How do you evaluate lean leadership's impact on your business?

1 What is lean leadership?

Lean leadership is the ability to inspire, empower, and coach your team members to pursue continuous improvement and eliminate waste in your processes. Lean leaders are not only managers, but also role models, mentors, and facilitators who create a culture of learning and problem-solving. Lean leaders also align their actions and decisions with the principles and values of lean manufacturing, such as customer focus, value stream optimization, flow, pull, and perfection.

2 Why is lean leadership important?

Lean leadership is important because it drives the implementation and sustainability of lean manufacturing practices in your organization. Without effective lean leaders, you may face challenges such as resistance to change, lack of engagement, poor communication, low quality, high costs, and missed opportunities. Lean leaders can help you overcome these obstacles by fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, accountability, and innovation. Lean leaders can also help you achieve strategic goals and competitive advantages by delivering more value to your customers and stakeholders.

3 How do you evaluate lean leadership?

Evaluating the impact of lean leadership on your business does not have to follow a one-size-fits-all approach. Common criteria and tools can be used to assess its effectiveness. For example, customer satisfaction can be measured through surveys, feedback, reviews, or referrals. You can also observe how lean leaders respond to customer complaints and incorporate customer feedback into improvement efforts. Employee engagement can be gauged through surveys, interviews, or observations; tracking how lean leaders involve team members in decision-making and reward their contributions is also important. Process performance can be evaluated by using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as cycle time, quality, productivity, or profitability; pay attention to how lean leaders eliminate waste and non-value-added activities in processes as well as implement standard work, visual management, and pull systems. Lastly, organizational learning can be assessed through indicators like the number of improvement ideas generated and implemented by team members; look for how lean leaders promote a culture of learning by providing training, coaching, mentoring, and feedback to team members and encouraging them to share knowledge and best practices.

4 How do you improve lean leadership?

Evaluating lean leadership is not enough; you also need to take actions to improve it. To develop and enhance your lean leadership skills and behaviors, consider learning from the best by reading books, articles, blogs, or podcasts, attending seminars, workshops, or webinars, or joining networks, communities, or forums. You can also practice daily by applying your skills to your work and setting measurable goals for yourself. Additionally, you can lead by example by demonstrating the principles and values of lean manufacturing in your actions and decisions. Show respect, trust, and appreciation to your team members, customers, and stakeholders while empowering them to take ownership and responsibility for their work and improvement. Lastly, share your vision with your team members and align it with the organization's strategy and objectives. Lean leadership is a crucial skill for achieving lean manufacturing excellence; however, it requires constant evaluation and improvement. By using these methods and tips, you can measure the impact of your lean leadership on the business and maximize customer satisfaction, employee engagement, process performance, and organizational learning.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?