Lean Mining, Integration of Lean, Six Sigma & TOC Improves Performance

Lean Construction and Mining are on the forefront of our programs.  We are currently working with clients in Western Australia through our Perth branch, Queensland through our Brisbane branch and South Australia through our Adelaide branch, to create improvements in all areas of the construction and mining operations.  The article below, although published over two years ago is a great example on how easy it is to create improvements.  

Most mining companies have their own continuous improvement specialists who we work closely with.  The advantage we offer is access to more resources due to government assisted initiatives, as well as nationally recognised qualifications for the individuals completing the programs.  

We also assist in rolling out lean processes in departments like admin, procurement and planning, that are often located in head offices and not necessarily included in the programs run on site.  Contact us for a chat, to see how we can add value to your lean journey (1300 880 338).  Here's a link to a lean article I published a little while ago...  http://leanimprovement.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/lean-mining.html

Integration of Lean, Six Sigma & TOC (theory of constraints) Improves Performance

Right combination bring results in Brazilian mining and metallurgical plants

Apr. 9, 2010Reza M. Pirasteh, iTLS-ISO Group and Eng. Celso G. Calia, Goldratt Associados

It is clear that for-profit enterprises manufacturing products strive to achieve their targeted revenues from their production reliably utilizing their available capacities and resources. Unreliable and below target production levels lead to low revenues and high inventories, causing high operating expenses. As an outcome, profit and ROI are typically compromised. This situation also creates an enormous amount of stress and frustration on the organization's critical resources potentially jeopardizing the future revenue opportunities.

Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) approaches such as Lean, Six Sigma and TOC have been applied to help organizations to improve their efficiencies and profitability. However, there had not been research to quantify the effects and contributions of each of these approaches which led to a recent scientific research conducted from 2003 to 2005. This research also tested effects of a integrated approach applying the three methodology in a logical sequence and compared its effect with the implementations that were using each one of the CPI methods alone.

The integrated continuous process improvement tested in the research is called iTLS. It applies the Theory Of Constraint, introduced by Eli Goldratt, Lean which is best known as Toyota Production Systems (TPS), and Six Sigma developed by Motorola, in a sequence in order to optimize each approach's core strength.

Taking over two and a half years and involving 21 manufacturing plants with 211 CPI team leaders implementing their preferred CPI approaches,105 projects were completed.

The research also quantified the financial contributions realized through implementation of each one of these CPI approaches. The statistical analysis of the results indicated that Lean and Six Sigma contributed significant financial results for their organizations. Both Lean and Six Sigma contributed similar results (P-Value of 0.622, did not indicate significant difference between the two approaches, considering financial benefits factor.) However, the integrated approach, applying TOC, Lean and Six Sigma in logical sequence, resulted in financial benefits that were over 4 times (4X) higher (P-Value of 0.0000, indication of high degree of significance), if either one of these methodologies were applied alone. (For research click here.)

One company that used the integrated approach is Votorantim, which is the 4th largest private Brazilian group and operates in several countries in various market segments, such as mining, metal industries, cement, paper, steel, and fruit juices. Five facilities have adopted and benefitted from the Integrated TOC, Lean, Six Sigma, iTLS approach for continuous improvement developed by Dr. Reza Pirasteh, introduced publicly in 2006 (Pirasteh & Farah 2006), in a deployable form. Two of the plants in this case study were mining operations and three were metallurgical plants.

In this case study the iTLS approach successfully synchronized production with the available capacity levels while providing process stability. This approach was smoothly implemented through involvement and participation of the organizations' people and their powerful commitment for success.

The Integrated TOC, Lean, Six Sigma Model

iTLS integrates, synchronizes and harmonizes the three powerful ingredients (Lean, Six Sigma and TOC):

• Focus on the few yet critical elements that limit the global performance of the organization by applying Theory of Constraint tools
• Eliminates waste in the form of "hidden factories" with application of Lean tools
• Reduces undesirable variability to ensure process stability with Six Sigma tools

The application of this integrated system to production for continuous process environments ensured that the invested capacities and resources were converted into stable production flow generating profitable revenues.

Results

The case study that follows is a summary of application of iTLS in a number of Brazilian conglomerates includes mining plants, ore concentrating plants, and metallurgical production plants. In all cases studied, when the iTLS was applied, within 3 to 4 months production throughputs significantly increased. Continuing with the implementation with additional 3 to 4 months the processes stabilized while achieving the desired strategic target production levels. This was previously perceived as impossible.

The new performance levels are significantly exceeding previous production thresholds without adding and investing in additional capacity. Consequences were simply generation of more revenues, more profits and higher ROI.

Case Study

Initial Condition

• All plants were unable to meet production targets and had sporadic production performances, leading to lost revenues, due to missing deliveries.
• There was a constant pressure on the plant managers for not being able to achieve the desired strategic production results which trickled down to all levels below in the organization. The other undesired effects observed were:
• Targets were not met
• Huge quantity of actions for problems solving which were becoming more unmanageable as the quantity of the grew
• Growing pressure for acquiring more and more resources
• People were frustrated. Their perception was: "the more we do, the less we achieve"
• "Finger pointing" and "It was not me!", "I am not part of the problem" was a commonplace, creating an environment of non-cooperation and covering the back atmosphere
• The productive utilization of resources were low
• Lack of consistent preventive maintenance
• Employee apathy

Application

The iTLS model was implemented in all plants simultaneously. The model was applied to bring stable and robust process flows to the market place consisting of the following basic elements:

• A Drum that set the production pull tempo, established the delivery TAKT (at the pace that an operation needs to operate in order to meet the customer requirements) for the plant's product flow to the market
• Established buffers (Kanbans) that responded to the process drum and protects the vulnerable processes and the shipments from natural process variability
• A Pull material release disciplines synchronized with the pace of the Drum
• Implementation of Lean tools to identify sources of waste and removing them from the processes, making processes more effective
• Application of Six Sigma tools to make improvements sustainable by bringing process performances under statistical control
• Establish a repeatable and pragmatic problem solving framework for the workers and management to be able to continuously improve their processes autonomously

There is a direct correlation between responses to the operations' drum and process stability and the amount of financial gains achieved. Once the process drum was identified based on the optimal capability of the constraint resource, the operations drum became the pace for the material release and the shipments.

The constraint operations needed to be protected against variability caused by the feeding and interdependent operations, in order to ensure that full capacity was being converted to the product. In operations with continuous process environments, protecting the constraint which sets the operation drum and shipments was accomplished by creating sized protective buffers feeding them to ensure continuous flow of throughput to the market place.

Once adequately sized and implemented, buffers absorbed the process random variability shocks on the constraint resource and the shipments. It was important to note that the impact of the variability was buffer loss of volume or level, which needed to somehow recuperate. This was possible by utilizing the excess capacities at the feeding operations acting as virtual protective capacity. This allowed them to work when needed, at a pace which was higher (~10%) than the constraint or drum and the shipment's pace to replenish used buffers.

Therefore, any operation with capacity below 110% of the capacity of the drum, was tagged as a constraint, because it could potentially have a global adverse effect and jeopardize the throughput. It may seem that the operation becomes temporarilyunbalanced. Then the work teams began working on these operations, in terms of getting more from what they have by reducing waste and stabilizing them by reducing variability by applying lean and Six Sigma tools.

This model used buffer management to optimize decisions making based on interpreting the behaviour of the Buffers over-time. Buffers became the story tellers by letting the operations management know what is going on in the entire flow and allow them to anticipate potential disruptions, identify causes and derive actions for our Continuous Process Improvement (CPI), using Statistical Process Control tools.

The repeatability of results achieved with iTLS implementations was consistent with expectations. The following were some of the results achieved through implementation of this approach in all plants:

• Production improved by 10% to meet 100% customer requirement, without any additional capital investments
• Profits increased by additional 5%
• Pay-back periods were only a few months at each plants and sometimes less as low as 28 days
• Process stability improved exceeding the strategic target level expectations

Eugenio Hermont, General Manager of Votorantim Metais Unidade Tres Marias states that "...we have succeeded in another great achievement... that is why Tres Marias achieving all targets...."

Synergetic application of integrated TOC, Lean and Six Sigma, iTLS, provided a rapid and effective approach to improve capacity and productivity in metallurgical mining plants, which significantly improved the operations profitability and meeting 100% customer commitments. This model applied TOC to focus where to make necessary changes, Lean was applied to remove waste and Six Sigma tools were applied to control process performance and variability.

Reza M. Pirasteh, PhD., MBB, CLM is founder of iTLS-ISO Group. http://itls-iso.com/itlsgroups@itls-iso.com Eng. Celso G. Calia is founder and partner of Goldratt Associadoshttp://www.goldratt.com.br/site

7 ways lean healthcare management reduces cost

July 24, 2012 | Steff Deschenes, New Media Producer

Article by: Steff Deschenes

New Media Producer for Healthcare Finance News

Follow Steff on Twitter@Steff_HFN

With the financial pressures that healthcare organizations are facing, many hospitals are using traditional cost cutting methods to save money by looking at layoffs and staff reductions. Many more hospitals, however, are finding ways to reduce costs through lean management methods that don't require layoffs and can improve quality for patients.

"Lean is actually the best alternative to layoffs. It's all about encouraging everyone to participate in process improvement, as well as finding creative and interesting ways to save money for a healthcare organization to avoid those unwanted traditional cost slashing endeavors like layoffs," explains Mark Graban, a lean expert and author of the book Hospital Kaizen. "Layoffs don't lead to long-term cost reduction. And if you lay off people and don't fix any processes, you're risking patient safety and quality. As a result, more and more healthcare providers are looking at lean to break that cycle."

[See also: Reducing cost through clinical redesign]

Graban has outlined seven different ways that lean management can help reduce system cost.

1. Reduce "never events." A "never event" includes falls, infections, erroneous amputations and other small-to-large-scale disasters. Reducing these events is, of course, best for patients, but there's also financial pressure to reduce never events. In 2009, Medicare stopped paying for care from events they consider preventable, and now private insurers are following suit. Pressure ulcers and bedsores, for example, are viewed as preventable. They shouldn't happen if a good process is followed – like patients being repositioned. Improving quality in general saves hospitals more than layoffs since "never events" occur when an understaffed hospital can't be attentive enough to a patient needs.

2. Supply chain improvements. It's important to consider looking at a more effective material restocking process. For example, more frequent smaller batch deliveries or rotating supplies more quickly reduces  both the amount of space used in internal warehouse and cash tied-up in inventory.

[See also: Cost structure for hospital tracking systems must be 'no-brainer']

3. Delay or cancel construction and expansion. A trend in the last few years has shown that hospitals use lean to increase capacity by using current equipment and available space. Lean makes better use of existing resources as an alternative to increasing capital spending. "I worked with one hospital that through process improvement to patient flow – preventing delays from registration through to discharge – they increased the utilization rates of their MRI machines from 40 percent to 60 percent. And they didn't need buy more equipment," said Graban.

4.  Reduce overtime. Reducing overtime is a great opportunity to help make improvements with lean that doesn't alienate people the way layoffs do. Essentially, people want to get home to have dinner with their families in a predictable/consistent way. If you can improve charting during the process, for example, instead of having nurses do it after, you can improve staff satisfaction while trimming down overtime, which results in both morale and cost savings. It's a win-win opportunity.

5. Reduce length of stay. This certainly isn't about pushing patients home before they're ready, Graban notes. Reducing length of stay is done through preventing errors that would extend a stay or delay a discharge when patients are medically ready to go home. Because of miscommunication, poor planning, or when families or nursing homes aren't yet ready to take on the person being discharged, a four-day stay can suddenly turn into a five- or six-day stay. These process related things aren't medical issues, but they often extend length of stay which can cost millions.

6. Reduce unnecessary testing and diagnostics. A number of hospitals are trying to be responsible stewards of healthcare dollars by reducing inappropriate usage of lab testing and diagnostic imaging. For example, through medical evidence it's been shown that when a patient comes in with back pain more often than not what they need is physical therapy – not a fast pass to a CT scan, says Graban. ACOs help organizations benefit from their own cost reduction efforts and will do so in a way that doesn't shortchange what the patient needs.

7. Reduce delays and errors in billing. There are a tremendous amount of delays in billing, including too many people involved during different parts of the process. If there's a better flow, if people are handing off the work to the next person in the chain immediately, bills go out in a couple of days instead of a couple weeks. It's also incredibly important to make sure billing is being done properly. If mistakes are made and proper preauthorizations aren't followed, but procedures are done anyway, hospitals might be voluntarily giving away revenue.

This article was originally published on: http://www.isixsigma.com/share.php?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcarefinancenews.com%2Fnews%2F7-ways-lean-healthcare-management-reduces-cost

To discuss how we can assist you with lean and six sigma in Australia, please contact Chase Performance on 1300 880 338 or visit our web site: www.chaseperformance.com

Top 25 Websites for CEOs

The following article is from forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/08/02/top-25-websites-for-ceos/) written by Mike Myatt (http://blogs.forbes.com/mikemyatt/) on 2^nd August 2012

While I agree with many of these and like the way he leads from our own web site through the competitor and customer, we also need to consider the amount of time delegated to self education, which should form part of leader’s schedule.  There are certainly a number of other good web sites, but this is a good, well balanced list to start from in my view.

Top 25 Websites for CEOs

If you want to shorten your shelf life as a CEO, it’s easy to do – be uninformed and disengaged. There’s a big world out there, and CEOs need to get out of their bubble and go see it for themselves. Too many chief executives live in an isolated world of constant travel, public policy and capital markets road shows, board and executive meetings, and management briefings – everything is filtered, packaged and fed to them. THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM.

While many CEOs suffer from email, iPad and Smartphone addiction, the time spent on these devices is largely related to email, scheduling and logistics. The big miss here is far too little time is spent using the web as a digital learning medium. Successful CEOs don’t delegate business intelligence, learning, and listening – they do it themselves.

Let me be clear; isolation is not synonymous with highest and best use – it’s career suicide. Delegation should not be confused with abdication, and span of control should never be confused with span of influence or awareness.  I’m not suggesting chief executives engage in hours of mindless web-surfing activity, but I am suggesting they use the Internet for personal/professional development, research and business intelligence like the rest of the world does. CEOs must wake-up to the fact the Internet just isn’t a tool for their staff.

Following are my top picks for the Top 25 Websites for CEOs (in no particular order of preference):

The Obvious But Overlooked

1. Your Company Website: You’d be surprised how many chief executives have no idea what’s published on their own website – big mistake.  I was recently retained by a Fortune 100 company to work with their new incoming CEO, and when I enquired as to why he wasn’t listed on the company website, he sheepishly stated he’d been on board 6 months and hadn’t even checked the website. This is one of those “the buck stops here” things – if you’re the CEO, you better understand the entirety of your company’s digital footprint (public sites, sites behind the firewall, social media accounts, partner sites, etc.).

2. Your Competitor’s Websites: There are few competitive intelligence tools as effective as the online profiles of your competitors. There’s always a great temptation to delegate this activity to staff, but at a minimum, make sure you are briefed on a regular basis. However the better method is to own at least some of the homework yourself – you’ll find the knowledge acquired invaluable.

3. Your Customer’s Websites: It’s difficult to relate to your customers if you don’t know and understand them. A little time spent understanding the digital footprint of a client can lead to great conversations and big business. When customers find out you’ve invested time in getting to know their company, culture, challenges and opportunities, you’ll have escalated your relationship to a more fruitful level.

Unusual Suspects

4. Foreign Affairs: There are very few businesses of any scale who can’t afford to think globally, and there’s no better publication to inform you on international news and information than Foreign Affairs.

5. Psychology Today: One of the most thought provoking and informative magazines dealing with the human psyche. CEOs are first and foremost in the people business, and few publications will offer insights into the human condition like this one.

6. Mashable: This is where the cool kids hang out for news and information. With 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers, Mashable has become one of the most engaged online news communities. It has both aggregated and original content, and multiple topical channels.

7. The Build Network: This is one of my favorite new publications/websites. With a truly unique format, the information here is short, crisp, relevant, and actionable. Well worth a visit for every CEO.

8. Twitter: This social networking site offers one of the best listening posts on the Internet. Virtually every major brand is represented on Twitter, as well as numerous thought leaders, and CEOs like Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Marissa Mayer, Thomas Geisel, Rupert Murdoch, and many more. If you think you’re too busy, or too important to be on Twitter, think again.

9. TED: Want to know what’s coming next? Visit the TED website and view videos from the world’s hottest innovators and thought leaders.

10. LinkedIn: Perhaps the world’s greatest talent engine, LinkedIn gives you virtually unfettered access to passive talent if you’re willing to pony-up for a modest subscription fee. Well worth the price.

News and Commentary

11. Forbes: You’re reading this now, so you must agree. Forbes has some of the best contributors and columnists in the business, while the site does offer hard news, the editorial content is definitely it’s strength – it’s rich and there’s a lot of it.

12. CEO.com: The site offers aggregated and original content specifically designed for CEOs. Who’s hot or not, in or out, and tips and advice for the chief executive. A great one stop shop for C-level items of interest.

13. Chief Executive Magazine: Every industry has a leading trade rag, and this is it for CEOs. The site contains news, editorial and research specifically catering to the chief executive.

14. Wall Street Journal: Still the gold standard for financial news and insightful commentary. Plenty of hard news and some insightful commentary to boot.

15. The Economist: Consistently sound thinking with a global focus can be found on the Economist. Everything here is fair game; politics, religion, business, education, innovation, and of course, the economy.

Research and Intelligence

16. Corporate Executive Board: There aren’t too many global brands who aren’t members, so what’s your excuse? I’ve never met a chief executive who couldn’t benefit from being better informed.

17. Forrester: Probably the world’s best known business research firm. Forrester covers all major segments with top-notch analysts.

18. EDGAR: The SEC database on securities filings and forms. If you want the latest info on public companies, this the place to find what you’re looking for (10k, 10Q, etc,).

19. YouTube: The world’s second largest search engine (a subsidiary of the largest) is a great resource when you need topical video content at your fingertips. It was recently reported users watch 4 Billion hours of YouTube videos a month.

Leadership & Strategy

20. Strategy & Business: Published by Booz & Co., you’ll find timely information on all things strategy, and a bit of topical content on leadership as well. The site is particularly good for what I call catorials (editorialized case studies).

21. HBR: I have a love hate relationship with HBR. Some of the authors offer pure brilliance as their contribution, but you’ll have to filter through some mundane B-school nonsense to find it. Nonetheless, when it’s good, it’s really good.

22. The Conference Board Review:  Their tagline, ideas and opinions for the world’s business leaders, says it all. Snappy content on a variety of global business issues important to leaders.

23. Hack Management 2.0: Better known as the Management Innovation eXchange, this site encourages fresh debate on topics related to leadership and management. The site also sponsors numerous competitions for innovative submissions on the hot business topics of the day. You’ll find many thought provoking subjects worth the time to peruse.

24. Real Leaders: The website of Young President’s Organization’s official leadership magazine. Intended to inspire better leaders for a better world, this site contains leadership editorial, CEO profiles, and topical case studies designed for CEOs by CEOs.

25: The N2growth Blog: My personal favorite:) If you like what you’ve read from me on Forbes, CEO.com, Success, Entrepreneur, The Washington Times, etc., you might also enjoy my company’s leadership blog (authored by yours truly). Consistently ranked among the top leadership blogs, I write specifically for CEOs. As a bonus, a few other  blogs from leaders I enjoy are:Richard Branson’s Blog, Mark Cuban’s Blog, and Tom Peter’s Blog.

The above list is clearly not exhaustive, but it covers a lot of ground.

Follow me on Twitter @mikemyatt

Follow me on Twitter @goal1e

Lean Production in Agriculture

Here's an article on lean production in agriculture I found on the Ferryport Group (http://www.ferryport.org/).  I hope you enjoy it.

‘Lean’ is the buzz-word in modern industry – taking the ‘fat’ out of the system. Wayne Scott Ross argues, with a slight bit on his tongue in his cheek, that agriculture should be no different.

It’s not just the supermarkets who call the shots, the consumer still has a lot to say. Alright, we have over 400 types of apple in the UK and never see more than 5 or 6 on the shelves at any one time, but in times of recession the consumer looks for the cheapest option. That’s why sales of organic foods dropped by 13% and 12% in each of the last two years, home deliveries by 10%. Even bespoke bread sales were down, a massive 40%.

Cost is King, it seems. As the consumer shops for the cheapest option, the supermarkets squeeze the suppliers.

That’s where, from your own business point of view, lean production comes into play. Quite simply we look at what adds value to the process (the ‘lean’ bit) and we remove that which is waste, the ‘fat’. This traditionally reduces costs, keeping the profit margins a bit higher all round. You’ll know about economies of scale? A superdairy with 8100 cows in it automatically removes a lot of fat. Who cares if each cow isn’t individually named? Well, you probably do, but the supermarkets don’t, and so we get cheaper milk, centralised distribution and loss leaders. It might not be such a bad thing. Let’s look at this attitude in much more depth, because the scene I am about to paint might be one of your own grandchildrens’ yards in a few years time. What adds value to a dairy cow? The things you put in - feeding her, keeping disease at bay - and the things you get out - getting her pregnant and milk.

What percentage of what you feed her actually goes into producing the milk? It’s estimated from a variety of reputable sources globally that a cow is between 1.0 and 1.8 % efficient at producing milk. The vast majority of what goes into her comes out as faeces, urine or methane, around 63%. A third is used in just breathing. The remainder is used for tissue development – growing in other words. If there is less energy used on growing and moving, that means more can be put towards actual milk production, with less having to go in in the first place. This cuts costs.

As far as keeping disease at bay is concerned - mastitis, milk fever, ketosis, fatty liver syndrome, grass tetany, hardware disease, foot rot. Will I go on? Brucellosis, blackleg, pneumonia, physical damage, cancer eye, BSE, pink eye, worms. Foot and mouth. It seems that as soon as one cow looks at another the vet has to be called.

With my way of thinking, let’s see the things you want to get out of a cow.

We have seen that feeding cows to produce milk is not very effective, and they are prone to a lot of diseases that are not necessarily affecting milk production, therefore, lets look at the ‘fat’ in the system. I will ask a few simple questions:

Do you own a bull? Probably not, since AI is commonplace. Infertility in a herd is a problem, but even a healthy cow will usually only deliver one calf, or if you are very lucky, twins. Cows with good mothering physiques can be subject to multiple embryo transfer, giving 5 or 6 calves. Would you have though that possible 20 years ago?

Most of the following is going to be possible through selective breeding and DNA manipulation. The amount of room provided at the new superdairies is the equivalent to a human being in an average sized toilet compartment – why bother with that even? The Food and Agriculture Organization which is governed by the UN estimates that around 30% of the Earth’s ice free land mass is either directly or indirectly involved in livestock production. They don’t make land anymore, but tracts of it are being turned over to bio-fuel production resulting in famine and escalating food prices. The Earth’s population in 1950 was 2.5 billion – it is expected to pass 7 billion sometime this year. How much land can be freed up if we factory farm our genetically modified cows?

Why do our cows need legs? There is no need for them to be outside as the superdairies have shown us and how many beef herds spend almost their entire life indoors? Why have a head at all? Most important functions are reflex therefore no brain is needed. Pre-mashed food stuffs can be directly fed through a tube into the first stomach. (It works with cockroaches and the occasional chicken.) A lot of this food can come from a wide variety of locations – grass from municipal parks, golf courses, football fields and so on. Other peoples waste that they would be glad to have taken off their hands. It can be mechanically and magnetically screened for hardware. The exact amount fed to the animal can be controlled and adjusted as  equired dependant on imminent sales orders. Pigs are given a controlled amount of food in most pig houses, so why not cows? Battery cages can easily be constructed to house them, tier upon tier of animals all fed automatically. Most of the common place diseases and husbandry issues can be automatically eliminated if we farm in sterile, closed and filtered environments, something that your average field is not.

Their faeces, urine and gas wastes will be massively reduced as less animal and less movement means less energy used and less respiration. Farm animals are responsible for 75% of all mankind’s methane emissions, and methane is 24 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Do you see where this is going? It is easier to stick a methane reclamation plant up each end of them if they are in one fixed location. This can be used to power a substantial amount of the overall plant, with the faeces.

The benefits of self-evaluation as it relates to leaders today

When talking about LEAN, leadership is a key component of change and driving implementation.  The article below, written as part of my MBA in Leadership and Sustainability with Robert Kennedy College & The University of Cumbria, examines the benefits of self evaluation for leaders.

Self-evaluation or “self-leadership” (Runn, 2011) forms a critical part of a leaders repertoire and some key blocks of the foundation for this persons leadership.  If someone can ultimately say that they fully understand themselves, they will find it much easier to understand others around them.

This however requires some strong discipline from the leader, to continuously self-evaluate and aim for continuous improvement.  There are some key questions that the leader needs to ask themselves and truthfully answer to gage where they are at.

1.      Do as you preach

If a leader makes a statement about what he or she will be doing, they need to take ownership and answer on the basis whether they actually did as they said.  When a leader expects others to follow suit, they need to set the standards.

2.      Change is ok

If a change of direction was required from the initial target, that is ok, as long as the leader can clearly identify why it was different to the planned path, and explain that in simple terms.

The two points above can be broken into many individual questions that form the basis of a self-evaluation tool for a leader.  Let us discuss some critical ones, and how they can benefit the individual and organisation.

A leader’s professional image can have a positive or negative influence on the way others perceive that person. 

The table below (Table 1.1) outlines some key areas of self-assessment, and the benefits derived from the outcomes.

Aim	How to	Benefits
Good Professional Image	know what image you want to portray, ensure professional personal appearance, show interest in others, walk the talk	Positive communication, Credibility, integrity
Positive Attitude & Self-motivation	Mix with other positive people, be in full control of your attitude	Will to win, success
Personal Health	Diet, exercise, sleep and a balanced lifestyle	Clear Mind, energy & drive
Self-assessment questionnaires	Establish and know ones weaknesses and strengths	By being aware of our strength and weaknesses, we can lead accordingly and work on continuous improvement

Table 1.1

The table above (Table 1.1) includes items directly discussed by Flanagan & Finger (2011).  Essentially by being aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses, a leader can use this to their full advantage.  By asking for independent help the leader can both work on their weaknesses as well as utilising the coaches skills to further improve his leadership and own mentoring skills.

As argued by Robbins & Judge (2010) the question remains whether it is actually possible for individuals to be their own leader.  The argument works on the basis of leaders helping their staff in the same principle.  The same argument can also be found in principle in an article in the November/December (1974) issue of HBR about monkey management[1].  This all revolves about ownership and taking ownership of problems.  By doing so we are teaching our staff in just another way to self-manage or about self-leadership.

The question we are discussing here is about today’s leaders, but I would like to argue that in reality this has been widely known for decades, and that it has merely evolved into a tool that is widely used by successful leaders around the world today.

While I could argue that self-assessment will work the same for everyone, I truly believe it does not.  Some individuals have a strong sense of self and would find it relatively simple to look at their weaknesses and strengths in a self-assessment report, and work on these to improve their leadership skills.

On the other hand however, we have individuals that would struggle with the idea, due to several factors like low esteem, being an introvert or even just being scared of finding something they cannot readily accept.  This is where the real challenge begins in my view.  These particular leaders will often spend a surreal amount on further education, seminars and courses, while failing to notice that the core of understanding their own centre is where the issue lies.  In these cases I do not feel that self-assessment can be beneficial until this individual has been educated and fully understands the principles behind it.  If they will resist this process, the problem will most likely persist.

Therefore, while the benefits for leaders who understand that the outcomes of self-evaluation are enormous; it forms only part of that leaders strengths and understanding.  Some very successful international companies have adopted self-assessment programs.  The UK Petroleum Industry Association for example has set up several self-assessment modules for leaders in regards to process safety leadership commitment.

The Leadership Steps Assessment (LSA) (Clawson, McNay, Bevan 2000) discusses the clarification of one’s centre, clarifying what is possible, what others can and how they can contribute, supporting others so they can contribute, about being relentless and measuring and celebrating success.  It sounds rather simple, or does it not.  Well, by actually dissecting these individual parts, we come to a conclusion that is similar to the one earlier discussed, that returns to the roots of ownership. 

In conclusion I would like to summarise that although the potential and benefits for self-assessment are great, the understanding and implementation, as well as continuous improvement are critical.  Todays leaders have to be fully aware of so many issues, whether political, cultural, and financial or even personal influences on the workplace.  By understanding themselves, they are creating a stable base to work from, and also helping others understand themselves.  This is where the significant benefit will arise from.  It is not from one leader, but from the vision and leadership they share, and openly distribute among their peers and subordinates.  By allowing individuals all around them to gain the same understanding we are forming a cluster of stability, strength, drive, passion and most importantly a culture which feeds on the outcomes. 

The cultural drive of an organisation can therefore be directly influenced by a self-aware leader.  This has been the Japanese way for many decades, and has proven to be extremely successful.  By leaders all around the world adopting these cultural principles with their detailed understanding of themselves and their whole environment, leading teams becomes easier, more efficient and more rewarding.

These rewards will then spread like a cancer enveloping our core industries and thus allowing for sustainability beyond the foreseeable future.  In essence we are saying that one person can make a change, or at least start the change process.  With clusters of self-aware leaders growing, and todays way of networking through social media as well as traditional networking events, knowledge is readily shared, enhancing each person’s strengths, reducing or even eliminating individuals weaknesses, allowing them to learn and focus on what lies ahead.  They will not be diverted from the greater goal, as their core understanding of themselves has reached a level that is beneficial to them, their team, their company, their industry and even their family.

Self-assessment should be a key focus for any executives, and should be driven by corporations around the world to capture the greater good and benefits, continuous improvement and sustainability gained from the experiences.

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