Every leader carries a weight the people around them never see.
In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John Staub and Travis Hall talk with Wesley Mast, president of Coppes Napanee, the 150-year-old Indiana cabinet company his family bought in 2017 to restore rather than replace. Wesley runs a shop of 25 employees and about 20 dealers, which adds up to roughly 50 people with 50 opinions and one person who has to decide. He explains how a degree in sign language interpreting taught him to read what a room is not saying, why retreating from his own team is the warning sign he watches for, and how he tells people the truth about the pressure without handing it to them. The conversation turns on a question most leaders avoid: what does it actually cost to ask? Wesley answers it with a letter to President Bush, a letter to Marcus Freeman, and a standing invitation to competitors to teach him their business.
Chapters
00:00 A Prayer for Wisdom and the Courage to Act
00:14 Meet Wesley Mast and Coppes Napanee
01:06 The Weight of 50 Voices
02:53 One Company, One Decision
04:51 Letting the Team See the Weight
06:34 A Sign Language Degree and a Sixth Sense
07:53 When Retreating Becomes the Signal
09:19 Superpowers You Have to Turn Off
11:09 Restoring Instead of Starting Over
14:16 The Courage to Ask
17:46 Humility Comes Before Courage
21:57 The Letter to President Bush
24:23 Wisdom Without Action
27:44 The First Question for Coach Freeman
Connect with the hosts and guest:
John Staub: / john-staub
Travis Hall: / travis-m-hall
Wesley Mast: / wesley-mast-4573b526
Coppes Napanee: https://coppesnapanee.com
Dataliction: https://dataliction.com
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