It’s Wednesday and it’s time for “Manufacturing Leadership Minute” with Karin and Adrian.

Make sure to watch our video by clicking the picture below:

VIDEO ⇒

One of the things that I have noticed in the corporate world is that everyone seems to be searching for the causes of failure. I have to ask myself why no one seems to be searching for the causes of success.

“Understanding the cause of failure is important. Understanding the cause of success is far more powerful.”

~ Ed Oakley

Focusing on targets, profits, numbers and facts is the norm in the most workplaces, but most leaders forget that in order to achieve those numbers, they need to have their employees on board.

A while ago a General Manager said, “Karin, we know what has to happen and what needs to change, but what we know and what we do are two very different things. There is simply no sense of urgency and as long as we can drag it out, we will.”

Today I want to ask you:

• Why don’t we think that the pursuit of perfection is everyone’s job?
• Why have we settled for mediocrity?
• How do you think the bottom line is impacted when employees are negative, frustrated and stressed?
• Why are we trying to secure the right answers instead of pursuing the right questions?

Be determined to have the mindset to win, to succeed and to start serving your team. After all, your team is the secret to your success.

What are you waiting for?

(excerpt from my book “How Can We Make Manufacturing Sexy?”)

Food for Thought:

How high are the stress levels in your work environment? What do you think is the impact on people and the bottom line?

Please read the following article:

What is the impact of stress in the workplace?

Curious about coaching and wondering if it’s the right fit for you?
Let’s talk. Schedule a no-obligation Exploratory Intro Call and get a behind-the-scenes look at how coaching works.

Ready to connect?
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The post Manufacture Your Day by UNDERSTANDING WHY MINDSET MATTERS appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

If you are one of my regular readers, you know how passionate I am about the people in the manufacturing industry. I truly care and I am tirelessly working on challenging the status quo.

I have many ideas on how to make things better, and it definitely has to be a win-win situation for everyone involved.

So what is the status quo I am talking about?

Expectations such as

• more
• better
• harder
• faster
• longer

are on everyone’s mind. Does this sound familiar?

Management cares about quarterly results and the bottom line. I totally get it. It’s a business.

However, it is all about cause and effect. Having people work to the point of exhaustion—while being criticized along the way—along with steadily increasing demands, leads to mistakes, quality issues, health and safety concerns, absenteeism, turnover, shipping problems, and more.

There must be a better way, right?

As long as management focuses on numbers, nothing will change. If the focus is on empathy and people, everything will change. After all, who helps to produce the numbers?

Unfortunately, many people have no idea how to set boundaries. They think they have no choice but to conform. Remember, you always have a choice. Always!

Here is how you can get started to become a “boundary setter”:

1. Set your limits:

Make sure that you think about your mental and physical limitations. Name your limitations by writing them down. How much can you tolerate? When do you feel overwhelmed and stressed?  If you think about this, you can stand firm and clear. Plan your first “no” and give it a go.

2. Make self-care a priority:

Please know that saying doesn’t have to be negative or selfish. It can be a wonderful way to put yourself and your health first. If you forget about yourself and don’t recharge your energy, nobody wins.

3. Be assertive:

Assertive doesn’t mean aggressive. Assertive people are confident and able to communicate their needs, wants, and boundaries effectively. Ideally, they do so with a smile.

Respect yourself. Respect others. Invite respect from others! Setting your boundaries takes practice. You better get started.

Food for Thought:

How good are you when it comes to setting your boundaries?

Read this article:

7 Tips to Create Healthy Boundaries with Others

The post Manufacture Your Day by SETTING YOUR BOUNDARIES appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

At the beginning of a new day, it is always important to set your intention. Why not set your intention on becoming a better communicator?

In the manufacturing industry, there is such a tremendous need to shift management’s perception of people and I would like to explain why.

Based on the job requirements, the manufacturing industry is often the natural work environment for analytical people and there are many of them.

People with analytical minds are often perfectionists, standard-setters and independent problem solvers. They are pretty brilliant people but on the flip side, they can be perceived as heartless, arrogant and intellectual snobs. The real challenge is that they are often not the best communicators. Their ideal work environment is an orderly operation, without people.

Let’s take a closer look at Lean Manufacturing.

The reason companies have a difficult time implementing lean is because it is mainly seen as a waste management system that serves efficiency and cost reduction.

Waste in Lean is any activity that consumes resources but brings no value to the end customer.

The challenge is that I have met very few lean experts in manufacturing companies who have a truly good understanding of people, human emotions, and change management.

I am by no means a lean expert, but I’m pretty good at understanding people and bringing out the best in them. If you care about them and their well-being, they will go through fire for you.

In my mind, the biggest waste in our organizations is human potential.

How you communicate any kind of change is important. With words, you can lift people or you can hurt them. You can appreciate or you can criticize. It truly is a choice and many are not aware that everything we do is based on cause and effect. In other words, the actions you take (cause) will create certain results (effect). If you don’t get the results you want to see, you have to possibly change what you do and how you do it.

The way you speak can “manufacture”

• the excitement or fear.
• passion or frustration.
• curiosity or confusion.

You get my point, right?

Lean is supposed to make life better for everyone involved:

• customers
• management
• workforce
• business owners
• suppliers

If Lean Manufacturing becomes a “mean methodology” in people’s minds because the focus is solely on cutting costs and cutting jobs, people will definitely resist the implementation process.

In the Toyota Production System Lean is based on 2 pillars:

1. Continuous Improvement (Kaizen)
2. Respect for People

It’s not that difficult, so don’t make it more difficult. Learn to see human beings in a different light. Putting people first is a valid business strategy.

Make sure to live and breathe Lean if you want it to be more than the flavour of the month.

Food for Thought:

Ask your team members what they are supposed to do with the process: Follow it or improve it? This will demonstrate how far or close you are to a continuous improvement mindset.

Please read the following Lean Blog Post by Mark Graban:

Toyota, Respect for People (or “Humanity”) and Lean

The post Manufacture Your Day by BEING AWARE HOW YOU PERCEIVE PEOPLE appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

I would like to tell you that you are perfect just the way you are.

It’s true. Have you ever acknowledged that your presence is a present to the world? You better start believing it.

You have so much to give and to offer.

I am a strong believer that we all have to strive to become a little bit better each day but it is equally important to look at the progress that we have made and to be happy with who we are.

You have to trust in life. Everything that happens in your life happens at the perfect time and at the perfect speed.

For me, this was a life-changing insight, as I have always tried to rush things. I have learned to think that everything in life happens in my favour – getting a client or not getting a client. If it is not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. There is a reason for everything.

As long as we do the best we can, why stress over it?

Be yourself. You deserve to live an authentic life and here are some thoughts on how to achieve that.

1. Know Your Values

It is difficult to get what you want if you don’t know what you want and what’s important to you.

2. Do What Feels Right for Yourself

Stop pleasing the people around you instead of caring for yourself and your feelings.

3. Be the Same Wherever You Go

If you feel that you have to change who you are within different circles of your personal and professional network in order to “fit in,” you are possibly not comfortable having others see the “real you”.

Have the courage to be who you are because we need more “real people”  in (manufacturing) companies.

Make it a great rest of the week!

Food for Thought:

Here is an awesome article for you to read:

How to Be Authentic in a Fake World

Curious about coaching and wondering if it’s the right fit for you?
Let’s talk. Schedule a no-obligation Exploratory Intro Call and get a behind-the-scenes look at how coaching works.

Ready to connect?
Reach out by email or phone — just click here to get started.

Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet?
Don’t miss out — click here and stay inspired.

The post Manufacture Your Day by BEING YOURSELF appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

I do my best to observe myself closely. When do I get frustrated? When do I get stressed? When do I get upset with myself and the world? The most difficult thing for us human beings is to avoid judgment. Our social environment teaches us judgment from an early age.

If you can learn to provide constructive feedback without judgment about the person, you will be at the top of your game.

As a coach, this is one of the biggest challenges. I know that if I judge a person, I limit that person.

Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

People sometimes think that I have it all figured out, but I am learning every day as much as you do. Over the years I have trained myself to become more and more aware of my reactions to others, and there is still room for improvement.

I encourage you to observe yourself:

• How do you react when a car is cutting you off on the highway?
• How do you respond when one of your team members makes a serious mistake?
• How do you react when you are stuck in traffic?
• How do you respond when your children don’t demonstrate the expected behaviour?

All of this is leadership, it’s self-leadership.

Did you know that we judge others by their actions but we evaluate ourselves by our intentions?

If you become more aware of your own actions, it will be easier for you to become more patient with others.

I wish for you to see what I see. That’s big!

Food for Thought:

Are you aware that there is a possibility of you being not aware?

Please read the following article:

Why Your Perception is Your Reality 

Curious about coaching and wondering if it’s the right fit for you?
Let’s talk. Schedule a no-obligation Exploratory Intro Call and get a behind-the-scenes look at how coaching works.

⇒ Ready to connect?
Reach out by email or phone — just click here to get started.

⇒ Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet?
Don’t miss out — click here and stay inspired.

The post Manufacture your Day by BUILDING BETTER RELATIONSHIPS appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

I spoke with a young VP, the son of the owner of a manufacturing facility. At one point during our conversation, he said, “Karin, I honestly think that most of my workers are stupid. Some people have ‘it’ and some people don’t. Most ideas we get from the workers, which are not many, I find to be stupid ideas. Seriously, how creative can a guy on the assembly line be? They want to spend minimum time in the plant and they want to get the highest possible pay. That’s it.”

Three very simple questions sprang to my mind. The first one was, “Why would you hire stupid people in the first place?” The second was, “How do your employees manage to stay in the job if they are stupid?” And finally, “Did they become stupid after they started working for you?” 

I then asked him the following: “How many managers and supervisors do you know who make a sincere effort to bring out the best in their employees?

I don’t think people are stupid. They need guidance, leadership and support on how to become better at what they do and how to become better individuals. I have met more open-minded people on the production floor who willingly adapt to change than I have met in managerial positions. What actions do you take to address this issue?”

He couldn’t really answer my questions, but if he thinks that his workers are stupid, I have to wonder what his workers think of him.

There is a difference between being unknowledgeable and being stupid. Being unknowledgeable can be corrected through education and training. Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason or wit.

Excerpt from my book “How Can We Make Manufacturing Sexy?“

I encourage you to be aware of how you think and speak about others. It’s a reflection of yourself.

Food for Thought: 

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

~Albert Einstein

Please watch this video:

How to motivate people to do good for others?

Curious about coaching and wondering if it’s the right fit for you?
Let’s talk. Schedule a no-obligation Exploratory Intro Call and get a behind-the-scenes look at how coaching works.

⇒ Ready to connect?
Reach out by email or phone — just click here to get started.

⇒ Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet?
Don’t miss out — click here and stay inspired.

The post Manufacture Your Day by BECOMING AWARE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT OTHERS appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

“A shark in a fish tank will grow 8 inches, but in the ocean, it will grow to 8 feet or more. The shark will never outgrow its environment and the same is true about you. Many times we’re around small-thinking people so we don’t grow. Change your environment and watch your growth.” – Unknown

If challenges get bigger, you have to become better. It makes sense, doesn’t it? 

Life is all about personal growth and today I would like to give you a few examples of when people stop growing:

1. Lack of self-awareness: You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
2. Closed-mindedness: This often comes from fear and/or ignorance that prevents you from considering other people’s ideas and insights.
3. The environment: If you are not encouraged to learn and to grow. Mistakes are seen as a failure rather than an opportunity to learn from them. 
4. Victims of circumstance: If you think you have no choice.  
5. Fixed mindset: You are so afraid of failure that you don’t even try. 
6. Destination Disease: If you have been promoted and you think you have “arrived” and there is nothing left to learn (arrogance and ignorance). 

Ask yourself, “Do I fall into any of these categories?”

If the answer is “No”. Congratulations. Good for you for being on a continuous journey of learning and growing. This is how you stay at the top of your game. 

If the answer is “Yes”. Congratulations on acknowledging it. If you acknowledge it, you can change it. Are you ready to follow my lead? 

Here are 3 steps on how YOU can become a growing shark in the ocean: 

• Look for the positive in every person and in every situation: Think good thoughts and believe that everything in life happens in your favour. It’s impossible to live in fear if you focus on the good. 
• Become curious about people and situations: Every person who crosses your path and every difficult situation presents an opportunity for you to learn and grow. Be curious instead of furious. 
• Stay humble: If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, think again. Everybody is an expert in something. Find out what it is and learn from it. 

Let’s just entertain the following thought for a moment. What would it be like if you would start thinking and behaving a little bit better each day? 

End of workshop. Your biggest fan. 

Food for Thought:

What are you doing to learn and to grow?

Please read this article:

Personal Growth: A Definite Guide to Self Growth 

The post Manufacture Your Day by GROWING INTO THE PERSON YOU’RE MEANT TO BE appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” ~ Arnold H. Glasgow

Every person is unique and has their own challenges. People have different risk thresholds and make decisions at their own speed. If we would be more considerate and patient, we would be able to build better relationships.

My mom had a favourite Chinese proverb that says, “If you are in a hurry, go slowly.” She told me that she has learned over the years how true this is. Is it possible that something unexpected will happen when you rush out the door? If we don’t pay enough attention to the task at hand, small little accidents can occur.

Why do we so often think that faster is better? Let’s keep in mind that going at a fast pace and demonstrating impatience won’t serve you in the long run.

If you are patient, you will

• be calmer when the traffic is unexpectedly heavy.
• experience fewer stressful confrontations at home and at work.
• take more time to listen to what other people have to say.
• appear more balanced and relaxed.
• be more likely to achieve a greater level of excellence.

Many people prefer shortcuts and the easy way out, but there are also those who are prepared to go the extra mile. They have the drive and the willingness to get a little bit better each day. This is truly commendable and inspiring.

People who want to get better, always will. You can take my word for it. 

Please be patient with yourself and be patient with others. If you manage to do that, you will notice an immediate difference.

I am sending you positive vibes.

Food for Thought:

Are there times when you could be more patient?

Great Article:

The Importance of Patience in Every Area of Life

If you think it is about time to explore what coaching is all about, schedule a call and see if coaching is right for you.

Schedule a call and receive a free tour behind the scenes:

Exploratory Intro Call 

Contact us via email or phone today by Clicking here.

Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel yet? Click here.

The post Manufacture Your Day by BEING PATIENT appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

“A shark in a fish tank will grow 8 inches, but in the ocean it will grow to 8 feet or more. The shark will never outgrow its environment and the same is true about you. Many times we’re around small thinking people so we don’t grow. Change your environment and watch your growth.” – Unknown

If challenges get bigger, you have to become better. It makes sense, doesn’t it? 

Life is all about personal growth and today I would like to give you a few examples when people stop growing:

1. Lack of self-awareness: You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
2. Closed-mindedness: This often comes from fear and/or ignorance that prevents you from considering other people’s ideas and insights.
3. The environment: If you are not encouraged to learn and to grow. Mistakes are seen as a failure rather than an opportunity to learn from them. 
4. Victims of circumstance: If you think, you have no choice.  
5. Fixed mindset: You are so afraid of failure that you don’t even try. 
6. Destination Disease: If you have been promoted and you think you have “arrived” and there is nothing left to learn (arrogance and ignorance). 

Ask yourself, “Do I fall into any of these categories?”

If the answer is “No”. Congratulations. Good for you for being on a continuous journey of learning and growing. This is how you stay at the top of your game. 

If the answer is “Yes”. Congratulations for acknowledging it. If you acknowledge it, you can change it. Are you ready to follow my lead? 

Here are 3 steps how YOU can become a growing shark in the ocean: 

• Look for the positive in every person and in every situation: Think good thoughts and believe that everything in life happens in your favour. It’s impossible to live in fear if you focus on the good. 
• Become curious about people and situations: Every person who crosses your path and every difficult situation gives you an opportunity to learn and to grow. Be curious instead of furious. 
• Stay humble: If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, think again. Everybody is an expert in something. Find out what it is and learn from it. 

Let’s just entertain the following thought for a moment. What would it be like if you would start thinking and behaving a little bit better each day? 

End of workshop. Your biggest fan. 

Food for Thought:

What are you doing to learn and to grow?

Please read this article:

Personal Growth: A Definite Guide to Self Growth 

The post Manufacture Your Day by GROWING INTO THE PERSON YOU’RE MEANT TO BE appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.

It is Monday and I would like to tell you that you are perfect just the way you are.

It’s true. Have you ever acknowledged that your presence is a present to the world? You better start believing it.

You have so much to give and to offer.

I am a strong believer that we all have to strive to become a little bit better each day but it is equally important to look at the progress that we have made and to be happy with who we are.

You have to trust in life. Everything that happens in your life happens at the perfect time and at the perfect speed.

For me this was such a life-changing insight because I have always tried to rush things.  I have learned to think that everything in life happens in my favour – getting a client or not getting a client. If it is not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. There is a reason for everything.

As long as we do the best we can, why stress over it?

Be yourself. You deserve to live an authentic life and here are some thoughts on how to achieve that.

1. Know Your Values

It is difficult to get what you want if you don’t know what you want and what’s important for you.

2. Do What Feels Right for Yourself

Stop pleasing the people around you instead of caring for yourself and your feelings.

3. Be the Same Wherever You Go

If you feel that you have to change who you are within different circles of your personal and professional network in order to “fit in,” you are possibly not comfortable having others to see the “real you”.

Have the courage to be who you are because we need more “real people”  in (manufacturing) companies.

Make it a great week!

Food for Thought:

Here is an awesome article for you to read:

How to Be Authentic in a Fake World

The post Manufacture Your Day by BEING YOURSELF appeared first on Karico International Inc. | Employee Engagement and Motivation in the Manufacturing Sector.