I Help Professionals Put Their Passions to Work | Leveraging Leadership Capacity | Connections with a Purpose | SDVOSB | USMC VET

Some leaders talk about growth. I’ve built it, again and again. From turning dirt lots into multimillion-dollar fabrication and manufacturing operations to standing up a chemical manufacturing plant that achieved both ISO 9001 and OSHA SHARP initiative recognition, my path has never been theory, it’s been proof.

That proof began long before titles. I grew up working in my family’s grocery stores, butcher shops, and restaurants, where I learned that culture isn’t a slide in a deck, it’s forged through shared effort. The Marine Corps honed that foundation with discipline, accountability, and servant leadership, teaching me that execution is the purest form of belief.

My philosophy reflects James 2:22—faith and works completing each other. In business, faith is strategy: the belief that a company can reach beyond its current reality. Works are the systems, processes, KPIs, and accountability that give that belief evidence. My role is to bring those two together so vision and velocity become one.

Areas of Expertise:
★ Concept to Commercialization | ★ M&A Strategy & Integration | ★ ERP & KPI System Integration
★ Business Growth & Scaling | ★ Supply Chain Optimization | ★ Strategic Partnerships
★ ISO 9001 Implementation | ★ Facility Development | ★ Regulatory Compliance
★ P&L Management | ★ Culture Development | ★ Process Improvement | ★ Constraint Focused

Bravis Brown, MBA

Most manufacturers I meet think their problem is capacity.
It’s not.

Last month, I toured a $22M aerospace/defense parts shop. Owner wanted to buy a second 5-axis mill for $850K.

I asked one question: “What’s your OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) on the first one?”  Said other ways, billable/unbillable, uptime vs. downtime, actual speed vs. ideal speed, quality parts vs. total parts produced, etc.. 

Silence.

We spent 2 hours on the floor. Here’s what we found: → Machine sat idle 2 hours/day waiting (avg) for fixtures → Setup averaged 1.5 hours (should be 45 minutes) → No standardized work instructions → Operators guessing at what good/productive production rate is. 

The constraint wasn’t the machine. It was the system around it.
We didn’t buy new equipment. We:  Standardized fixture staging - Created setup checklists - Cross-trained 3 operators (in the process) - Built a daily dispatch board

No CapEx. No new headcount.

Before you throw money at capacity, ask: “Are we maximizing what we already have?”

The answer is almost always no.  If the demand increases out weights an efficient setup, then perhaps you do move forward with the purchase but implement the system around it prior to going live with the new machine.

CTA: What’s your current OEE? Drop it below. Let’s talk about whether you need more machines or better systems.  If you're culture isn't that of CIP why isn't it?  Would you like it to be?  DM me if you would.

Veteran Executive | Fractional COO | Driving Scalable Growth for Manufacturing & Industrial Companies Through Systems, Automation & Servant Leadership

Leadership isn’t position. It’s posture.

Most founder-led companies don’t get stuck because the team doesn’t care. They get stuck because the leader becomes the router for everything—decisions, approvals, problems, priorities.

A servant’s heart shows up like this:
	•	you put people ahead of your agenda
	•	you initiate service instead of waiting to be asked
	•	you’re not attached to being needed
	•	you lead with love and standards

But here’s the part most miss: servant leadership isn’t soft. It’s structured.

It looks like installing:
	•	clear decision rights
	•	operating rhythms
	•	simple, visible KPIs
	•	escalation paths that don’t end at you
	•	documentation + training so tribal knowledge isn’t the strategy

That’s how you scale without burning out and how you build a business that can outlast the founder.

What’s one area in your business where “picking up the towel” would actually mean installing a system?

Owner wanting to “become the CEO”? Stop acting like the GM.

Becoming CEO isn’t about doing less work.
It’s about owning different work.

If you’re still the default for:

scheduling conflicts

customer escalations

purchasing approvals

quality release decisions
…you’re still running operations by force of habit.

Integrator move:
delegate decisions, not just tasks.
Install decision rights + cadence + scoreboard owners so the org stops bouncing back to you.

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.
The 96% Perfect Podcast

Nearly 45% of small businesses say poor financial/resource management is holding them back.

Translation in manufacturing:

Overtime surprises
Expedites as a strategy
Stockouts + “where is it?”
Margin you can’t explain
And a founder glued to the operation

3 installs fix most of it (fast):

WIP limits (stop starting, start finishing)
Weekly cadence (same meeting, same scoreboard, same owners)
Cost capture discipline (so pricing stops being a guess)

This is how you stop “growth” from feeling dangerous.

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call link.

P.S. I had a fractional COO project fall off.  I have unutilized capacity, help me with my efficiency, I can pass it on!!! 🙌

Today I had a conversation with an individual I respect and hold in high regard.  She and I were talking about communication in business and the multilayed approach that is required to make it successful.  

I go back to 2018 when I was asked if I felt the issue was communication.  I was a little offended by the question at first.  I spent a great deal of time ensuring I was communicating with all the leadership.  

What I learned was there were several ways that I could help cascade that down into the entire company.  I'll save that detail for another day and stay on topic... for now. 😉 

Our conversation lead to examples of how companies cascade it down into their organization.  The attached documents show an easy way to do so.  It just so happens I did an education moment on this in December as well.

If you'd like to discuss how communication of strategy leads to execution, accountability, and drives culture improvement/alignment I'd be happy to discuss (link below). 

https://lnkd.in/gZAEpEra

Accountability w/o Confrontation

DM me if you identify 🤣 as an individual that has manufacturing/operations training experience.  I have become aware of a content developer and trainer position here in the Fort Worth area.  I'll make an intro if you believe this role could be a fit.

Your Business Runs Through You (That's the Problem)
If every decision, fire, and “weird exception” still routes back to you…

You don’t own a company.
You own a job with overhead.

Most founder-led manufacturers don’t get stuck because their people don’t care. They get stuck because the owner became the operating system.

Symptoms:

Work pauses until you approve it

“Urgent” requests wreck the week

Good leaders hesitate because decision rights aren’t clear

You can’t step away without things slipping

The fix isn’t “try harder” or “hire one more manager.”
It’s installing a playbook the team can run without you:

Decision rights (who decides what), AKA empowering others.

Weekly operating cadence (the same rhythm, every week)

A small scoreboard (owners for every number)

One example: Every time a client identified an asset they wanted refurbished or a finished asset they wanted to pick up, it took an average of 2 hours. 

After installing visibility + handoffs + ownership, it dropped to ~15 minutes.
More importantly: the owner stopped being the router.

If you want, I’ll send a quick “Founder Dependence Self-Check” + the 30-min Constraint Snapshot link.

Comment SNAPSHOT and I’ll DM it.

If it can’t run without you, buyers price that as risk.

I’m visiting yet another manufacturing facility where one person knew it all & ran it all. A tragedy happened, and now they’re scrambling to sell. Do you think they’ll get market price… let alone a premium? Of course not.

Succession planning and operating manuals aren’t phrases to throw around. They’re how you stabilize a business.

Whether you’re the owner still carrying the operation, or a newly appointed CEO inheriting it:
owner dependence = fragile performance.

Exit readiness isn’t a future project.
It’s proof, installed weekly:

decision rights
cadence
scoreboard ownership
repeat-fire elimination

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

83% of employees have had to recreate missing or lost documents.

In manufacturing, that’s not an “admin inconvenience.”
That’s capacity leakage and key-person risk.

Because when people can’t find the latest:

Quotes get rebuilt
Travelers get rewritten
Inspection plans get guessed
CAD gets redrawn
Mistakes ship… then you pay twice

And the worst part?
It’s invisible on the P&L. It shows up as “billable or unbillable labor.”

The villain isn’t your team.
It’s tribal operations + weak document control.

De-founder moves (lightweight, not bureaucracy):

One home for critical docs (quotes, travelers, QC, prints)
One “released” rule (if it’s not released, it’s not real)
One owner per doc type (so updates don’t drift)

That’s how you stop rework, protect knowledge, and scale without heroics.

Comment SNAPSHOT and I’ll DM the link to a 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

Question: where do you lose more time today, missing docs, wrong versions, or tribal knowledge (ask the Bobs)?

Firefighting isn’t a job description. It’s a signal.

If your team is constantly reacting, it usually means:

priorities aren’t stable

escalations have no path

decisions aren’t clearly owned

issues don’t get closed (so they repeat)

Here’s the trap: the CEO/founder becomes the hero, which trains the org to escalate more.

Integrator move = put chaos on a rhythm:

Scoreboard (numbers only)

Flow/constraint (what’s blocking throughput/OTD)

Issues (solve 3–5, assign owners + due dates)

Podcast coming soon with 96% Perfect (https://lnkd.in/gE-3A2Kg).

Comment SNAPSHOT for a 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

New CEO reality: you inherited a routing problem. 
I don't mean of the MSP type either. 

If everything routes through you, your calendar becomes the constraint:

approvals / exceptions / escalations

“just checking” interruptions

You can’t strategy your way out of that. You have to install your way out.

Start here:

Write decision rights for the top 10 repeat decisions
Create a weekly cadence that produces decisions + accountability
Stop repeat fires with issue ownership + due dates

Podcast on “Why Leadership Fails Without an Integrator” coming soon.
Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.
The 96% Perfect Podcast

Newly appointed CEO? Don’t become the new Mr./Ms. Fix-It.

If you’re in the seat <18 months, you usually inherit a company where every decision, fire, and exception routes through one person.

The org will try to make that person you.

Watch for these tells:

“Quick question…” all day

Schedule changes happen in hallways

Quality holds wait for your blessing

Leaders escalate instead of decide

Priorities shift weekly based on noise

That’s not a leadership problem first. It’s an operating system problem.

The fix is boring (and effective):

decision rights

weekly cadence

issue ownership (owner + due date)

Podcast on “Why Leadership Fails Without an Integrator” coming soon.
Comment SNAPSHOT and I’ll DM the link to a 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

If your best people are burning out, it’s not “seasonal.”

Constant emergencies are usually a system outcome:

Unclear priorities
Unclear decision rights
Invisible WIP aging / late jobs
No consistent escalation path

New CEOs often feel pressure to “prove it” by fixing everything personally.
That turns you into the new router.

Better move:
Install a weekly cadence that forces clarity and closes issues before they repeat.  You know, root cause Nija stuff.

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

Most manufacturers don’t have a “capacity” problem.

They have a flow + decision system problem.

If you’re constantly expediting, drowning in WIP, missing ship dates, or living in priority whiplash, the root issue usually isn’t effort or talent, it’s that the business lacks the operating system to identify constraints and manage them consistently.

That’s why I’m sharing the link below: in February there’s an Introduction to Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC) Flow Solutions session (from The Goal) built for real-world manufacturing execution — how to find the constraint, protect it, and drive reliable throughput.

Why I’m sharing: Goldratt’s TOC work is highly practical. I’m attending as a guest to observe their process and explore ways I can help manufacturers turn the learning into sustained, on-the-floor execution.

This is best for executive and senior leadership teams — especially if you’re asking:

“What are our constraints… and how do we prove it?”
“Why does everything feel urgent?”
“Are we about to spend capital because we don’t know what else to do?”

What manufacturing teams are reporting after TOC Flow Solutions workshops:
ACT Test Panels, LLC: On-time delivery +10%, overtime costs -25%, and monthly revenue + net income up double-digits.

FAMCO (HVAC accessories): clearer constraint prioritization, reduced multitasking, “full-kit readiness,” improved on-time delivery + operational efficiency.

Teton Machine Company: strong team buy-in + practical exercises; applied TOC to build real throughput improvement plans.

Charter Steel: better understanding of flow + buffer management; actionable changes to scheduling and day-to-day execution.

Spudnik Equipment Co: TOC made relatable; quick wins via a WIP board to reduce multitasking.

PedSafety: stopped defaulting to “more people/more machines;” mapped flow, found the constraint, focused effort, often saving money without adding resources.

If you’re considering TOC or you’re currently treating CapEx as the default fix, DM me “TOC” and I’ll see you there.

#Manufacturing #Operations #TheoryOfConstraints #TOC #OperationalExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #Leadership #FractionalCOO

Open article: North Dallas Chamber Event | Goldratt Flow Solutions by goldrattflow.com

North Dallas Chamber Event | Goldratt Flow Solutions

Bandwidth is the real constraint.

My approach to conserve bandwidth is addressing the root cause, delegating and empowering.

Most ops teams don’t lose because they lack effort.
They lose because decision traffic overwhelms the week:
interruptions → switching → rework → late jobs → escalations.

If you want capacity without heroics, remove the true constraint:

Reduce approvals (empower/delegating)
Stabilize priorities (empower/delegating)
Protect the constraint (address the root cause of the bottle neck)
Close issues so they don’t repeat (address the root cause) 

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

Additive Manufacturing is projected to grow ~4× this decade ($20.37B in 2023 → $88.28B by 2030).

I’m spending time with DFW operators already doing AM (polymer or metal) to separate what’s real from what’s hype.

Not to “talk tech”… to understand:
Where AM actually makes money in a small/medium shop
What quietly kills margins (post-processing, QA, quoting, workflow)
How teams avoid turning a new printer into a new bottleneck

If you’re local and willing, I’d love to buy coffee or tour your setup.

Unfortunately the Metroplex Manufacturing Resource Expo at UTARI (Fort Worth) on Jan 30, has been canceled.  I'll be looking into other events on advanced manufacturing, if you have any you recommend, please share.

Comment AM and I’ll DM you to coordinate.

P.S. If you’re evaluating AM adoption and want a quick “operating system” gut-check (flow → visibility → decision rights → cadence → then tech), comment SNAPSHOT.

Binderware is why “change” doesn’t stick.  You know, the consultants that put it all in a binder and disappear.  Last thing I want to be is a Seagull, fly in and shit on everything and leave. Kyle Phillips

Most companies aren’t short on ideas.
They’re short on installs/implementation.

A binder doesn’t change behavior.
A slide deck doesn’t create flow.
A meeting doesn’t equal accountability.

Installed looks like:

Leaders run the week without waiting on the CEO/owner
KPIs reviewed weekly (same time, same owners)
Issues get owners + due dates (and close)
Exceptions shrink over time

Comment SNAPSHOT for the 30-min Constraint Snapshot Review Call.

I’m leaning into Additive Manufacturing for one reason: 

It changes the cost/lead-time equation when implemented like a business system.

Right now, I’m having conversations with:

Leaders trying to deploy AM inside their operations (without the common pitfalls).

Owners of AM businesses who may be considering a transition, asset sale, partnership, or a clean handoff plan.

If you’re in either camp (or know someone who is), I’d value an intro. DM is fine.

#AdditiveManufacturing #AdvancedManufacturing #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement

For those who wanted to see what the education piece looked like, here you go! This is part of the education associated to the JD post yesterday.

Accountability Turns Strategy Into Action

Reposting for reach!  Great resource if you have a need in the space, I'm not talking about the crane solutions, I'm talking about Sam F. Bean

Vistage Chair I Vistage Certified Speaker I Executive Coach I Leadership Development I Speaker

Network, you want to up your safety game and shore up your uptime with your lifting systems?

Check out my guy at Zephyr Cranes Sam F. Bean

Helping Leaders in Manufacturing Recruit Supply Chain Excellence

Most organizations don’t have a hiring problem.

They have a leadership performance and retention problem.

Roles get filled - but momentum stalls.

Strong resumes don’t translate into real-world execution.

Turnover quietly drains results, culture, and confidence.

I help organizations design leadership and talent systems where people perform, and stay.

By aligning how leaders are selected, how they’re developed, and what success actually looks like, retention becomes predictable and performance compounds.

I operate as a Leadership & Retention Architect, not filling seats, but eliminating hiring regret and building teams that can execute.

As host of The 96% Perfect Podcast, I spotlight leaders transforming American industry by building teams, not just products.

Lisa A Thomas

Most hiring conversations focus on skills first.

That’s usually where things go wrong.

In this clip, Chris Landon explains why culture has to come 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 expertise - especially in highly regulated, high-stakes industries like medical technology.
If someone isn’t aligned with the mission, no amount of technical skill will create long-term retention or performance.

Culture sets the direction.
Expertise fuels the execution.
Alignment is what makes it last.

🎙️ The 96% Perfect Podcast - Link to episode in the comments.

Lisa A Thomas, PMP, ACP

Leadership That Performs | Teams That Stay | Host 96% Perfect Podcast

One of the most underrated leadership skills isn’t speed.
It’s judgment.

In fast-moving organizations, decisions pile up quickly:

New systems

New integrations

New priorities

New pressures

And the temptation is always the same:
decide fast, justify later.

In this clip from The 96% Perfect Podcast, Ed Cooper, CEO of Growscape, shares a deceptively simple filter he uses before major decisions:

“Fast forward six months. Will we look back and say this helped us take the next step… or that we should have known better?”

That’s not hesitation.
That’s discipline.

This is what “common sense leadership” actually looks like:

Gather the facts

Listen to the people closest to the work

Pressure-test the decision before you commit

And have the courage to not act when something doesn’t pass the test

Because here’s the truth most leaders learn the hard way:

❌ Not every decision deserves momentum
❌ Not every option deserves execution
❌ Not every change is progress

Sometimes the strongest move is restraint.

If you wouldn’t defend the decision to your future self - don’t make it.

That single question can save months of rework, morale loss, and strategic drift.

Curious question to leave you with:

👉 What decision are you making right now that your future self is quietly hoping you’ll rethink?

That pause might be the leadership move that matters most.

There’s a lot of noise about AI replacing people.

In this clip, Chris Landon, CEO of Natus Neuro, explains why that framing misses the point - especially in healthcare.

AI can process data.
Clinicians interpret nuance.
The real breakthroughs happen when the two work together.

AI isn’t the replacement... It’s the enabler.

Do you agree that AI is an enabler rather than a replacement?

🎙️ The 96% Perfect Podcast

We talk a lot about AI, innovation, and “the future of work.”

But here’s the truth most leaders miss:

👉 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 - 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

In this episode of The 96% Perfect Podcast, I sit down with Chris Landon, 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐨𝐟 Natus Neuro, a global leader in neurodiagnostics, to explore what happens when innovation is genuinely patient-led.

Chris has spent over two decades in MedTech, and one idea kept surfacing throughout our conversation:

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

We talk about:

 - Why AI should 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 clinicians - not replace them
 - How retention becomes a competitive edge when culture is real, not performative
 - Why mentorship (done intentionally) can accelerate careers more than any title
 - What leadership looks like when your North Star isn’t profit - but people

This episode is a reminder that the most advanced systems in the world still rely on something irreplaceable: 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭.

A big thank you to Lisa Schuler for helping coordinate the conversation and making everything run seamlessly behind the scenes - truly appreciated.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: Link is in the comments

No alternative text description for this image

Most people are taught to win with intelligence.

Degrees.
Frameworks.
Being the smartest person in the room.

Sebastian DiGrande spent 20 years in top-tier consulting and learned the hard truth the hard way:

The best answer often fails, not because it’s wrong, but because it isn’t trusted.

If people don’t trust you, they won’t back your idea.
If they won’t back your idea, it never gets implemented.
And if nothing gets implemented, intelligence doesn’t matter.

🎥 In this clip, Sebastian explains why relationships and trust are the real force multipliers in leadership, consulting, and execution—no matter how skilled or experienced you are.

This is the shift most high performers make too late:

Stop optimizing for being right.
Start investing in people.

Most of us are building 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵-𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 on last-century infrastructure

On this week’s episode of The 96% Perfect Podcast , I sat down with Sean Burke - CEO & Co-Founder at Enteligent  to unpack a shift that’s already underway:

We live in a DC world - but we live with the constraints and legacy of an AC grid.

Solar, batteries, EVs, LEDs, data centers - all DC.

Yet we still force them through AC systems and pay for it in loss, heat, and complexity.

Here are 5 ideas worth sitting with:

1) Efficiency is now the constraint.
In many high-performance data centers, only ~40% of power actually reaches the chip.

2) Solar doesn’t mean resilience - by default.
Most rooftop solar shuts off when the grid goes down.
Not because it has to, but because most systems were designed to 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘥, not operate independently.

3) DC isn’t constrained by distance - that’s an outdated myth.
AC won historically due to the availability of transformer technology in the late 1800s that DC didn’t have.
Today, long-distance and undersea transmission often 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘋𝘊 for efficiency.

4) This shift will disrupt people, not just technology.
Infrastructure change reshapes trades, skills, and careers.
The winners won’t be the most experienced - they’ll be the most adaptable.

5) Real innovation is messy, and disciplined.
You don’t just invent - you bend technology to market need.
Progress depends on trust, process, and surfacing problems early.

The leadership takeaway that cut through everything:

High-performing teams aren’t defined by speed.

They’re defined by trust.

If you lead in manufacturing, energy, data centers, or any high-change environment, here’s the real question:

Are you building the future on infrastructure - and hiring systems - designed for the past?

🎧 The episode is live now: Link is in the comments

AI in the mid-market doesn’t fail because of technology.

It fails because of clarity.

This wasn’t an AI hype session.

It was a reality check.

What came through loud and clear in this knowledge share with CoreHelix and Rahul Gangulee was this:

 → Pilot first.
 → Prove value fast.
 → Protect attention, not just time.
 → Make progress visible before trying to scale it.

That’s the real opportunity with AI for leaders.

Not speed for speed’s sake - but fewer handoffs, less context-switching, and the ability to think end-to-end again.

Another truth we don’t say often enough:

Most leaders aren’t resisting AI.

They’re struggling to visualise what ‘good’ actually looks like.

And when you can’t see the better state yet, big strategies stall.

Small, deliberate pilots don’t.

AI adoption in the mid-market isn’t about chasing tools.

It’s about clarity, trust, and deliberate action.

If this conversation resonates, it’s worth continuing with CoreHelix and Rahul Gangulee

Curious - where are you seeing clarity break down first when it comes to AI in your organisation?

CoreHelix Knowledge Share

Most leadership teams don’t have a talent problem.
They have a behavior problem disguised as culture.

Here’s the trap I see over and over again:

Complaining feels productive

“Calling things out” replaces actually fixing them

Teams talk around problems instead of through them

And momentum quietly dies.

In a recent clip from The 96% Perfect Podcast, something deceptively simple came up that’s been sitting with me ever since:

Positivity isn’t about optimism.
It’s about responsibility.

When leaders default to complaint, nothing moves.
When they default to solution, everything changes.

That’s why I loved how Ed Cooper, CEO of Growscape, reframed teamwork:

“Teamwork means we don’t let each other fail.”

Not:

“Who messed this up?”

“Why wasn’t this done right?”

“Whose fault is this?”

But:

What’s broken?

What did we learn?

How do we step in together?

That single shift does three powerful things inside an organization:

It replaces blame with clarity

It creates psychological safety without lowering standards

It turns mistakes into forward motion instead of friction

And then Ed layered in the operating discipline that makes this stick:

Clear objectives

Relentless communication

Weekly visibility into what actually moved the business forward

A hard rule: if it doesn’t tie back to the priorities, don’t do it

No theatrics.
No motivational fluff.
Just adults, aligned around what matters.

Here’s the uncomfortable question worth sitting with:

👉 Where in your organization are people rewarded for being loud… instead of being helpful?

Because culture isn’t what you say you value.
It’s what your systems tolerate.

And positivity, when done right, isn’t soft.
It’s one of the hardest - and most effective - leadership disciplines there is.

Most leaders don’t fail because they lack strategy.

They fail because they skip the two things that make strategy executable:

Listening (to what’s actually happening)

Simplicity (so people can actually move)

That’s why so many organizations end up with:

“change” everyone feels happening to them

priorities that multiply faster than results

teams that work hard… but don’t feel connected to the win

🎙️ New episode of The 96% Perfect Podcast is live - featuring Ed Cooper, CEO of Growscape. (link in the comments)    

Ed’s led transformations across household-name consumer brands and now brings that same operator mindset to Growscape - where he reminds us of something we all forget when we’re buried in complexity:

You don’t need more initiatives.

You need fewer priorities, said clearly, repeated consistently, and owned by everyone.

Here are 3 ideas from this conversation that hit hard:

1) “You have two ears and one mouth.”

Ed’s first move in any new organization is simple - meet people at every level and ask:

If you were me, what would you change?

What’s working that we should protect?

That’s not “culture work.”
That’s how you cut the learning curve and earn trust at speed.

2) Simplicity is a competitive advantage.

Ed makes it plain: every business becomes complex if you let it.
So he pulls teams back to the essence:

What do we actually do?
What are the 5–6 priorities that matter this year?
If it doesn’t tie back, don’t do it.

Imagine how much capacity you’d get back if that became the rule.

3) “Be Positive” isn’t motivation - it’s a system.

This was my favorite part.

Ed created a cultural anchor called B+ (Be Positive) in a toxic environment, and it evolved into a leadership operating principle:

✅ Acknowledge the problem.
✅ Stop performing frustration.
✅ Spend your energy on the solution.

And the unlock: assume positive intent first.
Because when you start with “they didn’t mean to,” you move from blame → learning → momentum.

He said something that every leadership team should steal:
Teamwork means we don’t let each other fail.

That’s the whole game.

If you’re leading change right now - or you feel your org drifting into complexity, misalignment, and fatigue - this episode is a masterclass in clarity, operating rhythm, and people-first execution.

Drop a “B+” in the comments if you’re building a culture that’s done with blame and ready for solutions.

Most leaders step into a new organization and rush straight to strategy.

That’s the mistake.

Before you change the org chart, the process, or the roadmap, you have to understand the people.

In this clip, Sean Burke shares how he actually assesses a company when he walks in the door:

• Who do people respect?
• Who really has influence, not just the title?
• Who’s driving innovation vs. steady execution?
• Who’s in the wrong seat (even if they’re capable)?

And one underrated tool he relies on?

Skip-level conversations.

Coffee chats. Direct conversations. Listening without filters.

Because you don’t understand a business by reading reports.

You understand it by understanding how people show up inside it.

Only after that can you decide:

Who to empower

Who to support

And where real transformation is actually possible

🎧 Want the full conversation? 

 Link is in the comments

After listening back to three very different conversations on The 96% Perfect Podcast, a pattern became impossible to ignore.

 Different industries.
 Different careers.
 Different life paths.

The same leadership truths kept showing up.

Luis Guzman (robotics & AI), Adam Witthauer PhD PMP (military leadership), and Ed Cooper (enterprise consumer brands) were all saying versions of the same thing - just in different language.

Here’s what actually connects them:

1. Progress beats perfection - every time
 
 Lewis didn’t wait for flawless robotics. He kept building in his garage.
 Adam reframed failure as “the gap” - a place you pass through, not live in.
 Ed simplified complexity so teams could move, not stall.

 The leaders making a real impact aren’t chasing perfect plans.
 They’re designing systems that allow momentum.

2. Curiosity outperforms confidence
 
 Lewis followed technology as it evolved - not a fixed career identity.
 Adam highlighted that high performers are often the harshest self-critics.
 Ed repeatedly reduced noise so teams could ask better questions.

Confidence didn’t come first. Curiosity did.

3. Leadership is about creating conditions, not control
 
The best leaders didn’t talk about authority - they talked about:

Feedback loops

Psychological safety

Clear priorities

Permission to learn

High performance wasn’t forced.
It was enabled.

The shared takeaway:
The future isn’t built by perfect people.

It’s built by curious, resilient leaders who keep moving forward - imperfectly, thoughtfully, human-first.

That’s the real work behind the results.
If you’re leading transformation, in manufacturing, tech, operations, or people systems this is the mindset shift that actually compounds.

 Progress > polish.
 Clarity > complexity.
 Humans > hype.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

Most companies talk about sustainability like it’s a branding exercise.

My guest on the latest episode of The 96% Perfect Podcast, Sebastian DiGrande (CEO, PCX), talks about it like what it actually is:

An operating system.

Not a slogan.
Not a glossy ESG slide.
A system that has to work in the real world, across supply chains, regulation, financing, community behavior, and trust.

Here’s the part that stuck with me:

We’ve built massive global momentum around carbon… while the plastic waste crisis remains underfunded, fragmented, and easy to ignore, especially in places where we don’t have to see it.

Sebastian breaks down why plastic responsibility can’t be reduced to “just recycle more”:

Only 20–30% of plastic can even be recycled, and only a few times before breaking down

Real progress requires upstream reduction + downstream recovery (his phrase: “walk and chew gum at the same time”)

Without trust + transparency, credits become PR, so PCX designed a model that’s audited, traceable, and measurable

But what made this episode a masterclass wasn’t the sustainability talk.

It was the leadership lesson underneath it:

Mission-driven work still requires operator-grade execution.
The world doesn’t change because your intentions are good.
It changes when your systems make the right behavior possible, at scale.

Sebastian also shared the career lesson he wishes he learned at 21:

People and relationships matter more than anything else.
If there’s no trust, the “best answer” never gets implemented.

If you lead in sustainability, operations, supply chain, manufacturing, or you’re building anything mission-driven inside a real business… this conversation will challenge how you think.

🎧 Episode is live now: Link in the comments

What's missing from most leadership programs? Empowerment.

Great leaders encourage. They engage. They energize. But empowerment is what turns trained leaders into transformational ones.

That's why Crestcom L.E.A.D.R. is now Crestcom LEADER. 

Meet E: Empower.

Learn · Experience · Adapt · Drive · Empower · Results

Same proven ROI. Now complete.

Discover Crestcom LEADER.

Most emerging leaders think the pressure comes from not having all the answers.

Sebastian DiGrande makes a different case:

Leadership breaks when no one is allowed to challenge the answer.

Titles don’t create clarity.
Hierarchy doesn’t create momentum.
And a CEO pretending to be omnipotent slows everything down.

🎥 In this clip, Sebastian explains what actually sustains growth in high-change environments:

• Bring the right people to the table - and respect them
• Build teams that question, debate, and challenge (not just agree)
• Make the mission operational - not inspirational
• Create a clear cascade from purpose → metrics → daily decisions across the business

Growth, people, and purpose don’t compete.
They collapse when they’re not connected.

The fastest organizations aren’t the ones with the smartest leaders -
they’re the ones where thinking is distributed and aligned.

10 hours per month saved, just by getting clear on responsibilities and proactively reviewing quality processes.

That's the ROI one participant saw after January's Crestcom LEADER module on coaching effectively with Steve Farber.

By clarifying who does what and catching issues early, their team avoided confusion, rework, and delays. Plus, they reduced compliance risks by 5%.

Crestcom leadership development creates real, measurable results, not just feel-good moments in a training room. Join leaders in The Woodlands who are transforming their teams.

A powerful reminder from Crestcom leadership expert Steve Farber that great leaders lead with heart, act with courage, and back it up with results.

Which word speaks to you today?

Participants in our Crestcom LEADER program gained nearly 200 hours by working smarter, not longer.

The leader you are on your best day and the leader you are on a chaotic Tuesday are often very different. The gap between them is where habits make the biggest impact.

Our latest post breaks down four practical habits that help you show up the way you want to, even when everything is on fire.

Read it: https://lnkd.in/eMfRmRab

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