Develop Leaders not Managers

The “flattening” of the globe, advances in technology and the advent of the web and social media have created new challenges to the conventional manufacturing organization. To remain relevant, your organizational structure needs to also adapt to this changing reality. The historically hierarchical management construct still has its merits but organizations that focus on Leadership rather then Management have a dramatic advantage, especially when it comes to creative thinking and innovative problem solving.

In a 2013 Harvard Business Review, Vineet Nayer very accurately summarized three main differences between managers and leaders.

1.    Leaders Create Value where Managers Count Value. 

Managers tend to only count value and in many cases actually reduce it. Requiring overly burdensome reporting distracts the employee and creates non-value added activity. Leaders focus on value creation, leading by example or enabling people to take greater ownership in projects.

2.    Circle of Influence rather than a Circle of Power

Leaders understand how to “check’ their ego or swallow their pride. They understand that the focus should be on leading people rather than managing the work. Being able to inspire behavior is much more powerful and sustainable than dictating results.

3.     Leading people vs. Managing work.

Management consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individual’s ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organizational success. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control.

Now, imagine if you had an entire workforce of Leaders rather than Managers? Envision what your company could you accomplish if every single person in your organization was encouraged to be creative, had the freedom to be innovative and drove value? This is the power of organizations that have adopted the Lean A3 philosophy as a business model. A3 develops Leaders! or as my friend Bill Greider calls them, “Zealots”.  Passionate, inspired individuals that are uncompromising in their pursuit of value, value that the customer is willing to pay for. A3 organizations like great leaders are not risk adverse; they embrace challenges and excel in problem solving. They are people and relationship centric with consultative and participative styles. A3 as a business model is an excellent way to foster an environment where leaders can emerge and thrive.

The world continues to rotate and with every revolution comes unavoidable change. Leaders understand and embrace this change. They have a vision and focus on the long-term goals. Organizations will also need to understand this reality and modify their historic management systems in order to remain relevant. A favorite quote of mine sums up this concept very eloquently.

"I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people." --Mahatma Gandhi