ABSTRACT
This is not another book on leadership. There are many qualified writers who have explored that philosophical subject. I recently read a blog posting in which the blogger had some fun referring to the stacks of books written on the topic of leadership. He noted that one could explore the leadership styles of numerous corporate and military leaders, Jesus, and hundreds of other lesser-known examples. Certainly, if someone read them all, or even some of them, he or she could distill leadership down into some core principles that, if followed, would make him or her a better leader. I am sure that that book has also been written-and more than once. Almost all leadership books have a person of power or fame positioned as the leader whose leadership style is explored in the book. That is not what I want to explore. More relevant to this book, and the topic of lean and safety leadership, are examples of leadership situations rather than the principles or philosophy of any particular leader. Personal change may be the first responsibility of leaders who begin the lean journey. It is a necessity for them to change from focusing on people as a cost to focusing on engaging people, as an asset, in process change. Lean leaders understand this empowering leadership style, not because they have read about it, but because they gained the understanding through their hands-on experiences.
