This is the first of three articles that will explore a new way of thinking about leadership.
This first article will take a look at some of the differences between managing and leading.
by John Dyer for Industry Week
What is Leadership? In Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s book “Out of the Crisis,” he shares 14 points on how to transform the culture of an organization to help support process excellence initiatives. One of these points states: “Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.”
Most people in my training classes were too young to remember what life was like in the 1970s. So I usually begin with a short history lesson about the progress manufacturing has made in the past 50 years. In those early days, U.S. manufacturers could produce a great amount of product, but the quality was erratic. For example, it was common to hear stories of people buying new U.S.-made cars that, after they drove them home, would cover their driveways in leaked oil after only a few days of ownership. In fact, this happened so often that “lemon laws” had to be created to protect the consumer.
