Kevin Burns Blog

Your Safety Culture Lives or Dies in the First 90 Days

Posted by Kevin Burns on October 24, 2025

safety culture success is determined in the first 90 days

Your new employees will either embrace or reject your safety culture within their first 90 days. Senior management can set policies and launch initiatives, but they can't create safety culture at the frontline level. New team members are learning something deeper through daily interactions: whether their supervisor genuinely cares about their well-being. The relationship built in those first 90 days determines everything about how that employee approaches safety for their entire time with your company.

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.

The Early Warning Signs Your Supervisors Are Losing Their Teams

Posted by Kevin Burns on September 26, 2025

spot the early warning signs of supervisors losing their teams

Your supervisors might be losing their teams right now, and you'd never know it. The breakdown doesn't happen with dramatic confrontations - it happens gradually through subtle changes in conversations, engagement, and team dynamics. By the time people openly resist or complain, the damage is done. Learn to recognize the early warning signs of relationship deterioration and how to coach your supervisors to fix small problems before they become major trust issues.

Why Your Team Members Don't Respect Their Supervisor

Posted by Kevin Burns on September 15, 2025

respect for supervisors shows up in every metric quality, safety, productivity and retention

Your team follows orders and gets work done, but something's missing - genuine respect for their supervisor. They comply with requirements but don't buy into the mission. They do exactly what's asked and nothing more. This compliance without respect is costing you the discretionary effort that drives exceptional performance. Learn why respect erodes and how trained supervisors rebuild it through daily relationship actions.

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.

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.

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.

Your Safety Department Is Wasting Money Training the Wrong People

Posted by Kevin Burns on July 4, 2025

Your safety programs are well-designed, but they're missing crucial advocates. While most training budgets focus on safety professionals and managers, the real leverage point is developing the one person who either champions or undermines every initiative you launch. It's time to create safety allies where culture is actually made.

Your Supervisors Are Costing You Millions (And You Don't Even Know It)

Posted by Kevin Burns on June 20, 2025

companies bleed millions yearly from an expense they don't even track

Most industrial companies think their biggest expenses are equipment, materials, and labor costs. They're wrong. There's a hidden expense bleeding millions from their operations every single year—one that never appears on financial statements and rarely gets discussed in board meetings. This silent profit killer is operating right under management's nose, creating chaos in productivity, safety, and morale. The companies that have identified and eliminated this hidden cost are dominating their markets while their competitors struggle to understand why they can't keep up.

You Need An Enemy

Posted by Kevin Burns on June 6, 2025

Every senior manager knows the pain: you promote your best technical worker to supervisor, then watch helplessly as good employees underperform, then eventually quit, because your new supervisor doesn't know how to lead. The trial-and-error approach to supervisor development isn't just inefficient—it's destroying your teams and killing your safety culture. It's time to identify your real enemy and fight back with proven leadership development that works from day one.

Leadership for frontline industrial supervisors.