Leadership Heat Map

The Leadership Levers Heat Map

A live heat map of leadership in the electronics industry. Built from 140+ conversations with senior leaders across component manufacturing, manufacturer rep firms, distribution, and supply chain. Twelve challenges. Six levers. One reference for how leadership actually works in this industry.

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140+Conversations

12Leadership Challenges

6Leadership Levers

4,800+Engaged Leaders

Why This Heat Map Exists

Most leadership advice is generic. This heat map shows which lever matters for which challenge, built from real conversations with leaders across component manufacturing, manufacturer rep firms, distribution, and supply chain.

The Heat Map

How leadership actually works in electronics, distribution, and supply chain

Twelve leadership challenges run down the rows. Six leadership levers run across the columns. Each cell is scored High, Medium, or Low based on how strongly that lever shows up as the dominant lesson across the conversations that touch that challenge. Hover any cell to see it highlight.

Lever Strength L Low M Medium H High

	Trust building	Listening & feedback	Coaching & development	Strategic clarity	Decision discipline	Execution & accountability
1. Driving AI and digital adoption	H	H	H	H	M	M
2. Leading through change and disruption	H	H	M	H	M	M
3. Building and retaining technical talent	H	H	H	M	L	M
4. Leading across generations	H	H	H	M	M	L
5. Scaling teams and operations	M	M	M	H	H	H
6. Customer-centric growth in mature markets	H	H	M	H	M	M
7. Cross-functional alignment	H	H	M	H	M	M
8. Leading remote and hybrid teams	H	H	M	M	L	H
9. Building culture and values	H	H	H	H	M	M
10. Driving feedback and recognition	H	H	H	M	L	M
11. Succession and developing future leaders	H	M	H	H	M	M
12. Decision-making under ambiguity	M	H	M	H	H	H

Source: Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast catalog. © Sannah Vinding.

How to read the heat map

H (High): the lever shows up as the primary lesson across multiple episodes covering that challenge. The signature move.

M (Medium): the lever shows up as a contributing factor. Important, but not the headline.

L (Low): the lever rarely surfaces as the main answer for that challenge.

The Six Levers

What the columns mean

These six levers showed up most often when senior leaders across component manufacturing, manufacturer reps, distribution, and supply chain answered the question: how do you actually lead when complexity is high and the answer is not obvious?

Trust building

Sustained credibility with the people you lead, sell to, partner with, and report to. Vulnerability, transparency, follow-through.

Listening and feedback

Active intake before output. Curiosity, asking before telling, building feedback into the rhythm of work.

Coaching and development

Growing the next layer of leaders. Mentorship, knowledge transfer, deliberate stretch.

Strategic clarity

Naming the why, the priorities, and the boundaries so the team can move fast without losing the plot.

Decision discipline

How you decide under pressure. Slowing down to think, separating signal from noise, knowing what to act on.

Execution and accountability

Operating cadence, follow-through, building the systems that make repeat performance possible.

What the Heat Map Reveals

Three patterns every leader should take into their week

Trust travels everywhere

Trust building scores High on 11 of 12 leadership challenges. It is the one lever that holds across every challenge in electronics manufacturing, distribution, and rep firms. Build it first.

Strategic clarity is the operational backbone

It scores High on every operational row: scaling teams, cross-functional alignment, succession, decision-making under ambiguity. Trust alone will not save you when the work is operational.

Execution is the silent test

Execution discipline only scores High where the work demands non-negotiable systems. Scaling, remote teams, and decisions under pressure. The leaders who land use it where it matters most.

Evidence Behind the Heat Map

Click any row to see the conversations behind it

Every cell on the heat map is anchored in real conversations with senior leaders across the electronics value chain. Expand any challenge to see the strongest anchor episodes.

1. Driving AI and digital adoption

E141 Lonnie Power, Heilind Electronics. Knowing what AI gets right and what it does not.
E133 & E134 Ellen Albright, ETA Engineering Technology. Turning technical data into faster sales answers, without overwhelming the team.
E135 & E136 Tom Walker. Modernizing the manufacturer rep role with AI and smarter workflows.
E80 Don Avery, Waldom Electronics. Embracing technology and innovation in distribution.

2. Leading through change and disruption

E125 Amy Anahory, MicroPower Direct. A CEO learning to lead with trust, flexibility, and curiosity.
E99 Jaime Plank, Mouser Electronics. Balancing change and stability in global leadership.
E73 Michael Knight. Navigating new horizons and embracing change through technology.
E68 Tobi Cornell. Adapting to digital communication in electronics.

3. Building and retaining technical talent

E124 Andreas Brockmann, United Grinding. Preparing the next generation of manufacturing leaders.
E91 Mark Wachtel. Building a future-ready sales team.
E119 Ben Hamilton. Leading without a title and listening first.
E61 Robert Derringer. Inclusion and diversity in generating effective solutions.

4. Leading across generations

E127 Mark Adams. How to lead every generation on your team.
E128 Matt Cordell. Leading every generation with experience and trust.
E86 Eric Gleason. Millennial perspectives on manufacturing.
E141 Lonnie Power, Heilind. The generational shift in field sales.

5. Scaling teams and operations

E97 Terry Arbaugh, CCOM. Scaling manufacturing operations across borders.
E114 Pete Shopp, Mouser Electronics. Continuous improvement at scale.
E129 Kaitlyn Tredaway, CalcuQuote. Scaling from 2 to 75 globally with AI and trust.
E98 David Luna, Orion Fans. Localization and technology for global sales growth.

6. Customer-centric growth in mature markets

E141 Lonnie Power, Heilind. Trust when buyers already have the answers.
E69 Lori Bruno. Shifting focus from products to problem solving.
E78 Tom Wichert, TDK Lambda. Staying ahead with AI and online sales.
E122 Jacob Baldwin. Authentic stories that win technical buyers.

7. Cross-functional alignment (engineering, sales, marketing, ops)

E120 Jacob Baldwin, United Grinding. Marketing as a strategic partner in manufacturing.
E64 Maryellen Stack, Sager Electronics. Evolving role of marketing in manufacturing.
E76 Sander Arts. Marketing in electronics manufacturing.
E98 David Luna, Orion Fans. Localization and technology across functions.

8. Leading remote and hybrid teams

E129 Kaitlyn Tredaway, CalcuQuote. Remote teams with AI and trust.
E95 Greg Trainor, Banner Engineering. Strategic flexibility serving customers anywhere.
E108 Michael Lotfy Gierges, Schneider Electric. Cross-region collaboration at scale.

9. Building culture and values

E108 Michael Lotfy Gierges, Schneider Electric. Winning culture, kind not nice.
E109 Manny Brunson, Carlton-Bates. Why core values matter in leadership.
E67 Shane Zutz, DigiKey. People-first values with transparent leadership.
E101 Panel. The values that guide leaders.

10. Driving feedback and recognition

E112 Damien Croft (Norcom) and Shane Zutz (DigiKey). Feedback culture that drives team growth.
E113 Damien Croft and Shane Zutz. The role recognition plays in leadership success.
E103 Panel. Why feedback is so important in leadership.
E92 Damien Croft, Norcom. Empathy and blameless problem solving.

11. Succession and developing future leaders

E142 Jeff Newell, President of Mouser Electronics. Building your successor is the real leadership test.
E124 Andreas Brockmann, United Grinding. The next generation of manufacturing leaders.
E117 Joshua Nix, Mouser. The shift from manager to director.

12. Decision-making under ambiguity

E89 Deb Speer. The art of asking questions in manufacturing leadership.
E92 Damien Croft, Norcom. Blameless problem solving.
E102 Panel. How to evaluate and enhance your leadership skills.
E121 Panel. Real answers from real leaders.

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Read by 4,800+ leaders across the electronics value chain.

Who Built This

About Sannah Vinding

Sannah Vinding is an engineer by training and a go-to-market leader by practice. She has spent her career inside the electronics and semiconductor industry, working at the intersection of product, marketing, and sales.

She created Leadership in Manufacturing to bring real, unfiltered leadership conversations to the senior leaders running teams across component manufacturing, manufacturer rep firms, distribution, and supply chain. The Leadership Levers Heat Map is her synthesis of 140+ of those conversations into one live, interactive reference.

Her audience trusts the work because she speaks their language. The conversations are specific to how electronics, components, distribution, and reps actually operate. Not generic leadership advice repurposed from somewhere else.