In one of my recent letters, I stressed the importance of goal setting. I have to remind myself at times: If I don’t set a goal, how will I know if I accomplish what we need? Without a goal, how can I celebrate when we meet objectives along the way? When we set milestones for ourselves, we enjoy the journey as much as the success.
One of my personal goals (and one of my most rewarding journeys over the past three years) has been the growth and engagement of the AME Champions Club. This is one of the best places for senior leaders, lean influencers and c-suite executives to network for peer-to-peer learning. It is an exclusive networking group focused on delivering experiential learning and strategic value to leaders. AME Champions Club members come from diverse industry backgrounds, all unified around a vested interest in lean principles and the shared desire to pioneer thought leadership.
Two to three times a year, the champions meet in person for site visits to benchmark excellence in industry. These tours strongly emphasize going to gemba and shared learning. Champions also learn the extensive capabilities of AME’s Lean Sensei® and how to assess their organizations. The AME Lean Sensei® allows AME members to benchmark their organization against distinguished AME Excellence Award recipient companies. AME Excellence Award recipients operate at exceptional levels of performance, setting a high bar for achieving success in the pursuit of operational excellence.
Complementing these in-person site visits are virtual roundtable discussions with highly sought-after speakers on topics relevant to current industry challenges. These events provide bilateral value through a unique sharing of knowledge from business to business and speaker to audience. More importantly, champions develop long-term relationships, not only with industry experts but also with their fellow leaders. Meanwhile, the tour hosts benefit from fresh insights imparted during site visits.
The AME Champions Club remains an exemplary model of people-centric leadership. “Humans are our greatest asset, and the champions appreciate that concept of servant leadership,” said Marc Kuzik, volunteer director of the AME Champions Club. "It brings a lot of humility to be associated with such an incredible group of thought leaders.”
Champions convene each year at AME’s annual conference, where they get exclusive access to the remarkable lineup of AME keynote speakers. It’s a networking event our champions value highly for the ideas and relationships that flow from the rich and candid discussions. This year's annual conference will offer more networking opportunities than ever before.
I’m so proud of the work our AME Champions Club engages in and how much it has grown over the years. It truly puts AME’s mission of sharing, learning and growing into practice. Want to learn more about the champions? Reach out to championsclub@ame.org.
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
