May 1 - Encouraging words: EnCOURAGE

I’m still sensing in many organizations what I can only describe as fear:  Leaders who are afraid to allow their staff members to get to know them; subordinates who are afraid to ask questions when their leader has made a questionable decision; people who are afraid to try new things.

On your gemba walks, you should work hard to be positive and encourage people.  Perhaps if you are truly able to encourage them, they will muster the COURAGE to overcome some of these fears.  By the way, if you’re not talking to people, you’re not on a gemba walk.

Encouraging words: Going Places

April 14 Encouraging Words: Going Places

I’m thinking today of traveling.  I’ve got a big trip to Greece next month that we’ve been planning for a while and to be honest, while I’m excited about it, I’m also pretty nervous.  Have I finished making all the arrangements?  Have I thought through all these different contingencies?  What if something happens to disrupt the trip?

I guess those misgivings and second guesses are human nature and of course they apply to everything we do, not just travel.  Every time we set a goal or a new target, we’re picking someplace new to go.  If it isn’t making you a little nervous about it, it’s not aggressive enough to drive ideas and improvement.  Push it.  Set a target that forces you to ask your teams “What really needs to change in order for us to achieve this new target?”  Then you’ll be going places.