How to Lead with Grit and Grace Featuring Ashleigh Walters
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.