Key Six Sigma Black Belt Attributes

When you decide to implement Six Sigma, you may start by deciding who should be trained as a Black Belt. You want to choose someone with successful Black Belt characteristics. So what are these and how do they contribute to selecting the right candidate?

1. Personal attributes

• Can the candidate make people understand what must be done?
• Can he or she cut through complex issues and get to the point?
• Does the candidate possess the ability to influence without authority?
• Many Black Belts won’t come from management positions, so how can they get teams to accomplish their tasks?
• Can the candidate motivate others without using threats?
• Can he or she remain calm in the face of adversity?
• How well does the candidate handle vague and changing requirements and situations?
• Can he or she present complex concepts in an easy-to-understand manner?
• Is the candidate an organizer who can clearly get a team focused on the task at hand?

2. Technical ability

• Did the candidate take any courses in maths or statistics, and at what level: high school, undergraduate or graduate?
• How many and what types of courses were taken: surveys, basic, intermediate or advanced?
• How well does the candidate currently use these skills?
• How has the candidate used these skills in past jobs?
• Can he or she bring written reports or presentations to illustrate this ability?
• Does he or she pick up technical subjects quickly?
• Usually, this is where most Black Belts excel. They understand basic statistics, reliability, regression, ANOVA, control-chart theory and applications, sampling theory and graphical analysis. They also understand how to use different problem-solving approaches to best solve the problem they’re working on. Is the candidate a critical thinker? That is, does he or she use data to form conclusions? A good Black Belt tends to be logical in approach and isn’t emotional.

For organizations that deal with discrete data, questions about a candidate’s experience with logistic regression and chi-square analysis are also helpful.

3. Training

• What has the candidate learned to supplement basic skills and improve his or her knowledge of technical as well as business-related subjects?
• Is the candidate proficient in statistical tools such as those provided by Minitab, JMP or SPSS?
• What has the candidate done to learn additional skills that are unique to his or her industry and profession?
• Is the candidate continually looking to improve his or her skills, both technical and personal? You’re looking for someone who’s interested in finding new ways of doing things, someone who takes an interest in continual learning and applying those skills in the workplace.

4. Experience

• Does the candidate’s resume indicate increasing responsibility or knowledge of the industry in which he or she works?
• Has he or she taken positions that expand his or her basic skills?
• Does the candidate continually look for new challenges to face and overcome?
• Is the candidate’s creative ability apparent in the projects on which he or she has worked?
• Is he or she adaptable to changes in the environment when working on projects?
• Does he or she have the flexibility to examine details but also step back and see the big picture?

Many technical people tend to be detail-orientated, and this must be balanced by an ability to see how various elements fit from an overall perspective. You’re looking for a candidate with demonstrable results in performance and growth. Both are important.

5. Aptitude

• Is the candidate attentive to others’ feelings?
• Is he or she empathetic and supportive of the team?
• Can he or she listen and make others feel wanted and needed?
• Can he or she create an atmosphere of trust no matter what the situation?
• Does the candidate encourage the skills that team members are sometimes afraid to try?

6. Culture

• Can the candidate adapt to a changing environment?
• Does he or she understand the role of a change agent?
• Is the candidate familiar with the stages of change, and can he or she help a team work through them?
• How does the candidate handle resistance to change?
• How well can he or she motivate a team?
• What kind of temperament does the candidate project?

What sort of temperament fits with your organization? In an organization that’s relationship-oriented, a relaxed, confident candidate is the better fit. In a results-orientated organization, the achiever might be a better fit.

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