Take the first steps towards improving you career or skilling up your whole team.
All fields are mandatory. We respect your data and will not sell it to 3rd parties.
Who do you want to get coached?
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
Great, to get started we need some contact details
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
We Coach. We Advise. We Share.
Compact Coaching Program
2 * 90 minutes coaching sessions
Benefits:
Standard Coaching Program
6 * 90 minutes coaching sessions
Benefits:
Premium Coaching Program
12 * 90 minutes coaching sessions
Benefits:
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
We will contact you regarding your request as soon as possible.In the mean time, why not take a look at our free resources?
We will call you on during working hours as soon as possible.In the mean time why not take a look at our free resources?
We will contact your learning and development responsible as soon as possible.
We should have you and your collegues up and running in 2 to 3 weeks.
For now, why not take a look at some of our free resources?
Great Choice! Choose your payment method to complete your subscription.
GOT QUESTIONS?
Call Us 4008 740 029
Info@glocoach.com
Go to your email inbox to log into your new dashboard
GOT QUESTIONS? TALK TO US
Leadership is working on the system while management is working in the system. But before we explore what that means and how leaders do it, let’s ensure we clearly understand what we mean by system.
A system can be defined as a collection of tools and processes organized to achieve a specific
objective. Systems are seen everywhere work is done, whether in an office, on a factory floor, in a hospital emergency
room or in a kindergarten classroom.Systems drive behavior. Sometimes this behavior is good –it is elegant, succinct, and dripping with value; sometimes it is not so good.
Consider stop-light cameras. City intersections often havered-yellow-green stoplights to control drivers’ behavior.Sometimes a driver will risk running a red light because she believes she won’t get caught. But if there are stop-light cameras present a driver probably won’t take that risk. The system with stop-light cameras is more refined than one without. And the driver’s behavior reflects this refinement.
All of us have experienced frustration with poorly designed systems - policies, rules and procedures that are incomprehensible and counterproductive. Workers often develop their own workarounds to bypass poorly designed systems. They may not know why certain policies and rules exist and they may not care because they are just trying to get the job done. But their workarounds, however well intended, can lead to confusion and unintended consequences: poor quality, increased risk and added cost.
Every day, businesses feel greater pressure to deliver. With poorly designed systems, employees struggle to deliver value to internal and external customers. A culture of ‘firefighting’ can ensue, with middle managers and frequently even senior leaders dragged into the daily workarounds. By 5:00pm, everyone may feel like heroes for solving the problem-du-jour and satisfying the customer today. But eventually everyone will dread contemplating the fires that will inevitably need to be extinguished tomorrow. There will be no end to this escalating cycle of waste and frustration. Good employees will burn out and look for better places to work; customers will look for more dependable suppliers.
This is where good leadership comes in. W. Edwards Deming said, “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” The point Deming is making is systems drive workers’ behavior. Bad systems drive bad behavior. Good systems drive good behavior. And excellent systems drive excellent behavior. Leaders should focus on creating excellent systems. They should work on the system. Leave expediting and firefighting to the managers; let them work in the system. That’s their job. As leaders create excellent systems, expediting and firefighting will stop. They will begin to see excellent results. A senior executive in Toyota, arguably the consistently best company of this century, said, “Brilliant [system] management is our strategy. We get brilliant results from average people managing brilliant [systems].” He went on to note, however, that, “our competitors often get average (or worse) results from brilliant people managing broken [systems].”
Step one is to delegate management tasks to the managers. This will be difficult to achieve in a
firefighting culture, but it will be necessary for at least two reasons. First, leaders need to free up
time to spend developing excellent systems. Second, leaders need to set an example through their
behavior to create a new culture focused on problem solving and continuously improving instead of fighting fires.
Step two is to identify problems and use already well-documented problem-solving methods and
techniques to identify root causes. Focus resources on resolving actual root causes and not merely
addressing symptoms. There are many ways to find problems including value-stream mapping
(which works just as well in an office as in a factory), employee suggestions, stakeholder feedback,
customer complaints, and by simple observation with clear eyes and an open mind.
Step three is to repeat the problem-solving process over and over again. This is called continuous
process improvement or, “kaizen”. Kaizen is a philosophy that comes from Japanese culture and its
intent is to create small improvements literally every day. Over time small improvements
accumulate into big changes that will be felt throughout the entire organization.
Leaders who work on the system will find their efforts greatly leverage the output of efficient,
effective systems. Costs will decrease as waste is found and eliminated from value streams.
Productivity and quality will increase. Safety will improve. Risk will be more manageable. Customers
will be happier and will return over and over. Employees will have higher morale and feel greater
pride knowing their efforts are delivering greater value to the stakeholders
