Ray McKenzie on Creating a Sustainable Continuous Improvement Culture

My recent conversation with Ray McKenzie focused on how leaders can create an environment of inclusion and trust to create a sustainable culture of continuous improvement. Ray’s entrepreneurial background has given him an interesting perspective on the important role and immense impact of leaders on organizations of all sizes.

Given Ray’s background in building different organizations, he recognizes that the desire to build is inherent in many individuals. “One of the drivers of leadership is empowering your team to be successful and to contribute. Recognize that many people don’t just want to come in and do their job and get out.”

An interesting word that Ray used several times in our conversation is ‘allow’. He emphasized the deliberate decision leaders need to make to empower their people and create an environment to make them successful. Ray talked about creating “an environment of inclusion from the bottom up [and] allowing people to say this is an idea that I think can help the organization.” 

According to Ray, leaders should say to themselves, “I allow my team to be successful. I allow my team to contribute. I allow the environment and the culture to be inclusive. And I value their importance.”

When this takes root in an organization, it creates a culture of trust and openness where individuals express and pursue their work with ownership and passion. “You develop trust. That trust is something that’s developed through back and forth engagement and communication. Then you understand the drivers behind what people want to do, what drives them and what they are passionate about.”

About Ray McKenzie:

Ray McKenzie is the founder of Red Beach Advisors, a technology management consulting group headquartered in Los Angeles, CA providing businesses and organizations with successful growth strategies to build, grow, and scale. They work with companies to increase revenue, enhance operational performance, guide organizational development, implement lean processes, and improve product marketing strategies. Their goal is to assist their clients with implementing efficient processes and teach proven methods to increase a company’s ability to grow revenue, retain customers and clients, reduce operational costs, and decrease waste and revenue loss. This allows their clients to grow, succeed, and exceed performance expectations.

Red Beach Advisors is a US Federal Government approved contractor, certified small business in the State of California, and a certified minority owned business by the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council.