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The Servant - Introduction

  This week at ADMO, we started a new training with our supervisors and other manufacturing leaders. Based on a recommendation from our Molding Manager, Hugo, we asked the team to read the book " The Servant: A Simple Story About The True Essence of Leadership " by James C. Hunter.  This book had been impactful to him in his past leadership training and he thought it would be helpful for our team right now. Over the coming weeks, we will be following along with John Daily as he embarks on a journey to discover the secrets of leadership at a weeklong retreat at a remote Benedictine monastery. As we move through this process, some of the information will seem simple, but profound. Other themes might be considered risky to talk about in a business setting. The author has this to say about it: I feared if I addressed business audiences and started talking about love, Human Resources people might go into spontaneous human combustion with cries of 'Mr. Hunter, we're trying ...
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Check-In: Inner Growth

Photo Credit:  https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmellows/  It's time for a check-in! As a company, it's important that we teach and train our employees in the tasks necessary to complete their jobs. At ADMO, we're also concerned about the whole person and any personal growth goals our employees may have. We are a better community when we recognize and see each other as more than our internal goals and tasks.  Self-awareness and reflection is key for growth. Take a moment and see how you measure up against this checklist: Do you accept your flaws and mistakes? Are you able to differentiate solitude and loneliness? Are you more self-aware of your behavior? How often is your happiness determined by others? Do you let things flow? Do you understand everyone is unique in their own way? Do you focus on what you can control? How often do you worry about what you can't control? Do you have a growth mindset? Take a few quiet minutes to reflect on these items. One of our Key Value...

Be Determined to Learn

  Are you coachable? Are you a life-long learner? Do you want to be the expert in your field? All of these desires make you someone who makes a difference, no matter what you do for a living.  "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you" - Zig Ziglar Which are you? Are you someone who doesn't like change or says, "This is how we've always done it"? Or, are you someone with a curiosity that demands you find out more? Do you hunger for wisdom and respond with the courage to learn something new? What can stoke that hunger? What do you think it would take to stir up that desire to learn? If you knew that learning was the key, would you see it differently?

Communication is Oxygen

  "Communication is the oxygen of execution". Someone shared this quote with me today and I believe it is a concept that is vital to our business. Oxygen gives life. It's literally the air we breathe. Communication within our business should be the same. How many times can you think of where better communication, up-front, would have avoided a situation? Maybe it was a lack of clear communication in training or a failure of the the trainee to ask questions and thereby making a mistake. Or, perhaps expectations weren't communicated clearly. In other instances, a ball gets dropped because the communication stops and there is no follow-up. If communication is truly the oxygen of execution, then why are we holding our breath?  A moment for self-evaluation: Take a moment and think of a recent failure of execution in your department. Ask yourself the following questions: 1. What was the cause of the failure? 2. What could we have done better? 3. How was our communication th...

Beginning Again

We took a hiatus from our leadership training to focus on implementing a 5S program throughout the plant. As we are entering the maintenance stage of that project, we hope to be up and running with leadership training in the Fall. New posts to follow soon...hopefully!

Act As One - Create Clarity

This week in our pursuit of excellence through leadership growth, we talked about Acting as One in our organization.  "If you harness the power of every member of your organization, your competition doesn't stand a chance." ( Randy Gravitt ). As an example of an organization who does this well, Mr. Gravitt shared a picture of the Corporate Purpose carved on a stone outside of the Chick-fil-a headquarters. Photo Credit: Sandy Washburn Every person who enters that building is greeted with the corporate purpose.  Do you notice that it doesn't actually say anything about chicken?  Chick-fil-a has made a name for itself that reflects the purpose above.  Certainly, stewardship and positivity are hallmarks of the Chick-fil-a experience and corporate structure. What is your corporate purpose?  Is your team aligned with it?  "Anytime an organization lacks alignment, the opportunity for reaching its full potential is squandered." ( Randy Gravitt ). ...

Communication and Building the Bench

Have you ever found yourself keeping busy with something insignificant because you were procrastinating on a big project or afraid to tackle something difficult?  How often do we confuse activity with accomplishment?  Sometimes we just need a win, so we get busy with something that can be completed.  But, without clarity of purpose, we can find ourselves having spent our days without achieving anything at all.  Purpose is important because it gives us a goal and singular vision. At ADMO, our purpose is to produce quality parts and develop and maintain strong relationships with our customers, vendors, and each other.  Mr. Krieps , The President of the company gave us a litmus test this week that can be applied in our decision making.  When trying to decide a course of action, ask the question, "What is in the best interest of ADMO?". This should point us to that purpose and give us clarity as we proceed.  Hopefully, we begin to understand that eac...