Compassion. Work ethic. The biggest supporter of his kids and grandkids. Teacher. Mentor. Grill master.
As we head into Father’s Day weekend, I asked the AME Home Team to describe their dads and what they meant in their life. The words I heard were things that reminded me of a good continuous improvement coach or people-centric leader.
I’ve talked about my dad in past CEO messages. I’ve mentioned his military service, but you might be interested to learn that he’s been featured on a 60 Minutes special and BBC documentary concerning transnational and counter terrorism. In fact, he provided background material for a number of espionage and intelligence fictional books and was the basis for the main character in a fictionalized novel on these subjects.
But beyond his professional accomplishments, to my four siblings and me, he is just “Dad.” Like the words I heard from others on the AME Home Team, he was focused on our development and molding us into successful adults.
Both male and female leaders in the lean and continuous improvement community wear many hats just like fathers. We are often developing ourselves and others at the same time. We are often balancing competing priorities. We are often working collaboratively with others (like a set of parents might) to make sure the entire team is working toward the same goals.
As we celebrate Father’s Day, I am grateful to my dad for his love, guidance and support. I wish all the fathers in our community a happy Father’s Day.
I also want to send a big shout-out to the immediate past-chair of AME’s board of directors, Bill Fierle, for becoming a grandfather on Monday. His new granddaughter, Linden, is quite the Father’s Day gift!
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
