Lean Business Model, Lean Management, Organisational Culture, Strategy & Strategy Execution

Principle 9: Grow Leaders from Within | Principles of Lean

Reagan Pannell
< 1 mins to read
October 5, 2020

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Organisations should focus on developing leaders from within rather than exclusively recruiting from outside. This does not only save time and money when it comes to recruitment costs, but also ensures that current employees are engaged in the growth of the business. This builds loyalty towards the organisation and allows for a more cohesive approach to problem solving. By growing leaders from within, organisations can ensure they have people who understand their company's processes, values and culture, creating an environment for successful collaboration and innovation.

With the consistent hiring, firing and the cult personality culture surrounding CEO and Senior Managers, this concept seems to go against the current status quo.

The difference is that within Lean and the TPS system (Toyota Production System), the role of the leader is more aligned to a teacher. It’s a teacher who not only understands the work, but also someone who lives the culture of the organization. It is someone who leads teams by spending time understanding the actual work. It’s someone who has an in-depth knowledge of the daily work so that they are best positioned to be the best teacher.

“Get out of the office” is one of the underlying principles. Managers and leaders must spend time in the Gemba (現場) to learn how best to support, manage, lead and teach. (Learn more at “Get Out of the Office”)

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So let’s close our office and stop spending hours talking about front-line operations from the comfort of meeting rooms and away days. Lets get involved in the problem solving.

We all need to be as close to our customers, and our operations are where things happen. It is where leaders can make the most significant difference to their employees and their customers.

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