Ep 21: Why the Trades Keep Losing Good Workers with Devon Havenaar, Bad Leader

In this episode of Skilled AF, we sit down with Devon Havenaar – journeyman carpenter, construction supervisor, TEDx speaker, and founder of Bad Leader – a movement built on a simple premise: to help construction workers become who they were created to be. Devon journeyed out as a carpenter at one of the youngest ages in Canada, moved into supervision at 25, and has spent the years since untangling what good leadership on a jobsite actually looks like when the default is still "tyrannical, push your will on others."

We get into his RISE framework – Respect, Invest, Support, Educate – and why he believes the industry is wrong that workforce investment is too expensive. As Devon puts it: it costs more to do nothing. Devon opens up about his own dark winter a few years back, the suicide rate in the industry, and why psychological safety training belongs on every job site next to fall prevention and hazardous material training.

In This Episode:

>Devon's personal journey and what led him to found Bad Leader

>Why leadership in the trades is broken — and how to fix it

> Why "service" should be interchangeable with "leadership" in the trades

>Devon's own mental health story and why men in this industry are isolated

>How self-doubt shows up for tradespeople and how to move past it

>What being a good leader actually looks like day to day

>Carpenters Union training in Vegas and what the rest of the industry is missing

>Building a life you're proud of on and off the jobsite

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Guest info:

Devon Havenaar, Founder, Bad Leader

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Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: amanda@theskilledproject.com

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