Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE)

In the last full round of Day 2 breakouts, our focus was on preparing for the future and included:
- A lively discussion with Cara Silletto, President & Chief Retention Officer of Magnet Culture, on how to “Acclimate and Cultivate: How Great Leaders Keep Their Leaders Longer”;

- An informative map of “Baldrige Breakthroughs: What’s New, What’s Next” guided by TNCPE and Baldrige Master Examiners, Lila Holt and Rob Rouzer; and

- A foundation for using “AI in Regulated Environments: An Executive’s Guide” laid out by Marcus Blair, Founder of Omega Business Solutions

Our favorite thing about the annual TNCPE Excellence Conference is that it provides an opportunities for our community to connect and learn from each other. Because despite working in different roles across all industries and sectors, the Baldrige Framework serves as a common language for our individual performance improvement pursuits.

Our Day 2 luncheon keynote panel was the perfect demonstration of that common language. Facilitated by Chris Gray, CEO of Griffin Mechanical, the panelists shared the benefits of Baldrige in “Leading Through Chaos: Real World Lessons from Tennessee’s Front Lines.” Thank you to:
- Lee Brown, President & CEO of Erwin Utilities Authority, for sharing how your organization and community survived and rebuilt following the floods of Hurricane Helene;

- Tony Benton, CEO of Tennova East Market, for sharing your organization’s commitment to providing quality healthcare in the face of COVID and the ever-changing regulatory environment; and

- Chris Beaulieu, Executive Director of AI and Innovation at Cummins, for sharing how you protected the safety and peace of mind of your organization’s workforce and customers as AI quickly encroached on “business as usual”.

Our second set of Day 2 breakouts aimed to give attendees the tools they need to carve the path for their next excellence journey, including:
- A primer on “Data Visualizations That Help You Tell Your Story” from Daniel Clark, Vice President of Data Science and Process Improvement for West Cancer Center and Research Institute,

- An in-depth look at how the Baldrige Framework can help your organization survive the unexpected with “Excellence Under Pressure: Applying TNCPE Principles in Flood Revovery” from 2025 TNCPE Excellence Award winner Erwin Utilities, and

- An interactive guide to ensuring your team is prepared for the journey by “Decoding Stress: Leveraging DISC Styles for Stronger Team Dynamics” with Diana Bryant, Director of Conferences and Events for the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association

Day 2 of the annual TNCPE conference has been hopping! After our heartfelt and stimulating opening keynote from Major General Vincent Boles, we hit the ground running with our first set of breakouts, which included:
- Returning favorite Michelle Stidwell from Knowledge Works Group, LLC leading a discussion-based session on “Risk Assessment & Mitigation: Organizational Resilience in Uncertain Times”;

- Douglas Wong from the 2019 TNCPE Excellence Award winning organization NHC Healthcare sharing key insights on “Getting Started with Baldrige: A Winner’s Journey Through the 7 Categories”, and

- Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Chad Arcand energetically guiding participants on “Scouting for Solutions: Problem-Solving as a Team”

We were honored to kick off Day 2 of the 2026 TNCPE Excellence Conference with a keynote address from Major General Vincent Boles, a retired 33-year veteran of the United States Army. Major General Boles shared engaging insights on how to be an effective leader that builds engaged teams who are ready and able eager to fight through the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity we being faced by organizations across industries.

And check back in with us later to see highlight reels from his candid, thought-provoking speech.

This year marks 10 years since Craig Green joined the TNCPE excellence community as a member of the Board of Examiners! As an Industrial Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, certified Project Management Professional, and TNCPE Master Examiner, there was no one better to facilitate this morning’s workshop on “Surpassing Assumptions: Building Clarity Through SIPOC” and strengthen our attendees’ understanding of the critical step of process mapping.

If you missed his hands-on workshop this morning, you have another opportunity to participate in a working session with Craig and his colleague, Vonny Nguyen, this afternoon as they leads participants through “Surpassing Limitations: Using AI to Build Processes and Improve Your Baldrige Application”.

As a long-time trusted partner of TNCPE, Will Schoch was the natural choice to lead our morning workshop on “The Trust Equation: Team Building in the face of VUCA”. Will started his TNCPE journey as staff member in 2007 and, although he has moved on to other things (he is currently the Assistant VP of Talent and Organizational Effectiveness for HCA Healthcare), he is always willing to share his expertise and engaging facilitation style with our excellence community!

If you missed his morning session, you will have another opportunity to learn about strategy during times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity with Will during his afternoon session on “Recognize, Examine, and Action Plan: A Systematic Approach for Surviving (and Thriving!) Through VUCA”.

At her first TNCPE Conference appearance in 2023, Michelle Stidwell of Knowledge Works Group, LLC became an instant favorite within our excellence community! We are excited to have her back this year facilitating a half-day workshop on “Beyond Buy-In: Driving Change that Matters”.

If you weren’t able to make her workshop this morning, you can still catch Michelle’s dynamic style tomorrow when she leads a first round breakout session on “Risk Assessment: Organizational Resilience in Uncertain Times”.

We have officially kicked off Day 1 of the 2026 TNCPE Excellence Conference with a welcome message and rundown of the available workshop options from our President and CEO, Heather Schoch! Which sessions will you be attending?

We are less than 1 hour away from kicking off the 33rd Annual TNCPE Excellence Conference and Celebration! Will we see you there?

It was move-in day in preparation for the 2026 TNCPE Excellence Conference!

Did you know we used to actually need a full moving van to transport everything for our annual conference?! Now, thanks to several cycles of learning (and some technological advancements), we are able to fit everything in 3 staff cars.

We can’t wait to see both the new and familiar faces over the next two days as we kick off another year of excellence!