Ignite your dreams and earn the Awards

Ignite Your Dreams and Earn the Awards

It was a cold December week in 2011 when George Trachilis looked out over the snowy skyline of Winnipeg. He felt both humbled and energized. That week alone, over 100 people a day registered for his free online Lean 101 course — students from more than 30 different countries who wanted to learn how to build excellence one step at a time. George considered it a blessing to give back — to share the joy he had found in Lean consulting with those who were just getting started.

Night after night, messages poured in from people around the world — China, Germany, Brazil, and beyond — expressing how his generosity had inspired them. As the snow fell quietly outside his office window, George realized that his work had become more than business; it was a calling. He wanted to Ignite His Dreams and Earn the Award of a life defined by purpose and contribution.

Though already a respected consultant in Canada, George sensed there was something more — an opportunity to expand his reach, teach globally, and work without boundaries. His dream was clear: travel the world while consulting over the internet. The Lean 101 course giveaway was a good start, but he realized that this audience might not be the one to fly him to the countries he longed to visit. “There has to be more,” he thought.

Around that time, he noticed a post on LinkedIn by Norman Bodek — the “Godfather of Lean.” Norman had written that The Harada Method was *the People Side of Lean* — the best system in the world for day‑to‑day management. George did not yet know what that meant, but he felt a spark of curiosity: if this was the people side of Lean, then perhaps it was also the human side of purpose. He knew he needed to understand it.

George remembered attending Norman’s keynote in Edmonton back in 2008 — an event that had planted the seed for something bigger. Inspired, he reached out, unaware that this connection would change the course of his life and lead him on the journey to truly Ignite Your Dreams and Earn the Award.

In 2011, Norman contacted one of George’s colleagues to ask why he was giving away his Lean 101 course for free. That inquiry led to a powerful conversation — one that would ignite George’s dreams and guide him toward mastering The Harada Method, a system that would redefine how he lived, worked, and coached others.

Norman invited George to travel to Portland to experience the teachings firsthand. There, he learned that the path to leadership begins with self‑leadership — the foundation of The Harada Method. It became George’s roadmap to Ignite Your Dreams: Earn the Award through vision, discipline, and daily improvement.

During that training, Norman shared the story of a young athlete, Shohei Ohtani. At just fifteen, Ohtani built his first OW64 Chart — a goal‑setting tool that became the foundation of his rise to global excellence. George saw that to Ignite Your Dreams and Earn the Award, one had to transform ambition into structure and discipline.

Inspired, he wrote down a new dream — to work directly with the world’s most respected minds in Lean leadership. At the top of his list was Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker, author of The Toyota Way. George didn’t know Dr. Liker personally, but mastering The Harada Method had given him the confidence to believe that his vision would find its way into reality.

Shortly after, Dr. Liker announced that he would be visiting Winnipeg for a Lean event. George seized the chance, calling to offer him a warm Manitoba welcome. That call became the beginning of a partnership built on trust, curiosity, and a shared passion for excellence.

What began as a ride from the airport soon turned into 80 webinars, an international book published in 7 languages, and the formation of the Lean Leadership Institute. Their work was eventually recognized with the distinguished Shingo Research and Publication Award — a global symbol of what it means to truly Ignite Your Dreams and Earn the Award.

Yet the greatest reward wasn’t a trophy or recognition — it was transformation. George discovered that the real Award lies in becoming your best self every day, helping others to do the same, and demonstrating through action that Success is a Skill. This mastery — built through The Harada Method — became his lifelong mission.

Years later, when Norman passed away, his inspiration lived on through his wife Noriko. One day she asked George, “What keeps you inspired today?”

That statement became the spark for Ignite17 — a 17‑Day Challenge that helps people experience what George found: that by mastering The Harada Method, anyone can transform inspiration into structure and structure into success. To Ignite Your Dreams is to Earn the Award — the award of self‑mastery, purpose, and impact.