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Driving Efficiency in Leadership: Adopting Lean Strategies for CEO Success

Lean Initiatives will never work unless you start with a strategy to eliminate wasteful management practices.

Now don’t get scared, I’m not talking about chopping headcount! This is short sighted as a way to get financial gains, yet so many organizations engage in this proactiveness. Lean is about eliminating the waste that was created to serve leaders vs. the value added activities that serve the people that impact your customers.

If I’ve made you feel uncomfortable, I’ve done my job well!

If you’d like to learn more about doing Lean right, read on…

Let’s use a typical production example to explain what I mean.

An operator on the floor can increase their output to improve the workplace organization so a team is deployed to “fix” the symptom.

But why do the conditions exist to create a workplace set up that was not optimal? Was it a legacy set up? Was it set up with certain outcomes in mind?

Did we leave it up to the operator to create their own work standard?

Regardless of the history, the operator was not set up for optimal efficiency hence why we deploy Lean Methodology to “fix” the symptom.

But what are the management practices that allow the conditions of an inefficient workplace to exist for the operator for which we now need to fix him and his workplace?

The reason why this happens is that leadership is more interested in getting the equipment in place with the promise of efficiency and cost savings. They don’t take the time to understand the interactions with the operator..

Had leadership started from a place of how the operator had optimal conditions to leverage the efficiency of the new equipment, might there have been a different result?

Instead, we deploy consultants, hours of training of white, yellow, green and black belts to hurry, scurry and do the work and claim success when we save a few dollars here and there.

I’m not saying I’m anti-Lean, but had we dealt with the management practices at the top when deploying an organizational design, we might have realized the lean efficiency out of the gate?

Lean starts with a leadership strategy at the top:

  • What Management practices need to exist to set the organization up for success?
  • What Conditions exist to management practices that need to be mitigated to eliminate the opportunity for inefficiency?
  • And have we evaluated the Symptoms that exist due to the conditions to assure we identify the possible causes for inefficient performance?

It’s not about throwing more resources to find a solution.

It’s about setting up the right Lean Leadership Strategy so you don’t have to allocate more resources later due to short-sighted decisions.

One client of mine did not have regular leadership meetings to discuss changes in the organization and actions needed to mitigate risk. Then one day, a risk manifested into a crisis and now I have the good fortune to “Drop In” to fix the issue and set up the conditions to mitigate the risk in the future. Had the organization had the Management Practice of a regular leadership cadence, might they have seen the risk and mitigated the condition before the crisis happened?

Given this insight, let’s turn to your situation.

Have you deployed initiatives that fail to gain traction?

Are you now throwing money at bad hoping to get better?

Are you doubting yourself because you didn’t get the results you expected due to a poor execution strategy that should have dealt with management practices?

If this is you or someone you know, could we have a conversation to adopt these insights to your situation and set you up for success?

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/16/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

Be well-Deb

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Your Marketing is Killing Your Brand and Trust

PSA: Your Marketing Strategy is Not Working!

I am so tired of the transactional based pitches on Linkedin.

Gone are the days of networking from a place of curiosity and seeking to learn how we can help each other.

How many of you are getting the pitch lately of
a) These are MY services
b) You may need MY services
c) Book a call with MY scheduling link

Ugh!!!! I’m so tired of trying to be nice and say no thank you so I’m just going to put it all out there.

Some of these companies have totally missed an opportunity.

Had they started from a place of truly looking to form meaningful relationships… I might have invited their CEO onto my podcast to reach a broader audience!

Had they started from a place of getting to know me…they might have gotten referrals to people they can serve!

Had they started from a place of just saying “Hello”, I might have said “Hello” back and say how can I help you?

But instead, marketing strategies are to mass market and hope 0.5% might say yes.

I’m just saying… anyone that starts from a place of saying “I just want to learn more about what you do, would you be open to connecting”, will more than likely get a “Yes, let’s connect”.

Anyone else out there mad as heck that humanity has fallen to transactional relationships?

Please leave your comments below.

And to those leaders who are using mass marketing for lead gen… please stop because it’s not leaving a good impression about your brand.

If you are truly interested in reaching the people you can serve, do the hard work and start one by one saying “Hello”.

Be well-Deb

#dropinceo#marketingfailures#relationships

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Bridging Generations: Mentorship for Stronger Teams

This past weekend, I was supposed to lead a team to a bonspiel in Detroit  (Barbara – 60ish, Deb 50ish, Julia 40ish, Krista 20-30ish). I’m sad to say, at the last minute I was very sick and had to find a sub for me as the captain (Skip) of the team. Luckily, they found Bethany (20ish) to be the captain. While they did not come away victorious, the picture of them smiling ear to ear was priceless. And so, the team’s age extended from 20’s to 60ish. Curling is a sport for any age to enjoy sportsmanship, the sport and even victory! I am grateful for the practice we had leading up to the event, leveraging their strengths and giving them the confidence, they can do this!  This is the beauty of mentorship and I so love it!

And in another curling story, friend Lauren who I curl with is about 20 years younger than I, helped me to get over my lack of confidence to make tough shots. After calling a challenging shot that I was very uncomfortable with, she came over to me and said “you got this!”. Needless to say, I made the shot and realized her kind words were all I needed. She’s curled fewer years than I, but her words are wise beyond her years and she helped me to find my confidence. .

And then I wonder, why can’t we have this same relationship in business, success through collaboration whether 20 or 60?

Such a shame that we lose sight of wisdom regardless of its source. Phyllis Weiss Haserot who is an expert in Cross Generational relationships and communications will be back on my show in a few weeks to discuss mentorship across the ages. Phyllis is many years wise in this area and years younger than I comparably with her vivacious energy.

Mentorship is ageless.

Gone are the days of thinking it is someone older and wiser than can cascade advice. The best advice can come from someone younger than us or even a peer. The key is are we open to listen and receive the mentorship?

If we lead with a mindset that mentorship can come from anyone regardless of age, cross generationally we can all reap the benefits of being open to receive from anyone who cares to give us sound advice.

And given that insight, might we set up mentorship based on wisdom and perspective vs. assignment based on age?

Might the organization be richer if we look through a different mentorship lens?

And lastly, if you haven’t cultivated a cross generational mentorship program; could it be the best investment in talent retention, development and most importantly, leaving your legacy?

I may not have been able to curl with my early experienced team this weekend, but I know I helped them to achieve their goals: Be safe, have fun and win a few ends. Additionally, Julia came back to me and said she had a great time and cannot wait to go to another bonspiel. Julia’s about 15 years younger than me, but through her words, she encourages me more to help others to build their confidence and take on the world. For her friendship and also her mentorship, I am forever grateful.

And now I turn to you? What is your legacy? Have you cultivated a nurturing environment through mentorship and might I say through a different lens not based on age, but by wisdom?

Do you or do you know someone who is having this challenge?

Would a guide help to navigate these challenges?

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/9/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

Be well-Deb

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Agile and Lean: A Powerful Duo for Team Resilience

I could drop into a business blindfolded and identify the three barriers to having an Agile & Lean organization. Call me arrogant, but when I see the pattern repeat itself over and over again, I think CEOs need to take note of these blindspots. Too often their organizations are based on a shaky foundation of poor talent management, unclear authority and ineffective barrier removal to unleash potential. This is the invisible waste under any strategy that detracts from your impact and then you wonder why you can’t sleep at night.

Recently I dropped into a manufacturing company where I provided interim quality leadership in support of operations. It was chaotic and I was curious why I was being consulted on every quality issue; decisions that could have been made by the supervisors. I learned the previous leadership for whatever reason needed to be consulted on all rejections and investigations. In the process, I also learned their leadership was not conducive to building confidence in the front line leaders. It was a sad set of circumstances, but I sought to understand what was missing or broken.

Putting aside the leadership issue of the past, I realized my role was to remove the barriers for their decision making and eliminate waste in the process. Most leaders throw resources at a problem or stretch the existing labor until they call off. What I saw was a much different issue rooted in poor agility and a massive amount of waste. Here is what I learned and will now share with you.

Removing the blindspots in these three areas will enable resilient teams to be Agile and Lean:

  • Assess the talent and really see their value. Elevate them in their current role to give them back confidence. Plan to move those where their talent can be amplified. Your job is not to keep people in their places, but to move them up and out. Short sighted views would see this as a risk. However, long term thinking will recognize that you amplify their impact.
  • Establish levels of authority, capability & capacity – Too often we strip people of their decision making authority and the ability to think in a risk averse environment or a culture of micro management. If there is too much waste in back and forth between your line workers and leadership, take a close look at how the authority is assigned and remove non-value added activities. Give the leaders more strategic work vs. being down in the weeds.
  • Ways of working & barrier removal – give your resources a forum where they can escalate issues and solutions early and often. They become part of the solution based culture vs. one that is guided by rigid goal posts for which they could feel helpless to make a difference. As a leader you need to bubble up their challenges and your role is to be in service to make their jobs easier. Gone are the times of being cooped up in your office for hours on end. Your job is to be where the work is being done and do everything to help them.

Does this sound familiar?

Do you or do you know someone who is having this challenge?

Would a guide help to navigate these challenges?

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 2/2/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

Be well-Deb

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Do this to avoid killing trust and diminishing your influence

Nothing is worse than settling into a meeting and watching a 50-page powerpoint that sucks the life out of you. Yet we continue the same behavior day after day until we realize this is absolutely insane. I’m not saying throw the baby out with the bathwater because we need some platform to convey visual information. However, there needs to be a better approach or you will kill your audience with details and fail to get the outcome or influence you seek.

The fact is, this generation and quite frankly mine as well (yes, I’m a Gen X), need information quickly. We need information to pass judgment on whether we’re going to watch more or swipe by within 5 seconds. What is missing from today’s communication in business is short concise messaging with a hook, a problem, a “how to guide” and a call to action to take a decision or engage in conversation. Our business communication style should take lessons from social media to build trust and ultimately influence.

But we’re not here to emulate social media influencers when it comes to business, but might we consider LEAN (waste removal and process efficiency) as a means to have more influence?

I see you nodding your head, so let me show you what I mean:

  • Start with the Challenge or Opportunity and why we are here: Audiences need context to know they’re in the right place. In social media, this is the hook. You need to prepare your audience and build trust that you will take them down a path.
  • Explain the impact or urgency for the topic and that you have the solution: When we express the magnitude of the issue (like marketers do), people will tune in and start to think if this applies to them and cultivate their need to continue to listen.
  • Show them the path forward: Based on your data or visualization of the issue, show them your approach and conclusions to bring people along to agree or engage in conversation to enrich the solution
  • Make it easy to implement: Show them what is needed to implement or the gaps that need to be closed in order to move the conversation forward. This gives people choices to push a button and say “yes” or “approve” or enable them to take the topic forward
  • Call to action: If people haven’t already discussed next steps, then be prescriptive as to the next step or action needed by others so that you leave the presentation with something.

Here’s an example of a project I recently asked to get involved in:

  • There’s a significant need to evolve our platform to be more efficient and competitive with our competition. Currently we have a process that is outdated and needs to evolve to help our teams through the product development process.
  • Currently, the teams are focused on siloed work without understanding the interactions of their work and there are no checks and balances for which at the end of the design cycle, we are late and the quality is below industry standard.
  • We’ve provided a framework to standardize our work and systemize it in such a way that provides full transparency and checks between the functional areas to achieve our desired outcome. By piloting this in our test product line  you can see an improvement in quality and on time performance.
  • If we can close the gap and implement this system that will automate the work within a function and also cross functionally, we believe we will surpass our competitors if we can get your approval by next week.
  • I will convene a follow up meeting with the stakeholders to review the details and guide the approval to realize its value by 3Q24.

I just delivered this message most likely in 3-5 minutes max through a careful selection of words and phrases that connect in a concise way and make it easy for people to engage. The key word is “MESSAGE” vs. sharing information. Lean removes wasteful words and enables efficient delivery of information while we craft words that connect emotionally with people for action.

For me, this is easy and has served me well.

For others, their delivery is painful and a waste of others’ time. In the process, it kils their brand and maybe yours if they work for you.

Can you coach this delivery method?  I do hope the framework can help.

But if you don’t have the capability yourself to do this or coach others, wouldn’t it be a courageous idea to gain back time with this approach?

The decision is yours to ratchet up your influence. What will it be?

Let me partner with you to review your team’s messaging and I’ll give you advice on how to hone messaging for lean and effective communication.

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 1/25/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

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LEAN is a Four Letter Word: How to avoid the inherent waste in a Lean Initiative

Let me give it to you straight. No amount of operational efficiency you glean from a Lean Initiative is going to give you sustainable results without three fundamentals:

  • Responsibility & Accountability Institutionalized
  • Prioritization mastery
  • Critical thinking and decision logic maturity

Without these inculcated into your organization with front line leaders and those that drive the ship, you will ultimately lose money and then blame the Lean Leader for their failure.

Let’s look at waste: TIM WOODS stands for Time, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, Defects and Skills which is the fundamental framework for eliminating waste in a Lean Organization.

However, let’s apply this to the humans vs. processes and see the waste through a different lens.

Example 1: A quality supervisor makes a decision to reject material and hold it until a disposition of scrap or rework can be made. The production manager understands the issue and pressures the supervisor that the specifications are just guidelines and in the end application, there will not be an impact and pressures them to release.

What’s wrong with this picture? While conversation is necessary in such situations, who ultimately is responsible for these key decisions? Refocusing the energy from pressuring the release of a product to identify the root cause why the product is not in specification is a better use of time. However, in this process without clear Responsibility and Accountability defined, there is Waste. I don’t care if you have an efficient production process to create products with defects; under the surface, the organization is generating waste.

Example 2: Production is realizing the benefit of Lean and is producing products with a lower takt time (a measurement in Lean for how fast you need to produce to keep up with customer demand). Management is celebrating a win, but there is a bottleneck in the quality lab. The quality manager has two people out for COVID, another is out for training, they have several research projects to complete for R&D, Customer Complaints to be resolved and they have to work with maintenance who is coming down today to repair a leak. The Manager is stressed and sees the work piling up and is working late hours to try to meet all demands.

What’s wrong with this picture? Clearly in this situation without further context, the Research work and possibly the customer complaints can be paused in favor of the leak and managing resources to get the work done with a reduced staff. However, this manager lacks the prioritization savvy to make those decisions or doesn’t have a support system to help them manage the increase in work and reduced resources. Wouldn’t it be a better use of time in concert with speeding up production to also work with Quality to ensure they are also level loaded to meet the demands of production? Could we also help this leader to have a framework for prioritization and a voice to message when they’re in trouble? Sometimes these situations cause burnout without us realizing it in the spirit of creating a lean production machine.

Example 3: Returning to the Quality Manager who is overloaded with a reduced workforce, they make the following decisions to manage:

  • Authorize overtime
  • Work 12 hour days
  • Delay the repair of the leak in the quality department

Where did they go wrong? Their decision logic based on a position of helplessness made the decisions based on what was in their control. Instead, they could have contacted customer service to see if any orders could be rescheduled. With the increased efficiency in production, there were resources that could be pulled in to do administrative work; moving resources to where the work was needed. And let’s talk about that leak they delayed. Short sightedness may cause a long term expensive issue if that leak introduces safety or health hazards in the lab. They could have reschedule to the weekend when people were not around.

Critical thinking and better decision logic might have had a better outcome for quality keeping up with production. By not preparing them with better skills, they sometimes make wasteful decisions which is what we’re trying to eliminate.

So my advice to you is next time you think of a Lean Initiative, look at yourself and the organization.

Do they have skills to prepare for the improvements you are making or are there skills under the surface you need to Lean out Waste before moving forward?

Think you got this because the Lean Consultant is on a mission to realize cost savings on behalf of your stakeholders? Think again as your Lean Initiative can be that Four Letter Word that leaves an irreparable legacy on your organization.

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 1/19/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 1/19/24

Be well-Deb

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How Savvy CEOs Safeguard Organizational Stability Through Mentorship

CEO’s that gloss over mentorship realize corporate destabilization due to poor performance and retention challenges. Why does leadership invest so much in bringing in great talent to leave it unmanaged and wither with time? When we buy a car we’re better at changing the oil and rotating the tires. Why not have the same discipline with our resources who are the engine that run the organization?

I asked my mentor, what do I need to get ahead in my career and they said “Get an MBA.” At that time, I was busy with a career, three kids and doing the best I could to deliver results.  Who at the time could manage another degree? In retrospect, they could have advised how an MBA might enable me to have a greater impact on the organization. I’m sure it would have been helpful, but without proper mentorship even if I did get the MBA, I might not have reached my potential. Without that guidance, even if I got the MBA, I may have failed to reach my fullest potential. This is an example of poor mentorship and why I’m forever speaking to you about how important it is.

Let me break it down to the essentials so you can launch your own mentoring initiative:

  • Pair trained leaders to meet monthly with each of their staff. It may not be their boss
  • Focus first on the essential skills / barriers to improve core competencies and unleash their potential
  • Focus on the strategic work and evolve their thoughts on approach and progress
  • Focus on the tactical and what barriers are needed to be removed
  • Be present and really listen to the person and what are the underlying concerns
  • See them for who they should be or already are that they cannot see. Bring forward insight so they can see themselves in a new or different or higher light. When we can help them see their potential, they rise above.

You don’t need an expensive consultant to help implement such an effort. You as a leader can easily explain to your team why this is important and the measurable impact you are expecting. Then hold your teams accountable for this process just like you would manage any other Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in your organization. The mindset shift is that we are in the business of performance management. When we close gaps in confidence, capability and capacity, the results for stakeholders will follow.

For the unfiltered, off the cuff discussion about this topic, please listen to my podcast airing on 1/12/24 and view the video so you see how I really feel about this topic!.

I’ll leave you with one more closing thought:

Without effective mentorship, you are building a business on a shaky foundation of talent that may have gaps / cracks that you will notice when the planets align against you.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 1/12/24

Be well-Deb

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Building a LEAN Team: Key Strategies for Optimal Productivity

If you fell short of your Productivity Improvements in your organization in 2023, do not repeat the same approach!

If you were wildly successful in achieving your productivity results, high five and I’m right there with you! However, I do ask you if you think the efforts are sustainable? I see leaders claim victory one year to only fall into the abyss of waste and destabilization because they’ve not secured a solid foundation for apparent improvements. Might it have been brute force but with little adoption,lack of forums to remove barriers or even assure the legacy of good work is ingrained in future generations of personnel?

While you ponder these thoughts, let me share with you as building blocks to shore up good work and enable you to sustain the results. If you did not do any of these things, there is no shame in going back and revisiting these foundational elements. The only shame is to not do this and watch great work crumble.

I’m an expert in this area as I helped build a Lean Organization that started out at $500k / year cost savings to sustainably yielding $5MM annually. It was brute force in the beginning to build the capability, buy-in and enable results. It is often a tactical implementation without strategic vision and I’m here to share with you wisdom that is invaluable:

To sustain the gains of a Lean Initiative, we must build Lean Teams.

While investing in a well-being regiment including a good diet, weight training, cardio and a positive mindset is all important in building a lean body, building Lean Teams takes the same investment. A sound body and a sound mind will sustainably give you good results and longevity.

START HERE:

Build a Servant Leadership Culture: Every conversation should start with how is this going to help the people doing the work? It should never start with what are going to do to achieve $100,000 in cost savings. It should start with what do we need to do to help the people to eliminate waste and make their job easier? What is the investment needed and what do we think the ROI will be. When we start with service, the results will follow. When we start with the results, you will fail to serve.

Make Small Sustainable changes. Despite good intentions and excellent training on Lean Methodology, only 20% will truly retain the knowledge. Develop an implementation timeline that enables understanding and WIFM (what’s in it for me) and develop confidence and capability first by measuring organizational maturity. Only when we achieve each maturity level, do we progress to the next level. Let the organization dictate the timeline vs. pushing through an artificial one based on results. Lack of adoption will destabilize the organization.

Lean Communications (efficiency & kindness) : learn discipline in how we communicate in an efficient and kind manner will yield faster responses when time is critical. It’s important to teach this to our people else, the waste of excessive emails and meetings will take over any speed you were hoping for.

Misunderstandings need to be met head on: Any initiative needs a forum to identify risks and escalate barriers. Without this pressure relief valve, frustration will simmer below the surface and blindside you when you don’t get the expected result. Also challenge yourself to ask the hard question: do your people feel safe enough to escalate issues. This speaks to your culture and a bigger issue than any Lean Initiative.

Showcasing achievements builds pride and anchors the work – while it’s often built into Lean Initiatives to parade the results to senior leadership like a royal event, we lose sight of what is important. Showcasing value is not for the leadership, but it’s for the people. The outcome is to instill a sense of pride for an accomplishment such that they’re encouraged to repeat the effort and be an advocate to amplify the Lean Initiative for future generations.

When we invest in building a Lean Team, not only do we get short term results; we achieve long term health and well being in the organization to sustain productivity improvements.

So there you have it, the key to optimizing 2024 productivity improvements.

I’m here to listen and perhaps we can have a conversation about how I can get you off on the right foot for 2024 improvements.

If this episode or this year has been valuable, follow me into 2024.

If you are a CEO who would love a partner to help you with a business challenge, be your #2 or help develop the team of tomorrow, let us partner in 2024.

To hear more about This topic please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 1/5/24

Be well-Deb

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