NO TIME TO WASTE · ISSUE 36
A Leader Gets the Standard They Tolerate
I visited a company recently — working with the managing director and owner of the business — and noticed three things within the first hour.
None of them were on the agenda. All of them told me more about the culture of that organisation than any strategy document ever could.
THE BIG IDEA
Three Observations, One Culture
Observation one: PPE. There were signs on the walls clearly indicating the PPE to be worn in the production area. Clear, visible, well-designed. But as we walked through, neither of us was wearing the required PPE. I looked around. Many of the staff weren’t wearing it either.
It’s one thing to tell staff that this is what’s required. It’s another thing entirely to demonstrate it, abide by it, and have the discipline to enforce it — especially when you’re the one walking through.
Observation two: Meeting start time. A meeting with several senior staff and the MD started about fifteen minutes late. There was a good deal of chitchat before anything began. Nobody seemed to think this was unusual.
If the MD is present and the meeting starts late, that’s a standard that has been set — not by policy, but by tolerance. And if it’s acceptable for a senior team meeting to start fifteen minutes late, then the message to the rest of the organisation is that it’s acceptable for all meetings to start late.
Observation three: a senior team member didn’t attend the meeting. Nothing was said. No message. Nobody was chased up. No acknowledgement at all.
The unspoken message: attending meetings — even with the MD present — is optional.
A leader will get the standard they tolerate.
Not the standard they announce.
Not the standard on the poster.
The standard they walk past without acting.
THE CULTURE
Very often, the culture of an organisation is set unconsciously by the leader. We send messages all the time through our actions — and we may not even be aware of it. The MD in this company wasn’t deliberately setting low standards. But by tolerating these three things, the standard was being set every day, in front of every employee.
And here’s where it connects to everything else. If the senior team are seen to have low standards for basic disciplines — PPE compliance, meeting punctuality, attendance — how can we possibly expect high standards for delivery on time, quality, or customer experience? How can we expect targets to be set and met in a culture where what’s tolerated is what’s accepted?
“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”
—Lieutenant General David Morrison AO · Chief of Army, Australian Defence Force (2013)
THE LEAN CONTRAST
In Lean organisations, leadership behaviour is the process. The leader’s walk through the floor is not a casual stroll — it’s a genchi genbutsu, a deliberate act of going to see the reality for yourself. And what the leader does when they see a gap between the standard and the reality is the single biggest signal the organisation receives about what matters.
Does the leader put on the PPE before entering the area — every time, without exception? Then PPE is the standard.
Does the leader start every meeting at the stated time — even if only two people are in the room? Then punctuality is the standard.
Does the leader follow up when someone is absent — not punitively, but with genuine curiosity about what happened? Then attendance and accountability are the standard.
None of these require a new policy, a new poster, or a training session. They require one thing: the leader doing what they’ve asked others to do. Consistently, visibly, every day.
TRY THIS WEEK
Three Questions Before Your Next Gemba Walk
When did my last meeting actually start? Check your calendar against reality. If your meetings routinely start 5, 10, or 15 minutes late, that’s not a time management issue — it’s a leadership signal. Start the next one on time. Even if the room is half empty.
“You can’t talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into”
—Stephen R. Covey · The Speed of Trust (2006)
Culture is not what’s written on the wall. It’s what happens when the leader walks through the room. Every day, in every interaction, we are setting the standard — whether we know it or not.
The fix isn’t a new policy. It’s the next walk through the floor.
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At LeanTeams we help Irish businesses establish a Lean Culture in their organisation — including 1-1 coaching for leaders and course participants. “The hard stuff is the easy stuff and the soft stuff is the hard stuff”. If this week’s issue raises something you’d like to talk through, I’d be glad to help.