Feature Stories
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Leaders Must Use Humor Wisely
June 28, 2011
As a worker in the coal mine and in various other organizational roles, I have come across a number of heavy teasers. If you are familiar with my work or my writing, you will know that I like humor. However,
American Mine Research Breaks Ground for Expansion
June 21, 2011
A well-established Bland County, Va., business that has a long record of meeting the underground communication needs of the coal mining industry, will be able to improve its products as well as its production capability thanks to a grant from
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Eliminate Behaviors That Don’t Make Sense
June 7, 2011
Coal mining in the 1970s had some curious traditions, which would be considered by most as absurd today. One of the traditions was the Friday afternoon exodus. An extremely emotional issue among miners is their ability to get out of
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Leaders Need to Protect Workers From Bad Attitudes
May 24, 2011
In the 1970s, superstition and fear of women in the coal mines was a combination of macho pride and old-fashioned sexist notions of the role of women in society. Many miners believed having women underground would take the men’s minds
Ready to Roll! Rulmeca Motorized Pulleys Positioned for Increased Mining Demand
May 17, 2011
The United States underground mining industry is showing signs it is ready to upgrade aging conveyor systems with Motorized Pulleys, and Rulmeca Corp. is poised to deliver. The Motorized (internally powered) Pulley technology was developed specifically for mining applications in
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Leaders Should Create an Open Environment
May 9, 2011
Coal mining throughout most of the 1970s was filled with various types of strikes. The wildcat strikes were the most unpredictable. The actual signal to strike or not to strike often occurred at the elevator doors. A strike leader would
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: The Best Leaders Use Respect, Not Bullying
April 19, 2011
During the three years I worked at the Meigs Number Two coal mine (1979-1982), I saw very few strikes. Across the country, wildcat strikes became much less frequent after the 1978 contract between the United Mine Workers of America and
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Motivation Results from Communication
April 5, 2011
When I was a supervisor in a coal mine in 1979, I had one of my most difficult motivating tasks. The mine, Y & O Coal Company, where I worked as a production foreman, had since the mine’s inception been
Industry Embraces Digital Media, Mining Connection Takes Off in First Year With 43,000 Subscribers
April 1, 2011
When Beth Terranova and her team launched the first United States-based online news service for the mining industry in September 2009, she knew it would fly, just not how fast or how high. Since then, Mining Connection L.L.C. has exceeded
Real Life Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons: Chaos and Leadership
March 22, 2011
Because of the myriad of changes imposed upon organizations recently, many of my clients speak of their organizations as immersed in chaos. I suggest that we will never eliminate chaos, only learn to structure it to some extent and respond
