Where My Leadership Education Really Began
Before I ever sat in a conference room or managed a budget, I learned leadership in a place where mistakes carried consequences measured in injuries, downtime, and millions of dollars. I spent the first part of my career in the Steel Mill Services industry, doing the work the steel plants didn’t want to do. Our crews handled the dirtiest, most dangerous, and most complex tasks: slag removal, refractory tear‑outs, scrap handling, and mill cleanup. These were the jobs that kept production moving but rarely got recognition. Every ton of steel produced depended on our ability to keep the mill running safely and efficiently.
We worked in extreme heat, hazardous conditions, and under constant pressure because downtime cost millions. We were the silent backbone of the operation, if we failed, the entire plant stopped. Yet despite the critical nature of our work, we were often overlooked, underappreciated, and treated as outsiders.
What most people didn’t realize was that we weren’t just laborers. We were problem‑solvers. We innovated processes. We managed logistics. We ensured compliance with safety and environmental standards. We were the first responders of the steel industry called in when things went wrong and expected to fix it fast. That environment shaped my leadership philosophy long before I ever had a title.
Inside the Operation: Why Planning and Presence Matter
A steel mill is a massive, integrated operation designed to turn raw materials into finished steel products. Every step, from ore delivery to the blast furnace to casting to rolling, is energy‑intensive, complex, and tightly timed. Any disruption can halt production and cost millions.
Working in that environment taught me three truths: planning is survival, presence is non‑negotiable, and proactive problem‑solving is the only way to stay ahead. These weren’t theories. They were necessities.
A Lesson I Never Forgot
I had a boss who was smart, tough, and a little crazy. The kind of leader who could see a problem coming before anyone else felt the ground shake. He had a catchphrase: “Plan your work, work your plan.” But the lesson that stuck with me came on a day when everything was going wrong inside the plant. He looked at me and with his southern drawl and said, “You gotta go chase that ass‑chewing.”
Crude? Yes.
Accurate? Absolutely.
His point was simple: if you go to the department heads looking for problems, the conversations are easier than if they have to come looking for you. In his own way, he was teaching me a principle I still use today: go to the Gemba, the place where the work happens. Don’t wait for problems to find you. Go find them first and don’t think that your rank or title excludes you. GOYA.
That lesson changed the trajectory of my leadership career.
LeaderBoat Takeaways:
These principles have followed me through every role since:
Plan and Execute
A good plan is worthless without disciplined execution. A leader’s job is to create clarity, then drive action.
Go to the Gemba
Problems rarely solve themselves. Be present where the work happens. You can’t lead from the office.
Be Proactive
Don’t wait for issues to escalate. Hunt them down early. Fix them before they become fires.
These aren’t industrial lessons. They’re leadership lessons, universal, transferable, and timeless.
LeaderBoat Tool of the Week: The Gemba Walk Checklist
Use this on your next walk‑through, site visit, or floor check.
1. What’s happening right now?
2. What should be happening?
3. What’s getting in the way?
4. What decisions are waiting on me? Am I the hold up?
5. What did I learn today?
This tool turns presence into performance.
The Manual Page (PDF Attached Below)
Leading from the Front
LeaderBoat Leaders:
1. Go to the work. (The Gemba)
2. Plan with intention and execute with discipline.
3. Solve problems early.
4. Stay connected to reality.
5. Earn respect through action, not title.
Add this to your LeaderBoat Manual.
Captain’s Reflection
Leadership doesn’t start in a classroom. It starts in the trenches, wherever your trenches happen to be. For me, it was the Steel Mill. For you, it might be a shop, a clinic, a warehouse, a call center, or a boardroom. The environment doesn’t matter. The principles do.
Plan your work, work your plan. (Cringe, I know)
Go to the Gemba, regardless of rank or title.
Solve problems early.
Lead from the front.
Do that, and your team will follow you, not because they have to, but because they trust you’ve been where they are.
