MCD Consulting

My services include business coaching and leadership coaching. 

As a business coach,  I work with organisations to help them improve the efficiency and quality of their services/products. I use quality management (LEAN) tools and methods to assist with problem solving, reducing waste, adding value and increasing efficiency. 
As a starting point I help organisational leaders and senior managers to prioritize the strategic areas for improvement. I then work with a Lean project team over an agreed number of weeks, introducing them to Lean tools and techniques and supporting them to achieve measurable results.

In addition to training on Lean management and group facilitation of activities such as process mapping and value-stream mapping, I draw attention to the systemic and cultural patterns of the organisation and support the development of change agendas that address operational and cultural change as well as employee engagement

I offer leadership and executive coaching to support individuals and teams to develop in a way that leads to increased motivation and performance as well as accountability for continuous improvement. All coaching programmes are scoped, measured and evaluated to show return on investment.

Lean | Leadership Development Coach

Jigsaw Better Business

Lean Management Coach. Leadership/Executive Coach.

Anne Sullivan Foundation

INTERNAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT 
_________

Creating, communicating and reviewing all organisational policies.
Inducting and training employees and team leaders in organisational policies and supervision
Auditing the extent to which policies are implemented throughout the organisation

ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY
____________

Leading the campaign for the recognition of deafblindness in Ireland which involved:

Facilitating and increasing inter-agency collaboration
Building relationships with connections with people who are deafblind around Ireland
Developing and facilitating Advocacy Working Groups
Lobbying members of government and liaising with politicians at local and national level to ensure that deafblindness is recognised and there is a change in public policY to reflect this.
Raising awareness of deafblindness among the public and professional bodies through organisation of awareness events and deafblind awareness training
Management of social media accounts 
Writing articles, submitting work for publication 
Establishing relationships with key people
Participating in research

Policy and Advocacy Lead

Anne Sullivan Centre

Project work was assigned by the CEO, whereby I led and developed processes and systems to improve the quality and efficiency of the service provided by the organisation. This required me to have specific change management skills as I worked with both front-line staff and management on all projects. Role involved provision of regular formal mentoring to front-line social care workers.

Mentor/Project Lead

Business Coach | Leadership Coaching, Lean Management

As owner of MCD Consulting, I provide Lean and leadership coaching to organizations seeking external support to develop their people, uncover systems and processes that are not working well, resolve issues, and build a culture of continuous improvement.

I take a systemic approach — drawing insights from coaching individuals and teams, and working with senior leaders to shape the supportive systems and culture that enable people to thrive.

With experience and training in Lean, Organizational Behaviour, and Leadership Coaching, I help organizations address both the process side and the people side of the business.

As a Lean coach, I work closely with teams to understand workflows, strengthen communication, and provide practical support to shift mindsets, develop skills, and improve systems.

My 1:1 leadership coaching programmes are tailored to individual roles using role-based competencies (and EI 2.0 psychometric assessment if necessary) to measure self-perception before and after the programme. Advanced coaching introduces 360-degree feedback and further develops self-awareness, preparing leaders to grow themselves and their teams.

Leadership today isn’t a formula.. but it often involves three key ingredients: clarity, respect, and accountability. 
Together, they create trust, psychological safety and engagement.
 
 Many leaders rely on one or two of these ingredients. Here are a few familiar examples you might recognize- patterns of leadership you’ve probably seen before.
 
👩‍💻 The Director (Clarity Only)
💠 The Director gives clear instructions and deadlines. Everyone knows what to do and by when.
💠 But the tone is transactional, and teamwork suffers. Without respect or trust, blame replaces collaboration.
  

👩‍✈️ The Supporter (Respect and Accountability)
💠 The Supporter values people and takes responsibility for outcomes. The team feels cared for and trusted.
💠 But without shared direction or clarity of purpose, their efforts pull in different directions and momentum fades.
  

👨‍⚕️ The Friend (Clarity and Respect)
💠 The Friend is open, warm, and communicates well. People enjoy working for them.
 💠 But without clear accountability, expectations slip. Results depend on goodwill rather than ownership.
  

🤵‍♀️ The Driver (Clarity and Accountability)
💠 The Driver delivers. Targets are met, reports are complete, performance is visible.
 💠 But pressure replaces pride, and people start working from fear instead of purpose.
  

👨‍🏭 The Coach (Clarity, Respect, and Accountability)
💠 The Coach brings all three ingredients together.
💠 They explain the why, involve people in the how, and follow through on the what.
 💠 Their team performs with energy and confidence- not from pressure, but from pride.

💡 How does The Coach do it?
They turn those three ingredients into everyday habits: 

👉 Clarity becomes a communication habit -built through consistency in how leaders connect and communicate. It shows up in regular check-ins with individuals and teams, in the use of visual management to make priorities visible, and in creating spaces where people come together to solve problems and share ideas.

👉 Respect becomes a curiosity habit - taking time to go where the work happens, to observe, ask questions, and understand before giving direction.
 It’s about leading with interest rather than instruction, asking before telling, listening carefully, and encouraging ideas from everyone.

👉 Accountability becomes an organization habit - consistent follow-up, fair expectations, and recognition of progress.

When that balance is in place, performance stops needing constant supervision- people feel trust, psychological safety and engagement- and this is turn leads to improved focus and results.

Over to you...

❓Which of these leaders feels most familiar to you or your team?
 Where do you see your own strengths, and where might the gaps be?
 And if you’ve found ways to balance clarity, respect, and accountability, share them below - others could really benefit from your experience

Catherine McDonald

Lean Leadership & Executive Coach | LinkedIn Top Voice ’24 & ’25 | Co-Host of Lean Solutions Podcast | Systemic Practitioner in Leadership & Change | Founder, MCD Consulting

We can’t keep calling them “tough conversations” because if that’s how we see them, we’ll keep avoiding them.

Few leaders enjoy conversations where something needs to be said, but saying it might cause discomfort. 

BUT every great leader has learned how to have them.

👉 Avoiding them leads to confusion and resentment.
👉 Handling them badly leads to conflict and defensiveness.
👉 Handling them well leads to trust, clarity, and respect.

Tough conversations aren’t about being tough on people- they’re about being clear with people.
 
When something isn’t working- a behaviour, a performance issue, a broken agreement- silence doesn’t protect relationships. It slowly damages them.

People can feel when you’re frustrated but not saying it. They fill in the blanks themselves, often imagining the worst.

Tough conversations are not about winning or losing. They’re about understanding and alignment.

 When your goal is to be right, the other person becomes defensive.
 When your goal is to learn and clarify, the other person becomes open.

💡Top Tips
Approach each conversation with three intentions:
 1️⃣ Clarity...What’s really going on here?
 2️⃣ Care...How can I express this in a way that respects both of us?
 3️⃣ Curiosity... What might I be missing?

When clarity, care, and curiosity work together, conversations shift from confrontation to collaboration.

Honest conversation, even when uncomfortable, is an act of respect.
 It says, “You matter enough for me to be honest with you.”

That’s why great leaders don’t avoid conversations.
They approach them with preparation, care, and clarity.

Because a tough conversation, done well, can strengthen a relationship- not damage it.

 You can’t build accountability without honesty.
 You can’t build trust without transparency.

When you speak the truth with genuine care, you’re not making life difficult, you’re being a leader.

What do people need, first and foremost in their leader?

They need someone who is self-aware... someone who understands their own impact, habits, and blind spots.

That's why the first person you lead every day is yourself.

This is easy to nod along to, but it's not easy to do. 

Life teaches us lessons along the way, that slowly open our eyes to how much intention this requires. 

As teenagers, many of us were self-focused. In our first leadership role, ego probably popped up again in subtler ways: wanting to be right, needing to be seen as capable, trying to prove ourselves. (I've been there myself).

The people who succeed as leaders aren’t the ones who avoid these mistakes- they’re the ones who learn that those mistakes were necessary. They don't bat away the emotion that comes from making mistakes- they draw it in and process it, learn from it, and adjust their behaviour accordingly. 

Over time, the greatest leaders have realized leadership isn’t about being impressive- it’s about being aware.
 💠 Aware of emotion and what it is telling them
 💠 Aware of how they impact others
 💠 Aware of when their ego is getting in the way of real connection.

That awareness doesn't appear overnight- it takes:

✨ Feedback: asking others how your actions affect them.
✨ Reflection: taking time to pause and notice your patterns.
✨ Humbling experiences-:moments that challenge your assumptions and stretch your growth.

Before you step into a meeting, make a decision, or respond to a problem, remember that you bring yourself- your thoughts, habits, emotions, and assumptions. 

And all of that shapes how you lead.

That’s why the journey of leadership always begins in the mirror.

If you want to see what respect for people looks like in action, watch a great leader coach their team...and see how belief meets behaviour

At the heart of EVERY effective leadership philosophy is one simple idea: respect for people.

Respect isn’t about being “nice.” It starts with belief.
✨ Believing that people have ideas worth hearing.
✨ Believing that they want to do good work.
✨ Believing that they’re capable of solving problems.

Most importantly, it's about belief that is acted upon! 

A leader who coaches doesn’t just believe in people, they behave in a way that proves it.

🟡 They listen.
🟡 They ask questions.
🟡 They give people room to think and grow.

That’s why coaching really is respect for people in action.

Coaching is what turns respect from a value into a daily habit. And it’s what turns leadership from a role into a relationship.

#Lean tools are simply practices and behaviours.
When we look at them this way, everything changes.

They stop being checklists or templates and start becoming habits...ways of thinking and working that shape culture.

✨ 5S becomes a method of respect for people’s time and workspace. 
✨ Standard work becomes shared clarity.
✨ Visual management becomes open communication.

Tools are not more or less important than behaviours- they simply help us to add shape, structure and purpose to them 🤷‍♂️ 

Have your say ⬇️

Change leadership doesn’t begin with a PowerPoint about the vision. It begins with helping people feel ready for change.

Most people actually crave progress. They want to see things get better.They want to succeed. 

But when change is done TO them rather than WITH them, their natural reaction is to protect themselves.

That’s why change leadership is less about convincing and more about preparing. 

Edgar Schein’s Humble Inquiry is one of the most relationship-centered framework for change leadership.

It’s built on one core idea:

Change begins when leaders replace telling with asking.

By showing genuine curiosity about people...their fears, hopes, and experiences... leaders build the psychological safety required for real change.

👉 The main point is that spending time with people isn’t a 'soft skill'; it’s the groundwork for transformation.

Edgar Schein’s work ( like many others since) reminds us that change isn’t just a technical process, it’s a social one.

Before you introduce tools, systems, or targets, you need trust, curiosity, and genuine dialogue.

How are we embedding this thinking and practice in #lean? Does it help you to spot any gaps? Or would you like to share positive experiences of how you have seen this approach taken as part of Lean?
Leave your comments below 🙏 

Credit to Gemba Academy for the image below

This week's episode of the Lean Solutions Podcast features Tina Patel Gunaldo, PhD, DPT, MHS. And the conversation is all about Interprofessional Collaboration. 

Patrick and I found Tina’s message to be very relevant for today’s leaders and Lean practitioners. She reminds us that teams can’t move quickly or improve continuously when decisions are tied by external influences

We often have to work with people outside of our team or organization. 

By creating opportunities for the professions involved to collabate, leaders can help teams act faster, share ideas more freely, and keep improvement flowing.

This approach also tackles one of the biggest challenges in Lean- breaking down silos. Many improvements involve several departments, but rigid hierarchies make cross-functional work slow and messy. Encouraging collaboration across teams helps align everyone around shared goals and keeps communication open.

At the heart of this is trust and psychological safety. Lean isn’t just about tools and processes, it’s about people feeling safe to speak up, suggest changes, and take ownership. 

Finally, team science gives leaders evidence to back this up. It shows why certain collaboration habits work and how to build stronger, more connected teams. 

Thanks Tina for sharing your insights and wisdom. 🙏

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