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My guest for Episode #466 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is a returning guest, Billy Taylor. Since his last appearance, Billy has written and released a great book titled The Winning Link: A Proven Process to Define, Align, and Execute Strategy at Every Level.

Billy had a long career at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, where he served as plant director for both union and non-union facilities, leading lean transformations in Goodyear's largest and most complex tire-producing sites. Billy more recently founded his firm LinkedXL, where he is CEO.

He was previously a guest in Episodes 293 and 298, back in 2017. He was also a guest on Episode 5 of “My Favorite Mistake.”

Questions, Notes, and highlights:

Before we talk about your book, what stood out to you most at the AME conference this year?
How to understand the level of trust? How do build it??
“Coaching leaders on how to show up”
Productive huddles – Key Performance Actions (KPA)
What is “title-itis”?
Best people… best processes
Defining winning — why is that a challenge for some organizations? Lack of agreement on what winning means?
Purpose mapping – agreeing on this first?
Developing your strategy — how do we know if a strategy is the “right” strategy?? Truly differentiating??
What's your CPI – critical performance indicator?
“Have you defined what winning means to you?”
SOAP – Strategy on a Page
Aligning to win — As you write — Making jobs better not making jobs go away?
“America… not a hiring problem… a retention problem”
Psychological Safety
“Covid changed the way we do business”

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more.

This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.

Billy Taylor Discusses His New Book, ”The Winning Link”