MONTHLY SESSIONS
The Leader247 monthly sessions are intentionally designed as high-impact learning environments that sharpen leadership thinking and strengthen execution capability. Each session brings forward leading practitioners, proven operators, and respected voices across industries to share real-world insights, methods, and evolving practices that matter now.
These sessions are structured, highly interactive forums where curiosity is encouraged, assumptions are challenged, and dialogue is active.
Members engage guests directly with ideas, ask real questions, and explore practical applications that translate immediately into their organizations.
At their core, the sessions serve to expand perspective, deepen capability, and reinforce disciplined, servant leadership behaviors. They complement the Leader247 Operating System by continuously feeding leaders with fresh thinking, relevant tools, and grounded examples—ensuring that clarity, decision-making, and execution improve not just once, but consistently over time.
Karen Martin
Session 09: April 28, 2026
Clarity in Value Streams
Leader247 welcomes Karen Martin for a high-impact session on the enduring relevance of strategic value stream analysis in today’s complex business environments.
Drawing from her deep experience in operational excellence and transformation, Karen will challenge the notion that value stream mapping is outdated. Instead, she positions it as a core leadership capability—revealing how value is created, where it breaks down, and how strategy connects to execution.
Her message is clear: without visibility into flow, leaders manage symptoms, not systems. Strategic value stream analysis brings the clarity needed to expose delays, misalignment, and hidden constraints.
For Leader247 members, the takeaway is simple—value stream thinking remains essential to align teams and accelerate results. Are your value streams providing value?
Upcoming Events
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Session 09: Clarity in Value Streams
Tuesday, April 28, 11:00 - 1:00 CST
Insight Segment: Leader247 is honored to welcome Karen Martin, internationally recognized authority on value stream mapping and enterprise performance.
Value Stream Mapping — not as a tool, but as a leadership discipline. Karen will challenge the common confusion between activity and true value, demonstrate how value stream thinking sharpens executive decision-making, reveal how clarity of flow drives measurable performance and financial results, and distinguish superficial mapping exercises from transformational strategic insight.
Value Stream Mapping is often treated as operational.
Karen will show why it is fundamentally strategic.For leaders responsible for both strategy and execution, this session will reshape how you see your system — and once you see it differently, you cannot unsee it.
Fireside: Building confidence with Claire
Sensei-Bility: Prompt and Circumstance
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Session 10: The Compassionate Leader
Tuesday, May 26, 11:00 - 1:00 CST
Insight Segment: Renown author Nate Regier brings his book Compassionate Accountability to practical daily use for Leaders.
Fireside: TBA
Sensei-Bility: TBA
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Session 11:
Tuesday, June 30, 11:00 - 1:00 CST
Insight Segment: TBA
Fireside: TBA
Sensei-Bility: TBA
Past Sessions
***All Sessions are recorded and available to active members
Episode 01: True North and Obeya as your Operating System
The July Leader247 session, featuring Mike Wroblewski, launched the consortium’s live series with a powerful focus on uniting “Strategy and Operations through Intentional Leadership”. The discussion centered on the Obeya mindset—a visible, disciplined system where leaders connect people, priorities, and purpose in real time to turn plans into progress. Wroblewski shared practical insights from decades of Lean leadership, illustrating how clarity, focus, and alignment form the triad that powers true operational excellence. As part of “the Lift Lab” -The Seven Deadly Sins of Lean inspired leaders to make strategy a living system—anchored in daily practice, clear communication, and courageous ownership—ensuring that execution thrives where alignment and leadership meet.
Session 02: Goals VS. Strategies "Crafting the Plan"
The August Leader247 session, “From Goals to Strategy – A Conversation with Steve Hirt,” explores how effective leadership depends on mastering both strategic thinking and strategic planning. Christian Wolcott opens by distinguishing the two—thinking as foresight and pattern recognition, and planning as disciplined execution—before Steve Hirt shares insights on shifting from tactical to strategic mindsets, defining breakthrough objectives, and sustaining alignment through tools like the X-Matrix and “catchball” communication. The accompanying Compass Points and Lift Lab segments reinforce that most strategies fail not for lack of ideas but for lack of execution discipline, urging leaders to make strategy a living, visible process embedded in culture—where thinking sets the horizon, planning maps the path, and disciplined follow-through drives growth
Session 03: The Power of Leadership Communications
The September Leader247 session with Linked In Learning star, accomplished author Sam Yankelevitch, The Power of Leadership Communications, revealed that most leadership failures stem from miscommunication, not strategy. Sam explored how assumptions, silos, and data without dialogue derail alignment and emphasized listening as a leader’s greatest superpower. Participants reflected on their own clarity gaps, learning to treat every conversation as a process for continuous improvement. The new Sensei-Bility segment offered key learning points for Leaders walking and talking the walk.
Session 04: The Discipline of Strategy Deployment
In October’s Leader247 session, Steve Hirt and Luke Burmeister of Didion Milling explore the discipline of strategy deployment—turning plans into measurable results through focus, cadence, and clarity. They share real-world lessons on linking people, purpose, and execution while maintaining honest metrics and leadership rhythm. The conversation offers practical insight into keeping strategy alive through X-Matrix deployment, performance tracking, and resource alignment.
Session 05: Lean Legends LIVE: Mike Hoseus
Mike Hoseus is a globally recognized authority in lean culture and organizational transformation. With over three decades of experience, he built his expertise at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky—rising through operations and HR leadership—where he learned firsthand how to integrate the “people value stream” with process excellence.
He co-authored the award-winning book Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way and now serves as Executive Director at the Center for Quality People & Organizations (CQPO) and President of Lean Culture Enterprises, where he advises organizations on building sustainable, people-centric lean transformations.
Session 06: Lean Legends LIVE: Paul Akers
Leader247 welcomed Paul Akers for a high-energy session on 2 Second Lean and the enduring power of Lean thinking.
Paul emphasized that transformation doesn’t come from massive initiatives, but from small, daily improvements — practiced relentlessly. When leaders model curiosity, humility, and disciplined observation, culture evolves naturally.
The core message was simple and powerful: Lean is not about tools. It’s about developing people who see waste, solve problems, and take ownership every day. Culture grows where leadership is intentional — and improvement becomes habit.
Session 07: AI in Value Streams
Most organizations are not lacking effort—they are lacking clarity. Work is happening, yet outcomes remain flat. In our February Leader247 session, Emmanuel Aouad (Klarity) reinforced that value streams are not just tools, but a leadership lens—revealing where work slows, decisions stall, and results break down .
AI, when used well, is not a replacement for leadership—it is an accelerator. It enhances visibility and speeds insight, but judgment and decisions remain with leaders .
Members pointed to familiar constraints: decisions, approvals, and competing priorities. The issue isn’t activity—it’s lack of clarity. Without understanding how value is created, AI risks scaling confusion.
The takeaway is simple: better results come from clearer thinking. AI can help leaders see faster—but the responsibility to decide remains theirs.
Session 08: Next Level Decision Making for Leaders
Leader247 recently welcomed author Fenton Moran PhD for a session on decision-making in complex organizations. Drawing from his latest work, Next-Level Decision Making, he challenged the idea that better results come from more data or faster action, instead emphasizing disciplined decision architecture—clear roles, defined criteria, and transparent trade-offs—as the key to alignment and execution.
His message was clear: decision quality shapes culture. When decision rights are unclear, execution slows and trust erodes. When decisions are structured and owned, performance accelerates.
For Leader247 members, the takeaway is simple—strategic success depends on intentional, aligned decision-making.