A Kata Geek in the Communities: Deondra Wardelle

Lean Blog Interviews - Healthcare, Manufacturing, Business, and Leadership

CEO at DeondraWardelle.com, Co-host of "KataCon7"

For show notes and discount codes for KataCon7 and for Deondra's workshop, go to http://leanblog.org/405 or scroll down.

My guest for Episode #405 is Deondra Wardelle, CEO of her own company and one of the hosts of next week's virtual KataCon7 event. She is, among other things, a Visionary, Coach, Strategist, Speaker, Consultant, Kata Geek, Leader of the #RootCauseRacism Movement. Her mission is developing a world of problem-solvers.

You can register for 10% off of KataCon7 by using code LF10 (thanks to Lean Frontiers for that code). Deondra is also doing a Strategic Vision Board Workshop on Saturday and you can register with a 20% discount by using code LEANBLOG.

In today's episode, Deondra shares how and why she became a “Kata Geek” and how that built upon her continuous improvement foundations from her time in manufacturing. We'll talk about the similarities with Lean across industries (“it's always going back to the people”) and what “Respect for People” means to her. Deondra shares stories about how Kata helped her become a better manager — less of a micromanager. We also discuss communities including Lean Communicators and Women in Lean.

All of that — and more — in this episode… released early because of the timing with these two events — KataCon7 and Deondra's workshop.

The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity and healthcare industries. Learn more.