In the past 6 months we've covered topics ranging from 5S to lean principles. Now it's time to talk about what's needed to turn words into action-leadership.
What is leadership? Specifically, what is lean leadership? In business today, leadership and management have become synonymous, losing all meaning in the process. Effective leadership is vital, but overuse of the word has done a disservice to the importance and rarity of good leadership, and to the nature and challenges of management.
Leadership and management are distinct concepts. Management is maintaining current reality. It is operating the system, making decisions, allocating resources, providing direction and solving problems. Leadership is moving to the ideal state. It comprises all the conversations, activities and insights that move an organization and individuals to a new level. The late D. Wayne Calloway, former head of Pepsi, said, "As it turns out, plants and dollars can be managed, but people expect leadership."
Leadership of lean is complicated, messy and challenging. Leadership is all the more important with lean, because lean is about changing the way people think, act and even talk. Remember, a lean culture spreads through the organization one heart and mind at a time.
A single model for the ideal lean leader does not exist, but herewith, I offer my 1-minute course on leading lean. It is based on answering three questions drawn from the example of a real client, a lean champion asked to move a reluctant organization forward, whom we shall refer to as "Frank."