Leadership Lessons from 2025: Insights from a Global Manufacturing Executive

In today’s dynamic manufacturing landscape, few leaders embody resilience and adaptability quite like Nashay Naeve, President of the Engineered Plastic Components Business Unit at Tsubaki-Nakashima. As one of the few women leading three global plants—located in Michigan, Italy, and the UK—Nashay oversees international operations from her home in Georgia. Her journey from mechanical engineer to global executive offers powerful lessons on leadership, change, and building high-performing teams in an ever-evolving world.

Reflecting on 2025, Nashay shared three key leadership lessons that guided her through a year marked by continued supply chain volatility, shifting workforce expectations, and the accelerating adoption of digital manufacturing technologies.

1. Adapt Strategy Locally

Global alignment doesn’t mean global uniformity. Nashay emphasizes the importance of empowering regional leaders to adapt strategies to their local realities. What works in Michigan may not work in Milan or Manchester. By granting autonomy and fostering trust, she’s found that teams become more engaged, more agile, and ultimately more successful.

In Lean terms, this reflects the principle of respect for people. Leaders must go to the “gemba”—the real place where value is created—to understand context and enable the best local solutions. A standardized system should never come at the cost of local wisdom.

2. Balance Breadth with Depth

As an engineer turned executive, Nashay credits her ability to lead effectively to having both breadth of perspective and depth of expertise. She encourages leaders, especially those in technical fields, to step outside their comfort zones—rotating through roles in operations, supply chain, or customer engagement to understand the full value stream.

This lesson aligns closely with Lean thinking. Continuous improvement requires seeing the entire system and understanding how each process affects the next. Developing “T-shaped” leaders—those with deep knowledge in one area and broad understanding across others—creates organizations capable of learning, adapting, and innovating at speed.

3. Reframe Risk as a Path to Learning

Perhaps Nashay’s most powerful insight is her approach to risk. She challenges her teams to “pilot and scale” rather than “plan and fear.” In a global manufacturing environment, perfection is unrealistic—experimentation is essential. Small, disciplined experiments create learning loops that strengthen organizational resilience and innovation.

This mindset echoes one of Lean’s most fundamental principles: kaizen, or continuous improvement through experimentation. Leaders who reframe risk as learning foster psychological safety, encourage innovation, and build cultures capable of thriving in uncertainty.

Leading with Purpose and Inclusion

Beyond the mechanics of operations and strategy, Nashay’s leadership philosophy centers on purpose and inclusion. She believes the future of industrial innovation won’t be defined solely by technology, but by leaders who combine clarity of vision with cultural intelligence and a commitment to developing people.

Her perspective serves as an inspiring reminder: great leaders don’t just drive efficiency—they cultivate capability, trust, and meaning. As organizations look ahead to 2026, these lessons offer a roadmap for leading with authenticity, agility, and impact.

Lean Takeaway:
Leadership in a global, complex world isn’t about control—it’s about connection. By empowering teams, embracing learning, and leading with purpose, we build not only stronger operations but stronger people.