North Fulton Business Radio

Shawn Yates on Smarter Processes and Team Building

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Shawn Yates on Smarter Processes and Team Building (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 904)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Shawn Yates, founder of Predaxis Leadership Solutions. Shawn shares his unique journey from engineering and military service to coaching leaders and teams on how to optimize processes, develop leadership, and build stronger organizations. He explains why small businesses should not delay putting processes in place, how Lego Serious Play helps leaders and teams uncover hidden insights, and why AI will only magnify the processes you already have, good or bad. Shawn also discusses the eight wasteful activities that leaders should watch for, how to right-size process for the stage of a business, and why building blocks today save costly rescues tomorrow.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

• Small businesses often delay creating processes, but putting structure in place early saves costly fixes later.
• The eight wasteful activities from Lean methodology give leaders a practical lens for spotting inefficiency.
• AI magnifies whatever process you already have—good or bad—so optimization must come first.
• Lego Serious Play, a facilitation method using LEGO bricks, helps leaders and teams surface hidden insights and improve collaboration.
• Strong delivery requires balancing three pillars: process optimization, leadership development, and team building.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
02:05 Guest Introduction: Shawn Yates
03:08 Shawn’s Background and Career Journey
07:38 The Importance of Process in Business
14:00 Lego Serious Play: A Unique Facilitation Technique
16:51 Leadership Development and Team Building with Legos
17:26 Discovering Insights Through Lego Models
18:35 Team Building Exercises and Dynamics
20:29 Addressing Team Conflicts with Legos
20:57 Understanding Lean Methodology and Waste
21:39 Digital and Physical Waste Examples
24:09 AI and Process Optimization
26:03 Symptoms of Poor Processes
28:10 Success Stories and Measuring Improvements
29:33 Contact Information and Final Thoughts

Shawn Yates, Predaxis Leadership Solutions

Shawn Yates gets things out the door. His mission is to empower teams and companies to deliver products and services faster and more predictably without sacrificing quality. He focuses on three pillars: process optimization, leadership development, and team building.

With more than 25 years at global companies such as Philips and Siemens, Shawn has built leaders and teams from the ground up and turned around underperforming groups. He draws on Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma to design solutions tailored to where a team is and where it needs to go. A certified co-active leadership coach and Lego Serious Play facilitator, Shawn brings a strong people focus and creative energy to his work, engaging leaders and teams at a human level to prototype problems and solutions together.

Born in Delaware and raised in Georgia, Shawn graduated from Duluth High School in 1990 and served six years in the U.S. Air Force. He went on to help launch Care Technologies, where he was VP of Engineering for a decade before the company was acquired by Philips. After 15 years there as an internal consultant, including 12 years living in Worcester, MA, Shawn returned to Georgia and today leads Predaxis Leadership Solutions.

Website | LinkedIn

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way to better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

If you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their market, community, and profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book, The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.