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The Frontline Leadership Podcast
The Frontline Leadership Podcast episodes
- Why 60% of New Managers Fail (And Why It's Not Their Fault)
60% of new leaders and managers fail within their first 18 months. But here's what nobody talks about: it's not their fault. It's the system.
In this inaugural episode of The Frontline Leadership Podcast, host Craig Coyle shares his own story of falling flat on his face as a first-time leader—despite West Point, Apache pilot training, and access to world-class leadership development. Because management training doesn't teach you how to lead.
Every day, great technicians and operators get promoted into leadership roles—excited, motivated, and ready to make an impact. 60 to 90 days later, they're firefighting, stressed, and doubting why they ever took the promotion.
The problem isn't the people. The problem is the system.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- Why 60% of new managers fail (and why it's a predictable outcome, not a character flaw)
- The hidden cost of promoting people without developing them how to lead
- How 70% of team engagement is directly influenced by frontline supervisors
- Why leadership needs to be treated like a profession—not left to trial and error
- The transformation from individual contributor to leader (and why most organizations ignore it)
Whether you're a frontline supervisor trying to figure it out on your own, a mid-level manager developing your team, or a senior leader who knows your frontline leaders ARE your culture—this episode will reframe how you think about leadership development.
Resources mentioned:
Download The Leader's Preflight Checklist: operationlead.com/checklist
Connect with Craig:
Website: operationlead.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/operation-leadCraig's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/craig-coyle
About the show:
The Frontline Leadership Podcast helps frontline leaders become professional leaders by building leader development ecosystems that actually work. New episodes weekly.
31 min - Trailer: The Frontline Leadership Podcast
There's a plethora of leadership resources available today.
New, aspiring, and frontline leaders don't need more information. They need a guide. Something to help them navigate the journey and steer through the clutter.
Leadership is a profession, not an innate talent. The Frontline Leadership Podcast aims to provide a step-by-step approach to leadership transformation, guiding frontline leaders into becoming the successful professional leaders that grow businesses and improve lives.
This podcast is for you if:
- You're a frontline leader trying to navigate your own journey
- You're a mid-level manager attempting to develop the leaders on your team
- Or you're a senior leader wondering how to overcome the turnover and disengagement holding your organization back
Don't wait. Let's start your transformation today.
Learn more at operationlead.com.
3 min
About The Frontline Leadership Podcast
From the publisher's feed
The Frontline Leadership Podcast presented by Operation Lead
Building Frontline Leadership Systems That Actually Work
If you're a manufacturing or operations leader watching good…
people walk out the door because of bad supervisors, this podcast is for you.
The biggest problems in your organization—turnover, disengagement, stalled performance—aren't caused by your workforce. They're caused by what your workforce is missing: frontline leaders who've been equipped to lead.
After managing high-stakes operations worth $330M+ globally, I noticed something I couldn't ignore. In aviation, we never let pilots fly without systematic training. Yet in manufacturing, we promote our best technicians to supervisor and hope they figure out leadership on their own.
That needs to change.
Here's the reality:
60% of new managers fail within their first 18 months.
70% of team engagement variance is driven by frontline managers.
57% of employees who quit cite poor leadership as the deciding factor.
Yet 59% of managers receive zero leadership training.
Your frontline leaders—supervisors, shift managers, team leads—create your culture. They're the daily point of contact for 80-90% of your workforce. When they're unprepared, overwhelmed, and left to figure it out alone, your organization suffers.
But when you equip them with the right systems? Everything changes.
This podcast gives you the blueprint.
It's built on a simple philosophy: treat leadership like a profession and develop leaders professionally—with systems, structure, and continuous support. That's how pilots, doctors, and engineers are trained. That's how your leaders should be developed.
Every week, I break down the frameworks, systems, and strategies manufacturing and operations leaders need to build frontline supervisors who actually lead. No corporate fluff. No generic advice. Just practical, battle-tested leadership development for high-pressure, operations-heavy environments.
Who is this podcast for?
Senior manufacturing and operations leaders (Directors, VPs, COOs, General Managers) who are:
Tired of losing talent to bad frontline leadership.
Frustrated that leadership training programs don't stick.
Ready to build systematic infrastructure, not run one-off workshops.
Looking to activate the workforce they already have.
Frontline leaders (supervisors, managers, team leads) who:
Feel thrown into the deep end without training.
Want to lead with confidence instead of reacting to problems.
Are ready to treat leadership as a profession, not just a role.
About Your Host:
Craig Coyle is a former Apache helicopter pilot, West Point graduate, and founder of Operation Lead. After managing toxic teams and high-stakes operations in military and aerospace environments, Craig discovered that leadership failures aren't personal failures—they're system failures. Now, he helps manufacturing and operations leaders build the frontline leadership systems their organizations need. His clients stop playing whack-a-mole with turnover and start building cultures people fight to be part of.
Ready to transform your frontline leadership?
New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe now and visit operationlead.com to learn more.
Let's build leaders who create results.