Truly Human Leadership

Businesses destroy lives all the time. Not just by being poor partners to their consumers or communities, but through poor leadership and work environments where the employees feel overlooked or disregarded.

But what if businesses could be instruments of healing instead of destruction?

Our good friend Raj Sisodia and his co-writer, Michael Gelb, have written a wonderful examination of how business can be a force for good in the wor...

“Most leaders understand their influence on team members’ lives during work hours, but often enough, they don’t think about how their leadership affects team members outside of the workplace as well.”

Barry-Wehmiller CEO, Bob Chapman, wrote this in a blog post on trulyhumanleadership.com titled “Wellness and Work: What's the ROI of Caring?” The connection between leadership and health has been a major point in his speeches over the...

A few years ago, BW CEO Bob Chapman had a conversation with Jane Adshead-Grant, a facilitator and coach in the UK and Europe.

In this conversation, they talk about the concept of the need for a “Human Revolution” in business. Bob has written before about the trajectory of leadership in business from the Industrial Revolution to now. As we look at the focus and priorities of business leaders today, there are bright spots, but the da...

Anese Cavanaugh is the CEO of Active Choices, Inc. She is the creator of the IEP Method (Intentional Energetic Presence) and the Positive Energy Workplace Initiative and a strategist and advisor to leaders and organizations around the world. She is devoted to helping organizations support their people so they are able to show up and bring their best selves to the table, create significant impact in their lives, and create authentic...

Dr. Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. You may recall that she has facilitated dialogues in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Libya and Syria. She has consulted with governments, corporations, schools, churches, and non-governmental organizations. 

And she is an ...

Listening is not always a dedicated subject in educational curriculums. 

Think about it. There are speech classes, debate teams. You don't hear much about listening classes. That's why it's one of the foundational leadership classes taught in Barry-Wehmiller's internal university. We teach our people to "listen like leaders...

Laurie Butz is the President and CEO of Capital Credit Union, a credit union with more than 120,000 members in northeast Wisconsin.

And we at Barry-Wehmiller definitely consider Laurie part of our extended family.

Laurie’s husband, Dennis, worked for many years for our Paper Converting Machine Company, or PCMC, based in Green Bay, WI, part of our BW Converting group of ...

On several episodes of this podcast, you’ve heard about Barry-Wehmiller’s efforts to transform how business education is taught. If you want leaders who have the skills and courage to care, that should be part of their education before they are out in the world and in positions of responsibility.

But what if we can reach people before they are in business school? What if these skills of Truly Human Leadership are taught alongside h...

If you want to change the way people lead, maybe you should go to the source of where they’re taught to lead – business schools. Maybe the way we teach people to lead should change.

Christopher Reina is the Founding and Executive Director of the Institute for Transformative Leadership and an Associate Professor in the Department of Management an...

Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman met Steve Jones, former head football coach at Kimberly High School, several years ago through a mutual friend.

Coach Jones said something to Bob that made a lasting impression: “When people truly care for one another, it’s amazing how hard they will work for each other.”

When Coach Jones stepped down in 2021, his career at Kimberly High School included five WIAA state championships, 10 conference ch...

The leaders of your business can affect its health and vibrancy. They also can have a tremendous impact on the people within their span of care in the business.

So, when it’s time to bring someone new into your organization, how do you know when you’re hiring the right person? You can’t always rely on your gut or a couple of meetings. If you make the wrong decision it can be devastating to the business and the people within.

When C...

Dr. Melinda Bremley is the newest Partner at Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Barry-Wehmiller’s consulting arm that specializes in helping other organizations unleash the extraordinary in their businesses and their people.

Melinda and the rest of the team at Chapman & Co do this by helping those organizations identify, develop and equip their leaders. You can learn more about Chapman & C...

Times of transition can be challenging for any organization. But challenging times and times of change often presents many opportunities for growth. 

But the ability to maximize those opportunities depends on effective leadership.

Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller’s consulting arm that specializes in helping o...

It is a universal truth -- every one of us, no matter what our job or where we live, simply wants to know that who we are and what we do matters. As leaders in business, we have the awesome responsibility to let people know that they do. Our goal at Barry-Wehmiller is to show the world that business can be a powerful force for good when we realize that the way we lead impacts the way people live and have the courage to care for tho...

At Barry-Wehmiller, we consider leadership to be an awesome responsibility--it holds the key to growing our business and, as important, improving the lives of our team members.

It’s our job, as leaders, to help them establish goals so they know how to contribute, to remove barriers that get in the way of them achieving their goals, and help them chart a path for their growth.

Our team members deserve that and, consequently, if we’r...

While presenting our message of Truly Human Leadership, our CEO Bob Chapman is often asked: What about the people who don't get it? What about the people who actively work against positive change?

Barry-Wehmiller has acquired more than 130 companies and we've certainly found that the people within that company are a product of their experiences. They may have experienced great leaders in their past or, more likely, they have had so...

When Lean was introduced to the Barry-Wehmiller organization a number of years ago, CEO Bob Chapman's concern was that people would be lost along the way. But we found a way to adopt Lean methods and stay true to our Guiding Principles of Leadership. 

Instead of using Lean to reduce waste, we use it to reduce frustration. It's part of the bag of tools we use in continuous improvement to ensure a stable and thriving business for the...

John Michel is a former Air Force General who has not only used his leadership experience in service of his country, but also to help transform businesses into places that think more about people than profit.

John has written two books, (No More) Mediocre Me: How Saying No to the Status Quo Will Propel You From Ordinary to Extraordinary and The Art of Positive Leadership. He has written articles for the Harvard Business Review, Fas...

Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute is Barry-Wehmiller’s consulting company that helps organizations identify, develop, and equip leaders. They bring the lessons we have learned at Barry-Wehmiller and our principles of Truly Human Leadership alongside scientific methods to provide individual and organizational assessments, training, and consultation. They help their clients drive exceptional results through a cu...