IPMA Report: The Responsibility of Leaders
In June, nearly 130 in-plant managers converged on Greenville, South Carolina, for four days of insights, networking, and technology exploration at the 2026 In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference.
The leadership panel provided many useful lessons for in-plant managers. From left: Kelly Hogg (University of Texas at Austin), Sherri Isbell (University of Oklahoma), John Cruser (Bloomberg), and Jud Posner (Church of Scientology).
In one helpful session, four managers of large in-plants addressed the responsibility leaders have in guiding their teams and encouraging them to take initiative. On the panel were Kelly Hogg (University of Texas at Austin), Sherri Isbell (University of Oklahoma), and John Cruser (Bloomberg), with Jud Posner (Church of Scientology) moderating the discussion.
The panel discussed strategies for developing initiative in staff and getting them to take ownership, emphasizing the importance of identifying and supporting proactive employees. They shared personal anecdotes illustrating how they empower team members, such as allowing them to solve problems and make decisions.
“I tell my employees, do not bring me a problem, bring me a solution,” said Isbell. “And I do have to admit, sometimes their solutions are better than mine.”
“It's all about open communication,” added Cruser, who encourages his staff to be open about discussing problems and offering ideas, rather than just dictating to them. “In the end they realize that they're the future and … this really needs to come from their side.”
Similarly, Hogg said that when he’s consulted about a problem on the shop floor, he first asks the employee what he or she thinks they should do.
“It gives them that chance to step back a little bit and start thinking about, ‘This is what I've tried,” and maybe they'll come up with a solution,” he said.
The leadership panel: Kelly Hogg (University of Texas at Austin), Sherri Isbell (University of Oklahoma), John Cruser (Bloomberg), and Jud Posner (Church of Scientology).
They shared anecdotes about staff who stepped up and took on more responsibilities without being told.
“Just give them that opportunity to build that confidence to take on that project and move with it,” said Hogg
“They're out there, so you just have to … develop that and encourage that and let them take that initiative,” said Posner.
And when employees come up with ideas, give them space to try them out. If they succeed, credit them with the win; if they flop, take the blame yourself.
The panel also stressed the importance of letting employees carry out tasks even when you’re tempted to do them yourself to save time. If you keep doing that, noted Hogg, “They're never going to learn how to do it, because you keep doing it. You’ve got to go into this knowing they're going to make a mistake somewhere.”
Isbell recalled a project she stayed late to finish and later realized she had missed an opportunity to expand her staff’s knowledge.
“I think when we keep things ourselves, that we are missing that opportunity to build our teams, to make our team stronger, and to share that knowledge with our teams,” she said.
When you delegate tasks, she added, thank them for accomplishing them, and if their solution is better than the one you came up with, tell them.
“If you can announce that publicly, that helps build that resilience and that strength in them, so that they'll continue to take on those tasks themselves,” Isbell said.
Leaders, they agreed, must learn to step back and allow their teams to grow.
The IPMA 2026 conference was filled with excellent sessions like this. We’ll bring you more highlights in the days ahead.
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Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited 200 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
