# Let the Experts Be the Experts: Leading Without Every Answer w/ Amy Mercante

- Show: [The Manufacturing Executive](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive)
- Published: 2026-10-13
- Length: 40m
- Episode: 311
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante
- Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-manufacturing-executive#episode-01a0fdb5-4e76-7346-91e8-598f092995f6

## Summary

Amy Mercante, General Manager of Specialty Products at PPG, discusses her transition from research chemist to business leader and her philosophy of 'letting the experts be the experts.' She explains how she flips the leadership pyramid by empowering teams closest to the work to provide recommendations rather than just data, and how she makes decisions without waiting for every fact. Mercante also details her approach to mentoring emerging leaders, emphasizing the importance of defining a 'North Star' career goal and taking calculated risks outside one's comfort zone.

## Chapters

- [0:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=4) Introduction: The Manufacturing Executive Podcast and Industrial Marketing Summit
- [4:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=291) Amy Mercante's Career Path: From Research Chemist to Business Leader
- [10:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=622) Flipping the Leadership Pyramid: Letting Experts Be Experts
- [19:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=1199) Empowering Teams to Bring Recommendations, Not Just Research
- [27:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=1656) Decision Making: Committing with Incomplete Information
- [29:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=1792) Succession Planning and Developing Future Leaders
- [33:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante#t=1980) Mentoring Strategy: Defining the 'North Star' and Taking Risks

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- PPG (company)
- Gorilla 76 (company)
- Tesla substrate products (product)
- PPG Teslin (product)
- PPG Optical Monomers (product)
- PPG Codings (product)

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- [21: The Tent Is Flat and Everyone Is Wet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-10-02-21-the-tent-is-flat-and-everyone-is-wet) (Embedded.fm)
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## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-10-13-let-the-experts-be-the-experts-leading-without-every-answer-w-amy-mercante. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Manufacturing Executive.