Too many operations manage by crisis instead of systematically learning and implementing changes. Today, I’m going to look into the two different mindsets of leading an organization: Reactive versus Proactive. Proactive A proactive leader is always looking to improve his or her operation. There is a constant yearning to learn something new and implement it. This type of person is probably a reader that reads several books per year - or listens to them (that’s what I do). There are two major components to being a Proactive Leader: Learning and Doing. Learning There are several ways to learn new ideas. I’ve already touched on reading. Don’t think that you have to read books or articles that are specific to our industry - any leadership or management material contains ideas that could be adapted to fit the Automotive Recycling Industry. The idea here is to constantly be trying to learn something from anything that you read. Figure ways to adapt ideas or suggestions to your opera...

It Won’t Happen to Me “Fire! Fire! Run!” That was the cry of an employee in the dismantling area of one of my sites on a cool March morning of 2009. The improper handling of gasoline coupled with a fellow dismantler working to cut a core support off of a vehicle resulted in a fire that ultimately forced us to completely rebuild the entire building. I never thought we would have a fire of this magnitude and had done nothing to proactively safeguard us from the possibility. “Your Files have been Encrypted” It’s Monday morning and this message appears on the screens of every workstation and the YMS Server. Your heart races and you are thinking, “Do we have a backup?” You are the victim of a ransomware attack that results in five days of lost sales, a draw on your Line of Credit at the bank in order to make payroll, and two salespeople are threatening to quit because their commission pay was low. Are you prepared for an attack like this? Proactive versus Reactive After mult...