13.3 Leadership: The Big Picture Leadership: The Big Picture

Before we talk about leading change, let’s spend a moment defining leadership: what it is and how it is different from management.

What Is Leadership?

To explore the nature of leadership, let’s engage in a simple three-step exercise. To prepare, grab a blank sheet of paper or open a new document. Now, let’s go to work.

• Step 1: Make a List. Take the next 60 seconds and consider this question: “Who comes to mind when you think of great leaders?” Write down your responses on the left side of your response sheet.

• Step 2: Explain. Now let’s dig deeper. Next to each name, write down a brief statement describing why you think each person on your list is a great leader.

• Step 3: Look for Commonalities. In this last step, consider your thought process over the past couple of minutes. What shared characteristics make these individuals great leaders?

Now that you’ve taken a minute to consider the nature of leadership, let’s define leadership. Why don’t you take a shot at your own definition? Write your definition down. Be sure to keep it short and pithy.

If you are interested in what the outcome of this exercise looks like when we do it in training seminars, take a look at Table 12.1.

One more thought: We didn’t expect you to come up with THE definition of leadership. Our goal was more fundamental: To get you to think about leadership. Leadership is hard to define. It’s a little like culture: If you ask 10 people, you are likely to get half a dozen definitions. Your definition likely looks like one of these oft-quoted definitions:

• Leadership is inducing others to work toward a desired goal.

• Leadership is achieving real, intended change.

• Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.

• Leadership comes from integrity—doing what you ask others to do.

• Leadership isn’t being liked or any other attribute; it is defined by getting results.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised that people often ask us, “What is your favorite definition of leadership?” Here it is—and it fits what you will need to do to lead a lean six sigma implementation.

Leadership versus Management

Peter Drucker made, and repeatedly emphasized, a key point: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Never forget this point. Leadership is different from management. We’ve defined leadership and called out its role of influencing and enabling others to be willing and able to do cool things—i.e., to achieve goals people hadn’t considered or thought were beyond their reach. Management, by contrast, focuses on planning, organizing, and controlling (people, processes, or projects). So, which is more important—leadership or management?

You might be tempted to answer, “leadership, of course.” If so, step back and think again. As you consider your priorities, remember the equation we shared in our discussion of culture.

Where

E = Effectiveness of lean six sigma implementation

Q = Technical Quality of your lean six sigma solution

A = Acceptance of the implementation by your people

Simply put, you need both Q and A to effectively implement lean six sigma. Good managers bring a degree of order and consistency to organizations—that is, they assure Q (quality). Without good managers, imagine the chaos that would emerge in today’s complex operating environments. Chaos raises cost, lowers quality, and impedes innovation. As an industrial engineering approach to solving problems, lean six sigma relies on good management.

But lean six sigma also requires employee buy-in—that is, you need A (acceptance). You are asking your team to do new things and to do “old” things differently. You need disciplined behavior and creative action. This is not the status quo in most organizations. That means you need to inspire and enable people to go where they could not or would not go on their own. Your goal: Get your team to engage in game-changing behaviors that help your organization thrive in a very tough marketplace. Final thought: All managers are given formal authority to lead others, but not all managers are effective leaders. As Figure 13.1 highlights, your goal is to be a good manager and an effective leader.