12.2 Introduction

Now that you’ve put essential lean six sigma tools in your supply chain toolkit, let’s consider a vital question: “Is your toolkit built for career success?” Ask yourself, “Are you ready to hit the ground running, make a valued contribution, and become an indispensable lean six sigma leader?”

If you’ve never considered indispensability, let’s do so now. Indispensability is not defined by functional position or job description. Rather, indispensability emerges from mindset and skill set. Consider the following true story.

A few years ago, a Fortune 100 company implemented a new internship program. One plant manager resisted. He didn’t want to participate. He thought corporate was sticking its nose where it didn’t belong—in his business.

Compelled to participate, he decided he was going to undermine the intern assigned to his plant. His goal: to get even and to get out of future participation. Now, let’s pause for a moment to ask, “If you were the plant manager, how would you do this without making yourself look bad?”

When the intern arrived (let’s call her Taylor), she had just completed her sophomore year in a good, mid-tier supply chain program. Here’s what this plant manager did.

• The plant manager gave her an exciting, potentially impactful project.

• He made sure Taylor had access to all the right resources, including the right people to help her succeed.

• He invited her to keep him in the loop and let him know how he could help.

Here’s the catch. The project was a six-month, not a three-month, project. Confident that Taylor would flounder and fail, the manager went about running the plant.

About six weeks later—i.e., halfway through the internship—Taylor set up an appointment to meet with the plant manager. Imagine his surprise when instead of talking about how hard the project was and how far behind she was, Taylor presented an extremely well-done completed project.

Dumbfounded, the plant manager gave her a second challenging project. Well, you can guess what happened. Taylor rocked it as well. Imagine her story when she joined other interns for the end-of-summer report out to senior leadership.

Do you want to know the rest of the story? After Taylor’s junior year, she joined the company for a second internship. The plant manager didn’t just invite her back; he insisted she be part of his team. Once more she excelled. At graduation, she received a great, high-paying, full-time offer from this Fortune 100 company. Taylor’s strong work ethic, good technical skills, and ability to work with and earn the trust of colleagues helped her hit the ground running, making her indispensable.

So, what skills do you need to be indispensable? At leading-edge supply chain companies worldwide, the indispensable supply chain leader is described as a . . .

1. Cross-functionalist: A manager with deep functional skills who works fluidly with colleagues from other disciplines, understanding their needs and earning their respect.

2. Choreographer: A manager who sees the big picture and understands how individual pieces fit into the pattern. The choreographer rigorously analyzes design tradeoffs and executes with discipline while cultivating creative and collaborative relationships.

3. Coach: A manager who empowers others to ideate and initiate, inspiring both individual excellence and team cohesion. The coach praises often, corrects as needed, and teaches always.

4. Catalyst: A manager who not only embraces change when change is needed but helps drive the right changes throughout the organization.

Did you notice a common theme runs across these four job descriptions? In each role, your success depends on how well you achieve key goals through the people you work with. People are, after all, your only source of inimitable creativity and collaboration. Every other resource—from infrastructure to technology—can be bought or copied by rivals.

Now, the bad news: Few managers grasp how important engaged people are to competitive success. Even fewer possess the mindset and skillset to cultivate an organizational culture that creates value through people.

To help on your journey to indispensability, let’s take a closer look at what culture is and why it’s so important.