Tag: Leadership

Leadership That Builds Better Systems, Better Results, and Better Work

Leadership isn’t about titles, charisma, or quick decisions—it’s about creating systems where people can do their best work and continuously improve. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on leadership through a Lean lens, drawing on ideas from Deming, Toyota, healthcare, and real-world management practice. The common theme: leaders shape culture, influence behavior, and own the systems that produce results—for better or worse.

Toyota’s Buyouts and New Leadership

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Taking the Wheel as Toyota Skids - NYTimes.comToyota's Cost Cutting Plan to Include Buyouts for Factory WorkersToyota famously has avoided layoffs of permanent employees...

CEO Pay Caps? You Bet!

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By Adam Zak, Adam Zak Executive Search:As a LeanThinker I am most unabashedly a free market advocate. Free trade, absolutely. Love those imported fresh...

Idiot Corporation of America?

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Ga. peanut plant has history of problems - Food safety - nbc.com NY Times article There was a lot of focus in the news yesterday about...

Porsche’s Lean Culture and Leadership Lessons Under CEO Wendelin Wiedeking

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Lean as a Cultural Transformation at Porsche A 2009 FORTUNE profile of Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking offers an instructive case study in what a serious...

Toyota Keeps its Eyes on the Customer

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by Dan MarkovitzIn a refreshing change of pace for the auto industry, Akio Toyoda, who was just named as the new president of Toyota,...

Alfie Kohn on Punished by Rewards, Deming, and Rethinking Motivation

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My guest for LeanBlog Podcast #57 is Alfie Kohn, an author and lecturer in the fields of education, parenting, and human behavior. His books...

What It Means to Lead

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Rod Dreher: What it means to lead | Dallas Morning News | Opinion: Viewpoints"Authority is responsibility. Authority...

Eliminating Waste through Direct Communication

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Eliminating He Said, She Said « Sharing thoughts, ideas and suggestions on hardwiring successI really like Quint Studer's books, not just for healthcare,...

Lean Management in Healthcare: Patrick Anderson’s Vision in Chugachmiut

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LeanBlog Podcast Episode #53 is a conversation with Patrick M. Anderson, the Executive Director of Chugachmiut, the Tribal consortium created to promote self-determination to...

More Proof that Exhortations Don’t Work?

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Singletary dropped pants at halftime - SF Gate Funny story here about new 49ers coach, Mike Singletary, during halftime of his first game. When his team...

FedEx’s Fred Smith on Why We Need Manufacturing

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The Weekend Interview - WSJ.comGood interview with the CEO of FedEx, Fred Smith. If you click on the link above, be warned there's some...

Lean Cultures in the Top Small Workplaces

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Top Small Workplaces 2008 - WSJ.comToday's WSJ was well worth the $2.00. Yes, I subscribe to the online Journal, but there's something nice about...
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