ABSTRACT
The aligned leadership standard appears more difficult. Voluntary use of the standards provides a means of demonstrating the excellence of operations already achieved and will help identify any areas for improvement. The auditable standards have been designed to provide a broad and non-proprietary approach to the use of quality standards in the public sector in a manner that circumvents the need for "white knight" leaders that will adopt or use the latest popular quality practice, whether that is Total Quality Management, Re-Engineering. The auditable standards, however, make it unlikely that organizations will abandon the proper use of quality management practices in the future, for two reasons. First, the requirements for compliance have been reduced to fundamental and obvious disciplines that are readily audited. Second, the required practices are objectively measured. In this way, the public and legislative leaders can easily take action where standards lapse.
