Want to Prepare Future Heat Treat Leaders? Don’t

Across dozens of industries and hundreds of interviews, I hear a recurring theme: “We’ve done a crappy job preparing our junior leaders for success.”

When leaders of heat treatment plants ask what they should be doing to train their junior employees to step into leadership positions, the truth might surprise them.

Many shouldn’t train their junior leaders…at least, not yet.

If heat treatment facilities aren’t setting their junior leaders up for success before they arrive in leadership positions, then these leaders can only be trained how to struggle and possibly fail.

Before you start putting together job descriptions or looking at internal candidates to replace shift supervisors, general managers, or executive positions, take the time to ask the following questions:

1. Do we have a clearly-defined strategy in our heat treatment business?

Many leaders across industries spend the majority of their time putting out fires. When new leaders are brought into these types of environments, they mirror what they’ve seen and spend all their time on tactical issues and rarely move the organization forward.

Your leadership team and senior supervisors need to define long-range goals for your business’ growth, complete with accountable objectives, prior to bringing a new leader aboard or promoting from within. Having a clear strategy allows a new leader to know what direction to head in.

2. Do we have a plan for reaching our goals?

Often, new leaders are handed objectives developed at an offsite retreat they weren’t even present for, or from an owner that spent more time running the business than the new leader has even been alive. Then, new leaders are expected to make goals a reality without understanding anything about how the business, customer relationships, or even how the equipment works!

To avoid this pitfall, prepare new leaders for success by having them sit down with predecessors and ask: “How would you accomplish this?” They can then map out a plan for making those goals a reality alongside the junior leader. If their predecessor isn’t available, gather your remaining leadership team with the new leader and map out a plan with them.

3. Are we fully utilizing this new leader’s skills?

Whether your new leader came from within your ranks, from another company in the heat treatment industry, or from a different industry altogether, the person brings a unique set of skills and experiences. Those skills and experiences may benefit more folks and goals than the ones they’ve been assigned.

Brief your new leader on the overall strategy of the business, its operations, and its challenges, and get their insights and recommendations. Often, an extra set of eyes can reveal something the rest of the team missed in their planning session.

Training new leaders in heat treatment, or in any industry, can’t begin until you have something for your leaders to achieve. First develop a plan and benchmark its goals. Then, you’ll set up any leader — junior or experienced — for success. 

Written by:  Shawn Rhodes, nationally-syndicated columnist and professional keynote speaker (keynoting MTI’s 2022 Spring National Meeting).