As a front-line leader, I was always curious and striving to continuously improve; however, my good intentions were not always effective. It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day fire fighting and help the team overcome the disruption, but such actions are just another form of band-aiding, and should not be mistaken for purpose-driven, healthy engagement.
One of the most common issues leaders complain about is employee engagement. Two of the most influential proponents of engagement are the management system & leadership behaviors. A robust management system drives organization wide involvement, and is coupled with proactive coaching cycles. So, when leaders are primarily reactive, they may get an “A” for effort, but this is not effective engagement. Truth is, you may really be a disengaged leader.
3 signs you are a disengaged leader.
- You feel your team is disengaged.
If the team is disengaged, then leadership is disengaged. Engagement is intentional, proactive, and consistent. Leader standard work is a great start, but must go farther than just a checklist of things to do daily. A leader should systematically partake in planned gemba cycles, and coach the team to identify and resolve the occurrence, detection, and systemic causes of losses, not just fires.
- Your team immediately thinks something is wrong when they see you.
When you walk the floor, if the first thing your team says to you is, “what’s wrong”, “what’s up,” or “what did we do now,” you’re a disengaged leader. This is a sign that your team is not accustomed to you being visible and present. These are the characteristics of a leader that is in position, but not in purpose.
- Abnormalities are normal.
When an organization has adapted to perform in spite of abnormalities, it shows up in the form of in-line rework. A workforce can become so conditioned to push parts out that they get defensive and see improvement as a hindrance to their productivity. This is a red flag that leadership is completely disengaged and has left the team to “figure it out,” and to fight the fires. They are only mimicking the actions and fulfilling the expectations (get the numbers) of leadership.
To overcome being a disengaged leader:
- Seek to develop yourself before developing others. Where there is a disengaged front-line leader, there is also a disengaged value stream leader. The gap goes to the highest level in the organization, but change at any level can drive change on all levels.
- Sharpen the saw. Request training in process management, Problem Solving, and Why, Why Analysis (5 Why) to name a few. If you have already had this training, put it use and build it into your management system as a method of improvement.
- Lead change. Break the cycle of being numbers oriented. Of course the downtime and paperwork associated with problem solving will hurt the metrics, but the long term gains are far more healthier and prosperous for the longevity of the organization and its stakeholders.
Until next time…Learn, Lead, Coach
Stability on the Front line is leverage on the Bottom line!!
Deena Boyce is an experienced productivity management and improvement coach with over twenty years of experience in lean management within American and Japanese owned settings. Her mission is to end management and lean implementation failure in the manufacturing organization. She is passionate about proactive management and developing others using a robust management system. As a traditionally trained manager that now “gets it,” she shares her insight and expertise in an effort to heighten the awareness of the importance of the management system and the leadership behaviors within it to drive organizational culture. When we lead in purpose, we win on purpose!!