My Leadership Philosophy

As I reflect on my birthday, it seems to me the last few years have been especially eventful with memorable milestones.

When I started at University, I initially set out to become a teacher because I love the classroom learning environment. I wanted my career to make a difference within the world of academia; A role where I could support and improve the system for all through deep relationships with the students and effective leadership in the administration. Then I learned how many years you are required to teach before you can qualify for the role of Principal or District Superintendent. I wanted to make a difference at the macro and micro level sooner (and be financially stable in the process). Teaching is not a lucrative job by any means, so I tweaked my path slightly.

?I knew I wanted to work with people in a learning centric environment, to provide practical solutions, and refine established processes. It was serendipitous the very University I was attending, with its origins as a teacher training technical school, just so happens to be nationally recognized for their Lean centric Operations Management courses. For those of you reading who are not in the manufacturing industry, Lean is the philosophy and methodology originating in Japan after the U.S. bombed the shit out of their infrastructure in ‘45. Soon after the industrial revolution, America had big machines, lots of materials, and other capital equipment allowing the U.S. to pump out production in large batches. Japan did not. Limited by tangible resources, Japanese manufacturers (specifically Toyota), got creative and developed an overarching approach to production that maximized respect for the workers, cash flow for the business, while maintaining operations with limited resources. Lean is the Phoenix rising from the ashes.

That spoke to me on a deeper level and so I started my lean journey. I studied Operations Management with a concentration in Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management and graduated with an eagerness to find a company in a growth spurt following the lean mindset. My first role out of college was exactly that. Along the journey, I continued to feel a pull to teach, to be a mentor, and to advocate for others growing in their path. That calling fueled my passion for leadership. Leadership is not a role, or a title; it’s an action much like love. Leadership is not something you have or possess, it’s something you do. My passion for helping others grow in the classroom transformed into helping others grow on the shop floor.

Everyone has a different definition of what makes a good leader. This is my philosophy: The best leaders have breadth and depth in their experience. That is why I spent years as an individual contributor in Sales, Production, Operations Analysis, Business Systems, Project Management, and Data Analytics. The best leaders create space for others to shine and develop with individualized support. That is why I volunteer as a Club Advisory Board Member with the North Seattle Boys and Girls Club, helping the youth in our community who need it most. The best leaders keep their composure and can think methodically through times of stress. That is why I picked up the practice of yoga and completed a 200-hour teacher training certification that now benefits the clients I teach. The best leaders listen and learn from other’s experiences. That is why I read; to live a thousand lives through another’s eyes. I am drawn to lead because I feel a yearning to be the mentor I wish I had.

This is why last year was so monumental in my journey and why I am so grateful for the opportunities I have through work. In May of 2023, King recognized the need for a new department to manage the flow of production through our systems and asked that I lead this team. 8 Months later, our team of 5 have demonstrated what it means to set the shop floor up for success. Some of our achievements include but are not limited to: documenting standard work procedures for all common and less common processes where before we had little to none, by targeting waste and wait time between processes we reduced our average production lead time by 38%, and set a tone of customer service to meet the growing needs of production. Most importantly, our team worked closely with the rest of the org and laid the foundation where upon we can support this year’s production needs to hit our revenue goal. We are Production Control at King and I am honored to lead with love every day.

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