ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Nick Richards spent more than 13 years as a field service engineer at Cubic Transportation Systems before stepping into management. That experience sits close to the surface in everything he talks about in this episode.
He joins Sarah Nicastro to discuss what leaders get wrong about the frontline, why recognition so often misses the mark, and what a genuine commitment to knowing your team actually looks like in practice. He also talks about how Cubic is approaching diversity in hiring — including neurodiversity and women in engineering — and why he believes field service managers, not HR departments, should own the recruitment process.
This is a conversation for anyone leading a frontline team, or anyone trying to understand what today's field service workforce actually needs to stay and grow.
Topics covered:
- What top-level leadership consistently misses about the frontline role
- Why a simple "thanks" isn't always enough — and what actually lands
- Why Nick refuses to be called "boss"
- How Cubic is building more diverse field service teams
- Neurodiversity in field service hiring — seeing strengths, not risks
- Getting more women into field engineering roles
- What a better recruitment process looks like in practice
- Why managers should own hiring, not just HR
- What younger and more experienced engineers want from their leaders
- The changing nature of pride in the field service role
Guest: Nick Richards, Interim Head of Field Services, Cubic Transportation Systems
Host: Sarah Nicastro, Creator & Editor in Chief, Future of Field Service
