Welcome to Lean Leadership for Ops Managers, the podcast for leaders in Ops Management who want to spark improvement, foster engagement, and boost problem solving – AND still get their day job done. Here’s your host, Leadership Trainer, Lean Enthusiast, and Spy Thriller Junkie, Jamie V. Parker.
[00:00:29] Hey, there. Ops leaders. What did you think about the conversation with Jeff Korzenik last week? I loved it. I just love so much talking with really smart people. And so if you missed it, go back and check it out now.
I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting and a lot of planning over the last six weeks, and I want to share with you just a little bit of what’s coming up in my work that I’m excited about. But first recently, a new podcast subscriber asked for recommendations on which episodes to listen to first. And of course, that depends on what you’re trying to learn.
So one of the other follow up questions she asked was, Well, which ones are your favorites? So before I share with you what to expect in 2022, let me share some of my favorite episodes of the podcast.
Now, of course, this is hard to do, and they aren’t in any particular order. But now that we’re 75 episodes in, here are some of the episodes that I love. And so if you haven’t listened, maybe take some time on your next walk or commute or chore to tune in. All right, so here are some of my favorite guest episodes.
Of course, I loved the episode Leader Standard Work with Mike Wroblewski. It was back in episode 29. Fun fact it is the most downloaded episode I have, so lots of other people love it, too.
[00:02:00] I also really liked the conversation with Gary Peterson, and it was an episode titled Improvement Thinking in Organizational DNA. Back in episode 55 and also the episode The Roles of a successful leader with Dave Connor, which is episode 65. And, of course, last week’s episode number 75 with Jeff Korzenik an answer to the labor shortage second chance hiring.
So how about that? Fifty five, sixty five, seventy five? Every ten, I guess. So those were a few leader standard work with Mike Wroblewski improvement thinking in organizational DNA with Gary Peterson, the roles of a successful leader with Dave Connor, and of course, in answer to the labor shortage, second chance hiring with Jeff Krzanich.
As for solo episodes, this is where I often do a lot more teaching and here are some of my favorites. So episode number sixty two, That’s Not Coaching. It’s probably my favorite. That’s not coaching. Also, episode number thirty-three, One on Ones That Don’t Suck. By the way, I got some hate mail on using the word suck, but I’m going to use it again, ready One-on-Ones That Don’t Suck. Also, episode 46 The Levels of Conflict Every Leader Should Know. Hmm. Do you know them? If not, go listen to Episode 46 the levels of conflict every leader should know.
Three more of my favorites. The Magic Wand that Makes Lean Operations Management Easier and Better. That was back in episode 47, Episode 10, The Top Mistake Ops Leaders Make with Lean, followed by episode 11 the Biggest Pitfalls for Managers. So the top mistake ops leaders make good Lean, followed by the biggest pitfalls for managers, and one of my favorites is actually episode number one, the very first episode, which was Respect for People Versus Deliver Results. Hmm, which one? Tune in and you’ll hear my take on it.
Now, what about you? What have been your favorite episodes? Tag me on social or send me a note and let me know. Now, here’s the thing about reflection. For me, one of the biggest reasons that I reflect is not about the past, but it’s about the future. I mean, sure, it might be helpful to think back and acknowledge past accomplishments so they don’t pass us by.
But really, it’s more than that. I’m reflecting on what did happen so that I can impact what will happen. Yeah, let me say that again when it comes to reflection. So thinking about reflecting and looking back on what happened? Here’s what you want to keep in mind. I’m reflecting on what did happen so that I can impact what will happen. You know, I said something along those lines to a one on one client. He was like, Oh, that’s good, you have a podcast on that.
[00:05:05] But listen, this is what that means in real life, right? Like in action, I didn’t just make a list of favorite episodes and call it done. I was also thinking about what makes those episodes my favorites, the style, the content, the impact, what factors make me say, Oh, now that’s an episode that I’ll tell everybody about. And then what does all that mean for my next set of podcast episodes?
So I hope you love our next 90 days of episodes as much as I do, but I didn’t just reflect on the podcast. I was also doing a lot of reflection on my work. What am I doing that serves my clients really well? What isn’t serving them? Where is the value being created and how does that value materialize for clients? And then what does that mean for what I prioritize for clients next? How can I help clients get better results faster?
Now, what’s really cool about reflecting and then thinking about it for the future is that it helped me identify a few very specific learning experiences on demand type of learning experiences that I can provide for my clients that will provide more value for them. And it’s not about doing more. It’s not about, Hey, go do more stuff. It’s actually about making transformation easier, better and faster and more accessible. Getting them what they need when they need it in a way that doesn’t have to wait around for our schedules to line up perfectly.
[00:06:35] So I’m really excited about the work that I’m putting together now for my clients. Now, I don’t know if in the future some of this work might be made available for individual leaders or not. I honestly don’t know. You know, working with groups of individual leaders is something that’s on them. Maybe one day list and I could see how, you know, maybe perhaps one day those work could be expanded to a broader audience.
But for now, what I do know is that it will help me better serve clients. So who are my clients anyways? Well, I primarily work with improvement minded operations management teams, CEOs and VP of operations. Hire me to work with them and the leaders on their teams to help them close gaps in their leadership beliefs, their leadership behaviors and their leadership systems.
Why? Well, the individual problem or challenge varies. Maybe they need to scale their operations, or they need more flexibility and agility. They need to be able to respond better. Or maybe they need to reduce firefighting so they can really tackle their strategic imperatives, right? The list goes on as far as how the problem shows up. But in all these cases, the path forward includes developing leadership, beliefs, behaviors and systems. And all this work to create more value for clients.
[00:07:57] It’s going to carry over to the podcast because when my brain goes to work, creating more value for clients, inevitably some great stuff comes out, including, by the way, lessons learned the hard way. But some great stuff comes out that I can then share in short form with you on this podcast.
All right, so here’s what you can expect. Next up is our Q1 Executive Series, where we have some great guests sharing about purpose and empathy and growing leadership, bench strength and applying the right training to the right problem and scaling from startup to scale up. That’s what you’re going to hear about next.
After that, you’re going to get more of me for a little while. I have lessons learned and new information and real life experiences to share.
So buckle up and remember, if you want to catch up on a few of my favorite episodes, head over to our show notes processplusresults.com/podcast. Then you can find this episode. This episode is number seventy six, and in our show notes, we’re going to include the links to each of those episodes I mentioned earlier today. And be sure to tune in to our Q1 executive series, which kicks off next week with Keri Sagan’s CEO of Stone Age, which is a manufacturing company out here in Durango, Colorado. All right, until next time.
