What Does it Mean to Be a Leader?

Blue Collar Leadership and the Intersection of Swiss Precision and American Ingenuity

Mike Uebersax, CEO of Element Designs, recently sat down for an interview for the AEC podcast, brought to you by MarketScale. A high impact blue-collar leader, Mike is known for being cheerful, eminently approachable and always authentic. For the podcast, he shared several lessons he’s learned in his role as a blue-collar leader, including the value of developing your people. He says it’s important to do so just because they are your people, not because doing so results in some expected ROI.

Mike is also a big believer in leaders being willing to grow and learn in front of their team. He doesn’t dress differently than the people who work in his plant, and he doesn’t make people go to him. Instead, he takes the first step and engages directly with his workforce so everyone at his company feels they can go to him with questions or ideas. Mike says that a lot of what he has learned—and much of what he practices—can be traced to common sense respect that can be easy to forget.

To learn more about Mike’s approach to leadership, please enjoy the podcast.

[spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=15198125″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” autoplay=”false” live-autoplay=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” ]

Read more at element-designs.com

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

career
What to Do When Your Career Feels Stuck: Invest in Yourself, Stay Intentional, and Build the Right Network
April 29, 2026

Work doesn’t feel the way it used to. Between new tech, changing expectations, and the constant pressure to keep up, a lot of people—even those who look successful on paper—are quietly wondering what’s next. In fact, recent workforce studies suggest a large share of employees feel disengaged or uncertain about their next move, despite…

Read More
Rural School
How Rural Schools Are Redefining School Safety Through Relationships and Proactive Systems
April 28, 2026

On Principles of Change, a podcast by Raptor Technologies, host Dr. Amy Grosso sits down with Dr. Miguel Salazar, principal of Sundown Middle School in Sundown, Texas, to explore how one rural district is redefining school safety through culture, systems, and human connection. Together, they unpack how proactive frameworks, community values, and intentional relationship-building can…

Read More
StudentSafe
Understanding Raptor StudentSafe
April 28, 2026

In this episode of School Safety Today, host Dr. Amy Grosso speaks with Chris Noell, Chief Product Officer at Raptor Technologies, and Will Durgin, Director of Student Well-Being, about the vision behind StudentSafe and how it helps schools move from reactive responses to proactive student support. Together, they emphasize that safer schools depend on giving staff…

Read More
school safety
Going Slow to Go Fast in School Safety Leadership
April 28, 2026

In this episode of the Principles of Change podcast, presented by Raptor Technologies, host Dr. Amy Grosso talks with Tim Dykes, Assistant Principal for Culture and Climate at York Community High School in Elmhurst, Illinois. The conversation highlights how strong relationships, student voice, and steady long-term leadership can help schools build environments where people feel…

Read More