The Most Important Quality of a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Originally Published 10.30.2013

I always get this question from my Lean Six Sigma students: "What is the most important quality of a Lean Six Sigma professional?"

Some say it is the Lean Six Sigma technical skills
In one of my first few posts on this blog, I shared one meeting with a Quality Director of a US healthcare company that recently set up a shared services company in Taguig. Our meeting went from a casual dinner to the Director asking me to apply and work for him. He was like my Advanced Statistics Ph.D. professor who quizzed my knowledge about advanced statistical tools. I was not surprised since he was an Engineering graduate and spent most of his career in a manufacturing company doing Design of Experiments as part of their Research and Development (R&D). The problem is, that Lean Six Sigma projects in the service industry (which includes Banks, Insurance, BPO, Call Centers, etc.) rarely need advanced statistical tools like DOE.

Others say it’s the leadership skills, facilitation skills, presentation skills, level of support from the management team, and the list goes on and on.

For me, everything is important. A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt should have a working knowledge of Lean Six Sigma tools-methodologies and a minimum level of the mentioned skills. But to pick one most important quality, it’s TENACITY. 

Without it, skills and knowledge will lead you nowhere. Around 95% of the hundreds of Lean Six Sigma projects I have led and coached, at least one point in time on the project duration, the project team and I thought we hit a dead end. Persistent determination or tenacity would drive your team to success and hit your goal. Just like what you see in the illustration above, your plan is very different from the Universe's plans for you and your project team.

Tenacity is the lifeblood of a Lean Six Sigma professional.

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