To make better decisions and increase the overall engagement in your organization or workplace, you need diversity of thought! This is why I’m always so excited to talk to women in manufacturing roles, like Kathy Miller! Kathy has held multiple executive roles in manufacturing, including roles at General Motors, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Rolls-Royce. She was also inducted into the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2021, and has written about her unique journey as a woman in manufacturing in her book Steel Toes and Stilettos.
In this episode, Kathy shares more about her experiences and successes as a woman in manufacturing, and shares how both male and female leaders can build stronger connections, find more diverse results, and show up as their most authentic, empowered selves.
3:29 – Steel Toes and Stilettos is inspired by the different roles women play to be both their authentic, feminine selves and hold their own on a shop floor
4:21 – A successful journey in manufacturing requires soft skills, which can be harder to develop than people realize
5:19 – To make a significant cultural transformation stick in your organization, you need to make it feel like it belongs to the employees, and make them feel it with their hands and the hearts
8:23 – To get more women and their perspectives into manufacturing roles, it’s important to get women into manufacturing roles at a young age
9:12 – Inclusive environments get better business results
9:35 – Every person in your organization has a heart, a brain, and a set of hands, and you have to tap into all three
11:00 – By giving others an opportunity to contribute, you can find new and better results
13:50 – Kathy’s equation for successfully improving plants involves relationships, realities, results, and authenticity
14:45 – Every single relationship matters
16:37 – Face your realities and work on what’s in your control
17:27 – Focus on where you are and you’ll find results
18:09 – If you’re a man in manufacturing, work to amplify female voices
19:05 – Women in manufacturing can also advocate for their authentic selves
Connect with Kathy Miller
Connect with Kathy on Linkedin
Learn more from Kathy and her coauthor Shannon Karels on their website
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