About David

David grew up in Michigan and earned his B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Education from Eastern Michigan University. After teaching in public schools for three years, Lord worked at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, for seven years. He began his career at FMC as a Detailer of engine components and, later, became Training Specialist for Ford Transmission and Axle Engineering.

At Ford Motor Company, David took training in the practice of Employee Involvement. EI is based on the principle that employees have more than just physical labor to contribute. Employees have the skills, talents, and imagination to make strong and lasting contributions toward the success of their company and themselves.

Next, Lord then spent two years as Human Resources Manager at Engineering Services Incorporated (ESI) in Southfield, Michigan and five years at American Supplier Institute (ASI) in Dearborn as Manager of Course Development and, later, as a Process Improvement Consultant. At ASI, Lord was appointed the project manager for developing the manual titled “Making Prototypes Work for Manufacturing” which all suppliers were required to use when designing and building the 1991 Ford Escort. David also developed Whirlpool’s corporate course “Improving Business Processes”.

Since starting David T. Lord Consulting, LLC, in 1993, David has worked with over 150 businesses  His list of clients includes firms of all sizes, including Herman Miller, Johnson Controls, Carlson Marketing, All State Fastener, Milton Manufacturing, Leedo Manufacturing, Masters Millwork, Dale Carnegie, Miele, and Goddard School. Lord’s clients have included public schools, hospitals, realtors, financial planners, insurance companies and many others.

David’s Role as a Consultant/Facilitator

Simply put, David Lord helps businesses work better. His approach to business consulting reflects who he is: David is authentic and willing to be himself. He develops trusting and productive relationships with his clients by listening to their issues and concerns and telling them the truth as he sees it. David facilitates honest and open dialog between workers, leading to the development of ideas that enhance the organization and increase employee commitment and enthusiasm.

David works together with his clients. Creating change is a shared effort when consultant and client have the same goal: a work environment where everyone speaks a common language and is committed to improving the way work is done. Answers are found when information is shared and shared decision-making is the norm. Communication, cooperation and coordination of effort are needed for a business to grow and stay competitive in the marketplace.

David uses, and teaches others how to use, ‘Visual Management’ to enhance communication and accelerate project completion. Employees feel more enthusiastic about improvement when they see how their individual actions affect the company’s performance. Because David is sensitive to how comfortable a person might feel about changes in the workplace, he is careful to foster consensus decision-making that allows employees to ‘buy into’ improvement initiatives.