Around the Baldrige community
Baldrige is a national framework with a regional network behind it. In Florida and Georgia, that network is The Sterling Council. These are the events, programs and conversations from both that I think are worth a leader’s time, with a note on why.
Nationally · Baldrige
Details and registration live on the Baldrige Foundation’s and NIST’s pages. Dated cards come down after their date.
The framework · New edition
The national framework, rebuilt. Each category now has three maturity pathways with their own questions, and the Establishing pathway starts with simple yes-or-no checks.
Why it’s here: “We’re not ready for Baldrige” used to be a fair objection. The Establishing pathway removes it. Start with the Organizational Profile, then pick the two categories where you’re weakest.
Get it from the Baldrige Foundation ↗Maturity Pathways · assessed category by category
An organization can be Maturing in one category and Establishing in another. You’re assessed on each category separately, not given one rating for the whole organization.
Application deadline
A year-long leadership program for senior executives, built on the Baldrige framework. Each fellow finishes with a capstone project for their own organization.
Why it’s here: For an agency head or nonprofit CEO who wants to study role-model organizations up close. Applying takes a recommendation letter from your top official, so start now.
National conference
The national Baldrige conference. Award recipients walk through the practices that won.
Why it’s here: You hear how the work was actually done, from the people who did it, including the parts that didn’t go well.
Baldrige award recipients
Five cities have won the national award. NIST publishes each one’s profile and award application summary.
Why it’s here: Read one before your next strategic planning retreat. It’s the closest thing to seeing another city’s operating manual.
All recipients on NIST’s site ↗In Florida and Georgia · The Sterling Council
Sterling runs the Baldrige-based program for both states. Details and registration live on Sterling’s pages.
Sterling Book Club · Free
One book, thirty minutes, every other month. Nothing to prepare and nothing to present.
Why it’s here: Coyle argues that culture comes from specific, learnable behaviors. I’d add that it also comes from what leaders tolerate. I wrote about that in Culture Is Not a Feeling.
South Florida SummitReflect Excellence is a sponsor
The Sterling Leadership Conference condensed into one day. Keynotes from organizations whose management systems are worth studying, workshops on the Sterling framework, and senior leaders from healthcare, government, education and business.
Why it’s here: For leaders who can spare one day but not four. Send a team, not just one person, so the ideas have somewhere to land when they get back.
Further out: Book Club, Tuesday, January 19, 2027 (book to be announced).
Sterling program · SMBEA
Sterling examiners come on site, assess the plant against the framework, and give feedback in person. Recognition comes in Bronze, Silver or Gold.
“It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risk. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe to take them.”
Worth a listen · Sterling Visionary Voices
Episodes from Sterling’s leadership podcast, each paired with a piece of mine on the same problem.
Episode 9· 19 min· June 2024
“Something worse than the error itself is having an error and not learning from it.”
Jon-Paul Croom, then President of Wellstar North Fulton Hospital
Gordon’s takeHigh-reliability hospitals treat every error as information about the system. Most public agencies treat it as a personnel matter. Listen for how he makes reporting safe. Then ask what happens in your organization when someone admits a mistake.
Episode 31· 40 min· March 2025
“They kiss up and they kick down, so a lot of the senior leadership doesn’t see it.”
Dr. Rick Bame
Gordon’s takeA bully lasts because the information about the bully travels up through the bully. That’s a flaw in how feedback reaches the top, and you can fix it. His eight archetypes are the practical part.
Episode 49· 26 min· August 2026
“Anybody can be ethical when it’s free to be honest.”
Dr. Jason Lesandrini, founder of The Ethics Architect
Gordon’s takeValues posters cost nothing. Watch what your leaders do when the honest answer costs a budget line or a promotion. That’s the culture people actually work in.
Episode 48· 24 min· July 2026
“Don’t go out and deploy a solution looking for a problem. Find your problem.”
Melissa Copp, Chief Revenue Officer, Leverage
Gordon’s takeGood AI advice from a credit-union executive: start with the problem. Too many AI pilots start with the tool and then go looking for a use. Reverse the order.
Events and programs on this page are run by the Baldrige Foundation, NIST and The Sterling Council. Links go to their own pages.
