The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence through Leadership Development

The Missing Link to Toyota-Style SuccessΓÇöLEAN LEADERSHIPWinner of the 2012 Shingo Research and Professional Publications Award
ΓÇ£This great book reveals the secret ingredient to lean success: lean leadership. Not only is it a pleasure to read, but it is also deep and enlightening. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in lean: itΓÇÖs both an eye opener and a game changer.ΓÇ¥
—Michael Ballé, Ph.D., coauthor of The Gold Mine and The Lean Manager
ΓÇ£This will immediately be recognized as the most important book ever published to understand and guide ΓÇÿTrue North LeanΓÇÖ and the goal of perpetual business excellence.ΓÇ¥
ΓÇöRoss E. Robson, President and CEO, DnR Lean, LLC, and the original Director of The Shingo Prize
ΓÇ£An excellent book that will shape leadership development for decades to come.ΓÇ¥
ΓÇöKaren Martin, Principal, Karen Martin & Associates, and author of The Kaizen Event Planner
About the Book:
TOYOTA. The name signifies greatnessΓÇö world-class cars and game-changing business thinking. One key to the Toyota Motor CompanyΓÇÖs unprecedented success is its famous production system and its lesser-known product development program. These strategies consider the end user at every turn and have become the model for the global lean business movement.
All too often, organizations adopting lean miss the most critical ingredientΓÇölean leadership. Toyota makes enormous investments in carefully selecting and intensively developing leaders who fit its unique philosophy and culture. Thanks to the companyΓÇÖs lean leadership approach, explains Toyota Way author Jeffrey Liker and former Toyota executive Gary Convis, the celebrated carmaker has set into motion a drive for continuous improvement at all levels of its business. This has allowed for:Constant growth: Toyota increased profitability for 58 consecutive yearsΓÇöslowing down only in the face of 2008ΓÇÖs worldwide financial difficulties, the recall crisis, and the worst Japanese earthquake of the century.Unstoppable inventiveness: ToyotaΓÇÖs approach to innovative thinking and problem solving has resulted in top industry ratings and incredible customer satisfaction, while allowing the company to weather these three crises in rapid succession and to come out stronger.Strong branding and respect: ToyotaΓÇÖs reputation was instrumental in the companyΓÇÖs ability to withstand the recalls-driven media storm of 2010. But what looked to some to be a sinking ship is once again running under a full head of steam. Perhaps the Toyota culture had weakened, but lean leadership was the beacon that showed the way back.
In fact, writes Liker, the company is ΓÇ£as good and perhaps a better model for lean leadership than it ever has been.ΓÇ¥ of innovation and growth. Yet, Industry Week reports that just 2 percent of companies using lean processes can likewise claim to have had long-term success. What the other 98 percent lack is unified leadership with a common method and philosophy.
If you want to get lean, you have to take it to the leadership level. The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership shows you how.