Is Green Leadership Lean Leadership?

Green Leadership....what is it? At Pecha Kucha Night 12 at the Queen E I learned about Green Leadership.  Green leadership seems compatible with Lean leadership and that got me thinking. As well I learned of the potential earth shaking impact of the generation of green conscious consumer-workers now coming into their own.  I got really excited to interject into the conversation.

Jaime Kowal  demonstrated her vision and leadership in her great presentation at Pechakucha Vancouver Night 12:



Jaime defined Leadership (I will call this Green Leadership):

"Leaders lead by telling stories that give others permission to lead, not follow", and  she expands the concept "Clarity and alignment are necessary before you can possibly expect commitment. Only then can you expect people to make the right decisions in support of the collective dream."

Kevin Millsip of the VSB put out a similar view of new green leadership in his presentation. I was very interested in his view of the future leaders that are being shaped and grown in our schools today.  His provocative assertion that kids today "understand the connection between the environment and the economy" was very intriguing.



"The lone wolf model of  leadership...  we have to jettison that model... it doesn't give us the change we need" Kevin also challenged the older generation in the audience to work together with the U-turn Generation, not just pass the torch and abrogate the responsibility for the "mess we made." I learned that Generation U has the mandate of achieving "Eco-Equity" much the same as previous generations have moved civil  rights, and womens' rights forward.


What is the difference between lean and green leadership?

Jaime's definition of leadership is one of empowerment, engagement, alignment and commitment to the team's success. Kevin strikes at the heart of the matter: the lone wolf style (top down, big man) is dead, get rid of it. In my book the Green leadership style endorsed by Jaime and Kevin are absolutely core traits of Lean leadership. There is no difference.

What about the fuzzy "collective dream" and goals of "Eco-Equity"? My imagination stretches enough to consider a corporation a "collective dream" of all its employees shareholder and even customers. Goals of Eco-Equity, social responsibility, etc. represent change on a much larger scale than any single corporation could attempt. Such lofty goals require vision and commitment arguably greater than that of a Lean business leader. Tellingly, the few minor differences between lean and green leadership is in the language around soft skills.

Leaders as story tellers! I have never read that in a Lean text yet. However, effective communication of "vision" is a leadership skill a Lean champion must have. This is done in many ways and storytelling I am sure  is a good one. I think the innate understanding of the soft skills by leaders in the green/social context is one that corporate leaders can learn from. If Kevin is correct, Gen U will be expecting social progress along with employment. They will want leadership that creates clarity and alignment before they give their their commitment. Need I remind the reader how the " work-to-live" ethic has replaced our old "live-to-work" ethos, and how much adaptation that entailed for business leadership? Well, if we thought that was a challenge then lookout, here comes Gen U.

Demand for Culture Change


Gen U will demand more Green actions of its corporations; more lean leadership from its employers. Text books tell us all the things that a Lean Leader must do with dry precision. Practically speaking, the old school management attitudes that inhibit success of lean implementation also impede the development of good lean leaders. In the near future it seems that workplace culture change will be forced upon the corporation by a new generation. Homegrown leaders will be in the best position to manage change effectively. This is good news for those companies developing lean leadership succession right now.


Strong Leadership always wanted



Green business (particularly the small and entrepreneurial) seems to require the leader to be a "believer" much the same as with Lean.  Look around at Green activists and you see nothing but hugely committed individuals trying to to grab onto the ocean liner of the western culture and make it turn. Commitment, dedication and taking action for change are prerequisite for even mentioning "green" as part of your goals. Lean champions and leaders have this type of strong commitment and vision too.

Small Green business needs Lean


Lean methods of waste reduction and production and distribution would be a great help for new Green businesses to compete successfully. SMEs with limited resources, need to accelerate growth by beating conventional competitors on time to market, quality and cost competitiveness. Lean improvements of the value created for the customer will continue to change the world for the Greener, and leaner. The sweet part is that Lean is totally compatible with the Green leadership style and culture. And getting true leadership culture change is the largest part of the Lean journey, an insurmountable, for many companies. Green Leadership culture is a guaranteed head start to success with Lean.

Winners and Losers

The future losers will be businesses that are neither lean nor green. Everyday we see laughable attempts at greeenwashing: corporations may not stop drilling/mining/polluting etc and incremental progress is better than none, but I don't see Gen U falling for greenwashing. They will demand more than that.  Future winners will be both Green and Lean.