Malcolm Baldrige Values and Concepts Part 1 Visionary Leadership

Malcolm Baldrige Values and Concepts Part 1 -- Visionary Leadership
By Dr. LM Foong

In my previous article entitled: TQM Implementation -- Who drives TQM initiatives. I compared the role of the CEO of the company who implement TQM and CEO of Baldirge winners who are successful implementing TQM in their companies.

What is Malcom Baldrige and is there any similarity with TQM? Well, there are many common management principles between the two. To appreciate that, readers is encouraged to understand the Core Values and Concepts used in the Baldrige Criteria and compare them with TQM principles.

I have worked with several companies who have adopted the Baldrige Criteria as a benchmark. For the purpose of this article, I will articulate the eleven core values and concepts used in Malcolm Baldrige Criteria. And I will use case studies to show how some of the companies implement the Visionary Leadership.

Below are the Eleven Core Values and Concepts of Baldrige Criteria:-

Visionary Leadership Customer-Driven Excellence Organizational and Personal Learning Valuing Employees and Partners Agility Focus on the Future Managing for Innovation Management by Fact Public Responsibility and Citizenship Focus on Results and Creating Value Systems Perspective

Articulated Visionary LeadershipSenior leaders should set direction, clear and visible values, and high expectations that would balance the needs of all stakeholders. Senior Leaders should also create a customer focus and ensure the creation of strategies, systems and method for achieving excellent performance. Senior leaders should create a learning environment that motivates its employee for creation, innovation and continuous improvement.

Case Study on Visionary LeadershipAt the corporate level, there is a clear direction set for all companies to create capital values to shareholders and Operation Excellence. Capital Values are prescribed in terms of Investment Discipline and Financial Discipline with respective businesses. Clear Performance Expectations in the form of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in these capital values are set and agreed during the annual Business Plan and Budget. Some of the KPI s are Return of Shareholder Fund (ROSF) and Investment Yield Return (IYR) Investment Discipline. Examples of KPI for Financial Discipline are Working Capital.

Operation Excellence is prescribed in term of four distinct Area of Focus. They are:- Control of Market, Processes, Technology and Human Capital. Due to its diversity in businesses in the group, KPI for these four Key Performance Area is set during the Business Plan and Budget for each individual company depending on their potential business future. Nevertheless, all Operational Excellence KPI would be expected to be of global standards that are competitive with global players.

AT company level, CEO sets strategies to achieve the Capital Values while Operating Mangers of its companies sets strategies and system to achieve Operation Excellence KPI. Each of them, though in the same company has distinct role in meeting the corporate expectations.

Issues with Visionary LeadershipDirections are well set at corporate and company level, they are communicated. However, not all level of employee understood the objectives of these expectations and hence not fully subscribe to them. Some of the common KPI not received full support is Capital Value related KPI

Opportunity for ImprovementA) Effective communication seems to be one of the solutions to the problem. Besides communicating the KPI, rationale to these KPI should be provided at the appropriate level of employees. To be effective, the number of communicator should be limited to ensure consistency in the communication.

B) Since all KPI for Operation Excellence are far fetching and to a certain extend, unreasonable. Involvement of the appropriate level of employee (departmental heads) should make effective and timely. After these KPI is set, strategies should be developed together with the departmental heads so that they are contributed to the effort in achieving the KPI..

In summary, having understood the Visionary Lerdership in Values and Concepts of Malcolm Baldrige, Leaders might benchmark their CEO of Baldrige Winners on their TQM successes in this value. My next article will articulate the next Core Vlaues and Concepts in Customer-Driven Excellence

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Disclaimer

All rights reserved. This article is written by the author based on his practical application experience. All definitions and interpretation of terminology are his point of view and has it has no intention to conflict with experts in similar topic. The author holds no responsibility for the use of this article in any way. Full Baldrige Criteria are available at http://www.nist.gov/quality

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All rights reserved. You are free to reprint or re-publish this article as long as you include my resource box at the end of this article. And ensure that the URL in the resource box remained intact and it is linked to the author's website.

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Resource Box: About the Author, LM Foong

The author holds a MBA major in TQM. He is an expert in Malcolm Baldrige Business Framework and Baldrige Assessment and TQM Implementations in manufacturing and service sector. He facilitates workshops and Cost Reduction and Productivity Improvement projects. He publishes TQM articles, ebooks, case studies, trainer manual and presentation slides available at More TQM articles or Please Visit my Web Site

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Creating ValueBased Leadership Nu Leadership Series

Creating Value-Based Leadership - Nu Leadership Series
By Daryl Green

You will always encounter folk who don't agree with what you want to do.Always hope for help but expect the contrary. It is the entrepreneur's dilemma.

Dr. Bruce Winston, author of Be a Leader for God Sake

Understanding values starts at an early age, not as an organizational leader. Its something that grows with the individual. While taking a graduate class last semester, I accepted the challenge to become a better student. Over the break, I worked to improve my writing, read erudite material, and prepared myself mentally for the new scholarly challenges. As the semester came to a close, I found myself weary of the numerous growth-building projects. Through this time, I read Act 1-2. I became revived. I recalled how the Holy Spirit guides me. I found this fact throughout my life journey. Witherington, an author, argues that the Holy Spirits presence throughout Acts is a distinguishing mark of Christianity.

Even though I may grow tired of these college assignments, the continual stretching of my mental capacity, and the conflicting demands, I need to depend more of the Holy Spirit. Why? If I believe that God divinely calls men and women to serve, I must also believe that He equips them. Maya Angelou once said, If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain. Likewise, an individual who is destined to lead must continue to grow, make changes, and calibrate his or her attitude. During this process, dont complain.

References:

Holy Bible (Contemporary English Version)

Witherington, B. (1999). The acts of the apostles. Grand Rapids, MI: The Paternoster Press.

2006 by Daryl D. Green

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of two acclaimed books, Awakening the Talents Within and My Cup Runneth Over. He is a columnist, lecturer, professor, and management consultant. Mr. Green has a BS in engineering and a MA in organizational management. Currently, he is a doctoral degree in strategic leadership. For more information,visit his website at http://www.darylgreen.org

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Erasing Bad Leadership with Organizational Values Nu Leadership Series

Erasing Bad Leadership with Organizational Values - Nu Leadership Series
By Daryl Green

Too many leaders act as if the sheep... their people... are there for the benefit of the shepherd, not that the shepherd has responsibility for the sheep. Ken Blanchard

How does a leader deal with a core value dilemma? Recently, I was shopping for a new health club. In one health club, I met an associate manager. He discussed my membership options. I wanted a non-contract membership. The associate manager provided me with another deal with great price (off of the official record). I turned it down and left.

Later, I went back and met with the senior manager. I eventually joined this club. However, I found out later that this senior manager had purposely used the wrong security number in my contract. This was for my good. The manager thought he was helping his members, but he was also setting a bad example for his employees. From this example, I would anticipate that this managers values didnt align itself well with the health clubs values.

Malphurs, a leadership guru, advocated that leaders are responsible for articulating the institutions primary values. Joyner, author of Leadership Management, argues that outstanding leaders fail unless their lives are underpinned with honor, morality, and character.

Therefore, leaders should remember that character counts on a daily basis and that employees will follow their lead. Start today.

Reference:

Joyner, R. (1994). Leadership Management. Charlotte, NC: MorningStar Publication.

2006 by Daryl D. Green

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of two acclaimed books, Awakening the Talents Within and My Cup Runneth Over. He is a columnist, lecturer, professor, and management consultant. Mr. Green has a BS in engineering and a MA in organizational management. Currently, he is a doctoral degree in strategic leadership. For more information, visit his website at http://www.darylgreen.org

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Ancient Leadership Wisdom Moses and Delegation

Ancient Leadership Wisdom - Moses and Delegation
By Brian Westover

An instance from the life of Moses teaches us about an essential tool for any leader - the art of delegation.

Exodus 18: 13 - 24 (From the King James Version of the Old Testament)

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.

And Moses father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

Moses and Delegation

In ancient history, Moses stands as one of the most influential leaders of the ancient world. Raised as royalty in Egypt, he later became the leader of the Hebrews who were enslaved by Egypt. Ultimately, Moses led his people from Egypt, and into the surrounding wilderness.

From a leadership perspective, Moses had a great deal on his plate. He led more than a million people, in matters religious, political and even in day to day activity. Because of his prominent position as a religious figure, his counsel was sought as a judge in almost all matters. We read in Exodus 18:13 that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. So many people sought his advice that it filled his day completely, leaving no room for any other activity, regardless of how important.

We read further on that Moses did so out of a perceived obligation. Because he was their prophet, he felt compelled to address every request for his time and attention. This is a common feeling among leaders. Not wanting to ignore the needs of those they lead, it is easy for new or inexperienced leaders to be overwhelmed by the demands placed upon them, and to try to do too much themselves.

Moses father-in-law, Jethro, watched all of this one day. Whether Jethro had past leadership experience is not made clear, but is likely, given the pointed advice he gave to Moses. Jethro saw clearly that Moses was seeking to do too much, and told him so, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

When placed in a leadership position, one has to keep several factors in mind. There is of course the need to meet individual wants and needs, but this is a secondary concern. When leading a group, the needs of the group come first. A leader is committed first to the group, then to the individuals that comprise its members. Next, a leader must be in a position to lead, to meet the needs of both the group and its members. If not, then both of those concerns go unaddressed. So we see that as a leader, one has to also take care of oneself. A failure to do so is a failure to care for the group. These three interests the needs of the group, the needs of the leader, and the needs of the individuals in the group must be kept in balance. Any failure to meet these three is a failure to effectively lead.

Moses had made this same mistake. By focusing on the needs of individual members of the group, the needs of the entire group went unmet. The personal cost to the leader created a situation that couldnt sustain itself; eventually, the strain placed on Moses would be too much. Without their leader, the group, both as a whole and on an individual level, would be lost, and would likely fail.

How then can these three important interests be balanced? Jethro teaches his son-in-law, the answer to this problem is delegation. Alone, one person cannot do it all, not for such a large group. There is simply too much for any one man to do. There needs to be a clear idea of what role the leader must fill. Moses, being the prophet of the Hebrew people, was the only one capable of speaking the will of God to those he led. This was a role he needed to fill. There were other matters that were more mundane in nature that others could deal with. Personal disputes, division of labor and goods, and the day to day difficulties that arise in any group these could be taken care of by others.

Jethro outlined for Moses a simple hierarchy of managers some in charge of groups of ten, then fifty, some over hundreds, some over thousands. On the lowest level, individuals were dealt with ten at a time. The leader above them had responsibility for five of those small group leaders. This structure continued upward to Moses, creating a simple organization, but one perfectly capable of organizing the million or more people that Moses was responsible for. Should a crisis arise that required the involvement of Moses, he was free to do so, no longer weighed down by lesser concerns.In our own lives, delegation can be a powerful tool. As a coordinated group, people can accomplish great things, but it is uncommon for great things to occur without the influence of one who acts as a leader. Someone must bring the group together and point them in the right direction. Someone must coordinate the efforts of the group, and must keep things running smoothly. You can be that leader, but to do so, you need to realize you cannot do everything. Let others assist you, and you will find yourself doing so much more.

Brian Westover is an author specializing in personal motivation and growth. He is the director of Project Superhero, an exploration of human growth and potential. To learn more about the author or Project Superhero, visit the Project Superhero website.

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Seven Ways to Improve the Results of Your Leadership Development Efforts

Seven Ways to Improve the Results of Your Leadership Development Efforts
By Kevin Eikenberry

Every day we deal with a variety of matters of urgent importance in our organizations. Seldom is leadership development on that urgent list. While perhaps not urgent, few things are of greater importance to the future of our organizations that the conscious and consistent development of our future leaders. Unfortunately, when we do put time and effort into leadership development, all too often those efforts fail.

In this article I will outline seven specific things you can do as an individual wanting to improve your leadership skills or when thinking about leadership development across an organization. Implementing any one of these suggestions will prove a valuable supplement to what you are already doing. Implementing most or all of them will yield or more confident, competent and prepared leaders than your existing development efforts by themselves ever will.

The Seven Suggestions

Create opportunities for self discovery and to create desire.

Learning anything successfully requires a motivated and interested learner. This is especially true for leadership. Often leaders see themselves as technical experts. In many cases they have been promoted because they were good at their previous jobs which may have had nothing to do with leading. Leaders need to understand how influential they are and know how they are doing, what the gaps are and have a desire to improve. 360 Feedback processes are one way to raise awareness and create a felt need for improvement. While they can be a powerful tool, the underlying purpose for their use is to create a clear desire for further development. However you accomplish this discovery and desire, it is critical to the development of greater leadership skills.

Set a goal / make a plan.

Leaders, either on their own or with assistance, need to set an improvement goal they need to have a clear picture of the areas they would like to develop. With a goal set, a plan can be put in place to move towards it. While this will often happen during a training event, this goal needs to be in place before attending any training to maximize the value of that training.

Focus on strengths.

Too often leaders build a plan based solely on improving areas of weakness. While we certainly want to improve in those areas, an equal amount of effort should be focused on enhancing and further developing areas of greatest strength. While there are several reasons for this, none are more compelling than the fact that less effort is required to improve an area of strength or natural talent than to achieve similar levels of improvement in an area of weakness.

Find ways to learn.

Leaders can be challenged to look for a wide variety of learning resources encourage them to look beyond the training workshops you might provide. Have them consider podcasts, websites, lectures, books, discussions with other leaders, finding mentors, working with a coach the list goes on and on. Once people begin to look, they will see many ways they can learn.

Find ways to practice.

Learning the ideas and knowledge is one thing, but to become a more effective leader people must practice. Encourage leaders to integrate what they have learned into practice. Help them see that there are opportunities to practice everywhere and not only at work. People will say they are busy and they are. Challenge them to consider their leadership development as a integrated part of their work among their most important tasks - rather than one more thing to do.

Get the leaders leader involved.

Leaders cant do it alone. Having the leaders leader involved will help keep development as an important priority, but beyond that, the leaders leader can provide coaching and help remove any obstacles that might be in the way. Most of all, the leaders leader can provide support and encouragement two things that are critical when we are learning (and practicing) new skills.

Build systems organizationally to support the other six suggestions.

We can do the six steps above as a motivated individual. But if we want to create a process for leadership development in our organization we have build ways to systematically provide people with the opportunities and options provided by the other six suggestions.

What is Missing?

Notice that the suggestions above dont talk about a training workshop, seminar or event as the key to your efforts. While you want any training you provide to be as useful and effective as possible, training alone can only get you so far -which is why your current efforts are less effective than youd like them to be. The seven suggestions above are meant to be an adjunct to your training efforts to be a process to layer on top of your existing efforts.

Training alone wont produce the leaders you need. It is one ingredient. The other seven suggestions in this article will, when added to a valuable, practical and effective training program, produce the leaders you desire and your organization needs.

Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company. To receive a free Special Report on leadership that includes resources, ideas, and advice go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/leadership.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

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Analyzing the New Dynamics of Diverse Organizations Nu Leadership Series

Analyzing the New Dynamics of Diverse Organizations - Nu Leadership Series
By Daryl Green

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. Nelson Mandela

As baby boomer workers begin to exit from Americas workplaces and demographic changes take place, organizational leaders will need to develop a diverse strategy to stay globally competitive. Many organizations are struggling to understand the meaning of a culturally diverse organization. How does it relate to the organizations principles, values, or traditions? Some organizations are further along in implementing diversity strategies than others.

For example, the federal government is a leader in providing equal access to all Americans. I have observed this occurrence take shape in the public sector over a decade. The governments actions have, however, challenged contemporary private business practices.

Historically, diversity has been mandated though federal laws via equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. It was a forced change that brought a lot of negative resistance by both managers and employees. In spite of the governments many operational flaws, it has attempted to broaden the makeup of workforce for several years. In 1987, the Hudson Institute published Workforce 2000, which outlined the impending demographic changes for the American workforce. A recent Department of Labor report, Futurework: Trends and Challenges for the Work in the 21st Century, notes the following:

• By 2050, minority groups will makeup half of the population
• Immigrants will account for almost two-thirds of the population
• One-quarter of the population will be of Hispanic origin
• Almost one in ten Americans will be of Asian or Pacific Islander decent

Obviously, these demographic changes will reshape the organizational culture. The old paradigm of just fit in or get out is becoming archaic. With this in mind, where does this place mandated laws of equal access in the federal sector? Many critics of implementing diversity argue that the market should dictate who gets employment.

Clearly, this is a shortsighted approach of organizational strategy when dealing with a multi-cultural marketplace. Therefore, effective leaders need to integrate their diversity strategies into their overall organizational strategies.

References:

Office of Personnel Management (2000). Building and Maintaining a Diverse and High Quality Workforce. Received on June 21, 2006 from http://www.opm.gov/Diversity/diversity-2.htm.

2006 by Daryl D. Green

Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of two acclaimed books, Awakening the Talents Within and My Cup Runneth Over. He is a columnist, lecturer, professor, and management consultant. Mr. Green has a BS in engineering and a MA in organizational management. Currently, he is a doctoral degree in strategic leadership. For more information,visit his website at http://www.darylgreen.org.

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Leadership Through Being Yourself

Leadership Through Being Yourself
By Peter Fisher

Leadership is mostly about being yourself and maintaining your personal authenticity rather than about learning some formula from a text book. Aspiring leaders need to be always true to themselves; not slavishly following others ideas. That is not to say that role models can not be powerful exemplars.

Real leaders are not only prepared to reveal their weaknesses, because they know they are not super-human, but to use them to their advantage. Obviously this doesnt mean revealing technical weaknesses or functional failings as this would fatally flaw their performance. Instead, what is meant is that leaders can and perhaps should, reveal their personality quirks maybe they are bad tempered in the morning, are somewhat shy with new people or even a little disorganized. Such admissions show they are human and this resonates with others confirming that the leader is a person not merely a role-holder.

Revealing their true selves, leaders can allow others to know and help them and this makes for better teamwork; followers can also feel better if theyve got something to complain about. Thus by sharing at least some of their weaknesses, leaders can prevent others from inventing damaging problems.

True leadership is therefore much more than a demonstration of strengths. Real leaders acknowledge their shortcomings and may even be able to make them work for them.

Good leaders always rely on their ability to read situations. They develop a feel for an environment, and interpret soft data without having to be told. They know when team morale is patchy or when complacency needs shaking up. There are three levels of situational sensitivity, each of which has its own specific skills.

Effective leaders are continually learning about the motives, attributes and skills of their important subordinates. They get to know their people through formal and, often better, informal contact such as when travelling together.

Effective leaders read their teams. They analyze the compound balance between team members, the tension between the tasks and processes, and how the team builds its competencies.

Finally, they are concerned with defining the cultural characteristics of their organizations and keep their finger on the pulse of the organisations climate.

It sounds tongue-in-cheek to say that leaders care for their people. Ever noticed the cynicism in the workforce upon seeing a manager return from a people-skills training course with new concern for others. Effective leaders dont need a training programme to convince their employees that they really care. They clearly empathize with their people care intensely about their work.

Genuine concern is difficult because it always involves some personal risk showing some part of yourself and your most strongly held values can seem quite scary. It may also take some detachment the ability to stand back, see the whole picture and sometimes take tough decisions. Leadership never was a popularity contest.

Effective leaders use their differences and move on to distinguish themselves through personal qualities such as sincerity, loyalty, creativity, or sheer expertise.

Using these differences is a critical leadership skill. But, as always, there is a danger - too much distance makes it impossible to sense situations properly or to communicate effectively.

Peter Fisher is Managing Director of Career Consulting Limited. He is an Expert Author and Management Consultant as well as being one of the UK's most experienced Career Coaches. For more information and his definition of leadership visit Definition of Leadership or Career Consulting Limited

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