How to Lead with Grit and Grace Featuring Ashleigh Walters

Manufacturing Happy Hour · 1 Mar 2022 · 28m

What this episode covers

Ashleigh Walters, President of Onex, Inc., discusses her journey transforming the culture of the half-century-old industrial furnace manufacturer from a command-and-control model to one based on trust, problem-solving, and employee ownership. She details the implementation of lean tools like value stream mapping and Kata to foster a 'freedom to fail' environment, and explains the strategic decision to transition Onex into an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to ensure its longevity beyond the founding family. Walters also shares insights from writing her book, 'Leading with Grit and Grace,' emphasizing the importance of leadership resilience and the challenges of succession planning.

Mentioned

Companies
Onex, Inc., Eco asks, Pennsylvania Center of Employee ownership
Tools
Kata
Also
Leading with Grit and Grace

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