I know that many companies are doing Value Stream Mapping and running Kaizen Blitz events attaining wonderful results, but are often stymied in what to do next. We are often good at introducing new events but not too good at sustaining them. How often have you heard of the phrase, “Just another flavor of the month?”
It seems we can manage some things well but are not to good at leading continuous improvement. Toyota never stops to “rest on their laurels.” Continuous improvement means that you are looking every day to make improvements.
Often, the manager says, “Why can’t my people do it?” But believe me it is not the people, it is the manager. If we can only realize that there is a difference to managing as opposed to leading.
For example, a manager will tell people what to do while a leader will only ask people to do things. Mr. Ohno one day, when chairman of Toyota Gosei, looked at a warehouse building and said, “At Toyota we don’t have any warehouses. I want you to get rid of this warehouse and convert it into a machine shop and I want all of the employees retrained as mechanics. I give you one year to it.” He then just walked away. A year later it did become a machine shop and everyone was retrained as a mechanic. Even if Ohno knew the answer he would not tell you for he wanted you to solve the problem. He wanted you to learn for yourself.
Toyota trains people to become problem solvers first then has them build cars, not the reverse.
When I owned Productivity Inc./ Press I would never ask people. I only told them what to do. In retrospect, I made a big mistake.
If your intention is to be Lean and World Class then you must create leaders and the best way to create leaders is to be one yourself. And the best way to be a leader is to ask and not tell.
I have listed 54 things that separate a leader from a manager. See how many you can list.
1. Asks people to learn how to do it |
1. Tells people what and how to do it |
2. Listens and learns from employees |
2. Often doesn’t listen |
3. Develops people |
3. Does not focus on developing people – creates fear |
4. Praises people |
4. Rarely if ever praises, easy to criticize them |
5. Gets to know them personally |
5. Sees only a crowd of workers |
6. Walks the floor (with the troops) |
6. Rarely seen on the floor – most time is spent in meetings |
7. Leaders care for people |
7. Stays detached |
8. Passion for their job |
8. Work is a way to make a living – paid to do it |
9. Uses check lists |
9. Leaves it to his/her mind |
10. Is a change maker |
10. Resists change |
11. Fights for their employees |
11. Looks to get rid of people |
12. Builds the business from within |
12. Wants to outsource |
13. Keeps workers happy |
13. Unconcerned – they are paid to do their job |
14. Empowers people to make decisions |
14. Maintains power and makes all decisions |
15. Open door policy |
15. Hard to reach |
16. Personable |
16. Always competitive with subordinates |
17. Overcomes resistance |
17. Doesn’t understand resistance |
18. Genuine |
18. Often insincere |
19. Is not afraid of chaos |
19. Likes order; keep things just they way they were |
20. Goal – let them do it |
20. Distrusting, maintains control |
21. Encourages workers to identify, share and solve problems |
21. Workers hide problems – fear of retribution |
22. Encourages people to grow – rotates workers often |
22. Doesn’t care if people do the same job every day |
23. Encourages workers to submit and implement small improvement ideas |
23. Does not give workers a vehicle to offer and implement many little suggestions |
24. Helps people establish annual growth plans |
24. No growth plans for people |
25. Leads by doing |
25. Does not set the example |
26. Delegates authority |
26. Authoritarian but also scared to make decisions |
27. Develop leaders, people that can be better then them |
27. Doesn’t care – restrains people from growing, wants followers |
28. Respects people |
28. Does not respect people – looks down at them |
29. Easy to ask for forgiveness from |
29. Must ask for permission from |
30. Tries to say “yes” |
30. Easy to say “no” |
31. Risk taking |
31. Avoids risk |
32. Open to new ideas |
32. Closed to new ideas |
33. Often breaks rules |
33. Makes rules for others to follow |
34. Allows failure – allows people to make and learn from their mistakes |
34. People are afraid to make mistakes |
35. Feels good about their job |
35. Not that happy with their job |
36. Sets challenging but reasonable goals |
36. Sets unreasonable goals or none at all |
37. Is excited about their job and people |
37. Lackluster - doesn’t feel that good about their job |
38. Focuses on how to make the place better for people |
38. Is not concerned about making the place better for people |
39. People stay and work for them – very low turnover |
39. People anxious to find another boss to work for – high turnover |
40. You work with a leader |
40. You work for a manager |
41. Wants work to be fun |
41. Most people dread the job |
42. Wants productivity, quality, profits and happy people |
42. Wants production, profits and to please their boss |
43. Sets the vision and lets people do it |
43. Directs and dominates what is to be done |
44. Leads people – focus to grow the company |
44. Leads machines – focus to cut costs |
45. Shares knowledge |
45. Protects and doesn’t really share knowledge |
46. Overcomes past prejudices |
46. Unaware of their prejudices |
47. Inspires |
47. Commands |
48. Has wisdom and continually learns from people around them |
48. Knows it all |
49. On the front line |
49. In his/her office |
50. Loves to see what is happening now. |
50. Loves to look at accounting data |
51. Creates a continuous learning organization |
51. People are stagnant |
52. Develops and supports teams |
52. Keeps workers isolated, easier to control |
53. Looks at flow and removes the obstacles |
53. Looks at production figures and doesn’t really understand flow |
54. A coach |
54. The boss |
