I am not saying I’m old, but, I am… in body and mind. I have been through it all, in my personal life and professional life. My professional work background is one that ranges from property management, to landscaping, to concrete, to co-owning a wire and sheet metal display company, to brewery employee, and so on… just to name a few. So, you can say I have a broad range of capabilities and have seen it all. Now, I am a toolroom production manager here at Wepco Plastics, doing something that I love to do! With that comes the responsibility of leading bright, driven, dedicated individuals that want to learn the craft of mold-making.
There are two young individuals here at Wepco that I have had the pleasure to oversee, “the kids”, as I call them, Scott MacDonald and Jacob Arsenault. Both employees came to Wepco as young men right out of high school, and they challenged the way I was taught to conduct myself in a work environment vs. the correct way to conduct myself in today’s work environment. I was taught and instructed in a day where your voice was rarely heard and you simply did what you were told by your employer, and if that was to duct tape a badly cut leg to continue your job, you just did it. Scott and Jacob challenge me to lead BETTER, as I need to be their example.
Times have changed, clearly, and being a leader of young individuals can be challenging at times. It is hard occasionally to remind myself that constructive failure will only help their growth. Allowing them to try to implement new things in the toolroom will go a long way in the success they will have in manufacturing, and in their personal life. These “kids” are only in the beginning of their professional careers and have their whole lives ahead of them. I believe they allow me to look at the workplace from a different perspective, with new solutions or ideas on how we can accomplish our end goal. They are the future of manufacturing, and their fresh outlook on life will be beneficial to the continued growth here at Wepco, or wherever they end up! Scott is on his way to move out of state, and he will forever leave a mark on the way we do things here at Wepco, and especially on how I choose to lead.
In a short period of time, I’ve had the faith in them that they will do the right thing because of our culture we have instilled. They have proven time and time again to complete the task required of them, and that is sometimes hard to find in this line of business. So, for that I thank you guys for all of your hard work, and for encouraging me and keeping me accountable as I become a better leader to awesome “kids” like you!