There's a gap most tradies don't see coming when they step into leadership. It's not technical. It's not experience. It's everything that happens after you put down the tools and start trying to get results through other people.

Jason Loft is the Managing Director and Co-founder of PROTRADE United, with over 16 years of experience supporting trade and construction businesses across Australia and New Zealand. He's seen what separates the teams that grow sustainable, and the teams that stall.

In this episode, we get into:

- Why influence is the foundation of leadership

- The GROW model for working through conflict onsite

- A simple toolbox structure to get ahead of chaos

- The mindset shift tradies need to move from the tools to leading teams

Chapters:

0:00 Coming Up

0:35 What Is Leadership?

2:16 What Influence Looks Like on the Tools

4:42 Jason's Leadership Journey

7:00 Habits That Build Strong Leaders

8:24 Listening as a Leadership Skill

9:15 How to Seek and Use Feedback

10:33 Meeting Rhythms and Toolbox Structure

13:15 How to Run a Daily Standup

15:28 Motivating Different Personalities

16:11 From the Tools to Leadership

17:45 Respected vs Liked

19:44 What Business Sustainability Looks Like

21:05 Leading Through Uncertainty

24:28 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Jason or PROTRADE United, you can reach them via:

Website: www.protradeunited.com.au

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/protrade_united/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@protradeunited

Most tradies have played a mentoring role at some point, yet very few have been taught how to do it well.

David Mehmel is an Apprentice Trainer, Mentor, and Safety Coordinator with 16 years in and around the automotive industry. With his sole focus on apprentice development, he knows which strategies yield the best results for workplace performance and engagement.

In this conversation, we get into:

- How to build rapport for better mentoring outcomes

- Why relationships are the foundation of any team that performs

- How to engage the next generation of apprentices

Chapters:

0.00 Coming Up

1.25 Meet David Mehmel

5:12 The Key to Mentoring an Apprentice

6:52 How to Foster Stronger Relationships With Your Team

9:07 Getting Through to Disengaged Team Members

12:50 How to Build Confidence in Apprentices

16:28 Improving Apprentice Retention through Leadership

18:25 Practical Ways to Improve Team Culture

20:56 How to Teach Your First Apprentice

23:18 Look After Yourself to Lead Better

25:28 Conclusion

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with David, you can reach him via

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mehmel-90879a165/

What does leadership look like when you've sat across from hundreds of builders, tradies, and business owners right across Australia?

Aaron "Az" Ng is the founder of The Good Builder, Australia's leading media and intelligence platform for the residential construction industry. After years of conversations with builders and trade business owners right across the country, Az knows exactly what separates the ones who last from the ones who don't.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Why low trust in the building industry is a business problem

• How relationships are the foundation of every great business

• Why ego is the first thing that must go if you want to lead well

Chapters:

0:00 Coming Up

1:56 Meet Aaron Ng, Co-Founder of The Good Builder

3:11 Essential Leadership Skills and Attitudes

6:47 No Such Thing as a “Great” Leader

7:56 Can You Be “Too Nice” as a Leader

9:25 Why Leaders Need to Know Themselves

12:25 How Poor Leadership is Creating Low Trust inConstruction

15:46 Why A Beautiful Home Isn’t Enough

17:34 The Mindset That Makes Trade Businesses Great

19:02 What Strong Performance and Relationships Needs

20:40 Leading Different People

23:08 How Listening and Empathy Improve YourLeadership

24:54 Conclusion

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Aaron or The Good Builder, you can reach him via https://linktr.ee/TheGoodBuilder

Join me for the first episode of Tradies Who Lead as I chat with Dave and Cat McCarthy, the founders of the award-winning business McCarthy Plumbing Group. In this conversation, we dive into the leadership nuances of making the leap from managing someone else's business to running your own.

We explore the power of authentic company culture and the importance of continuous improvement at all levels – from individual development to team dynamics and the entire organisation.

Ready to level up your everyday leadership? Listen now and learn practical insights from two inspiring business leaders who've mastered the art of leadership in their business!

Chapters -

(00:00) Meet Cat & David McCarthy from McCarthy Plumbing

(01:29) Why start a plumbing business

(02:23) How management skills and experience support running a trade business

(05:05) How to lead by example as a tradie and business owner

(05:59) Why you need authenticity and transparency as a trade business leader

(07:34) How to create a good team culture in trade businesses and trade teams for better retention and talent attraction

(12:52) How to grow a trade business

(14:07) How to apply continuous improvement in a trade business

(17:38) Why you should collaborate instead of competing with other businesses

(20:14) Advice to tradies and trade business owners about how they can practice leadership

(22:03) Conclusion 

Don’t miss out! New episodes drop every fortnight. Follow Tradies Who Lead on socials for exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming guests and more!

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/tradieswholead/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tradieswholead

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tradieswholead

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tradieswholead

If you have an everyday leadership story to share or want to be featured on Tradies Who Lead, submit your expression of interest via the website – we'd love to hear from you!

Want to follow McCarthy Plumbing Group? Connect with them here:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mccarthyplumbinggroup/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mccarthyplumbinggp

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mccarthyplumbinggroup

What does leadership look like when your title isn’t ‘manager’, ‘supervisor’ or ‘boss’ and you’re trying to change an industry while still on the tools?

Jasmyn Smith is a Tassie sparky and co-founder of The GO Company, a business built around a problem that’s been on worksites for years but rarely talked about: access to basic hygiene onsite. Jazz has turned her experience into a movement raising standards across the industry.

In this conversation, we get into:

• The courage it takes to start the hard conversations

• Why making challenges visible is what lifts an industry

• What sites getting inclusion right are doing differently

• How everyday leadership shows up when you don’t hold the title

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Jasmyn Smith from The GO Company

3:04 Leading as a Role Model

4:12 Mentoring Women in Trade

5:26 Origins of The GO Company

8:54 Discussing Hygiene Access Onsite

11:16 Creating Visibility to Influence Change

13:12 Building a Business on the Tools

15:24 The Cost of Not Speaking Up

18:02 Set Up Sites Better for Inclusion

20:38 Acknowledge Your Progress

22:25 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with The GO Company, you can reach them via:

Website - https://www.thegocompany.com.au/

Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-go-company-358029320/

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@the.go.company

Insta - https://www.instagram.com/thegocompanytas/

Creating clear standards and real accountability with one filter: if it doesn’t work on the floor, it doesn’t belong in the program.

Matt Wyatt is a trade-qualified leader with over 30 years in the heavy vehicle industry. He started as an apprentice, worked through operational and national leadership roles, and has spent the last 15 years focused on developing people.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Stepping out of firefighting mode and finding solutions

• Holding the line on standards across numerous teams

• What most trade businesses get wrong when developing apprentices

• Why you need to develop stronger relationships as a leader

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Matt Wyatt

1:56 Setting Standards and Building Trust

4:56 Earning Respect from your Team

6:10 Sharing the Big Picture

7:31 How to Stop Fighting Fires

9:16 Delivering Training That Sticks

11:38 How KPIs Can Hurt Apprentices

14:03 Creating Change from the Ground Up

16:34 Maintain Standards Across Numerous Job Sites

18:51 The Aha Moment in Training

20:11 Demonstrate Leadership Everyday

21:40 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Matt, you can reach him via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathew-w-30903b82/

Bringing people along on a vision they can’t see yet is its own kind of leadership, and it’s how Tom’s building things that didn’t exist before.

Tom Macrokanis is a qualified boilermaker who started his first business at 17. Since then, he’s founded Macro3D, a concrete 3D printing company tackling housing affordability, and directs Macro Constructions Group across steel, concrete and light-gauge steel framing.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Leveraging AI to address the skill shortage

• Leading industry changes when the road ahead isn’t clear

• Communicating effectively with diverse stakeholders

• Handling setbacks without losing momentum

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Tom Macrokanis

2:00 Extreme Ownership as a Leader

3:30 Leading Through Action Instead of Words

5:05 Tom’s Journey to Entrepreneurship

7:38 Finding the Right Mentor

9:26 Funding the New Version of Construction

12:26 Not Taking Setbacks to Heart

13:26 Working Effectively with Stakeholders

15:28 Automation and 3D Printing in Construction

19:50 Over-Communicate for Better Results

20:21 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Tom, you can reach him via:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-macrokanis-2b3b00120/

Website - https://www.tommacrokanis.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tommacrokanis__/

When the industry wasn’t built with you in mind, leading looks like showing up consistently, backing yourself anyway, and then bringing others with you.

Stefanie Apostolidis, also known as Melbourne Chippy Chick, is a qualified carpenter, founder of Tradie Lady Hire and Tradie Lady Club, and one of the most recognisable voices for women in Australian trades.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Building confidence when the industry wasn’t built for you

• What happens when content turns into a real community

• How to lead without a title and bring others along

• What it actually takes to shift things at an industry level

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Stefanie Apostolidis, Melbourne Chippy Chick

2:35 Origins of the Tradie Lady Club Community

4:45 Building Confidence as a Woman in Trade

6:39 How Knowledge Supports Leadership

9:04 Juggling Parenting and Business Needs

11:00 Prioritise Your Mental Health as a Leader

12:49 Growing Resilience & Mental Wellbeing

14:07 How to Support Women into Trades

18:16 Back Yourself to Grow

19:41 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to learn more about Tradie Lady Club or Tradie Lady Hire, visit these websites:

www.tradieladyclub.au

www.tlcmemberships.au

www.tradieladyhire.com.au

The hardest part of any job isn’t the paperwork. Often, it’s managing different roles and people and figuring out how to lead well across diverse sites.

Vincent Saunders has 17-plus years of experience across buildings, quantity surveying, and construction management, and hosts the Constructing Mindsets podcast. He brings a solutions-focused view to the people-challenges that don’t show up on paper.

In this conversation, we get into:

• How to communicate with very different people toward one goal

• Why authenticity is one of the most underrated skills on site

• What sets the best leaders apart from everyone else

• The positive mindset habits that help people thrive under pressure

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Vincent Saunders from Constructing Mindsets

3:57 Leading Different Job Roles

6:34 Communicate Better through Listening

8:36 Problem Solving with an Open Mind

9:46 Managing Stress in Construction

11:37 Benefits of Positive Mindset

13:46 The Constructing Mindsets Podcast

16:01 Embrace New Experiences

17:29 What is Authentic Leadership

21:40 Continue Growing as a Leader

23:28 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Vincent or the Constructing Mindsets podcast, check out these links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vin-saunders/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/constructing.mindsets/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7GUqIENqFnayIVGGVKTHob

Discipline, vulnerability, and consistency aren’t just personal strengths; they’re tools that shape how you show up for your crew.

Many know Claude Thomsen as @ThatSoberTradie, where he’s become a steady voice for healthier habits and a stronger culture across the trades. He went from the Army Reserves to the leading hand at a roofing company, and became a role model for other tradies online.

In this episode, we cover:

• How doing the inner work changes the way you lead

• The way to build respect and get the best out of others

• How healthy routines and sobriety improve performance

Chapters:

0:00 Meet Claude Thomsen, That Sober Tradie

2:19 Leadership Skills from the Army Reserve

3:32 Earn Respect as a Leader

5:17 Get the Best Out of Others

6:41 Charge Your Battery as a Leader

7:35 Model Healthy Site Culture

9:09 Introducing That Sober Tradie

10:56 The Positive Impact of Sobriety

13:45 The Tradies Have an Attitude Problem

15:24 How to Influence Others

15:52 Learning to be Vulnerable

18:10 Built to Last Community Event

19:04 Lead by Example

19:16 Wrap Up

Follow Tradies Who Lead on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok for more from the Tradies Who Lead community.

Tradies Who Lead is powered by Blue Leader. If you're looking for support in building leadership skills within your team, reach out here.

Or download our free eBook: 5 Things Every Tradie Needs to Know About Leadership

If you want to connect with Claude, you can reach him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/thatsobertradie