The next thing you notice is that everyone is wearing a Saint-Gobain shirt, you know what team they are on. You hardly ever get greeted by only one person and everyone seems to take the time to say hello to the visitor and make them feel at home. When you go on a tour, you see a facility that is extremely 5S. If you have been there, you know what I am talking about and you know that it takes more than one or two people to make this happen. Visual management is all around and the managers, well their desks are on the shop floor and they are sporting whatever color shirts are scheduled for that day. The production also gives you a feeling of teamwork where one process moves to the next and people are actively working together, trusting each other. Not that this is so different than other plants but what shows is really a culture.

So today, I try to incorporate that thinking in our transformation and collaborative leadership model. So that is how their spirit changed me. To me, teamwork brings trust and accountability which will eventually drive collaborative leadership.