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The 4 "C's" of Lean Leadership
Acronyms and other mnemonic devices help embed concepts into people’s brains. One of the tools I use to remind me of what to look for in Lean leadership is the 4 “C’s”.
- Communication: A leader must be able to clearly convey his or her thoughts and instructions in a way that rallies people behind them. The delivery is as important as the message. A well crafted speech at a stand-up meeting in the morning can mean the difference between a motivated team and one that lacks job satisfaction.
- Commitment: Leaders need the courage to stay the course. That means continuing to trust that the Lean principles work, even in the early stages of a transformation where the costs outweigh the benefits. (I’ve seen some estimates that it can take 2-3 years for Lean to start paying for itself.) It also means not abandoning processes when the pressure rises.
- Connections: Leaders must have relationships with their subordinates, peers, bosses, suppliers, and especially customers. This comes primarily from trust. When those groups trust that the leader will do what he or she promises, and won’t put personal gain first, great things can happen.
- Competence: Leaders must know their jobs well, and to a great degree, the jobs of their teams. That’s not to say they need to be able to swiftly navigate the nuances of every computer system their administrators use, or be able to produce parts on every machine in the factory, but they should be able to talk intelligently about the processes they oversee. Leaders don’t gain that competence sitting at a desk. The get it from going to gemba.
Failing in any of these four areas can introduce a tremendous amount of waste, and can undermine Lean progress.
I’ve also been considering adding a 5th “C” to my list: Confidence. Wishy-washy leaders introduce waste because they fail to make decisions quickly, or seek approval to make every little change. But since confidence comes from the four “C’s” above, it probably doesn’t need to be specifically added to the mix. In general, simple is better, and 4 is simpler than 5.
So what do you think? Should I put in confidence? Or are there any other factors that need to be added to this list? Don’t worry if it doesn’t start with a “C”. I can always come up with something like “Systematic Cleaning” which makes “cleaning” become a part of some people’s version of 5S.
Share Your Thoughts |14 comments|
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Hi Jeff,
Your post is very interesting. I always use mnemonic devices but I have never used them for these kind of things. I run a blog about mnemonic devices so maybe I’ll come back to share some ideas.
Thank you,
John
Mnemonic Devices – The Revision Guy
(Editorial Note: John’s website is mnemonic-devices.info/blog/ I have disabled the link as it has been unchecked by McAffee’s SiteAdvisor.)
This is a great list and I love the additions in the comments… I consistency is important. By which I mean consistency of behaviour. If you are an unpredictable leader then people will not know what they can expect from you and often get confused by what you’re trying to say. By being consistent with how you deal with people builds trust and puts them at ease
Hi All,
Great article! Thanks
I work as Lean consultant in Denmark (Scandinavia) and for certain we have one more skill that management has to handle – Empowerment.
The Lean tools are nothing if the organization isn’t involved in the proces of finding waste, coming up with suggestions and the proces of finding a better proces (i.e. value stream mapping).
So if management doesn’t empower and delegate responsibility to the organization Lean will soon be a management tool – and the possibility of gaining the full potential of Lean will be lost.
Agree? Or is it just a Scandinavian thing?
Mikkel,
No, it isn’t just a Scandanavian thing. Empowerment is important all over the world. It is extremely hard for leaders to do, though, as it requires a lot of trust, and a lot of training.
I think it should be added. Any thoughts on how to make it start with a ‘C’ to fit with the theme?
Looks like it will be 8 C’s once we figure this one out.
Thanks for the addition to the list.
Jeff
Jeff,
Not sure how to make a ‘C’.
Maybe ‘Consistent empowerment’ to signal that all managers in an organization have to empower at the same level and also that the empowerment is an ongoing skill management has to handle. But please be aware that I am not native English speaking!
Another skill that I normally remind managers is some kind of security in the organization. Not sure exactly how you explain it in English.
Nobody should be nervous loosing their job because they remove waste in their job processes.
If employees are nervous loosing their job they will not come up with suggestions to remove waste and they will not be 100% open to improve processes.
Yes it can be necessary reducing the number of employees in order to stay competitive, but then I recommend management to decide and inform who plays the ‘first team’ – from the beginning!
Yes, you have to have confidence in there…so it turns out C is quite an important letter when it comes leadership!?
Thanks for the comment. I am actually thinking about adding courage and candor to the list, but don’t want to go overboard. Both fall somewhat into the realm of character.
Changing the way your business runs is about more than just moving machines. It means working with people, too. Experts estimate that 80 percent of becoming a customer-focused business or Lean enterprise is culture-related. The way employees work, their attitudes toward work and change, their relationships with each other and management..Thanks..
Hi all,
How about creativity? Leaders need to be able to be creative, come up with ideas and ways to ‘defy the norm’, rather than move sideways. Thoughts?
Thanks
Another great addition. Looks like it is now the 7 C’s of Lean Leadership.
I appreciate the comment.
Jeff
[...] decisioni di acquisto solo in base al prezzo? Allora leggete questo… (traduzione automatica)The 4 “C’s” of Lean Leadership dal blog Gotta Go Lean di Jeff Hajek: Le 4 C della leadership lean (traduzione [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rutger Thielen, Tim McMahon. Tim McMahon said: RT @Velaction: The 4 “C’s” of Lean Leadership: Acronyms and other mnemonic devices help embed concepts into peop… http://bit.ly/e4IIJ4 [...]
Jeff,
Great post! Your 4 C’s are a great list for lean leadership. You should definitely include Confidence as your 5th C. One addition could be Character ( http://wp.me/pZiRD-bd ). Thanks for sharing.
Chris
Chris,
OK, confidence is in. And I can’t believe I left off character. I guess I just take it for granted but it is more important than all the other ones.
So, now we are up to 6 C’s.
Thanks. Great comment as always.
Jeff