Tag: innovation

  • Driving Workforce Excellence in a Changing World

    Driving Workforce Excellence in a Changing World

    Highlights from Mary Ila Ward’s keynote at the 2025 Southern Automotive Conference

    At the 2025 Southern Automotive Conference, our very own Mary Ila Ward took the stage to explore a question that’s top of mind for every business leader today: How do we drive workforce excellence in a world that’s changing faster than ever?

    Drawing from more than 20 years of experience in workforce strategy, Mary Ila shared an engaging, thought-provoking keynote that connected history, data, and humanity to the future of work, especially in the automotive and manufacturing sectors that keep the South moving.

    Where We’ve Been

    Mary Ila began by taking the audience back to 1926, when Henry Ford introduced the 40-hour, five-day workweek—a radical change that reshaped the modern workplace. Nearly a century later, she challenged the crowd to consider whether that model still works in today’s “always-on” digital world.

    “We’re living with a 24/7/365 mindset,” she noted, “and it’s taking a toll on our health, relationships, and overall performance.”

    From there, she painted a picture of the societal shifts shaping our current reality (all of which she’s talked about before on The Point Blog): the decline of play-based childhood and the rise of phone-based childhood, falling birth rates, fewer working-age males, and shifting immigration patterns. “We simply aren’t replacing ourselves,” she said, in a wake-up call for industries already struggling to find and keep skilled workers.

    Where We Are

    The current landscape, as Mary Ila described it, demands both individual and organizational adaptability. Excellence starts with small, intentional habits, like these “three small habits” for personal excellence as described on The Mel Robbins Podcast:

    1. Move. Physical activity boosts focus, health, and resilience.

    2. Put the phone down. Disconnection fosters creativity, presence, and balance.

    3. Build relationships. Genuine human connection drives collaboration and engagement.

    Each of these habits was paired with a simple challenge, like doing daily push-ups, spending a set time “phoneless,” or writing gratitude notes, to illustrate how small shifts create lasting change.

    Modeling Excellence for Others

    Beyond personal habits, Mary Ila emphasized the responsibility leaders have to model excellence for their teams. That starts with living in alignment with one’s values and setting clear boundaries between work and personal life.

    “Don’t make people work outside of work hours, and don’t do it yourself,” she urged.

    She also encouraged leaders to have regular one-on-one meetings with their direct reports and to focus less on solving problems and more on developing people. Recommending our friends at Mind Your Culture and the Integrity Coaching® framework, she outlined a leadership approach built on recognition, trust, and accountability. “We develop excellence by helping others find their own,” she said.

    Where We’re Going

    Looking ahead, Mary Ila challenged organizations to expand the labor pool and rethink traditional work models. Solutions she highlighted included:

    • Considering the “Success Sequence” as one path to help more men enter and stay in the workforce.

    • Improving childcare availability, affordability, and access.

    • Supporting immigration reform that bolsters the labor force.

    • Investing in second chance programs (like Onin Flex) to reengage people returning to work.

    • Rethinking shift structures and flexible work arrangements to meet modern expectations.

    “Our workplaces need a paradigm shift,” she said. “Just like Henry Ford changed the model 100 years ago, it’s time for us to do the same.”

    Moving Forward

    Mary Ila closed her keynote with an invitation to lead differently, by starting small, focusing on people, and building communities of excellence across departments, organizations, and industries.

    The message resonated with attendees who left inspired to take practical steps toward stronger, healthier, more human-centered workplaces.

    Because as Mary Ila reminded the audience, “Driving workforce excellence starts with driving personal excellence—together.”

  • How To Toss Around Ideas

    How To Toss Around Ideas

    Today I saw a giant raccoon throw light bulbs to people at Space Camp. That’s a real sentence. 

    Sprocket, loveable mascot of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, threw Horizon Point stress balls – made to look like light bulbs – to attendees of the 2024 Launch Tank Competition. It was a wild and wonderful moment. But let’s back up. 

    John Kvach and his Singing River Trail team partner with LAUNCH and Innovate Alabama to host a business pitch competition for entrepreneurs in North Alabama, known as Launch Tank. “Our vision goes beyond the competition,” Kvach says. “We want to connect as many entrepreneurs to the Singing River Trail as possible, making North Alabama a better place to live, work, and play.”

    This year, Horizon Point supported Launch Tank as a Seed Sponsor. If you know Horizon Point, then you may know that Give Back is one of our operating values, and each year we intentionally earmark a portion of the budget to financially support an initiative or two that we believe in. So, this week’s blog is all about celebrating the innovation happening in our own backyard.

    Horizon Point is a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and we proudly support entrepreneurship and small business initiatives in our state. Mary Ila is an Advisor for EDPA’s Alabama Launchpad. I get to serve on the selection committee for Decatur Morgan CEO for high school students interested in entrepreneurship. We partner with The Catalyst, The E-Center, and the Alabama Network of Entrepreneurial Women. We believe in equal opportunity, and it’s a joy to support opportunity networks. 

    When Launch Tank Co-Chair Lisa Mays said she might throw our Horizon Point light bulbs to people, we didn’t know John Kvach and Sprocket would start throwing them on stage. We also didn’t realize how symbolic it would be to throw light bulbs at an event built on innovation until Lisa said, “They’re like ideas! We’re just tossing around ideas!” We could not have said it better ourselves. 

    We are so grateful for programs like these in our backyard, and it’s an easy decision to Give Back to Singing River Trail Launch Tank. After all, who doesn’t want to catch a light bulb from a raccoon? 

    Want more? Check out the featured clip below or this article from WHNT. See the full list of finalists from Quad Cities Daily.