Are Black Belts born or made? Can candidates learn the essential qualities and skills they need to become a Six Sigma Black Belt, or is Black Belt ability something that only a fortunate few naturally possess?
Who Wants to be a Six Sigma Black Belt?
If you’re thinking about becoming a Black Belt, you’re most likely already a Green Belt with Six Sigma experience asking yourself if you have what it takes to move to the next level.
Your experience as a Green Belt is critical because it teaches you the basic Six Sigma principles, and allows you to test the water to see if Six Sigma is right for you. If your Green Belt experience helped you embrace Six Sigma’s fact-based, objective approach to quality improvement, and you developed a taste for using statistical tools to solve problems, your interests and abilities may be in line with Black Belt qualifications.
Do You Have What It Takes?
A passion for quality improvement and a aptitude for statistics are only part of what makes a successful Black Belt. Black Belts also have specific skills, qualities and attributes that help them succeed.
Black Belts are able to successfully play the following roles:
Leader – Black Belts need a clear vision of Six Sigma, the company and the process to help them guide their project teams. They must understand team dynamics and have the interpersonal skills to encourage teamwork, critical evaluation, and creative thinking in their teams. Black Belts have strong interpersonal skills to help motivate and resolve conflicts when needed.
Business Strategist – Mastering Six Sigma is a minimum requirement. Black Belts must also see the big picture by understanding the organization’s goals. Black Belts need to know how to overcome resistance and acquire resources from leadership by demonstrating how Six Sigma helps the company meet its objectives.
True Believer – When Six Sigma is a consuming passion and not just a job for Black Belts, their work becomes much easier. Black Belts with a contagious enthusiasm for Six Sigma methodology have an easier time leading their teams over hurdles and beyond resistance.
Communicator – Black Belts must possess great communication skills. They must be able to explain complex concepts, achieve cooperation and obtain resources from employees at all levels of the company hierarchy. They must be equally fluent in the languages of front-line workers and corporate executives. Black Belts use communication skills in their responsibility to train, mentor and coach project teams.
Change Agent – Black Belts want to live in a better world, and they are always working to get there. They constantly pursue positive change even when it puts them in conflict with long-standing practices or commonly accepted opinions. Black Belts don’t just shake things up and move on; they help make the changes they initiate become a permanent part of business operations.
When deciding if a Black Belt certification is right for you, keep in mind that some Black Belt skills can be learned in a classroom, some can be developed over time and some are part of one’s inborn character.
