Have you read Katie Anderson’s new book, ‘Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn’ yet? If you have – or at least started it – you will know what a profoundly interesting and exciting addition it is to Business Improvement literature. If you haven’t bought it yet, you must. Seriously.
The lessons in this book (of which there are eight) come from a lifetime of the experiences of Toyota senior leader, Isao Yoshino. I would go as far as to say they form a near perfect template for anyone who wants to be a better ‘people-oriented’ leader.
Here is just one quote from Yoshino-san that sums up for me why so many leaders struggle:
“Don’t pretend to know more than you know. If you think that you know everything, and that you don’t have to know more, that attitude will ultimately destroy you!”
Yep, it might destroy a few businesses, corporations and even nations too Yoshino-san. Especially right now where so little is actually KNOWN about the current situation and the immediate future.
So, why else is it such a good book? A couple of excerpts from Katie’s Amazon book reviews give a flavour:
This book by Katie Anderson, framed around her friendship and many conversations with ex-Toyota Senior Leader, Isao Yoshino, is nothing short of wonderful. It uses the analogy of fabric weaving throughout, the Warp being the Known, and the Weft being that which we discover. It’s a powerful metaphor for many of the learnings we get from a lifetime of Mr Yoshino’s experiences. Underlying strong principles and bonds providing a framework for the light and shade of an incredible career.
There’s lots in here to learn about the workings of Toyota and the Toyota Production System, lots about Japanese Culture – which is really fascinating in its own right, and it is absolutely packed with guidance on how to be a ‘People-Centred’ Leader. The book is also packed with fantastic stories and vignettes of Mr Yoshino’s life, and his work inside and outside Japan. He’s quite a character for sure!
Katie has captured so much in this book that’s of value to 21st Century Leaders. Forget about it being about Toyota or Japanese Management styles, what I think this book is about is: how to lead with wisdom and a love for humanity. And who couldn’t use some guidance on that these days?
This is a tremendous book which, I have no doubt, will be seen as a classic in this field. It must have been such a privilege for Katie to hear all of Isao Yoshino’s lessons, and it is such a gift that she has distilled and documented them all into these pages.
There are so many powerful lessons and useful nuggets of information – relevant to anyone interested in learning how to lead. I know I will be referring back to this book a great deal.
This book is refreshingly different to every other lean book I have read, with a real focus on the people development aspect that I strongly believe is at the heart of Toyota’s successful culture. Reading Isao Yoshino’s reflections, beautifully captured by Katie, will probably be the closest I get to “working at Toyota in Japan”, and I’ve already picked up some invaluable tips to use in my practice.
I have had the privilege of working with Katie, in a very small way, recently. If you haven’t seen the webinars she did with me and Mike Denison for our training business, People Centred Excellence, check out the Youtube video link. Katie is charming, self-effacing and generous with her time and support – as you’d probably imagine from hearing her speak – but nothing gave me a clue when meeting her of the incredible content that she was just about to launch on the world when her book was released! I kid you not, there is so much stuff in this book that is worthy of greater discussion and reflection.
And ‘reflection’ is such an important word in this context. At the end of every chapter of her book, Katie asks the reader to ‘reflect’ personally on what they have just read, how they ‘feel’ about the learnings, and what they might do differently in future to apply some of what they have learned. This is known in Japanese culture as ‘Hansei’. It means to acknowledge one’s own mistake and to pledge improvement. The belief is that ‘self-reflection’ or insight into oneself, is the first step to improvement.
At risk of going off on a tangent, wouldn’t some self-reflection from our Political Leaders about how they are conducting the business of dealing with the current crisis be refreshing? Rather than spin, brazen defiance, evasion, and opaque decision-making, we have an admission that not all is going splendidly, but much has been learned and will lead to better handling of the situation next time. Too much to hope for, I know. There needs to be a very different culture in society and the media – who would surely hang out to dry any politician who showed such ‘weakness’ (it’s a strength by the way, but that’s not how it’s portrayed in western culture) – for this to happen. Pity.
Anyway, focusing back on what I can influence……
Who would like to join with me – using Katie’s Hansei questions at the end of each chapter as our guide – in a virtual ‘book club’ meeting, to discuss the insights from Yoshino-san and Katie and to share our experiences (good and bad), and to ‘reflect’ on better ways of working together?
I’m thinking of doing something monthly. It will be at a European time-zone friendly timeslot, but wherever you are in the world I’d be happy for you to join me. The more diverse our experiences and background the better the sharing and learning will be! If you want to be part of this, share your details in the ‘Count me in!’ box below, and I’ll send you an invite to our first online book club meeting.
