Leadership is a vital aspect of any organization, be it a small team or a large corporation. A leader's ability to inspire and guide their team toward success can make or break an organization's future. It is essential for leaders to possess certain leadership qualities and skills, develop their own leadership style, and continually work towards effective leadership.
In our articles, we will cover key leadership concepts including:
Leadership Qualities: the inherent characteristics that make a great leader. These qualities include communication skills, self-awareness, empathy, vision, decisiveness, and adaptability. Leaders who possess these qualities are better equipped to inspire and motivate their team members, build strong relationships, and navigate challenging situations with ease.
Leadership Skills: The practical abilities that leaders need to develop to achieve their goals. These skills include problem-solving, decision-making, delegation, conflict resolution, time management, and strategic planning. Effective leaders continuously work on enhancing these skills to ensure they can lead their team towards success.
Leadership Styles: Referring to the way in which a leader approaches their role and interacts with their team. There are several leadership styles, including autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, and situational leadership. Each style has its strengths and weaknesses, and effective leaders can adapt their leadership style based on the situation and the team's needs.
Effective Leadership: The ability to inspire and guide a team towards achieving a common goal. It requires a leader to have a clear vision, communicate effectively, and create a culture of trust and accountability within their team. Effective leadership also involves the ability to navigate challenges and make tough decisions, all while keeping the team focused and motivated.
Leadership Development: The process of enhancing a leader's skills, qualities, and abilities. It involves various forms of leadership training, such as workshops, coaching, and mentoring. Leadership development programs are designed to help leaders identify their strengths and weaknesses, improve their skills, and develop their own leadership style. It is a continuous process that requires dedication and commitment.
Leadership Training: An essential component of leadership development. It provides leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in their roles. Leadership training programs cover a wide range of topics, including communication skills, conflict resolution, strategic planning, and team building. These programs can be delivered in a variety of formats, such as in-person workshops, online courses, and coaching sessions.
Leadership Career Advice: This is another important aspect of leadership development. It involves providing guidance and support to individuals who aspire to leadership roles. Career advice for aspiring leaders may include tips on how to develop leadership skills, identify opportunities for growth, and network with other leaders in their field. It can also involve guidance on how to navigate career transitions, such as moving from an individual contributor role to a leadership position.
Leadership Coaching: A form of one-on-one mentoring that focuses on developing a leader's skills, abilities, and style. A leadership coach works with the leader to identify their goals and challenges, create a development plan, and provide ongoing support and guidance. Leadership coaching can be an effective way to develop leadership skills, build confidence, and overcome obstacles.
In conclusion, leadership is a critical aspect of any organization's success. Effective leaders possess certain qualities and skills, develop their own leadership style, and continuously work towards enhancing their abilities. Leadership development, training, career advice, and coaching are all essential components of building effective leaders.
In the following blog posts, we will explore each of these topics in more detail and provide practical advice on how to become a successful leader.
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Visual control boards may not look overly complex, but establishing an effective board and establishing a robust review cadence can be more challenging than initially anticipated. The benefits, however, can be phenomenal! We learned first hand what some of these benefits are during a recent visual control benchmarking gemba.
On 12 and 13 February, High Performance Leaders Inc. (HPL) facilitated a visual control board workshop for the Technology Team lead by Travis Vokey, VP and Head of Technology at Dream Unlimited. The first day was a workshop focused on the key attributes of visual control boards, and a working session to begin defining the team's value proposition and key performance metrics. On the second day, there was a benchmarking gemba to Crystal Fountains, Baylis Medical, and Bell Mobility to see and learn first hand from their experiences and existing visual control boards.
Our focus during the benchmarking gemba was to see non-manufacturing areas. Since there can be a stigma that visual control boards are only for manufacturing, we wanted
The Dream team was able to participate in a regular daily huddle in action while at Crystal Fountains. It was fantastic to see and hear the enthusiasm and see the high level of engagement from each of the host company staff members. They were all believers in visual boards. However, that was not always the case. When we asked an engineering team who was the biggest skeptic when they first introduced the boards, an engineer stepped forward and boldly said "Oh, that would have been me!" He went on to explain that he first thought it would just be more work and a waste of time. However, now he admits, the board and the daily huddle has improved communication and work distribution. He's now a believer!
It was motivational to listen to each of the host company staff members talk about what they like about the boards and how they have made their jobs easier, improved team work, and driven solid improvements. Here's some of benefits and results they shared with the Dream team:
At Bell Mobility, the Regional Operations team is involved in over 2,000 projects across the country. Approximately 8 years ago they started tracking key aspects of their projects using typical white board style visual control boards. Then about 3 years ago they implemented digital boards (D-boards) to track and coordinate these massive projects between all stakeholders across the company.
According to Nitin Gautam, Network Access Manager and Robert Dillenbeck, Senior Manager, Territory Operations at Bell Mobility, the D-boards provided certain advantages over the traditional visual control boards including:
In my opinion, D-boards should be implemented with extreme caution. As discussed in a previous article Should Smart Screens Replace Pen & Paper on the Shop Floor?, D-boards can be problematic with potentially lowering visibility if they are not frequently and routinely interacted with becoming nothing more than a information board that over time can become virtually invisible. The most concerning problem though, is that changes to what is tracked and displayed can be slow and costly to revise and continuously improve. So, if D-boards are going to be implemented, be sure to anticipate these problems had have a solid plan to address and overcome them. No doubt they can be powerful and do offer some great benefits, but do watch out for the pitfalls.
The Dream team learned a lot and received some good advice from the 3 host companies. A few of the key points they were advised on included:
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Glenn Sommerville 33 May 17, 2023 |
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Scott Smith 17 January 9, 2023 |
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HPL Administrator 2 November 24, 2022 |
to see how different businesses, industries, and non-manufacturing teams set-up their boards and use them. We saw boards used by Sales & Marketing, Product Design, Process Engineering, Equipment Engineering, Project Management, and yes one from Manufacturing. We reviewed boards at the tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 levels, with tier 1 being at the working staff level and level 4 the organizational level. Each host company had a representative appropriate for each level of board explain how their boards work and how they are used.
When properly established, visual control boards add value to both the teams and the leaders. 
The two day workshop concluded with a Dream debrief where each of the Dream leaders identified the biggest thing that they had learned, and each making a commitment as to what they were going to do when they returned to their office. With the mystery of visual control boards revealed, they are excited to embark on this exciting journey.
