ENCORE Supervisors: Leaders of Improvement/Seven Elements (4)

What does a leader of improvement do on the supervisory level? Does that new role overlap with such traditional supervisory duties as expedite and firefight? This week, as her series on Visual Leadership continues, Gwendolyn Galsworth (your host and visual expert) maps out the seven elements that define improvement leadership for supervisors and managers—and then explains how visuality is the glue that holds them all together. With “improve” as the anchor element, she walks through the other six: stabilize, measure, target, problem-solve, coach, and model. Then she shares a simple way for supervisors to self-diagnose and put those skills into action, without over-reaching or making too sharp a turn away from their current duties. First understanding. Then practice one new behavior at a time with a buddy—then another. Easy does it. It’s best to eat this particular elephant one bite at a time. Change is never easy, especially when you are its focus. But excellence requires it.