MLC Book Club: The Lean Leadership Action Guide

Join us for a virtual MLC Book Club - From Page to Practice!

Virtual | Free For Members | 4:00 - 5:00 pm

What we are Reading: The Lean Leadership Action Guide

Lead Better. Grow Faster. Build a Team That Wins.

Are you stuck in the daily grind, feeling like you're dragging your team uphill? You're not alone. After running a business for over 20 years, often the hard way, I realized that I had been missing critical leadership principles that could have saved time, stress, and money. This book is the guide I wish I had from day one.

In The Lean Leadership Action Guide, you'll learn ten proven principles to help you become the kind of leader who inspires action, drives real improvement, and builds a team that wants to follow you. This book isn't about buzzwords or theory. It's a practical, straight-talking guide rooted in experience, failure, and eventually transformation.
Whether you're a business owner, a middle manager, or a future leader hungry to grow, this book will challenge how you think about leadership and show you how to:

• Develop a culture of accountability (starting with you).
• Stop firefighting and start coaching.
• Make better decisions by listening more and deciding less.
• Recognize people in ways that matter.

Get buy-in without burning out.

If you're ready to stop leading by habit and start leading with intention, this is your guidebook, because it's never too late to become the leader your team needs.

Note: Reading the book is encouraged but not required.

Author: 

Brian Meyers 

 President, Fat American Manufacturing

 

Hi, I’m Brian Meyers! Over the last 18 months, we have fully flipped our business from a standard batch and queue business, full of inventory and waste, into a world class lean organization! Using lean principles as our guide, we have transformation our people AND our business.  We strive to be a beacon for what lean implemented at a high level can look like.  Our goal is to light your hair on fire and send you back to your business with urgency and purpose!

Facilitator:

Ruth Archer
Director of Continuous Improvement | Michigan Technological University

Ruth Archer is the Director of Continuous Improvement at Michigan Technological University and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. She manages the continuous improvement activities for the university, where she is responsible for facilitating improvements that close the gap between current state and the university's strategic goals, fostering the continuous process of people development, and promoting collaborative partnerships and sharing Lean expertise in the state, the nation, and the global community. In addition, she teaches several courses on Lean culture and tools. Archer is also the president of the Superior Leadership Institute, where she coaches others for leadership excellence and creates and delivers training on Lean and continuous improvement, leadership development, and managerial skills. 

Archer holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in Business Administration with a specialization in organizational psychology. She is the Lean Higher Education Americas Steering Committee Professional Development Officer and former Chair, and a former examiner for the Michigan Performance Excellence (MIPEx) award and the Baldrige National Quality Award. Archer also holds a Lean Systems certification through the University of Kentucky and a change management certification through PROSCI.

Before working at Michigan Tech, Archer served in the United States Air Force, where she held multiple positions, including aircraft master technician and quality maintenance inspector, test equipment designer, aircraft electromagnetic signature collector, radar capability modeler, current and future radar engineer, executive officer, and AFROTC instructor.

What is the Book Club - From Page to Practice

Join the MLC Book Club: From Page to Practice—a collaborative learning experience where we explore impactful Lean books and translate key concepts into real-world application. Each session goes beyond discussion, helping you walk away with practical insights and actionable ideas you can immediately bring back to your organization.

Non-MLC members welcome too.

• Meet and greet other Lean thinkers
• Join us with a topic that you need help brainstorming
• Learn about MLC and upcoming events
• Networking, networking, networking!

New To The MLC?

At the MLC, we do our best to be inclusive at every level of experience, whether it’s a conference, Gemba walk or any other of our membership activities.

An individual or organizational membership gives you a year’s worth of great Lean learning and networking at low- or no-cost!