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 -----Guest info:Devon Havenaar, Founder, Bad LeaderFollow on Instagram Connect with The Skilled Project:Founder, Amanda Luchetti; ✉️: amanda@theskilledproject.comFollow on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Like the podcast? 🎧Subscribe to the podcastLeave a kickass review Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.