What does it actually take to build confidence as a leader? Communication expert and keynote speaker Mimi Brown joins Greg Schinkel to break down her “Own Your Swag” framework and her new book, Lead at Full Volume: The 10 Beats to Amplify Your Confidence, Influence and Presence. Mimi shares the moment a boss […]

    Most plant managers pick up one or two of these five patterns in their first year — not because they’re bad leaders, but because nobody warned them. In this special edition of Accelerating Operational Performance, Greg walks through five common mistakes first-year plant managers make, from thinking day-to-day instead of long-term to confusing […]

    After 49 interviews with senior leaders, operators, engineers, and executives — including a former London, Ontario mayor — Greg pulls back the curtain on the three themes that keep surfacing no matter who’s in the chair. What do success and struggle actually have in common across industries, roles, and experience levels? Spoiler: it’s […]

    If you’re an operations leader with any responsibility for growth, sales isn’t someone else’s problem — it’s yours. In this episode of Accelerating Operational Performance, Greg Schinkel sits down in-studio with sales strategist, speaker, and author Shawn Casemore to tackle the sales challenges that manufacturing and operations leaders face every day — whether […]

    Most business owners have heard of a fractional CFO. Far fewer have heard of a fractional COO, and that might be exactly the role their business needs. In this episode of the Accelerating Operational Performance podcast, Greg Schinkel sits down with Josh Post, a fractional COO and executive coach who spent more than […]

    Kevin Schinkel, President of Schinkel’s Legacy, joins Greg on the Accelerating Operational Performance podcast to share what 14 years on the plant floor taught him about leadership. From the Easter ham disaster that humbled him, to overcoming imposter syndrome, to the simple question that transformed how he delegates—Kevin opens up about the real […]

    Nadia Dawe, a people, learning, culture, and operations leader with deep experience in transportation, transit, maintenance, safety, compliance, and frontline leadership, shares what she learned as she moved from L&D into Operations and why the work ultimately comes back to people. Together, Greg and Nadia explore how leaders can get closer to the work, […]

    How do you transition from a “top-down” manager to a strategic leader who drives operational excellence? Greg sits down with industry veteran Darcy Scott to unpack over 30 years of experience in high-velocity logistics and 3PL. Darcy shares his personal journey of leadership evolution. This conversation provides a roadmap for empowering teams, leading […]

Greg sits down with Jeff Gallant, an operations leader with over 30 years of experience driving transformation across some of Canada’s most recognized industrial organizations.

Jeff has led billion-dollar investments, large teams, and major operational change—but what stands out most is his perspective on leadership.

This conversation gets into what actually drives results on the floor:

- The shift from technical expert to people leader

- Why employee engagement directly impacts KPIs

- How to implement change that actually sticks

- And what great leaders do differently

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

04:52 – From technical expert to people leader

08:01 – Managing by email vs in person

11:00 – Advice for new and aspiring leaders

13:20 – Talent management and succession planning

15:33 – The link between employee engagement and KPIs

21:17 – What makes change initiatives successful

25:41 – Organizational silos and misalignment

29:38 – Decision-making waste and pushing decisions down

Discover how to turn frontline leadership training into lasting behavior change. Greg Schinkel and Kandis Neth share secrets to making operational learning stick.