Creating Explosive Growth for Your Organization: Leaders Developing Leaders!

(First in a series of weekly perspectives on Lean Six Sigma Mentoring/Coaching principles)

First things first, this is about you: The Lean Six Sigma Practitioner Professional.    You are a leader of a powerful methodology that can create huge success and growth for your organization.  That is the first point that you must keenly grasp when you take on this role.  Too often, we think of ourselves as internal or external consultants, and that is ok to keep you going daily, but ultimately you are leader that develops other leaders.  Leaders who develop leaders create explosive growth!  Explosive growth is measured by the extensive impact that a multitude of leaders can accomplish versus a single “CEO Type” of leader.  Imagine the impact of a shared vision created and executed by multiple leaders versus just the vision of one person. 

Visually, it is a virtuous circle:  

Before you get upset with me for downplaying the role of an internal/external consultant, let me explain.  If you consider yourself as mainly a consultant, you are focused on creating successful outcomes, or worse yet, achievement.  At best, these practitioners are creating followers, not leaders.  It is all about your mindset:  Developing the people you serve first, creates the short and long term successful outcomes.  This is the essence of Servant Leadership.  

If you’ve stuck with me this far, then the question becomes:  How, as Lean Six Sigma Practitioner Professionals, do we develop leaders?  It is all about successful Mentoring and Coaching.  And that is the subject of Perspective 2 and beyond of this series.  

About the Author: Ernie Shishido is a Master Black Belt with the US Air Force’s Business Transformation Office with 29+ years of uniformed military service.  Ernie can be found on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/in/ernieshishido or by email at er.shishido@gmail.com / ernest.shishido@pentagon.af.mil (until 10 Dec 2010).