Welcome to the Industrial Executive!

I’m super glad you’re here.

Let’s get to it!

I've spent years watching executives rise and fall in manufacturing.

The ones who flame out? They usually had the technical chops. They understood the process. They could read a P&L.

But nobody told them what the job actually is.

Being an industrial executive isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's not about having the best strategy deck or the most impressive credentials.

It's about people. It's about selling ideas internally before you ever sell a product externally. It's about building something that doesn't collapse the moment you step away.

And most of it, you learn the hard way.

Here are ten things I wish someone had told me before I stepped into leadership.

1. Master your craft before you lead it.

Want to run the plant? Be the best at something first. I don't care if you're architecting control systems, building a safety program, or optimizing changeovers. The path to the corner office starts with becoming irreplaceable where you are right now.

2. You're the Chief Salesperson whether you like it or not.

Every capital project, every headcount request, every technology initiative requires you to sell. Sell to the board. Sell to corporate. Sell to the floor. If you can't make a compelling case and get people to buy in, your ideas die in committee.

3. Build an operation that thrives without you.

The goal isn't to be needed for every decision. It's to build a system that runs better when you step away. If your phone blows up every time you take a vacation, you haven't built a team. You've built a dependency.

4. You're constantly working yourself out of a job.

Every 3-6 months, you should be handing off responsibilities to someone who can do it better than you. If you're still doing the same tasks you did two years ago, you're not growing. And neither is your team.

5. Execution beats strategy every time.

I can tell within five minutes if a plant will hit its targets: Do they ship? Are they solving real problems fast? You can tweak a continuous improvement plan forever, but if nothing moves on the floor, it's just PowerPoint.

6. Your job isn't to do anymore. It's to find the right people to do it.

Hire smarter operators. Set a vision so clear it's impossible to misunderstand. The best people don't work for bosses. They work for a mission. Give them one worth showing up for.

7. The title doesn't matter as much as you think.

VP of Operations. Plant Director. It's just a label. What matters is whether you own the outcomes or they own you. Don't let ego get in the way of hiring specialists who can run circles around you.

8. Recruit like your operation depends on it. Because it does.

Your entire job is finding and keeping the right people. The wrong hires will kill your throughput faster than a bad supplier. And they'll poison your culture in the process.

9. Get inside your team's heads.

Being an executive means becoming part psychologist. It's not all OEE and labor costs. It's knowing when to push, when to back off, and what actually motivates the second-shift supervisor who's been here 20 years.

10. Big visions attract top talent.

The best people don't chase money alone. They want to be part of something that matters. Your job is to paint a picture of the future so compelling that A-players want in. Then deliver on it.

The Bottom Line

None of this shows up in an MBA program or a leadership seminar.

You don't learn it from reading about Toyota's production system or studying Six Sigma methodologies.

You learn it by stepping into the role and realizing that everything you thought the job was about was only half the picture.

The technical skills got you here. The people skills determine whether you stay.

The executives who figure this out build operations that outlast them. The ones who don't spend their careers wondering why they keep hitting the same ceiling.

Which one are you going to be?

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And that’s all folks!

Till next week,

The Industrial Executive