the move. You have to “Go slow to go fast”!
- 24:10 The 3-legged stool. Horst explains his vision and the analogy of “The 3-legged stool”. We used this analogy of having 3 parts of your business, your customer, investor and people. It’s important that all 3 legs are successful and to focus on each of them. One can be very strong but if the other legs are shorter or not as strong than your business is not balanced. Each of them needs attention and balance. The bottom line is you need a balanced business. There will be times when one leg is stronger or shorter but over time the responsibility of the Manager is to balance these. This applies to any business.
- 31:04 What are you guys doing now? Horst and Scott talk about their lives today and what each of them are busy at and enjoy doing.
If you would like to learn more about Horst and his daughters business, check it out at https://dancingspirittours.com/.