Lead by Example (Principle)

A lot of the things that are required in a continuous improvement culture demand self-discipline, commitment, and some degree of sacrifice. Leaders who mandate those things from their teams while not doing the same themselves will lose the respect of their team. In practice, this means that leaders will have to do the very highly recognizable things extremely well. 5S is one of the easiest ways to lead by example. Another is to follow the process even when things get hard. This is most apparent when there is a customer complaint and the rules get thrown out the window. When team members see leaders preaching one thing, and doing another, they will question how important the activities really are. But if they see leaders actually doing the things they are asking team members to do, they will gain loads of credibility.

ABOUT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT TRANSFORMATION PRINCIPLES

CI Transformation Principles are the guiding rules that apply to all companies that are trying to make changes. They are similar to natural laws. Learn more about how principles guide your Lean journey in our entry on ‘Principles and Values.’