The WAC Files

How does Leadership Influence Quality Management in a Business?

  

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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. - John Adams

In this blog article we are focusing on Leadership, the second of eight quality management principles outlined by ISO, the international organization of standardization. ISO defines leaders as individuals establishing unity of purpose and direction of the organization, and establish an environment within the organization in which people can be a part of achieving the organization's objectives.

What is your definition of leadership? Are you a manager or owner of a business? How are you motivating and inspiring others to greatness? I don't think anyone would question the benefits of good leadership in an organization, but it may help to recap them: you'll achieve a common purpose among employees, so that they'll be motivated towards the organization's goals and objectives; it will minimize the risks of miscommunication; and it will help achieve greater levels of productivity because everyone will be unified in their quest to meet goals and objectives.

Here are more results of applying leadership principles, per ISO:

• Considers the needs of all interested parties including customers, owners, employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole.
• Establishes a clear vision of the organization's future.
• Establishes challenging goals and targets.
• Creates and sustains shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels of the organization.
• Establishes trust and eliminates fear.
• Provides people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability.
• Inspires, encourages and recognizes people's contributions.

I came across a great blog article on Psychology Today which outlines five lessons we can learn from Peter Drucker on Leadership.

1. Strategic planning is the first priority of the leader.
2. Ethics and integrity are critical for leader effectiveness.
3. Model the military.
4. Motivation: Treat employees like volunteers.
5. Leaders should be marketers.

Check out the rest of the blog article here. What is your philosophy on leadership? Identify one way you can start being a better leader in your business or department today to improve the existing business processes at your enterprise.

The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think “I.” They think “we”; they think “team.” They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit…. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done. Peter Drucker

To learn more about quality management, download our whitepaper, Minimum Requirements for Quality Management Software Compliance.