The Edges of Lean

Ep 75 Continuous Improvement and Couples Coaching with Dr. Robin Buckley

Episode 75 Continuous Improvement and Couples Coaching, with Dr. Robin Buckley

If you are a coach, have you ever thought about the family relationships of your clients? If you have a coach, how does your coaching experience engage your family relationships? How might a couple benefit from engaging in coaching together? And how is that different from couple therapy? Dr. Robin Buckley specializes in executive coaching, which includes executive couples. I invited her to tell us about her approach.

Dr. Robin Buckley

Dr. Robin Buckley, CPC, helps high-achieving individuals thrive in their careers and relationships. She is an author, professional speaker, and cognitive-behavioral coach who works with executive women and high-performance couples. The owner of Insights Group Psychological & Coaching Services, Dr. Buckley, has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. She has published two books, including Voices from the Village: Advice for Girls on the Verge of Adulthood. Dr. Buckley has been featured as an expert on multiple media platforms, including Thrive Global, and was a TEDx speaker in May 2022.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:04:16 The benefits of coaching vs. therapy

0:08:37 The benefits of coaching for women executives

0:10:31 Couple's Coaching: applying business acumen to personal relationships

0:11:55 Couples coaching: a new approach to relationship success

0:16:06 Couples coaching: the importance of strategy and objectivity

0:18:06 The benefits of work-life harmony

0:22:20 Couple's coaching and the importance of a good plan

0:23:43 Conducting assessments with couples

0:25:58 Why couples need a mission statement and KPIs

0:30:52 The power of KPIs in relationships

0:34:31 The benefits of creating harmony between work and home life

0:36:30 Dr. Robin Buckley on code switching, psychological safety, and her new book, Marriage LLC

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Coaching can be a great supplement to or partnership with therapy, or it can achieve different goals that are outside of therapy.
• A proactive, preventative approach helps people learn from their present situation and apply that knowledge to their future goals.
• The importance of coaching, specifically in helping people establish new, healthy patterns in their lives with a focus on reflection and analysis,
• Part of what makes coaching so effective is the focus on reflection and analysis.
• Reflection and analysis allow people to learn from their experiences and establish habits that will stick with them in the future.
• Code switching is when you act differently in different environments.
• Creating a mission statement can help keep people united. 
• Various assessments throughout the coaching relationship can help determine a person's strengths and preferences.
• Businesses and organizations often have mission statements to keep people unified. 
• Coaches will sometimes use assessments with their clients, like SWOT analyses or value inventories.

 

 

 

Memorable Quotes From Dr. Robin Buckley 

 

“It's not necessarily the countermeasures; it's the process and the protocols around establishing those measures.”

If you are a coach, have you ever thought about the family relationships of your clients? If you have a coach, how does your coaching experience engage your family relationships? How might a couple benefit from engaging in coaching together? And how is that different from couple therapy? Dr. Robin Buckley specializes in executive coaching -which includes executive couples.  I invited her to tell us about her approach.

Dr. Robin Buckley, CPC, helps high-achieving individuals thrive in their careers and relationships. She is an author, professional speaker, and cognitive-behavioral coach who works with executive women and high-performance couples. Her proprietary coaching model uses a business framework and cognitive-behavioral strategies to support clients in creating and executing concrete, strategic plans for developing their careers and relationships. The owner of Insights Group Psychological & Coaching Services, Dr. Buckley has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and served as a doctoral professor and dissertation chair for students in business, leadership, education, and healthcare. She has published two books, including Voices From the Village: Advice for girls on the verge of adulthood. Dr. Buckley is a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been featured as an expert on multiple media platforms, including Thrive Global, Authority Magazine, Nike, various podcasts, News Radio 96.7, and WGN Radio 720, and was a TEDx speaker in May 2022.

www.drrobinbuckley.com

 

https://www.instagram.com/drrobinbuckley/ https://www.tiktok.com/@drrobinbuckley
https://twitter.com/DrRobinInsights
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-robin-buckley-8257277/
https://www.facebook.com/findingthepowerwithin/

 

 

 

 

 

Ep 74 Continuous Improvement and Why Tools are Not Enough, with Martina Kuhlmeyer

Continuous Improvement and Why Tools are Not Enough, with Martina Kuhlmeyer

Martina Kuhlmeyer has an impeccable lean background, including a Master Blackbelt certification from GE.  So why is she not focused on lean tools these days? Let’s hear her tell the story about how she learned that tools were not enough.

  Martina Kuhlmeyer

Martina Kuhlmeyer is the Founder of Power Up Your Team. As an Executive Coach, she is helping CEOs and Founders build a more resilient team so they can grow their businesses with confidence and ease. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Martina spent 30+ years working for small and several Fortune 100 companies. Moreover, Martina held a variety of executive roles focused on driving large strategic change initiatives, leading programs to build organizational continuous improvement capabilities, improving business operations, and building successful teams.

 

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

 

0:02:47 The Impact of Lean in the Service Industry

0:07:03 The Importance of Engaging IT in Process Improvement Projects

0:18:51 The Benefits of Automation in the Workplace

 0:21:08 The Dangers of Over-Emphasizing Tools in Lean Deployments

0:23:15  Why People like Tools

0:24:40 The Impact of Tools on Lean Implementation

0:26:48 The Benefits of Lean Initiatives in the Workplace

0:28:57 The Importance of Lean Principles in Business Culture

0: 29:30  The Shift that's happening around the culture of business

 

0:34:53 The Benefits of Building a Resilient Team

 

 

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Using tools are good techniques to foster the work in the organization, however, it should not be the main principle in development. 
• Sometimes, less automation is more and the organization should know that.
• Technology has enabled work but it's not the “work”.
• The work comes first, literally the important task, and then technology can be added.
• Managers should think beyond technology.
• The important factor behind using a tool should be the intent that the company has toward the outcome
• Tools are meant to teach people a new way of thinking and coming up with a solution
• Slowing down is not fashionable, particularly in corporate America
• Lean approach could be started for a purpose and a desire to change something from activity-based to a change in culture 
• In an organization where it uses Lean Approaches, as a result, the leadership approaches and the operation approaches would merge. 

 

Memorable Quotes From Martina Kuhlmeye

• "Sometimes, less automation is more and the organization should know that” 

CONNECT WITH Martina Kuhlmeyer

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-kuhlmeyer/

Website:  https://powerupyourteam.com/

 

 

Ep 73 Continuous Improvement and Finding Meaning at Work with Kevin Herring

Kevin Herring specializes in business turnarounds – helping organizations create high-performing teams.  His interest in how humans thrive in a workplace started all the way back in college – not in a class but at a summer job. A job that he considered one of the most boring on earth turned out to be fascinating with a self-directed team. This job gave him a completely different idea about organizational culture and what a committed team really looks like.

 

Kevin Herring 

Kevin Herring is a recognized expert in team and business unit turnarounds and the creator of the 90-Day Turnaround, a unique program for building great leaders and turning any workgroup into a highly engaged, high-performing team in just 90 days.

Kevin has been featured as a national conference keynote speaker and has been published and quoted in Forbes, CFO, Talent Management, Workforce, and HR Executive, among others.

 

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• 0:04:40 The lesson learned from the most boring work
• 0:04:47 How can culture help to achieve and improve productivity
• 0:06:31 A good culture is better than having an MBA or greater work experiences
• 0:08:37 How satisfaction comes from a meaningful work
• 0:04:40 The lesson learned from the most boring work
• 0:04:47 How can culture help achieve and improve productivity?
• 0:06:31 A good culture is better than having an MBA or greater work experience.
• 0:08:37 How satisfaction comes from meaningful work
• 0:09:29 How the culture of the organization affects productivity
• 0:12:25 What is "quiet quitting" and does it help the company to develop
• 0:14:45 Culture is mostly controlled by the manager, and he is the one who makes it better.
• 0:17:58 How can organizational psychology help individuals bring their best selves to the work?
• 0:19:29 The response we give to cultures also makes a big impact on how we shape that culture.
• 0:25:25 The importance of seeing yourself as a business person rather than a technical person in the work environment
• 0:29:50 The importance of observation and learning 

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Culture is one of the most important factors in a successful organization.
• Goal-oriented organizations help companies follow through to the end, no matter what.
• Culture starts with the people.
• Good managers create other managers rather than followers.
• Making achievements as natural as possible will make it easier to achieve higher goals.
• Rules should be created by the employees in the organization rather than forced on them by the managers.
• Leaders need to respect people to be successful, and it is something most leaders struggle with.
• When organizations want to achieve higher goals, they should first create a culture where everyone feels the urge and the fuel to achieve more.
• The culture needs to be intentionally guided to meet the demands of the model.
• Any change in the organization shouldn't be implemented without enough introduction and step-by-step implementation rather than giving it all.

 

Memorable Quotes From Kevin Herring

• "If you don't understand the business, how can you help shape the culture to support what the business needs and the other way around?” 

 

 

CONNECT WITH Kevin Herring

 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the90dayturnaround/

Website:  https://ascentmgt.com

Kevin Herring’s Latest Book: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Internal-Consultants-Expertise/dp/097643010X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429408819&sr=8-1&keywords=Practical+Guide+for+Internal+Consultants 

Ep 72 Continuously Improving a Culture for Innovation with Norbert Majerus

 

Do you think there are differences between a lean culture and a culture for lean innovation? Norbert Majerus loved being an engineer in part because he was better with numbers than with people. But when Norbert was entrusted with leading the lean innovation transformation at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, he had to build his skills with people. He’s written a new book that shines a light on the human side of a lean innovation culture and what leaders need to learn about themselves to drive positive culture change. He joined me to tell his story. About Norbert Majerus Norbert, born and raised in Luxembourg, has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Germany, and worked most of the disciplines in the Goodyear innovation centers in Luxembourg and Akron. Norbert has taught workshops and has spoken at many conferences in the United States and other countries. Since retiring from Goodyear in 2017, he continues to share his extensive lean expertise via Norbert Majerus Consulting and as a board member of LPPDE (Lean Product and Process Development Exchange). In 2016, Norbert published his first book, Lean-Driven Innovation, which received the Shingo Research Award. Also in 2016, with Norbert’s guidance, the Goodyear R&D organization applied for and received the AME Excellence Award. Norbert published his second book, Winning Innovation in 2022. KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST: 0:02:48 Leadership Lessons Learned the Hard Way 0:04:54 The Importance of Lean Culture and People 0:08:12 Leadership Development in a Lean Culture 0:12:25 Innovation at Goodyear 0:16:42 The Benefits of Taking Risks in the Workplace 0:23:03 The Benefits of a Culture of Innovation 0:25:03 The Impact of Education on Psychological Health 0:29:53 The Importance of Culture in Innovation Excellence 0:34:43 Innovation Excellence: The Process of Achieving Success KEY TAKEAWAYS Culture starts with the people Working in a Lean environment reinforced the importance of culture and people. Instead of lean tool adoption, the success of a lean system depends mostly on the activities made, the concepts applied, and organizational change. Every organization develops a culture, whether through a planned or unplanned process. Leaders need to respect people to be successful and it is something most leaders struggle with. When a corporation chooses to implement the lean business model, it cannot assume that the culture would instantly adapt to the new procedures, resources, and ideas. The culture needs to be intentionally guided to meet the demands of the model. A key to lean product development is performing a risk assessment and discharging that risk as early as you can in the process - so that you're not loading risk to the end of a product development project. Memorable Quotes From Norbert Majerus "The ideal processes inspire the ideal behaviors” CONNECT WITH Norbert Majerus Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norbert-majerus-5a746235/ Website: https://www.leandriveninnovation.com/ Norberts Latest Book: https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Innovation-Excellence-Sustained-Prosperity/dp/1032139897

 

Ep 71 Continuous Improvement and Agile Communication with Katja Schleicher

Some compelling features of agile product development are flexibility and resilience. An agile project can deal with problems and new learning and pivot to take advantage of that new learning. My guest, Katja Schleicher has insights about how to apply those agile principles of flexibility and resilience to communication. We can all benefit from better communication, so check out our fascinating conversation!

Katja Schleicher is a sought-after Communications Expert Trainer and keynote speaker.  She gets managers, teams, women, and men to talk - and improves their communicative impact in Public Speeches, conversations, and media interviews. Words, what they mean, and how they “come across" to the audience are her passion and business model. In this order. After a long career in PR, advertising, TV, and corporate communications for high-tech companies, she has been on the road for nearly two decades to guide her audiences through all the (intercultural) communication shallows and misunderstandings.

 

Websites:

www.katjaschleicher.com

www.interview-training.eu

Some compelling features of agile product development are flexibility and resilience. An agile project can deal with problems and new learning and pivot to take advantage of that new learning. My guest, Katja Schleicher, has insights about applying those agile principles of flexibility and resilience to communication. We can all benefit from better communication, so check out our conversation! 

Katja Schleicher

Katja Schleicher is a sought-after Communications Expert Trainer and keynote speaker.  She gets managers, teams, women, and men to talk - and improve their communicative impact in Public Speeches, conversations, and media interviews. Words, what they mean, and how they “come across" to the audience are her passion and business model. After a long career in PR, advertising, TV, and corporate communications for high-tech companies, she has been on the road for nearly two decades to guide her audiences through all the (intercultural) communication shallows and misunderstandings.

 

  KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

0:05:07   Agile Communication: What It Is and How It Can Benefit Your Business

0:09:19   Agile Communication: How to Break Out of Your Filter Bubble

 0:11:42   Intercultural Communication: The Importance of an "As Well As" Mindset

0:18:04   The Benefits of Humble Inquiry in Understanding Others

0:20:06   The Importance of Storytelling in Communication

0:24:06   The Power of Storytelling in Persuasive Communication

0:35:22   The Benefits of Good Communication in the Workplace

0:40:12   The Importance of Knowing Your Strengths

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Communication is difficult because people are more in love with numbers than with words. You need to communicate with people, but there's always more for us to learn about how to do that better and authentically.
•  Agile communication is adapting quickly to situations with the respective communication patterns.
• Narrative communication is a way of connecting the dots logically and emotionally. Connecting the dots with emotion is easier than with facts and figures.
• Sustainable. Communication is when people talk about what you said in the way you intended it, and then they can act upon it.
• For day-to-day communication, Katja recommends keeping it smaller, engaging, and on eye level with your audience. Especially among peers, it's essential to be honest with your expertise and to build common ground with the audience.

Memorable Quotes From Katja Schleicher

 

“To become an agile communicator, it is important to understand one's filters and bubbles and to be curious about other people, cultures, and industries.”

 

CONNECT WITH Katja Schleicher

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/interviewtraining/

Websites: www.katjaschleicher.com

       www.interview-training.eu

 

Ep 70 Continuous Improvement and Empathy with Anjani Mahabashya

Dr. Anjani Mahabashya had a childhood dream to be a doctor. She achieved her dream and got her dream job working in a premier medical center. Everything came crashing down the day she had a devastating fall. She is here to share what she learned about empathy, and why empathetic leaders matter when employees are at their most vulnerable. This is a story that all Continuous Improvement leaders who are working to build the habit of “Respect for People” should hear.

 

Anjani talks about her work in healthcare and her focus on improving the system for patients, physicians, and insurance companies. She discusses her journey of becoming a doctor and her motivation for wanting to help people. She will also share her experience of moving to the United States for medical training and how she had to serve in an underserved area to stay in the country.

 

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• The work of a physician advisor and how her team applies continuous improvement.
• Why Anjani was passionate about becoming a physician.
• Her journey to the United States and why she worked in underserved areas.
• What happened after she had her fall, what she needed during her recovery and how empathy shown to her made all the difference.
• What hope meant to her during her recovery.
• What Anjani learned about the power of networking.
• Why empathy needs to flow both ways as the health care providers struggle in the post-pandemic world
• Anjani’s work with bridging the digital divide for senior citizens.

 

 

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The importance of empathy in leadership, and how it creates connection and engagement.
• Hope is crucial even in the worst of circumstances.
• Your network is your safety net.

 

 

Memorable Quotes From Anjani Mahabashya

 

• "Empathy teaches you to be mindful”

 

 

 

CONNECT WITH ANJANI MAHABASHYA

 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjani-mahabashya-848a201b9

 

 

Ep 69 Continuously Improving Your LinkedIn Profile with Daniel Alfon

 

Continuously Improving Your LinkedIn Profile with Daniel Alfon

When I first created my LinkedIn account, I added my name, and a nice picture and uploaded my resume.  It turns out, for those of us who work as consultants and coaches, those resumes on LinkedIn don’t do much to help us connect with clients.  Daniel Alfon is a LinkedIn expert, and he blew my mind with his insights in this conversation. Note: I updated my LinkedIn page live as we recorded the show. So, for the full effect, check out this episode on YouTube. https://youtu.be/QM9NB4F0HKE

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for career growth and finding new positions. It's a great way to get connected with people who can help you grow, and it's also great at helping you find new connections. When, like so many lean and continuous improvement professionals, you strike out as an independent consultant, you need to use LinkedIn differently.

About Daniel John

Daniel is the author of Build a LinkedIn Profile for Business Success. Daniel joined LinkedIn in early 2004 and publishes articles, interviews, and exclusive content about advanced LinkedIn strategies to clients and subscribers on his website, www.danielalfon.com.

 

 KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• 0:02 Continually improving your LinkedIn profile with Daniel Alfon.
• 2:06 Daniel’s LinkedIn profile as a way to connect with customers.
• 7:36 Who’s your ideal reader on LinkedIn?
• 12:55 How to make it easier for people to reach you on LinkedIn.
• 17:40 How to make your LinkedIn experience section easier for people to understand.
• 23:04 How to streamline your LinkedIn profile to be more aligned with what you’d like to do.
• 24:47 How to make it easier for people to reach you. 
• 30:20 Do we need a massive network? Or do we need a focused network?
• 32:07 Make sure that your credentials speak for themselves.
• 33:42 Why you need to increase your social media presence to get more exposure.
• 35:30 How to use LinkedIn’s new “Add a Link” feature to your profile.
• 38:27 The importance of having a social media profile.
• 40:39 How do you find out who you can connect with?

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• When a prospective employer, searches for you on Google. LinkedIn will be the first one to appear in the search. 
• One of the main advantages of having a robust LinkedIn profile is that even if you are not looking for a new position it’s a way for you to be engaged with your industry.
• When you want to create a business, consider your LinkedIn profile to be a website for your ideal prospect to find and contact you.
• Provide content in your LinkedIn profile.
• Remember to stay in touch with your connections at school when you build your LinkedIn profile. People don't like it when we just connect and talk to them when we need them. 

 

Memorable Quotes from Daniel Alfon

 

“ People don't like it when we only remember them when we need them.

 

CONNECT WITH DANIEL ALFON

TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/danielalfon

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfon

EMAIL: linkedinbusinessdanielalfon@gmail.com

WEBSITE: https://www.danielalfon.com/

 

Ep 68 Continuously Improving your SEO with Brandon Leibowitz

Do you have a website? If you're like me and have a website (like I have at leanforhumans.com), you know that you need to work on your search engine optimization (SEO). And if you're like me and most others, how to do that can be a complete mystery. Brandon Leibowitz says that we should all get as much free real estate on search engines as possible and that it's not all that mysterious. SEO is just another thing to continuously improve. But you need to know how search engines themselves continuously optimize. He's here to explain it.

 

About Brandon Leibowitz

In 2007, Brandon got his first job after he graduated from college. His job was helping out a company with its digital marketing, social media, SEO, email marketing, and running paid ads. He then realized that everyone would probably be on the website in the future and there are a lot of ways to get traffic but SEO is a way to get free traffic. He thought that he doesn't have to spend money on paid ads but rather he could get there for free. 

 

He focused on SEO over the years and helping out people get free traffic by working with different advertising agencies. On the side, while he was working, he would build his own business up and grow it until he was able to quit his job and solely focus on it, and that is what he does until today.

 

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• 0:54 - 1:52 Brandon’s career background
• 2:24 - 3:52  What is SEO and why is it important for people to know about SEO?
• 4:27 - 5:56 Importance of being clear to your audience about what you are offering
• 5:57 - 6:39  Why is it more important to focus on the user than on keywords
• 6:42 - 8:02 Google Search result as a place to continuously optimize
• 8:07 - 10:25 What does it mean to focus more on the audience?
• 10:57 - 15:02  How SEO increases the stickiness of the website?
• 15:26 - 17:17  What is an SEO title tag?
• 19:54 - 22:20  Where does Brandon see the search going in the future? 
• 22:22 - 24:39 Does Brandon watch other people use search engines and see what they do?
• 22:43 - 26:20 What are the things to consider for someone who is getting started in a business when setting up a website?
• 26:27 -28:14  Importance of reviews on websites for businesses
• 28:14 - 30:23 SEO and its use in social media
• 30:27 - 31:47  Mistakes made while optimizing keywords
• 31:59 - 34:19 What are the most recent changes happening in search engines?
• 35:26 - 36:22 What part does AI play a role in SEO? 
• 37:35 - 39:09 Brandon’s advice to young people that are starting their career

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Search engine optimization is very useful to businesses and organizational websites because it allows people to discover your product or service.
• It is more important to focus on the needs of the customers rather than the choice of keywords on your website.
• Being clear and concise on what your business offers ideally brings your website to the top of search engine rank and makes it more visible to your target audience.
• When getting started on your business, it is important to have a clean minimalist website to clearly define your offering.
• Getting reviews and feedback on your website helps show the credibility of your business.
• In getting started in an SEO career, it is important to have mentors to guide you even if they are not experts in your specific niche as they can provide you with a broad industry perspective.

Memorable Quotes From Brandon Leibowitz

 

“For anyone that's just starting, I would say getting a mentor that's helped out over the years is having someone else that's been around to guide you, even if they're not an expert in your field.”

 

CONNECT WITH BRANDON LEIBOWITZ

Website: https://seooptimizers.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonleibowitz/

Ep 67 Continuous Improvement and Task Balancing with Kevin Gazzara

One of the secrets of getting to “flow” in a work process is to “level the load.“

Not overburdening the process and managing the natural volatility of inputs has a remarkable effect on productivity.  My guest, Kevin Gazzara, has insights into how to do this in our brains.  Check out our fascinating conversation!

Kevin has an undergraduate degree in engineering and business and completed his MBA and doctoral work in Organizational Leadership. Kevin then moved to the technical side when he worked for Transamerica Corporation. He also worked at Intel for 18 years as an Operations Manager and General Manager, and in his last 10 years at Intel, he focused on managing Intel University and the Management Leadership Development, as well as residential programs around the world.

 

Currently, Kevin is a senior partner at Magna Leadership Solutions, a firm that started 15 years ago when he retired from Intel in 2007.  Magna Leadership Solutions provide management and leadership programs including the Lean Forward Academy which offers global programs virtually and in person. In addition, he is an ICF (International Coaching Federation) executive coach, and Positive Intelligence coach.

 

KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• Kevin’s background before he started Magna Leadership Solutions
• What made Kevin transition from the technical and business side to the organizational side of the organization?
• His big leap, moving from engineering to the people side of the business.
• The difference between leading a technical team and being a leader training teams from all over the company.
• Kevin’s ideas, principles, and how he deals with how other people see and perceive things.
• Three commandments of leadership
• What does Kevin do to help other people get deeper knowledge and become more flexible with their approach?
• Why communication is by far the number one missing leadership practice or competency across the globe.
• Systems influencing the performance of the team
• Organizational performance and aligning it to business results
• Why do organizations obscure the cost of turnover?
• What managers should do to improve problem-solving.
• Why managers should balance their employees’ workload and how to balance the workload for your brain.

 

 

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• No one can do one type of task effectively for extended periods. Changing task types throughout the workday leads to better overall productivity and happier employees.
• Allowing people control over the types of tasks they perform and when and how long they perform them will allow people to gravitate towards what they love.
• When you can retain employees, you are always going to get better performance, engagement, and motivation.

 

Memorable Quotes From Kevin Gazzara

 

“Go find someone to mentor you or to coach you… to be a sounding board for you.”

 

CONNECT WITH KEVIN GAZZARA

 

Main website: https://magnaleadership.com/

Positive Intelligence website: https://pqtrainingandcoaching.com/

 

Ep 66 Continuous Improvement and Becoming a Coach with Sam Morgan

The role of a good coach in continuous improvement is a key to CI success.

At some point, we all need to step into the role of a coach whether as a leader, a professional coach, or simply coaching others in our day-to-day interactions.  Sam Morgan has been developing his coaching skills but had to overcome many obstacles to become a confident coach. I invited Sam back to the Edges of Lean to talk about his growth as a coach and what he has learned as he gains experience and expertise as a coach.

About Sam Morgan

Sam is a self-proclaimed “confident learner” and earlier this year after 5 years of practice in the continuous improvement space he landed at KataCon, a conference for continuous improvement professionals who practice the Toyota Kata (Helping managers develop coaching skills).  There he had a powerful moment realizing where his true passion lies, transforming people through coaching.

Ever since then he has been on a mission to help folks illuminate who they are, and what they were created to do, and give them the confidence to live it through the powerful practice of daily coaching.

Sam is looking to change the lives of people through the process of uncovering their PURPOSE, helping them understand the PATTERN of the Improvement Kata, tied together through the PRACTICE of daily coaching cycles.

Sam takes joy in seeing his clients move from fearful to fearless; from insecure to confident. He resonates deeply with the quote from Henry David Thoreau “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”

 

 

 KEY TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST:

• 01:26-05:47 Sam’s career background
• 05:48-08:20 How does Sam overcome impostor syndrome in starting his coaching career
• 08:21-11:56 The importance of self-awareness being a coach
• 12:12-20:48 What is Improvement Kata all about?
• 21:06-24:28 Sam’s advice to people who are afraid of stepping out on their own
• 24:30-28:57 His unique way of inspiring others to have a clear vision of purpose
• 29:36-33:44 What experiences helped him to serve the clients better?
• 33:45-36:39 Top skills that coaches must have
• 36:42-38:30 What type of clients does Sam work with?

 

  KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Coaching can be useful in the personal development sphere, helping individuals to overcome obstacles and reach their full potential.
• Overcoming impostor syndrome is a journey, but it is well worth taking if you want to reach your full potential as a coach and serve clients confidently.
• By valuing yourself first and having self-awareness you will be able to develop into a more effective coach who can help others reach their full potential.
• The Improvement Kata is a core component of the Toyota Kata practice, which is designed to help individuals and organizations continuously improve their performance
• Being a great coach is about more than just asking the right questions. It's also about being a great listener

 

Memorable Quotes from Sam Morgan

 

“ What is my purpose? For me, it's being a light, encouraging, empowering, being someone who provides hope and inspiration. And that brings passion and all the things that the different elements of light are how I want to show up.”

 

CONNECT WITH SAM MORGAN

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelvictormorgan/