DLN understands that one of the biggest things that set us apart is our people! When we heard about MHI’s Industry Leaders Program, we enrolled two of our team members who have been attending the program since February. The program is led by Maria Leggett, MHI Director of Talent & Professional Development, who presented a fascinating talk at DLN last fall titled The Workplace of the Future & How to Create it Now.
The Program
The Industry Leaders Program is currently on it’s third cycle since its inception, and was created to help emerging and new leaders connect with industry peers and leaders, gain a broader perspective of the supply chain and material handling industry, and grow their own leadership skills and expertise.
The format is a blended, multi-week program that provides a learning and growth community to connect and network with peers while learning from experts and senior industry leaders, with MHI offering the course under the WERC (Warehouse Education and Research Council) division.
Travis Kempton’s Experience
Travis Kempton, DLN Service Manager, believes this is one of the biggest benefits.
“We were assigned mentors and I have really enjoyed getting together with mine. He has provided some really good insights and has been very open sharing his experiences.”
Travis will continue his connection with this program mentor beyond the course, as this relationship has already proven a valuable asset. Beyond these connections, Travis found a lot of value from the DISC personality exercise. DiSC® is a personal assessment tool used by more than one million people every year to help improve teamwork, communication, and productivity in the workplace.
CJ Anten’s Experience
CJ Anten, DLN Sr. Intralogistics Engineer, agrees. CJ shares that he has appreciated digging into understanding personality styles with the DISC session and how the best leaders tailor their communications with individuals.
“Historically managers used only their own style of communication and leadership, and expected teams to respond. In reality, everyone responds uniquely and needs to be led more personally, which is helpful to consider.”
CJ also appreciated business financials simulation the group went through to better understand some of the behind the scenes work done by controllers and accounting.
Continued Development
DLN plans to enroll more team members in upcoming cohorts.
Phil Schaafsma, DLN President, says “Taking advantage of opportunities to develop our team and add to their skills is paramount to the future of both DLN and the industry as a whole. We appreciate this program as another opportunity to provide that development.”