Truly Human Leadership
This podcast explores what it means to be a conscious leader and run a conscious business. Hosted by Barry-Wehmiller, it features insights from inspirational leadership figures like Simon Sinek and Amy Cuddy, along with stories from CEO Bob Chapman's transformation to Truly Human Leadership. The show emphasizes the importance of making team members feel valued and cared for at work, which in turn improves their personal relationships. It aims to inspire leaders to create a more human-centered approach to business.
Episodes
Articulating Cultural Values w/ Lance Puckett of Ergon
Ergon is a company that has many similarities to Barry-Wehmiller. They both are families of companies that provide a diversified range of solutions that support manufacturing and infrastructure industries. They both had longtime leaders, who have since passed, who instilled deep cultural values in their organizations. Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute has had the privilege to partner with Ergon t
Understanding Your Leadership Defaults to Better Lead Your Team
Here's a question you may or may not be able to answer: What is your leadership default? In other words, what leadership style or preference do you naturally go to? It may be tough to answer that question because it take a level of self-awareness that is often difficult to face, especially when you're in a position of leadership and faced with tremendous expectations. But it is incredibly importan
Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia on Building and Sustaining Caring Cultures
It's been almost 6 months now since we lost Bob Chapman, our late Chairman and CEO of 50 years. But that doesn't mean our mission has changed or we're wavering in our desire to uphold his legacy by continuing to show that business can be a force for good when you understand that human and economic vibrancy can work in harmony. If you didn't know, you can find everything about Bob, his writings, vi
How Do You Really Build High Performing Teams?
Recently in Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute's People and Performance Playbook Newsletter, Mike Budden and Gunnar Millot wrote a thought provoking article that may be contrary to your perceptions of how and why teams are successful. It was called A High-Performing Team Is Not Necessarily a Team of High Performers. Is that how things work in your organization? Do you just grab and group of the hi
Brooke Erol, More Than a Paycheck
Brooke Erol has been an author, leadership coach and consultant for more than 20 years. She's currently based in the US, but as you'll hear in our interview, she's worked with people and organizations around the world. Brooke has been a big supporter of our message at Barry-Wehmiller for quite a while and had the opportunity to talk with Bob Chapman on a number of occasions and is determined to he
Navigating Change in Your Organization in a Truly Human Way
Is change a dirty word in your organization? Do scenes like this often play out: You schedule a town hall meeting. You talk about major new initiatives. You're met with blank stares and crossed arms. This may happen time and again and your leadership keeps saying the same thing: They just don't like change. They don't deal well with change. They don't want to change. But maybe, it's not a change r
How Do You Sustain Your Leadership Development Training?
Recently, in Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute's People and Performance Playbook LinkedIn Newsletter, there was an article by Jami Dix and Morgan Miller titled: The Five-Step System for Building Leadership Capability. Here's a section: "Most organizations treat leadership development as a series of programs to deliver. They ask: What workshop should we run next? Which coaches should we hire? What
Peter Menges, SVP of Customer Engagement and Loyalty, Unique Vacation, Inc. (Sandals)
Peter Menges is the SVP Customer Engagement & Loyalty for Unique Vacation Inc., an affiliate of the worldwide representative of Sandals & Beaches Resorts. He has more than 20 years of experience in leadership in the hospitality space and he has a strong personal commitment to the power of human-centered leadership, and a human-centered approach to engaging and caring for customers. Sandals has bee
Pat Berges, CEO of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute
Shortly after BW Chairman Bob Chapman passing in March 2026, it was announced that Pat Berges had been named CEO and Managing Partner of Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute. Chapman & Co. was founded by Bob to bring Truly Human Leadership to organizations around the world, improving their leadership, culture and performance. Pat was a longtime friend and colleague of Bob's, bringing more than 25 y
If a Leadership Program Does Not Change Behavior, What is it Actually Changing?
A couple of episodes ago, we talked about the $60 billion problem. That is the amount of money organizations spend on leadership training a year, although recent reports say that number may be as high as $100 billion a year. But are organizations really seeing the ROI on that money and if not, why? This is another installment of the People and Performance Playbook where the experts at Chapman & Co
Kyle Chapman, Carrying the Torch
Last fall, an episode of this podcast featured a discussion between Bob and Kyle Chapman. They talked about the legacy of the Chapman family in Barry-Wehmiller with an eye toward the future as Bob passed the mantle of CEO onto Kyle after 50 years in that role. It was a touching, heartfelt conversation between father and son, worth going back to listen, especially in light of Bob's passing on Marc
What Most Organizations Get Wrong About Leadership Development
Did you know that globally, organizations spend more than $60 billion annually on leadership development and training? $60 billion in seminars, workshops, coaches, certifications, assessments, subscriptions, books and much, much more. A lot of money spent, but then your leaders are still micromanaging, avoiding difficult conversations and solving every problem themselves. You might as well have
The Four Types of Leadership
We recently started a series within the larger episode of the podcast called the People and Performance Playbook. The episodes are a little shorter, but packed filled with insight from the experts at Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute. Chapman & Co. was founded by our late CEO and Chairman Bob Chapman to bring Truly Human Leadership to organizations around the world. You can learn more about them
Flashback: Bob Chapman Talks Everybody Matters to a Virtual Book Club
We continue to honor the late Chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, Bob Chapman and his legacy on the podcast. This episode is a virtual talk Bob gave to a book club in 2020, during the pandemic. The club was made up of people around Aspen, Colorado, where Bob lived and they had read his book, Everybody Matters The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. It is an interesting disc
The Shift in Leadership Norms
On this episode, we're introducing a new regular installment of the podcast, the People and Performance Playbook. Each one of these episodes will be shorter bits of insight from experts at Chapman &Co. Leadership Institute as they share stories from their work and the thinking and methodology they use to help organizations understand and put into practice the idea that people and performance, or
Rhonda Spencer, BW CPO, on Fostering People and Performance in Harmony
A few weeks ago, Barry-Wehmiller's Chief People Officer, Rhonda Spencer spoke at the 2026 i4CP Next Practices Now Conference. Rhonda was a featured speaker, sharing our message of Truly Human Leadership alongside CEOs and other Chief People Officers from companies such as John Deere, Dick's Sporting Goods, Lumen, Northwestern Mutual, Accenture, Microsoft, FedEx and many more. Originally, Barry-Weh
Remembering Bob Chapman pt.2
On this Truly Human Leadership Podcast where we continue to pay tribute to Bob Chapman, our leader and mentor who passed away on March 19, 2026. All of us at Barry-Wehmiller are very appreciative of all the tributes, condolences and kind words that have come in over the last few weeks. If you'd like to send your own tribute, condolence or remembrance of Bob, we have a page to do so at bobchapman.c
Remembering Bob Chapman pt.1
On this episode, we remember BW Chairman Bob Chapman, who passed away on March 19, 2026. Bob Chapman was more than a business leader, author and speaker, he was a relentless optimist who dedicated his life to building a better world. He worked to redefine what it meant to be a leader in business, to further the understanding that it was an awesome responsibility because the way we lead impacts the
The Gund Company, a Truly Human Leadership Case Study
For more than 75 years, The Gund Company has grown into one of the largest manufacturers and fabricators of composite materials, thermoplastic materials, and elastomeric materials. They have 12 manufacturing locations in five countries and have seen a tremendous amount of growth in the past few years. Like Barry-Wehmiller, the Gund Company is based in St. Louis and also like Barry-Wehmiller, they
Bonus Episode: Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat on Shakti Leadership
Our last episode featured an interview with Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat on their new book, Healing Leaders: 7 Steps to Recovery of Self. In that discussion, we talk about their previous book collaboration, Shakti Leadership: Embracing Feminine and Masculine Power in Business. To compliment the discussion of Healing Leaders, we're going to re-release a podcast episode from 2016 where Raj and Nili
Healing Leaders w/ Raj Sisodia and Nilima Bhat
Raj Sisodia is the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism and, with BW Chairman Bob Chapman, the co-writer of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family. Raj is a frequent guest on this podcast. For one, he's a very insightful friend and secondly, he's a prolific writer. Raj has co-authored a new book, Healing Leaders: 7 Steps to Recovery of Self with his friend a
The Powerful Impact of Listening
Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman has said this about the importance of listening: Time and again, I've written that listening is the most important thing a leader can do. But it transcends the leader role. Listening is the most important thing we, as humans, can do for one another. It shows empathy, it shows you care, and most importantly, it shows the person you are listening to that they mat
Kyle Chapman at Gonzaga University
A few months ago, we were honored that Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, named the week of October 13, 2025 "Chapman Leadership Week." That week, their School of Business Administration hosted the inaugural Chapman Lecture on Truly Human Leadership, named in honor of Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman. It was the culmination of a partnership our outreach team has had with the university
Jan Rivkin of Harvard on the Barry-Wehmiller Case Study, Layoffs and Teaching Leadership
Over the years, we've talked about the Harvard Case Study that was written about Barry-Wehmiller in 2016. It's a best seller, taught in over 200 universities to more than 30,000 students. On an earlier podcast, we talked to the authors of the case study, one of which is our guest today, Harvard Professor Jan Rivkin. The earlier episode kind of dealt with the how and why the case study was written,
Aaron Witt, Building a Better Dirt World
Aaron Witt started his career as a kid who loved construction. But over the years, he's built something bigger than he could have ever envisioned to support the industry he loves. Aaron is the founder of Build Witt. You can find out more about them at buildwitt.com and Aaron has his own website at aaron-witt.com. Build Witt is a company that creates microlearning software for the critical infrastr
Simon Sinek and Bob Chapman, An Experiment in Humanity
A few months ago, our friend Simon Sinek visited our BW Papersystems location in Phillips, WI to record an episode of his "A Bit of Optimism" podcast with Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman. It wasn't the first time Simon had been to Phillips, WI, as you'll soon hear, and for his podcast, Simon not only wanted to talk to his good friend Bob, but other BW teammates in Phillips, some he had met al
Randall Fleming and the Power of Caring in the Workplace
You may have heard Simon Sinek's recent "A Bit of Optimism" podcast that featured Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and a number of BW team member from our BW Papersystems company in Phillips, WI. One particular team member that was interviewed was Randall Fleming, who was a welder when we aquired (or adopted) Marquip, the company that would become BW Papersystems. While presenting our messag
Jason Lippert, President & CEO of Lippert Components
This week, we are celebrating the release of the new revised and expanded edition of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia's book on Bob and Barry-Wehmiller's journey to Truly Human Leadership. On today's podcast, we want to share a story of Bob and the book's impact on one particular leader. Jason Lip
Bob Chapman and Kyle Chapman, a Legacy of Leadership
This past week signaled a major milestone in the history of our company. We announced that Kyle Chapman is now CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, in addition to his existing role as President. His father, Bob Chapman, who has served as CEO since 1975, will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board. Barry-Wehmiller has been led by a Chapman since 1957, when William A. Chapman, Bob's dad, became President aft
Love as a Business and Change Strategy with Mohammad Anwar of Softway
We told you in the last episode about the new revised and expanded edition of our CEO, Bob Chapman's book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, which will be out Oct 21. Learn more about it at everybodymattersbook.com. If you read the original version, you know it's a story of transformation. It's about a leader who realized there was a better way to le
Bob Chapman & Raj Sisodia Discuss the 10th Anniversary Revised and Expanded Edition of Everybody Matters
If you're a regular listener of this podcast, you've probably heard of Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia's book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Treating Your People Like Family. Well, I'm pleased to be able to finally tell this audience that a revised and expanded version of this seminal book will be released Oct. 21. It has 75 extra pages, catching readers up to Bob and Barry-Wehmiller's
Unleash Your Team w/ Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute
BW CEO Bob Chapman often tells a story about meeting Steve Jones, who was formerly a high school football coach at Kimberly High School in Kimberly, WI. Steve led his teams to five consecutive state titles from 2013-2017 with an incredible run of 70 consecutive victories, a Wisconsin state record. With those impressive credentials, Bob asked Steve what he taught his players about winning and losin
The Changing Landscape of Leadership w/ Jane Adshead-Grant
Our friend Jane Adshead-Grant says this is key in furthering our hope to build a better world: "As we begin to share the message of what it means to be a Truly Human Leader, to take the responsibility of leadership and be this great steward of people who have been entrusted to us… What I see, time and time again is that there are few role models that enable our future generations to be this way. A
Looking at the Future Leader w/ Jacob Morgan
There is a hunger for a new kind of leadership. Throughout business and organizations, people continue to be taught to be managers, not leaders. They make sure everyone is in their seat on time, they take headcount for the day, they check off the boxes of daily tasks. But this is changing. As the evidence of the success of caring organizations becomes overwhelming, organizational leadership is rec
Your Leadership is Contagious w/ Anese Cavanaugh
One thing we have consistently believed at Barry-Wehmiller is that everyone can be a leader. Anese Cavanaugh's book, Contagious You advances the notion—for good or for bad—that leaders have tremendous power to influence those who follow their example. As Anese says, "The quality of our leadership is based upon our intentions, energy, and presence. By emphasizing authorship, self-care, and response
Zach Mercurio and the Power of Mattering
Almost ten years ago, our CEO, Bob Chapman's book, Everybody Matters was released. It is a documentation of the lessons Bob and Barry-Wehmiller have learned along our journey. Among the most important insights we gained: Everybody wants to know that who they are and what they do matters. Mattering is a term that is getting more and more attention lately. A while back, you may remember episodes of
Bob Chapman at the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival
Over the last few years, Bob Chapman has been honored to present the message of Truly Human Leadership to more and more audiences. Whether to a group of manufacturing executives, city government leaders, business students, human resources professionals, and countless others, the goal remains the same. Bob wants people to understand that the way we lead impacts the way people live. Bob has long bee
The Influencer's Impact with Bob Burg
The term "influencer" has really become a marketing term. It's a job. People are paid on social media to influence behavior, usually toward certain products. But there are real influencers in our lives -- intentional or unintentional -- that have a much greater effect on our behaviors, in positive or negative ways. We've long held at Barry-Wehmiller that your leader is one of the most powerful inf
A Truly Human Approach to Service and Language, Metlife and Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute
Here's something our CEO Bob Chapman recently wrote in a post on our Truly Human Leadership blog: The people our leaders lead, they do not "report to" that leader, they are within that leader's span of care. Just that simple deviation from the normal way of phrasing things completely changes the dynamic of the relationship. Per a Google search, the literal definition of "report to" someone is "to
Scaling Culture on a Global Level with BW Chief People Officer, Rhonda Spencer
Barry-Wehmiller's Chief People Officer, Rhonda Spencer, was recently recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal in their 2025 HR Awards for Innovation in HR. This was a long overdue recognition of Rhonda's leadership, but also the work of the BW Global People Team and everthing they've done to help all of our people, all over the world, feel like they matter. Rhonda has been with Barry-Wehmiller
Michael Gelb, Encouraging Creativity for a Better Workplace
True leaders create space for individuals to be passionate about their work and feel a sense of ownership. Nobody wants to be managed, bossed or supervised. We must inspire creativity in our people. Those ideas are the backbone of a culture of continuous improvement and a culture where people feel like they matter. Michael Gelb is the author of books such as How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci and
Belonging in the Workplace with Shawn Murphy
BW CEO Bob Chapman often tells a story about meeting Steve Jones, who was formerly a high school football coach who led his teams to five consecutive state titles from 2013-2017 with an incredible run of 70 consecutive victories, a Wisconsin state record. With those impressive credentials, Bob asked Steve what he taught his players about winning and losing. Steve said they didn't. He said that th
Marcel Schwantes Defines Humane Leadership
Marcel Schwantes is a speaker, author, acclaimed executive coach, and an Inc. Magazine Contributing Editor. Marcel writes and delivers presentations, workshops, courses, and coaching programs about the human side of business and how cultures of care, connection, and belonging power companies to thrive and outperform the competition. Marcel also hosts the popular "Love in Action" podcast, on which
Elevating a Leadership Journey w/ Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages
This podcast features a story from Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people. They do this by helping those organizations identify, develop, and equip their leaders. You can learn more about Chapman & Co. at ccoleadership.com. Chapman & Co. has a dedicated branc
Kristen Hadeed, Permission to Screw Up
Kristen Hadeed hadn't turned 30 and she was already the CEO of a successful company and well on her own leadership journey. Through her company – Student Maid, an all-student cleaning company – she was able to touch the lives of hundreds of college students and hundreds more clients. She has helped these students work their way through school, but she also created a culture that helps them develop
Raj Sisodia, the Conscious Business Movement, Yesterday to Today
Raj Sisodia is the co-author of our CEO, Bob Chapman's, book, Everybody Matters, and the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism. You can find out more about Raj on his website, Raj Sisodia.com Raj is working on a very special project we'll be able to talk about soon and, as every conversation with Raj is enlightening, we decided to roll the proverbial tape to capture some of his insight. We ended up t
Donna Hicks, Dignity and Truly Human Leadership
Our friend Donna Hicks, a Harvard professor, world peace negotiator and author of the book, Leading With Dignity, was recently in St. Louis to participate in an event co-sponsored by Barry-Wehmiller at St. Louis University. It was a roundtable discussion on a subject of which Donna is an expert: dignity. We also brought her to Barry-Wehmiller to have a discussion with our senior leadership team. D
Building the Leaders of Tomorrow Through Succession Planning
We've all heard about those organizations who have a dynamic and powerful leader who brings everything to new heights of success and notoriety. But then, when the times comes where that leader moves on, things are never quite the same. Other able and competent leaders left because they never received an opportunity to grow and use their gifts because the organization so relied on that one dynamic
Better Work, Better World: Interviews with BW Team Members Pt. 1
Often on this podcast, you'll hear Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman, other BW leaders or other thought leaders talk about the waycaring leadership or Truly Human Leadership impacts the lives of people in our workplaces. However, on this episode, you're going to hear from some of our team members within Barry-Wehmiler. A few years ago, we started a video series called "Better Work, Better World" tha
Bob Chapman Answers Listener Questions Pt. 3
This is the third and final part of this podcast series where Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman answers questions submitted by our social media audience. You will find the questions below the You Tube embed. Don't forget to go back and listen to part one and part two. We hope you find the dialogue we've been having over these last three episodes as inspiring as we have. We will do it again in the fu
Bob Chapman Answers Listener Questions pt. 2
This is the second episode of our podcast where Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman answer questions submitted by our social media audience. You will find the questions below. Don't forget to go back and listen to part one. We appreciate everyone who took the time to send in questions. Bob thought it was a wonderful dialogue. More to come!
Bob Chapman Answers Listener Questions Pt.1
A while back, we asked followers of Barry-Wehmiller on social media to send in questions for CEO Bob Chapman to answer on our podcast. We were overwhelmed by the response! We appreciate the time and thoughtfulness of everyone who submitted their questions. There were so many, the answers will be spread across multiple episodes of the podcast. Bob enjoyed the dialogue with you all so much, we will
Exploring Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times with Anita Sanchez
BW CEO Bob Chapman met Dr. Anita Sanchez a few years ago through a mutual friend, William Ury. Since then, Anita and her husband, Kit Tennis, have become great supporters of what we're trying to do at Barry-Wehmiller, spreading the message about the power of Truly Human Leadership. As is described on her website, Anita's book, The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times, is a guide
Compassion and Empathy with Dr. Ken Druck
Dr. Ken Druck has been a trusted advisor through the years, personally to Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman, and also to the leadership of BW during some of our tough times. After the loss of his daughter, Ken decided to dedicate himself to helping others find their way through grief. He founded the Jenna Druck Center in his daughter's honor and went on to be a source of hope to families affected by
Meijer and Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Letting Leaders be Leaders
Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people. They do this by helping those organizations identify, develop, and equip their leaders. You can learn more about Chapman & Co. at ccoleadership.com One company that Chapman & Co. has a long relationship with is Meij
Developing a Coaching Habit with Michael Bungay Stanier
Michael Bungay Stanier (or MBS) is the founder of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations move from advice-driven to curiosity-led. They've trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like and their clients range from Microsoft to Gucci. A few years ago, Barry-Wehmiller CEO, Bob Chapman, shared our leadership philosophy with MBS on the Great Work
Productivity Reimagined with Jacob Stoller
Jacob Stoller previously appeared on our podcast to discuss his last book, The Lean CEO: Leading the Way to World-Class Excellence. A number of years later, he has a new book: Productivity Reimagined: Shattering Performance Myths to Achieve Sustainable Growth. This episode features a fascinating conversation about the evolution of Jacob's thinking between the writing of his two books that coalesce
Leading From the Inside Out, Bob Chapman and Ramesh Srinivasan of McKinsey & Company
Barry-Wehmiller's CEO, Bob Chapman, often says that to be a Truly Human Leader, you need to have the skills and courage to care. Often, when you are placed into the role of leadership the traditional way to view the people within your span of care is as functions. So, you try to get them to do what you want so you can be successful, not because you care about them. It's not about who those people
The Journey of Leadership, Hans-Werner Kaas and Bob Chapman in Conversation
McKinsey and Company is one of the most, if not the most, prestigious consulting firms in the world. McKinsey creates immeasurable value for its clients, influences how the business world operates, and produces many of the world's business and political leaders. Barry-Wehmiller and our CEO, Bob Chapman were recently featured in an important new book written by four McKinsey Senior Partners. It's c
Bob Chapman Talks About Writing Your Eulogy
Have you ever thought about what your eulogy might say? It's kind of a macabre thought, but it's actually a pretty important question. And it's the topic of conversation on this podcast between Barry-Wehmiller CEO, Bob Chapman, and Garrett Potts, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida. As you've heard over several episodes of this podcast, Barry-Wehmiller is working with a numbe
Rich Sheridan, Chief Joy Officer
Rich Sheridan is the CEO and co-founder of Menlo Innovations, a software development company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He's the author of the books Joy, Inc. and Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. In chapter three of Chief Joy Officer, Rich says "If there is a core tenet upon which I would build my leadership life, and in doing so inspire those I led,
Implementing an Organizational Culture Survey Within a Global Company
Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people. They do this by helping those organizations identify, develop and equip their leaders. One of the ways Chapman & Co helps to equip leaders in an organization is with information. One of the ways they can provide that
Raj Sisodia and Michael Gelb, Business as a Healing Organization
Businesses destroy lives all the time. Not just by being poor partners to their consumers or communities, but through poor leadership and work environments where the employees feel overlooked or disregarded. But what if businesses could be instruments of healing instead of destruction? Our good friend Raj Sisodia and his co-writer, Michael Gelb, have written a wonderful examination of how business
Jeffrey Pfeffer Thinks the Workplace is Killing Us
"Most leaders understand their influence on team members' lives during work hours, but often enough, they don't think about how their leadership affects team members outside of the workplace as well." Barry-Wehmiller CEO, Bob Chapman, wrote this in a blog post on trulyhumanleadership.com titled "Wellness and Work: What's the ROI of Caring?" The connection between leadership and health has been a m
Bob Chapman, Inspiring a Human Revolution
A few years ago, BW CEO Bob Chapman had a conversation with Jane Adshead-Grant, a facilitator and coach in the UK and Europe. In this conversation, they talk about the concept of the need for a "Human Revolution" in business. Bob has written before about the trajectory of leadership in business from the Industrial Revolution to now. As we look at the focus and priorities of business leaders today,
Anese Cavanaugh on Building a Positive, Contagious Workplace Culture
Anese Cavanaugh is the CEO of Active Choices, Inc. She is the creator of the IEP Method (Intentional Energetic Presence) and the Positive Energy Workplace Initiative and a strategist and advisor to leaders and organizations around the world. She is devoted to helping organizations support their people so they are able to show up and bring their best selves to the table, create significant impact i
Donna Hicks, Honoring Dignity with Leadership
Dr. Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. You may recall that she has facilitated dialogues in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Libya and Syria. She has consulted with governments, corporations, schools, churches, and non-governmental organizations. And she is an expert
Teaching Empathetic Listening to College Students
Listening is not always a dedicated subject in educational curriculums. Think about it. There are speech classes, debate teams. You don't hear much about listening classes. That's why it's one of the foundational leadership classes taught in Barry-Wehmiller's internal university. We teach our people to "listen like leaders." It not only affects their relationships at work and with customers, but
The Ripple Effect of Leadership with Laurie Butz, CEO of Capital Credit Union
Laurie Butz is the President and CEO of Capital Credit Union, a credit union with more than 120,000 members in northeast Wisconsin. And we at Barry-Wehmiller definitely consider Laurie part of our extended family. Laurie's husband, Dennis, worked for many years for our Paper Converting Machine Company, or PCMC, based in Green Bay, WI, part of our BW Converting group of companies. Our CEO, Bob Chap
Teaching Human Skills in Primary and Secondary Education
On several episodes of this podcast, you've heard about Barry-Wehmiller's efforts to transform how business education is taught. If you want leaders who have the skills and courage to care, that should be part of their education before they are out in the world and in positions of responsibility. But what if we can reach people before they are in business school? What if these skills of Truly Huma
A Transformative Partnership for Teaching Leadership in Business Education
If you want to change the way people lead, maybe you should go to the source of where they're taught to lead – business schools. Maybe the way we teach people to lead should change. Christopher Reina is the Founding and Executive Director of the Institute for Transformative Leadership and an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at Virginia Commonwealth Universit
Redefining Leadership On and Off the Football Field with Steve Jones
Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman met Steve Jones, former head football coach at Kimberly High School, several years ago through a mutual friend. Coach Jones said something to Bob that made a lasting impression: "When people truly care for one another, it's amazing how hard they will work for each other." When Coach Jones stepped down in 2021, his career at Kimberly High School included five WIAA st
A Truly Human Approach to Pre-Hire Assessments
The leaders of your business can affect its health and vibrancy. They also can have a tremendous impact on the people within their span of care in the business. So, when it's time to bring someone new into your organization, how do you know when you're hiring the right person? You can't always rely on your gut or a couple of meetings. If you make the wrong decision it can be devastating to the bus
Identifying Leaders with Melinda Bremley of Chapman & Co.
Dr. Melinda Bremley is the newest Partner at Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people. Melinda and the rest of the team at Chapman & Co do this by helping those organizations identify, develop and equip their leaders. You can learn more about Chapman & Co. on t
Leadership in Times of Transition
Times of transition can be challenging for any organization. But challenging times and times of change often presents many opportunities for growth. But the ability to maximize those opportunities depends on effective leadership. Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller's consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and
Bob Chapman Speaks to Business Leaders
It is a universal truth -- every one of us, no matter what our job or where we live, simply wants to know that who we are and what we do matters. As leaders in business, we have the awesome responsibility to let people know that they do. Our goal at Barry-Wehmiller is to show the world that business can be a powerful force for good when we realize that the way we lead impacts the way people live a
Leader Expectations and Commitments
At Barry-Wehmiller, we consider leadership to be an awesome responsibility--it holds the key to growing our business and, as important, improving the lives of our team members. It's our job, as leaders, to help them establish goals so they know how to contribute, to remove barriers that get in the way of them achieving their goals, and help them chart a path for their growth. Our team members dese
The Life-Changing Power of Meaningful Work
While presenting our message of Truly Human Leadership, our CEO Bob Chapman is often asked: What about the people who don't get it? What about the people who actively work against positive change? Barry-Wehmiller has acquired more than 130 companies and we've certainly found that the people within that company are a product of their experiences. They may have experienced great leaders in their pas
Lean, Continuous Improvement and People
When Lean was introduced to the Barry-Wehmiller organization a number of years ago, CEO Bob Chapman's concern was that people would be lost along the way. But we found a way to adopt Lean methods and stay true to our Guiding Principles of Leadership. Instead of using Lean to reduce waste, we use it to reduce frustration. It's part of the bag of tools we use in continuous improvement to ensure a s
Former Air Force General and Author, John Michel
John Michel is a former Air Force General who has not only used his leadership experience in service of his country, but also to help transform businesses into places that think more about people than profit. John has written two books, (No More) Mediocre Me: How Saying No to the Status Quo Will Propel You From Ordinary to Extraordinary and The Art of Positive Leadership. He has written articles f
