5 Leadership Lessons for Tradies from Senior Mechanical Engineer, Simon Flannery

Guest: Simon Flannery

Episode: Season 2, Episode 19

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Simon Flannery is a senior mechanical engineer at Malabar Resources' Maxwell Underground Mine. He started as a mechanical apprentice in 2013 and worked his way through trade, frontline, and middle management roles into senior leadership, facing the mate-to-manager transition each time. He's currently building a new mine site from the ground up, handpicking his team and setting the culture and standards from day one.

Here's what he's learned about leadership in mining:

Lesson 1: Have difficult conversations early

One of the toughest transitions in Simon's career was stepping into short-term leadership over people who'd been his peers the week before, then reverting back to being their coworker once the role ended.

The hardest version of that transition came when a tradesperson who'd mentored him through his own career later became one of his direct reports, and the working relationship hit friction.

"You need to have the challenging conversations from the outset," he says. "You can't go into that situation thinking that those individuals are going to treat you differently unless you bring it to the forefront early."

Waiting for the relationship to sort itself out rarely works, he's found; having the conversation early does.

Lesson 2: Build the culture before you build the team

Simon is currently helping stand up a brand new mine site, and says the most rewarding part hasn't been the construction; it's been building the team itself.

"Once you start to develop your long-term permanent workforce, building that team, getting to select those individuals, quite literally handpick them," he says, "you get to build the culture and set the scene for how we are going to operate as an organisation and as a team."

It's a rare chance most leaders don't get, and Simon shares that having a vision for team culture and standards from the start sets a foundation that’s hard to undo.

Lesson 3: Start with why to win over contractors

Short-term contractors are a different challenge again, people who know they're only around for six to eight months rarely feel the same ownership as a permanent crew.

"Just being told that you need to do something doesn't work," he says. "You need to start with why, and by and large 99% of the time people will accept that there's a reason for it."

The same principle, he's found, works just as well on apprentices and new starters as it does on contractors.

Lesson 4: How to build a safety culture that holds without you

In underground coal mining, the cost of a slipping standard is higher than almost anywhere else, so Simon leans on the same ‘start with why’ principle for safety.

"As soon as you get that message through that I'm doing this because I want you to go home," he says, "it becomes very clear to 99.9% of people."

Behind it is what he calls the mindset-behaviour loop: a poor mindset breeds poor behaviour, which breeds poor mindset in everyone else, and breaking that cycle starts with the small things, showing up, staying present, and not letting substandard behaviour slide.

Lesson 5: Why you need diverse teams for strong outcomes

Building a new team from scratch comes with a temptation: only hire the high performers. Simon pushes back on that instinct.

"I'm of the firm belief that a diverse team is an effective team," he says. "If you have a group of ten exceptional high performers, they've probably all got similar sorts of personality types, and generally groups of similar personality types don't actually get along very well."

A mix of strengths, he's found, holds a team together better than a room full of stars competing for the same space, even if it means managing the friction of people performing at different levels.

Simon’s Advice on Everyday Leadership

"Your attitude is the key one," he says. "Your attitude drives the outcomes of everything that you do and subsequently everything that your team does."

Whether you're stepping up for the first time or leading a team you've built from scratch, he believes the standard you hold for yourself is the standard your team will follow.

Catch the full conversation with Simon Flannery on Tradies Who Lead for more leadership lessons for tradies, out now wherever you listen to podcasts.