How do you transform a company that isn't broken?

In this episode of the Lean Focus Podcast, host Damon Baker sits down with John Adams, CEO of Magnum Manufacturing, to explore the most overlooked leadership challenge in business today: evolving a company that's already winning. When John stepped into the role, Magnum was strong, profitable, and respected — but the momentum was fading. The company wasn't in decline…it just wasn't accelerating.

John shares how he recognized the quiet danger of confidence drifting toward complacency — and why the next chapter required a new operating mindset built on two deceptively simple beliefs:

👉 Be Kind. Be Curious.

In this candid and practical conversation, you'll hear how he:

• Elevated the organization from consistency to clarity and ambition,
• Built urgency without drama or fear,
• Unified strategy and operations into a single growth system,
• Embedded facts over assumptions in decision-making,
• Strengthened capability and confidence by pairing data with humility,
• Redefined leadership expectations around emotional intelligence and curiosity,
• Maintains focus and momentum even when results are strong.

This is not a turnaround story. It's a turn-it-up story.

John proves that kindness isn't weakness — it's what earns trust.
Curiosity isn't chaos — it's what unlocks growth.

If you're a CEO or transformation leader in a business that's "doing fine," this episode will challenge you to raise your sights — and give you a blueprint for mobilizing a high-performing team toward what's next.

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What happens when Human Resources — not Operations — leads the Lean transformation?

In this episode of the Lean Focus Podcast, host Damon Baker sits down with Rich Trojan, Chief Human Resources Officer at Holland LP, to explore how a people-first function became the driving force behind one of the most successful lean turnarounds in recent years.

When Rich joined Holland, the company wasn't broken — it was busy. Hundreds of competing priorities, strong personalities, and no common operating rhythm. HR wasn't supposed to fix that. But Rich saw something others missed: without alignment, accountability, and a unifying system, even great people can't deliver great results.

What followed was a total cultural shift by the entire Leadership Team:

• Implementing Policy Deployment and the Holland Business System across 800+ employees,
• Rebuilding trust between leadership and frontline teams through hands-on learning
• Creating a cadence of accountability that drove 25% sales growth and 60% profit improvement in two years,
• Transforming HR into a strategic partner that drives clarity, focus, and measurable business results,
• Building a self-sustaining lean culture — one that thrives even after leadership changes.

Rich's story proves that Lean isn't just about processes and plants — it's about people, discipline, and belief. And sometimes, the most transformative change starts in the least expected place.

If you're an HR leader, CEO, or anyone trying to align culture with execution, this episode will change how you see your role.

🎧 Listen now to hear how Rich Trojan turned HR into the engine of transformation at Holland LP — and how you can do the same in your organization.

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See the full transcript here: https://leanfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lean-Focus-Podcast_Episode-04_Rich-Trojan_.txt

When most people hear "Lean," they think factories, assembly lines, and manufacturing systems. But in this episode of the Lean Focus Podcast, host Damon Baker sits down with Martyn Etherington, Chief Marketing Officer of BMC Software, to explore how Lean principles can transform one of the least expected functions in business: marketing.

Martyn is a transformation-driven Chief Marketing Officer who architects high-performance, data-driven growth systems for global enterprise software companies. He led Danaher Strategic Development and Deployment for Tektronix across four strategic cycles and implemented Lean operating models at Mitel and Teradata.

When Martyn joined BMC, marketing was seen as a service bureau — an "all-you-can-eat buffet" with vanity metrics, poor accountability, and no direct tie to growth. Within months, he made bold moves that most CMOs would never attempt: halting all advertising, canceling 200 events, and betting his tenure on bringing Lean rigor into marketing. The result? Millions in waste eliminated, marketing ROI multiplied from 1:1 to 5:1, and BMC's strongest year in four decades.

In this candid conversation, Martyn shares how he:

• Went from Lean detractor to one of its strongest advocates,
• Broke cultural inertia by finding "positive deviants" and building around them,
• Gained credibility by relying on data, facts, and independent validation — not marketing spin,
• Balanced his leadership style ("50% Hugh Grant, 50% Gordon Ramsey") to fit the culture,
• Proved that Lean isn't just for operations — it's for every part of the business that wants to grow.

This is a playbook for CMOs, CEOs, and transformation leaders who want to drive accountability and results in functions that have historically been shielded from operational discipline.

Listen now to hear how Martyn Etherington redefined the role of marketing at BMC — and why Lean might just be the secret weapon for growth in every corner of your business.

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See the full transcript here.