By Peter White
The book: Creating a Lean Culture (2nd edition) by David Mann
What I think:
I was refreshing my thinking on Lean methodology and was flicking through this book. I stopped to reflect on the attributes of Lean leadership, which include:
- Passion for Lean
- Disciplined adherence to process – accountability
- Project management orientation
- Lean thinking
- Ownership
- Tension between applied and technical
- Balanced commitment to production and management systems
- Effective relations
- Measures process separately from results
It was quite apparent that the success of any change is a direct result of the leadership that is accountable for implementation. The first dot point – passion for Lean – is vital. This includes the willingness to make personal change.
Given that a leader is a walking, talking, living, breathing “symbol for change” and they are in full view of all those who report to them, the behaviour of the leader will determine the success or otherwise of the intended change. Therefore, the leader must clearly demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm for the change.
If a leader does not or can not display the passion for the change, then maybe it is not the right role for that person.
Just a thought.
At LKS Quaero, we support organisations to create and sustain change. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.
