Manufacturing Mentorship Weekly

Aron addresses leaders who lack support or technical coaching from superiors. He emphasizes that while autonomy is valuable, true growth requires being pushed toward expected outcomes. To overcome stagnation, he recommends five actionable strategies: understanding your boss’s strengths to leverage their expertise, setting bold deadlines for major achievements, finding experienced mentors outside your organization, benchmarking against industry peers to avoid narrow-mindedness, and practicing quarterly self-reflection. Ultimately, successful manufacturing leaders do not wait for direction; they drive progress by creating a vision of continuous improvement and inspiring their teams through proactive execution.Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Manufacturing Mentorship with Aron KolosikNewsletter Sign Up Link: https://aronkolosik.com/newsletter/Linked In @aronkolosikInstagram @aronkolosikFacebook @aronkolosi

Aron discusses what happens after the first 90 days in a new leadership role, when leaders shift from observing to implementing change. He emphasizes choosing a single, trackable metric—such as throughput, safety incidents, or schedule attainment—and building a disciplined cadence of daily, weekly, and monthly reviews. He frames the leader’s role as coach, not firefighter, stressing the importance of teaching teams what “great” looks like and placing accountability with those who directly own the results.Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Manufacturing Mentorship with Aron KolosikNewsletter Sign Up Link: https://aronkolosik.com/newsletter/Linked In @aronkolosikInstagram @aronkolosikFacebook @aronkolosik

Aron discusses why performance alone isn’t enough to earn promotions. He builds on last week’s focus on results to introduce Dr. Harvey Coleman’s PIE model: Performance, Image, and Exposure. He explains that while strong results are essential, how others perceive you and who knows you often matter more for advancement. Aron stresses intentional relationship-building with corporate partners and decision-makers, managing the image of both yourself and your plant, and using networking and visibility to unlock the next level of leadership opportunities.Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Manufacturing Mentorship with Aron KolosikNewsletter Sign Up Link: https://aronkolosik.com/newsletter/Linked In @aronkolosikInstagram @aronkolosikFacebook @aronkolosik

Aron discusses how plant leaders can position themselves for promotion to VP, COO, and beyond by shifting from day-to-day thinking to long-term, business-level leadership. He stresses building strong business acumen, understanding the full P&L, and creating a clear, phased capital master plan tied to corporate needs. He also highlights the importance of developing a capable team, delegating decisions, and ensuring succession so the plant can run without the leader, enabling true strategic impact.Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Manufacturing Mentorship with Aron KolosikNewsletter Sign Up Link: https://aronkolosik.com/newsletter/Linked In @aronkolosikInstagram @aronkolosikFacebook @aronkolosik

Aron discusses the significant pressures faced by plant managers, including customer service issues, cost targets, and safety concerns. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on one key metric to drive improvement, such as throughput or safety, which can positively impact other areas like productivity and costs. He highlights the need for early adopters within the team to achieve progress and the importance of intentional and strategic focus. He also stresses the significance of creating stability and freedom through focused improvement, which can lead to better work-life balance and broader organizational success.Listen In!Thank you for listening to this episode of Manufacturing Mentorship with Aron KolosikNewsletter Sign Up Link: https://aronkolosik.com/newsletter/Linked In @aronkolosikInstagram @aronkolosikFacebook @aronkolosik