Episodes

  • Mary Fehr: The Layoff We Didn’t Do

    Mary Fehr: The Layoff We Didn’t Do
    Aug 31 2026
    When tariffs hit and work dried up, Mary Fehr had a spreadsheet answer and a small-town answer. She took the small-town one. Choosing their workers over the spreadsheet. Mary is President of Unifab, a 200-person custom metal fabricator in Leamington, Ontario, founded by her father, Abe, 35 years ago. Before she joined in […]
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    28 mins
  • An HR Director’s 3-Word Leadership Mantra | Seanna Pickard

    An HR Director’s 3-Word Leadership Mantra | Seanna Pickard
    Aug 17 2026
    Seanna Pickard, HR Director at the Federal Bridge Corporation, breaks down the 3-word mantra she uses to make every decision: fair, equitable, transparent.
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    32 mins
  • Umesh Vendargon: Structure Gets You By. Culture Gets You Ahead.

    Umesh Vendargon: Structure Gets You By. Culture Gets You Ahead.
    Aug 3 2026
    Structure will get a team to its KPIs, but it doesn’t always get them past them. In this episode of Accelerating Operational Performance, host Greg Schinkel talks with Umesh Vendargon, COO of Core Linen Services, about the gap between management and leadership. Umesh traces his own path from the operations floor through a […]
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    32 mins
  • BONUS: Greg on the Chemical Engineering Podcast — Career Paths & Leadership Skills for Engineers

    BONUS: Greg on the Chemical Engineering Podcast — Career Paths & Leadership Skills for Engineers
    Jul 28 2026
    On this bonus episode, we're sharing a conversation from the Chemical Engineering podcast. Senior editor Scott Jenkins speaks with Greg Schinkel, CEO here at Unique Training & Development and host of the Accelerating Operational Performance podcast. The conversation focuses on career paths open to engineers and offers thoughts on what engineers and companies can do to develop leadership skills for their teams. This episode originally aired on the Chemical Engineering podcast.
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    32 mins
  • Mimi Brown: How to Build Confidence as a Leader

    Mimi Brown: How to Build Confidence as a Leader
    Jul 20 2026
    What does it actually take to build confidence as a leader? Communication expert and keynote speaker Mimi Brown joins Greg Schinkel to break down her “Own Your Swag” framework and her new book, Lead at Full Volume: The 10 Beats to Amplify Your Confidence, Influence and Presence. Mimi shares the moment a boss […]
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    29 mins
  • 5 Mistakes New Plant Managers Make in Their First Year

    5 Mistakes New Plant Managers Make in Their First Year
    Jul 6 2026
    Most plant managers pick up one or two of these five patterns in their first year — not because they’re bad leaders, but because nobody warned them. In this special edition of Accelerating Operational Performance, Greg walks through five common mistakes first-year plant managers make, from thinking day-to-day instead of long-term to confusing […]
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    11 mins
  • What 49 Interviews Taught Us About Leading People

    What 49 Interviews Taught Us About Leading People
    Jun 22 2026
    After 49 interviews with senior leaders, operators, engineers, and executives — including a former London, Ontario mayor — Greg pulls back the curtain on the three themes that keep surfacing no matter who’s in the chair. What do success and struggle actually have in common across industries, roles, and experience levels? Spoiler: it’s […]
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    16 mins
  • B2B Sales Strategy for Manufacturing Leaders: Stop Being a Commodity

    B2B Sales Strategy for Manufacturing Leaders: Stop Being a Commodity
    Jun 8 2026
    If you’re an operations leader with any responsibility for growth, sales isn’t someone else’s problem — it’s yours. In this episode of Accelerating Operational Performance, Greg Schinkel sits down in-studio with sales strategist, speaker, and author Shawn Casemore to tackle the sales challenges that manufacturing and operations leaders face every day — whether […]
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    32 mins