Episode 9
Meet Heather Klish, President Dura Automotive
Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book
(Recorded when Heather was Global Vice President Logistics & Lean Manufacturing – Delphi)
Meet Heather Klish, Heather is the daughter of a GM tool & die maker on a mission to positively impact American manufacturing and she’s rocking it.
Tune in to hear how she prioritizes family, faith, career, and fitness and how her leadership compass and moral compass guide her leadership philosophy.
In this episode, you can expect to hear how Heather transformed herself from an introverted engineer to a global leader who clearly recognizes “It’s a people business”
We explore how the power of visualization and positive affirmation early on in her career impacted her life. How she galvanizes people around a vision and drives accountability into the details yet staying true to her firm belief in empowerment and fully supporting her team. We go deep into Trust, the speed of trust and the hard-line impact on a business. All of this and more…..
There are valuable insights to share as we pursue our quest to find GRAVITAS.
03:27 Heather’s story
07:27 Why did you pick manufacturing?
08:57 Leadership style
12:11 The power of negative knowledge
13:11 Evolving from that introverted engineer
15:06 Mentors and the power of visualization
17:05 Galvanizing a team around a vision
21:17 Detail-oriented or micromanager?
23:46 Gravitas
27:16 Lead by example, leadership compass
29:06 Hot buttons
30:06 Advice to your 25year old self
32:00 Working through fear – coaching
34:25 Leading yourself
36:41 Saying NO
39:42 Positive energy
42:40 Advice to an emerging leader
Transcript
[Transcript]
Jan: [:[00:01:19] Heather understands that it's a people business and we learn how she stays true to herself and her beliefs. Let's get into it and continue our quest to find grass.
[:[00:02:04] I was immediately impressed with her presence, her warmth, and her command of her area of expertise, which is manufacturing operations at the time. Then fast forward several years. And I met Heather again a year ago at an event. And sometimes it's not about what people say in front of people. It's what they say about them when they're not listening that matters.
[:[00:03:10] Podcast for finding gravitas. So Heather clash,
[:[00:03:17] Jan: [00:03:17] you. Let's start with your story. Who are you, where did you start your career and what brought you to where you are today?
[:[00:03:32] Um, I'm 39 next year is a big year for me. Turning the big four. Oh, I have three kids. I'm five, eight and almost 10. And, um, I grew up in Metro Detroit area and lived here most of my life, except for a short time that I was in grad school. I lived in Boston. Um, so I grew up in the automotive industry. I can say, um, grew up in a working class family.
[:[00:04:28] And of course I was the eldest daughter of four. And, um, Was going to be out there with him. I really didn't have a choice. I remember one night thinking, you know, shouldn't, I be inside with mom learning how to cook. And it was like, no, this is the time to be learning this kind of skill. You know, as a, as a, maybe as a woman independently, he thought I needed those skills.
[:[00:05:08] I went to what was a GMI at the time. Now it's Kettering was a co-op student with general motors. Um, loved working there. Eventually took an educational leave to get my, um, graduate degrees from MIT. Um, and I did a program at MIT called leaders for manufacturing, which was a dual degree business degree, mechanical, a master's engineering as well.
[:[00:05:57] Um, and then most recently I [00:06:00] was vice president of operations at a company called axle tech, where I was in charge of all of our manufacturing plants, global quality global logistics. Um, and now I am at Delphi, as you said, lean leading logistics and lean manufacturing. So, um, that's kinda my story. And I came from what I would say pretty humble beginnings, but, uh, an atmosphere that really taught me how hard work and.
[:[00:06:45] Jan: [00:06:45] say how there I've worked in the automotive space for almost 30 years.
[:[00:07:14] So you got into that environment, which is great, and that's an accomplishment, but then you chose to stay in it. So what was it about manufacturing that really sucked you in and pulled you in.
[:[00:07:38] Why auto it's such a old industry and it's not sexy and exciting. And for me, um, I realized that I had the ability, the, and the opportunity to impact American manufacturing, which actually. Probably with my roots growing up in Detroit, I could see the direct impact [00:08:00] of what manufacturing means in the United States and how the auto industry, it has such a positive influence on our economy.
[:[00:08:30] I think I got used to that early on. Um, but certainly throughout my career, it's been evident. You know, I'm typically the only female in the room. I know you've experienced that many times, but you get to a point where you don't even notice it. And sometimes it's a big advantage because it throws people a little bit.
[:[00:08:58] Jan: [00:08:58] So tell us about your [00:09:00] leadership style. You know, I mentioned in the intro, I listened to these two women talking about how great it was to work for you. So tell us what, what is that?
[:[00:09:16] Heather: [00:09:16] I would say that FinTech is so important to me. I just don't have the ability to really function in a false way or to imitate others or to be kind of a phony to use that kind of cliche word. So what's most natural to me is to be myself and, um, For me, that means building relationships and earning people's trust, respecting them learning what makes them tick.
[:[00:10:17] So I really thrive in environments where we can be collaborative and have strong teamwork. And, you know, I have no fear of, you know, I'll make the tough decision, but before I do that, I'm going to really listen. And learn and get people's ideas. And if we can't kind of all agree because a lot of times when you do that, you can agree because people will see each other's opinions and you create that environment where there's respect.
[:[00:11:08] I want them to be motivated and feel appreciated. And I think that all contributes to
[:[00:11:36] That we have grown up with it's very much command and control positional power. I, the boss, I will tell you what to do. And there's this sense that if you don't follow or conform to that model, that you're weak, but you have defied that because you have been able to operate as a leader with. Tremendous progression in your [00:12:00] career as a leader in operations in automotive and still stay true to your authentic leadership style.
[:[00:12:11] Heather: [00:12:11] I've worked in those environments. As I know you have. And I had a leader long ago that said something like 99% of life is negative knowledge, which I thought was a very pessimistic view. You know, who wants to have a life that's full of negativity. But I think what he meant was. Sometimes that's the best way to learn when you see people behave in a way that you don't want yourself to model as a leader.
[:[00:13:02] So I think I've had a lot of great opportunities to see good leadership and bad leadership in somehow all of that kind of melds together into who I am today. Hmm. Interesting.
[:[00:13:19] Heather: [00:13:19] It's evolved a lot. I used to be more of the stereotypical introverted engineer.
[:[00:13:55] I realized it's really a people business. People are at [00:14:00] the core of how businesses run and the best companies have the best people. And those people feel appreciated and are motivated to be performers. So. I did a complete one 80. I went from thinking that people were overrated and kind of just there, but I didn't want them to bother me too.
[:[00:14:41] Leadership is just something that continues to evolve. And, you know, we never really arrive at that point of being the best leader. You can always learn more and gather good and bad from it. So that's sort of how I continue to model that behavior in my life.
[:[00:15:06] Heather: [00:15:06] Mentors are so important, I think, especially for females or for minorities. Um, I feel very blessed that I've had quite a few as I look back. Um, one in particular I think of early on was actually formally assigned to me when I was at general motors as a student. He was, uh, Mark sees Lac and assistant chief engineer.
[:[00:15:55] Um, so that was a really good exercise early on. And. [00:16:00] Another way that Mark influenced me tremendously was at a meeting with a lot of people. I didn't know, one day he introduced me, I was a co-op student and he told everyone in the room that someday I would be a vice-president of general motors. And, you know, I was mortified to get that kind of attention at the time.
[:[00:16:39] So now we have some really great examples to look at, but, um, as a young student to have someone I admired say that about me really has carried on with me throughout my career. And I
[:[00:17:06] So let's take that and apply that to a team. Any team that you've led or leading today, how do you really get people to galvanize together around a vision or a mission? How do you, how do you do that?
[:[00:17:31] And so. When I start out, you know, oftentimes I don't have all the answers when I begin, but, um, I desire to create that vision and let people know, look at, maybe I don't have it all figured out yet, but come alongside me and be part of creating that vision. So I tend to right off the bat, try to create a collaboration where I let people know their voice matters.
[:[00:18:20] And, uh, You know, we're going to start from scratch and it's the team I'm going to push them to put pen to paper. And by the time we're done with our three-day session, we're going to be aligned and have vision. Um, now I have some preconceived notions about what that's gonna look like, and I'll provide a lot of guidance and leadership, but I think it's so important for people to be engaged and be part of crafting that vision.
[:[00:19:06] And, um, for me, that's, that's the best possible outcome where everybody is part of actually crafting that vision.
[:[00:19:31] It's hard to keep people engaged and on the bus, so to speak, how do you do that? How do you, how do you check in with people to make sure that everybody's still aligned and everything's going in the right direction? How do you do
[:[00:19:53] People notice and that alone slows you down. So I'm really big on [00:20:00] having regularly scheduled cadences. I'm very disciplined about following, um, whether it's town halls, communication meetings, you know, a regularly scheduled review once a month. And I get into all the details. I'm very detail oriented and you know, I don't micromanage unless I see that.
[:[00:20:55] Um, It's so valuable to drive that accountability, but also [00:21:00] create that trust and remind them of the message that, you know, we're going down this path and there's no turning back. So I think it requires a lot of discipline and involvement and showing your face to people to know that you're committed. So they need to be committed to.
[:[00:21:17] Jan: [00:21:17] mentioned that you're detail oriented. You're an engineer by trade. I can understand that, but yet you're not a micromanager. And I would imagine that that's tricky. Right? Cause if you, if you are a detail oriented person, you want to be into the detail. And then let's say, if I was working for you, you know, and you'd want to know all these details, it would be very easy for me to misinterpret that as micromanagement, or you want to know all this information.
[:[00:22:04] Heather: [00:22:04] It's a balance that's for sure, but I guess what's sort of fun and excites me as I gained more and more experience because I do pay quite a bit of attention to the details.
[:[00:22:42] So you ask those detailed questions and people catch on quickly, like, okay. She knows her stuff. I can't. Pull the wool over her eyes. I really need to be on top of things. And it just helps kind of sniff out where to put your attention and your resources. [00:23:00] So those are the kinds of questions I'm talking about.
[:[00:23:27] Through the rest of the detail of that project. So, you know, asking those questions is really big for me. Um, I'm not big on just telling people what to do. I like to ask a lot of questions and that ends up guiding me, um, as to where I need to spend my energy and where the pitfalls might stand.
[:[00:23:50] I have taken the Liberty of redefining the word or rather expanding the definition as it applies to leadership to mean that what is that [00:24:00] irresistible quality that pulls you in to a leader that makes you want to follow that leader from company to company. And I know that you've experienced that working for people.
[:[00:24:32] So in terms of your leadership style, what is that, that quality, maybe that one thing that about you, that, that. Pulls people in
[:[00:25:00] And I think if you talk to people about me, I hope they would tell you that that's number one, you know, people. No, what they're going to get with me because. I do what I say I'm going to do. I'm true to my word. And I'm honest, and those are the most important things to me. And if I don't have that reputation for me, what do I have?
[:[00:25:44] And sometimes it was me kind of catching the arrows on my back, um, sometimes publicly to protect my team. But, uh, that's kinda what I do. And I think that creates a safe zone to build that relationship and that trust. And when I [00:26:00] see models or leaders that I want to model, or that I want to follow. Those are the first two things I think of integrity and trust.
[:[00:26:20] Jan: [00:26:20] Yes. And I think the trust is the phone. Is that the foundation of great leadership? There's no question about that. And when you have trust, not only do you engage the hearts and minds of people, but speed increases.
[:[00:26:35] Heather: [00:26:35] There's that book, the speed of
[:[00:27:02] So it seems that you understood that very early on and it's a foundation of your leadership style. How do we encourage others to embrace building this foundation of trust?
[:[00:27:31] And I think also it's important when that behavior is not modeled in our organizations to call it out. Yeah. Maybe privately with our peers. Um, Sometimes that's effective. Sometimes it's not, but often people have come from other backgrounds and cultures where certain behavior behaviors were. Okay. And when you work with those people, you need to set boundaries and let them know.
[:[00:28:17] There. One other method that I use when I start at a new job or I have a new team, is I actually have a written document that I call my leadership compass and I write out my personal leadership philosophy. And in the document, I basically try to explain how I operate and what I expect. And of course, trust and integrity is a big part of what I have written there.
[:[00:28:59] So from [00:29:00] the very beginning, I try to set it out very clearly and then hopefully model that behavior going forward.
[:[00:29:12] Heather: [00:29:12] share a couple. The older you get it's like that part gets longer and longer. Um, you know, one of them, some of them are like mantras that I've learned from other leaders.
[:[00:29:44] And it's a very, very bad situation to have. Uh, so that's one of them and then it's other things are simple. Like, you know, meet your deadlines. Tell me if you're not going to meet your deadline. Let's have a conversation to very simple things like that, but believe it or [00:30:00] not, a lot of managers are inconsistent on those types of things.
[:[00:30:07] Jan: [00:30:07] great practice. What advice would you give your 25 year old self today? So if you were to look at yourself and you were 25 in today's environment, what advice would you give yourself? Knowing what you know right now?
[:[00:30:33] And if I could have seen that earlier, I could have been. Much more influential. I think earlier on once I kind of understood that I had maybe some diversity, but a unique perspective. Once I realized that that was helpful and important, I started speaking it more often and it took me a number of years to realize that I should just say what I'm thinking, because half the [00:31:00] time.
[:[00:31:20] And as I had more experience and more successes that, you know, continued to grow and come out more and more. But if I had to, if I could go back, I would try to expedite that process a little bit and, and let myself know you're going to get there. You've already had the experience and you have the intelligence.
[:[00:31:41] Jan: [00:31:41] Yeah. And I completely relate to that. I know that there's been many times in my career when I wanted to ask them. Yeah. And then somebody else asks the question and you say, Oh, I was going to ask that question. And then everybody turns around and says, well, that was a really good question.
[:[00:32:18] And then as I think about situations where I've, I've been there, it's fear of fear of looking stupid. And fear of upsetting somebody in that room that has the power to control your paycheck. And as a single mom, you know, I wanted to make sure that I did not upset the one that influenced my paycheck. And that was often that drove a fear in me.
[:[00:32:59] Heather: [00:32:59] I [00:33:00] try to recognize when I see that happening with young people. I, I love mentoring and coaching and just having relationships with younger people. It really adds a lot of value to me and I feel really good when I can add value to their lives and their careers, but I will actually observe in meetings that people are, you know, sitting in the back of the room or, um, Not bringing up their opinions or it may be after the meeting, they have all these things to say and I'll call them out, you know, individually of course, and say, look in the next meeting, I want you to be more vocal.
[:[00:34:00] [00:33:59] So when these younger folks have access to somebody that's a vice-president or higher, I think it helps to empower them and, um, gives them that touch point in a meeting that, okay, I'm comfortable with that person that might. Control my paycheck. They respect me. I trust them. So that brings out more of what they have to say and what they can offer.
[:[00:34:25] Jan: [00:34:25] They say that you can't lead others until you learn how to lead yourself. So how do you lead yourself? How do you lead your
[:[00:34:53] You know, I try to spend a lot of time enriching that part of my, myself, my spirituality. I [00:35:00] think that has to be my number one priority for things to kind of fall in line. Um, you know, next would be my family, which obviously is my husband and my children. And really, I try to put my career third. Which is hard to think of if you know me, because a lot of people think that defines me, but really it doesn't, it's a big, big part of my life, but if I'm not.
[:[00:35:50] Innate, um, measurement system in my head of how I'm doing in each of those four areas. And is it balanced or is it weighted properly and [00:36:00] am I where I needed to be? And in order to feel that I'm kind of where I need to be. I'm. Pretty disciplined. I would say, um, part of the discipline is saying no to some, some things, certain things, not over committing myself.
[:[00:36:37] And also where I am relative to my limits.
[:[00:37:01] And it says a no uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a yes. Uttered to please or worse to avoid trouble. And I love that quote because I think it says it all right. We've all as human beings, we struggle with this all the time. It's much easier to say. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[:[00:37:45] So when you see people who are struggling, because they're doing too much, they're on too many teams, how do you help them gain that courage to say no, I
[:[00:38:09] And so I just had an example of this today, where there's just so many things to do on an action register. And we had to kind of look at it at a basic level and say, Let's parade advisees. Let's put these in descending order or whatever makes sense for you. And let's talk about each one and make sure they deserve to be on the list.
[:[00:38:52] You're aligned on the things that matter. And then there's not the disappointment and frustration later when you don't get to the things that probably shouldn't [00:39:00] have been on your list in the first place, or maybe they're distractions, or you can get to them in phase two phase three. So I think it's really important to take a step back, look at, okay, where are we going?
[:[00:39:31] You can't boil the ocean, you know, one elephant, one chunk at a time, whatever that quote is about the elephant. We, I think we all get in that trap where there's just so much to do.
[:[00:39:54] Every interaction I've had with you, you have this ability to maintain a [00:40:00] positive outlook. I have never. Who'd you go into an, a negativity ever. Um, you know, even when you and I were challenged with an impromptu presentation with our private equity owners several years ago, and we had to present in front of 35 CEOs or something ridiculous.
[:[00:40:50] Heather: [00:40:50] Well, first of all, I've learned that you never want to speak directly after Jan Griffis. Okay. So when [00:41:00] we were offered that chance to speak in an impromptu presentation, but it was an opportunity. I looked at it like. You know, I really admired you. I was pretty junior and I thought, wow, I'm going to be on the stage with Jan.
[:[00:41:34] There's always opportunities to fix it. Nothing's unfixable. And so I've been in many turnaround situations now in my career that I know there's going to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and we just need to find that light and kind of spell it out to people so they can have the line of sight to it.
[:[00:42:25] Jan: [00:42:25] Great in closing some advice for young leaders working their way up through the ranks right now, a couple of points that they need to consider.
[:[00:43:03] So please realize that you have value that you can bring, and we want that value. We want to use it to help our companies get better. And then number two, I would say, you know, work hard. There's there's no substitute for hard work. And, you know, while I talked about myself as a young person, wanting to just kind of keep my nose to the grind and later I realized that I needed people to kind of help me.
[:[00:43:51] So really apply yourself and work hard. And then thirdly, Seek out strong leaders and mentors. I think that, um, there's also [00:44:00] no substitute for learning from those that have gone through it before. And that, um, there's a lot of people like us that want to help young people. Um, it's fun for us and we get a lot out of it too.
[:[00:44:34] And you know, it's only the beginning to prove yourself and show that you are a valuable part of the team. And that's really going to take you far and get you noticed. Good advice,
[:[00:44:48] Heather: [00:44:48] today. Thank you so much.
