Leadership isn’t about titles, charisma, or quick decisions—it’s about creating systems where people can do their best work and continuously improve. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on leadership through a Lean lens, drawing on ideas from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real-world management practice. The common theme: leaders shape culture, influence behavior, and own the systems that produce results—for better or worse.
My guest for Episode #297 is John (JJ) Villareal, Ed.D., the superintendent of the Rockwall I.S.D. here in the Dallas area.
In this podcast, we talk about the applications of Lean in education, how to move beyond what JJ calls "the behavior waste of judgment and blame," and how visiting a factory was inspiring and helpful, among other topics.
Even if you don't work in education, I hope you'll be inspired by this podcast.
You might think that "command and control" leadership styles are a thing of the past. But, old habits die slowly and many leaders today still seem to have a mental model that longs for a workforce that would "just do what they're told."
What did former President and General Dwight D. Eisenhower say about leaders who are "hitting people over the head?" I blog about that here...
When managing a process and looking at results, the type of chart we use matters. The way we react to the chart matters too. In this blog post, I explore two different types of charts and explain why I like the "process behavior chart" format better.
Joining me for episode #294 is Clay Linkous, an account leader and speaker with Studer Group. He is an accomplished cultural transformation and leadership expert who has synthesized Lean and other improvement methods with Studer Group principles and practices.
Today, we'll talk about Clay's career and his purpose and motivations - both for working in healthcare and improving healthcare. We're both firm believers in the combination of Studer and Lean practices, so we're also discussing that as our main topic.
I hope you enjoy the discussion!
In today's post, I share and write about this message from Akio Toyoda that was posted online:
“Making Ever-better Cars and Human Resource Development: The Forces That Power Sustainable Growth“
My guest for Episode #293 of the podcast is a dynamic speaker and manufacturing leader, Billy R. Taylor. I saw him speak a few years ago at a Shingo Prize Conference and I've wanted to get him on the podcast ever since.
He's currently the Director of Commercial, Off Highway, and Support Manufacturing North America for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Over the past 20 years, he has risen from "the lowest level of the organization," up through the manufacturing leadership ranks at Goodyear, including time as a Plant Director at facilities in Oklahoma and North Carolina.
He's been "engaged in Lean" for over 15 years and he is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Billy has a BS in in Electrical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and an MBA from Baker University.
Billy was very giving of his time and we talked for over 75 minutes, so I'm breaking this up into two parts, with Part 2 coming soon. Today, we talk about how he got started with Lean, the shift from tools- and event-based Lean to a culture focus, how to build a sense of ownership, servant leadership, employee recognition and more.
I recently read this article on the IndustryWeek website:
Whirlpool's Green Takes Aim at World Class Manufacturing
Byron Green, the vice president of manufacturing for Whirlpool's 14 factories in the U.S. and Mexico, said:
"...manufacturing was littered with companies that saw lean as a collection of tools that could be deployed for a quick win. Successful companies, he said, instead see it as a bedrock of their culture."....
My guests for Episode 292 are the three co-authors of an excellent book, Motivational Interviewing for Leadership: MI-LEAD:
Jason Wilcox, Director of Education and Connected Care at VA Roseburg
Dr. Brian Kersh, Clinical Psychologist at New Mexico VA Health System
Dr. Elizabeth Jenkins, Clinical Psychologist/Courtesy Assistant Professor at University of South Florida
Who are the “champions of change” in your organization? Is your CEO a champion of change? How many of your front-line managers and staff are champions of change? Are you? What does it mean to be a champion of change?…
TL;DR: Many Lean healthcare job postings fail because they expect a single mid-level hire to “fix” culture, strategy, and results–while executives delegate leadership instead of practicing it. Overemphasis on certifications, industry “insider” status, and toolkits (Lean, Six Sigma, PDSA) misses…
This Business Insider article caught my eye the other day: A celebrity chef who owns 26 restaurants explains why he loves when employees shoot down his ideas I’ve eaten at a José Andrés tapas restaurant in Las Vegas before. So I…
Today, I’m looking back at at podcast from two years ago, sharing this written summary that hopefully better reaches an audience that doesn’t listen to podcasts. I love The Good Jobs Strategy book and approach and I hope you’re inspired by it,…