GA 612 | Gratitude, Giving, and Growth with the Gemba Academy Team

Hello, and welcome to a very special holiday episode of the Gemba Academy Podcast. I'm your host, Ron Pereira, and I want to start by saying thank you to all of our listeners around the world who've joined us throughout the year. Your commitment to learning, growing and improving continues to inspire us every day. I also want to wish those that celebrated a very merry Christmas. It's not often that this podcast drops on a big holiday like Christmas, so that's always fun. So hopefully you're able to take some time off and spend it with your family and, of course, getting your gambling Academy podcast in. But today, we're going to take a moment to slow down and reflect a bit. So the theme for this episode is gratitude, giving and growth. And what we're going to do is we're going to explore one big question, and that question is, what does continuous improvement mean to you in your own life? Not just at work, but at home, in your relationships, your community? And so what we're going to do is we're going to hear from our very own Gemba Academy team. So some names are going to be familiar and some are going to be new. So grab your favorite beverage, whatever that might be, get comfortable, and let's dive into some heartfelt reflections from our Gemba Academy family. Now, to start things off, I want to introduce Greg Nichol, who is our studio director. Greg's going to tell us about how he's experienced meaningful growth this year. Now, I also want to add in that Greg literally edits every single podcast that we produce, really, every single podcast that we've produced up to this point. And this is episode 612. So Greg is very, very involved in his podcast, and so I do want to thank him for that.

Over the past year, I've experienced meaningful growth personally, professionally, and relationally. Even though I'm the oldest member of our team, I'm constantly reminded that learning never stops. Every day presents new lessons, new perspectives, and new opportunities to become a better co worker, leader and human being. One of the biggest realizations I've had is how deeply relationships matter. The closer and more connected I am with the people I work alongside, the stronger and more effective we are together. Trust, respect, and genuine understanding don't just make the work environment better, they make the work itself better. When we support each other, listen to each other, and show up for each other, we operate as a true team rather than a group of individuals. This year has also taught me a lot about leadership. I've come to understand that a leader's most important Responsibility isn't just decision making or problem solving is setting the tone. How I communicate, how I respond to challenges, how I interact with people, those things create the environment everyone else has to work within. I've learned that leadership isn't a title, it's a daily choice to show patience, empathy, humility and consistency. One of my biggest personal growth areas is has been rethinking the way I approach problems. I'm naturally wired to see an issue, find a solution and fix it as quickly as possible. For a long time I saw that as an asset and sometimes it really can be. But I've realized that being a fire hose so focused on immediacy can miss the bigger picture. A fast solution isn't always the right solution. Sometimes it bypasses long term stability, team involvement, shared knowledge, or the ripple effects that come later. I've learned that relationships work in the same way. Just because something seems right in the moment doesn't mean it's the best choice for the people involved or for the future. Wisdom often means slowing down, listening, considering the long term impact, and making space for others to contribute. In many ways, this year has humbled me. It's softened some of my edges and reminded me that growth isn't about knowing everything. It's about seeing more clearly, understanding more deeply and caring more intentionally. I guess if I had to sum up the change that I feel, it's I'm becoming more thoughtful, more collaborative, and more aware of how my actions shape the people and culture around me. And I'm grateful because becoming a better version of myself makes me part of a better team.

Now I want to introduce Tomi Adebayo, our customer success assistant. She tells us how she made a difference this year and what it takes to practice continuous improvement.

A time that I really felt like I made a difference this year was when I helped a family member, my sibling, kind of work through their fear around budgeting. Sounds really kind of simple, like a life skill. But money stress can really feel heavy and they were caught in that loop, scared to look, but you know, you need to look. So that loop of worry and avoidance was really affecting them. Seeing them relax, being able to help them with tools go from stressed and unsure to feeling like, okay, I can actually handle this. That really meant a lot to me. It really fulfilled me and it reminded me that sometimes the most meaningful things you can do is just give of your time, give of your attention and, you know, be able to offer a calm perspective. For me, growth as someone practicing continuous improvement looks like catching myself when I start to take mistakes personally by blaming myself and just kind of asking, okay, what part of the process just is not working? You know, I'm 22, and I'm really just starting out in my professional journey. And the more I practice continuous improvement, the more I'm able to notice the little wins. You know, being able to be patient, being able to communicate clearly, being able to solve problems in a way that really makes things easier for everybody involved. And so I just feel more confident, more equipped to handle life in general. So that I am really grateful for as well.

Now let's hear from Alan Ganik, our senior coach, on what he did to give back to the community this year.

Really, I focused on developing youth in our community here in DFW area. I serve on the board as a president, and my focus for 2025 was youth education and youth development. So I used my CI continuous improvement lean knowledge to spread that with the youth. And one of the interesting things that we have done in our community center is really reorganizing every room that we have, from admin office to storage areas, kitchen, all those areas. We reorganized working with the youth, and as we were reorganizing, we were talking about the importance of 5s workplace organization so these youth members can learn about it and see how it can be applied in a community center. And what really struck with me is that some of the youth has used this knowledge that they learned at the community center at their home, organizing their room, organizing their files, homework, and so on. So that's something that I have given back this year, and I feel very proud of that accomplishment.

Next up, we have Jennifer Scott, our director of sales, who tells us a story of how continuous improvement started at home with her family.

Continuous improvement has shaped my life at home with my kids. I use the Toyota Kata coaching method with them, even though they don't necessarily know that by name. We have simple coaching sessions where I help them think through what they want to accomplish and what's getting in their way and what small steps they can take next. It's not about pushing them. It's about helping them build confidence in their own process. What I like about it is it turns these big goals into something that they can manage. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, they learn to break things down, test ideas, and adjust when something doesn't go the way they plan. We talk about what they're learning, not just whether something worked or not. And over time, I've watched them become more comfortable asking questions, trying new approaches, and sticking with things that used to feel too hard.

Next, one of our other senior coaches here at Gemba Academy, Ricky Banks, shares a story of gratitude in his life.

I try to approach everything through the lens of gratitude, knowing that gratitude is a heart posture. It's not just a behavior, in my belief. It's a way of thinking. And, you know, many people think happiness leads to gratitude, but it's really just the opposite. Gratitude leads to happiness. And, you know, if I think about the definition of gratitude, gratitude is really how we respond when we receive something that we either didn't work for or we didn't expect that we ascribe value to. And so the real question for me is, then, you know, how do we ascribe value? Or to what do we ascribe value? And time is my most valuable asset, and yet I spend my time hurrying through life missing opportunities. I love that we teach in Lean to see problems as opportunities. And if we approach situations, even the hard ones, with an attitude of gratitude, it can change our whole perspective. You know, I think about a couple years back when my continuous improvement team was disbanded at my former employer. Man, it could have been, you know, a really tough time in my life. It could have stolen my joy and my happiness and led down a dark, depressing path. But, you know, my daughter and her family, her husband and her two kids, they were preparing to go to the mission field and. And they had sold everything that they owned. They'd been with us a couple of months at that time, living with us. And that problem afforded me the opportunity to spend five months with my daughter and her family that I wouldn't have had otherwise. And likewise, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to land here with this great team without that happening either. And so I can say without a doubt that I am so grateful for where I am today and what came out of that. It really does change your whole perspective when you take the time to back up and say, man, to what am I ascribing value.

Next? Britta Quella, our director of customer success, shares what she's grateful for and what growth means.

Personally, I'm grateful for many things in my life. May sound a bit cliche, but one of the things is my team here at Gemba Academy. It's not just this year, it's every year. I've learned that letting each person know that I appreciate their uniqueness and their contributions helps with every improvement that we make. They each bring something special to Gemba Academy, and recognizing that really helps us make each improvement. I've also found that slowing down to recognize the progress that we've made and again this year as well as other years, helps us to do the next improvement, not rushing past the good things in pursuit of the next improvement. So I'm grateful for my team, my small team of customer success, but the bigger team as well. I'm grateful for the culture here at Gemba Academy that helps us be unique people and celebrates that. For me, growth has looked like getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable and what I mean by that is learning to pause before reacting. In the past I've jumped to conclusions and problem solving right away. Now I take a step back to understand the situation, ask better questions, involve others in finding the solution. It's really that team atmosphere. It's not just made me better at CI, it's made me a better listener, better teammate. CI is not something that I do. It's become part of who I am at Gemba Academy. The way we think, the way we live.

Lastly, introducing Michael Granado, our IT administrator and how he gave back this year and how gratitude has helped him.

It seems throughout the year I basically give out CI knowledge to friends and family, mainly when it comes to current tech trends, whether it be graphic design for my uncle's fishing roe company and his logos, or helping my relatives out with software and most recently using AI tools. A lot of the time I offer to show them what I'm doing instead of just giving the final results so they can learn the concepts of and be self reliant while still always being available for any additional help or questions. It also helps that I have patience for people whether they have a quick question like my uncle or starting from the basics like my mother. Having gratitude has helped me appreciate and be thankful for what I have, but also recognizing what I still have yet to achieve. Being grateful gives me time to reflect on what I can improve on. I like to thank you. Gratitude in the moment and determination for the future. Meaning determination to make a better future. No matter what point you are at, I always want to commit to strive for something better on my CI journey.

Now, as we wrap up this holiday special, I just want to say how grateful I am for everyone who's joined us today and for the entire Gemba Academy team who makes all of this work possible. Also, to our listener, thank you for being part of our community. We encourage you to take a few moments this season to reflect on your own journey of gratitude, giving and growth and what continuous improvement means to you. Share your thoughts or stories with us on LinkedIn or on the Gemma Academy podcast page. We'd love to hear from you. Now, as we enter into a new year, let's remember continuous improvement isn't just about processes. It's ultimately about people, purpose and progress. So let's continue to improve ourselves and serve others one small act at a time. From all of us here at Gemba Academy, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, Happy Holidays. And here's to another year of learning and growing together. Thanks for listening.