Manufacturing Excellence - Inspire, Lead, and Succeed with HOPE!

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

~ Oscar Wilde

I have seen so many discouraged, disgruntled, and frustrated people over the past year and a half that I really started to ask myself: "What's missing the most?"

I believe it's the hope of a better tomorrow.

All of us noticed an immense lack of leadership during these difficult times. Anyone can lead when things are going well but when we stumbled into this economic downturn, many managers did not know how to deal with this new and unknown situation. For many of them it was unknown and never experienced territory.

So what does hope have to do with it?

If you are a realist or maybe a pessimist, it may be very difficult for you to grasp this concept because hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to certain events in one's life. Hope is the assured expectation that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

Do you think it's important for a leader to be able to communicate hope or is this something that won't bring any real value in the business world? 

If the creation of hope is only a lie, what about all the visionary leaders of the past like Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi and so many others, who all had the ability to encourage their followers to believe in a better tomorrow?

Can it be that many people have lost the ability of painting a better picture?

Is it because we can't or is it because we don't want to?

Is it because we can't see what's possible or is it because we have lost the ability to see what's possible?

Just imagine....

What would it be like if you and I could change the bad image manufacturing has at the moment?

What would it be like to feel pride when our kids choose to work in manufacturing?

What would it be like to have North American labels on our products?

What would it be like to work in an environment of high motivation and morale?

What would it be like to be encouraged to participate in the company's success?

What would it be like to work for the same goal and embrace our differences?

What would it be like to work in an environment of employee excellence where people strive to be their best?

Isn't it all perception? Making manufacturing fun and exciting is in our hands. We have to live the dream. 

Who is to say that we can't encourage hope and make it happen?

Does hope mean something or does it mean nothing?

I'll leave it up to you to decide.