Building Resilience: Timeless Tips from Experienced Professionals - Episode 2: Wayne B

Transcript produced using Rev AI. Intro and outro music produced with Suno AI.

 

Bethany:

Alright. Welcome everybody to Building Resilience Timeless Tips from experienced Professionals. Just as a recap, here's how this works. This is a podcast where I, Bethany Rankin, interview seasoned professionals who have successfully navigated the business world or have recently retired on their tips for resiliency in the workplace for young professionals. We have four segments. The first is career trajectory where we'll hear a bit about the industry they were in, how they worked their way up to their last or current position, and the challenges they faced. The second segment is defining resilience. We'll hear about their definition of resilience and how it's changed over the years and pivotal moments that help define how they view and practice resilience. Third segment is tangible and timeless tips. We'll hear their main tips for young professionals and building resilience. And fourth is your favourite piece of advice where we'll hear their favourite piece of advice they've received and how it's helped shape their current outlook on resilience in the workplace. And with that, let's begin.

 

All right, and welcome everybody to the second episode of Building Resilience. Today on the podcast we have Wayne B - Wayne, thank you so much for joining us.

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Wayne:

I'm happy to be here, Bethany.

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Bethany:

Thank you. So let's get right into it with segment number one. So career trajectory. So Wayne, can you tell us a little bit about your career trajectory and the industry or industries you're in?

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Wayne:

Sure. Well, I studied mechanical engineering and I've developed my career entirely within the manufacturing industry, mainly metals manufacturing. First off, I spent several years in plant engineering and manufacturing engineering, which involved the maintenance of plant and equipment and optimizing manufacturing processes. And then eventually I moved to project management and worked on implementing a lot of capital investment projects for production lines and did my MBA along the way. Eventually, I took on an engineering management role and developed a whole team that provided design services for customers. And this involved the design of components for vehicles and tooling and equipment to manufacture them. And then after about 20 years, the company that I was working for at the time was acquired and there was a lot of reorganization that happened at the time, and that effectively caused us to exit that business area. I took on a completely new role in product development and worked with what became a global R&D organization to develop metallurgical projects at different plants within our group.

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Bethany:

Great. So can you tell us a little bit about your last or most senior level role?

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Wayne:

Well, my most recent role is a chief technology officer for my company. And my main responsibility there is to ensure that the company develops our technical capability to maintain and optimise manufacturing processes and to develop our product range to meet market needs.

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Bethany:

Great. So what lessons did you learn from your job transitions or shift in your career?

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Wayne:

Well, I've only ever resigned from one job in my life to go work for another company, but I've worked for seven companies, and that's due to all of the corporate acquisitions and reorganization has gone on. But it turns out that while you might think that's disruptive, in fact it gives a lot of opportunity for growth and for changes in your career. So I think one lesson is just to be ready and willing to take advantage of change and be prepared.

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Bethany:

Right. Great. And what challenges did you encounter as you advanced in your career, and how did you overcome them?

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Wayne:

Okay. Well, I'll have to think back for that one. I would say the biggest challenge I faced was when my company was reorganized around the time of the financial crisis. That was in 2008. And at that time we were acquired by a much larger company and we chose to exit or sell much of the business where that I had been working in. And that had developed a lot of things over the past 15 years. So that was very difficult to stop all those projects, to say goodbye to colleagues and so on. And I had to change to working within a much larger corporation. But the way to overcome that is to, I think that was your question. How do you overcome them?

 

Bethany:

Yeah

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Wayne:

Think the way to overcome it is the first thing you accept that it's a reality, right? Recognize that it's a reality and that with every change comes opportunity and you just have to be willing to learn new skills and new ways of working.

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Bethany:

When one door closes, another door opens

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Wayne:

There's usually an opportunity.

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Bethany:

Yeah, that's great. And with that, we will move into segment two, defining resilience. All right. Well moving into segment two now, defining resilience, your definition of resilience now and throughout the years. So number one, how do you define resilience at work?

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Wayne:

I would say resilience is the ability to consistently deliver value, your value as an employee regardless of the changes in the environment or the business.

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Bethany:

Great. And how would you say your definition of resilience has changed from the beginning of your career to now?

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Wayne:

So at the beginning of my career, I worked for a company with maybe 200 people. Now I work for a company that has 10 times that, and within an organization that's a hundred times that. So early in my career, I think I saw resilience as overcoming maybe specific personalities or specific local issues, whereas when you're in a larger organization, there's many, many other factors like the bureaucracy and organizational change, and that demands resilience if you're going to thrive in that environment because the pressures are much different.

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Bethany:

For sure. And can you describe a key milestone or milestones in your career that contributed to your definition of resilience?

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Wayne:

Probably the biggest, I think I already mentioned that there was a company reorganization a few years ago that required me to take on a new role in product development. And I think that was probably the biggest milestone that contributed to the way I think about resilience because that position put me in a position of a lot of global travel, a lot of new settings where I had to establish new relationships, understand new context, new cultures, new priorities, and also present projects at a much more senior executive level. And all of this required resilience in a new way.

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Bethany:

One thing that came up in my last interview was there are some times these key milestones that occur that help build your definition of resilience, but it can also just be a small incremental or gradual buildup, I guess throughout the years too, with different shifts that you were talking about with job changes or other little things that might occur. They all contribute to how you view resilience or practice resilience.

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Wayne:

Yeah, because your job, I mentioned a particular milestone, but you're right, your job evolves and it's almost like a frog boiling in water. You don't realize how much change you went through to you sit and look back at it. I mean, one thing that has been very different for me in more recent years is having to accomplish a lot through relationships with people that don't directly report to me.

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Wayne:

Because early in my career, I had, let's say 40 people reporting to me. And when I asked for something, it was done. And getting things done that way is a lot different than having to collaborate with a lot of different people in a lot of different places and communicate a shared goal and so on. So that requires a different set of skills.

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Bethany:

And even for me, in my job now or in previous roles that I've had, sometimes when a certain problem comes up at work or whatever it might be, the way my mentors have framed in the past is like, these are all good learning opportunities. And the way I see it is it's also a way of building up your resilience too, getting through those difficult patches. So interesting.

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Wayne:

So you had mentors then, or you have?

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Bethany:

Mentors? I would describe my current bosses as mentors for me. Yeah.

 

Wayne:

That's nice.

 

Bethany:

That's what I would say. And I guess we'll talk about that a little bit later, but moving on, in what ways did setbacks or failures redirect your career path?

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Wayne:

Well, I guess I mentioned one right where I had to take on a different role. And I think when you have to form learn to work with people in different sites, that really changes the way that you work. Because it's one thing to go to an office, and all of this is pre covid, pre remote work, but if you go to a certain office and everyone you interact with is in the same building, it's much different than having to form relationships outside of the organization and outside of the immediate organization you're located in. It's like anything, right? When you're forced to do something, you learn something new and that develops your resilience.

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Bethany:

For sure. I know for me, when I was doing my master's for example, there was one practicum opportunity that came up that I really, really wanted, but then I didn't get it. And I remember being super bummed out about it at the time, but actually it led to a certain practicum opportunity that led into a job afterwards. So while I viewed that as a setback at the time, later on, it actually helped me out not having that job that I had originally wanted.

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Wayne:

But if you didn't have that opportunity to develop resilience, if you just got everything you always hoped for. Then you probably wouldn't be as strong.

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Bethany:

This is true. Yeah. So coming back to that mentorship piece, we kind of touched on, how did mentorship or guidance shape your career path and your definition of resilience?

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Wayne:

So I've never in, now this is 40 years now, I've never had a mentor. Never had someone I would call a mentor, but obviously guidance from different people that have been influential, but all of it's sort of informal. I'd say the thing that comes to mind is the emphasis on continual learning. Don't be, don't stay in one place. Always be interested in expanding your knowledge and developing your skill sets so that you can meet whatever challenge comes.

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Bethany:

And maybe on the flip side of that, I know you've probably managed many people in your time and maybe been a mentor. How would you say you cultivate that or help build resilience in your team or in the workplace?

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Wayne:

A couple things come to mind. One way would be to set expectations early on as to what value will be delivered by the team. And this could be in the form of, okay, defining here's the timeline that I need to make that deliverable, or here's the scope of what I can provide, or the service level that the team can generate that will help with the team to have resiliency because there's not an over expectation on what we've delivered. Another way would be to build within the team skills redundancy so that if there's a surge in workload, there's someone that can come alongside and help the other person. So that's something that's very important too.

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Bethany:

Great. Yeah. So now we'll move into segment three, tangible and timeless tips, your tips for young professionals. Perfect. So moving on to our next segment, tangible and timeless tips, your tips for young professionals. So what strategies do you or did you use to maintain a positive mindset during difficult times at work?

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Wayne:

Well, first of all, remember that most difficulties are temporary. Right? Right. Very seldom is there difficulty that lasts forever, and most of them bring opportunity for learning. And they say, if a poison doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger.

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Bethany:

Right? Yeah. One thing that I've learned, at least in my current role is there's always a solution. It looks differently depending on the situation, but there's always a solution that you can come together and define as a team. I think good bosses help cultivate a positive mindset or resiliency within the team, and they work through problems together and help find a solution. So then what advice would you give to young professionals in terms of building their resilience and maintaining a positive mindset?

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Wayne:

Well take on volunteer and take on stretch assignments. I mean, that's a good way to test yourself, to develop skills, and also to see what you like and don't like. If you want to do something full time, I mean, that will be helpful. Another thing would be to develop breadth of exposure. Some people I see they kind of just stay, maybe they work in finance and they never go outside of finance, they just stay there. I mean, I like to encourage people to develop some breadth of exposure, whether it be contacts inside or outside your organization just to give you new perspectives. I mean, that's helpful learning. We talked about that. Always be learning and developing skills. Skills. And I think the other thing would be set realistic expectations for yourself and others. Don't be, I mean, do what you're competent to do. Right? Don't over commit.

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Bethany:

No, that's really interesting. You mentioned trying things that are kind of outside of your current role or trying new things, I guess, and practicing resilience so that you can learn a new skillset, but also test your limits and grow in that way.

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Wayne:

That's important because I've seen where I've seen where people will take on a stretch assignment in a limited scope, and that can be good to develop you, but I've also seen where someone says, I can do that, or I will accept to do that, but then it's too much. So by a stretch assignment, I mean something that shortened duration that exposes you to a different discipline and has a development purpose to it. And I think that's a really good development tool that our organization uses.

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Bethany:

Yeah, know your limit, play within it!

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Wayne:

But don't be afraid to stretch it, right?

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Bethany:

Yeah, exactly. Alright, so or do you employ any daily habits that help build or maintain your resilience?

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Wayne:

My resilience…. Well, so this is just for me, but what I would say, and maybe it'll help others I don't know, but have a systematic way of organizing your deliverables and any information that's related to it. I mean, just having your work organized, that in of itself reduces stress. Even putting something on a list automatically reduces stress. So that'll build resilience. I think the other thing too that I found is that if you have a project, and a lot of my work has been projects, always start the project as early as possible. And always do the hard thing first. Because what that does is that allows you to discover what the difficult will be and then you can plan resources accordingly and so on.

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Bethany:

Yeah, that's great. I know for me, this fiscal for my team has been a lot busier our last fiscal. And one thing that I like to do is, like you said, have a list of what I need to get done. I also have a little whiteboard that I use too. And also just regular check-ins with my manager too to make sure that I'm on track, et cetera.

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Wayne:

And the other thing too is sometimes meetings aren't always, if a meeting is structured and regular, then you can have minutes. You can have open issues lists and all that. But if meetings are more ad hoc and you don't really know when the subject comes up, if you just have a notes file and it's organized by topic, then I just put whatever it is in there and I'm the smartest guy in the room because I know what was said in the previous discussion. So organizing your information is really key to just being on top of things. And if you're on top of things, you're more resilient.

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Bethany:

Great. So then what advice would you give to young professionals about bouncing back from failure or missed opportunities?

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Wayne:

Well, suck it up in the long run. Probably won't matter. I mean, it really doesn't. Most missed opportunities don't matter in the long run. I mean, I suppose there are some, right? But usually it doesn't matter in the long run and perseverance pays off. I mean, just consider what you've learned to be an experience, and be open to the assessment of others. I mean, everybody faces some kind of failure or missed opportunity. Just I would say just learn from it and move on because there's lots of other opportunities out there.

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Bethany:

Yeah. One thing that I've been saying lately is you got to pivot. So whenever something doesn't work out the way I want it to or whatever it might be, like pivot, there's going to be something else that comes up. There's another way of looking at it or something else you can do.

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Wayne:

That's right.

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Bethany:

Yeah. Great. So then burnout is a very hot topic these days. How can young professionals balance ambition and resilience to avoid burnout?

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Wayne:

Okay. Well, burnout might be new to a young professional because they're young, but burnout's nothing new. I mean, life always has had and always will have stress, right? But you can avoid it becoming excessive if you first of all, set expectations early on as to what's going to be feasible with the resources you have, right? An organization is a big Goliath and you may only have certain resources. So set expectations as what you can deliver. And have a work plan, right? Don't approach things ad hoc. I mean, take the time to make a work plan as to how work will be implemented or projects will be accomplished, collaborate with others, have regular follow up. I mean, some people work on an island. I mean, that's not the way to do it, right? Always have collaboration, regular team meetings, regular follow up to keep things moving. And another thing that I see in the present workplace that's important is be physically present. Don't rely on virtual connections. I mean that that's a convenience, but it will make you much more effective if you are in person and you'll also feel less isolated, I think.

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Bethany:

Yeah, something that we do. We are fairly, we work remotely the majority of the time, but we also try and have semi-regular meetings in the office, or sometimes some of the senior executives will have lunches that we all go to so we can connect as a team. Another thing that I've been doing just in terms of building my networks and the people that I get to chat with, et cetera, is just looking for different networking opportunities in the city. I joined a networking group for women, et cetera. So getting to meet different people in person that way, because I'm remote so much. But yeah, great tips there. So then what tips would you give young professionals in terms of cultivating or fostering resilience within their teams?

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Wayne:

Okay. Well, the first thing that comes to mind is teams should be diverse. I mean, actually bring different skills and perspectives to work on the opportunity. That's important because if you just have everyone who thinks the same, you're not going to get the same quality of solution. The other thing on teams is to have really clear roles for each team member, bring clarity to the roles, and the more a team member has identity with their deliverable, their required contribution, then the more motivated they're going to be to deliver their part. So the clarity for some people want to be in the team, but they don't want to own anything, well then you're not in the team. Get off, make it clear. And I already mentioned have redundant skills amongst team members so that if somebody needs a break, they could take it. And I also mentioned don't be virtual only physical presence builds accountability.

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Bethany:

Great. So then we talk about resilience, but I think another important part of maintaining your mental health is also knowing when to walk away from a toxic environment or a job that isn't right for you. So what would you say are some things to consider if someone is contemplating either sticking it out or finding another job?

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Wayne:

Well, I've seen very few cases where it was critical to mental health to walk away from a job or an assignment. Usually it's better to use the difficulty as a way to learn and build your experience. I mean, that said, there's no place for toxicity. I don't think that's ever acceptable, but usually where I've seen it, it's better to confront the behaviour than to run away from it. If you do decide to change jobs, I think what's really important is to make sure that it's part of a coherent career path that you can articulate well in a CV so that you're not running from something, you're running to something.

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Bethany:

And then what are your tips for young professionals on seeking support from their bosses when needed?

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Wayne:

I once had a boss maybe twice in my life where I wouldn't talk to him for, it seemed like weeks or months, he would just leave me to do my work. And I had my team and we were good. I don't think that's good. I think you should always have regular meetings with your manager, be it weekly, monthly, quarterly. And that should be in addition to the annual goal setting and performance appraisals. I certainly now have biweekly informal meetings with my direct reports as well as with my boss. And I think that's really important on top of formal meetings, to have informal exchanges on a regular basis, just so you have the opportunity to communicate emerging issues and keep the communication open. Your boss should never be surprised by anything.

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Bethany:

Interesting. Yeah. I know for me right now, I have a very supportive boss who I meet with weekly, and we chat about different things and challenges and we come up with a solution together. And then for me, with my students, when I do have them at work, I try and have meetings probably twice a week to check in with them to make sure they're supported. And I totally agree. I think your boss should be somebody that you can bring things up to and work things through with.

 

And with that, we'll move into segment four, your favourite piece of advice. So then our final segment, segment four, your favourite piece of advice. So can you share your favourite piece of advice you've received in the workplace and how it shaped your outlook on resilience?

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Wayne:

Well build your competence. Always be learning something new. I mean, this might be in the form of education or courses or new work experience. It might be temporary assignments, it might be reading, developing new contacts, whatever the most resilient people are that way, because they've seen and experienced a lot of things. So it comes down to always be developing yourself.

 

Bethany:

Awesome. Yeah, I think it's always important to look for those opportunities, whether it's networking opportunities or conferences or classes, like you said, different ways to grow. So pushing yourself in that way. Great. Well, thank you so much, Wayne, for joining us today. I appreciated you taking the time to be on the podcast.

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Wayne:

It's been my pleasure.

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Bethany:

So thank you everybody for listening. And tune in next time for our next episode of Building Resilience.

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Sources Used: 

“Gentle pop song for podcast, intro and outro music” prompt. Suno AI, 4 Oct 2024. Version V4, https://suno.com/.

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“Red headed woman interviewing man with moustache for podcast” CANVA AI. 2024 version. 14 October 2024. https://www.canva.com/

 

Rev AI. 2024 version. 24 November 2024. https://www.rev.com/services/ai-transcription