LEAN LEADERSHIP: How to be a Lean Leader in a Lean Company

What is a Lean Leader?

What is a Lean Leader? Lean leadership is all about commitment; commitment to your employees, commitment to the system and commitment to making changes towards improvement. Leaders in a lean environment need good communication skills to understand the problems their people face.

Their problems become your problems. Understanding their problems helps identify waste and make changes to reduce or eliminate it.

Lean is all about eliminating waste through continuous improvement, and the most valuable resource a leader has available to understand where the waste is coming from is through the people that see it every day. Lean leadership focuses more on working with your people rather than having your people work for you.

What does Lean Leadership look Like?

1. Commitment To Your Employees

The highest commitment in Lean Leadership has to be towards your employees; your people. In any company, the people working for it are it’s greatest asset. You need to listen to your people and ensure they have the right tools and knowledge to perform their jobs correctly.

When suggestions are made by your people, be attentive. Don’t shrug off their suggestions. If it’s not feasible, tell them why and suggest alternative methods for them to consider. They may come back with something even better than their first idea.

Your employees face work problems daily and have good ideas to solve them. I have seen many big improvements implemented through the idea of a person working on the production floor. Many of them are just waiting for someone to listen. Don’t assume that their ideas are any less valuable than yours because you hold a supervisory position.

This is one of the more common mistakes that new leaders make. Everyone’s role is equally as important, some just carry more responsibility.

Help employees understand the “Why?”

Another way that you need to be committed to your people is when they make a mistake. I consider the following questions when issues occur as a result of operator error;

1. Did the person follow the procedure?

2. If the person did not follow the procedure, did they purposely by-pass mistake proofing?

3. Is the system/mistake-proofing sufficient?

These questions are important for identifying the main reason. However, a Lean Leader must also explain the significance of the process to gain support from employees.

If someone makes a mistake while following a procedure, the procedure needs to be fixed because it can’t stop errors. If someone makes a mistake and misses something, they should be trusted and believed that it won’t happen again. Training or talking to the person about the importance of following the system will probably fix this behavior.

If a person deliberately turns off mistake-proofing devices and makes an error, we must deal with them accordingly. As part of lean manufacturing, we must build quality into the process, and we accomplish this with mistake-proofing devices.

Show Respect for People:

Respect for people is a fundamental principle of Lean Leadership. It involves creating a work environment where employees feel valued, empowered, and respected. Lean leaders listen to their teams, involve them in decisions, and support their growth and development with resources. Leaders create a respectful culture where employees can share ideas, skills, and knowledge to enhance processes and promote innovation.

Display Servant Leadership:

Lean leaders adopt a servant leadership approach, prioritizing the needs of their teams and removing barriers to their success. They support and enable employees to do their best work by providing the necessary resources, training, and coaching. By serving their teams, leaders create a collaborative and empowered work environment that encourages continuous improvement and engagement.

Lean leadership requires you to work with your people but maintain your position of authority. You don’t need to be strict.

However, you must ensure that you do the work in the right order. Additionally, you should do it following the correct procedures. By doing this you make it easier for your people to know what you expect of them, and they of you.

2. Commitment To The System

The next area that requires your commitment as a leader in a lean environment is the system. Many people struggle to understand the changes you are making because they are naturally resistant to change. I’ve seen a high level of resistance to implementation of standardized routes and levelized production.

To convince your people that the company is going in the right direction, you must understand Lean Manufacturing well. You must understand how the changes you make and ask your employees to make will improve your company.

The people reporting to you will bring forth every reason why they think it won’t work. You need to stick with the plan and convince them that it is in their best interest to try it out. In my experience, once the floor associates become familiar with the system, they will question why it wasn’t implemented sooner. Remember, the idea of lean is to work smarter, not harder.

Engage with the Gemba:

Gemba engagement is a core practice of Lean Leadership. Leaders visit the shop floor to see how things are done, talk to employees, and learn about problems and opportunities. This process is typically a Gemba Walk where the leaders have a defined process for understanding the shop floor very quickly.

Engaging with leaders at all levels while on the floor will help create an environment that fosters long term success. Leaders on the Gemba can find ways to improve, give guidance, support, and make decisions using real-time information.

Provide Coaching and Development:

Lean leaders invest in the coaching and development of their teams. They provide guidance, feedback, and support to help employees develop their problem-solving and Lean skills. Leaders encourage cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and learning from failures. By investing in their teams’ growth, leaders build a capable and empowered workforce that drives sustainable Lean improvements.

Utilize Visual Management and Communication:

Visual management and communication are essential for Lean Leadership. Leaders use visual tools, such as performance dashboards, metrics boards, and Kanban boards, to communicate goals, progress, and expectations. Visual management promotes transparency, accountability, and a shared understanding of performance and improvement priorities.  If you are paying attention and using the visual boards, your team will pay attention to them as well.

3. Commitment To Improvement

The last consideration I will review as part of lean leadership is commitment to improvement. One of the major principles of lean manufactuirng is continuous improvement. During the implementation phases of lean, your company will go through many changes. Once these changes start taking place, you will need to continue to improve upon the system as it is being implemented.

Most aspects of your lean implementation will have to evolve. The chances of getting the system exactly the way you intended it at the start will be very slim.

Lean leadership requires you to remain committed to pushing forward even in the face of adversity. If people lose interest or doubt the system, you should stay on track. You should also show them a glimpse of the bigger picture. Continue to make improvements but do not neglect to get their feedback and suggestions.

Provide Vision and Purpose:

Lean leaders need to establish a clear vision and purpose for the organization’s Lean journey. They should communicate the importance of Lean principles and how they align with the overall mission and strategic goals. A compelling vision provides direction and serves as a guiding light for employees, inspiring them to actively participate in Lean initiatives.

Lead by Example:

Leaders must lead by example and demonstrate their commitment to Lean principles. They should participate in Lean practices like going to the workplace, solving problems, and making continuous improvements. By visibly practicing Lean principles and lean management tools, leaders inspire others and create a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

Have a Continuous Improvement Mindset:

Lean leaders instill a continuous improvement mindset throughout the organization and create a Lean Culture. They encourage employees to identify and address waste, inefficiencies, and problems on a daily basis. Leaders utilize Lean tools and methods such as Kaizen events, A3 problem solving, and value stream mapping. These tools and methods help them make incremental improvements and foster a culture of learning and innovation.

Some feedback is valuable and people who support the system will have positive suggestions. You can even learn from some of the negative suggestions of the people using the system. By continually improving upon the criticisms, you will ensure the system becomes user friendly for even the biggest nay-sayers.

How to Become a Lean Leader in Your Organization

To truly excel as a Lean Leader, it’s essential to have guidance from an experienced coach or Sensei. A Lean Coach provides critical support in helping you navigate complex challenges, master Lean principles, and foster continuous improvement. Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire organization, having a coach accelerates your growth as a leader and ensures that Lean methodologies are deeply embedded in your culture.

For personalized guidance on integrating Lean into your organization, consider exploring our Lean Consulting Services.  Lean Consultants can help you with your lean leadership training or even create an internal lead leader training for your organization.

Lean Leadership Summary:

Lean Leadership comprises several key components that are essential for successfully implementing and sustaining Lean principles within an organization.

By embracing these components, leaders can create a culture of continuous improvement, engage and empower their teams, and drive organizational success. Lean leaders inspire their teams to perform better and make the organization excellent.

Lean leaders inspire their teams to perform better and make the organization excellent. They do this by having a clear vision and purpose. They also set a good example and respect people.

Additionally, they are servant leaders and always look for ways to improve. They are present and involved, coaching and developing their team. They also use visual management and communication.

Leaders need to embrace Lean, so find a Lean Coach or consultant that can help you and your organization develop the skills necessary moving forward.  Just know that lean practitioners of all levels need help with their development.  In order to help your Lean team develop, you need to make sure you are taking care of your own lean development as a leader.