If you know me, you know I love a good escape room. The kind where the clock is ticking, the puzzles are layered, and the only way out is through shared insight and collective problem-solving.

I’m highly competitive. I love to win.  But when I’m in that room, I’m not trying to win alone. I’m asking for ideas, pulling people in, celebrating the weirdest clues that don’t make sense yet, and keeping the energy high so we don’t become a chaotic team. Because I know: if someone in the room checks ou...

We recently worked with a food company pushing new products to market. The work was intense, but that wasn’t the issue. What was killing momentum? No one was clear on who owned what.

People were double-working, making assumptions, stepping on toes. Some team members shut down. Others burned out. Not because they weren’t capable—but because expectations were blurry, priorities kept shifting, and the system couldn’t support the speed of the strategy.

Even more telling? Three-quarters of the team...

If your daily stand-up is just a status update, you’re missing the point.

Because in food leadership, the way you use those 15 minutes reveals everything about how your culture works—or doesn’t.

👀 What You’re Really Communicating

Most leaders don’t realize it, but rhythms shape reality.
When your team shows up every day to “report out,” here’s what they’re learning:

• Speak fast, don’t ask questions
• We’re here to perform, not connect
• Leadership = efficiency, not support

That might not b...

Most leaders are great at pushing through.

It’s how they got to where they are—by holding on.
To responsibility.
To high standards.
To whatever it takes.

But here’s the truth no one tells you:

To grow as a leader, you have to learn how to release.

🔥 You can’t bring in new if you’re clinging to the old

Holding on feels safe. Even productive.
But in reality, the wrong patterns create noise, not clarity.

• Control
• Over-functioning
• Perfection-as-performance
• “Just get it done” leadership

Thes...

A reflection from Tia Glave, Catalyst Food Leaders

I didn’t have to unlearn control—I never led that way.

My childhood friends would tell you I’ve always had a flair for connecting with others and appreciating their uniqueness.  I am genuinely curious about people.  I strived to create an environment where each person can show up as themselves - even if it’s on the playground.

In my career, I leaned into this strength. I knew that teams work best when they feel connected, and I saw myself as ...

Being a Better Human: My Lifelong Quest

I would have never said that in my 20s. Back then, I had a therapist who gave me two daily prescriptions:
🌿 Spend 20 minutes in nature
🧘 Do yoga every day

At the time, I didn’t realize it, but those practices became my spiritual path. I’ve been a yogi for over 30 years—sometimes consistent, sometimes not—but always learning.

Returning to the Basics

Each fall, I come back to the basics: the Yamas and Niyamas, the ethical foundations of yoga. This year...

Let’s be honest: KPIs are everywhere.
 

You put dashboards on dashboards. Teams are tracking metrics like their lives depend on it.
Culture is squarely on the radar too—hence Gemba walks, value posters, town halls (and yes, you’ve done that too).

But if leadership doesn’t shift first, neither of those things will.

The Missing Third Success Factor

At Catalyst, we talk about three success factors that actually drive real change:

1. Outcomes (what goals you're aiming for)
   
2. Culture (how people ...

The moments you’re most under pressure are the moments your team and those around you remember most.

Not the calm days. Not the wins.
But the heat. The urgency. The curveballs.
That’s when leadership patterns get revealed—or rewritten.

And in food and manufacturing environments, pressure isn’t the exception. It’s the rhythm.

When firefighting becomes your leadership style

One of our clients—an operations leader in a national food brand—described their team dynamic like this:

“We’re so used to...

Here’s the truth most leaders won’t say out loud:

You’re already running out of time.

Not time in the year—but time to lead differently before 2025 becomes another blur of meetings, fires, and “maybe next quarters.”

We hear it from food industry leaders all the time:

“We meant to shift the culture this year… but we got caught up in the day-to-day.”

The pace of this industry doesn’t slow down. But leadership is a choice you make in moments—not quarters. And this season?  It might be your las...

You’ve got goals to hit before the year’s out.
Productivity targets. Culture shifts. Maybe even a major transformation in how your team works or leads.

But here’s the question most food leaders skip: Is your team actually ready for what you’re asking them to do?  Because if they’re not—and you haven’t checked—you’re not leading them to results.  You’re leading them to resistance.

The assumption that breaks culture.

At Catalyst, we work with food industry leaders who are running fast, aiming hi...

We’ve all been there.

You attend a webinar.
You journal in the morning.
You have the 1:1s. You check the box.

But if you're being honest… you're still leading the same way you always have. This is autopilot leadership. And the cost? It’s deeper than we realize.

What Is Autopilot Leadership?

Autopilot leadership happens when we think we’re doing the work of leadership—but we’re just going through the motions.

It sounds like:

• “I’m already a good listener.”
• “I went to that training last y...

In the fast-moving, cross-functional world of food manufacturing and operations, influence is essential—especially for those who don’t have direct authority. Maybe you're a quality supervisor needing production to adjust processes. Or a senior director driving a change initiative. In any of these roles, pushing people doesn’t work—not for long. Real influence isn’t about controlling outcomes. It’s about building trust-based relationships that make others want to move with you.

The Influence Myt...