Excellent Basic Qualities of a Successful Kaizen Leader
When considering the successful implementation of Kaizen, one frequently hears about the importance of team participation and how the workers are the source of the strength of the program. But what of the leadership? What does a leader need to do in order for Kaizen to be effective in their organization other than throw a few kaizen blitzes around and hire a consultant? Below are some excellent leadership behaviors that any successful Kaizen leader should possess:
1. Be impartial – Being neutral to yourself and the staff is a very difficult task for the leaders. When we give more importance to our ego, this is going to make a lot of problems at work. Everyone likes to believe that their idea is the best, and when it gets unsupported, usually they become unhappy. This will result in dispute among the staff. To avoid this, we must take our time to think about the benefits of the other ideas and disadvantages of our own ideas. For this, we should let out our pride and welcome the positive criticism. Listening to the best ideas and never letting our ego take hold on us will help us become good leaders.
2 – Communicate. The next of the Kaizen leadership characteristics is simple in thought, but hard for many in practice. Make a point to get out there to the gemba (workplace) and simply have a conversation, whether it’s with co-workers, friends or even strangers. Don’t be afraid to have meaningful conversation. Find out what causes heartache or stress for the individual, and then offer meaningful and thoughtful advice about improvements for the situation. These conversations may seem simple to some, but they can often make all of the difference, allowing for improvement and eventually some great successes.
3 – The first and foremost quality that a Kaizen leader must possess is that he should take action according to his words in each and every occasion. Although it may appear to be easy enough but is quite difficult to put into practice. At the very beginning, have a clear idea about your limitations. Whenever anybody wants your help, never promise anything that is beyond your capabilities. Think twice before you make a promise. Whatever help you provide, people would feel obliged and for that you are not to make a promise that you are not certain to deliver. In order to keep your promises within your capability limit, you must have a clear cut idea of your limitations and what you can really deliver.
4 – Truthfulness. Many of the times that we tell a lie, it is not for any reason. If you are working on self-improvement, hiding that is completely unnecessary. After all, what is there to be gained from this kind of lie? When the people in your life learn that you have been hiding information from them, they’re likely to become angry or even hostile. In general, if you tell the truth, the outcome for you will be better. This won’t apply to anything involving your Human Resources department and information about your personal life. If it’s specific to business, feel free.
5 – Be optimistic. This is the most important quality of a Kaizen leader. You will have many persons who believe that every project will fail. They will try to stop you from any changes you are going to make. Often people are frightened and hesitant towards changes in their life. You should concentrate on the people who welcome the change, and who are enthusiastic in making the changes a great success. They will help your company progress. People with positive energy can make things happen and they can induce the energy in their colleagues. So, keep away or discard people who stand hesitant to the new implementations and get yourself a company full of positive people. And assure yourself that things will get better one day.
Steve Wilheir is a management consultant and C-level executive coach to Fortune 500 organizations. Now that you understand the characteristics of kaizen leaders, you might also be interested in learning more what are the characteristics of an effective leader on his site at Leadership-Development.us or more about Kaizen at Kaizen.us
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