Every Lean Leader Should Follow These Lean Leadership Behaviors

1. Every Lean Leader Should Follow These Lean Leadership Behaviors Nowadays, most organizations are taking the lean leadership initiative to build themselves upon the concept of continuous improvement. In a lean organization, changes occur in all processes in all institutional areas. Therefore, lean leadership is required at all levels to ensure overall success. Moreover, the lean leader does not need any particular approach to achieve this. But they might need some lean leadership behaviors to deliver long-term results and benefits to the organization.

2. In this article, we will talk about lean leadership behaviors that every leader should have to sustain a lean initiative. Describe the Vision Leaders play a very important role when it comes to setting the vision as well as developing the organization’s culture. They have to provide regular and consistent communication to their employees regarding the specific returns that the organization is getting from the lean initiative. Employees also have to understand how the lean program impacts the organization’s financial performance, overall competitiveness, and job security. Regularly updating standard work A leader always has to make their employees work with the right Procedures. Reinforcing standard work with visual work instructions helps ensure that employees stick to the right work procedures. These standards help the organization avoid falling back to traditional management. Go on Gemba walks

3. Gemba means going to the actual workplace, where the leader can easily engage with their employees face-to-face. Meeting and engaging with them is an important lean leadership behavior. These walks involve an executive or other top-level manager observing functions and processes in the workplace. The main aim behind their walk is to assist other continuous-improvement personnel to see high- priority and potential areas for improvement. Also, it is important for a leader to ask their employees about what steps they’ve made in their daily or weekly activities towards making continuous improvement happen. Asking such questions regularly ensures that employees learn what is important and what they are required to work on priority to fulfill their organizational as well as personal goals. Develop a Culture of Continuous Improvement A true leader always wants to see continuous improvement, even when the ideas for improvement do not measure up to expectations. The leader’s responsibility is to empower their workers to take on the responsibility for resolving their problems by making it acceptable to attempt something even if it does not work out.

4. It is also essential to motivate them to participate in improvement activities, challenge existing practices, and observe processes. These are all part of a complete problem-solving approach that will advance the organization. To Build a Respectful and Team-Driven Organization When an organization adapts lean leadership, everyone has to do the work. Teamwork is an extremely important element because staff from different departments have to cooperate to enhance processes that almost always cross functional boundaries. The leader must also encourage everyone to give suggestions and acknowledge their ideas, demonstrating respect. It is also important to create an environment of mutual trust and respect to carry forward the lean initiative in the organization. Keeping Employees Motivated Employees are the assets of the organization. So, leaders need to motivate their employees from time to time. Leaders must lead the continuous improvement process, setting a good example for every employee.

5. This also shows their commitment and dedication towards the organization. With lean leadership behavior, they can also motivate workers by encouraging each individual to find ways of permanently improving their work and by increasing employee autonomy. Maintaining Regular Training As a lean leader, it is important to train all workers continuously on the enhanced and redesigned work processes. Workers who’ve been trained in all primary work processes often display a more proprietary attitude towards enhancing their individual work processes and putting forward ideas to enhance other processes. Reinforce Progress and Performance with Visualization Management Tools and Metrics A leader is liable to use constantly updated metrics and visual- management tools to show employees how their individual and team efforts promote the organization’s lean efforts. However, keeping track of performance metrics and reporting helps sustain the company’s commitment to lean at all organizational levels.

6. Conclusion Lean leadership is required to take the organization forward with its new lean initiative. The lean leader is responsible for developing new leaders and assisting them in adopting a continuous improvement culture. We at Lean Leaders Plus create lean leaders through the best lean practices and lean leadership behaviors. We help leaders with everything they need to develop their company into a high-performing one. To find out more, visit our website. Contact Us Address- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX Number- (817) 948-4060 Email- scarver@leanleadersplus.com Content Courtesy https://medium.com/@leanleadersplus/every-lean-leader- should-follow-these-lean-leadership-behaviors-18c8e9633aed