Michael R. Sullivan

Professional Background and Education:

Mike is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lean Master with expertise in applying Lean, Six Sigma, and Project Management tools as part of broader business efforts. Mr. Sullivan brings over 25 years of experience consulting Lean and Six Sigma across various industries. He has hands-on experience managing Six Sigma and Lean projects in health care, financial services, insurance, and brokerage organizations. His clients include Compass Bank, Capital Group, PatientPoint, Independence BCBS, Safeco, Allstate, Unum, Hub International, Guardian Life, WSECU, Entrepreneurs Organization, Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, and The Polyclinic, to name a few.

Before consulting, Mr. Sullivan was a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Lean Expert, Project Manager, and Agile Coach at Allstate Insurance Company. Mr. Sullivan was an integral member of Allstate’s Lean Sigma Team, developing the corporate deployment strategy and later leading the roll-out of Operational Excellence at Compass Bank.

B.A.’s Accounting and Management – Marietta College – Marietta, Ohio

 Masters in Project Management (MPM) – Keller Graduate School of Management – Chicago

Select Client Experiences:

Leading Life Insurance Company:

Lead Design & Deployment of Operational Excellence throughout client organization – 4 sites. The deployment included developing a strategic road map, training, and coaching 14 Black Belts, 100 Green Belts, 17 Lean Leaders, and 60 Executives. Developed and delivered Operational Excellence Awareness Training to over 400 participants. Financial results exceed $3.5MM in the initial 18 months.

Leading Investment Company:

Modernized company approach to business and internal communication. Built an Operational Excellence team and program, including a library of tools and training. Led a process automation team. Shrunk cycle times for Underwriting, Policy Service, Customer Care Teams, Claims, IT, Legal, and Compliance units. Instilled growth mindset throughout company culture by coaching 60% of leadership through the Lean Leader Program. Embedded Lean principles into business by shaping company vision, mission, guiding principles, and 5-year strategy. Recovered $49M and accelerated profit generation by clearing outstanding payments backlog in 3 days.

International Insurance Brokerage Company:

Led project team for the end-to-end redesign of three core processes across three lines of business, as well as designing and delivering training for Front-Line Leaders and Sr Executives on operational dashboards tracking Quality, Missed Expirations, Upcoming Renewals, and overall Book of Business data. Pilot Results: Processes achieved ~25% efficiency gain, and operations dashboards are used to manage the business. Designed and developed a Process Playbook for the Service Delivery Team to standardize work processes while driving operational efficiencies and improved customer satisfaction.

Leading Healthcare Insurer:

Led a blended project team of Management Consulting, Health Management, and Analytics to examine and redesign Case Management and Utilization Management processes. Identified over 300 improvement opportunities, delivering ~$35MM in reduced medical expenditures annually.

Functional Experience

• Lean/Lean Six Sigma
• Project Management/Program Management
• Agile
• Training & Development
• Project Portfolio Creation
• Voice of Customer
• Change Management

Industry Experience

• Banking
• Investments/Brokerage
• Financial Services
• Healthcare – Payer
• Healthcare – Provider