John M. Zurborg: Business and Executive Coach

At a glance

Useful for paid coaching on manufacturing operations, KPIs, automation buy-in, and continuous improvement.

Best for

A privately held precision manufacturer seeking coaching on scaling, shop-floor metrics, and automation buy-in.

Not for

A vendor wanting sponsored product campaigns, technical demos, or measured reach into engineers.

Key takeaways

A fabrication team tracked scrap, customer returns, and rework at employee, department, and company levels.
Automation worked when employees were involved from the start; equipment went unused when they were not.
Revisiting a five-dollar processing fee reportedly added $50,000 to a company's bottom line.

Check first: Confirm current reach, audience data, and that this is paid coaching, not sponsorship.

Main ideas: Measurement pays off only when every role owns a number · Automation and AI succeed or fail on culture and trust, not technology · Growth exposes old assumptions, and small reversals compound
Audience: 1,326 LinkedIn followers · 8 posts, published 26 March 2025 to 20 July 2026 Posts with audience-relevant content signals
Read first: Everyone in your business should have a number

Sources for this section

What they are known for

John M.

Zurborg is a FocalPoint business and executive coach whose work draws on experience leading a precision sheet metal fabrication company.
Their posts focus on helping businesses grow while improving how they operate: setting measurable quality targets, involving employees in automation, and revisiting decisions that no longer fit a growing company.
They also write about peer learning and leadership.
Ask for examples of earlier work beyond manufacturing and coaching if those are relevant to your selection.

Zurborg connects management advice to specific operating examples.

In one account, a fabrication team tracked scrap, customer returns, and rework, with quality measures assigned at employee, department, and company levels.
In another, they say automation worked when employees were involved from the start, but equipment went unused when they were not.
A separate example shows how revisiting a five-dollar processing fee reportedly added $50,000 to a company’s bottom line.
Together, these posts offer practical lessons on the links between growth, measurement, employee ownership, and day-to-day decisions.
The examples are their own accounts; ask for the linked long-form articles if you need more detail.

Sources for this section

Ideas and priorities

Across eight LinkedIn posts, John M.

Zurborg argues from operator experience rather than frameworks.

The recurring ideas: measurement matters when it creates ownership at every level of a business; automation and AI fail on culture and trust long before technology; growth quietly exposes outdated assumptions that a small change can unlock; improvement is a daily habit spread through frontline ideas, not a periodic project; and leaders develop fastest in confidential peer groups that help them ask better questions.
The coaching practice they describe draws on the same manufacturing background and adds structured hiring assessments.

Measurement pays off only when every role owns a number

Zurborg's most repeated operational argument is that tracking performance is not the point; giving people responsibility for a number is.

A business can be "better than average" and still lose because "fine" is a comfortable target that produces no push.

The fix is to set metrics that aim for the top of an industry and assign them at three levels: each production employee, each department, and the company as a whole.
This is the operational spine of Zurborg's advice to owners about scaling processes.

At a precision sheet metal fabrication company Zurborg owned, the quality manager believed the business was doing fine.

The team tracked in-process scrap, customer returns, and rework rates, set targets intended to place them in the top 10% of the industry, and gave every production employee and department its own quality metric.
Zurborg reports faster problem identification, continuous improvement becoming routine, Supplier of the Year awards, high customer satisfaction, and stronger financial results.

Read original · Original 2

Automation and AI succeed or fail on culture and trust, not technology

Zurborg treats technology adoption as a leadership and communication problem.

Equipment installed without involving the people who operate it tends to sit unused; introduced with frontline involvement, it becomes something a team takes pride in.

The implication is that automation and AI initiatives should be scoped as change management first and technical projects second.
Zurborg extends this to small businesses, framing AI as a way to level the playing field—but only through education and training, not a straight software purchase.

As CEO of Skilcraft, Zurborg integrated automation across laser systems, robotic welders, and automated powder coating lines.

They say it worked when the team was involved from the start and sat unused when it was not, and point to a Fabricator article on what worked and what did not.
On AI, Zurborg moderated a Goering Center roundtable with two guests, Rich Hempel and Jarrod Anderson of Syrv, who presented AI strategy, integration, and development.
As Zurborg relays it, the guests claim AI's impact could outpace the PC and the internet for small and family-owned businesses by improving workflows, team performance, and decision-making.

The automation post draws on Zurborg's experience as an executive on the plant floor. The later AI post shifts to hosting outside specialists and referring clients to them, signaling where they expect to add value and where to bring in technical partners.

Read original · Original 2

Growth exposes old assumptions, and small reversals compound

A second recurring theme is friction caused by decisions nobody revisits.

Practices that were reasonable at low volume harden into the business model and remain as the company scales. Zurborg argues that owners under growth pressure are least likely to notice, which is where an outside coach earns their keep: prompting the leadership team to step back and re-examine what it has outgrown.

A company Zurborg was involved with had never charged for programming software keys.

As volume grew, the practice went unexamined until a VP of Manufacturing proposed a $5.00 processing fee per programming job.
Zurborg reports that the change added $50,000 to the bottom line without creating any new product.
The same logic appears in the KPI example, where "fine" was the assumption to discard before performance could change.

Read original · Original 2

Improvement is a mindset shared with the frontline, not a project or retreat

Zurborg argues that improvement gets wrongly boxed into quarterly meetings, departments, or offsites, when the best ideas come from the people doing the work every day.

If a team does not feel invited to speak up, it will not, and the business loses ideas that could make it more efficient and resilient.

Leadership starts the culture, but improvement thrives only when everyone feels responsible for progress.
This is a priority rather than a method: who gets to contribute determines whether improvement is real.

Writing about tariffs and the push to bring manufacturing back to the United States, Zurborg says American companies have to change to take advantage of the moment, and that improvement is a mindset rather than a project. They close by asking readers how they create space for their team to bring forward new ideas.

This post leans partly on a shared FocalPoint article rather than Zurborg's own case material, so the firsthand observations are thinner than in the KPI, automation, and pricing posts.

Read original

Leaders grow through confidential peer groups and better questions

Zurborg treats peer accountability as growth infrastructure, not a networking perk.

A round table offers not answers handed down but a confidential place to test decisions, hear how leaders in unrelated industries handle similar problems, and stay focused on what matters. As Zurborg puts it, the strongest leaders do not have all the answers; they surround themselves with people who help them ask better questions.

Zurborg describes years of participation in Goering Center Round Tables and now moderates one for leaders from finance, technology, nonprofit, and professional services.

The benefits include trusted relationships, a confidential environment for business and personal challenges, exposure to practices from other industries, accountability, and a sounding board.
Zurborg invites owners, executives, sales leaders, and managers to reach out about the experience.

Read original · Original 2

A coaching practice grounded in having run the plant

Zurborg's authority claim is operational, not academic: owning a precision sheet metal fabrication company and serving as CEO are the basis for advising owners.

The practice targets business owners who are growing, scaling, or preparing for an eventual exit, plus some executives.

It uses structured behavioral assessments for hiring and culture fit to help put the right person in the right seat.
Capacity is limited by design, which shapes what an engagement looks like.

Ten months after launching a FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching practice, Zurborg reported coaching nine clients across manufacturing, financial services, professional services, and education, with a stated goal of working with 10 to 15 at a time and room for a few more.

They say clients especially value DiSC/TTI assessments for hiring, team building, and culture fit.
At a Focal Point conference in Boston, Zurborg described a coaching relationship that began after a generational ownership change following the father's death left the business in dire financial straits.
The post says the business recovered financially and expanded sixfold, and that the owner reached a better balance as a young husband and father.

Read original · Original 2 · Original 3 · Original 4

The same argument, delivered the same way: lesson, resource, question

Zurborg's posts share a recognisable shape: a specific first-person observation, a short practical list or a named number, a link to a longer article, and a question that hands the thread back to readers.

Some add contact details or an invitation to connect. The pattern helps readers distinguish substantive posts from pointers to writing published elsewhere.

The KPI post ends by asking whether readers use KPIs to drive ownership; the automation and continuous-improvement posts link to longer articles in The Fabricator and FocalPoint and ask about wins, challenges, and how teams make space for new ideas. The coaching and AI posts close with an email address, a phone number, or an offer to connect.

Read original · Original 2 · Original 3 · Original 4 · Original 5 · Original 6

Sources for this section

Start with their work

Everyone in your business should have a number

It shows what Zurborg did to improve a manufacturing operation, not just what they recommend.

A newcomer can see the KPI mechanics and the factory-floor origins of the advice.

Zurborg describes running a precision sheet metal fabrication company that was better than average but not industry-leading.

The team tracked in-process scrap, customer returns and rework rates, set targets aimed at the top 10% of the industry, and gave every production employee, every department and the company its own quality metric.
The post says this led to faster problem identification, made continuous improvement routine, and brought Supplier of the Year awards and strong financial performance.
Zurborg closes by asking readers whether they use KPIs to drive ownership.

For brands planning a campaign

For a brief on scaling processes and measurement, this is the clearest evidence that Zurborg has set and run operational metrics. Open a coaching conversation about metric ownership, not dashboard design.

Automation won't work if your people don't trust it

It shows how Zurborg thinks about technology adoption alongside people and culture, the harder half of most manufacturing improvement programs.

As CEO of Skilcraft, Zurborg says they integrated automation across the business, including laser systems, robotic welders and automated powder coating lines.

The automation only worked when the team was involved from the start.
When people were not involved, equipment sat unused; when they were, it became a source of pride.
Zurborg points to an article they wrote for The Fabricator sharing what worked and what did not.
The article is linked.

For brands planning a campaign

For an automation-culture brief, this supports a coaching angle on change management and frontline involvement. The linked Fabricator article is the natural next read for specifics.

AI as a small-business game-changer

It shows where Zurborg stands on AI adoption for owner-led and family businesses, and that they bring outside specialists into the conversation.

Zurborg moderated a Goering Center roundtable with Rich Hempel and Jarrod Anderson of Syrv on AI strategy, solutions, integration and development.

The post says AI levels the playing field for small and family-owned businesses by improving workflows, team performance and decision-making.
Zurborg identifies themselves as a small-business owner and electrical engineer, and says they encourage coaching clients to adopt AI.
They include a contact email and phone number.

For brands planning a campaign

For a brief that touches on automation or AI-enabled operations, ask whether Zurborg can connect you with an AI resource; they do not position themselves as a technical implementer.

A five-dollar processing fee and fifty thousand dollars

It is a concrete example of how a small operational decision compounds, and shows Zurborg turning a specific number into a coaching lesson.

Zurborg describes a company that had never charged for programming software keys.

As volume grew, the practice went unreviewed.
A VP of manufacturing proposed a $5.00 processing fee per programming job, and the change added $50,000 to the bottom line without any new product.
Zurborg's point is that growth exposes outdated assumptions and that coaches help owners step back and evaluate decisions that no longer fit.

For brands planning a campaign

For a scaling brief, this is a useful example of revisiting inherited pricing or process assumptions. It also shows that Zurborg works from named business cases rather than general frameworks.

High-performing leaders rarely grow alone

It shows what a coaching relationship with Zurborg can include beyond one-to-one work and how they approach peer learning.

Zurborg describes their experience in Goering Center Round Tables, confidential peer groups where leaders discuss business and personal challenges, share practices across industries and hold each other accountable.

They now moderate a table with leaders from finance, technology, nonprofit and professional services.
The stated value is better questions, not ready-made answers.
The post invites owners, executives, sales leaders and managers to reach out.

For brands planning a campaign

For a manufacturing owner weighing support options, the peer-group thread is a distinct offer to explore. It also shows a Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati regional network.

Ten months into a FocalPoint coaching practice

It shows what Zurborg's practice looks like in their own words: client mix, focus areas, assessment tools and capacity.

Zurborg marks ten months since launching a FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching practice.

They report coaching nine clients across manufacturing, financial services, professional services and education, mostly owners focused on growing, scaling or preparing for an eventual exit.
They also coach executives and facilitate a Goering Center Round Table.
Zurborg says clients value DiSC/TTI assessments for hiring, team building and culture fit, and names a target of 10 to 15 clients at a time.

For brands planning a campaign

For a manufacturing brief, this confirms Zurborg is taking clients and uses structured assessments. Useful for scoping a first engagement.

A coaching agreement and a sixfold turnaround

It shows what Zurborg says a coaching engagement can produce, with a specific outcome attached.

At the 2025 Focal Point Conference in Boston, Zurborg describes a client engagement that began after a generational ownership change following the father's death, when the business was in dire financial straits.

The post says the coaching relationship led to a financial recovery and sixfold expansion, and that the owner reached a balanced work-life dynamic as a young husband and father.
They also explain the decision to acquire a FocalPoint franchise a year earlier: to help owners and leaders build more fulfilling lives through their businesses.

For brands planning a campaign

For a manufacturing owner evaluating a coaching engagement, this is the closest thing here to a case study. Ask Zurborg for independent verification of the results.

Sources for this section

Topics and approach

Posts cited for each topic

LinkedIn format: lesson post, resource link, comment prompt6

Manufacturing operator experience as a foundation4

Coaching practice focused on scaling, exits and hiring fit2

Using KPIs to create ownership across a manufacturing business1

Automation adoption depends on culture and frontline involvement1

Continuous improvement as a daily mindset, not a project1

Growth creates friction when old assumptions go unrevisited1

Confidential peer round tables as leadership infrastructure1

AI adoption for small business with education and training1

Using KPIs to create ownership across a manufacturing business

Zurborg argues that everyone in a business should have a number, not just to track performance but to drive ownership.

Drawing on a precision sheet metal fabrication company, they describe tracking in-process scrap, customer returns, and rework rates, setting targets in the top 10% of the industry, and giving every production employee, department, and the company a quality KPI. The reported result was faster problem identification, continuous improvement as a working norm, Supplier of the Year awards, high customer satisfaction, and strong financial performance.

First-person operator story with named metrics, an explicit target, and reported business outcomes.

For brands planning a campaign

A campaign for manufacturing software, quality systems, or operations consulting can connect with an audience that already thinks in KPIs. The strongest angle is not dashboard features but how a specific metric, visible at every level, changes ownership and problem-solving.

Examples: Source 1

Automation adoption depends on culture and frontline involvement

Zurborg writes that automation fails when people do not trust it.

At Skilcraft, where they served as CEO, automation was integrated across laser systems, robotic welders, automated powder coating lines, and more.

The post says it worked when the team was involved from the start and sat unused when they were not.
They also link to a Fabricator article on what worked, what did not, and what leaders should consider before an automation initiative.

Executive firsthand account paired with a trade-publication article.

For brands planning a campaign

Automation vendors and integrators should lead with change management and worker participation rather than a pure technical pitch. A campaign can use Zurborg's distinction between installed equipment and adopted equipment to reach plant managers and executives.

Examples: Source 1

Continuous improvement as a daily mindset, not a project

In a post about tariffs and U.S. manufacturing, Zurborg argues that improvement is not a project but a mindset.

The best ideas usually come from the people doing the work every day, and if teams do not feel invited to speak up, they will not. They say a culture of continuous improvement starts with leadership but thrives when everyone feels responsible for progress.

The post is partly a share of a FocalPoint article, so the original observations are thinner than in Zurborg's firsthand case posts.

For brands planning a campaign

For manufacturing resilience, innovation, or employee-engagement campaigns, the practical hook is how leaders invite frontline ideas. The post can support messaging about everyday improvement systems rather than periodic retreats or one-off programs.

Examples: Source 1

Growth creates friction when old assumptions go unrevisited

Zurborg describes a company that never charged for programming software keys.

As volume grew, the practice stayed in place until a VP of Manufacturing proposed a $5.00 processing fee for each programming.

They report that the change added $50,000 to the bottom line without creating a new product.
The point is that growth reveals outdated assumptions, and coaches help owners step back and reassess decisions under pressure.

Short mini-case with a specific process change and dollar result.

For brands planning a campaign

Coaching, pricing, and operational consulting campaigns can use this small-change-big-result story as a concrete reason to audit inherited processes. The $50,000 outcome gives the argument a measurable anchor.

Examples: Source 1

Confidential peer round tables as leadership infrastructure

Zurborg says one of the most valuable investments in professional and personal growth has been participating in Goering Center Round Tables.

The benefits named include trusted relationships, a confidential environment for business and personal challenges, exposure to best practices across industries, accountability, and a sounding board. They now serve as a Round Table Moderator for leaders from finance, technology, nonprofit, professional services, and other industries, and invite owners, executives, sales leaders, and managers to learn more.

For brands planning a campaign

Executive coaching, peer networks, and community platforms can position confidential peer accountability as growth infrastructure. Zurborg's moderator role supports a campaign around facilitated groups rather than a solo expert offer.

Examples: Source 1

AI adoption for small business with education and training

Zurborg moderated a UC Goering Roundtable with Rich Hempel and Jarrod Anderson from Syrv, described as AI strategy and solutions experts.

The post presents AI as a game-changer for small businesses that levels the playing field, improves workflows, team performance, and decision-making. They say AI's impact could outpace the PC and internet and encourage coaching clients to adopt it; the post includes a Syrv link and their coaching contact.

The post is promotional for Syrv and Zurborg's coaching practice; it is evidence of topic and stance, not an independent evaluation of results.

For brands planning a campaign

AI solution providers targeting small and privately held businesses can pair adoption with education and training. The roundtable framing gives a credible way to reach owners who are curious but not yet technical.

Examples: Source 1

Coaching practice focused on scaling, exits and hiring fit

Zurborg launched a FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching practice and, ten months later, reported coaching nine clients across manufacturing, financial services, professional services, and education.

Most were business owners focused on growing, scaling, or preparing for an eventual exit; they also coached executives and facilitated a Goering Center Round Table. A specific client value area is using DiSC/TTI assessments for hiring, team building, and culture fit, with a goal of working with 10-15 clients at a time.

For brands planning a campaign

Brands targeting SMB owners and executive teams can look to Zurborg for practical content on right person/right seat decisions, succession, and scaling. The assessment angle is a concrete entry point for HR-tech or talent campaigns.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Manufacturing operator experience as a foundation

Zurborg draws authority from manufacturing roles and owner experience: owning a precision sheet metal fabrication company, serving as CEO at Skilcraft, citing a VP of Manufacturing, and writing about automation, tariffs, quality and continuous improvement.

That operator lens runs through the KPI, automation, growth-friction and improvement posts.

Recurring first-person operator examples across multiple posts.

For brands planning a campaign

Industrial and manufacturing B2B campaigns can position John M.

Zurborg as a firsthand operator voice, not just a coach.
Concrete plant-floor examples can make technical or process messages more credible.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

LinkedIn format: lesson post, resource link, comment prompt

The posts follow a repeatable format: a first-person observation or problem, a short practical list or example, a link to an external article and a question inviting comments.

Some include contact details or a call to connect. The format appears in the automation, continuous-improvement, KPI and growth-friction posts.

For brands planning a campaign

A sponsored collaboration can follow the native format: lead with a specific lesson, share an inspectable resource and invite comments. Brand messages should fit that structure rather than interrupt it.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5 · Source 6

Sources for this section

Brands and businesses

John M.

Zurborg's posts connect them to a short list of businesses.

They own a FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching franchise and run a coaching practice under that brand.
They previously served as CEO of Skilcraft, a manufacturing company where they led automation work, and moderate a Goering Center Round Table peer group for business leaders.
They also point readers to Syrv, an AI firm; The Fabricator, a trade publication; and TTI, an assessment provider, without describing commercial relationships with any of them.
One post describes owning a precision sheet metal fabrication company but does not name it, so its brand is not listed.

FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching

Owned business

About a year before posting about the 2025 Focal Point Conference in Boston, Zurborg says they acquired a FocalPoint franchise.

They run a business and executive coaching practice under that brand, coach clients and take new engagements. They list a FocalPoint Coaching email address for contact.

View example

Goering Center

Disclosed partnership

Zurborg moderates a Goering Center Round Table in northern Kentucky, a confidential peer group for leaders in finance, technology, nonprofits and professional services.

They also write about their experience as a participant. Ask whether the moderator role is paid or volunteer.

View example

Skilcraft

Employment

Zurborg says they served as CEO of Skilcraft, where they integrated laser systems, robotic welders and automated powder coating lines.

They draw on that experience when advising clients on automation adoption.

View example

Syrv

Mention

Zurborg moderated a Goering Center roundtable featuring two Syrv principals, who presented on AI strategy and integration for small businesses.

Their write-up links to the firm's site; no commercial relationship is stated.

View example

The Fabricator

Mention

Zurborg wrote an article for The Fabricator about what they learned at Skilcraft about automation and shop-floor culture, then shared it with a LinkedIn audience.

View example

TTI

Mention

Zurborg says coaching clients value their use of DiSC/TTI assessments for hiring, team building and culture fit.

They describe the tools as part of their practice, not as a sponsorship or partnership.

View example

Sources for this section

Topics and similar creators

John M.

Zurborg writes from the position of someone who has run the plant.

Start with posts built on firsthand operating experience: quality metrics owned at every level, automation that only worked when the team was involved, and the $5.00 programming fee that added $50,000.
Then explore posts about peer round tables and AI for small business.
To dig into the reasoning behind the recommendations, follow the links to longer pieces in The Fabricator and FocalPoint, which sit behind several of these posts.

Business coaching Executive coaching Manufacturing leadership KPIs and metrics Continuous improvement Automation adoption AI for small business Peer round tables Growth and scaling Hiring and culture-fit assessments Sheet metal fabrication First-person case examples LinkedIn posts Business owners Manufacturing executives

Nicholas Parton, MBA

Both write about manufacturing operations from inside the work rather than from a framework.

Parton describes building a SAP-fed production tracker that connected planning, NC programming, machining, quality, and inventory so an integrated product team worked from one picture. Both treat cross-functional alignment as the real lever behind execution, explaining operational problems through specific systems or processes they helped put in place.

Parton writes as an in-house program and digital-transformation specialist inside a large aerospace organization, focused on enterprise systems, program management, and visibility across many functions. Zurborg writes as an owner and coach for small and midsize companies, focusing on ownership, culture, and peer accountability rather than enterprise program execution.

Read original · Original 2

Mike B.

Both give practical manufacturing and aerospace guidance to people making career or operating decisions.

Mike B. argues that a quality management system is infrastructure for scale rather than bureaucracy, citing studies on ISO 9001 and its links to operational and financial performance.

Separately, Mike B. advises new engineering graduates on building a personal brand.
Zurborg makes a similar case for KPIs, quality metrics, and continuous improvement from firsthand experience.

Mike B. supports the argument with named academic studies and writes about quality systems for startups, as well as career mentoring for engineers. Zurborg sticks to personal operating stories and coaching business owners, with almost no research citations and more emphasis on culture, trust, and peer groups.

Read original · Original 2

James Thrasher

Both watch the same metal fabrication industry from a close vantage point and turn what they see into a short argument.

Thrasher reads The Fabricator's FAB 40 data and picks out speed and easy buying as what separate growing shops, then treats a Meta recruiting ad as a signal about labor demand in manufacturing. Zurborg draws similar lessons from plant-floor examples and small operational signals.

Thrasher writes from the sales-software side, promoting Stella Source as the easy button for quoting and buying, and leans on published market data and reporting. Zurborg writes from the owner-and-coach side, focusing on what happens inside a company: metrics, automation adoption, pricing habits, and leadership.

Read original · Original 2

Sources for this section

Audience

Zurborg's posts reveal their topics and the audiences they address, but provide little measured information about who follows them.

The only measured audience figure is a LinkedIn follower count of 1,326, recorded on October 9, 2026.

The posts include no audience demographics or professional attributes, engagement rates, or video performance summary.
Selected examples show content aimed at people running operations and teams: one post walks through putting a quality KPI on every production employee at a precision sheet metal fabrication company; another describes integrating laser systems, robotic welders, and automated powder coating lines at Skilcraft, and why automation stalls when the team is not involved from the start; a third explains why they moderate a Goering Center Round Table for owners and executives across finance, technology, nonprofit, and professional services.
Posts invite readers to comment, reach out, or book a conversation.
The coaching practice's posts list clients in manufacturing, financial services, professional services, and education.
This gives marketers a clear picture of the content's intended audience, but not its measured composition.
Several posts invite discussion, and one links to a FocalPoint article, but no post-level view, reaction, comment, or click numbers are provided.
There is also no geographic concentration data, which matters to manufacturers considering a regional engagement.
Before committing budget, ask for (1) LinkedIn page or post analytics for the last 6–12 months, including impressions and engagement rate; (2) an audience survey or platform demographic data showing job function, seniority, company size, and location; and (3) recent results from comparable manufacturing, KPI, or automation topics.
For job seniority, occupation, and company size, ask specifically for survey results or another documented source; YouTube-style demographic exports would not settle the question.
Until those data are available, assess audience fit based on the subject matter rather than measured audience attributes.

LinkedIn followers

1,326

LinkedIn account record with the reviewed posts · 2026-10-09

Posts with audience-relevant content signals

8 posts, published 26 March 2025 to 20 July 2026

Author's LinkedIn posts in the research · 2026-10-09

Measured audience demographics (geography, age, gender)

Not supplied

No demographic or platform analytics export in the research · 2026-10-09

Audience professional attributes (job function, seniority, employer type)

Not supplied

No audience survey or platform attribute export in the research · 2026-10-09

Post-level engagement data (views, reactions, comments, clicks)

Not supplied

No performance summary or per-post metrics in the research · 2026-10-09

Sources for this section

Partnership options

The LinkedIn posts show John M.

Zurborg promoting a FocalPoint business and executive coaching practice and facilitating a Goering Center Round Table.

They feature a roundtable with Syrv, an AI strategy firm, and links to FocalPoint articles, but don’t describe sponsorship packages, sponsored-content terms, affiliate arrangements, or brand-partnership formats.
No partnership inquiry route is published; the only direct contact shown is a coaching inquiry email and phone number in one post.
Marketers should ask about partnership options and the appropriate contact.

Sources for this section

Campaign fit

A campaign to shortlist

Strong fit. Choose Zurborg for this brief.

Brief

A privately held precision manufacturer with roughly 60–150 employees wants a coaching engagement focused on scaling production processes, putting a meaningful metric in the hands of every shop-floor employee, and winning frontline buy-in before an automation rollout.

Reasons

The brief describes work Zurborg already says they did as an operator. In one post, they walk through running a precision sheet metal fabrication company that was better than average but not industry-leading, tracking in-process scrap, customer returns and rework rates, and setting targets aimed at the top 10% of the industry. That is a shop-floor measurement exercise, not a general management framework.
The metric-ownership half of the brief maps directly. Zurborg describes giving every production employee, every department and the whole company a quality KPI, and reports faster problem identification, routine continuous improvement, Supplier of the Year awards and strong financial performance. A manufacturer asking how to get people to own a number is asking a question this post answers from experience.
The automation half maps directly too. Zurborg says that, as CEO of Skilcraft, they integrated laser systems, robotic welders and automated powder coating lines. They say the automation worked when the team was involved from the start and sat unused when it was not. Their stated lesson is that automation succeeds through culture, communication and leadership, not just technical installation. That is the change-management problem in the brief.
For a manufacturer seeking coaching rather than sponsorship, the commercial framing fits. Across the posts, Zurborg describes a FocalPoint Business & Executive Coaching practice, reports coaching nine clients across manufacturing, financial services, professional services and education—mostly owners working on growth, scaling or an eventual exit—and names a target of 10 to 15 clients at a time. A manufacturer buying an advisory relationship is buying what they actually offer.
There is supporting evidence for the hiring and team side of a scaling program. Zurborg names DiSC/TTI assessments as an area clients value for hiring, team building and culture fit, framing the goal as getting the right person in the right seat with the right behaviours and job skills.
A peer-group option exists if the owner wants accountability rather than one-to-one work. Zurborg moderates a Goering Center Round Table with leaders from finance, technology, nonprofit and professional services. They describe its value as trusted relationships, a confidential setting, exposure to practices from other industries and accountability.
Zurborg demonstrates how a small inherited process assumption can yield a measurable payoff. They describe a company that never charged for programming software keys and a VP of manufacturing who proposed a $5.00 processing fee per job, reported as adding $50,000 to the bottom line without any new product.

Limits that change the decision

No sponsorship packages, media kits or partnership terms appear in the posts, and no partnership inquiry route is published. Treat this as a paid coaching or consulting engagement, not a sponsored-content deal, unless the manufacturer negotiates terms not described in the posts.

Reach cannot be sized. The only measured audience figure in the posts is a LinkedIn follower count of 1,326, observed 9 October 2026. There are no impressions, reactions, comments or clicks for any post, and no audience demographics, job functions or seniority data. Ask for current reach and audience data before treating this as a targeted manufacturing channel.

The reported outcomes—Supplier of the Year, the sixfold turnaround and the $50,000 processing-fee gain—are Zurborg's own accounts in the posts. Treat them as claims to explore, not independently verified proof.

Articles by Zurborg in The Fabricator and articles from FocalPoint are linked from the posts but are not included here. If the manufacturer wants to review the full written method before committing, request those articles.

When to choose a specialist

Poor fit. Reject Zurborg for this brief as written.

Brief

A national industrial-automation vendor wants a creator to run a multi-platform product campaign: technical walkthroughs of specific equipment and software, demo videos, and reach into a large engineering audience, measured by impressions, video completion and demo-request clicks.

Reasons

The commercial format does not match. The posts show a coaching practice and a facilitated peer round table, but describe no sponsorship packages, sponsored-content terms, affiliate arrangements or partnership formats. There is no media kit or partnership inquiry page. The only direct contact shown is a coaching inquiry email and phone number in one post. A vendor wanting a bought, briefed sponsorship would be turning a coaching offer into something it is not.
The reach requirement cannot be met or measured from the posts. The only audience figure available is 1,326 LinkedIn followers, observed 9 October 2026. There are no view, reaction, comment or click numbers for any post, and no geographic concentration data. Any impressions or video-completion target would be set blind.
The channel and format are wrong for a demo-led campaign. The posts are short text-and-image LinkedIn posts with a link and a question. They contain no video, transcripts or long-form pieces, so there is no demonstrated capability in equipment walkthroughs, software demos or product video.
On technical implementation, Zurborg's own posts direct readers elsewhere. The AI roundtable post points readers to Syrv for AI strategy, solutions, integration, design and development, and positions them as a small-business owner and electrical engineer who encourages coaching clients to adopt AI—an advocate and adviser, not the implementer. A vendor expecting hands-on technical content would be misreading the posts.
There is a plausible incentive mismatch. Zurborg describes launching a FocalPoint coaching franchise, reports nine clients ten months in and names a target of 10 to 15 clients at a time. Someone actively building a coaching practice is positioned to sell advisory time and peer groups, not to become a demo channel for a vendor's product line.
Nothing in the posts here shows prior sponsored work of any kind. That is not a claim that Zurborg never accepts sponsorships — it means there is no basis here on which to plan a sponsored campaign, and the absence should be resolved before any budget is committed.

A worked campaign example

Angle

Name the number, then earn the install.

Brief

The manufacturing operational-improvement brief: a precision manufacturer wants to scale processes, establish KPI ownership on the shop floor and prepare the plant for an automation rollout.

Measurement and next step

Track the three things the brief cares about: whether the chosen metric moved against its baseline, whether problems are being raised and closed faster at the huddle, and whether frontline staff can describe what changes in their jobs when the automation arrives.

Before signing, ask for recent results from a comparable manufacturing, KPI or automation engagement and the actual The Fabricator article Zurborg says covers what worked and what did not in the Skilcraft automation programme.

A first paid session is a reasonable next step: one working session to select the starting metric and set the baseline. Scope phases 2 to 4 only after the session confirms the operation has data and someone to own the number.

What the manufacturer must supply

Twelve months of quality data covering scrap, returns and rework, so the baseline is real rather than estimated.

An operations or quality lead to own the metric between sessions, and permission for shop-floor staff to raise problems in a weekly huddle.

Access to the plant floor, including at least one walkthrough with the people doing the work. The value here lies in observed process detail, not slide decks.

Agree in advance on how results will be judged. Ask for evidence to support the outcomes described in Zurborg's posts, which the posts do not independently verify.

Decide the engagement type up front: coaching or consulting, rather than sponsorship, since no sponsorship terms are documented.

Why it works

The plan draws on two things Zurborg's posts demonstrate firsthand: setting a shop-floor quality metric people own, and treating automation adoption as a culture and communication problem rather than an equipment problem. It orders them to match the manufacturer's constraint: measurement first, then automation.

Worked plan

Phase 1 — Pick one number. In a working session with the owner, operations lead and quality manager, choose one quality metric to start with, from the same family Zurborg describes tracking: in-process scrap, customer returns or rework rate. Define the current baseline and set a target consistent with the top decile of the industry rather than an internal best-ever. Deliverable: one page listing the metric, baseline, target, owner and review cadence.

Phase 2 — Give everyone a number. Extend the chosen metric to each production employee, each department and the company as a whole, following the structure described in the KPI post. Create a visible metric board and hold a weekly problem-solving huddle where the people closest to the process raise issues. Success means identifying problems faster and solving them sooner, not building a dashboard.

Phase 3 — Audit one inherited assumption. Run the $5-fee exercise on the manufacturer's own operation: pick one long-standing practice nobody has revisited, usually a pricing, quoting, programming or handling step that has quietly scaled with volume, and quantify the change. Zurborg's published example is a processing fee for software-key programming that reportedly added $50,000 without a new product. The aim is to show the team that small process changes pay.

Phase 4 — Prepare the automation rollout as a people project. Before specifying equipment, hold frontline sessions on what changes in each person's job, who operates what, what the new work looks like day to day and what input staff have on the choice. The automation post's design principle: when the team was involved from the start, the equipment became a source of pride; when they were not, it sat unused. Pair this with DiSC/TTI assessment work if the rollout requires new roles or reassigned seats.

Phase 5 — Hand off to a peer group or a continuing coaching cadence. If the owner wants accountability from other owners rather than more one-to-one sessions, the confidential round-table format Zurborg moderates—bringing together leaders across finance, technology, nonprofit and professional services—is a natural continuation.

Sources for this section

Who else to consider

Nicholas Parton, MBA

Choose Parton when the constraint sits inside a production system rather than on one shop floor, and the manufacturer needs someone who has built the connective tissue between functions.

Parton describes developing a "womb to tomb" tracker fed by SAP that links planning, NC programming, manufacturing engineering, order release, material issuance, machining, outside processing, quality inspection and final inventory into one shared operational picture, and credits it with improving work readiness and expanding executable machine backlog.

Parton also describes joining a digital transformation team as a program subject matter expert, working across supply chain, design engineering, manufacturing engineering, stress engineering and change management.
For a fabricator whose problem is that engineering, planning and the floor each work from different information, that is closer to the job than a coaching-led process review.

The tradeoff is the frame and the offer.

Parton's material focuses on delivering change inside a large aerospace and defense program, not selling an advisory engagement to an outside manufacturer.
Their posts describe no coaching practice, published engagement terms or client outcomes.
Zurborg's posts describe a coaching practice with a stated client count and a plant-floor metric programme.
Choosing Parton means betting on systems-integration experience in a large program; choosing Zurborg means buying an operator-turned-adviser offer aimed at owners.
The comparison rests on two posts each.
Ask both for results data to size either offer.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Mike B.

Consider Mike B. when the manufacturer is past prototype and needs a documented quality system rather than a metric culture.

Mike B. argues that a quality management system is infrastructure for scale, not bureaucracy, and sets out what it should cover: engineering, manufacturing, supplier quality, product quality, risk management, configuration control, corrective action, customer feedback, training and continuous improvement.

The post also cites ISO 9001 research linking certification to sales, margin and operational performance.
A second post advises engineering graduates on choosing employers and building visibility.
For a growing shop moving into regulated or defense work, where repeatable process, supplier control and root-cause corrective action are the entry gate, that is a more specific starting point than a KPI rollout.

The tradeoff is coaching versus system.

Mike B.'s posts argue for a framework and support it with published studies and hiring-market observation; they describe no advisory engagement, client programme or commercial terms.
One of the two posts is career advice rather than operational practice.
Zurborg brings firsthand shop-floor work on quality metrics, rework and returns, an automation change-management story, and facilitated peer groups.
Mike B. brings a compliance and systems frame with research behind it, but no described engagement to buy.
Ask for results data before comparing the two examples.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

James Thrasher

Choose Thrasher when the manufacturer's question is where demand is going and why some fabricators are winning work, rather than how to run the improvement programme itself.

Thrasher reads The FAB 40 reporting for the 40 largest fabricators and pulls out the drivers behind projected growth — AI data centres, power generation and warehousing automation — along with the rebound from a soft 2025, the fattening mid-market and the point that speed of quoting and ease of buying is the differentiator, quoting a chief commercial officer saying speed is the currency.

Thrasher also works with fabricators at Stella Source, a sales tool.
A shop whose bottleneck is quoting speed and the customer's buying experience gets a sharper outside read from this material than from a general process-coaching angle.

The tradeoff is market read versus hands-on programme.

Thrasher's evidence is commentary on industry reporting from a software vendor's vantage point; it shows no plant-floor coaching, KPI ownership work or automation adoption.
Thrasher also avoids claiming the Stella Source connection caused the faster growth.
Zurborg's material covers what happened inside businesses they ran or advised.
Choosing Thrasher means taking a market and sales-process view; choosing Zurborg means paying for advisory time on process and culture.
Ask for engagement metrics and details of the commercial relationship, which is with a software product rather than an advisory engagement.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Sources for this section

Build your campaign brief

Editable Markdown templates for planning a campaign with this creator.

Campaign brief template — John M. Zurborg

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Completed brief — precision manufacturer: KPI ownership and automation readiness

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Completed brief — professional services owner: growth metrics, seat fit and exit readiness

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Completed brief — fabricator: frontline buy-in before an automation purchase

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Sources for this section

Research methodology

Eight full LinkedIn posts by John M.
Zurborg published between 2025 and 2026 show that the LinkedIn account had 1,326 followers on 9 October 2026.
Articles in The Fabricator and FocalPoint that several posts link to are not included here, so the arguments they carry are known only through Zurborg's summaries.
The posts do not state engagement metrics, audience demographics, sponsorship terms or partnership inquiry routes, and reported outcomes such as Supplier of the Year awards, the sixfold turnaround and the $50,000 processing-fee gain are Zurborg's own accounts rather than independently verified results.
The posts shown here establish who Zurborg is and what they do; they do not cover a full lifetime of writing or any earlier signature work.

Brands they talk about

John Wiley & Sons