On today’s McCoy Leadership Podcast, we dove into the art of closing the leadership gap in the trades with Traci Austin, an expert in HR and talent strategy. Traci shared how mentorship, strong onboarding, and creating clear career pathways are essential for retention and building leaders from within. We explored how exposing young people early to trade opportunities, aligning company culture, and challenging outdated mindsets can help solve the workforce shortage in construction. If you’re ready to elevate your impact and rethink your leadership approach, this episode is a must-listen!

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Here are my top 3 takeaways:

• Retention is the Real Game-Changer: With hiring expensive and the talent pool shrinking, investing in retention and building a strong culture is more important than ever. Traci emphasized the necessity of mentorship, talent pathways, and ongoing development to keep great people engaged and growing within your organization.

• Expose Youth to Career Options Early: Creating opportunities for middle and high school students to experience trades firsthand—and see what’s possible—makes a big difference. Traci shared how community engagement and hands-on exposure help reinforce that the trades offer not just jobs, but meaningful, long-term careers.

• Mindset Makes All the Difference: Leaders can’t just accept high turnover and talent shortages as inevitable. Traci challenged organizations to shift their mindset—think creatively about internal career paths, training, and flexibility to meet both business needs and evolving employee expectations.

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Links

Traci's Website

LinkedIn

Book Recommendation