Book a call

Veteran-owned · 20 years leading as an Air Force Senior NCO

Your best worker became a supervisor. Now make them a leader.

I train your frontline supervisors to set the standard on their shift and hold it, so problems get handled on the floor instead of landing on your desk.

Book a 20-minute call or send a message

Serving St. Louis and the Metro East

Sound familiar?

You promoted a good worker. You didn't get a supervisor.

  • Second shift still calls you.

    When something goes wrong after you leave, your phone rings. The supervisor on duty isn't making the call.

  • Good people walk out.

    You've watched a solid operator quit, and you know it wasn't the work. It was the person running their shift.

  • The supervisor is still doing the work.

    When the line falls behind, they jump on the machine, because that's what they're good at. Meanwhile, nobody is leading the crew.

None of this means you promoted the wrong person. It means nobody taught them the new job.

How it works

Three steps. No guesswork.

  1. Assess

    I watch your supervisors on the job and interview them one-on-one. Then I measure each one against six common failure points:

    • Set up to fail Promoted over their old peers with no support. I record this as context, not a grade. It's on the company, not the supervisor. Context, not graded
    • Still a doerThey haven't made the move from doing the work to running it.
    • Hoarding workThey do it themselves instead of handing it off.
    • Avoiding hard conversationsProblems get ignored instead of addressed.
    • MicromanagingThey won't let the crew do the job.
    • Too much on their plateManagement tasks are the first thing to drop.

  2. Debrief

    You get a clear grade and plain-language findings for each supervisor: what they do well, where they fall short, and what to fix first.

  3. Coach

    Hands-on coaching for a minimum of 90 days to close the gaps the assessment found. Coaching is remote, or on site if you're in the St. Louis metro. The goal is a supervisor who handles problems so you don't have to.

Book a 20-minute call

About

Kyle Schmidt, Founder

I spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force leading weather forecasting operations, round-the-clock work where the job didn't stop at shift change. I started out leading teams of three to five. By the end, I was responsible for an organization of more than 100 people.

The lesson that stuck with me is that a shift is only as good as the person running it, and that person has to be taught, not just promoted. Now I help manufacturers build supervisors who set the standard and hold it.

Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn

Contact

Let's talk about your supervisors.

Pick a time for a 20-minute call. Tell me what's going on with your supervisors, and I'll tell you straight whether I can help.

The scheduler is loading. If it doesn't appear, book on Calendly.

Rather send a message?

All fields are required except phone.

I'll only use this to reply to you.

Reach me directly

Email
kyle@backboneleadershipgroup.com

Serving St. Louis and the Metro East