Without experiencing some of the challenges and barriers I fought through during high school, regardless of how insignificant they seem now, I wouldnât have had the foundation to navigate my early career stumbles in order to make the necessary pivots. Even minor adversities can play a tremendous rol...
Through sheer work ethic, I was able to build some solid career momentum in my late teens and early twenties. Never one to pass up an opportunity simply because I didnât have the qualifications listed as required on a job posting, I took some chances that I was far from capable of - at least in the ...
I chose not to go to college for two primary reasons, with a third that could arguably make that list if Iâm being honest with myself. I hated sitting still during class all through high school and had zero interest in paying for the opportunity to do more of it at the next level. Since my natural b...
Not long after making the decision to stop drinking completely, Ron (who I now reported directly to in my 5S implementation role) decided to step away from the behavior-based safety facilitator role and return to a manufacturing supervisor position. I donât remember why but I distinctly remember bei...
Making the pivotal decision to give up drinking completely was one thing, backing it with action required far effort and commitment. I canât point to any specific leisure activities in the decade prior to that where I didnât consume a tremendous amount of beer. That said, I never viewed it as a prob...
Less than two months after the let down of not being offered the behavior-based safety facilitator position, I noticed a new opportunity posted on the internal job board. This was for a â5S Trainerâ position, one of four throughout the facility, that would have responsibility for implementing a foun...
Late â99 and early â00 was, at least to that point, the busiest period of our lives. We had just moved into our new home on two and a half acres of recently subdivided farm land so there was a tremendous amount of work to do there. I was picking up any side work I could find, carpentering and pickin...
Still far from being the most talented in the workforce, or even in my home department for that matter, I built some solid career momentum through 1998 and into 1999. My role as bouncer for my former coworkerâs sister had turned into far more than that initial evening of her driving and me being a h...
I can barely wait to push forward in sharing more about how impactful serving as bouncer for my friendâs sister was as well as how my working relationship developed with the maintenance supervisor who walked by my machine a few times each day. Weâre not quite ready for that yet, though. First, we ne...
Even at fifteen years old and riding a bicycle to the job sites each day, showing up on time consistently and giving it everything I was capable of - even when I wasnât capable of all that much - helped me earn moderate respect from the men I was trying to keep up with. Carrying that same work ethic...
Working from 3:30p to 1:40a, at least Monday through Thursday with frequent Fridays and Saturdays scheduled for mandatory overtime, for most of my first two years in manufacturing was clearly part of Godâs plan; I certainly wasnât doing much planning of my own and that point. Any planning I had a ha...
Consistency nurtures seeds from bad situations, turning quiet efforts into visible growth and preparation for bigger roles. During my second year as a second shift manufacturing employee, I applied the same persistence I was developing during my shift to my new found love for working out. Throughout...
