When I look back at my years in food manufacturing, what strikes me most is how much of leadership is about creating calm in the middle of what could so easily be chaos. Factories are full of moving parts, from machines and materials to people with different skills and motivations. And yet, what the best operators want above all else is simplicity. They don’t enjoy inefficiency, they don’t like wasting time chasing labels or waiting for the next thing to happen, and they certainly don’t thrive on confusion. They want clarity, and they want to know what comes next. That’s where I began to think of the factory floor as a laboratory for leadership, a place where simple messages and consistent behaviours could turn complexity into order.
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I’ve often said, half in jest but wholly serious, that I want boring. When I walk through a plant and things are humming along predictably, when the systems are working as they should and people aren’t firefighting, that’s when real improvement becomes possible. The paradox is that we need rigorous compliance and discipline at the same time as we ask for questioning and continuous improvement. It sounds contradictory, but in practice, it works. If you can lock in a few non-negotiables that everyone understands and lives by, you free up the space for people to think, contribute, and innovate without the daily distractions of firefighting.
For me, those non-negotiables often take the shape of what I call sticky phrases. Short, memorable lines that carry weight and meaning. They’re part of my personality, and over time they’ve become part of the teams I’ve worked with. One of my favourites is that it’s not a behaviour until it’s every time and under pressure. That phrase helped me and my colleagues shift the conversation from abstract values to visible actions. Talking about respect or integrity can feel vague, but saying “every time and under pressure” makes it real. It also gives people language to hold each other accountable without it being personal. You can’t manage what people think, but you can manage what they do.
Another phrase that has stayed with me is the system is the solution. It’s not glamorous, but it works. Years ago, I came across the story of Ford and Mazda and their very different approaches to accounts payable. Ford had hundreds of people; Mazda had just a handful because they had eliminated entire processes. That idea of don’t automate, obliterate resonated strongly with me, and I found it was easy for people on the factory floor to relate to. They knew what it meant to question whether a task really added value. Once you frame it that way, people stop accepting paperwork and inefficiencies as inevitable, and they start seeing them as opportunities to improve.
Of course, it’s not always about removing waste. Sometimes it’s about reinforcing the right focus. A colleague of mine, Don Fraser, used to insist on an empty chair at the board table to represent the customer. He also had a rule that if a customer wasn’t mentioned in ten minutes, the meeting should end. That stuck with me. I’ve repeated that line countless times, and the most satisfying moments are when someone else in the room brings it up before I do. That’s when you know the message has taken root.
I can think of one particular business where we defined six core behaviours, from respect and integrity to attention to detail and care for the environment. They weren’t just words on a poster; they became the backdrop to countless conversations. I’d often find myself walking someone over to the board, tapping the line that was relevant, and anchoring the discussion there. It reminded all of us that these behaviours weren’t abstract ideals but daily commitments. Over time, the language shaped the culture, and the culture shaped the results.
There are lighter moments too. I once worked with a factory owner who had a habit of constantly changing policies, leaving everyone confused. At the time I was young and impatient, and I’d make a karate-chop motion and say, “Where it’s written down, that’s what we’ll do.” As blunt as it sounds, that phrase stuck, and it gave people a sense of stability in an otherwise shifting environment. It taught me that even when the wording is simple, or even a bit rough around the edges, consistency makes it powerful.
The real joy of all this comes when people start repeating the lines back to you. I’ll never forget someone bursting into my office one day, leaning on the door frame and saying, “Paul, I know what you’re going to say.” And they were right. I held up my hands and said, “Great, then we’ll do that.” If your team can anticipate your message and align around it, you’ve done your job as a leader. You’ve given them certainty, and you’ve freed them to focus on what really matters.
All of this comes back to a simple principle: if it isn’t memorable, it won’t stick. Leadership isn’t about grand speeches or endless policies; it’s about finding the words that people can carry with them into their daily work, especially when the pressure is on.
My phrases might not be yours. Yours should reflect your own personality, your own priorities, and the character of your business. But whatever they are, make them non-negotiable, repeat them often, and use them as the rhythm that keeps your team in step.
If this idea resonates with you, I’d encourage you to start listening for the lines you already use, the ones that people in your team might already be repeating without even realising it. Hone them, simplify them, and make them work for you. And if you’d like to talk more about how language can shape leadership, let’s catch up for a coffee sometime. I’d love to hear the sticky phrases that are driving your teams forward.