Truly Human Leadership

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...

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...

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 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,...

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...

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...

"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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller's consulting company that helps organizations identify, develop, and equip leaders. They bring the lessons we have learned at Barry-Wehmiller and our principles of Truly Human Leadership alongside scientific methods to provide individual and organizational assessments, training, and consultation. They help their clients drive exceptional result...

Rhonda Spencer is Barry-Wehmiller's Chief People Officer. She has been with our company since before the development of our Guiding Principles of Leadership and was one of the major voices in its creation. It's her primary responsibility to be the steward of our values and make sure that light shines to the furthest reaches of our organization. Rhonda joined Brent Stewart and Mary Rudder on this p...