You may have heard Simon Sinek's recent "A Bit of Optimism" podcast that featured Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and a number of BW team member from our BW Papersystems company in Phillips, WI.

One particular team member that was interviewed was Randall Fleming, who was a welder when we aquired (or adopted) Marquip, the company that would become BW Papersystems.

While presenting our message of Truly Human Leadership, our CEO Bob Chapman is often asked: What about the people who don't get it? What about the people who actively work against positive change?

Barry-Wehmiller has adopted more than 150 companies and as Bob once wrote:

We realize that when we acquire a company, the people within that company are a product of their experiences. They may have experienced great leaders in their past or, more likely, they have had some negative experiences. Consequently, some have difficulty trusting our leadership message. That's okay. We're all at a different point on this journey, and we have to be patient and trust that the skeptics will eventually see the transformative power it can have—on both their work lives and their personal lives.

On this podcast, you'll hear the story of Randall Fleming, who was one of those people who resisted change at first, but then experienced a radical transformation. He told Simon a part of his story, but we wanted to give you a deeper dive. This episode is Randall's story, told by Randall. It also features BW team members Ken Coppens and Maureen Schloskey.

Randall's story is testament to the life-changing power of meaningful work and the power of what happens when people care in business. It's what happens when you establish a workplace culture of empathy and shared purpose as opposed to the "command and control" atmosphere of most traditional management environments.

Randall's story is an illustration of when we say that the way we lead impacts the way people live. He not only found more fulfillment in his work, his whole life completely changed. And Randall then became a leader, mentor and inspiration to others.

This week, we are celebrating the release of the new revised and expanded edition of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Barry-Wehmiller Chairman Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia's book on Bob and Barry-Wehmiller's journey to Truly Human Leadership.

On today's podcast, we want to share a story of Bob and the book's impact on one particular leader. Jason Lippert is the President and CEO of Lippert Components, a global supplier of a broad array of highly engineered components for the leading manufacturers of recreational vehicles, automobiles, watercraft and prefab homes. They also operate in adjacent markets, including hospitality, transportation, construction and agriculture.

Lippert and Barry-Wehmiller are very similar in size, both are on their third generation of family leadership. And they both have similar values when it comes to stewarding the lives in their span of care.

On this episode, I have a conversation with Jason about his leadership journey. How he became a Truly Human Leader and what that meant for Lippert Components. How they approach leadership and personal development. How they approach community service and why that's important to their company culture. We also talk about the impact Bob and Everybody Matters had on his leadership and his company.

This past week signaled a major milestone in the history of our company. We announced that Kyle Chapman is now CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, in addition to his existing role as President. His father, Bob Chapman, who has served as CEO since 1975, will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board.

Barry-Wehmiller has been led by a Chapman since 1957, when William A. Chapman, Bob's dad, became President after joining Barry-Wehmiller four years prior.

It's a very exciting time for us here at Barry-Wehmiller. And to celebrate this moment, on this podcast we bring you a conversation between Bob and Kyle where they talk about the history of the Chapman family ownership of Barry-Wehmiller. They talk about a legacy of leadership. They talk about the transition, what it means for the company and our people. And what it means for the future. And you're going to hear a lot about how business can be a force for good.

We announced a couple of weeks ago the new revised and expanded edition of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, the book Bob Chapman co-wrote with Raj Sisodia which chronicles Bob and Barry-Wehmiller's journey. Bob and Kyle also talk about the book and its significance and Bob talks about his future. Spoiler alert: in addition to remaining chairman of the board, he's going to continue to share the message of Truly Human Leadership for a long time to come.