AUGUST 03,2026 #027 (WORKPLACE CONNECTIONS) M.SIMPSON/J.WALDROP

REPLY/COMMENT 

 In this episode of Talkin' Grit, M.Simpson and J.Waldrop discuss five practical ways to build a stronger relationship with your supervisor. From communicating effectively to taking initiative, these simple habits can improve trust, teamwork, and professional growth. Whether you're new to your role or looking to strengthen your working relationship, these tips can help you become a more valuable team member while creating a more positive and productive workplace. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

From the job site to the office, from lessons learned to stories worth telling, this is Talking Grit. Brought to you by Wright Brothers. Here's your host, Jared Walger.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Everyone out there, welcome back to Talking Grit. We've got a fresh episode for you today. And uh Mitchell and I here we're going to be talking about some just some leadership stuff that I think you're gonna find really valuable. Before we get into that though, keep the feedback coming in. Podcast at wbccci.com. And uh we want to hear from you. And uh we're getting some great comments, some great ideas, and you know, this is for the company, and we want to hear from the company. So let us know what you think, what we can do, what we can add to it. So hit send on all those emails and and let us know. But Mitchell, let's uh let's dive into this today.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Yeah, Jared, appreciate you opening up for us. So several podcasts ago. I don't know what podcast number it was. I mean, we've got we've got a few of them so far now. We've got 20 some odd podcasts now. I think this is 27. Is that what it is? 27? I'm mistaken. Okay. It's amazing we've done 27 podcasts. All right, so guys, on podcast number seven, we talked about 10 things that require zero effort. So that was kind of a conversation about leadership and growth. We're gonna go back and we're gonna have another kind of we're gonna have a conversation today between me and Jared about leadership and growth. And this time what we're gonna talk about is five tools to help you improve your relationship with your supervisor. So, Jared, you've you've come up with this, you've got the five bullet points. And, you know, the key thing in all of this is communication, right? Communication. And that's one of the reasons we're doing this podcast. Right. You know, if we all effectively communicate, we take away 99% of the problems that we have, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

It all comes down to clearly communicate, the, you know, getting the right people, the right information at the right time. That's right. That's what it all comes down to.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

I mean, yeah, and and all of us, all of us suffer with communicating properly, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

All of us do. Yeah, we all have to work on it constantly. Yeah. I mean, I can count on both of my hands here the number of times that I've failed in a communication piece this past week.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Me too. Ask my wife.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah, that's right. That's right. So, you know, one of the relationships that we have here at Wright Brothers is look, we all work with somebody, right? We all work for somebody. I get the opportunity to work for Steve, you know, we all work for somebody. Yep. And we all need five tools to help you improve your relationship with your supervisor. And how do we effectively communicate with our supervisor? So, point one that you had here, Jared, was when you meet, choose the right time. What are you thinking there?

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, so it's all about timing. Timing really is everything. You know, if you're gonna meet and talk to somebody, especially if it's something important, pick a time when distractions are limited. Look, we're all busy, we've got things going on. You don't want to approach somebody when they're in the middle of something, when their attention is divided. Uh, pick a time that they can give their full attention. Don't hit them with an important question when they're right in the middle of something else, you know, when their focus is diverted.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Yeah, so I mean, that's a great point because if you look around here at Wright Brothers, you know, I I always like trying to figure out what people's personality types are. You know, we've got a whole bunch of task-oriented people, right? Right. Yeah. They're they're interested in getting the task done. And if you try to divert a person that is task-oriented when they're in the middle of their task, they ain't gonna give you the time of day. No, they're not. Right. I mean, all they care about is driving the nail.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

They might even act like they're hearing you, but it's going in one ear out the other because their focus is on what they gotta get done. You know, you gotta pick the right time. And and if it's something that that is important, probably with the better approach is you know, talking to them, being like, hey, when you have a minute today, can we sit down and talk or can we go off to the side? Can when you have a minute, maybe when we get done with everything, or tomorrow morning or whenever, when's a good time for you that I can come talk to you?

SPEAKER_02 4:35

There you go. I mean, it's schedule it. Schedule it, right? It's not like put it in the outlook calendar and drive a nail in and say this is when we're gonna talk. It's it's just making sure that you're showing the respect for your supervisor and their time. Exactly. Instead of just butting it in and saying, Hey, we gotta talk right now.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Yeah, and it and it's doing a courtesy to your supervisor because you're you're allowing them to devote time that they're they want to give you their full attention, and you're giving them the opportunity to choose that time. And, you know, and just be patient with it. You know, there's a lot going on. You know, you don't want to walk up to somebody when you're in the middle, you know, pushing through some sort of operation that you're doing, expecting to be heard. No, no, no. Talk to them, just say, hey, when you get a minute, can I talk to you? Yeah. And allow them that time and space to be able to say, yeah, okay, now's a good time for us to meet.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

So point two then, you know, when you do have that conversation, your point number two is be prepared for the conversation.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah. Be prepared. It's it's kind of simple, but how many times do people just kind of, you know, they think one, you know, a thought goes through their head and they're just throwing things out there. And sometimes the conversation gets scattered, it gets off topic. Be prepared. You know, if you're gonna meet with your leader, have some notes, be prepared, know what what you want to address, what you want to want to say. Take the time to think through what you're bringing to them and communicate it clearly. You know, clear communication is a kindness, you know. And if you want to talk to, you know, your supervisor, you want to build that relationship, you know, then communicate clearly, know what you're talking about, why you're bringing this to them, and have it thought out, not just shooting from the hip.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Yeah, there you go. There you go. Good point there. So then rolling on, we got point number three. You got to check your motive. You know, that's you're kind of digging in there, right? You're you're making us all stop and look, look at ourselves on that one. So check your motive.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah, and this is kind of a deep one, you know, because it it's almost, you know, when you're sharing an idea with the leader, your goal never should be to make yourself look better or make somebody else look bad. You know, if your motive is like, hey, I'm gonna bring this to them, I'm gonna prop myself up, or I'm gonna bring this to them to knock somebody else down, that's not the way that that you should be communicating. And uh and that that motive, one, is not a good one. Too, at some point it's gonna backfire on you. The motive that we should all have, and we're communicating on the job, is hey, let's push the mission forward. What can we do to get better? How how can we do better at getting the job done? You know, not to prop yourself out up to get ahead or not to knock somebody else down to get back at them or anything like that. Keep a pure motive.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Yeah, so day-to-day life, you know, a conversation that I've heard recently from one of my kids' sports teams, the coach said, Look, I'm not willing to talk to anybody about what position you want to play or what playing time you want or what another kid's doing. If you want to talk to me about how you can get better, I will talk to you about that, and I will help you get to that point. But any of that other stuff, it ain't happening. And that that's right, that's kind of a sports analogy for motive, right? It's the same thought process, same thought process.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

How can I get better? Right. And keep the he said, she said, yeah, yeah, and negative, this, that, and the other. Nah, let's simplify it. How can we get better?

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, and I mean, at the end of the day, that's really a turn off, right? That's a turn off. So if you want to grow, if you want to move up, check your motive. Ask, hey, what can I do better? Yeah. Yeah. So good great point there.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

You're sharing ideas because you want to help the organization win, not just point out problems. Yep. Just pointing out problems doesn't do anything. Bring some solutions, you know. And in the middle of that, you know, stay open-minded. You know, remember that if you're approaching a leader, like you got to understand you probably don't have all the information, especially the information that they do. So even if what you're bringing to your leader isn't perfect, maybe it opens the discussion about a good solution that can be worked on. Um, but stay open-minded because they're probably operating with a different set of plans and a different set of information that that you don't have access to yet. So stay open-minded when you're you're coming to them. Check that motive. And your supervisor, remember, is is gonna rather hear someone who has potential solutions than just hear about problems.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yeah, no doubt. So, point number four, moving on, your point number four is show initiative. Show initiative. What are you thinking there?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Yeah, you know, and so I think this is one of those that it's it's more along proving the improving the relationship as a whole, you know, there's a lot of our communication that can be nonverbal. And if a leader observes somebody that is hustling, showing initiative, doesn't always have to be told what to do, uh, they're gonna take note of that. You know, so if you want to gain trust and influence, think about it this way. If you're out there, what can you do to lighten your leader's load? What can you do to take something off their plate? Find something that needs to be done and do it. You know, there's there's plenty of guys out there that are looking for a work day that involves as little as possible. Yeah. You know, our our society's filled with it.

unknown 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Filled with people that that want to get paid for doing as little as possible. Don't be one of those people. You know, if you get done with your task and what you're doing, there's always something to do. Even if it's something minimal and simple, you're staying busy, you're working. Guess what? You're your your supervisor's going to take note of that. You'd be somebody that's showing initiative. The best crew members don't need to be told what to do because they find important things to do on their own. You know, and that's a non-verbal communication of like, hey, I'm here to work, I'm here to make things better. Even when it's my downtime, I'm finding ways to to make small impacts all throughout the day.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Yeah. Earn trust. Great word there. So a key thing right there in all that is initiative is nonverbal communication. Right. Right. You know, it really to me, it's how somebody holds themselves. It's how they position themselves in life, how they move through life. You know, those are the kind of people that show initiative are the ones that we want to be Wright Brothers people. Those are the people we want to surround ourselves with. Right. So great word right there. Great way to help with your relationship with the supervisor, show initiative. And then the last one you got here, Jared, number five, you know, you would think this is not rocket science, but it needs to be said. Number five, tell the truth.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Tell the truth.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Now, and this is a tricky one, you know, because it's, you know, when you're talking about relationships, and a lot of times we want to hand, you know, handle those carefully. But here's what a leader doesn't need. They don't need to be surrounded by a yes man or a yes woman, you know, somebody that's just, you know, doing whatever, whenever, just kind of a robot, you know, you'll lose credibility if if you're just a yes man or a yes woman, because truth always trumps flattery. If you care enough, you're gonna tell your leaders the truth. You're gonna you're gonna be somebody that's gonna not just like come in there guns blaze and say it like it is, but you're gonna tell the truth in the right spirit.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yeah. I mean, I would just say this from my perspective. Look, I've I've been blessed to be here at this organization for a long time. Jared, I've made a bunch of mistakes.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

He all have.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Right. I mean, I've made a bunch of mistakes, and I can remember one of the first really big mistakes I made was on the Walmart at Tiftonia. Oh no. We had a we had a set of plans come out. There was a set of changes on them. I didn't catch the changes because we were running 90 miles an hour. And there was some extra work on the plans that, hey, we didn't catch, right? And we were getting down to then the job, and the you know, the the general contractor was like, hey, you still gotta do this. And we were all like, what are you talking about? Like, well, go back and look at these plans.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Yeah. We were like, ah, great. Okay. And it was, you know, it was it was it was several thousand dollars worth of a problem. And I felt awful for it, right? I felt awful for it. So, you know, I had to meekly go walk into Steve's office and say, Hey, boss, I screwed up. Hey, I'm costing you money.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Okay. But the thing in that, it was a tough situation for me, but you know, I learned from it. My boss showed me grace, and because of that, you know, it kept a healthy discourse and a healthy conversation between the two of us. Yeah. Yeah. Because of that, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah. And so I think the the big principle in in this one, we're all gonna mess up. We're all gonna mess up. But when we do mess up, own it. You know, honesty, ownership. Hey, yeah, it happened. I gotta make this better. You know, own own the mistake. And then also if you're approached with, hey, the question, how can we make this better, be respectfully honest in your feedback. Absolutely. You know, not just you know, just being a yes man or a yes woman, but giving honest, true feedback with the right kind of attitude, being respectful. You know, so telling the truth, you know, own it in the mistakes, and then, you know, being clear and respectful and honest with you know, feedback that that you're asked to give about something. Yeah, being just being a truthful person.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Yeah, yeah. Good stuff, man. Good stuff. So, you know, once again, one of the big things we're trying to do here at Riot Brothers is we're trying to increase positive communication. We're trying to make sure that we're all communicating appropriately and well with one another. If we do that, you know, life gets better for all of us. Right. So these five tools here that we can improve our relationship with our supervisor, it's fabulous stuff. Just think about it. These five points again. When you meet, choose the right time. You know, just don't barge in. Choose the right time with your supervisor. Number two, be prepared for the conversation. Don't take it laxadasically. Have a point when you're talking to your leader. You know, they're they're they're busy, they're task-oriented people, they're trying to make it happen. Respect their time. Yeah, there you go. Three, check your motive. Check your motive. That's a great point. Check your motive. Don't don't be selfish in what you're doing. Check your motive. Show initiative, number four. What a what a huge deal that is. And last but not least, tell the truth.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Tell the truth. You talk about gaining rapport with somebody. If you are a person of truth, hey, that'll take you a long way in life, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Absolutely. Especially when we've got a society that is obsessed with shading things there different ways and trying to get ahead of the full person.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Oh Lord, that's a whole nother podcast, Jared. You're going going down that road. Right.

unknown 16:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

So, hey, I appreciate you putting this together. I mean, five tools to help you improve your relationship with your supervisor. Good stuff here. You know, Jared, you you are a wealth of knowledge when you go down this road with your past background of being a pastor. Good stuff. Appreciate you sharing this with us today. And with that, my man, I think this is kind of it, unless you've got anything else to add.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Nah, not until next time. Let's let's wrap it up. Hey, this is all stuff for every single one of us to get better. You know, these five things, simple tweaks and fixes, asking ourselves, hey, what can I do? Taking little evaluations of ourself on a daily basis, even if if it's if it's a little bit at a time, hey, if we get 1% better every day over time, we got good change going on. So uh that's gonna wrap it up for Talking Grit. Hey, until next time, have a safe day.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

That's gonna do it for this episode of Talking Grit. Thanks for listening, and thanks to everyone out there putting in the work day in and day out. If you liked what you heard, be sure to follow the show and share it with someone who knows the value of hard work. We'll catch you next time right here on Talking Grit.