[EP 54] The Leadership Signals You're Missing: A Conversation with Hanna Bauer

In this episode, I’m joined by Hanna Bauer for a conversation about leadership, resilience, and what Lean Six Sigma can teach us about building healthier human systems.Hanna shares how her childhood experience with a serious heart condition shaped the way she thinks about signals, uncertainty, and resilience. From there, we explore how leaders can become more aware of the signals they may be missing before problems become crises.We talk about the difference between signal and noise, the hidden waste that shows up inside teams, and why overprocessing, rework, unclear priorities, and lost human potential are not just operational issues — they are leadership issues.This conversation is a reminder that process improvement is not about making people more mechanical. It is about creating systems that support people, reduce unnecessary friction, and make room for better decisions, stronger teams, and more sustainable growth.In this episode, we discuss:How leaders can identify the signals they may be missingWhy uncertainty often pushes teams into reactive modeWhat Lean Six Sigma can teach us about leadershipHow overprocessing and rework drain time, energy, and trustWhy lost human potential is one of the most costly forms of wasteHow to build resilience before crisis hitsWhy healthy systems should serve people, not replace themChange gets harder when we ignore the signals, tolerate the waste, and then act surprised when the system breaks. This episode invites leaders to pause, pay attention, and build systems that help people do their best work.Learn more about Hanna: HeartnomicsCheck out more episodes: https://www.audreyblair.com/podcast