Building a Culture of Empowerment

Reflections on Lessons Learned from Sustained Continuous Improvement

Webinar Description

Many organizations invest heavily in Lean tools, continuous improvement training, and operational excellence frameworks—yet struggle to achieve the kind of deep, sustained cultural transformation that truly changes outcomes for people and performance.

Projects improve. Metrics move. But the culture often remains unchanged.

In this on-demand KaiNexus webinar, Dr. Lisa Yerian, Chief Improvement Officer at Cleveland Clinic, reflects on more than a decade of leading enterprise-wide continuous improvement and shares what it actually takes to build a culture where improvement is owned, sustained, and scaled.

Drawing on real stories, personal experience, and hard-earned lessons, Lisa challenges the idea that transformation comes from tools, mandates, or technical perfection. Instead, she explores how purpose, reflection, and empathy are the true drivers of lasting change.

This session goes beyond Lean mechanics to examine how people experience improvement work—and why that experience determines whether improvement efforts grow or quietly fade away.

View all previous KaiNexus Continuous Improvement Webinars

What You’ll Learn

• Why cultural transformation is fundamentally different from process improvement

• How anchoring improvement work in a clear, shared purpose changes engagement

• Why leaders must apply improvement thinking to their own work first

• The role of reflection with integrity in sustaining progress over time

• How empathy helps overcome resistance to empowerment and change

• Why improvement succeeds when people want to “play the record again”

Who This Webinar Is For

This webinar is especially valuable for:

• Executives and senior leaders responsible for culture and transformation

• Continuous improvement, Lean, and operational excellence professionals

• Healthcare leaders navigating burnout, safety, and access challenges

• Managers working in hierarchical cultures seeking greater empowerment

• Organizations aiming to move from isolated improvements to lasting change

Key Insight: Transformation Is About How Improvement Feels

Sustained improvement isn’t about technical perfection.

It’s about how people experience the work.

When improvement is grounded in purpose, supported by reflection, and practiced with empathy, people feel capable, empowered, and motivated to continue improving. When it isn’t, even well-designed initiatives stall.

As Dr. Yerian explains, cultural transformation happens when improvement becomes something people believe in, participate in, and want to repeat—not something they’re required to do.

About the Presenter:

Dr. Lisa Yerian

Chief Improvement Officer, Cleveland Clinic

Lisa Yerian, MD, is the Medical Director of Continuous Improvement in the Division of Medical Operations and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. She received a BS from the University of Notre Dame in 1996 and a medical degree from the University of Chicago-Pritzker School of Medicine in 2000. Dr. Yerian completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology and a fellowship in gastrointestinal and liver pathology at the University of Chicago. She joined the staff of the Cleveland Clinic in 2004, where she serves as a member of the gastrointestinal pathology service and director of the hepatopancreaticobiliary service. In 2009 she was appointed Section Head of Surgical Pathology, and through her work in surgical pathology she developed an interest in using process improvement and business management tools and principles in the laboratory. She now enjoys applying these tools throughout Pathology, the Cleveland Clinic and beyond as Medical Director of Continuous Improvement.

Dr. Yerian is an active member and contributor of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). She has directed several national and international courses in liver and gastrointestinal pathology and in continuous improvement, and is well-known for her enthusiasm for teaching. She resides in Cleveland Heights with her husband, Darin Croft, and enjoys cooking, trail running and travel.