Toyota Executive Promotes Continual Improvement for HPU Students
High Point University students filled the Callicutt Life Skills Theater to learn from Sean Suggs, president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina and HPU’s Technology Executive in Residence, during his visit to campus on Feb. 4. Pictured from left during the Q&A were James Fakunle, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, with Suggs and Dr. Bradley Venable, chair of HPU’s Department of Management and professor of supply chain management.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Feb. 18, 2025 – Hundreds of High Point University students filled the Callicutt Life Skills Theater to learn from Sean Suggs, president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina and HPU’s Technology Executive in Residence, during his visit to campus on Feb. 4.
Suggs led a Life Skills and Leadership Series session entitled Embracing a Growth Mindset. During the session, he stressed to students the importance of constantly growing professionally. He discussed implementing several new principles at Toyota, including Kaizen, a Japanese word for having a mindset to improve continually and always seek a better way.
“Kaizen is continuous improvement, and it’s something we live by every single day at Toyota,” Suggs said. “If we can get 5,000 new ideas every single day, think of the power that will give us to elevate and excel as a company. We’re always looking for a better way, and there is no small kaizen.”
Suggs provided an update on Toyota’s record-breaking $14 billion investment in North Carolina and the ongoing construction of a manufacturing facility to support electric battery vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric battery vehicles. Toyota is building a $50 million Center of Excellence at its battery manufacturing campus to house all its training and development for team members and new hires. Toyota also is in the process of hiring more than 5,000 employees, including accountants, engineers and marketing, sales, business administration and supply chain professionals. He spoke to the students about possibly filling some of these new positions.
“We’re looking for talented, robust people who are interested in having a great career,” he said. “We believe when you have a job, you’ve got a career for life.”
Noting 99 percent of HPU students are employed or continuing their education within 180 days of graduation, Suggs advised them to establish their own board of directors by finding a mentor, coach and sponsor. He said a coach is someone good at their job who you can learn from, while a mentor can provide encouragement. A sponsor can advocate for you in closed-door meetings with supervisors, he said.
“Just a couple of years ago, your great president at this university allowed us to use this site to create our vision and mission,” Suggs said. “We brought our entire leadership team to High Point to make that happen, and we’re living it every single day.”
Suggs participated in a Q&A with James Fakunle, assistant professor of entrepreneurship, and Dr. Bradley Venable, chair of the Department of Management and professor of supply chain management during his visit. He taught an introduction to leadership studies class and had lunch with global business students. He also shared a QR code to allow students to contact him personally.
Earning a coachability certificate
Suggs’ Life Skills Seminar was the second session that allowed HPU students to work toward earning a tuition-free certification in coachability. Students who attend four designated Access to Innovators sessions can earn a Life Skills certification and enhance their professional credentials.
Hearing about Suggs’ mission and vision for Toyota to be recognized as a global leader in the charge for sustainable electric and hybrid batteries resonated with Diego Rozo, a senior accounting major from West Boyleston, Massachusetts.
“One big takeaway was how he explained the need for finding a mentor, a coach and a sponsor and how each one of those is different,” Rozo said. “I feel like it’s beneficial for students like us to have a mentor, a coach and a sponsor in many ways. The Japanese word kaizen was a new concept for me — where the more ideas you provide, the better.”
Toyota’s positive work environment and its team efforts to improve the future for other people impressed Jonathan Erris, a senior criminal justice major from Jacksonville, North Carolina.
“It wasn’t just focused on the manufacturing of batteries but also to have the betterment of others and their well-being in mind, especially with their help with donations to schools,” Erris said.