DETROIT, April 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Internationally recognized leader in quality, strategic business consultant to Global Fortune 100 companies, and prominent bestselling author, Subir Chowdhury, believes individuals who live with a commitment to quality can transform all aspects of life. Chowdhury, hailed by The New York Times and Business Week as "the leading Quality Expert," and "The Quality Prophet," is launching a large-scale campaign for 'The LEO Movement.' Envisioned to become a global phenomenon in quality awareness, the movement is beginning with the State of Michigan.

The LEO Movement's first goal is to inspire 1 million people in Michigan to pledge practicing their individual quality through the proven steps of LEO via the website, LEOmovement.org. Chowdhury believes it will provide people with the skills to improve their lives and contribute to a statewide transformation of quality improvements. The LEO Movement is an initiative stemming from Chowdhury's non-profit organization, the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation.

"I have implemented quality processes for years, finding that even the greatest process will not achieve the highest quality if people aren't practicing quality as individuals. The simple practice of LEO highly impacts organizations because it is about the people—all the people, all the time. This transformational practice impacts attitudes, perceptions, personal and work relationships, so individuals can improve their lives, their families, workplace, and communities," said Chowdhury.

As introduced in his bestselling book, The Ice Cream Maker, LEO—an acronym for "Listen, Enrich, Optimize"—was created and first used by Chowdhury at Global Fortune 100 companies to strengthen the practice of workplace quality. The LEO Movement's mission is to work with schools from elementary to higher education, businesses, government, leaders and residents, the employed and the unemployed, all in an effort to provide a simple three-step practice to generate societal improvement and success throughout the state.

Daily LEO practice requires people to pledge to practice three simple steps:

• Listen hard to others and to yourself to seek understanding
• Enrich the lives around you by giving a little more of yourself every day
• Optimize everything you do by setting your mind to excellence and refusing to "settle"

Coinciding with the launch, the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) will be giving for the first time in its history a 'quality award' named after Chowdhury, who is an SAE fellow and past recipient of the SAE Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering. The Subir Chowdhury Medal of Quality Leadership will be given at the SAE 2011 World Congress at Detroit's Cobo Center on April 12th. The prestigious award, created to honor Chowdhury's contributions to quality in engineering, will be presented to customer satisfaction index pioneer, J.D. Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates.

SAE is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts. The 2011 SAE World Congress is taking place April 12th-14th at Cobo Center in Detroit. To learn more about the Society of Automotive Engineers International, visit www.sae.org.

The LEO Movement is based upon the theory that practicing individual quality is contagious. The vision of the movement is to inspire people to practice individual quality across the world to improve their lives and communities by raising global quality awareness. All are invited to join, regardless of age, culture, and socio-economic background. Visit www.LEOmovement.org to learn more, take the pledge, and begin a personal commitment to action.

SOURCE The LEO Movement