Authentic Leadership in Manufacturing for Manufacturing Supervisors: Turning Relationships into Real Results with Kathy Miller #101

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To make better decisions and improve engagement across manufacturing teams, leaders need diversity of thought and authentic leadership.

In this episode, Kathy Miller, former manufacturing executive at General Motors, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Rolls Royce, and Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame inductee, shares insights on manufacturing leadership, workplace culture, and employee engagement for Operations Managers, Production Managers, Manufacturing Managers, Team Leaders, and Shift Supervisors.

Kathy draws from her experience as a woman in manufacturing to explain how communication skills, trust building, and growth mindset help leaders create stronger connections and better results. You will learn practical strategies to improve collaboration, support workforce retention, and build manufacturing cultures where people feel empowered, valued, and motivated to perform.

3:29 – Steel Toes and Stilettos is inspired by the different roles women play to be both their authentic, feminine selves and hold their own on a shop floor

4:21 – A successful journey in manufacturing requires soft skills, which can be harder to develop than people realize

5:19 – To make a significant cultural transformation stick in your organization, you need to make it feel like it belongs to the employees, and make them feel it with their hands and the hearts

8:23 – To get more women and their perspectives into manufacturing roles, it's important to get women into manufacturing roles at a young age

9:12 – Inclusive environments get better business results

9:35 – Every person in your organization has a heart, a brain, and a set of hands, and you have to tap into all three

11:00 – By giving others an opportunity to contribute, you can find new and better results

13:50 – Kathy's equation for successfully improving plants involves relationships, realities, results, and authenticity

14:45 – Every single relationship matters

16:37 – Face your realities and work on what's in your control

17:27 – Focus on where you are and you'll find results

18:09 – If you're a man in manufacturing, work to amplify female voices

19:05 – Women in manufacturing can also advocate for their authentic selves

Connect with Kathy Miller

Connect with Kathy on Linkedin

Learn more from Kathy and her coauthor Shannon Karels on their website

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