Leading with MORE

So Cathy, as I said, that was an impressive bio and it was really only a fraction of your story.

So I was looking at your bio, I was looking at your website, I was looking at all the different things you do and you really, it's amazing how you have led all of these massive operational transformations.

And I wonder to myself, as I was looking at it, when you look back on what you've done, Uh, in terms of leading all of these transformations, what, what What comes to mind when you do actually have time to sit back and reflect and think, which I'm sure isn't often, what comes to mind? What do you think about in terms of your accomplishments and these companies' accomplishments?

I'm so proud of the teams that I led at all of these organizations.

When you're the leader, you're just one person and you can do a lot of things, build trust and involve people in the organization.

And I think that you can also destroy it depending on your behaviors as well.

So as I look back on my tenure in these leadership roles, which were challenging and wonderful and all that one-on-one, I think that the issue is I was really strong about creating trust in organizations.

I did not have a lot of tolerance for silos or inner functional arguments and those sorts of things.

And so there were really a number of principles that facilitated our lean transformations and just our transformations from sometimes very command and control cultures to very inclusive environments.

So it was to me about the things that I'm really reflecting in more is better, right? Helping people see that they matter, their work matters, you know, making things meaningful to them.

When I ran a rubber division, super hard for people to connect with how they were making the world a better place when they were working at the presses and we were measuring them on how many pieces per heat they got out that were good and these abstract numbers.

But when we showed them where these seals were being used all over the world, it gave a new sense of energy and purpose to the organization where they wanted to really put in their discretionary effort.

So I think that was important.

Optimism, when I look back, was really important.

I would not have called it optimism before I went back for positive psychology.

I would have called it problem solving, which is a part of it.

But optimism from the organizational psychologist, Dr. Marty Seligman, the father of positive psychology, is all about the stories you tell yourself when things go wrong.

And as you know, in operations every day, multiple things go wrong.

And if you can look at those as not pervasive, not permanent and not personal, you can help lead an organization to what's the next step? Not this, oh, it's always going to be this way.

What was me sort of thing, you know, and that learned helplessness.

So before positive psychology, I would just call it continuous improvement and rigorous problem solving.

But those are the tools behind that mental capacity for optimism, which is something you can actually develop.

And I think that's fascinating.

And of course, those relationships, right? That's the R in MOR of E, you know, those moments where you can build trust through small things, small gestures that you do.

Excellent.

So Cathy, as I said, that was an impressive bio and it was really only a fraction of your story.

So I was looking at your bio, I was looking at your website, I was looking at all the different things you do and you really, it's amazing how you have led all of these massive operational transformations.

And I wonder to myself, as I was looking at it, when you look back on what you've done, Uh, in terms of leading all of these transformations, what, what What comes to mind when you do actually have time to sit back and reflect and think, which I'm sure isn't often, what comes to mind? What do you think about in terms of your accomplishments and these companies' accomplishments?

I'm so proud of the teams that I led at all of these organizations.

When you're the leader, you're just one person and you can do a lot of things, build trust and involve people in the organization.

And I think that you can also destroy it depending on your behaviors as well.

So as I look back on my tenure in these leadership roles, which were challenging and wonderful and all that one-on-one, I think that the issue is I was really strong about creating trust in organizations.

I did not have a lot of tolerance for silos or inner functional arguments and those sorts of things.

And so there were really a number of principles that facilitated our lean transformations and just our transformations from sometimes very command and control cultures to very inclusive environments.

So it was to me about the things that I'm really reflecting in more is better, right? Helping people see that they matter, their work matters, you know, making things meaningful to them.

When I ran a rubber division, super hard for people to connect with how they were making the world a better place when they were working at the presses and we were measuring them on how many pieces per heat they got out that were good and these abstract numbers.

But when we showed them where these seals were being used all over the world, it gave a new sense of energy and purpose to the organization where they wanted to really put in their discretionary effort.

So I think that was important.

Optimism, when I look back, was really important.

I would not have called it optimism before I went back for positive psychology.

I would have called it problem solving, which is a part of it.

But optimism from the organizational psychologist, Dr. Marty Seligman, the father of positive psychology, is all about the stories you tell yourself when things go wrong.

And as you know, in operations every day, multiple things go wrong.

And if you can look at those as not pervasive, not permanent and not personal, you can help lead an organization to what's the next step? Not this, oh, it's always going to be this way.

What was me sort of thing, you know, and that learned helplessness.

So before positive psychology, I would just call it continuous improvement and rigorous problem solving.

But those are the tools behind that mental capacity for optimism, which is something you can actually develop.

And I think that's fascinating.

And of course, those relationships, right? That's the R in MOR of E, you know, those moments where you can build trust through small things, small gestures that you do.

Excellent.