Insight, opinion and commentary for the leaders of Lean Enterprise Transformation from some of the world's leading experts.Part 2 of 6 - How to Begin and Lead an Enterprise-wide Lean Transformation: Be more than a sponsor or figurehead
October 16th, 2006 - by Mark EdmondsonBelow is an excerpt from an actual email (with names and company specifics removed) in reply to an inquiry by the president of a Fortune 500 company. She was newly appointed as the executive sponsor for her division’s “Lean Enterprise Transformation”, and asked us: “What’s critical for the success of our transformation?”
2. Be more than a sponsor or figurehead. Lean is about leading your company on a daily basis in a radically different way; it’s not “quality program” or “operations excellence project” that should be delegated. Be actively involved; attend and lead the high profile rapid improvement workshops, take daily tours of your operations, talk to you employees about what’s going on and why it’s important to the company and to them. Take the time to address your employees’ questions and concerns – this is an important step with managing the resistance to change that you will encounter.
