The Edges of Lean

There’s a crime wave out there  - a cyber crimewave– and Karla Reffold is helping companies overcome the continuously changing challenges of cybersecurity. Karla started out in HR, and now is a leader in cybersecurity – her story of leadership, flexibility and innovation is inspiring for all continuous improvers.

Let's hear Karla share her thoughts and insights! We can't wait to hear what this powerful voice has in store.

Karla Reffold

Karla helps organizations innovate, transform and achieve their potential. Focused on operations, marketing, and sales, she understands the need to drive profit, grow revenue, and maximize efficiency.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:00:01 A career in cybersecurity and the future it holds in our life

0:02:29 The tipping point for stepping out on thin Ice

0:04:21 The importance of cybersecurity in the cloud

0:06:14 Cybersecurity for small businesses and its impact on the economy

0:10:30 Cybersecurity for startups: ransomware and what you can do about it

0:15:51 The Impact of ransomware on businesses today

0:17:37 The importance of values in hiring

0:19:21 The importance of honesty in the workplace

0:21:10 The benefits and challenges of selling a business

0:26:12 The emotional journey of selling a business

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Cybersecurity is hugely important, especially for businesses that are moving to the cloud

Memorable Quotes From Karla Reffold  

“Cybersecurity is not just about protecting you; it's also about helping you win and succeed in business.”

CONNECT WITH Karla Reffold

Website: https://www.karlareffold.co.uk/ 

Wendy Nash coaches people with meditation. She joined me to share how to make meditation part of your daily practice. Her approach is beautifully aligned with the reflection that is intrinsic to lean thinking and can help us develop our “respect for people” mindset. One note: We had some internet challenges as we were recording this podcast, and you might notice a little interference.  Let’s hear what Wendy has to say.

Wendy Nash holds a four-year somatic psychotherapy degree. She has been practicing loving-kindness and other meditations for about 20 years, and her honors thesis for her Bachelor of Psychology examined the impact of loving-kindness meditation on prosocial behavior. These guide her interactions with customers who are eager to learn how to incorporate different types of meditation practices into their daily lives. Her relationships and well-being have greatly benefited from these accomplishments and experiences, which have far outweighed the negative effects of her traumatic early experiences. Like many people, she hasn't had an easy ride. She had to deal with difficulties in her personal life, like a death in the family and a divorce. Her main objective has been to look after herself, which has helped her avoid becoming a burden to others. She is prepared for every scenario, which helps her remain composed even in the most stressful conditions.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST

0:02:41 Aboriginal wisdom and the modern world

0:06:29 The impact of meditation on daily life

0:10:23 The power of positive thinking: how kindness can create connections

0:18:33 The power of appreciation in the workplace

0:22:41 The wisdom of Confucianism and Buddhism

0:27:57 Buddhist teachings on respecting others

0:29:46 The impact of childhood trauma on adult relationships

0:31:46 Wendy's journey to understanding racism and white privilege

0:40:28 The impact of colonization on indigenous peoples

0:45:50 The importance of compassion in everyday life

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• Where are we from is a highly complex question

Memorable Quotes From Wendy Nash

“The very first thing in continuous development is to understand we are both part of the good and the bad”

CONNECT WITH Wendy Nash 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-nash/

https://kindlycutthecrap.com/about/ 

https://www.instagram.com/kindlycutthecrapmeditation/ 

Tom Hughes was an expert in lean and continuous improvement. He knew it all, and frankly found it somewhat boring. But one day, his opinion completely changed, and he became a self-described overnight lean maniac. Now, you would be hard-pressed to find someone more excited than Tom who has now written a book called “Improvement Starts with I: A Practical Guide to Building an Extraordinary Lean culture.” So what happened? He’s here to tell us! 

The Book Website 

https://improvementstartswithi.com/

GembaDocs Software (give it a go yourself!) 30 day free trial

https://gembadocs.com/

Tom’s LinkedIn

linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-hughes-7222562/

Tom’s YouTube

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCldKTyAie8Z--J5-VbWkJzA

As a continuous improvement leader, you know the importance of “Respect for People,” and that “Respect for People” includes understanding and respecting yourself. How might you do that when you are dealing with the effects of generational trauma? Elena Perella has personal experience overcoming generational trauma and using that experience to help high achievers free themselves to meet their potential.  She is here to tell us about that.

 Elena Perella

Elana Perella is a personal coach, life coach, and speaker with over 13 years of coaching experience. She has two master's degrees with a focus on anthropology and literature. Elana Perella helps high achievers from the world of business, sports, entertainment, and social change who struggle to find and stay in the flow at work and in life. She coached herself through eating disorders and domestic violence. Once she freed and healed herself, she took the lead on her own life and now coaches others.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:04:52 The journey of dealing with emotional issues caused by trauma

0:07:03 Conducting experiments on ourselves

0:12:39  The impact of beliefs on reality

0:14:22 The impact of generational trauma

0:16:29 The difference between nature and love

0:21:31 The impact of toxic parents on their children

0:25:26 The importance of eliminating the toxic inheritance

0:29:08 The power of love and how can it affect our lives

0:33:15 The power of questioning everything 

0:37:31 How to set yourself up for success

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• To be a high achiever, you need to first coach yourself. 

Memorable Quotes From Elena Perella 

“What is love: love is the energy that fuels your will and others to not cause any harm”

CONNECT WITH  Elena Perella

Website: www.sentidu.com  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena.perella/

Episode 75 Continuous Improvement and Couples Coaching, with Dr. Robin Buckley

If you are a coach, have you ever thought about the family relationships of your clients? If you have a coach, how does your coaching experience engage your family relationships? How might a couple benefit from engaging in coaching together? And how is that different from couple therapy? Dr. Robin Buckley specializes in executive coaching, which includes executive couples. I invited her to tell us about her approach.

Dr. Robin Buckley

Dr. Robin Buckley, CPC, helps high-achieving individuals thrive in their careers and relationships. She is an author, professional speaker, and cognitive-behavioral coach who works with executive women and high-performance couples. The owner of Insights Group Psychological & Coaching Services, Dr. Buckley, has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. She has published two books, including Voices from the Village: Advice for Girls on the Verge of Adulthood. Dr. Buckley has been featured as an expert on multiple media platforms, including Thrive Global, and was a TEDx speaker in May 2022.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:04:16 The benefits of coaching vs. therapy

0:08:37 The benefits of coaching for women executives

0:10:31 Couple's Coaching: applying business acumen to personal relationships

0:11:55 Couples coaching: a new approach to relationship success

0:16:06 Couples coaching: the importance of strategy and objectivity

0:18:06 The benefits of work-life harmony

0:22:20 Couple's coaching and the importance of a good plan

0:23:43 Conducting assessments with couples

0:25:58 Why couples need a mission statement and KPIs

0:30:52 The power of KPIs in relationships

0:34:31 The benefits of creating harmony between work and home life

0:36:30 Dr. Robin Buckley on code switching, psychological safety, and her new book, Marriage LLC

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Coaching can be a great supplement to or partnership with therapy, or it can achieve different goals that are outside of therapy.

Memorable Quotes From Dr. Robin Buckley 

“It's not necessarily the countermeasures; it's the process and the protocols around establishing those measures.”

If you are a coach, have you ever thought about the family relationships of your clients? If you have a coach, how does your coaching experience engage your family relationships? How might a couple benefit from engaging in coaching together? And how is that different from couple therapy? Dr. Robin Buckley specializes in executive coaching -which includes executive couples.  I invited her to tell us about her approach.

Dr. Robin Buckley, CPC, helps high-achieving individuals thrive in their careers and relationships. She is an author, professional speaker, and cognitive-behavioral coach who works with executive women and high-performance couples. Her proprietary coaching model uses a business framework and cognitive-behavioral strategies to support clients in creating and executing concrete, strategic plans for developing their careers and relationships. The owner of Insights Group Psychological & Coaching Services, Dr. Buckley has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and served as a doctoral professor and dissertation chair for students in business, leadership, education, and healthcare. She has published two books, including Voices From the Village: Advice for girls on the verge of adulthood. Dr. Buckley is a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been featured as an expert on multiple media platforms, including Thrive Global, Authority Magazine, Nike, various podcasts, News Radio 96.7, and WGN Radio 720, and was a TEDx speaker in May 2022.

www.drrobinbuckley.com

https://www.instagram.com/drrobinbuckley/ https://www.tiktok.com/@drrobinbuckley

Continuous Improvement and Why Tools are Not Enough, with Martina Kuhlmeyer

Martina Kuhlmeyer has an impeccable lean background, including a Master Blackbelt certification from GE.  So why is she not focused on lean tools these days? Let’s hear her tell the story about how she learned that tools were not enough.

  Martina Kuhlmeyer

Martina Kuhlmeyer is the Founder of Power Up Your Team. As an Executive Coach, she is helping CEOs and Founders build a more resilient team so they can grow their businesses with confidence and ease. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Martina spent 30+ years working for small and several Fortune 100 companies. Moreover, Martina held a variety of executive roles focused on driving large strategic change initiatives, leading programs to build organizational continuous improvement capabilities, improving business operations, and building successful teams.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:02:47 The Impact of Lean in the Service Industry

0:07:03 The Importance of Engaging IT in Process Improvement Projects

0:18:51 The Benefits of Automation in the Workplace

 0:21:08 The Dangers of Over-Emphasizing Tools in Lean Deployments

0:23:15  Why People like Tools

0:24:40 The Impact of Tools on Lean Implementation

0:26:48 The Benefits of Lean Initiatives in the Workplace

0:28:57 The Importance of Lean Principles in Business Culture

0: 29:30  The Shift that's happening around the culture of business

0:34:53 The Benefits of Building a Resilient Team

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Using tools are good techniques to foster the work in the organization, however, it should not be the main principle in development. 

Memorable Quotes From Martina Kuhlmeye

• "Sometimes, less automation is more and the organization should know that” 

CONNECT WITH Martina Kuhlmeyer

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-kuhlmeyer/

Website:  https://powerupyourteam.com/

Kevin Herring specializes in business turnarounds – helping organizations create high-performing teams.  His interest in how humans thrive in a workplace started all the way back in college – not in a class but at a summer job. A job that he considered one of the most boring on earth turned out to be fascinating with a self-directed team. This job gave him a completely different idea about organizational culture and what a committed team really looks like.

Kevin Herring 

Kevin Herring is a recognized expert in team and business unit turnarounds and the creator of the 90-Day Turnaround, a unique program for building great leaders and turning any workgroup into a highly engaged, high-performing team in just 90 days.

Kevin has been featured as a national conference keynote speaker and has been published and quoted in Forbes, CFO, Talent Management, Workforce, and HR Executive, among others.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• 0:04:40 The lesson learned from the most boring work

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Culture is one of the most important factors in a successful organization.

Memorable Quotes From Kevin Herring

• "If you don't understand the business, how can you help shape the culture to support what the business needs and the other way around?” 

CONNECT WITH Kevin Herring

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the90dayturnaround/

Website:  https://ascentmgt.com

Kevin Herring’s Latest Book: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Internal-Consultants-Expertise/dp/097643010X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429408819&sr=8-1&keywords=Practical+Guide+for+Internal+Consultants 

Do you think there are differences between a lean culture and a culture for lean innovation? Norbert Majerus loved being an engineer in part because he was better with numbers than with people. But when Norbert was entrusted with leading the lean innovation transformation at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, he had to build his skills with people. He’s written a new book that shines a light on the human side of a lean innovation culture and what leaders need to learn about themselves to drive positive culture change. He joined me to tell his story. About Norbert Majerus Norbert, born and raised in Luxembourg, has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Germany, and worked most of the disciplines in the Goodyear innovation centers in Luxembourg and Akron. Norbert has taught workshops and has spoken at many conferences in the United States and other countries. Since retiring from Goodyear in 2017, he continues to share his extensive lean expertise via Norbert Majerus Consulting and as a board member of LPPDE (Lean Product and Process Development Exchange). In 2016, Norbert published his first book, Lean-Driven Innovation, which received the Shingo Research Award. Also in 2016, with Norbert’s guidance, the Goodyear R&D organization applied for and received the AME Excellence Award. Norbert published his second book, Winning Innovation in 2022. KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST: 0:02:48 Leadership Lessons Learned the Hard Way 0:04:54 The Importance of Lean Culture and People 0:08:12 Leadership Development in a Lean Culture 0:12:25 Innovation at Goodyear 0:16:42 The Benefits of Taking Risks in the Workplace 0:23:03 The Benefits of a Culture of Innovation 0:25:03 The Impact of Education on Psychological Health 0:29:53 The Importance of Culture in Innovation Excellence 0:34:43 Innovation Excellence: The Process of Achieving Success KEY TAKEAWAYS Culture starts with the people Working in a Lean environment reinforced the importance of culture and people. Instead of lean tool adoption, the success of a lean system depends mostly on the activities made, the concepts applied, and organizational change. Every organization develops a culture, whether through a planned or unplanned process. Leaders need to respect people to be successful and it is something most leaders struggle with. When a corporation chooses to implement the lean business model, it cannot assume that the culture would instantly adapt to the new procedures, resources, and ideas. The culture needs to be intentionally guided to meet the demands of the model. A key to lean product development is performing a risk assessment and discharging that risk as early as you can in the process - so that you're not loading risk to the end of a product development project. Memorable Quotes From Norbert Majerus "The ideal processes inspire the ideal behaviors” CONNECT WITH Norbert Majerus Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norbert-majerus-5a746235/ Website: https://www.leandriveninnovation.com/ Norberts Latest Book: https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Innovation-Excellence-Sustained-Prosperity/dp/1032139897

Some compelling features of agile product development are flexibility and resilience. An agile project can deal with problems and new learning and pivot to take advantage of that new learning. My guest, Katja Schleicher has insights about how to apply those agile principles of flexibility and resilience to communication. We can all benefit from better communication, so check out our fascinating conversation!

Katja Schleicher is a sought-after Communications Expert Trainer and keynote speaker.  She gets managers, teams, women, and men to talk - and improves their communicative impact in Public Speeches, conversations, and media interviews. Words, what they mean, and how they “come across" to the audience are her passion and business model. In this order. After a long career in PR, advertising, TV, and corporate communications for high-tech companies, she has been on the road for nearly two decades to guide her audiences through all the (intercultural) communication shallows and misunderstandings.

Websites:

www.katjaschleicher.com

www.interview-training.eu

Some compelling features of agile product development are flexibility and resilience. An agile project can deal with problems and new learning and pivot to take advantage of that new learning. My guest, Katja Schleicher, has insights about applying those agile principles of flexibility and resilience to communication. We can all benefit from better communication, so check out our conversation! 

Katja Schleicher

Katja Schleicher is a sought-after Communications Expert Trainer and keynote speaker.  She gets managers, teams, women, and men to talk - and improve their communicative impact in Public Speeches, conversations, and media interviews. Words, what they mean, and how they “come across" to the audience are her passion and business model. After a long career in PR, advertising, TV, and corporate communications for high-tech companies, she has been on the road for nearly two decades to guide her audiences through all the (intercultural) communication shallows and misunderstandings.

  KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:05:07   Agile Communication: What It Is and How It Can Benefit Your Business

0:09:19   Agile Communication: How to Break Out of Your Filter Bubble

 0:11:42   Intercultural Communication: The Importance of an "As Well As" Mindset

0:18:04   The Benefits of Humble Inquiry in Understanding Others

0:20:06   The Importance of Storytelling in Communication

0:24:06   The Power of Storytelling in Persuasive Communication

0:35:22   The Benefits of Good Communication in the Workplace

0:40:12   The Importance of Knowing Your Strengths

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Communication is difficult because people are more in love with numbers than with words. You need to communicate with people, but there's always more for us to learn about how to do that better and authentically.

Memorable Quotes From Katja Schleicher

“To become an agile communicator, it is important to understand one's filters and bubbles and to be curious about other people, cultures, and industries.”

CONNECT WITH Katja Schleicher

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/interviewtraining/

Websites: www.katjaschleicher.com

       www.interview-training.eu

Dr. Anjani Mahabashya had a childhood dream to be a doctor. She achieved her dream and got her dream job working in a premier medical center. Everything came crashing down the day she had a devastating fall. She is here to share what she learned about empathy, and why empathetic leaders matter when employees are at their most vulnerable. This is a story that all Continuous Improvement leaders who are working to build the habit of “Respect for People” should hear.

Anjani talks about her work in healthcare and her focus on improving the system for patients, physicians, and insurance companies. She discusses her journey of becoming a doctor and her motivation for wanting to help people. She will also share her experience of moving to the United States for medical training and how she had to serve in an underserved area to stay in the country.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• The work of a physician advisor and how her team applies continuous improvement.

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The importance of empathy in leadership, and how it creates connection and engagement.

Memorable Quotes From Anjani Mahabashya

• "Empathy teaches you to be mindful”

CONNECT WITH ANJANI MAHABASHYA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjani-mahabashya-848a201b9