Ed Wilson is Sawmill Manager at Northpine and a Leadership Development Programme 47 alumni.
This Kiwi Business Story is based on a podcast from 25 August 2022, and all figures quoted are from that time. You can enjoy the complete podcast here.
Who is Ed?
I’m pretty honest, open, committed and respectful. In my later career years I’m keen on achieving goals. I have a busy lifestyle and I’ve been in this industry a little while now but out of work I try to do family time (I have a couple of young boys), play rugby league and coach, and just try to pass on my life skills to my family and kids.
What is your career journey and how did you end up at Northpine?
I actually went back to front. Instead of planting, pruning, thinning and logging, I did it the other way around – logging, thinning, pruning and then planting, which I enjoyed. I did that for five years and then found Northpine, which was something different to do and that was 21 years ago. My forestry background gave me a foot in the door, but working in the sawmill is totally different to forestry.
So I had to start from the bottom, and rapidly progressed through the sawmill, learning all aspects of the mill. I went into a leadership role and then two years ago I stepped into a management role, so it’s been quite a long journey, an enjoyable journey.
Why would you leave if you like what you're doing and you enjoy the company, the people around you and your environment?
What are the challenges you're facing today?
Trying to find workers from this generation is hard – to convince them that though the industry is hard, keep at it and you will get better.
We’re also doing some work with some consultants. They do a lot of efficiency systems, computerised systems, how day-to-day companies run their businesses and there’s some good stuff coming out of it. We’re just trying to find a little bit – to make us a bit more efficient and effective on what we do. We know we can do it well, we’re just finding ways to make it easier for our guys out on the floor.
What does leadership mean to you?
The key phrase that comes to mind is, ‘guiding your team to achieve a common goal’. I’ve been in a leadership role for a little while now. You know the phrase, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink? As a leader, you have to find those good things to make your team drink water. Good leadership is having good morals about what you want to achieve and using positive attitudes.
Has there been a challenge and a highlight of your leadership journey so far?
As I said, the challenge for me is how to motivate the next generation to work, because you can't relate to them on how you were when you were coming through the ranks – it’s an entirely different generation. Firstly, you’ve got to get them engaged. In my day it was; you’re shown, you’re told and you did it. Today, you’ve got to support them along the way on how they do it, and I’m figuring out ways to work with this new generation, and I enjoy it. And then the highlight is being able to lead our team to achieve the goal – whether it’s work or on the footy field!
Tell us about your journey with The Icehouse? How did you hear about the Leadership Development Programme?
My general manager said ‘you should go for it, because you’re Māori!’ We had a good laugh about that! It was all about ‘forget about what you know in your management role’. I was excited, scared and optimistic. If I could do it again I’d definitely jump in again and sign up. It was a great experience and the people you meet… at first I felt out of my comfort zone because a lot of them came from corporates but we had a common theme of what we want to achieve.
From LDP you’ve done some coaching with David Fleming?
The big thing I got from having those sessions with David was about keeping it simple, backing myself and backing my ideas. He helped me with my project presentation and part of that was ‘just do it and go for it’ and bouncing off ideas with someone with experience made me more positive in the way I do things on a day-to-day basis.
He’s a knowledgeable guy and we can relate. We all relate to the same sort of goals, meeting production targets, efficiencies and all this, so we could talk commonly.
What excites you the most about your career journey and Northpine’s future?
I’m at a point in my life where I want more – stepping up, helping my team develop themselves – just giving back and getting them up to where they need to be.
It's been an awesome journey and I know where I’m going in the future and in the industry. I’m working on my diploma next year, learning more about the job… and just striving for excellence in every aspect. It’s an awesome industry to get into.