January 2, 2025 • 32 mins
The episode centers on leadership insights from Fred Stipkovits of Ultratech Aerospace, where he discusses the importance of networking, trust-building, and empowering teams. Fred emphasizes collaboration over competition to create a thriving manufacturing environment and shares strategies for enhancing employee retention and involvement in industry associations.
• Fred Stipkovits shares his journey in building a network in Kansas City
• Emphasizing trust-building among competitors for collective growth
• The importance of empowering employees and creating capacity as a leader
• Strategies for fostering a positive work culture and employee retention
• Encouraging participation in industry associations for development and connection
• The role Leadership plays in shaping organizational stability and success
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (00:00):
All right, folks, you are in for a
treat.
In this episode I had theopportunity to speak with Fred
Stipkiewicz from Ultratech,aerospace and man.
His insights and his wisdom isjust great.
You're going to hear thingsabout how he leveraged an
organization to build hisnetwork in the Kansas City area
and in the industry, about hisway of building trust with
(00:24):
industry colleagues.
You'll hear who he says hisbiggest competitor is.
That's a fascinatingconversation there.
And then what he believes isgoing to be the key for the US
to become a superpower inmanufacturing again.
And Fred just shares so manyinsights, so many thoughts, so
many things that are just sointriguing to me and I think
(00:45):
you'll find them interesting too.
And two more things that Ithink I want you to listen for.
Number one how does Fred createcapacity for himself as a
leader?
And then, who does Fredsurround himself with to sharpen
his leadership ability and togrow himself?
Listen for those things.
You are in for a treat.
This is the first of two partsof my interview with Fred and I
(01:08):
think you'll love it.
All right, fred, welcome to theshow man.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (01:23):
It's great to see you.
I appreciate the invite andhaving me on Good to see you as
well.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (01:29):
Man, this is an exciting time for
KCNTMA, where things are growing, things are happening.
We've launched this podcast inpartnership between Circle of
Five and KCNTMA and I'm justreally excited about the
collaborative effort that we'redoing, and I know you were one
of the voices that said heypodcast, it's worth a try.
Let's see how we can make animpact through podcasts.
(01:52):
So I love your support and Iwant to thank you for that.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (01:54):
Yeah , I appreciate the same.
You know you have really jumpedinto the NTMA and have helped
out a lot in things like this.
All publicity is good publicity.
I think the NTMA, especiallyour Kansas City branch,
catherine, and what our excuseme, what our Kansas City branch
is doing, is really going to setthe stage for some other
(02:20):
branches to step it up a notch.
I think they've got someamazing, we've got some amazing
things going on.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (02:26):
Yeah , I agree, and you know, I see
you at events and you're justconnecting with so many people
and you're having so manyin-depth conversations, whether
it's about business models orabout hey, here's a project I'm
trying to figure out.
Do you guys have capacity forsomething?
Tell me, why is it that youchose to be a part of KCMTMA?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (02:55):
So you know, if you go through my
kind of my journey, my careerpath up until I started at
Ultratech three years ago, I wasa global guy.
I was traveling all over theworld for a couple of different
manufacturing companies sellingand servicing aircraft,
refueling equipment, and so mynetwork was outside of the
Kansas City market.
I had no business contacts inKansas City.
I had no network in Kansas City.
(03:16):
On top of that, I worked forwe'll just say some of the what
not to do in lessons inleadership and management.
I worked for some folks thatnever cared about making sure
their people grew and expandedand had a name outside of their
four walls.
So I had nothing in Kansas City, and when I got involved, or
(03:40):
when I took over Ultratech inNovember of 21, I had to figure
out how to build a network here,because here I am now, a leader
in a Kansas City business.
I had never been in themachining industry either, and
so it was important to me tofind the industry associations
that were directly impactful tomy business and my employees and
(04:04):
our community around KansasCity, and Ultratech had been
involved.
I think this year is our 40thyear in membership for the NTMA,
so when it was a smaller ma andpa shop.
They were involved in it.
Once our holding company, theCumulus Companies, bought out
Ultrate Tech and took it over,they continued their involvement
(04:26):
.
My previous CFO was on theboard at NTMA and then when he
left I jumped in and gotinvolved and have just found it
to be just tremendously valuablefrom a career growth and an
exposure and really a networkingevent.
So I didn't intend on it tobecome as much as it has for me
(04:51):
or AlterTech.
But here I am, you know inDecember of 25, I've been
involved and on the board for ayear and now find myself being
elected as the board presidentfor calendar year 25.
It's built a tremendous networkof machine shops and
(05:12):
manufacturing companies aroundKansas City.
For me it's gotten my name andUltratech's name out there as a
strong player in the market andI've made some great friends and
great business contacts inthere.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (05:27):
You know there's a couple of
interesting things.
I'd like to break open with youon that.
First of all, what do you sayto the guy who's like why would
you go sit at a table or sit ina room with people that are your
direct competitors?
Because there's a lot of peoplethat are intimidated by this
conversation.
What do you have to say to thatguy?
And how has your experienceconversation what?
What do you have to say to thatguy?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTec (05:47):
and how has your experience proven
that to be flawed thinking?
So I think you you've probablyheard me say it at events right,
the people in that room, theother machine shops in that room
, I do not view as competitors.
I I view them as as partners inmy, in this industry.
Uh, they offer they all offertalents and skill set and
(06:07):
capabilities, uh, that that Idon't or that my shop doesn't
have.
I don't think there's a singleperson in that room.
We we have built over the lastyear with catherine's
involvement or in our art board,we have built an understanding
that we are in this together andwe're partnered together to
grow and develop and expand andnot steal.
(06:30):
I don't steal people'semployees, I don't steal
people's business.
I looked a bit on business thatI don't have capabilities and
that I know that somebody elsein our NTMA does and may not be
playing in the same market thatI am, but has a capability that
can benefit and vice versa.
So I would say, as I did infront of many of the members, if
(06:55):
you feel threatened in thatroom and you feel like somebody
is going to take your business,you haven't done a good enough
job of networking, becoming anintegral part of that NTMA
organization, breaking downthose walls of competition and
building the trust andcamaraderie.
(07:16):
And that's what I focus on.
I get calls.
If I have an unhappy employeethat may have happened to apply
at a shop that's an NTMA shop,they call me and say, hey, man,
I think you got a, you got adisgruntled employee or somebody
that's not happy, and viceversa.
I've called other shops.
So you have to.
(07:37):
It starts at the top and shouldtrickle down, and if you're
worried about sitting at thattable that I'm going to take
your business and you're thatinsecure, you've got to do some
deep soul searching, man,because that's not what it
should be about.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (07:54):
So I want to.
That's a fascinating thing andI wonder if someone has that
mindset and they're at aleadership level of their
organization, how do you thinktheir organization feels about
their stability if theleadership of the organization
has that kind of mindset?
I mean, we're speakinghypothetically.
Perhaps maybe you know somespecific scenarios.
(08:15):
Obviously we're not going totalk, yeah, but you think that
that leadership mindset mightfilter through the organization
and there's a scarcity mentalitywithin the organization?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (08:25):
I think that's absolutely right.
Everything again starts at thetop.
I come in every day.
I'm my staff's biggestcheerleader, I'm proud of what
we do.
I like bragging about what wedo, about what our capabilities
are, but in the same instance, Ialso recognize it.
In my opinion, my biggestcompetitor is within my four
(08:49):
walls.
We control our own destiny, thejobs that we have within our
four walls, the business that wehave.
The only competition we havefor that business is us whether
we run it correctly, program itcorrectly, buy material
correctly.
And so if you're yeah, I agree,I think that if you're a leader
(09:11):
of a company and you're sittingthere worried that somebody is
going to take your employees oryour business, you need to
figure out how to do better.
I'm not worried about myemployees leaving Right now.
We sit at a 95% retention rateover the last two years in our
industry and in our market.
That's unheard of.
I'm not worried about my folksleaving.
(09:33):
I'm also not worried about mycustomers shopping around
because we provide them some ofthe best transparent customer
support that we've ever providedand we have.
We have grown and increased ourbusiness and the the revenue
(09:53):
that we're doing with thoseaccounts over the last three
years three, four, five times.
So there's always going to besomebody cheaper.
There's always going to besomebody that's going to tell
you they'll do it better, butthe grass isn't always greener.
I'm not concerned about my mycustomers leaving it.
I'm not concerned about myemployees leaving, and if there
(10:16):
is an issue and I catch wind ofit, I address it immediately.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (10:20):
You know, one of the things that I
really want to continue to callout into the manufacturing
community your middle levelleadership is so critical to
your organization and peopleleave often because they don't
like their leadership, theydon't like their supervisors,
their direct reports and thattype of thing, and one of the
(10:41):
things that I just we in thisindustry we've got to wrap our
brains around the fact that ifwe recruit someone by offering
them a dollar more an hour,we're going to lose someone to
someone who's going to offerthem a dollar more an hour.
The key to keeping your team isnot about the money.
The money is a short-termsolution and discontentment is
(11:02):
going to rise within the nextcouple of months after they get
that raise.
So I think that the key withinyour organization is building a
culture that values people andraises people's opportunities up
, instead of just using peoplein exchange for dollars 100%
agree.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraT (11:22):
Money does drive a comfort level and
a happiness, especially intoday's economy, but there's so
much more to employee retentionand employee happiness than the
dollar.
Work-life balance benefits.
We put a lot of differentbenefits in place that are
(11:44):
outside of the norm from themanufacturing industry.
We run four tens.
We allow our hourly employeesto flex schedules If they have a
doctor's appointment, if theyhave a kid's school function and
anything inside of two hours.
Take the time, coordinate withyour supervisor, go do your life
, go live your life, come inlater and make it up.
(12:04):
We don't drive that hard,punching the time clock.
We have production standardsand efficiencies that need to be
met, met, but you've got a lifeto live and you can't crack
down to the point that it'schasing a buck.
(12:30):
I want people to be happy, havea good work-life balance,
produce, have a collaborativeenvironment where people can
have recommendations, haveimprovements that they bring to
the table and they benefit fromit.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (12:42):
And we do that all the time.
We're going to dive into alittle bit more about Ultratech
in a minute, but just before weleave this topic of KCNTMA, I
think that people who areinterested in just the kind of
thinking you just shared aboutwait a minute that's crazy to
offer flex schedules and thattype of thing.
That just can't work in myindustry.
That's part of why you go to KCand TMA to have conversations
(13:03):
like that, not because yourorganization has to change to
that idea, but you get exposedto things outside the silo of
your organization and itchallenges your norm of thinking
, especially if you were raisedup, if you were a tech and you
moved up to a supervisor and youbecome part of the C-suite.
(13:23):
You are so isolated oftentimesin that organization's
experience that it is soimportant to have influence from
outside that organization foryou to be able to continue to
grow to the future, because theculture is changing in the
industry.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (13:37):
It is.
If we want to become theindustrialized nation that we
once were and the superpower inmanufacturing that we once were,
we can't run our manufacturinglike we did even in the 80s or
90s.
I bring the NTMA I've leveragedthe NTMA in a number of
(14:01):
different ways.
You'll see, even this week Ithink you're coming to our
holiday party right, I'll have afull table of staff there with
me.
I'll have all my lower levelsupervisors, mid-level
supervisors and C-suite folks atthat event with me and in many
of our events I bring a lot ofmy management staff or
supervisors to these events,because all too often C-suite
(14:27):
gets involved in theseassociations and never involve
anybody else in the company andso it looks like just another
boondoggle golf outing oranother half day event there
You're off, drinking andwhatever, and so, being an
executive which we don't do,right, so I bring, I bring my
entire supervisor and managementstaff to two events, to the
(14:49):
golf outings, to holiday events,to other events.
You know, catherine and Casey,and NTMA has spun off the
SheBuilds Women in Manufacturinggroup.
That is phenomenal and is goingto really, really change the
dynamics of the NTMA, I feel, ona national standard
(15:46):
no-transcript.
Casey, my quality manager.
She's gone to every one of theevents.
Ultratex launched their firstmeeting.
We sponsored and boughteverybody lunch and kicked that
off.
And the SheLeads group, inconjunction with our KCNTMA
(16:06):
group, is going to set a newstandard for what these
association organizations shouldbe.
And if companies that areinvolved don't involve their
employees, they're missing out.
Because my group of employees,my estimator, my shop
supervisors, my management, evenmy, even my accountant I bring
(16:28):
to these events and they startto network and build a group of
contacts within the industrythat they're vital to the
success of at this company andthey talk with people and they
get new ideas.
And that's how SheLeads spunoff.
And so you know again, ifyou're worried about competition
(16:50):
, if you're worried aboutstealing business, stealing
employees, you've got to really,let's sit down, man.
I'd love to sit down with youone-on-one and talk through that
, because I think you're missingthe intention and the big
picture and you've got to getyour employees out there and
involved in it as well.
Otherwise you don't reallytruly benefit from the
(17:11):
networking and the camaraderiethat you build within the
industry.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circ (17:15):
Outstanding man Love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
I want to turn gears a littlebit away from KCNTMA, as much as
I'd love talking more about it.
I want to talk about your shoplife and what's going on there.
And I want to start just bysaying, as we were anticipating
this conversation, I was tryingto do my research, understand a
little bit about you.
I came across one of thepodcasts you did a year after
(17:39):
you came with Paul Van Meter andthat's on his Machine Shop
Mastery podcast.
You did a great job just layingthe transition of you coming
into the organization.
We'll hit some of thosehighlights.
For people that want to knowmore of your onboarding story,
I'd encourage them to go look upPaul's podcast and hear that
early story.
(17:59):
And you'd also mentioned therewas another podcast you did here
within the last year, Remind mewho that was.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (18:05):
Yeah , it was with Jeff Palaccio,
called the Corporate Couch.
Okay, it was kind of a tack on.
You know, paul was at a shoptour that Roger, with the
nationwide NTMA president,executive director I'm not sure
exactly, forgive me on thebutchering his title, but they
had an event in Kansas City.
(18:25):
They had reached out.
They did a shop tour here.
I was green, I was green in amachine shop, I was green in the
C-suite and I'd never done apodcast ever in my life and I
did a shop tour, opened thedoors, took everybody through a
bunch of shops from all over thecountry that were in town for a
national NTMA event.
(18:45):
Paul came up afterwards andsaid hey, man, I got to get you
on my podcast and it was in myearly days of restructuring and
rebuilding and then Jeff's wasjust six months ago, so kind of
the tail end of that, and ittalks kind of about some other
(19:05):
life.
Jeff's kind of dives into alittle other life lessons and
you know, career path andmilitary experience and things
like that.
But both, both I feel werereally valuable in telling not
only my story but Ultratech'sstory and our journey of how
we've gotten to where we are now.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (19:23):
So you know, Fred, I want to ask
you a little bit more about thisbecause in your podcast you've
talked about how you've madeyourself available to shop
owners that are veterans andyou've worked with charities to
get resources to them and stuff.
I want to talk a little bitabout your mindset, because so
many shop leaders believe that,as someone who's in charge of a
(19:47):
shop, I've got to be runningaround frantic all the time and
I've got to be too busy to beaccessible, and I sometimes see
shop leaders that I'm like man.
I'd love to connect with thatperson, but they seem like their
hair is always on fire and Idon't want to get in the way of
them being productive.
How do you create capacity as aleader to shape yourself and
(20:10):
other people in the influencesthat you do, whether it's at
KCNTMA, working with a smallshop owner who doesn't know how
to make a quote and that type ofthing?
How do you create bandwidth forthat?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (20:24):
I think my wife asked the same
question, because most nights Ileave work and go straight to
some kid function and then, youknow, I'm not getting home till
seven, eight o'clock.
But that's the life of a fatherwith two young kids and my wife
has a thriving career, so we'realways running it's.
(20:50):
I think it's a lot simpler thanpeople think.
I know that when I'm gone I wasjust gone last week for
Thanksgiving.
I went back to Pennsylvania tovisit my family.
I hadn't been back for anextended period of time in three
years, so I took all last weekoff.
I have a director of operations,a production manager, a
controller, quality manager,engineering and customer support
(21:12):
manager that I don't have toworry about.
I know they come in every day,they give me 150%, they believe
in the plans that I've put inmotion, they see what success
looks like.
(21:33):
They're all empowered to makedecisions.
And you know I can spend anhour here and nobody's knocking
on my door, because if there'san answer, somebody.
There comes a point where youhave to.
I would sooner you make adecision, stand behind your
decision, and maybe it not beright, but talk about how you
(21:57):
work through the process to getto your decision versus you not
making any decisions whatsoever.
And so I don't.
You know I don't micromanagethem.
They're all empowered to makedecisions, do what they need to
do to run their departments andthey know.
They know what my expectationsare and I can go out of here for
(22:21):
a week.
I don't, don't get me wrong, Istill work, but I can.
I can leave here for a week.
Now, don't get me wrong, Istill work, but I can leave here
for a week and know thatbuilding's not going to burn
down and customers aren't goingto leave and things are going to
get done, because they know,when I come back, that if they
didn't do what they're supposedto do and they feel bad about
letting me down, they know thatwhat I've put in to make sure
(22:42):
that they have a successfulcareer as well.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (22:46):
Yeah , listen, I love this.
I tell you know that transitionand you will talk a little bit
about your role in the story atyour company, but you didn't
come into a mom and pop shop ofeight people and build it to
several dozen.
One of the things that leadersthat I talk to really have to
(23:08):
understand is that when you'rebuilding a team, when you get to
that 10, 12, 14 people on yourteam, one of the best things you
can do is go on vacation for aweek or two and come back and
see what broke, because asyou're getting ready to go,
you're trying to get all yourducks in a row, you're trying to
raise up people so that theycan make it a sustainable thing
(23:30):
while you're gone and then, whenyou come back, you get to learn
what's broken and then you getto improve your systems so that
in a few months, when you takeyour next vacation, you get to
see how have we grown as anorganization.
What's your thoughts about theimportance of leaving just to
see how healthy your system?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (23:46):
is oh, ryan, 100% agree, and I
think you know I've even.
I think Elon Musk is the onethat made a comment that said
you know something about I don'tremember the exact what it is,
but if, if you're gone for twoweeks and nothing happens and
and then you know really whatare you doing?
Absolutely, there's things thatare always going to go awry.
New things are always going topop up.
(24:07):
We're in a very complexindustry and you're going to
walk back to a fire, buthopefully, you know, your team
is empowered to keep that fireto a smolder and not a raging
inferno.
So when you walk back, it'sjust cleaning up and tidying up
a few of the loose ends andthat's it.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (24:25):
So there's always going to be that,
and if you can't do that, thenyou probably need some help on
developing your systems and yourteam, because you're and the
other thing, if your company isso dependent on you that you
can't go away you've just got ajob.
You don't have a business thatyou can't go away, you've just
got a job, you don't have abusiness.
(24:46):
And for those small shop owners, if the organization falls
apart when you're not present,you don't have anything of value
to sell to someone else.
You've got to figure out how toestablish it so that it has a
value without you if thatorganization is going to be
worth something.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (25:00):
Yeah , it's a tough.
That was very hard for me toeven get my head around because
and for clarification, you'renot even an owner in your
organization, correct?
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (25:11):
No?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraT (25:11):
right .
I mean I have a stock option,but I don't have any skin in the
game.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (25:17):
But I just want people to understand
it's not just owner, it's otherlevels of leadership too.
Right, that's the point, butcontinue with your thought.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (25:24):
It was.
No, that was a very hard thingbecause I mean, part of my
transition here at Ultratech wasre restaffing and in the first
10 months I replaced 50% of theemployees in this company.
And so to build a team and andget a team on board and one of
my managers has been here.
She wrote through the storms ofhell with me, casey, as I was
(25:47):
restructuring and was 100committed and my other staff are
all relatively new.
You know, year two years, um,on my management team,
leadership team, but that was toto.
It took a long time to peelback that onion, to get to a
point where I can go out of townand not worry about the wheels
(26:11):
coming off and Well, and youwere in a rebuild to begin with,
so it wasn't just a.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (26:19):
You came and acquired something that
was in extraordinary shape.
And again, listen to Paul'spodcast and listen to the other
parts of your story.
But, yeah, and I thinksometimes the team that's on the
shop floor or the supervisorsdon't understand the exposure
that leaders have in thosetransition points or in the
(26:40):
launching phase and they're likeman, the man's getting rich off
me.
Well, it's also the man thattook huge risk and invested a
lot of sacrifice to help bringthe stability that the
organization has.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (26:54):
Yeah , it's.
You know I didn't learn allthat stuff on my own.
I mean I'm involved in to addto my pile.
You know I'm involved in threedifferent peer advisory groups
outside of the NTMA.
I'm in a Vistage CEO groupwhere I more of an entrepreneur
(27:26):
group called the Kansas CityMavericks, led by a gentleman
named Scott Havens who's kind ofthe connector of everybody.
But I'm in that group and thatgroup I feel like the old dog in
that group and I'm also one ofthe few that have a real
corporate structure in thatgroup.
Everybody else are truegrassroots entrepreneurs, which
is not my area of comfort at all.
(27:51):
And so the experience and theknowledge and the outside of the
box ideas that I get from thatgroup, coupled by the Vistage
group where we're all learningand growing together.
And then there's another groupcalled the Heartland Heroes by
that that I'm in, that is filledwith some very, very senior
(28:13):
like ex-Sprint, ex-ceo, you knowjust top notch Multi-billion
dollar corporations,multi-billion dollar
corporations, right, right, youknow so I have that high tenured
, has seen every single thingyou can think of group with
those folks.
The middle group with theVistage folks that we're all
(28:35):
kind of early on in our CEOcareers.
And then the Mavericks group.
That's an entrepreneurial groupthat gives me an entirely
different perspective outside ofa corporate structure.
I mean, I spend you know that'sa tremendous amount of time as
well, but the personal growthand development that I've gained
out of each one of those groupsbecause they all offer a
(28:57):
different mindset has been, hasreally, really been, beneficial.
So, you know, I encouragepeople to get involved, find a
good career coach, a goodcoaching organization that you
can join, where you can havethat, you know, that mindset
shift or get you outside of yourcomfort zone and learn a
(29:22):
different way of thinking.
That is not your traditionalstyle.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (29:26):
Yeah , love it, and I think there's
such an importance of makingsure you're picking a coach.
I've had a few coaches in mycareer and some have had huge
alignment with where I'm going.
The one I'm working with rightnow I really value, but I've
also had some coaches that wouldpush me a direction they wanted
me to go instead of the lifethat I was trying to build, and
you have to really be discerningwhen you're going through that
(29:48):
journey.
But you teed this up so well.
I have to mention this.
One of the things that I do is Ioffer a free manufacturing peer
advisory group for those thatare in mid-level leadership or
production leadership, and it'sreally intended not necessarily
for that C-suite level, butthose guys that are just running
operations and they're makingdecisions and helping to build
(30:10):
the culture and creating theexperience that everybody in the
shop has.
And that's something that we doonce a month and that's a free
one we have.
I do a little bit of teachingcontent and then we do a hot
seat at the end of it wheresomeone brings their issue and
we just ask questions and helpthem unpack the dynamics
involved in that.
And so if there's anyone, ifyou are a shop leader or if you
(30:33):
want your shop leaders to have asupport network around them.
This is something that thisparticular one is free, just to
help these guys have a community, because I just recognize so
many of them were in silos andwe needed to get them connected.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (30:46):
I think that's you know, the fact
that you're focusing on themiddle level.
They don't really have a group.
There's not right.
The CEO groups are allestablished and out there and
that's what they cater to and soI mean that's a group and we
need to talk even further,because I'd love to get some of
my other shop level folksinvolved in that, because I
(31:08):
don't feel like there's enoughattention for that type of
personal development and growthput on that middle rung.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (31:17):
Yeah , and that's really where I'm
trying to help stand in the gapbecause I've been that second
and third chair leader inorganizations.
In the gap because I've beenthat second and third chair
leader in organizations and Iunderstand that tension of wait.
How am I growing in thisorganization and what's my
trajectory?
And so, yeah, I'd be glad totalk.
And, for anyone interested inchecking that out, the
circleoffivecoachingcom slashfree is where they can get on
(31:39):
our email list to be a part ofthat free manufacturing peer
advisory group.
There you have it.
That is part one of theinterview with Fred Stipkiewicz
from Ultratech Aerospace.
Loved his perspective, lovedhis insights and how he is just
growing himself and the peoplearound him on his team.
(32:00):
Here's what I'd love to ask foryou If you would subscribe to
this and whatever vehicle you'reusing for the podcast or if
you're watching this on YouTube,subscribe to it there.
And then also, I'd love for youto just encourage Fred by
leaving something that he sharedtoday in our conversation that
encouraged you to grow or tobecome a better version of
(32:24):
yourself or to do leadership ina different way.
Take some time, leave somecomments, let him know that you
appreciate him.
Thank you so much for being apart of this.
Stay following what we're doing, because the next episode is
going to be part two of ourinterview with Fred.
All right, folks, you are in for a
treat.
In this episode I had theopportunity to speak with Fred
Stipkiewicz from Ultratech,aerospace and man.
His insights and his wisdom isjust great.
You're going to hear thingsabout how he leveraged an
organization to build hisnetwork in the Kansas City area
and in the industry, about hisway of building trust with
(00:24):
industry colleagues.
You'll hear who he says hisbiggest competitor is.
That's a fascinatingconversation there.
And then what he believes isgoing to be the key for the US
to become a superpower inmanufacturing again.
And Fred just shares so manyinsights, so many thoughts, so
many things that are just sointriguing to me and I think
(00:45):
you'll find them interesting too.
And two more things that Ithink I want you to listen for.
Number one how does Fred createcapacity for himself as a
leader?
And then, who does Fredsurround himself with to sharpen
his leadership ability and togrow himself?
Listen for those things.
You are in for a treat.
This is the first of two partsof my interview with Fred and I
(01:08):
think you'll love it.
All right, fred, welcome to theshow man.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (01:23):
It's great to see you.
I appreciate the invite andhaving me on Good to see you as
well.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (01:29):
Man, this is an exciting time for
KCNTMA, where things are growing, things are happening.
We've launched this podcast inpartnership between Circle of
Five and KCNTMA and I'm justreally excited about the
collaborative effort that we'redoing, and I know you were one
of the voices that said heypodcast, it's worth a try.
Let's see how we can make animpact through podcasts.
(01:52):
So I love your support and Iwant to thank you for that.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (01:54):
Yeah , I appreciate the same.
You know you have really jumpedinto the NTMA and have helped
out a lot in things like this.
All publicity is good publicity.
I think the NTMA, especiallyour Kansas City branch,
catherine, and what our excuseme, what our Kansas City branch
is doing, is really going to setthe stage for some other
(02:20):
branches to step it up a notch.
I think they've got someamazing, we've got some amazing
things going on.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (02:26):
Yeah , I agree, and you know, I see
you at events and you're justconnecting with so many people
and you're having so manyin-depth conversations, whether
it's about business models orabout hey, here's a project I'm
trying to figure out.
Do you guys have capacity forsomething?
Tell me, why is it that youchose to be a part of KCMTMA?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (02:55):
So you know, if you go through my
kind of my journey, my careerpath up until I started at
Ultratech three years ago, I wasa global guy.
I was traveling all over theworld for a couple of different
manufacturing companies sellingand servicing aircraft,
refueling equipment, and so mynetwork was outside of the
Kansas City market.
I had no business contacts inKansas City.
I had no network in Kansas City.
(03:16):
On top of that, I worked forwe'll just say some of the what
not to do in lessons inleadership and management.
I worked for some folks thatnever cared about making sure
their people grew and expandedand had a name outside of their
four walls.
So I had nothing in Kansas City, and when I got involved, or
(03:40):
when I took over Ultratech inNovember of 21, I had to figure
out how to build a network here,because here I am now, a leader
in a Kansas City business.
I had never been in themachining industry either, and
so it was important to me tofind the industry associations
that were directly impactful tomy business and my employees and
(04:04):
our community around KansasCity, and Ultratech had been
involved.
I think this year is our 40thyear in membership for the NTMA,
so when it was a smaller ma andpa shop.
They were involved in it.
Once our holding company, theCumulus Companies, bought out
Ultrate Tech and took it over,they continued their involvement
(04:26):
.
My previous CFO was on theboard at NTMA and then when he
left I jumped in and gotinvolved and have just found it
to be just tremendously valuablefrom a career growth and an
exposure and really a networkingevent.
So I didn't intend on it tobecome as much as it has for me
(04:51):
or AlterTech.
But here I am, you know inDecember of 25, I've been
involved and on the board for ayear and now find myself being
elected as the board presidentfor calendar year 25.
It's built a tremendous networkof machine shops and
(05:12):
manufacturing companies aroundKansas City.
For me it's gotten my name andUltratech's name out there as a
strong player in the market andI've made some great friends and
great business contacts inthere.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (05:27):
You know there's a couple of
interesting things.
I'd like to break open with youon that.
First of all, what do you sayto the guy who's like why would
you go sit at a table or sit ina room with people that are your
direct competitors?
Because there's a lot of peoplethat are intimidated by this
conversation.
What do you have to say to thatguy?
And how has your experienceconversation what?
What do you have to say to thatguy?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTec (05:47):
and how has your experience proven
that to be flawed thinking?
So I think you you've probablyheard me say it at events right,
the people in that room, theother machine shops in that room
, I do not view as competitors.
I I view them as as partners inmy, in this industry.
Uh, they offer they all offertalents and skill set and
(06:07):
capabilities, uh, that that Idon't or that my shop doesn't
have.
I don't think there's a singleperson in that room.
We we have built over the lastyear with catherine's
involvement or in our art board,we have built an understanding
that we are in this together andwe're partnered together to
grow and develop and expand andnot steal.
(06:30):
I don't steal people'semployees, I don't steal
people's business.
I looked a bit on business thatI don't have capabilities and
that I know that somebody elsein our NTMA does and may not be
playing in the same market thatI am, but has a capability that
can benefit and vice versa.
So I would say, as I did infront of many of the members, if
(06:55):
you feel threatened in thatroom and you feel like somebody
is going to take your business,you haven't done a good enough
job of networking, becoming anintegral part of that NTMA
organization, breaking downthose walls of competition and
building the trust andcamaraderie.
(07:16):
And that's what I focus on.
I get calls.
If I have an unhappy employeethat may have happened to apply
at a shop that's an NTMA shop,they call me and say, hey, man,
I think you got a, you got adisgruntled employee or somebody
that's not happy, and viceversa.
I've called other shops.
So you have to.
(07:37):
It starts at the top and shouldtrickle down, and if you're
worried about sitting at thattable that I'm going to take
your business and you're thatinsecure, you've got to do some
deep soul searching, man,because that's not what it
should be about.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (07:54):
So I want to.
That's a fascinating thing andI wonder if someone has that
mindset and they're at aleadership level of their
organization, how do you thinktheir organization feels about
their stability if theleadership of the organization
has that kind of mindset?
I mean, we're speakinghypothetically.
Perhaps maybe you know somespecific scenarios.
(08:15):
Obviously we're not going totalk, yeah, but you think that
that leadership mindset mightfilter through the organization
and there's a scarcity mentalitywithin the organization?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (08:25):
I think that's absolutely right.
Everything again starts at thetop.
I come in every day.
I'm my staff's biggestcheerleader, I'm proud of what
we do.
I like bragging about what wedo, about what our capabilities
are, but in the same instance, Ialso recognize it.
In my opinion, my biggestcompetitor is within my four
(08:49):
walls.
We control our own destiny, thejobs that we have within our
four walls, the business that wehave.
The only competition we havefor that business is us whether
we run it correctly, program itcorrectly, buy material
correctly.
And so if you're yeah, I agree,I think that if you're a leader
(09:11):
of a company and you're sittingthere worried that somebody is
going to take your employees oryour business, you need to
figure out how to do better.
I'm not worried about myemployees leaving Right now.
We sit at a 95% retention rateover the last two years in our
industry and in our market.
That's unheard of.
I'm not worried about my folksleaving.
(09:33):
I'm also not worried about mycustomers shopping around
because we provide them some ofthe best transparent customer
support that we've ever providedand we have.
We have grown and increased ourbusiness and the the revenue
(09:53):
that we're doing with thoseaccounts over the last three
years three, four, five times.
So there's always going to besomebody cheaper.
There's always going to besomebody that's going to tell
you they'll do it better, butthe grass isn't always greener.
I'm not concerned about my mycustomers leaving it.
I'm not concerned about myemployees leaving, and if there
(10:16):
is an issue and I catch wind ofit, I address it immediately.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (10:20):
You know, one of the things that I
really want to continue to callout into the manufacturing
community your middle levelleadership is so critical to
your organization and peopleleave often because they don't
like their leadership, theydon't like their supervisors,
their direct reports and thattype of thing, and one of the
(10:41):
things that I just we in thisindustry we've got to wrap our
brains around the fact that ifwe recruit someone by offering
them a dollar more an hour,we're going to lose someone to
someone who's going to offerthem a dollar more an hour.
The key to keeping your team isnot about the money.
The money is a short-termsolution and discontentment is
(11:02):
going to rise within the nextcouple of months after they get
that raise.
So I think that the key withinyour organization is building a
culture that values people andraises people's opportunities up
, instead of just using peoplein exchange for dollars 100%
agree.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraT (11:22):
Money does drive a comfort level and
a happiness, especially intoday's economy, but there's so
much more to employee retentionand employee happiness than the
dollar.
Work-life balance benefits.
We put a lot of differentbenefits in place that are
(11:44):
outside of the norm from themanufacturing industry.
We run four tens.
We allow our hourly employeesto flex schedules If they have a
doctor's appointment, if theyhave a kid's school function and
anything inside of two hours.
Take the time, coordinate withyour supervisor, go do your life
, go live your life, come inlater and make it up.
(12:04):
We don't drive that hard,punching the time clock.
We have production standardsand efficiencies that need to be
met, met, but you've got a lifeto live and you can't crack
down to the point that it'schasing a buck.
(12:30):
I want people to be happy, havea good work-life balance,
produce, have a collaborativeenvironment where people can
have recommendations, haveimprovements that they bring to
the table and they benefit fromit.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (12:42):
And we do that all the time.
We're going to dive into alittle bit more about Ultratech
in a minute, but just before weleave this topic of KCNTMA, I
think that people who areinterested in just the kind of
thinking you just shared aboutwait a minute that's crazy to
offer flex schedules and thattype of thing.
That just can't work in myindustry.
That's part of why you go to KCand TMA to have conversations
(13:03):
like that, not because yourorganization has to change to
that idea, but you get exposedto things outside the silo of
your organization and itchallenges your norm of thinking
, especially if you were raisedup, if you were a tech and you
moved up to a supervisor and youbecome part of the C-suite.
(13:23):
You are so isolated oftentimesin that organization's
experience that it is soimportant to have influence from
outside that organization foryou to be able to continue to
grow to the future, because theculture is changing in the
industry.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (13:37):
It is.
If we want to become theindustrialized nation that we
once were and the superpower inmanufacturing that we once were,
we can't run our manufacturinglike we did even in the 80s or
90s.
I bring the NTMA I've leveragedthe NTMA in a number of
(14:01):
different ways.
You'll see, even this week Ithink you're coming to our
holiday party right, I'll have afull table of staff there with
me.
I'll have all my lower levelsupervisors, mid-level
supervisors and C-suite folks atthat event with me and in many
of our events I bring a lot ofmy management staff or
supervisors to these events,because all too often C-suite
(14:27):
gets involved in theseassociations and never involve
anybody else in the company andso it looks like just another
boondoggle golf outing oranother half day event there
You're off, drinking andwhatever, and so, being an
executive which we don't do,right, so I bring, I bring my
entire supervisor and managementstaff to two events, to the
(14:49):
golf outings, to holiday events,to other events.
You know, catherine and Casey,and NTMA has spun off the
SheBuilds Women in Manufacturinggroup.
That is phenomenal and is goingto really, really change the
dynamics of the NTMA, I feel, ona national standard
(15:46):
no-transcript.
Casey, my quality manager.
She's gone to every one of theevents.
Ultratex launched their firstmeeting.
We sponsored and boughteverybody lunch and kicked that
off.
And the SheLeads group, inconjunction with our KCNTMA
(16:06):
group, is going to set a newstandard for what these
association organizations shouldbe.
And if companies that areinvolved don't involve their
employees, they're missing out.
Because my group of employees,my estimator, my shop
supervisors, my management, evenmy, even my accountant I bring
(16:28):
to these events and they startto network and build a group of
contacts within the industrythat they're vital to the
success of at this company andthey talk with people and they
get new ideas.
And that's how SheLeads spunoff.
And so you know again, ifyou're worried about competition
(16:50):
, if you're worried aboutstealing business, stealing
employees, you've got to really,let's sit down, man.
I'd love to sit down with youone-on-one and talk through that
, because I think you're missingthe intention and the big
picture and you've got to getyour employees out there and
involved in it as well.
Otherwise you don't reallytruly benefit from the
(17:11):
networking and the camaraderiethat you build within the
industry.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circ (17:15):
Outstanding man Love it.
Thank you for sharing that.
I want to turn gears a littlebit away from KCNTMA, as much as
I'd love talking more about it.
I want to talk about your shoplife and what's going on there.
And I want to start just bysaying, as we were anticipating
this conversation, I was tryingto do my research, understand a
little bit about you.
I came across one of thepodcasts you did a year after
(17:39):
you came with Paul Van Meter andthat's on his Machine Shop
Mastery podcast.
You did a great job just layingthe transition of you coming
into the organization.
We'll hit some of thosehighlights.
For people that want to knowmore of your onboarding story,
I'd encourage them to go look upPaul's podcast and hear that
early story.
(17:59):
And you'd also mentioned therewas another podcast you did here
within the last year, Remind mewho that was.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (18:05):
Yeah , it was with Jeff Palaccio,
called the Corporate Couch.
Okay, it was kind of a tack on.
You know, paul was at a shoptour that Roger, with the
nationwide NTMA president,executive director I'm not sure
exactly, forgive me on thebutchering his title, but they
had an event in Kansas City.
(18:25):
They had reached out.
They did a shop tour here.
I was green, I was green in amachine shop, I was green in the
C-suite and I'd never done apodcast ever in my life and I
did a shop tour, opened thedoors, took everybody through a
bunch of shops from all over thecountry that were in town for a
national NTMA event.
(18:45):
Paul came up afterwards andsaid hey, man, I got to get you
on my podcast and it was in myearly days of restructuring and
rebuilding and then Jeff's wasjust six months ago, so kind of
the tail end of that, and ittalks kind of about some other
(19:05):
life.
Jeff's kind of dives into alittle other life lessons and
you know, career path andmilitary experience and things
like that.
But both, both I feel werereally valuable in telling not
only my story but Ultratech'sstory and our journey of how
we've gotten to where we are now.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (19:23):
So you know, Fred, I want to ask
you a little bit more about thisbecause in your podcast you've
talked about how you've madeyourself available to shop
owners that are veterans andyou've worked with charities to
get resources to them and stuff.
I want to talk a little bitabout your mindset, because so
many shop leaders believe that,as someone who's in charge of a
(19:47):
shop, I've got to be runningaround frantic all the time and
I've got to be too busy to beaccessible, and I sometimes see
shop leaders that I'm like man.
I'd love to connect with thatperson, but they seem like their
hair is always on fire and Idon't want to get in the way of
them being productive.
How do you create capacity as aleader to shape yourself and
(20:10):
other people in the influencesthat you do, whether it's at
KCNTMA, working with a smallshop owner who doesn't know how
to make a quote and that type ofthing?
How do you create bandwidth forthat?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (20:24):
I think my wife asked the same
question, because most nights Ileave work and go straight to
some kid function and then, youknow, I'm not getting home till
seven, eight o'clock.
But that's the life of a fatherwith two young kids and my wife
has a thriving career, so we'realways running it's.
(20:50):
I think it's a lot simpler thanpeople think.
I know that when I'm gone I wasjust gone last week for
Thanksgiving.
I went back to Pennsylvania tovisit my family.
I hadn't been back for anextended period of time in three
years, so I took all last weekoff.
I have a director of operations,a production manager, a
controller, quality manager,engineering and customer support
(21:12):
manager that I don't have toworry about.
I know they come in every day,they give me 150%, they believe
in the plans that I've put inmotion, they see what success
looks like.
(21:33):
They're all empowered to makedecisions.
And you know I can spend anhour here and nobody's knocking
on my door, because if there'san answer, somebody.
There comes a point where youhave to.
I would sooner you make adecision, stand behind your
decision, and maybe it not beright, but talk about how you
(21:57):
work through the process to getto your decision versus you not
making any decisions whatsoever.
And so I don't.
You know I don't micromanagethem.
They're all empowered to makedecisions, do what they need to
do to run their departments andthey know.
They know what my expectationsare and I can go out of here for
(22:21):
a week.
I don't, don't get me wrong, Istill work, but I can.
I can leave here for a week.
Now, don't get me wrong, Istill work, but I can leave here
for a week and know thatbuilding's not going to burn
down and customers aren't goingto leave and things are going to
get done, because they know,when I come back, that if they
didn't do what they're supposedto do and they feel bad about
letting me down, they know thatwhat I've put in to make sure
(22:42):
that they have a successfulcareer as well.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (22:46):
Yeah , listen, I love this.
I tell you know that transitionand you will talk a little bit
about your role in the story atyour company, but you didn't
come into a mom and pop shop ofeight people and build it to
several dozen.
One of the things that leadersthat I talk to really have to
(23:08):
understand is that when you'rebuilding a team, when you get to
that 10, 12, 14 people on yourteam, one of the best things you
can do is go on vacation for aweek or two and come back and
see what broke, because asyou're getting ready to go,
you're trying to get all yourducks in a row, you're trying to
raise up people so that theycan make it a sustainable thing
(23:30):
while you're gone and then, whenyou come back, you get to learn
what's broken and then you getto improve your systems so that
in a few months, when you takeyour next vacation, you get to
see how have we grown as anorganization.
What's your thoughts about theimportance of leaving just to
see how healthy your system?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (23:46):
is oh, ryan, 100% agree, and I
think you know I've even.
I think Elon Musk is the onethat made a comment that said
you know something about I don'tremember the exact what it is,
but if, if you're gone for twoweeks and nothing happens and
and then you know really whatare you doing?
Absolutely, there's things thatare always going to go awry.
New things are always going topop up.
(24:07):
We're in a very complexindustry and you're going to
walk back to a fire, buthopefully, you know, your team
is empowered to keep that fireto a smolder and not a raging
inferno.
So when you walk back, it'sjust cleaning up and tidying up
a few of the loose ends andthat's it.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (24:25):
So there's always going to be that,
and if you can't do that, thenyou probably need some help on
developing your systems and yourteam, because you're and the
other thing, if your company isso dependent on you that you
can't go away you've just got ajob.
You don't have a business thatyou can't go away, you've just
got a job, you don't have abusiness.
(24:46):
And for those small shop owners, if the organization falls
apart when you're not present,you don't have anything of value
to sell to someone else.
You've got to figure out how toestablish it so that it has a
value without you if thatorganization is going to be
worth something.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (25:00):
Yeah , it's a tough.
That was very hard for me toeven get my head around because
and for clarification, you'renot even an owner in your
organization, correct?
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (25:11):
No?
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraT (25:11):
right .
I mean I have a stock option,but I don't have any skin in the
game.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (25:17):
But I just want people to understand
it's not just owner, it's otherlevels of leadership too.
Right, that's the point, butcontinue with your thought.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (25:24):
It was.
No, that was a very hard thingbecause I mean, part of my
transition here at Ultratech wasre restaffing and in the first
10 months I replaced 50% of theemployees in this company.
And so to build a team and andget a team on board and one of
my managers has been here.
She wrote through the storms ofhell with me, casey, as I was
(25:47):
restructuring and was 100committed and my other staff are
all relatively new.
You know, year two years, um,on my management team,
leadership team, but that was toto.
It took a long time to peelback that onion, to get to a
point where I can go out of townand not worry about the wheels
(26:11):
coming off and Well, and youwere in a rebuild to begin with,
so it wasn't just a.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (26:19):
You came and acquired something that
was in extraordinary shape.
And again, listen to Paul'spodcast and listen to the other
parts of your story.
But, yeah, and I thinksometimes the team that's on the
shop floor or the supervisorsdon't understand the exposure
that leaders have in thosetransition points or in the
(26:40):
launching phase and they're likeman, the man's getting rich off
me.
Well, it's also the man thattook huge risk and invested a
lot of sacrifice to help bringthe stability that the
organization has.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTe (26:54):
Yeah , it's.
You know I didn't learn allthat stuff on my own.
I mean I'm involved in to addto my pile.
You know I'm involved in threedifferent peer advisory groups
outside of the NTMA.
I'm in a Vistage CEO groupwhere I more of an entrepreneur
(27:26):
group called the Kansas CityMavericks, led by a gentleman
named Scott Havens who's kind ofthe connector of everybody.
But I'm in that group and thatgroup I feel like the old dog in
that group and I'm also one ofthe few that have a real
corporate structure in thatgroup.
Everybody else are truegrassroots entrepreneurs, which
is not my area of comfort at all.
(27:51):
And so the experience and theknowledge and the outside of the
box ideas that I get from thatgroup, coupled by the Vistage
group where we're all learningand growing together.
And then there's another groupcalled the Heartland Heroes by
that that I'm in, that is filledwith some very, very senior
(28:13):
like ex-Sprint, ex-ceo, you knowjust top notch Multi-billion
dollar corporations,multi-billion dollar
corporations, right, right, youknow so I have that high tenured
, has seen every single thingyou can think of group with
those folks.
The middle group with theVistage folks that we're all
(28:35):
kind of early on in our CEOcareers.
And then the Mavericks group.
That's an entrepreneurial groupthat gives me an entirely
different perspective outside ofa corporate structure.
I mean, I spend you know that'sa tremendous amount of time as
well, but the personal growthand development that I've gained
out of each one of those groupsbecause they all offer a
(28:57):
different mindset has been, hasreally, really been, beneficial.
So, you know, I encouragepeople to get involved, find a
good career coach, a goodcoaching organization that you
can join, where you can havethat, you know, that mindset
shift or get you outside of yourcomfort zone and learn a
(29:22):
different way of thinking.
That is not your traditionalstyle.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (29:26):
Yeah , love it, and I think there's
such an importance of makingsure you're picking a coach.
I've had a few coaches in mycareer and some have had huge
alignment with where I'm going.
The one I'm working with rightnow I really value, but I've
also had some coaches that wouldpush me a direction they wanted
me to go instead of the lifethat I was trying to build, and
you have to really be discerningwhen you're going through that
(29:48):
journey.
But you teed this up so well.
I have to mention this.
One of the things that I do is Ioffer a free manufacturing peer
advisory group for those thatare in mid-level leadership or
production leadership, and it'sreally intended not necessarily
for that C-suite level, butthose guys that are just running
operations and they're makingdecisions and helping to build
(30:10):
the culture and creating theexperience that everybody in the
shop has.
And that's something that we doonce a month and that's a free
one we have.
I do a little bit of teachingcontent and then we do a hot
seat at the end of it wheresomeone brings their issue and
we just ask questions and helpthem unpack the dynamics
involved in that.
And so if there's anyone, ifyou are a shop leader or if you
(30:33):
want your shop leaders to have asupport network around them.
This is something that thisparticular one is free, just to
help these guys have a community, because I just recognize so
many of them were in silos andwe needed to get them connected.
Fred Stipkovits w/ UltraTech (30:46):
I think that's you know, the fact
that you're focusing on themiddle level.
They don't really have a group.
There's not right.
The CEO groups are allestablished and out there and
that's what they cater to and soI mean that's a group and we
need to talk even further,because I'd love to get some of
my other shop level folksinvolved in that, because I
(31:08):
don't feel like there's enoughattention for that type of
personal development and growthput on that middle rung.
Ryan Nelson w/ Circle of 5 (31:17):
Yeah , and that's really where I'm
trying to help stand in the gapbecause I've been that second
and third chair leader inorganizations.
In the gap because I've beenthat second and third chair
leader in organizations and Iunderstand that tension of wait.
How am I growing in thisorganization and what's my
trajectory?
And so, yeah, I'd be glad totalk.
And, for anyone interested inchecking that out, the
circleoffivecoachingcom slashfree is where they can get on
(31:39):
our email list to be a part ofthat free manufacturing peer
advisory group.
There you have it.
That is part one of theinterview with Fred Stipkiewicz
from Ultratech Aerospace.
Loved his perspective, lovedhis insights and how he is just
growing himself and the peoplearound him on his team.
(32:00):
Here's what I'd love to ask foryou If you would subscribe to
this and whatever vehicle you'reusing for the podcast or if
you're watching this on YouTube,subscribe to it there.
And then also, I'd love for youto just encourage Fred by
leaving something that he sharedtoday in our conversation that
encouraged you to grow or tobecome a better version of
(32:24):
yourself or to do leadership ina different way.
Take some time, leave somecomments, let him know that you
appreciate him.
Thank you so much for being apart of this.
Stay following what we're doing, because the next episode is
going to be part two of ourinterview with Fred.
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