Facebook has a funny way of transporting us to a different time and place. The daily reminders of our memories are an often-fun walk down memory lane. Each year, I’m reminded of the time I met Simon Cowell, a dinner out at a favorite restaurant, photos of the duck family that took up residency in my backyard, and so many other memories.
Recently, a Facebook memory reminded me that seven years ago I became a volunteer on the AME Southeastern Region board of directors. Reflecting on that time, I recall how AME’s mission aligned with my Malcolm Baldrige background, and I was excited by AME’s focus on enterprise excellence and people-centric leadership. I had always volunteered and served on boards for other professional organizations, but at AME I found a place that valued volunteerism, integrity, trust and a passion for sharing best practices with people from every industry and from the C-suite to the frontline. At AME, I found a place where everyone was happy to share, learn and grow together.
As my experiences with AME deepened, I found my first impressions of AME were just the tip of the iceberg. Even before becoming president & CEO last year, I benefited from being part of a group of lean practitioners who help each other identify solutions to existing and new obstacles. There is a great deal of collegiality among our members and there is no shortage of people who are willing to help out and offer some suggestions, some reading material, or a helpful tour when others are in need.
This is my #whyAME.
I continue to be amazed by our community’s open nature.
Do you want to see how a company built its culture? There’s a tour or a webinar for that.
Do you want feedback on your lean processes from a local peer group who can help you take your journey’s next steps? Join an AME consortium.
Are you a company leader who wants to empower your employees and network with a group of direct and C-level lean thinkers? The AME Champions Club is there for you.
How about benchmarking off other companies? AME’s volunteers have built a free tool, Lean Sensei®, to help with your assessments.
This robust community and AME’s comprehensive commitment to sharing, learning and growing has kept me engaged since day one.
I’d love to hear your #whyAME story. We’ve posted this message on our LinkedIn page, and I invite you to comment about why you joined AME and what has kept you with us. Have you met collaborators? Did you have an a-ha moment at a conference? Are you energized by the opportunity to volunteer and spread lean thinking to others? Did a local consortium help you overcome an obstacle? Have you benefited from an opportunity to learn from past AME Excellence Award recipients? Are AME’s continued innovations like our new 2 Second Lean tour series continuing to provide value that you haven’t found elsewhere? Let me know in the LinkedIn comments and use the hashtag #whyAME when you do.
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.