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Leadership for frontline industrial supervisors.

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The One Person Your Safety Program Is Afraid to Name
Posted by Kevin Burns on January 16, 2026
name the person who controls your safety culture
Every safety program talks about "people" doing things right. Procedures target "people." Behavior-based safety observes "people." The hierarchy of controls protects "people." But ask any anyone to identify exactly which people have the most control over safety culture, and they'll talk about engagement, systems, and culture—anything to avoid naming the specific person who determines whether safety works or fails. And that avoidance isn't accidental. It's deliberate. Because naming that person means admitting your approach has been wrong.
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You Can't Fix Culture By Only Focusing On Safety - Here's The Plan
Posted by Kevin Burns on January 6, 2026
why move only one metric when you can move 12?
You can't build a safety culture by only focusing on safety. Here's the leadership problem that's driving your incident rate, AND turnover, AND productivity, AND engagement, AND a dozen other problems ... including safety.
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Your Best Supervisors Are Stumbling—And It's Costing You
Posted by Kevin Burns on December 5, 2025
Your Best Supervisors Are Stumbling—And It's Costing You
Your supervisors were promoted because they cared about their teams. But nobody taught them how to turn that care into actual leadership. Here's what that's costing you—and how to fix it.
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Building Frontline Safety Culture Without Senior Management Support
Posted by Kevin Burns on November 21, 2025
Building Frontline Safety Culture Without Senior Management Support
The safety industry insists that a strong safety culture requires senior management support. This belief has become the favorite excuse for poor frontline performance. The truth is, supervisors create a culture through daily relationships with their crews, not through executive endorsements or corporate policies. The supervisor IS the culture for their crew. Companies that equip supervisors with relationship skills get the safety culture they want, regardless of how visible senior management support appears to be.
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You Can't Build Safety Culture Without Your Frontline Supervisors
Posted by Kevin Burns on November 7, 2025
relationships, not systems, build safety culture
Your safety culture problem is actually a supervisor development problem. You've invested in systems, procedures, and management commitment, but culture doesn't live there. It lives in the daily relationship between supervisor and team member. That relationship determines whether people speak up about hazards, admit mistakes, and look out for each other. Everything else only works when that relationship is strong. Without strong supervisor relationships as the foundation, your safety program becomes just another step employees are forced to endure.
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Nobody Wants to Be Supervisor Anymore (And What to Do About It)
Posted by Kevin Burns on October 10, 2025
why your best people are refusing promotions and how to fix it
Inc. magazine just confirmed what we've been warning about for years: only 30% of employees want leadership roles anymore. Your best people are watching fellow employees get promoted and struggle - then deciding "I don't want that job." Here's why this is happening, what it's costing you, and how to fix it before your competitors do.
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When Your Team Doesn't Trust Management
Posted by Kevin Burns on September 11, 2025
trained supervisors can still build trust when employees don't trust the company
Your supervisors are stuck between past company decisions and team members who distrust management. This distrust is showing up in your safety numbers, productivity metrics, and turnover rates. But trained supervisors know how to build individual trust even when company trust has been damaged. They use specific relationship skills to separate their leadership from past leadership and prove through actions that they're different.
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How the Best Supervisors Read Their Teams and Build Individual Connections
Posted by Kevin Burns on August 13, 2025
adapt your leadership style to build strong team connections
Generic supervision creates generic results. The supervisors who build the strongest teams understand that each person is motivated differently and adapt their approach accordingly. This isn't about playing favorites - it's about being smart enough to speak each person's language and connect with what drives them to perform at their best.
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The Daily Actions That Build Supervisor Relationships
Posted by Kevin Burns on September 11, 2025
small daily relationship investments create massive long term returns
You understand that relationships drive results, but how do you actually build them when you're juggling deadlines and putting out fires? The answer isn't spending more time - it's taking different actions during the time you already spend with your team. These five simple daily practices create the trust, respect, and loyalty that transform team performance.
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Operational Problems Aren't System Failures, They're Relationship Failures!
Posted by Kevin Burns on September 11, 2025
every operational, safety, and retention metric flows through one relationship the one between employee and their supervisor
When your safety numbers are bad, you blame the safety system. When productivity drops, you blame the equipment. When good people quit, you blame the job market. But you're looking in the wrong place. Here's the truth: your operational, safety, and retention problems aren't systems problems. They're relationship problems. And the person who creates or destroys those relationships is your supervisor.
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