I wrote The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get to Back on Track as a Self Help & Roadmap for C-Suite Leaders of Today and Tomorrow. What I did not expect was it was a self help guide for myself to distill my insights. My unique value is how I partner with C-Suite Leaders to assess their landscape from Quality, Operations, and Safety perspective with the help of a Compass to get back on track. The Compass was the missing link between talented C-Suite leaders having achieved great results, but have now lost their way. Much of it is about getting back to basics about human-centric leadership. However, I didn’t always have a clear message for you, so let me take you back a bit.
My community since 2019 loved my content writing, but a wise colleague Karyl Eckerle shared that people did not know what I stood for nor my systems. They were confused; was I a consultant, leadership development coach or a podcaster? I was surprised by this feedback, but then I realized with all respect, Karyl was telling me that the messages had to be distilled so you know what I stand for, who I serve and how do I bring you to Peace of Mind. I’m grateful for the tough love, but it soon propelled me forward to be crystal clear about my value and who I love to work with.
While I serve numerous industries, the common denominator of who I serve is the CEO/President, VP of operations or the plant manager who is going through some kind of major transformation. More specifically; they’ve achieved great success for many years, but something has now changed; throwing them into chaos and unfortunately crisis for which they really need some external help. While the ways I help bring them back to a place of control may vary; a common theme I often see is the connectivity and confidence in leading the front line worker who is very close to your customer. I spoke at length on this during my interview with Joel Onyshuk on his podcast The Front Line Leaders podcast as well on the Drop In CEO podcast where Joel was a gracious guest full of insights.
The magic bullet is engaging in Conversation and Collaboration so they are Confident to Confide in you.
While recovering from a terrible cross-contamination issue resulting in loss of time, money & credibility, I found our front line workers not following the new process during an audit. While I asked in the most respectful way why not, they showed me how it was not possible to execute as written. The theoretical process that should have prevented the issue was not practical and was not written in reality. I was embarrassed to learn this and shared that with the front line worker. When I inquired what the process should be and they demonstrated what was possible, I quickly edited the process and came back with the updates to which we agreed it would work.
I could have checked the box that the process was validated and be assured that there would be no further issue and be on my way to the next project. However, the next time I was on the shop floor, the operator pulled me aside to share another problem. They confided in me that not everyone was following the new process and trusted me with confidentiality. I thanked them for their courage to share and desire to achieve a greater outcome of compliance than simply doing their job heads down. I’m pleased to share that after gaining their confidence and fixing this issue, the flow of insight continued to flow to assure we never delivered a bad product to our customers.
Do you have a compass to guide you when you’re off track?
I’ve connected with many of you who are reading this now to learn about you and your career journey, both successes and failures. The common theme is most of you have found a way to get back on track, but others still feel stuck. While I cannot know your frustration specifically; I’ve seen enough in my career to know that you may need something. That something may be my blog posts on my website or The Drop In CEO podcast which is free and easy to consume.
If you need something more, I propose a copy of my book may provide additional insights to help you navigate your career with confidence. If you obtain a copy of my book and share the receipt, I will offer you a complimentary discussion to help you get back on track. I want this to be easy to move forward with confidence. I was once (well maybe several times) off track and I wish I had a compass to guide me. I’m offering you one now to help you succeed and reach your career goals.
Until we connect, I wish you continued success and be well-Deb