Three Keys to Unlocking Your High-Performance Potential

What do humans and race cars have in common? Like the cars driven by your favorite NASCAR or Formula One Drivers, we’re high-performance vehicles. And like race cars, we sometimes need building, fixing, and restoration to reach our greatest potential.

With a background as an award-winning senior executive for agencies, brands, and team properties in NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula One racing, Mike Mooney is the expert in speed, efficiency, and reaching our ultimate potential. He recently stopped by the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast to share more about his unique background, plus shared three keys leaders can use to unlock their high-performance potential.

#1: Presence

In both racing and manufacturing, speed is a priority. When you have products to build and deadlines to meet, it can be easy to overlook your workplace presence or sacrifice your personal relationships. But when you only focus on speed and efficiency, it can actually hurt your leadership and culture.

To change how you show up and improve your workplace presence, start by committing to “micro-behaviors.” For example, commit to journaling or mediation in the morning to kick your days off with more mindfulness, or allow yourself time for the self-care you need to show up as your best self. Through small changes like these, you can transform the way your show up for your team and organization.

#2: Intentionality

When you’re only focused on speed or efficiency, intentionality can also be pushed to the back-burned. But like your workplace presence, intentionality plays a major role in improving your leadership. If you’re not intentional with your actions and behavior, it increases the chances of miscommunications and disconnect, which can lead to bigger issues and slow down your operations.

On the podcast, Mike shared a common saying in car racing: “to go fast, you need to go slow.” To improve efficiency in your organization, be intentional. Don’t be afraid to take a pause when needed. Connect with your team, stay curious, and find the best ways to communicate. This will prevent bigger issues from occurring down the line, and will speed up your operations in the long-run.

#3: Curiosity

In your organization, great ideas can come from anywhere! But if you’re just listening to ideas for your fellow leaders and executive, you can miss out on creative solutions from your team members on the floor.

To use curiosity to improve your organization, remember that any idea can be interesting. Instead of closing the conversations on new or different ideas or viewpoints, use curiosity to keep the conversation flowing. Approach every conversation with an open mind instead of preconceptions, and you might unlock your organization’s next great idea!

Learn More on the Podcast

To hear more great insights from Mike Mooney, check out his episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing here.

Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

What’s the secret to retaining your team members and creating an organization where people love to work? DigiKey, an electronic component manufacturing organization in Thief River Falls, Minnesota has it all figured out—and Shane Zutz, DigiKey’s vice president of human resources, is here to share the stories and insights behind DigiKey’s success!

In this episode, Shane shares stories highlighting the importance of curiosity, empathy, and leadership presence, and offers simple-yet-powerful strategies manufacturing leaders can put into action to build trust, accountability, and stronger connections at their own plant.

5:12 – Building a better organization starts with being present and making personal connections

8:13 – If your organization is in a small community, making personal connections is extremely important

9:00 – To find curious ways to engage your team, one strategy is to create a list of questions to ask

13:30 – With a strong foundation, you’ll be better equipped to tackle challenges or crises

15:11 – There is a lot of value in simple gestures, like greeting your team in the morning

18:12 – Personalization goes a long way

22:41 Show care and concern for your team members

Connect with Shane Zutz

Learn more about Digikey

Connect with Shane on LinkedIn and reach out to get added to his newsletter

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks for tuning it to another episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing! To learn more about Trevor Blondeel and Manufacturing Greatness, please visit our website or contact Trevor here.