Three Lessons for Leading with Intention

Have you ever started the day with positive intentions, then left your plant at the end of the day feeling like you didn’t actually accomplish any of your intentions? You might be struggling with “intention deficit disorder,” a term coined by my friend, public speaking colleague, and USA Today bestselling author Jon Giganti in his book With Intention: A Proven Path to Uncommon Results, Unleashed Influence, and Ultimate Fulfillment.

After reading With Intention, I asked Jon to join me on my Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast to talk more about leading with intention . . . and it turned into such an insightful episode that I had to break it into two great episodes! In both Part One and Part Two of his podcast, Jon shared his thoughts on how leaders can use skills like self-awareness, authenticity, and curiosity to bring more intentionality to their organizations.

Leading with Intention, Tip #1: To Lead, You Have to Show Up

To accomplish what you want and need to accomplish, there’s a simple first step: showing up! By showing up and serving your organization, you position yourself and your team for success. If you struggle with showing up, work on setting a routine. For example, you might mediate, exercise, or journal before work to get yourself in the right headspace for leading, growing, and succeeding.

Whatever your routine, commit to it. Form powerful habits, and be intentional about how you start your day, so you can set yourself up for stronger connections, better results, and more success.

Leading with Intention, Tip #2: Be Intentional with Your Energy

While setting a routine and developing habits, be intentional with your time and energy. Your energy levels are not the same throughout the day, so practice self-awareness to find the best ways to spend your time.

One way to do this is through scheduling margins in your schedule. As a busy leader, you might worry you’ll feel unproductive if you add some quieter moments in your schedule. However, think of these quiet moments are an investment in yourself and your future. By allowing yourself some “white space” in your schedule, you give yourself a way to rest your body, brain, and soul. When you give yourself white space in your schedule, it also gives you time to build more meaningful, impactful relationships with your team.

Leading with Intention, Tip #3: Get Below the Surface

To become a more intentional leader, you need to let others see your authentic self. When others see your authenticity and vulnerability, it fosters a stronger sense of trust, which helps you build stronger relationships and find more sustainable outcomes.

To find ways to show up more authentically and intentionally, don’t be afraid to get below the surface. Spend some time getting to know yourself, and reflect on your identity, beliefs, and values. When you know yourself and what’s in your heart, it will be easier to build relationships, form connections, and drive impactful change in your organization.

Learn More on the Podcast

To hear more insights and lessons on intentionality, be sure to check out part one and part two of my Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast with guest Jon Giganti!

At Manufacturing Greatness, Trevor Blondeel works with manufacturers to connect the top to the shop. If you’re ready to improve your own organization, contact Trevor to learn how Manufacturing Greatness can help you build stronger leaders and develop a dynamic, high-performing workplace.

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.

When a mistake occurs on the plant floor, your mind might jump to one question: who caused this issue, and should I write them up for their mistake? But there’s a more productive approach you could be taking—and in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, guest Dr. Jake Mazulewicz breaks it all down!

With a background as a firefighter, EMT, and military paratrooper, Jake knows the challenges of high-hazard industries, and works with organizations to reduce errors and create safer, more reliable workplace environments. In this episode, Jake shares why you can’t procedularize everything, including the way you handle errors and accidents, and offers great insights and stories about how to use connection and curiosity to improve safety, address errors, and strengthen your organization.

3:35 – Procedures and policies are the work that is imagined, and on the floor is how the work actually gets done

4:19 – The work as-done is almost always radically different than the work as-imagined

5:20 – Even when you have standards and people show up wanting to do a good job, you can still see issues that need to be addressed

6:44 – There will always be areas that absolutely need to have procedures in place

8:02 – There are also adaptive jobs, which leans less into procedures and more intro troubleshooting and tacit human knowledge

10:56 – In an ideal environment, both mechanistic and adaptive models are used and respected and needed

12:11 – There are four levels, ranging from strict procedurals to looser guidelines that show what to do, but not how to do it

15:36 – Tacit knowledge gets shared through conversations

16:22 – A way to share important information is to have frontline experts record videos sharing their insights to problems, especially those that are not covered in procedures

19:44 – Through conversation and connection, more knowledge is shared

21:58 – Debriefing also plays a central role

23:45 – If you have strong discipline, you’ll find more freedom

25:31 – In most situations, errors are signals, not defects

27:07 – When an error occurs, be curious and find the deeper cause of the problem

Connect with Jake Mazulewicz

Find him on Linkedin

Visit his website