High Performance Lean Leadership

LEADERSHIP FOR A LEAN TRANSFORMATION

There is a conceptual difference between applying Lean principles and methods in an organization vs. integrating it into the culture to create a problem-solving mindset. Leaders need to understand what changes in their own thinking and behaviors are required to effectively support the organizational transformation. There are three essential behavioral shifts in day-to-day leadership behavior, representing a break from the typical way that most organizations encourage managers to behave:

1. Ask questions rather than give answers
   Leaders in Lean environments acknowledge that the people closest to a problem generally understand it best. They realize that their questions are more valuable to shape the culture of the organization than their answers
2. Understand the root causes of problems rather than looking for quick fixes
   Truly solving a problem requires to understand its origin and the circumstances leading to it. Lean leaders know that when problems aren’t fully solved, they will inevitably return. Encouraging teams and providing guidance for root-cause problem solving needs discipline and time
3. Translate the organization’s business objectives into practical targets and give direction for daily actions
   This step requires leaders to develop a deep understanding on how their team’s work contributes to the organization’s objectives. This goes beyond simply cascading the metrics down the hierarchies, since an essential part of it is, to align with the team and describe ‘how’ they want to reach their goals. The benefit is not only having a consistent vision of the future outcome, but also engage people in the process and give more meaning to the individual contribution

What will this course achieve?

During our course we will work on several case studies to elaborate what kind of changes and resistances occur in different phases of Lean transformations and what managers can do to overcome obstacles while motivating their teams and focus on tangible milestones and results. You will get to know the concepts and methods of Lean Leadership like,

• Participative leadership styles
• Coaching basics, systemic questioning
• Toyota Kata (practical coaching methods)
• Giving feedback effectively
• Effective communication frameworks
• Hoshin Kanri as a target agreement method
• Visual Management and Daily Direction Setting (DDS)
• Change management fundamentals
• The 8 Success Factors in Lean transformations

Who should attend?

Managing directors, executives and supervisors who want to advance their leadership skills; all individuals who want to prepare for a managerial role learn how to motivate their teams and strive to lead the company towards success.