Leader Feeder by Unique Training & Development

Hosted by Unique Training & Development

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Episodes

391

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Join our leadership experts for bi-weekly advice on how to develop consistent, capable and confident Supervisors, Managers and Team Leaders who drive safety, productivity, quality and team member engagement. In this series, we will highlight some of the key elements of the Front Line Leadership Training. This comprehensive approach will ensure a lasting change in the leadership approach and culture of your business to support high performance. As the number one choice for supervisor training in manufacturing, distribution and operations, learn more about how we can help you: uniquedevelopment.com

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60 recent

November 2, 202610 min

Root Cause Analysis: 3 Mistakes Supervisors Make

Kirk breaks down three mistakes supervisors make when they hunt for the root cause of a problem: blaming a person instead of the process, locking onto the first cause that sounds right, and acting before the cause is confirmed. Each one can make a fix look like it worked for a few hours or a few weeks, until the same problem shows up again. Kirk walks through two steps from our DRIVE Problem-Solving Process: review the facts and identify the cause, and closes with a challenge to test every possible cause behind one problem that keeps coming back on your shift. Chapters: 0:00 The machine that keeps going down 1:14 Two steps from the DRIVE problem-solving process 1:32 Mistake #1 3:18 Why blame turns problem solving into a witch hunt 3:52 Mistake #2 5:13 Review the facts before you settle on a cause 6:27 Mistake #3: Acting before you confirm the cause 7:27 Test one variable at a time 8:52 Your challenge this week Want your supervisors solving problems so they stay solved? Visit UniqueDevelopment.com to talk with our team about your organization's leadership development needs.

October 19, 202616 min

How to Give Feedback to Employees on the Plant Floor

Kirk breaks down the two feedback problems that are living on most manufacturing floors right now. The silence problem is when feedback barely happens at all, often because leaders fear the other person's defensive reaction. The delivery problem is when feedback does happen, but it lands as criticism or a judgment of someone's intentions instead of help. He then explains how to use the B.E.E.R. Method to keep feedback factual and future-focused. Chapters: 0:00 Two feedback problems on most manufacturing floors 1:08 Problem #1 5:52 The danger of sugarcoating feedback 6:50 Problem #2 8:27 The vicious cycle of giving less feedback 10:55 The B.E.E.R. Method 13:19 Your challenge this week Is feedback the missing piece on your floor? Visit UniqueDevelopment.com to talk with our team about your organization's leadership development needs.

October 5, 202618 min

Your Supervisors Are Well Liked… That Might Be the Problem

The engagement survey comes back, and the first page every supervisor flips to is the one that says whether their people like them. But is being well-liked really what a supervisor is there to achieve? In this episode of Leader Feeder, Kirk breaks down the caretaker leadership style: the supervisor who wants to be liked so much that they avoid tough conversations, let the standard slide, and hold no one accountable. It usually isn't laziness. It comes from being conflict-averse and worried that a hard conversation won't change anything. Kirk shares two mindset shifts that make accountability easier, explains why a well-liked leader can quietly lose their high performers, and closes with two challenges to take onto the floor this week.

September 21, 202613 min

Why Your Leadership Training Isn’t Sticking

Kirk breaks down why leadership and compliance training so often fails to stick, even when the training itself is well-designed. It usually comes down to two things: a lack of clear relevance to the participant’s day-to-day, and no real expectation that anything will change once they’re back on the floor putting out fires. […]

September 7, 202620 min

3 Situations Where Leaders Prioritize Short-term Comfort Over Long-term Results

Three difficult situations that manufacturing supervisors face, and the more you avoid them, the harder they get. In this episode of Leader Feeder, Kirk breaks down three situations where leaders prioritize short-term comfort over long-term results: confronting a long-tenured, highly respected employee about slipping performance, stepping into a conflict between two team members […]

August 24, 202612 min

Most Workplace Conflict Isn’t Personal

Two team members who can't stand each other? It's probably not personality. Kirk breaks down the reasons conflict keeps showing up on the floor.

August 10, 202617 min

5 Ways Supervisors Play Favorites Without Knowing It

Ask any supervisor if they play favorites, and they’ll say no. Ask their team, and you might get a different answer. That gap is where favoritism lives, and in manufacturing it almost never looks like a supervisor openly rewarding their friends. It’s quieter than that. In this Leader Feeder, Kirk breaks down why […]

July 27, 202610 min

Why Your Open Door Policy Isn’t Working

Your door is open. Your team still isn't walking through it. In this episode of Leader Feeder, Kirk breaks down why the open door policy is one of the biggest myths in manufacturing leadership, and why saying "my door is always open" almost never leads to more communication from your team. If you're a frontline supervisor, line lead, or plant manager trying to get your team to actually bring you problems, questions, and ideas, we think this will help. In this episode: - Why the open door policy fails on the manufacturing floor - The behaviors that build real trust and respect with your team - 3 things to do instead of announcing an open door policy - How to build a team that brings you problems before they become bigger issues

July 13, 202613 min

The Shift Handoff That Destroys Morale

Ever walk into a shift and get handed someone else’s mess with zero warning? That’s a shift ambush, not a handoff, and it’s quietly draining morale on your floor. Kirk explains why skipping (or half-doing) the shift handoff creates a cycle of blame between shifts, and lays out the 6 things a handoff […]

June 29, 202611 min

We Tested 4 Leadership Styles — Here’s What Works

What’s the best leadership style for frontline leaders? We put four leadership styles head-to-head in a real simulation — run hundreds of times with frontline leaders across manufacturing, logistics, and production environments — and the results are consistent every single time. Most frontline managers assume getting results requires pressure, control, and top-down authority. […]