Lean Leadership

The following information is from a presentation out of the lean leadership series by Factory Strategies Group LLC. (2009).  I have previously discussed the differences between management and leadership, as well as traditional and modern variations.  The following further highlights the importance of leadership, and the direct distinction from management.  Changing from wearing one hat to the other, and combing both takes practice, but will allow for a better organisational culture and increased efficiencies.  Although the following doesn't discuss energising and motivating employees, it is an area that will stem from good leadership.

Leadership Influences Change

ENGAGEMENT

“People don’t resist change.  They resist being changed.” - Peter Senge

REALISM

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it.  Culture changes when the organisation is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.” - Frances Hesselbein

DETERMINATION

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone getsbusy on the proof.” - John Kenneth Galbraith

Leadership versus Management

Leadership is not management

3 Tenets of management

Planning and budgeting
Involves creating timetables to meet commitments and developing specific action steps.

Organising and staffing
Requires that managers put some structure to the plan which includes staffing requirements, communications and delegation of responsibility.

Controlling and problem-solving
Entails the monitoring of activities, spotting deviations from the plan and organising solutions.

These management processes create and maintain order and predictability within the organisation. - John P. Kotter

Lean Leadership Characteristics

A leader needs to be visible as a role model in order to demonstrate his/her breadth of knowledge and understanding of the business environment and the organisational challenges.

A leader should display an aptitude for logic and a desire to challenge the status quo or “alleged wisdom” in order to facilitate free flowing decision making.

A leader must posses the ability to be a linking agent (facilitator) with a wide array of knowledge and information coupled with an unquestionable trust, professionalism and an open invitation for dissent.

Traditional versus Lean



Lean Leadership:

Good leaders motivate people in a variety of ways, three of which are the basis to the “lean” approach.


1.  Leaders must define the organisation’s vision in a way
     that highlights the values of their group
2.  Leaders must support people’s efforts to achieve the
     shared vision through coaching, feedback, and role modelling
3.  A leader should recognise and reward success


There are five leadership moves, or actions, a leader can perform to provide leadership on the Lean journey.


1.  Leaders Must Be Teachers
2.  Build Tension, Not Stress
3.  Eliminate Fear and Comfort
4.  Lead Through Visible Participation, Not Proclamation
5.  Build Lean Into Personal Practice