leadership
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Guest Post: William “Spanky” Gibson, USMC, Retired on Leadership
- June 2, 2021
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership
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William “Spanky” Gibson is a retired U.S. Marine and the board president of the Oklahoma Veterans Project. Robroy hired Spanky Gibson to speak at, and emcee, several of our events over the years. I asked him to share a blog article about his experiences working with Robroy and his thoughts on leadership. As Marines and
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The Importance of Cross-training and Succession Planning in the Days of COVID
- May 5, 2021
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
When companies are running short of employees and can’t find people to fill the vacancies they do have, they run into all kinds of problems. In the everyday world, we can see it in fast food restaurants that can’t find enough people to fill their openings. They’re closing their stores an extra day per week
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A Crisis Really Determines What Kind of Leader You Are
- March 24, 2021
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
“In a crisis, don’t hide behind anything or anybody. They’re going to find you anyway.” — Bear Bryant, former Alabama football coach. The way you handle a crisis shows what kind of leader you are. Are you like many other executives who are afraid and hide in their office? Do you send out your PR
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The Problems With Outsourcing Manufacturing
- August 26, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Manufacturing
I’ve never been a fan of outsourcing manufacturing, especially to overseas providers, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, you can very quickly lose control of the quality of your product. Your supplier can make several thousand units but slip on the specs even a little. Something’s a little off, or they used a
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Five Strengths Every Leader Needs as We Resume Operations
- June 10, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
I read a recent article in Industry Week — Five Strengths Every Leader Needs as We Resume Operations — that discussed what leaders at every level need to bring back to their manufacturing operations even as states open up and try to return to normal. As the author, Jay Richards said, “where some see doom
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Billie Traywick: Lessons Learned From a Career in a Male-Dominated Industry
- May 13, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old colleagues to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. Billie Traywick was the Controller at Duoline Technologies and VP of Operations at
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How Do you Get Your Staff to Buy Into Your Goals?
- December 4, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
When you’re a leader, getting your staff to buy into your goals and overall vision is not just a transactional event. You don’t just offer them something in exchange for supporting you. It’s not their job to automatically buy into your vision. And you can’t just do it because you’re the boss. That’s not leadership,
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Are You Serving on a Good or Bad Board of Directors?
- August 28, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership, Management
As someone who has served on a board of directors at different times, I pay attention to corporate and nonprofit boards. A few weeks ago, I received an email newsletter from a fellow named Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures about his experience with boards of directors and the two types of problematic boards. He
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Another Important Lesson in Self-Awareness from the Center For Creative Leadership
- July 17, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
Last week, I talked about my time at the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina. I attended with many military and government leaders who wanted to improve their own leadership skills. I learned a lot of valuable lessons there, including how to communicate, how to manage, and how to lead. One important lesson I
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An Important Lesson in Intelligent Listening Learned from the Center For Creative Leadership
- July 10, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
Several (okay, many) years ago, I had a chance to attend the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. I attended with many military and government leaders who were looking to improve their own leadership skills and better manage their staffs. While I was there, I learned a lot of valuable lessons about how