If the Culture Is Broken, Look at Leadership

Cezmi Aytekin · Yalın Dönüşüm

In an organisation, people often behave according to what the leader truly values rather than what is said.

A manager

“Increase production.”

may say.

A good leader asks:

“How can we deliver value to the customer faster, with better quality and less waste?”

The difference may seem small.

But the results are very different.

Leadership is more than setting targets.

Leadership means

setting the right priorities,
bringing people together around a shared purpose, making problems visible, taking difficult decisions
and standing behind change.

I see this particularly clearly in lean transformation.

Implementing 5S is not difficult

Establishing Kanban is not difficult

Preparing standardised work is not difficult

Designing flow can also be learned

What is difficult is changing habits that have persisted for years.

And this is where leadership begins.

A leader’s commitment is an important condition for sustaining change. Adequate resources, clear standards, appropriate workload, training and consistent incentives are also needed.

For me, one of the strongest definitions of leadership is:

Leadership is creating an environment where people will do the right thing even when you are not there.

Perhaps even more importantly:

A factory’s culture is shaped by what its leaders allow every day.

Do you believe your company needs transformation under its current conditions?

In your view, what matters most to the success of a transformation?

How can we develop both the leadership that establishes and sustains a good system and the conditions that enable employees to contribute?