Career Growth in Skilled Trades with Tom Volmert

Great Leaders Don't Give Orders. They Build Confidence. In a thermal power plant, machines don't fail first—communication does. A Shift Engineer's real responsibility is not just operating boilers, turbines, or generators. It is creating a team where every technician, operator, and engineer feels confident to speak up before a small issue becomes a major breakdown. Research in high-risk industries such as power plants, aviation, and healthcare consistently shows that teams with psychological safety report more hazards, solve problems faster, and experience fewer serious incidents. Every shift, I try to remember these simple leadership principles: ✅ Listen before giving instructions. ✅ Appreciate good work immediately. ✅ Correct mistakes privately, not publicly. ✅ Encourage questions without fear. ✅ Lead by example during difficult situations. People don't give their best because they are forced. They give their best because they are respected. A reliable power plant is built not only by strong equipment—but by a strong team. "Leadership is measured not by the authority you have, but by the confidence your team gains because of you." What leadership habit has made the biggest difference in your team? #Leadership #ThermalPowerPlant #PowerPlant #ShiftEngineer #Operations #Maintenance #Teamwork #SafetyCulture #Engineering #ContinuousImprovement #IndustrialSafety #LearningEveryDay

Managing 30+ technicians in 40°C heat taught me more about leadership than any course ever could. Here’s what the desert actually teaches you: 1. Clarity saves lives. When it’s 40 degrees and everyone is exhausted, there’s no room for vague instructions. You say exactly what needs to happen, who does it, and when. Ambiguity costs time. On a solar site, time costs money and mistakes cost safety. 2. Energy is contagious — in both directions. If you walk onto site frustrated, the whole team feels it within minutes. I learned to control my own state before I could manage anyone else’s. Your mood is the weather on site. 3. The best leaders solve problems before they become emergencies. In extreme heat, small issues escalate fast. A misaligned structure at 7am becomes a full team stoppage by noon. I learned to read the site before the site reads me. 4. Respect is built in the details. Remembering a technician’s name. Noticing when someone is struggling before they say it. Making sure water breaks actually happen. The small things are what separate a team that follows you from a team that trusts you. 5. Results come from people, not pressure. You can’t push 30 people harder than the heat already is. What you can do is remove every obstacle between them and the work. That’s the real job of a leader. 130MW+ later — these are the lessons that stayed with me. What’s the hardest leadership lesson your environment taught you? #Leadership #SolarEnergy #Photovoltaic #Construction #RenewableEnergy #TeamManagement #UtilityScaleSolar

What can we build in two years? Over the past two years at Hardline Engineering, I've had the privilege of helping grow our utility engineering business while working alongside a great team of leaders, engineers, designers, project managers, and technical specialists.   I was tasked with doing what I do, grow a team in the electrical utility industry. Distribution. Substations. Industrial.   Evolve our Distribution services was one of the tasks and what we did was grow from a team of four professionals to more than twenty today. However, the achievement isn't the headcount. It's the strategic development of a team with the technical expertise, leadership capacity, and the right culture needed to support the ever changing needs of the utility industry.   Building capability, developing future leaders, and earning the trust of our clients has always been far more important to me than just simply growing numbers.   After nearly 30 years in the electrical industry, one principle has remained constant for me: success isn't measured by the projects we complete or the titles we hold. It's measured by whether we leave an organization stronger, more capable, and better positioned for the future than when we arrived.   I'm grateful to our executive leadership, technical leaders, colleagues, clients, and industry partners for the trust, collaboration, and opportunities over the past two years. I'm looking forward to the next two years and beyond, as we continue expanding our capabilities, developing exceptional people, strengthening client relationships, and building for the long run.   After all, the best organizations don't just deliver great projects, they build great people, enduring capabilities, and lasting relationships.   #Leadership #EngineeringManagement #UtilityEngineering #BusinessDevelopment #PowerSystems #TeamDevelopment #BuildingCapability #HardlineEngineering Its Not A Matter If you Succeed, It's a Matter of When - you want to.

I learned the best maintenance lessons from technicians Here is what I learned: Planning is everything. Technicians thrive on consistency. Sudden, unpredictable jobs kill their momentum and motivation faster than any breakdown. Give them the freedom to decide. They love responsibility—as long as they feel safe taking it. A supervisor close by to back their calls makes them work twice as fast. Respect their time. Break times and days off are sacred. Treat them as negotiable, and you'll watch their productivity disappear. Know your stuff. Technicians respect a boss who actually understands the technical difficulties. It earns their trust and makes planning better. Engineers vs. Technicians is a fake rivalry. The best teams are built on mutual respect. #maintenance #Engineering #Leadership

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 #engineering 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞. The decision to deploy, to merge, to commit. Or to wait, ask the question nobody else asked, and earn the right to be sure. Junior engineers race to press Enter. Senior engineers earn the right to not press it until they are sure. That difference is invisible from the outside and worth millions inside production systems. In any #leadership role, the same pattern repeats. The people who slow down before high stakes calls outperform the ones who move fast. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬?

Your HVAC company doesn't become difficult to scale because of the workload. It becomes difficult to scale because every answer still comes from the owner. When technicians can't make decisions in the field... When dispatch waits for your approval... When customers insist on speaking only with you... Your business isn't growing. It's becoming more dependent. That's the Founder's Trap. Many HVAC owners think they need more technicians or office staff. But without a delegation system, every new hire simply creates more questions for the founder. At Bottleneck, we help HVAC companies install a Delegation Department through Delegation Intelligence. Using our Name It, Frame It, Claim It framework, responsibilities become clear, accountability becomes measurable, and your team gains the confidence to solve problems without waiting for permission. Jaime Jay discovered that real growth happens when founders stop managing every task and start designing systems that empower others to lead. The goal isn't to be the hardest-working person in your company. The goal is to build a company that works, even when you're not involved in every decision. #HVAC #HVACBusiness #HeatingAndCooling #HVACContractor #HomeServices #FounderTrap #FoundersFreedom #DelegationIntelligence #BusinessSystems #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #OperationsManagement #AIFluentTeams #DistantAssistant #Bottleneck #SmallBusiness

One of the biggest challenges facing the electrical construction industry isn't technology, materials, or project funding. It's people. Across the industry, experienced electricians, foremen, and construction leaders are retiring faster than they can be replaced. At the same time, projects are becoming more complex, schedules are becoming more aggressive, and expectations around quality and safety continue to rise. The solution isn't simply hiring more people. It's investing in training, mentorship, and creating career paths that allow new workers to develop into future leaders. Every experienced electrician remembers someone who took the time to teach them, answer questions, and help them grow. We need more of that. The future of our industry depends on the next generation of tradespeople, and it's our responsibility to give them the tools and opportunities to succeed. What are you seeing in your organization? Are we doing enough to develop the next generation of electrical professionals? #ElectricalConstruction #ConstructionManagement #SkilledTrades #WorkforceDevelopment #Leadership #Electricians #IndustrialConstruction

🔧 Why Promoting Your Best Technician Doesn't Always Work One of the most common mistakes in the heavy equipment industry is assuming your best technician will automatically become your best Service Manager. Technical skills and leadership skills are not the same thing. A great technician excels at: ✔️ Diagnosing problems ✔️ Repairing equipment ✔️ Working independently ✔️ Solving technical challenges A great Service Manager must excel at: 👥 Leading people 📈 Managing performance 🤝 Resolving conflict 📞 Communicating with customers 💰 Managing budgets and profitability 🎯 Coaching and developing teams Unfortunately, many companies promote top technicians into leadership roles without providing the training and support needed to succeed. The result? ❌ A struggling manager ❌ A frustrated team ❌ Reduced productivity ❌ And the loss of a great technician on the shop floor The best organizations recognize that leadership is a skill set that must be developed—not assumed. Before promoting your next top technician, ask yourself: Do they want to lead people? Or do they simply want to continue being great at what they do? At Talon Recruiting, we've seen firsthand how the right leadership hire can transform an entire service department. Strong leaders build strong teams. What qualities do you believe make a great Service Manager? 👇 Share your thoughts below. #TalonRecruiting #Leadership #ServiceManager #HeavyEquipment #ConstructionIndustry #EquipmentDealership #EquipmentRental #MiningIndustry #AgricultureIndustry #DieselTechnician #TechnicianLife #WorkforceDevelopment #SkilledTrades #Management #LeadershipDevelopment #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition

The most technically skilled person in the room is not always the most valuable one. I have watched brilliant engineers walk into a stressful situation, a system failure twenty minutes before doors open, a volunteer who broke something out of nervousness, a client panicking over a deadline, and solve the technical problem perfectly while completely missing the human one. They fix the cable. They never acknowledge the person holding it. Here is what I have learned after years in this industry. Competence without empathy creates a trail of people who got their problem solved and never want to work with you again. Competence with empathy creates the kind of loyalty that no service contract can buy. The fix is rarely complicated. Pause for three seconds. Acknowledge the stress someone is under before addressing the equipment. Ask how they are doing before asking what went wrong. None of this slows down the actual repair. It just changes how the person across from you feels while it happens. If you manage a team of technicians, operators, or volunteers, this is worth building into your culture on purpose. Technical training teaches people how to solve problems. It rarely teaches them how to notice the people they are solving problems for. The best teams I know do both. Scott Patterson | Outside Sales | VIP Production NW Office: 509-747-4804 | Cell: 509-867-9412 scottp@vipproductionnw.com VIPPRODUCTIONNW.COM #Leadership #AVIndustry #EmotionalIntelligence #FacilitiesManagement #TeamCulture #VIPProductionNW #InlandNorthwest

🚀 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸! It was great to welcome some previous clients back and continue building strong relationships. One thing that stood out was seeing new engineering managers listening to their engineers. When leaders value the knowledge and experience of their teams and make decisions that are best for both the business and the people, they're setting themselves up for long-term success. We also received some fantastic feedback from a client after an 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹-𝗼𝘂𝘁 at 𝟵:𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆. Within 10 minutes, we had an electrical maintenance engineer assigned and on the way to site to support the team. 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁. 👏 A huge credit to everyone involved for pulling together at short notice, supporting our client, and keeping the wheels turning. Teamwork, commitment, and quick action make all the difference. Here's to another successful week! 💪 #Engineering #Teamwork #Leadership #EmergencyResponse #ClientService #Quality #Recruitment