Dec 19, 2023
Video Version
About the Podcast
My guest today is Scott Lushin, Senior Manager of Global Operational Excellence at Donaldson Company, Incorporated.
In this episode, Scott takes us through his professional journey. Starting off in retail automotive and the restaurant business, it is obvious that has two passions; problem solving and leadership. Although his passion for problem-solving made itself readily apparent in his early life, his skills in leadership made themselves known later and over time.
Scott started his journey right out of high school at an automotive service chain where he became manager and then training manager. After a few years, he eventually moved on to work in the food industry at a chain of restaurants; becoming training manager then district manager. Against his mother’s advice against seeking a job in manufacturing, he joined Donaldson through a temp-agency.
He has always been a ‘thinker’, a problem solver, even as a kid he loved to solve problems. The more complex the problem, the more fun they were to solve. He could spend days trying to unravel a problem and eventually he got very good at it. His problem-solving specialty is manufacturing and process improvements. Scott sees the world through a different lens, which is why he is often called upon to solve complex problems. He especially loves being thrown into a complex problem and forming a team to tackle it.
Even though Scott did not (and does not still) have a college degree, Donaldson must have seen something in Scott, as he has been there 32 years. He has held positions and roles too varied to list, but include: Operations Supervisor, Manufacturing Engineer, C.I. Engineer, C.I. Specialist, Operations Management, and since 2019 leading efforts with Global Operational Excellence.
There was a time when a person without a college degree could grow to leadership roles in a company and Scott is living proof. Has that time passed? Or has enough time not passed to make that determination. We shall see.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottlushin/
Company: Donaldson Company, Incorporated
Title: Senior Manager, Global Operational
Excellence
Website: https://www.donaldson.com/
Year Founded: 1915
Company Type: Publicly Traded (DCI)
About: Donaldson Company, Inc. manufactures and
sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The
company operates through three segments: Mobile Solutions,
Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences. Its Mobile Solutions
segment provides replacement filters for air and liquid filtration
applications, such as air filtration systems; liquid filtration
systems for fuel, lube, and hydraulic applications; exhaust and
emissions systems and sensors; indicators; and monitoring
systems. This segment sells its products to original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the construction, mining,
agriculture, aerospace, defense, and transportation markets; and to
independent distributors, and OEM dealer networks. The
company's Industrial Solutions segment offers dust, fume, and mist
collectors; compressed air and industrial gasses purification
systems; and hydraulic and lubricated rotating equipment
applications, as well as gas and liquid filtration for industrial
processes. This segment sells its products to various
distributors, OEMs, and end-users. Its Life Sciences segment
provides micro-environment gas and liquid filtration for food,
beverage, and industrial processes; bioprocessing equipment, that
includes bioreactors and fermenters; and bioprocessing consumables,
such as chromatography devices, reagents and filters, and
polytetrafluoroethylene membrane-based products, as well as
specialized air and gas filtration systems for applications,
including hard disk drives, semi-conductor manufacturing and
sensors, battery systems, and powertrain components to OEMs and
various end-users.