What makes you perceive that one manufacturing business is stronger, more resilient, or more successful than the next?
You could argue that it’s their investment in technology. Perhaps their sales ability. Maybe their operational processes?
Excellence in any of these areas would certainly make any manufacturing business stand out. To be truly great, however, you need something more than these specific attributes alone. If you really think about it, each of these traits has something in common. To excel in any of these areas, your company needs a strong and unified team of Manufacturing Leaders.
The shop floor is a busy and dynamic place. One where machinery, processes, and human talent come together to serve customers and make the business successful. The old adage “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” certainly rings true in manufacturing teams, where leadership at all areas of the organizational hierarchy plays a pivotal role in moving the business forward.
What separates shops that make it big from those that don’t is the ability to develop a leadership team beyond the business owner. Founders and Owners eventually reach a ceiling where they become spread too thin to continue growing the business beyond a certain size.
There’s just too much going on for only one or two people to stay on top of it all. This is where it becomes crucially important to build a cohesive leadership team in order to realize the company’s vision on a larger scale.
Manufacturing Leaders Work Together To Get Stuff Done.
Not everyone realizes it, but this is the era of teamwork in Manufacturing.
And yet, too often we focus primarily on individual and technical skills, rather than leadership traits, during the hiring process. There needs to be a better balance. Manufacturers who want to achieve new heights need to strategically build a cohesive and unified leadership team that can move the business forward.
Effective leaders in manufacturing have a unique ability to connect the team with the daily tasks that, when executed with precision, achieve the overarching goals of the organization. Need that for your business too? The journey begins with assembling a leadership team of rock stars with complementary skills.
Finding Leaders with Complementary Strengths.
What defines a “Manufacturing Leader” might look different from business to business. Perhaps they are people managers, senior-level technicians, department heads, shop floor leads, and so on.
Despite differences in job title and daily tasks, it’s important to acknowledge that everyone is unique as it pertains to their natural gifts and talents. Therein lay the cornerstone of building a leadership team that excels: Understanding how complementary skills and strengths come together to achieve excellence.
The concept of “Working Geniuses,” made popular by leadership expert Patrick Lencioni, suggests that every individual possesses unique talents and inclinations, which, when harmonized with those of others, create a symphony of productivity and innovation in teams. In the context of manufacturing, identifying leaders with complementary working geniuses can be game-changing.
The Working Genius framework categorizes talents into six types: Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Enablement, Galvanizing, and Tenacity. Each of these geniuses represents a different facet of work and thinking.
For instance, leaders with the genius of Wonder are curious and insightful, always questioning the status quo and seeking new possibilities. The genius of Invention contains the natural gift of creating original and novel ideas. Those with the genius of Discernment have an intuitive grasp of what will work and what won’t, making critical decisions that can steer the company in the right direction.
Enablement-oriented leaders are the catalysts, providing the support and resources necessary for others to excel. Leaders who excel in Galvanizing can rally the troops and inspire action, while those with the genius of Tenacity see tasks through to completion with unwavering determination.
Want to build a world-class leadership team for your business? Aim to build a team with complementary skills. Not every leader is naturally gifted at coming up with new ideas. Nor is every leader good with working out the small details required to bring those new ideas across the finish line.
A leadership team that includes a balanced mix of these talents can be unstoppable in maximizing new opportunities and overcoming the daily challenges that so often beset a manufacturing operation.
Balancing Technical and Leadership Requirements When Hiring:
Beyond the technical skills required to succeed in a particular role, make sure that you are also gauging the potential leadership qualities of any senior-level candidate being considered for employment in your business. You might even consider including specific interview questions such as:
- How do you seek input from others when working collaboratively?
- How have you been able to learn, adapt, and evolve in previous employment?
- What are some ways in which you try to constantly improve?
- How do you encourage others to push beyond their limits?
- How do you respond to conflict in the workplace?
- How do you go about getting buy-in for new ideas at work?
And so on. You get the picture. You might be surprised at what the answers to those questions bring to the surface.
The Future Of Manufacturing Rests on Strong Leadership.
The manufacturing industry is at a crossroads. Major advancements in technology are reshaping the way that work gets done on the shop floor. The skills gap and labor shortage have driven the adoption of shop-floor automation in order to fill the gaps and get more work done.
Some shops have been proactive with these changes. Gradually and strategically investing in technology while simultaneously guiding and supporting their teams through the changes and toward the long-term vision.
Other shops are now caught in a reactive state. They’ve been hesitant to embrace change, but can’t hide from it any longer. To remain competitive, they need to act fast or potentially face the closure of their business.
What’s the major difference between these proactive and reactive manufacturing businesses described above? A strong leadership team. The importance of which cannot be overstated.
Need to hire Manufacturing Leaders? At HireMFGLeaders.com, we specialize in guiding you through the hiring process to build the kind of team you’ll need to achieve your business goals.
