The Lean Solutions Podcast

This week I’m speaking with Dawn Holly Johnson, the CEO of 3D value group and the author of the soon to be released book What CEOs Don't Know. During this episode, Dawn and I chat about Operational Excellence and how leaders can improve their overall organizational performance by adopting simple strategies and lean concepts. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What compelled Dawn to write her book The top 3 areas that are lacking in traditional organizations when it comes to Operational Excellence Why top organizations need to adopt Lean and Operational Excellence What you can apply today to improve organizational performance About the Guest: As an Organizational Engineer with transformational experience in every major industry and in every size company, Dawn has been the catalyst for businesses to realize over $6B in cash flow improvements. She is the CEO of 3D value group and the author of the soon to be released book What CEOs Don't Know. Important Links: https://www.dawnhollyjohnson.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnhollyjohnson https://www.wildlysuccessfulenterprises.com/

This week I’m speaking with Deb Coviello. Deb is the founder of Illumination Partners, Author of the book CEO’s Compass - Your Guide to Getting Back on Track  and the host of The Drop In CEO Podcast. In this episode, Deb and I talk about developing high performing leaders, how you can find them and the best ways to prepare them for their leadership roles. What You’ll Learn This Episode: The inspiration behind writing her book What is a high performer and can everyone be a high performer? Developing high performers What should a leader be doing to help develop the next high performer Signs that you are losing emerging leaders How to prepare team members when promoting them to leadership positions How to look out for and find the best emerging leaders About the Guest: Deb Coviello is the Founder of Illumination Partners and the host of The Drop In CEO podcast. For more than twenty years, she has been transforming businesses from within, elevating the talents of their organizations to new performance levels. Her experience has taught her to put tremendous value on people, whom she considers as the heart of every business. As The Drop In CEO Deb provides her clients with 25+ years worth of experience and strategy in Quality and Operational Excellence roles combined with her 20 years in the Flavors and Fragrance industry, to identify, assess,and solve the issues that are preventing their business growth. Certified as Lean and Six Sigma Blackbelt in Process Improvement, she has also developed significant leadership insight that “People’’ are your greatest tool in your toolbox. In order to deliver on her promise of offering “peace of mind,” she focuses on utilizing the talents of her client’s team and elevating them to new levels of performance, setting them up to better serve their organization. When she isn’t transforming businesses from within, Deb is a board member of Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce, (WFFC), an avid Curler with the Cincinnati Curling Club, a mother of 3 and resides in Cincinnati Ohio with her Husband Dan of 32 years. Important Links: Email: deborah@coviellocm.com Website: https://dropinceo.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahacoviello/ Drop in CEO Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drop-in-ceo/id1498953914?ls=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IlluminationPartnersLLC/ Twitter: @DropinCEO Instagram: @dropinceo

This week I’m speaking with Crystal Davis, an experienced business process improvement consultant and certified leadership development coach and CEO of The Lean Coach, Inc. Crystal and I talk about how leaders and businesses can shift to efficiently working during the pandemic and how leaders can help their team members with the adjustment of returning to the workplace as we come out of the pandemic. What You’ll Learn This Episode: How the pandemic has shifted how Crystal works with clients Project management focus The importance of meeting the client where they are at The importance of taking a break and reflecting as a leader How leaders can help team members as they return to work after the pandemic Why leaders should continue the learning process About the Guest: Crystal Davis is the CEO of The Lean Coach, Inc. and  an experienced business process improvement consultant and certified leadership development coach with over twenty years of experience in the design, development, and implementation of Lean Business System solutions across a wide range of industries. Crystal is a sought-after international speaker, host and podcaster with International Business Growth Radio (IBGR), and has spoken at numerous conferences around the world. Crystal’s work and thought leadership has been published in The Journal of Cost Accounting, and Lean Six Sigma Review. Throughout Crystal’s career, she was fortunate to serve as a Master Black Belt, to be mentored by two Toyota sensei in the Toyota Production System, and to lead three teams to receive awards and recognition from lean organizations. Crystal serves on the OPEX Board of Directors, and Lean Six Sigma and Data Conference board for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Crystal served as the conference chair in 2019, introducing Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to the conference. She also serves on the editorial board for ASQ's Lean Six Sigma Review publication, where she served as guest editor for the inaugural all women’s special edition. Important Links: ww.theleancoachinc.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalydavis/

This week I’m speaking with Siobhan McHale, the Executive General Manager of People, Culture & Change (HR) at DuluxGroup and the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace that Delivers, Grows, and Adapts. Siobhan and I talk about the importance of workplace culture and the steps you need to take to bring about a culture change in your workplace. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What is workplace culture? The typical patterns of workplace culture Creating culture change in the workplace Role reframing and how it relates to workplace culture The steps to take to bring about culture shift About the Guest: Siobhan (pronounced ‘Shiv-awn’) McHale is the Executive General Manager of People, Culture & Change (HR) at DuluxGroup a paints company based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace that Delivers, Grows, and Adapts. Siobhan has worked across four continents, helping thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. She has been on the “inside”, as the executive in charge of culture change in a series of multinational organizations. One of these inside jobs was a radical seven-year change initiative at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that transformed it from the lowest-performing bank in the country into one of the highest-performing banks in the world. Important Links: https://www.siobhanmchale.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mchalesiobhan/?originalSubdomain=au https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Culture-Change-Workplace/dp/1400214653

This week I’m speaking with Mike Leigh, who is the President of OpX Solutions, a performance improvement company that helps manufacturers remove the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goals by developing leaders and improving processes. In this episode we talk about Kaizen events, including why they are important and how to ensure that the outcome of the event is successful. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What are Kaizen events and what is their purpose How to define success at a Kaizen event The main factors that influence success and how to determine them How to hold a successful Kaizen event Having the right mindset during a Kaizen event Inviting leaders to participate in Kaizen events About the Guest: Mike Leigh started OpX Solutions to help manufacturers and other organizations be more successful. Prior to starting his company, Mike had a 13-year manufacturing career where he held a variety of operational supply chain leadership roles.  Prior to that, he served in the US Navy as a surface warfare officer where he specialized in nuclear propulsion, and later retired as a Commander in the reserves. Additionally, Mike writes a monthly article on business operations for Valley Business FRONT magazine, was recognized as the Virginia Small Business Veteran of the Year by the state SBDC organization, and his business is currently the #1 franchise in the Americas with Leadership Management International. When not working, Mike enjoys hiking, traveling, and following the Green Bay Packers. Important Links: Company Website:  https://opxsolutionsllc.com/ Linked-In Sites: OpX Solutions:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/opx-solutions-llc/ Mike’s profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeleighopxsolutions/

This week I’m speaking with David Mann, who has over 25 years of consulting on lean and lean management implementations in a wide range of manufacturing, health care, enterprise business processes, and extended value chains. In this episode we talk about David’s book and one of my favorite lean books, Creating a Lean Culture and how you can create the behaviors and practices of a lean management system in your own organization. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What inspired David to write Creating a Lean Culture The specific behaviors and practices that instilled a lean management system Mindset shifts for implementing lean systems The most important aspect in sustaining a lean culture Where David has seen the elements of lean management applied About the Guest: David Mann is the principal of David Mann Lean Consulting. In 15 years of lean experience at Steelcase Inc., Mann developed the concepts and tools of a lean management system, supporting 40+ lean manufacturing value stream transformations, and then leading an internal team that completed over 100 successful lean conversions in administrative and business process value streams. He established a consulting practice in 2005, serving organizations across industries worldwide. David is an implementer, consultant, coach, teacher and the author of the book Creating a Lean Culture, in which he won a Shingo Award. Important Links: https://dmannlean.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Lean-Culture-David-Mann/dp/1482243237

This week I’m speaking with John Dyer, an author, speaker, teacher and consultant in team based continuous process improvement. With over 30 years experience, he is the President of John Dyer & Associates where he works with leaders in many different industries in the area of process improvement and leadership development. In this episode we talk about the different styles of leadership and how they apply to transforming the overall culture of an organization. We also chat about John’s book, The Façade of Excellence, and how it relates to different types of leaders and sustainable process improvement. What You’ll Learn This Episode: How continuous improvement has changed over the years Culture of continuous appearance John’s book, The Façade of Excellence, and why he wrote it The main ingredient to making any improvement initiative successful Why leaders need to adapt to different situations About the Guest: John Dyer is the President of John Dyer & Associates, where he works with  leaders in a variety of Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence initiatives.  John is also the author of the book The Façade of Excellence, Defining a New Normal of Leadership. Important Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-dyer-75a646/ https://twitter.com/JohnDyerPI https://www.amazon.com/Fa%C3%A7ade-Excellence-Defining-Normal-Leadership/dp/0367145332/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VPWAXQE0RTYB&dchild=1&keywords=the+facade+of+excellence+john+dyer&qid=1622834304&sprefix=the+facade+of+%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=8-1

This week I’m chatting with Katie Anderson, an internationally recognized leadership coach, consultant, author and professional speaker. Katie is best known for her focus on helping individuals and organizations lead with intention. Katie is also the author of “Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn” and wrote the forward for my book. In this episode we talk about being an intentional leader, and creating a structure for your learning and practice. What You’ll Learn This Episode: What it means to be an intentional leader 3 skills to becoming a more intentional leader Finding your clarity The importance of asking questions Creating a habit of reflection The shift from PDCA to SAPD About the Guest: Katie Anderson is an internationally recognized leadership coach, consultant, author and professional speaker.  She has over 20 years of experience in supporting change and improvement in organizations across a range of industries, though her primary focus has been on leading transformational change in healthcare organizations. Katie launched KBJ Anderson Consulting in 2013, to help individuals and organizations gain clarity on their goals, deepen their problem solving skills, and develop more effective leadership habits. Important Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/ https://kbjanderson.com/

This week I’m chatting with Paul Dunlop, a Lean expert and Principal Consultant with over 20 years of management and manufacturing experience across a broad range of industries. In this episode we talk about focusing on accountability and performance management to improve your overall productivity. We also chat about why it’s so important to build your improvement on a solid foundation so that you can move from chaos and lack of structure to calm productivity. What You’ll Learn This Episode: How to build improvement activity on a good foundation The importance of accountability Performance management and why it’s needed The idea of perfection and why it may be stopping you Fear and leadership Making behavior visual About the Guest: In his operational management roles Paul Dunlop has led successful Lean implementation and transformations using the principles of the Toyota Production System and is green belt certified. Paul’s passion for operational excellence using Lean tools and methodology has helped drive sustained continuous improvement and financial performance at many businesses. Paul’s human centered approach focuses on engaging the ongoing support and commitment of both frontline staff and senior management through effective Lean leadership to facilitate engagement and inclusive problem-solving cultures. Paul supports and encourages organizations and individuals to go from chaos to calm productivity. Important Links: https://www.dunlopconsultants.com.au/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dunlopconsultants/

This week I’m chatting with Pennie Saum, a process improvement expert currently in the transportation field about her experience with Lean and how her past personal struggles have influenced her today. In this episode, we talk about Pennie’s work with process improvement, employee engagement, and A3 thinking. We also go into detail about her work as an author and speaker working with survivors of trauma and abuse. What You’ll Learn This Episode: A3 thinking The importance of personal development Engagement and productivity improvement Penny’s experience with trauma A3 thinking in your personal life and personal development Knowing your “why” The Be Loud Movement About the Guest: Penny Saum is a continuous process improvement expert currently in the transportation field with an emphasis on employee engagement and productivity improvement. Pennie has focused heavily on employee mentoring, employee development and driving continuous improvement through the training of employees. Throughout her career in Lean, Pennie has developed strategy, people, process and structural solutions that have met business needs by analyzing the organization’s current states and utilizing continuous improvement methodology. She has had successful implementation in employee development, streamlining business processes, enhancing operational efficiency, implementing cost control measures and enhancing the employee experience. Pennie Saum is also the author of Brave and Unbroken, a speaker, advocate, law changer, and voice seeker who has dedicated her life to helping victims use their voice to move through trauma and grief. She has a passion for helping child sexual abuse victims thrive.  Pennie is determined to impact those who are struggling the trauma of child sexual abuse. Important Links: Ted Talk Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l7R3Zuv8Is http://penniesaum.com/ http://www.braveandunbroken.com/