On this week’s episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, sponsored by Stoke RGA, Insight on Manufacturing Editor Kate Bruns and Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance (NEWMA) Executive Director Ann Franz learn about the University of Wisconsin Center for Professional and Executive Development‘s popular management boot camp program, which is coming to Northeast Wisconsin for the first time this April.
“Semi-retired” author and leadership expert Steve King leads the boot camp and visits virtually with Franz and Bruns on this week’s episode about what he has seen and learned throughout his HR career. He is the author of multiple books based on professional modules he has created in the workplace. They are short books, he says, written at the encouragement of colleagues as the modules started to be adapted by other workplaces.
“They seem to have stood the test of time, because they continue to be used in many organizations,” he says.
Among the King books mentioned on this week’s podcast are “Brag Worry Wonder Bet” and “The Manager’s Dilemma,” the latter of which is about how to lead a change agenda that maybe wasn’t your idea but instead handed down from on high.
“What we’ve learned is that if they’re going to play the role of proxy or sponsor of change on behalf of a leader, they have to be able to do three things really well,” he tells listeners.
King says he is excited to offer the program in Green Bay in April and that the ideal candidates for attending boot camp are first-year managers. The sessions will be hosted at Schreiber Foods in Green Bay, with more details coming soon. NEWMA members will receive a special discount on boot camp registration, so watch your email for this opportunity or contact Franz if you are interested in joining the alliance.
Hear those three skills required for leading change management and other nuggets of wisdom from King when you download this week’s full episode on Spreaker or anywhere you get audio podcasts — including Apple and Spotify.
NEW Manufacturing Insights is produced by Woodward Community Media and will be sponsored throughout 2026 by Stoke RGA. New episodes are released every Thursday.
