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Do you know what your core values are? Have they changed during your life as you grew, gained experience, and broadened your perspectives? Some people are very clear about their core values, while others are not or wonder if they need re-examining. Johnson's work centers on supporting people, especially women, as they define and align with their core values. She joined me at The Edges of Lean to share her insights.
Andrea Johnson
Andrea Johnson is a coach and mentor who empowers executives and founders to lead authentically and confidently. She makes a positive impact on their lives, organizations, and communities. As an adoptive parent who grew up internationally, Andrea understands the importance of mental and physical wellness and the need for emotional resilience. She discovered that uncovering and understanding her Core Values was crucial to her growth, and now she helps her clients do the same.
Andrea specializes in working with leaders who feel stifled and unsatisfied with their current level of influence. Her passion lies in equipping female leaders to redefine the culture by trusting their critical thinking, imaginative creativity, and leadership skills.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:08:57 Leadership is about growing people.
00:11:13 Embrace your big personality.
00:11:35 Childhood leadership memories.
00:17:27 Core values guide our actions.
00:23:05 Coaching skills are essential in lean management.
00:26:08 Curiosity is a key for coaching.
00:29:30 The power of critical thinking.
00:31:25 Understanding personal beliefs and values.
00:38:36 Trust yourself, you have got this.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Andrea Johnson
"Trust yourself because you know your core values even though you have not named them.”
CONNECT WITH Andrea Johnson
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-intentional-optimist/
Podcast:https://intentionaloptimists.buzzsprout.com/share
Website: https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/
Catherine Chabiron is an expert in lean management and an author. She recently wrote a book called Learning to Scale at the Theodo Group, which describes how a company faced with dramatic growth used lean thinking to avoid what Catherine calls Big Company Disease. She joined me at the Edges of Lean to discuss what she learned when she went to the Gemba with this company and its founders.
Catherine Chabiron
Catherine is an accomplished Lean executive coach in France and plays a significant role in leading the Lean Service community at Institut Lean France. She is also a renowned author and teacher, specializing in problem-solving and sharing her experiences from Gemba walks in lean companies through her publication Notes from the Gemba on Planet Lean.
With 40 years of experience, Catherine is considered a Lean Management Sensei. She has authored numerous books and articles on lean methodology, focusing on helping companies transform their culture and enhance employee engagement to adapt to growth challenges.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:00:11 Lean management drives rapid growth.
00:05:42 The differences between Lean vs Agile in software development.
00:08:10 Why is it important to focus on the customer and not just process in growth situations?
00:13:51 Flexibility is the key in processes.
00:24:02 The importance of employee engagement and problem-solving skills.
00:25:00 Lean principles drive company success.
00:28:21 The need to keep learning as a leader.
00:29:03 Continuous learning drives organizational improvement
00:35:20 The importance of visiting the gemba.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Catherine Chabiron
"Identify talents when you visit by looking at the quality of the countermeasures they propose.”
CONNECT WITH Catherine Chabiron
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-chabiron
Twitter:https://x.com/CathChabiron?s=20
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Scale-Theodo-Group-resilient/dp/2958357023
Robert Indries started his career as an engineer and has taken that scientific and analytical approach into his successful entrepreneurial business career. The general belief is that engineers are not good at the people stuff, but Robert turns that idea on its head. I was curious how he used his learnings as he built his businesses to understand better how to help his clients. He joined me at the Edges of Lean to generously share his insights.
Robert Indries
Robert Indries, an entrepreneur and strategist, began his journey in a small Romanian town. With humble roots, he adopted the belief: "You can achieve anything, no matter where you are now."
Earning his master's degree in information technology project management, Robert built an 8-business empire generating seven figures annually. He traveled and visited 17 countries and spoke to thousands of people in 3 languages. Robert has accumulated over 500 million USD in client business value and delivered over 200 projects across 19 sectors and industries.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:01:59 Pursuing engineering at a young age.
00:06:19 Thinking like an engineer.
00:10:05 Reality vs Utopia.
00:13:17 Four types of personalities.
00:16:08 Our natural and adaptive selves.
00:25:03 Focusing on others to win.
00:29:01 Ethical business recommendations.
00:30:32 Taking midday naps at work.
00:34:03 Taking productive breaks.
00:40:19 De-risking their business is the best thing you can do as a consultant.
00:42:28 The value of building a brand.
00:46:37 Stop thinking people should be.
00:49:06 Accepting people for who they are
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Robert Indries
"If the mission is important enough, you will find a way to work with anyone."
CONNECT WITH Robert Indries
Website: https://robertindries.com/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertindries
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertIndriesOfficial?_rdc=1&_rdr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertindries
When I coach and consult, I focus on my clients and their goals and needs. This raises an important question: where am I in that relationship? Katarina Polonska believes that coaching that is successful for the client requires the coach to be connected to herself and that doing so creates energy and strength for the coach. She joined me at the Edges of Lean to share her insights and how she helps her clients connect to themselves.
Katarina Polonska
Katarina Polonska is a transformation coach specializing in relationships. Katarina helps people connect better to themselves so they can connect better to others. In addition, Katerina has a master's degree in gender dynamics from the University of Oxford and has a background in behavioral science and organizational psychology. She is also a mindfulness teacher. Katerina has experienced overcoming challenges and finding her purpose, which led her to become a coach and help others in their journeys of self-discovery and connections.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:04:04 The difference between therapy and coaching
00:08:26 Having a connection to self is essential.
00:15:27 Listen to your inner voice.
00:17:11 The effect of the disconnection from body and intuition.
00:19:21 Conditioning and vulnerability in women
00:21:43 Conditioning of women's bodies.
00:23:04 Anorexia and societal expectations
00:27:20 Connect with your body's wisdom.
00:34:34 Curiosity leads to breakthroughs.
00:37:17 Build self-trust through action.
00:42:56 Reclaim self-trust and listen to intuition.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Katarina Polonska
"The best relationships we can build all start with a solid relationship to our core being and who we are."
CONNECT WITH Katarina Polonska
Website: https://www.katarinapolonska.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarina-polonsky/
I hope you are a voter! It is such an important civic responsibility. As a continuous improvement professional, have you ever thought about improving the election process to help make everyone confident that elections are secure and fair? Kerry L. Bass has. He is here to share his insight and tell us about some vital continuous improvement work happening in the US around our election process.
Kerry L Bass
Kerry Bass is the CEO and founder of Potential To Reality Consulting, specializing in organizational transformation, operational excellence, and change management.
For over 25 years, Kerry has been leading and supporting transformation and organizational change for governmental agencies.
In addition, he has been bringing changes in commercial and not-for-profit enterprises.
Kerry Bass has received a Master of Business Administration from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University. Bass has attained a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification as instructed by Dr. Gregory Watson and holds a Project Management Professional certification from PMI.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:05:18 The complexity of election systems
00:12:58 Quality is multi-level and customer-focused.
00:20:19 Election integrity and voter accessibility.
00:21:22 Improving election accessibility is crucial.
00:31:23 Technology can increase voter acceptance.
00:33:11 Management of registration records.
00:38:29 Improving election processes and integrity.
00:42:42 Continuous learning is essential.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Kerry L Bass
"The right to vote is key to the fundamental operations of democracy."
CONNECT WITH Kerry L Bass
Website: https://makingitreality.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrylbass/
Ep
Success requires expertise, and today’s work world requires leaders to lead beyond their areas of personal skills. Wanda Wallace calls this “spanning” leadership, and she works with leaders to build their success in leading across functions and domains where they have little expertise. Wanda is the author of "You Can’t Know It All: Leading in the Age of Deep Expertise.” She joined me at the Edges of Lean to share her insights and discuss why spanning leadership is vital for lean leaders.
Wanda Wallace
Dr. Wanda T. Wallace is a renowned leadership coach, facilitator, and speaker with extensive expertise in guiding executives and organizations to improve performance through enhanced communication and collaboration. As managing partner of Leadership Forum, she works closely with clients to foster more effective leadership conversations, break down silos, and build high-functioning teams. With over 25 years of experience spanning corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors, Dr. Wallace is a highly sought-after advisor on critical issues around leadership development, organizational change, cross-boundary collaboration, and diversity and inclusion. She holds a doctorate in organization development and has coached over 100 executives to expand their influence.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:02:04 Better conversations lead to success.
00:03:02 Conversations between leaders and followers.
00:09:27 Blend expertise and Spanning Leadership.
00:13:33 Leaders must be curious.
00:19:26 Build trust through effective communication.
00:22:27 Hub and spoke model limitations.
00:28:40 Listen and understand before responding.
00:30:02 Finding common ground in negotiations
00:32:57 Respect and effective communication matter.
00:39:57 Embrace discomfort for growth.
00:43:38 Find your satisfaction.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Wanda Wallace
"There is no growth in comfort and no comfort in growth."
CONNECT WITH Wanda Wallace
Website: https://www.wandawallace.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wandatwallace/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AskWanda
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeOHP2j2KfeQjQpdHZsVbWA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-wallace-028a798/
Book: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/you-cant-know-it-all-wanda-t-wallace?variant=3211639360720
Sam Drauschak is a leader in Process Science – his work is to help organizations achieve maximum efficiency in business processes and energy flow. He has even developed a universal process mapping language adopted as the standard for multiple large enterprises globally. Sam joined me at the Edges of Lean to share his insights on process science in the digital age and life in an RV.
Sam Drauschak
Sam Drauschak is the Co-founder and Chief Process Scientist at Truvle, where he leads a team focused on reducing business waste through innovative tools, software, and expert content based on biological efficiency systems. With over a decade of management consulting experience and certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, and Project Management, Sam has worked with major global companies and Silicon Valley clients to simplify and improve operations. Sam is also the author of "Becoming a Conscious Business" and developed the Truvle Mapping Language, adopted by companies worldwide. Sam Drauschak has been featured at institutions like IIBA and Columbia for his expertise in process improvement, cost reduction, and operational redesign. In addition, he was recognized in Top 100 Magazine for his contributions to process mapping.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:02:03 Process science applies the scientific method.
00:06:19 Processes exist everywhere, even in digital services.
00:09:50 Updating process improvement principles.
00:10:13 Process science for virtual companies.
00:14:20 Process mapping is crucial post-COVID.
00:19:23 Impact of human dynamics.
00:20:10 Human dynamics are crucial in process mapping.
00:23:38 Understanding human dynamics in processes.
00:25:18 Clean process maps can be deceptive.
00:31:23 Process language empowers organizations.
00:37:35 Diversity and travel enhance professional growth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Sam Drauschak
“The more you can learn about different customs, cultures, and types of people, the more you can relate to their struggles, resistance, and engagement at work.”
CONNECT WITH SAM DRAUSCHAK
Website: https://www.truvle.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samdrauschak/
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Conscious-Business-Through-Science-ebook
Kevo, a full-time artist who is also a painter, film, and theater producer, and art teacher, joins me here at The Edges of Lean to share his inspiring story of overcoming a troubled childhood, jail time, and a gunshot wound to pursue his passion for art. There is a lot to consider in this conversation for all of us in the continuous improvement world.
Kevo
Kevo, a native of Houston, Texas, is a multifaceted artist with a Master of Fine Arts degree. His creative endeavors encompass a wide range of mediums, including painting and theater production, shining a spotlight on the complexities of race and the human experience. Leading the charge in the artistic realm, Kevo serves as the director of Kevo Arts Studios, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and nurturing the arts. In addition to his role in the nonprofit sector, Kevo imparts his wisdom and expertise as a professor at a prestigious college, boasting an impressive decade-long career as the proprietor of a thriving tattoo studio.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:01:56 Overcoming a troubled childhood.
00:04:32 Starting a tattooing career.
00:10:23 The foundation of art.
00:14:24 Genuine care and encouragement.
00:17:11 Leaving toxic friendships behind.
00:23:06 Believing in your potential.
00:26:00 Unexpected discoveries while running.
00:29:30 African American artists.
00:37:37 Comparing the holocaust and slavery.
00:41:08 Perception of African Americans.
00:44:25 Shifting mindset for personal growth and development.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Kevo Aregbe
“Educate your children about the harsh realities of life because the people in power cannot be relied upon to do so."
CONNECT WITH Kevo Aregbe
Website: https://www.artbykevo.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevo-aregbe-b33ab955/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KevinAregbe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Kevoarts/
Katherine McCord was the little girl who played HR rather than princesses, and when other kids were selling lemonade, she sold shares in her imaginary "company". She even fired her mother when she was five years old. Katherine, a physically and neurodiverse woman, built her career on inclusive innovation in People Operations and HR Tech. She lives by the motto that difference is not a deficit and is here to share her insights on how lean practitioners can understand and support people with hidden disabilities.
Katherine McCord
Katherine is a champion of inclusion and innovation in human resources. As a neurodiverse and physically diverse woman, she has built her career on the philosophy that difference is not deficient.
In 2014, Katherine founded her national people operations consulting firm, Titan Management. In 2021, she disrupted the HR tech space by creating the first fully accessible, bias-mitigating applicant tracking system that removes resumes and highlights company diversity. An energetic and interactive speaker, Katherine has been featured at well-known conferences, such as Web Summit, HR Disruptor, SHRM, and the London School of Business. At the stage, she blends entertainment with education to provoke thoughtful reflection and motivate change. She is bringing her trademark spice!
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
00:09:56 - Inclusion is simple and beneficial.
00:11:01 - Build psychological safety for inclusivity.
00:16:14 - The hiring process needs improvement.
00:21:48 - Revamp the hiring process for inclusion.
00:27:37 - Inclusion drives talent and profits.
00:35:16 - DE&I leaders should be flexible, global, and growth-oriented.
00:36:45 - Flexibility and communication are key.
00:43:20 - Understand and support diverse employees.
00:48:45 - Break ego, respond in curiosity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Katherine McCord
“When your humans are comfortable, they can do their job better."
CONNECT WITH Katherine McCord
Website: https://www.titanmanagementusa.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-mccord-093bb343/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDH88heZK21pHbo_aYt-sgA
Hey, this is The Edges of Lean’s 100th episode! So I’m starting today with a message of gratitude to all of my listeners. Thank you for your support of the Edges of Lean! And if you are a listener who would like to tell your story on the Edges of Lean, reach out to me on LinkedIn!
Zach White is an engineer, like many lean and continuous improvement professionals. He is here to share his story of discovering that his technical engineering knowledge was insufficient to help him have a successful career and a fulfilling lifestyle. Zach learned a lot in his journey from burnout to happiness, and now coaches engineering leaders in engineering their jobs and lifestyles.
Zach White
Zach White, is the Founder & CEO of OACO, a career coaching firm for engineering leaders, since July 2019. He is also the host of The Happy Engineer, the #1 podcast for engineering leadership. Previously, Zach spent over 11 years at Whirlpool Corporation in various roles, such as Senior Product Marketing Manager. Zach graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008. He went on to do his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2011.
KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Memorable Quotes From Zach White
"Coaching is looking forward, and it's all about progress."
CONNECT WITH Zach White
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oasisofcourage
Website: https://oasisofcourage.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thezachwhite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oasisofcourage/
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