In the past two weeks I have been able to reflect more on the idea of how Lean makes us more human. The pillar of Respect can change how we think about being a leader and change ourselves for the better. I have had many experiences now where people tell me about how things have changed for them thanks to making deliberate efforts to practice Lean Thinking. I want to capture some of those things this week.
This image reminds me of something I have seen from the Lean Enterprise Institute. They discuss the point of leadership as not just guiding people up a mountain, but helping them up by offering a hand. This is similar to the idea of servant leadership, but there is something more to it than just serving others. Respect is felt deeply by individuals, because we recognize that each individual has potential and value, we give them respect. In this image, we respect each individual, their capabilities, and their personal needs and try to bring them up. Imagine if teams worked together constantly striving to bring each other up the mountain, some climbing a bit faster than others, finding (or creating) the next handholds in the rock, and turning around to help the next person up. This general concept of respect is what is typically the most difficult thing to practice, because it at times makes us reflect on ourselves and question whether we are truly being respectful.
What happens in Lean organizations when this principle is taken seriously? I have seen leadership strengthen at all levels. Leadership does not mean just managers, leadership is the act of leading. Leaders are developed, it is another skill people build just as their own work skills. What I have seen are people in work cells helping each other get better every single day. It starts with those in the roles we look to as leaders.
Organizationally, if you are starting without the Lean Culture or without a culture of mutual trust and respect, then those in the leader role are crucial in starting the culture of respect. Individually for those in the leader role, when there is a focus on self reflection, we have seen huge amounts of growth personally for the individual, as well as for the team around them. Before these leader roles started their own reflections, I have seen supervisors leave meetings defeated, disengaged, and in a non-plus mood. This created a waterfall of negativity where disrespect fell to the next person and next person. Teams were not helping each other, and there were no role models of leaders. When those in the leader roles started their reflections on how they exhibited respect to each other, the turnaround was crazy fast. Within days we saw open communications grow among the leader roles, within weeks work unit teams opened up communication, and within months we saw a pretty common occurrence of people helping each other. This included the plant manager, the direct management under the plant manager, the supervisors, and work unit teams.
Something that has really stuck with me though is not just seeing people help each other climb the mountain, but what people say about it. I will share and paraphrase a couple stories below from the past weeks that came up in different scenarios. These are experiences that have been shared with me from other companies as well as my own.
Story 1: Second Chances
"I came to Martin's Partitions by chance through a temp agency. It is a place of second chances and when I started there I didn't realize I needed one, but they gave me my second chance as well. Since I had begun at Martin's I had grown as a person and as a worker. I joined in the book club and expanded my mind. I became someone I could respect, and my goals became greater than I thought possible. I became a completely different and positive person. Due to my growth I have been able to find another job and begin college at my dream college, which I though to be impossible. I now have a bright future ahead of me and a great part of it is due to the wonderful people at Martin's Partitions.
- MLG" (Shared from an employee at Martin's Partitions - http://www.martinpartitions.com/)."
Story 2: Fitting In
"When I started this line sometime last year, it was right in the middle of starting 2 Second Lean. At first it left me confused and with a lot of questions. I heard a lot of stories that the 2 Second Lean would not work and they know how we tried stuff in the past. They would make a right turn to turn it around. Then a left turn back to where they started. When I looked to the right and then to the left of me I saw all these people that I now call family. It took some time for me to fit right in with everyone. It left with only one thing and that is I wouldn't change it for the world. It has been fun watching us grow and make left and right changes in helping my area and others' areas. Sometimes when I thought I had a good idea and making the right progress on things, I would take a left turn, right into a wall. So then I would have to turn right back around and start over. I have watched a lot of us make right and left turns to get where we are. WE are all headed in the right direction and I know that we will be left with questions and sometimes doubt but we are all on the right path and will succeed with our team. I have watched us grow right into this line as a team that we now call the world class family 2337. I know that this is right where I belong. I want to thank all of you from the left and right side of my heart for making me fit in.
- MB, Worker on the 2337 Line at a large company"
Story 3: Watching Each Other Grow
"Since starting Operational Excellence, we have really tried hard to do the right things for our people. I wasn't the biggest proponent of Lean Six Sigma, as a lot of what we had been taught seemed impractical for the work that we are doing. It was nice having projects to fix some big problems, but everyday we still had to work in the chaos of our reality. For me, thinking about the leadership principles, especially of respect and humility, I have spent much more time with my teams on the workroom floor, helping them grow and learn. This really has been the thing that made a real change in me, and I found true value with Operational Excellence. It has taught all of us how to change our reality. I get to watch the managers and supervisors interact in new ways with others, and I can encourage them all to try out different things to improve. It's a lot more fun doing things this way, and honestly it's fun watching myself and others grow.
- Plant Manager"
Reading those stories I am reminded again on the human side of leadership and Lean. I also continue to go back to my learning from Walt Disney World on how to lead. There are 4 Expectations of the Customer and Employees.
Treat Everyone as an Individual
Make Me Feel Special
Give Everyone Respect
Train and Have the Knowledge to Help
There are many ways of thinking about leadership, but I think these 4 things exemplify the human side of leadership. Know each person as an individual, ask them about who they are, find out how they think, understand what they need to develop. Make people feel special. Just because you are in a higher level position doesn't make people lesser than you. Whether it's a "good morning" or spending some additional time helping someone through an issue, people have worth, so treat them that way. Give everyone respect is a little more involved than it sounds. Generally though, default to being respectful no matter who the person is - in Disney's case even if the person is a young child! Giving respect is profoundly important to the health of the culture and we must always reflect back to whether we are truly doing this or not. Train and have the knowledge to help means that each of us as individuals should strive for knowledge, and as leaders we must strive to help them develop. Teach and train constantly, no matter what.
Reading back through those stories from people, I can't help to think that the culture around them made those experiences happen. Those 4 Customer and Employee Expectations can help drive the culture in the right direction, one where we are treating each other as humans - people with potential and value. I try to practice these things in my own life, and have been quite proud when I hear the stories around me where people are becoming more human leaders.