Spotlight on Linda Tirado: Focusing on Quality and Paving the Way for Future Female Leaders

For Linda Tirado, a quality systems engineer III at DENSO’s North American headquarters in Southfield, Michigan, quality isn’t something to occasionally consider – it’s her job.

Armed with DENSO Spirit, strong interpersonal skills and organizational knowledge, she takes a systematic approach when working with engineering teams to understand and address their needs. By doing so, she can offer training, clarify customer expectations, support communication with manufacturing locations and more to drive systematic improvements.

“I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes to understand where they are coming from, their competencies, skills, thoughts and ideas – it’s not about me, it’s about them,” said Linda.

As a participant in the development of the Quality Community at DENSO in Southfield, she joined a sub-team focused on redefining the organizational flow/ process maps for those working as Field Quality Representatives. She used her organizational understanding and knowledge to help enable the Field Quality Representative team to define the ideal future organizational structure. Today, they are working toward that structure, promoting both efficiency and effectiveness.

Linda also takes an active role in supporting young leaders, helping increase their knowledge of different areas of the organization to help them succeed at their current and future roles. As she explains, “I was fortunate to have very nice, smart coworkers throughout my career. I try to mirror all their best qualities and create a world of knowledge.”

“Linda is one strong example of a DENSO associate that is working to pave the way for the future leaders of DENSO. She diligently works to break down communication and knowledge barriers in order for the entire team to be successful,” said Yoshihiro Tsuzuki, vice president of Quality at DENSO’s North American headquarters.

Linda was one of four DENSO associates nominated for the Manufacturing Institute’s 2020 STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Awards, which recognize women in these career areas who exemplify leadership within their companies.

Know Someone Who Should be Nominated for a STEP Ahead Award?

From the production floor to the C-Suite, female DENSO leaders help us deliver on our principles of safety, quality and collaboration. And, in recognition of their invaluable contributions, we’re calling on associates to nominate exemplary women colleagues for the 2021 STEP Ahead Awards. Details on the awards and how to nominate someone are below. All submissions are due by Sept. 17, 2020.

• Download the submission form here.
• Fill out the nomination form on behalf of yourself or a colleague and send it to NA-DIAM-DIVERSITY-INCLUSION@na.denso.com by Sept. 17.
• In the document, you will see you must also include a signed endorsement, acceptable through a PDF scan or e-signature, from your supervisor or an individual up your management chain.

A review committee consisting of DENSO’s Diversity & Inclusion Council, Corporate Communications, Human Resources and Government Affairs will evaluate the nominations for examples of personal achievement, mentorship and leadership.

The committee will select the best nominations to submit to The Manufacturing Institute for consideration, favoring those that include impactful stories, specific results and data.

If the committee selects your nomination, members of the committee will work with you to edit and submit the final nomination to the Manufacturing Institute by their award deadline, Oct. 2.

More information: www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/women/step/step-awards/