Latest / The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast / Episode 367. Transitioning from Technician to Leadership with Ben Boyer of The Arcticom Group

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Episode 367. Transitioning from Technician to Leadership with Ben Boyer of The Arcticom Group · The Refrigeration Mentor Podcast

• 0:00
  Trevor: Welcome to the Refrigeration Mentor Podcast. I'm your host, Trevor Matthew. Super excited about this conversation today.
• 0:01
  As we were talking about before, we were talking about how we're always learning every day. And I wanted to invite Ben on here to have a conversation to really help you as a technician, some of the steps that you can take, some of our mistakes that we made along the way and some of the things that maybe can help you along this journey of refrigeration.
• 0:02
  Like the thermodynamics behind refrigeration as a technician, service role install, role commissioning. The technology may have changed, but the role itself is similar with few exceptions with technology. Correct.
• 0:03
  Trevor: Yeah. And, and I think that's the thing. There's differences between you're working at a company, they see that you're crushing it out there, you're doing a great job, you're good with the customers, you're good with the team, and then all of a sudden they're like, can you take this feed field leadership role or the supervisor role or move into service manager role and you're not really prepared?
• 0:04
  I wish I had a, been a little, been a little bit more humble in the beginnings. I think humility can change the view of, of how I present myself to others. I've been embarrassed multiple times and it's, it's not a fun situation. It's uncomfortable, but being humble definitely helps the growth, and, and I wish in the beginning I had have been a little bit more humble.
• 0:05
  So if you have lots of technicians under you, you have teams underneath those leaders in your organization, what are some of the advice that you give to say a newer technician who may be coming up and they say, Hey, Ben. I, I would like to be maybe in your position at some point down the road, you know, I'm, I'm just starting out as a journeyman, or I got a couple years in.
• 0:06
  I had a technician that I was supporting come to me and said, Ben, you don't need to micromanage me. Just give me a task. If I don't accomplish it, then, then let's have a conversation, but I'll get it done and trust in, in me. And I was a little taken back by that. It hurt. But I realized that just creating an environment, a safe environment is, is key to success for most people.
• 0:07
  Ben: Pause when agitated is a key term that I use over and over. I practice it constantly where a situation will occur and it creates a chemical release of, of anger or some type of emotion.
• 0:08
  Trevor: I think that's something that I. Would've liked to do more in my younger years, you know, just like you're saying there. And even, even now, I gotta stop and think about it because as technicians in the field, we are as, as men I guess, like emotions always push that down stuff that I've done it for years, you know, hide that stuff. Don't be emotional about stuff, but this is, this is life. We are emotional beings in general. And just be situational aware. And that's what I'm getting better at sational awareness when all of a sudden my heart starts pumping, my stomach feels weird or butterflies and I'm just like, okay, better sit back in this situation.
• 0:09
  We have to stay above the line, right? If we're below the line, we're in survival mode. You know, back in the day when we were surrounded by dinosaurs and we had to run and hide, and there's that fight or flight response. But if we are self-aware and realize that those emotions are typically triggered based on some other emotion, it's, it's really, really amazing when something clicks on someone and they go, wow, and they start becoming curious rather than judgmental.
• 0:10
  Trevor: Yeah, and I, I love that the curiosity is so, so important because if you want to get into that. Field supervisor role or leadership role, and you're even thinking about it or you're being curious about it. This is the time, like you said, is to start to ask those questions. And a lot I've seen this time, and I'm sure this happened with you, and you've seen this happen, where there's a technician who wants to get into that role and a role comes up and they think the role, you know, should be theirs, but it goes to someone else, but they never asked for the role.
• 0:11
  How can they come to a leader and, and start asking these questions? 'cause do you feel they should start asking early or should they wait till a role comes up? What are your thoughts on that?
• 0:12
  Trevor: Yeah. I know. I've, I've asked I, I. Didn't start to see results until I started asking the question. There's gonna, there's lots of no's. I've got so many no's throughout my career, you know, but I didn't know until I started asking the questions. And then it's hard to ask that question, but after you start to do it a bit more, so you go to your leader and say, is there a role coming up in the city?
• 0:13
  You've seen a lot of technicians. Transitioning 20 years doing this, you've seen them transition from a service technician or a startup commission technician into these more office type roles. What are some of the biggest things you've seen that worked and that didn't work? 'cause I know for sure I met friends that said, I went in, tried to go do an office role.
• 0:14
  The equipment doesn't have an attitude. The equipment doesn't have emotions, and we're used to just having a task, accomplishing it, getting the attaboy or the thank you from the customer, which feels awesome, but there isn't a back and forth When you deal with people. There's emotions, there's, there's a lot more involved.
• 0:15
  I see why from the outside and then make changes, paradigm shifts, thought process shifts. It's, it's really fun. Yeah, it's really fun.
• 0:16
  And we all learn differently. But as that leader and as even with my team, it's like how can I. When I'm doing a one-on-one with them, they're, they totally learn differently. They totally have a different aspect of the world or a view, a view of the world than I do. How do I meet them where they're at to really help help them succeed and help them be successful?
• 0:17
  Ben: Well. You know, for us to all grow either technically or even emotionally or in a leadership position, you have to be honest with yourself. And there's some that are just really have a hard time being honest with themselves. The ego is so powerful and if we don't really realize that we're, we're driven by our ego, and there's times where we're gonna get uncomfortable and not blame other people, but look inward and figure out what our part in the situation is, that is like extremely moving.
• 0:18
  I'm a better mechanic, I'm a better tech. It's a lot, it's a lot more than the technical side. And once you realize that you're, your leadership will go to the next level.
• 0:19
  They're, they're yelling, you know, it's making me upset and you know, I sometimes I'm, you know, sometimes I yell back or I don't yell back or I, I shut down. You know what I mean? And I don't say anything. And as a leader, you gotta look at the situation. And when you're talking to you, you're, if you're being a leader talking to you, that technician, or if it's even talking to the customer I think it's, it's really listening.
• 0:20
  It creates a fight or flight, and it's really the emotional awareness and it takes a lot of practice, like you said, to figure out, wait a minute, here, we're all living our own lives and, and dealing with our own drama and issues, and am I really the one who's being yelled at here? Or is it the situation as technicians, we've all shown up on sites.
• 0:21
  What, what should I, where should I start? For me, one of the courses, I'll always recommend that it, it just really changed me really from that technician kind of mindset into more of my mindset now is I took a Dale Carnegie course and it was like on public speaking, I think it was just a public speaking one where we, I got up in a, a group of, like a front of 15 people and we had to do talks.
• 0:22
  'cause I always, I do a lot of talking now, but I'm, I was kind of like a, a introvert in a way, in, in public speaking, like I've done it before, but I've always was nervous and butterflies in my stomach. But after that course was like, it's not that bad. I planned and I prepared and I practiced, I planned, I prepared, I practiced, planned, prepared, and practiced and got better.
• 0:23
  They're nervous, they're, they're shaking and it, it, it takes just practice and, and building that confidence. And there are so many courses online. Even with ai, you can just type in there, Hey, I'm really nervous when I speak in front of people. What do you, what do you suggest? Stuff will come up on the internet and we have so much more available at our fingertips and we ever had in the past.
• 0:24
  But the big thing is, is that it's not, not giving up. I know that I need to get better when I get on a stage or doing a keynote or in front of technicians. 'cause a lot of people are like, that's so natural, Trevor. You did your talk was amazing. It was like, well, I've done it a thousand times and I practiced in the mirror, looking in the mirror by myself.
• 0:25
  Ben: That is a great idea to, to actually ask to help teach or train or get in front of other individuals is, is key to, to growing and feeling more comfortable, having open discussion, getting feedback.
• 0:26
  How do I get better? How do I build relationships? And that's exactly what I say. Go to your leader if it's a service manager, service director, if it's your boss, depending on the, the size of the company and the company, and ask them those, that 10 or 15 minutes good lead any good leader, they might, well I don't have that time right now, but let's schedule it on Thursday.
• 0:27
  Trevor: Yeah. And, and that's the big thing. It's not, and I'm not trying to overwhelm you, as a technician out there, if you want to get into these roles, it just takes time. And, and you gotta do it by slow, simple, small, simple steps. Just like Ben says, maybe it's 10 minutes a week or 15 minutes biweekly, but that adds up over time.
• 0:28
  And then when you be getting into the leadership role is gonna be the same, same process when we're talking about technicians. It's that technical side I'm teaching them. But when I'm in my customer service programs and stuff like that, I say, okay, now go talk to either your coworker, a friend, and use that like communication skills, the public speaking skills, the leadership skills, the listening skills which aren't, well, you don't learn those overnight.
• 0:29
  You could become a journeyman after two years, you know, but you're still always learning. I'm seeing a lot of, around the mid thirties, early forties, that's when a technician wants to make the transition a lot of times. Is that close to around the age? I know it's different everywhere, but what do you, what do you see around the age where a technician really wants to make that shift?
• 0:30
  Trevor: Yeah. And so, and, and then, and around that time you're usually at, not everybody, but that's when I start to have kids as well. So you get some young kids and things like that and a lot of them are like. Trevor, I'm, I'm done. I need to get out now. You know what I mean? But I didn't plan or prepare, you know, I did all the technical stuff.
• 0:31
  But a lot of 'em ask me, well, what could have I done or what should I start doing now? And I think you already pinpointed, there's lot of courses already. To take or advice that you can start doing. What are some of the key things you've seen with some of your techs that did that transition? Where they went into that more of a LEA field visor role, leadership role and what advice did you give them?
• 0:32
  You have a manager that manages a process and you also have a leader. That coaches, that mentors, and it's a combination of the two and balancing that, which is not easy, especially in, in the field that we're in. But there's been multiple people that I've had to coach and I've had to empower to, to have confidence in themselves to be able to be a leader.
• 0:33
  Ben: hundred percent. And you know, the fact that even, even myself, I've been doing this for, I think this is my 20th, 29th year in the, in the field, in the industry. I still ask for support. I still brainstorm. I'm only human. I'm not perfect. And having that humility is huge. And we all should be asking, and I tell people, you have an apprentice that's only been in the industry for a year, two years, three years.
• 0:34
  Trevor: Yeah. That's one of the biggest things I think in my program. I tell all of 'em, it's a safe space. It just ask the question. At the end of the day, doesn't matter who you're working with, where you're working at, you gotta be true to yourself. If you don't know that and just say, I don't know how to set up a TX valve, and you're with all your peers and you've been doing this for five or six years, empower yourself to be able to say that because when you learn that, you're not gonna forget it.
• 0:35
  And I think having that, like that's what I do in the programs, is giving them that safe space because at the end of the day. It's your career, it's your journey, it's your life. Try to, for me it's try to make sure that I can help serve the people that I'm working with. And first step is kind of serving myself.
• 0:36
  You know why things, why things work, test your work, understand your work. And that's not only as a, on a technical level, but at a leadership level as well. You mentioned like core values. My core values are truth, integrity, service, and relationships. That that's what drives me. And learning your core values, being honest is, is huge.
• 0:37
  At the end of the day, build that relationship, start building the relationship with the, with the dispatch. And you see the biggest difference. Imagine bringing in a coffee or some donuts to the dispatch crew once in a while and having that conversation about, thank you for sending me to that job that was close to my house once in a while.
• 0:38
  Ben: if we're grateful and appreciative. And, and, we let ego go. It's huge. Dispatch is one of the hardest jobs in the world, but as technicians, we tend to take dispatch for granted.
• 0:39
  I'm out there doing all the hard work. They're actually doing, sometimes a lot harder job because they're taking the phone call first when someone's screaming at them or they're taking a phone call from another technician who's screaming at them because it's four o'clock and they don't want to call you at four o'clock to send you on a job to eight.
• 0:40
  Ben: Oh, definitely. And you know, there's, there's a great book, the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. I highly recommend it to anybody. It talks about trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. And those are the functions of a team and the lack of those items. Lack of trust, like trust is the foundation people have teams that are smooth running.
• 0:41
  Trevor: Oh yeah. That's huge. Something that wasn't for us when we were technicians in the field, like that was not happening.
• 0:42
  I hope I've shared some experience, strength, and hope with those out in the field. If you really want to grow. In your career, just be open and honest with yourself and the rest will follow. That's, that's really, really key.