As a professor for Barry-Wehmiller University, Brooke Bennett’s most valuable lesson isn’t what she teaches — it’s what she’s learned by listening to others.
Brooke’s Barry-Wehmiller journey began when she accepted an Administrative Assistant position in 2012 at Pneumatic Scale Angelus, now part of BW Packaging, Barry-Wehmiller's packaging machinery business, which offers a comprehensive range of filling, closing, labeling and end-of-line solutions, as well as fully integrated packaging lines.
Since then, Brooke has steadily advanced through roles in sales applications and property/event coordination. Today, as People Leader at BW Packaging’s Clearwater, Florida, facility, her responsibilities include recruiting, hiring and leading team members.
At other companies, Brooke’s role might be referred to as manager, but the leader terminology is an intentional aspect of Barry-Wehmiller's culture.
However, she didn’t always have “leaders” in the places she worked previously.
“This is a person I would have actually called more of a boss,” Brooke said. “And they did their best, I think, to care about team members. I don’t think it was intentionally anything malicious, but their style of leadership was stressful. What mood that boss was in that day was how the whole office felt. If they were in a bad mood, everyone was in a bad mood. If he was in a good mood, everyone was in a good mood. The culture shifted back and forth. There was not a lot of autonomy for yourself and how you felt in that culture.”
When Brooke joined Barry-Wehmiller, she immediately noticed that the culture was different from anything she had experienced before, providing a newfound sense of autonomy. As a People Leader, she believes it’s her calling to listen to those in her span of care and to treat them like they’re her family.
“When you are intentionally trying to change your culture and visualize your culture of what it could be, then how you talk about it matters,” Brooke said. “That’s why we say People Leader. That’s why we say team leaders. That’s why we say team members. That is showing that we care through our words.”
The words you speak are just as important as the words you hear, as Brooke learned in Barry-Wehmiller University, for which she is a professor. BW team members are all encouraged to take Listen Like a Leader, a course that sets the foundation for the organization's Truly Human Leadership culture.
“Most people think they’re great listeners,” Brooke said. “What Listen Like a Leader shows you is that maybe you’re not as good as you think you are. I think that’s the first step.”
Learning and having a continuous improvement mindset are key aspects of Barry-Wehmiller’s growth-oriented culture, but the greatest benefit isn’t work productivity or monetary gains; it’s improved relationships with others.
“When you realize the goal of this course is to teach people how to have a better connection with their team members, but also to have a better connection with their families, with their kids, with their loved ones,” Brooke said. “I think that changes the world.”
When your relationships with others improve, performance often naturally improves as a result.
“It’s the harmony as well,” Brooke said. “And that’s why we say people and performance in harmony. Truly Human Leadership is empathizing with the people you work with and not just looking at them like they’re dollar signs; it’s looking at them like they’re a part of your team.”
With over 50,000 installations in over 24 manufacturing locations worldwide, BW Packaging’s machines keep the world running in a physical sense — manufacturing pharmaceutical products, personal care items, food and everything in between. Yet it's the human connections made along the way that matter most.
As Barry-Wehmiller Chairman of the Board and former CEO Bob Chapman writes in his book Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, “When I am at the end of my life, I will look back and feel proud of all the lives we touched, not the machines we built or the money we made.”
Through Barry-Wehmiller University, Brooke has formed deep connections with others as a professor and as a student herself.
“Over the 13 years I’ve been here, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a lot of different Barry-Wehmiller University courses and meet team members of different backgrounds at other facilities,” Brooke said. “The bonding that was experienced in those classes was amazing. I think that speaks to our culture. I love that experience, and I want to see everybody have that experience throughout Barry-Wehmiller because that’s how you build a family.”
Better Work. Better World. is a video series designed to shine a
light on team members throughout the global Barry-Wehmiller
organization. Watch the video through the link above to hear more.