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Could Leanership™ Provide an Answer?
THE ART OF LEANERSHIP™
• Much has been written about leadership; what it is, who should be doing it, how they should be doing it, what models work in which situations and how companies might apply those models for organisational effectiveness.
• Much has been written about lean thinking; what it is, how it works, what the tools, techniques and concepts are and how different companies can translate those concepts into working models for their business.
Both leadership and lean thinking are seen as enablers for organisational success and yet…
• Many organisations still struggle to deliver sustainable profits and growth
• Many organisations still struggle to effectively attract, deliver for and retain their ideal customers
• Many organisations still struggle to be sufficiently agile to innovate and create remarkable products and services to compete in or lead their market
• Many organisations still struggle with the internal conflict of function/division v the business as a whole
• Many organisations still struggle to recruit, develop, retain and engage inspired employees who are capable and motivated to deliver for their customers
Perhaps it’s time for a different approach?
If the answer is yes, could that approach be Leanership™.
Leanership™ – the art of leadership combined with the science of lean thinking applied by people to create lean enterprise.
LEADERSHIP
• Creating and communicating a vision and strategic direction
• Aligning the organisational stakeholders
• Motivating and inspiring people to deliver
LEAN THINKING
• Define value from the customer’s perspective
• Define the value stream activities for the waste free delivery of each product/service
• Align the value stream for continuous flow
• Manage demand at the pull of the customer
• Seek to continually perfect what you have created
LEANERSHIP™
• Creating and communicating a vision and strategic direction that highlights customer value, fosters profitable, enterprise wide growth and innovation
• Aligning the organisational stakeholders (internal and external to the enterprise) to deliver customer value
• Engaging with and inspiring all stakeholders (internal and external to the enterprise) to be accountable for delivering customer value
• Being sufficiently agile to thrive in and through times of uncertainty and change
The purpose of any business is the
1. Continuous delivery of customer centric value
2. Continuous delivery of innovative and profitable products and services appropriate to a chosen customer base
3. Continuous engagement of capable and accountable people in worthwhile work to deliver and improve the flow of value to the customer
If this is true then the purpose of the people within a business is to imagine, design, deploy and leverage structures, systems, processes, skills, knowledge and talent for the benefit of their customers and themselves.
To enable people to sustainably engage in this purpose is the rationale for Leanership™
The Principles of Leanership™
The foundations of Leanership™ are outlined above and are applied through the following principles
Always Start with the Customer
In order to always start with the customer, by definition you need to identify who the customer is. At a whole systems level this must be considered from both an internal and an external perspective.
External – any person buying and/or using your products and services – “the ultimate customer”
External – any person along your external supply chain who plays a role in the design, production, delivery, maintenance, disposal and/or support of your products/services
Internal – any person along your internal supply chain who has a part to play in the design, production, delivery maintenance, disposal and/or support of your products and services
Always Be True to Your Guiding Values and Principles
Most companies have at the very least a mission or vision for their business. Some companies go further and have a set of values or principles that define how they will go about their business and how they will interact with and treat their people, customers and suppliers.
Leanership™ goes one step further and has, as a core principle, the active engagement of those guiding values and principles as the very DNA that drives attraction, recruitment, development and retention of people (employees) customers and suppliers.
Always Integrate Structure, Process, Systems
The “silo” structures and behaviours of many companies has long been the bedrock of inefficiency, poor communication, disjointed thinking and internal competition – all of which do nothing to contribute value to customers.
Total, whole systems, cross organisational integration is therefore crucial and the alignment of product and service offerings must be managed horizontally to see the total value stream. This in turn means training, development, performance and reward systems need to be so aligned.
Always Attract the Right People at the Right Time with the Right Skills, Knowledge, Talents and Behaviours
Skills, knowledge and talents should be taken into account when recruiting and developing people. Through the definition of learning pathways aligned to the business purpose, each role along the value stream has its own blueprint for success. Onto this it is then possible to develop a learning plan for each person; for their current role and as a development plan for future opportunities. Learning plans should focus on the development of skills, knowledge and talents and not on “fixing” people.
Traditionally careers are structured vertically and in many cases this doesn’t allow for the reward of breadth and depth of learning in a particular functional specialism nor does it simultaneously allow for development from front line, through supervision and management to executive positions.
In many organisations the “good salesman” is promoted to sales manager, the “good technician” is promoted to technical manager; the belief being that the skills, knowledge and talents for a functional speciality are the same as for a management or executive position when in fact they are very different.
Always Strive to Deliver Better Value for Your Customers
• Design and deploy a change management system that promotes
- Improvements in your brand proposition
- Improvements in customer value
- Improvements to the efficiency and effective of your business systems and processes
- Improvements to the capability and competency of your people
- Engagement, communication, accountability, learning, innovation
- Appropriate leadership within and where relevant out with your organisation
- Agility of thinking, planning, action and reviewing
Leanership is not a role or a position
Leanership is not an initiative to be deployed within a set timeframe
Leanership is not the next miracle cure for ailing businesses
Leanership is not an activity which can be dictated via a PowerPoint presentation
Leanership is not the responsibility of just one person
Leanership requires business leaders to challenge their entire organisational norms
Leanership requires training, coaching, behaviour change and active workplace implementation
Leanership requires dedication over time to transform “the way things are done around here”
Leanership is a philosophy, a mindset and a set of principles which, when applied consistently across an entire enterprise, can significantly enhance the successful and sustainable delivery of a business’s purpose.
To find out how Leanership™ can benefit your business contact Beverley Hamilton on 01258 817647 |
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