Real Leadership

By real-leadershipBusiness

Real Leadership episodes

October 27Alicia Davis - Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Lear Corporation | Real Leadership
What happens when an investment banker, a corporate lawyer, and a law professor all end up in the same chief strategy officer's chair? You get Alicia Davis.
Alicia is Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Lear Corporation, the largest U.S.-based automotive supplier and a global leader in seating and E-Systems, with $23 billion in net sales and 164,000 employees across 36 countries. She leads Lear's strategy, planning, M&A, and investment activities.
Her path there was anything but linear. She was a small-town Florida kid who wanted to be a lawyer from the age of six. She majored in business at Florida A&M on her mother's advice, landed a Goldman Sachs internship after reading a single paragraph about investment banking in the library card catalog, and went on to earn a JD from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. She worked as an investment banker at Raymond James, practiced corporate law at Kirkland & Ellis, and spent years as a tenured law professor and associate dean at the University of Michigan before joining Lear in 2018 to lead investor relations, a job she had never done before.
In this conversation with Jim Weaver, Alicia explains how every one of those chapters now shows up in her work: thinking like a professor about what the rules should be, like a banker about valuation and capital markets, and like a lawyer about risk and opportunity. She also gets candid about leadership, family, and the fear that comes with every new role.
In this episode, we cover:
The professor whose advice changed the course of her life
How Lear fits into the automotive supply chain, and how a CSO measures success without owning operations
Why not making a move is still making a move
How Lear supports employees' lives outside work, from school performances to caregiving
A law dean's lesson on leadership: "the sticks are small and the carrots are stale"
Why curiosity is the one trait she'd instill in every employee, and why she tells young people to "be afraid and do it anyway"
This is an episode about saying yes before you feel ready, and about how an unconventional path can become a leader's greatest advantage.
Key Moments
02:23 - From Small-Town Florida to Florida A&M
04:41 - Landing at Goldman Sachs
08:31 - "Every Number on That Page Better Be Right"
10:31 - The Sharp Left Turn into Academia
13:21 - Building the Problem Solving Initiative
18:14 - Why Not Making a Move Is Still a Move
21:49 - Lear's Place in the Automotive Ecosystem
25:59 - How a Chief Strategy Officer Keeps Score
29:52 - "Fully Formed Human Beings": Work, Family, and Flexibility
32:56 - Small Sticks, Stale Carrots: Leading Without Positional Authority
36:26 - The One Trait She'd Instill: Curiosity
38:36 - Be Afraid and Do It Anyway
42:35 - Agility in a World That Keeps Changing
Show Notes
Alicia Davis — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciajdavis/
Lear Corporation: lear.com
Lear Corporation — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lear-corporation/home/
Automotive News 100 Leading Women 2025 — Alicia Davis: https://www.autonews.com/awards/100-leading-women/2025/an-alicia-davis-leading-woman-2025/
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
46 min
October 05Doug Hisel, Senior Vice President, Store Operations, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. | Real Leadership
What happens when a leader running nearly 660 stores decides the answer is less strategy, not more?
Doug Hisel is Senior Vice President of Store Operations at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. He oversees field operations for the restaurant and retail sides of nearly 660 stores across 43 states. His path started far from the executive suite. He was a college bartender at Ruby Tuesday who spent eight years running independently owned restaurants, and he joined Cracker Barrel in 2007 as an associate manager in Indianapolis after his wife submitted his application for him. Nearly two decades later, he has held almost every operations role the company has.
Doug's leadership comes down to a lesson he learned in a hotel room with no bed: no amenity matters if you miss the fundamentals. At Cracker Barrel, those fundamentals are hot food, fast, attentive service and overwhelming hospitality. Over the past year, Doug made them the filter for every menu item, communication and new behavior that reaches the field. In his words, it was the least strategy he has ever deployed to the field, and his most successful year as an operator.
In this episode, we cover:
Why the employee experience comes first, and how a decentralized field HR team keeps a read on it
How Cracker Barrel runs a restaurant and a retail store under one roof, and why the two require different skills
The "bed and shower" philosophy: why fundamentals have to hold before anything else gets layered on
How every role, from the host to the overnight maintenance team, understands how it contributes to hot food
Why moving from single-unit to multi-unit leadership was the hardest jump of Doug's career, and the mentor who told him the truth about it
How he keeps nearly 20 years of experience from turning into "old mixtapes"
Doug's message is simple: don't go back to the basics. Go forward with them, every single day.
Key Moments
04:49 - Two businesses under one roof
07:20 - Why the employee experience comes first
11:16 - The hotel room with no bed
16:39 - Microlearning: training in five-minute bursts
20:14 - Going forward with the basics
23:55 - From Ruby Tuesday bartender to Cracker Barrel
29:21 - The hardest jump: single-unit to multi-unit leadership
33:25 - The mentor who told him the truth
39:55 - Why dinner is Cracker Barrel's next opportunity
43:00 - Showing up for the home team
Show Notes
Doug Hisel — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/douglas-hisel-4a386440/
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: crackerbarrel.com
Cracker Barrel — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cracker-barrel
Cracker Barrel Careers: careers.crackerbarrel.com/
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
46 min
September 15Justin Golden - Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Gould | Real Leadership
What does it take to become the third generation to lead an 87-year-old family business…and still make it your own?
Justin Golden is CEO of Stephen Gould, one of the largest independent supply chain solutions providers in the country. Founded in 1939 as a small packaging storefront on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Stephen Gould has grown under three generations of the Golden family into a global partner for some of the biggest names in consumer products, tech, aerospace and retail, spanning more than 40 locations across six countries. Justin spent nearly two decades earning his seat, starting as a sales manager in 2007 before becoming VP, then president, then CEO this past January.
What makes this conversation compelling isn't just the family business success story — it's Justin's honesty about what generational leadership actually requires.
In this episode, we cover:
How Stephen Gould's founders built a profit-sharing platform for independent sales agents that still drives the business today
The story behind Stephen Gould's shift from a roughly $2 million mom-and-pop operation to a $1 billion national and global supply chain partner
How Justin's early years — from filing invoices in 7th grade to getting kicked out of a Manhattan office building by security — shaped his leadership instincts
What it took to break down decades of decentralized silos and connect intelligence across 200+ independent agents
The real tension Justin and his father worked through once they were both in senior leadership roles together
Why Stephen Gould brought in its first fully independent board members in 2022 — and what ‘family owned, professionally run’ means in practice
How Stephen Gould has evolved from a packaging supplier into a full-spectrum supply chain partner across aerospace, cosmetics and beyond
How Justin is already thinking about setting up a fourth generation for success
This episode is a candid look at what it really takes to protect a family legacy while still having the courage to change it.

Key Moments
01:56 - Stephen Gould's Origins: A Storefront on the Lower East Side
04:51 - The Profit-Sharing Model Behind Stephen Gould's Growth
10:21 - What Stephen Gould Does Today: A “Swiss Army Knife” for Supply Chain
19:09 - Lessons From the Warehouse Floor: Starting in 7th Grade
23:15 - Working With His Father, and Working Through the Tension
27:35 - Favorite Leadership Story: Kicked Out by Security, Then Buying the Bar a Round
35:11 - Bringing In Stephen Gould's First Outside Board Members
42:34 - Defining Legacy for the Fourth Generation

Show Notes
Justin Golden — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/justindgolden/
Stephen Gould — Company Website: stephengould.com
Stephen Gould — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/stephen-gould-corporation/
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Onin Group: oningroup.com/clients
47 min
September 01Robert L. Mason - CEO of SPOC Energy
What does it take to turn a bankruptcy, a padlocked warehouse, and a $30,000 loan from your father into a company on pace for a billion dollars in revenue, building critical infrastructure for the AI era…without losing the culture that got you there?
Robert L. Mason is the Founder and CEO of SPOC Energy (formerly SPOC Automation), a company that designs and manufactures advanced power conversion and motor control automation for mission-critical infrastructure — from oil and gas wells and marine vessels to utilities and, increasingly, AI data centers.
Robert grew up watching his father build an industrial automation company from scratch, and when that company was destroyed by a bonding failure and a hostile takeover, Robert found himself working for the very company that had taken everything his father had. Two years in, he quit, took a handful of loyal employees with him, and built a new company on the strength of a $30,000 loan his father took out against his own home.
Twenty-five years later, that company has landed on Inc. Magazine's Best Places to Work list and made the Inc. 5000 three times in the past decade. In April 2026, Robert led a rebrand from SPOC Automation to SPOC Energy — a name change that reflects the company's biggest strategic pivot yet, from an oil-and-gas power specialist into a key player solving the power infrastructure problems created by the AI boom.
Robert’s story is a case study in what it looks like to scale a company without abandoning the people who built it — from the original team that's mostly still with him a quarter-century later, to a leadership decision involving a random drug test that he says taught him the difference between what's by-the-book right and what's actually right.
In this episode, we cover:
Why an oil well pump and an AI data center have more in common than you'd think
How SPOC's technology reduces diesel generator fuel burn by up to 80% and turns generators into networked microgrids
Why AI data centers create power demand spikes that can swing 60-80% in under 40 milliseconds, and how SPOC's technology solves it
Why Robert ranks his company's culture above the billion-dollar revenue target it has publicly set
The story behind a random drug test, a company town hall, and one employee's decision to speak up about a mental health crisis
How a ghostwriting project on implicit bias turned into a Forbes book deal and a docuseries called “Tender Rednecks”
This is a conversation about building at scale without losing what made the business worth building in the first place.
Key Moments
02:35 – How SPOC Energy began: a bankruptcy and a padlocked warehouse
06:38 – Quitting his job before telling his wife — and her response
08:09 – The $30,000 loan that became SPOC's seed money
11:42 – Why SPOC Automation rebranded to SPOC Energy
16:03 – Solving the AI data center power problem
19:29 – The US-China AI energy race and West Texas's advantage
22:42 – Why culture ranks above the billion-dollar revenue goal
24:24 – A “felt consequence”: a drug test, a town hall, and a story of hope
39:31 – Letting go of control as a founder
44:16 – From a ghostwriting project to a Forbes book deal and “Tender Rednecks”
Show Notes
Robert Mason — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-l-mason-9122817/
SPOC Energy — Company Website: spocenergy.com
SPOC Energy — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spoc-energy
Book: “Tuesday In Trustful” — Forbes Books, forthcoming October 2026: https://a.co/d/06hb5CbK
Docuseries: Tender Rednecks (weekly episodes on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@robertlmasonleadership/videos
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/real-leadership-the-podcast/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
53 min
August 18Joseph DeMarco - Chief Procurement Officer at ABM Industries | Real Leadership
What does it really take to turn procurement from “the department that says no” into a genuine strategic partner?
In this episode, Jim sits down with Joseph DeMarco, Chief Procurement Officer at ABM Industries, one of the largest integrated facility services companies in the world. ABM keeps airports, hospitals, stadiums, warehouses, and office towers running behind the scenes, self-performing 70-85% of the work for more than 20,000 clients, including 57% of the Fortune 500.
Joseph leads a team responsible for more than $1 billion in annual spend, and since joining ABM in 2023, he's driven a transformation that's organizational, technological, and — in his words — above all relational.
Joseph's path to the role wound through Allstate, Zebra Technologies, Baxter, and Stericycle, where he rose to Vice President of Global Sourcing and Procurement before ABM came calling with a strikingly similar mandate: build a center-led, world-class procurement function from the ground up.
What makes this conversation stand out is how candidly Joseph talks about the moments that shaped him — including a stretch early in his career when a demanding new boss made him question everything, until a friend's blunt advice pushed him to develop one of his most valuable skills. Joseph also unpacks his “invisible ledger” philosophy, drawn from Stephen Covey's concept of the emotional bank account, and how it governs the way he builds trust with stakeholders and suppliers alike.
In this episode, we cover:
ABM's scale, and how a facility services company that self-performs the majority of its work operates differently from a typical vendor
The Elevate strategy, and how ABM is using technology and data to transform a business with 115 years of experience
What it means to build a “center-led” procurement organization, and why it depends more on relationships than policy
The “invisible ledger” concept, and how making deposits in trust pays off months later
The Kraljic Matrix, and how understanding supplier leverage shapes negotiation strategy
How to align incentives when operations and procurement seem to be pulling in different directions
The operational challenges of shifting ABM to a center-led model, including expansion into semiconductor and microgrid work through recent acquisitions
The mindset shift Joseph made about being his team's “safety net” — and why letting go made his team stronger
Joseph's advice for procurement professionals early in their careers
Because in the end, this conversation isn't just about spend management — it's about how trust, patience, and relationships compound over time into real influence.
Key Moments
04:47 – The Elevate strategy: modernizing a business with 115 years of experience
13:25 – The engineer boss, the “coyote and the rake,” and the feedback that changed Joseph's career
19:38 – The Invisible Ledger: trust as an emotional bank account
29:34 – The biggest hurdles in shifting to a center-led model
35:11 – What Joseph changed his mind about: letting go of being the “safety net”
37:20 – Joseph's best advice for up-and-coming procurement leaders
Show Notes
Joseph DeMarco — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephdemarco/
ABM Industries — Company Website: abm.com
ABM Industries — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/162238
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
44 min
August 04Mark Hans Richer - Principal at Richer Confidential | Real Leadership
What does it take to become the first-ever Chief Marketing Officer at two different companies? Mark-Hans Richer has done it twice — nine years at Harley-Davidson and nine years at Fortune Brands, with a nearly decade-long run at GM in between steering Chevy Trucks, GMC, and Pontiac.
Along the way he's picked up two Cannes Gold Lions, three Gold Effies, a 2026 Leadership Orbie from Chicago CMO, and an induction into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame.
But Mark-Hans traces all of it back to his freshman year at Northwestern, when he — a history major with no business training and no money — convinced a bank to loan him $35,000 to sell a better stuffed Willie the Wildcat. That hustle taught him the segmentation, pricing, and brand-loyalty fundamentals that would define his entire career.
In this conversation, Mark-Hans walks through the high-stakes bets that built his reputation: the $8M Oprah car giveaway that made Pontiac a household name overnight, the Harley-Davidson “Dark Custom” subbrand that found a whole new generation of riders hiding in plain sight, and the negotiation with two different Popes that brought Harley-Davidson's 110th-anniversary celebration to the Vatican.
In this episode, we cover:
Mark-Hans's origin story: building and selling a better stuffed Willie the Wildcat as a Northwestern freshman with no business training
The foundational marketing lessons — segmentation, pricing, emotional connection — he carried from that dorm-room business into a 30-year career
The inside story of the 2004 Oprah G6 giveaway: the internal skepticism, the $8M ask, and the results
Building Harley-Davidson's “Dark Custom” subbrand and taking the company into the UFC octagon and the Vatican
Why he's skeptical of “data worship” and what he thinks predictive analytics and AI can and can't do for marketers
Launching Richer Confidential, his coaching practice for creative executives navigating the path to the C-suite
His advice to 20- and 30-somethings wondering if the American Dream is still alive
It's a conversation about what happens when you take marketing instincts seriously enough to bet millions of dollars on them — and what it takes to build a career, and a life, one calculated risk at a time.
Key Moments
03:09 — Origin story: selling a better stuffed Willie the Wildcat as a Northwestern freshman
07:35 — The foundational principles he still uses today: energy over passion, segmentation, emotional connection
11:47 — Learning the ropes at DDB Chicago, then GM's Chevy Trucks and the “Like a Rock” era
16:39 — Saving GMC with “We Are Professional Grade” — and setting up the case for a bigger bet
21:33 — Inside the $8M Oprah G6 giveaway: internal skepticism, the pitch, and the results
28:08 — Reinventing Harley-Davidson: the “Dark Custom” subbrand, UFC, and the Vatican
39:41 — Balancing long-term brand building with proving ROI
43:10 — Launching Richer Confidential and what “courage” means for creative executives
47:53 — Why predictive analytics is a “marketer's unicorn rainbow fantasy”
55:20 — His advice for 20- and 30-somethings on whether the American Dream is still alive
Show Notes
Mark-Hans Richer — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhricher
Richer Confidential Website: http://richerconfidential.com (password: Richer2026)
Email Mark-Hans — [email protected]
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
1 hr 5 min
July 21Tiffany Benjamin - CEO of The Humana Foundation | Real Leadership
What does it look like to run philanthropy with the discipline of a business and the empathy of a social worker?
Tiffany Benjamin is the CEO of the Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of one of the largest healthcare companies in the country. A Harvard-trained lawyer, she started at a major firm, spent several years as senior investigative counsel for Congress, and rose through Eli Lilly’s legal ranks before an unexpected turn — a corporate secretary assignment she never asked for — pulled her into social impact work for good.
But her preparation started much earlier: as an elementary schooler tagging along while her mother, a single mom who left a switchboard operator job to become a social worker, sat with HIV/AIDS patients in the 1980s and showed her what true empathy looks like.
Since becoming CEO in 2022, Tiffany has narrowed the foundation’s focus to mental health and food security for three populations — seniors, school-aged children, and veterans — and built an accountability engine most nonprofits never attempt: a chief impact officer, standardized outcome metrics, 3–5 year grants, and a willingness to name what didn’t work. She was recognized on the TIME100 Philanthropy list of the world’s most influential philanthropists.
In this episode, we cover:
The childhood moments that built her leadership philosophy — her mother’s social work during the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the hospice workers who cared for her father
How social drivers of health determine who shows up in the workforce, and what employers can do
The Equal Justice Initiative internship where listening to one woman’s story helped overturn her conviction
Why saying no is a form of respect
How the 2x3 strategy grid came together, and why the foundation concentrates on Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Kentucky
What health equity means in practical terms: rural health access, and a veteran suicide rate 60% higher than the civilian population
How the foundation measures impact: standardized metrics like the UCLA Loneliness index and grants built to prove health outcomes
Why philanthropy needs to take risks and talk about failure the way business does
From a courthouse basement in Montgomery to the boardroom of a $400 million foundation, Tiffany’s story is proof that listening is a leadership strategy.
Key Moments
2:54 - A social worker’s daughter: where empathy began
7:55 - The internship that helped free a wrongly imprisoned woman
11:03 - “That’s so sad, Rob. I’d like your job”: the pivot from law to philanthropy
13:16 - Hard choices: running philanthropy like a business
16:10 - The 2x3 grid: two focus areas, three populations, four states
21:44 - Measuring impact: a chief impact officer, the UCLA Loneliness index, and 3–5 year grants
31:52 - Why philanthropy must be transparent about failure
36:31 - Rabid dogs and maternity care: the power of proximity
38:06 - Social drivers of health and the workforce participation crisis
44:44 - What employers can do: volunteerism, belonging, and Face the Fight
Show Notes
Tiffany Benjamin — LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-benjamin-0127893/
The Humana Foundation: humanafoundation.org
The Humana Foundation — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/humana-foundation
Equal Justice Initiative: eji.org
Face the Fight (veteran suicide prevention initiative): https://wefacethefight.org/
Emeril Lagasse Foundation: https://emeril.org/
Older Adults Technology Services (OATS): https://oats.org/
Ready to Work, powered by Ōnin: readytowork.org
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
51 min
July 07Dan Florness, CEO of Fastenal
How do you lead an organization you can’t control?
Dan Florness has spent 30 years answering that question at Fastenal and the last 11 as CEO of what is now a $9 billion industrial distributor operating in 26 countries. He joined as CFO in 1996, when the company’s run rate was about $250 million. Today, Fastenal does $37 million in revenue a day. It takes about a week to match a full year of the business Dan joined.
But Dan never fit the CFO archetype. He ran a manufacturing division, dug into supply chain and product development, and supported national accounts — because he thought about the business not in debits and credits, but in cash flow, customers, and common sense. When the board named him CEO on a Monday afternoon in the fall of 2015 — 12 hours before an earnings call, at the end of a bad quarter — they added one suggestion: get a coach. What he learned from that coach reshaped how he led, and eventually became a leadership course for 500 Fastenal leaders.
Recorded in Dan’s final months before his July retirement, this conversation is a masterclass in leading through influence rather than control — from a farm kid whose family land just marked 100 years, who helped build one of the most quietly remarkable growth stories in American business.
In this episode, we cover:
Why Fastenal’s founder took a $20 million company public in 1987…four reasons that had nothing to do with ego
What it’s like to run a business “like a checkbook,” and how Fastenal cash-flowed 30%+ annual growth without leaning on debt
The Rule of 72 and why Dan believes “life is just a continuous exercise in math”
The Monday afternoon Dan learned he was the next CEO
What Dan learned about his toughest working relationship
How 240 district leaders make decentralization work at $9 billion scale and why Dan spends 30% of his time in one-on-ones with them
Why employees learn more — and learn ownership — by navigating their own mistakes than from strict corporate dictates
Knowing when to leave: why Dan would rather step out “a year or two or three too early” than stay too long
Key Moments
10:06 – The offhand remark to his future wife that led Dan to Fastenal
11:53 – Two years of asking “why”: what Fastenal’s founder saw in him
13:45 – A CFO who wouldn’t stay in the finance lane
15:05 – Running a growth business like a checkbook
18:57 – “Life is just math”: the Rule of 72
21:31 – Four reasons a $20 million distributor went public in 1987
24:03 – The Monday afternoon Dan became CEO — 12 hours before an earnings call
28:06 – “Are you going to do it?” — a blunt wife, a coach, and being 90% of the problem
31:04 – Decentralization at $9 billion: 240 businesses doing $34 million each
36:29 – Why breaking things — and owning them — builds leaders
39:53 – Can most people lead? Vulnerability, arrogance, and why bullies aren’t leaders
42:09 – LDR450: 24 competencies, five categories, and DAC
46:02 – Knowing when to step down: leaving with energy, not on empty
Show Notes
Dan Florness — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-florness-90138616/
Fastenal: fastenal.com
Fastenal — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fastenal/
Book mentioned — Jim Collins’ new book, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative: https://www.amazon.com/What-Make-Life-Self-Knowledge-Imperative-ebook/dp/B0FGY8RKCK
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
52 min
June 09Erica Baird, Executive Director of Global Sales and Service, Cummins, Real Leadership
What happens when an open mic poet, a foster mom to more than 14 kids, and the daughter of Muhammad Ali's bodyguard becomes a top executive in the global heavy industrial sector?
You get Erica Baird — Executive Director of Global Sales and Service at Cummins, the Fortune 150 power solutions leader. Erica oversees more than 1,200 employees worldwide across sales, service, customer experience, data center installation and commissioning, aftermarket parts, field service, design engineering, and compliance.
Before Cummins, she spent 15 years at Caterpillar leading initiatives that quadrupled sales and building the business risk and governance framework used by the executive team and board of directors. She holds a degree in mining and mineral engineering from the University of Arizona, sits on the board of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers as chair of the construction sector, and is a member of C200.
But Erica's leadership philosophy didn't come from a boardroom. It came from being a biracial kid bullied for being different, from a mother who was disowned for having her, from blue-collar people who raised her, and from a teacher who discovered she could write poetry. It came from being the first Black woman in nearly every role she took, navigating an industry that wasn't built for her, and refusing to leave when it would have been easier to.
In this episode of Real Leadership, Erica gets honest about the sponsor who fought for her behind closed doors, the "sidestep" role meant to slow her down that became her global breakout, and the boss who once told her she was "too direct" — and the conversation that changed his mind. She also shares how her engineer's love of structure became the foundation for fostering 14 children, and why she believes the industrial talent of tomorrow has to come from high school trade programs we've spent decades dismantling.
In this episode, we cover:
How growing up among blue-collar people shaped the way she leads on the factory floor and in the boardroom
The white male sponsor who told her, "If you keep delivering, I'll keep sponsoring," and how it changed her career
Why she learned to take her power back in meetings — and the line she uses when men repeat her ideas
How a role she thought was a setback became the strategic, global breakthrough of her career
The story of being called "too direct" — and the conversation that flipped the script
How she connects foster parenting and corporate leadership through one shared engine: structure
Why "busy doesn't equal impact" — and the goal-tree discipline she uses with her team
Her honest take on AI in industrial work: "AI doesn't turn a wrench"
Why the skilled-trades pipeline starts in high school — and what industry has to do about it
This conversation isn't about engines or equipment. It's about what real leadership looks like when you've had to fight to exist in the room — and you build everyone else a seat once you're inside.
Key Moments
02:37 – Living her mother's dream: how engineering chose Erica
03:34 – The Muhammad Ali bodyguard story
05:20 – Why a blue-collar upbringing shaped how she leads
08:47 – The white male sponsor who said "if you keep delivering, I'll keep sponsoring."
10:26 – "Thank you, John, for validating what I just said" — taking her power back
19:47 – The role meant to set her back that became her career breakthrough
24:49 – Connecting foster parenting and corporate leadership
29:52 – Called "too direct" — and the conversation that changed everything
36:52 – The goal-tree discipline: why busy doesn't equal impact
41:03 – AI, skilled trades, and the future of industrial talent
46:16 – The high school trade programs we have to bring back
50:06 – Poetry as healing: the open mic story
Show Notes
Erica Baird — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-k-baird/
Cummins: cummins.com
Cummins — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cummins-inc/
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
53 min
May 19Dan Seidel, Global Chief Operating Officer of HelloFresh, Real Leadership
What does it take to run a supply chain where every input is perishable, every customer is different, and every week the entire operation resets?
Meet Dan Seidel, Global Chief Operating Officer at HelloFresh, and one of the sharpest operational minds in the food industry.
Dan oversees 36 industrial kitchens and distribution centers across 18 countries, a portfolio of brands that includes HelloFresh, Green Chef, EveryPlate, Factor, Chef’s Plate, and You Foods, and a business that has delivered well over a billion meals.
But his path didn’t start in food. Dan spent more than 15 years at Thomas and Betts, an ABB Group company, as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and VP of Operations, building the manufacturing discipline that would later carry him through Amazon, Target, and now HelloFresh.
When Dan joined HelloFresh in 2024, he bypassed the typical executive onboarding. Instead of boardrooms and investor tours, he spent his first two months on the floor of HelloFresh’s most complex production facility in Illinois, working alongside team members, learning the barriers to their success, and building the trust that would allow him to rebuild the operation from the inside out.
In this episode, Dan shares what he’s learned about leading at scale through real transformation — from reducing inventory and going farm-to-box, to cutting first-box delivery time from three weeks to three days, to launching AI-driven personalization that expands customer choice from 35 meals toward hundreds. He also gets candid about what has to change in manufacturing leadership over the next five years.
In this episode, we cover:
How a 15-year manufacturing foundation prepared Dan for the unpredictability of fresh produce
Why inventory is the “number-one evil” in lean — and why most operators protect it anyway
How Dan pulled an “undercover boss” on HelloFresh to understand the real barriers on the floor
Why going to the gemba matters more than any KPI dashboard
How HelloFresh is using AI and automation to personalize menus, optimize delivery, and outpace weather disruptions
The “renters vs. owners” framework Dan uses to shape high-performing teams
Why the clearest problem statement is a leader’s most underrated skill
What Dan has changed his mind on recently and what it means for how he leads now
This conversation is a masterclass in operational leadership — the kind that makes sense of chaos, respects the people doing the work, and never forgets that the customer is waiting.
Key Moments
02:23 – The Scale of HelloFresh: Four US Brands, 18 Countries, a Billion Meals
06:27 – Why Dan Left a “Humming” Target for HelloFresh
12:12 – Bypassing Executive Onboarding to Work the Factory Floor
15:21 – The “Undercover Boss” Moment in Phoenix
17:55 – Inventory Is the Number-One Evil (and the Days of Thunder Analogy)
23:27 – From Steel to Cucumbers: Managing Variability in Fresh Produce
26:28 – How Data Cut First-Box Delivery from Three Weeks to Three Days
31:05 – The AI-Powered Cookbook and the Future of Personalized Meals
38:00 – Why Robotics Should Never Eliminate the Workforce
39:40 – Owners vs. Renters: Rebuilding the Production Workforce
45:06 – Advice for Plant Managers Ready for Their Next Leap
48:42 – What Dan Has Changed His Mind On Recently
Show Notes
Dan Seidel — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-seidel-6389903a8/
HelloFresh — Website: hellofresh.com
HelloFresh — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/hellofresh/
Factor (HelloFresh brand) — Website: factor75.com
Jim Weaver — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jim-weaver-36457418
Real Leadership Podcast: realleadership.oningroup.com
Real Leadership — LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/104897916/
The Ōnin Group: oningroup.com/clients
49 min

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Welcome to REAL Leadership, the podcast that takes you on a journey behind the scenes of some of the world’s most successful companies. Produced by The О̄nin Group and hosted by CEO Jim Weaver, our show is dedicated to exploring what it truly means to be a leader in industries that make, move and process.

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