Here at ASQ we’ve introduced a powerful idea that I think can and should help shape our future.
The idea is this: Every quality professional, a leader.
Like a lot of fundamentally important concepts, this sounds simple and straightforward but needs to be thought out a bit. In short, we want, need, and expect every one of our members—and indeed, every person in the quality community—to grow and develop as leaders.
We at ASQ understand and endorse this idea and accept the implicit responsibility to help our members do just that. You may hear much about leadership, but some—or even many—quality professionals don’t get opportunities to participate in leadership training. For a lot of ASQ members, I am convinced that whatever we provide may be the only leadership training they get.
So what is this connection between leadership and quality, and why is it so important? Simply put, the quality professional, wherever he or she may be and at whatever level of management, must be a leader to be effective. The quality professional at work somewhere in the quality field is not an artist alone at the canvas. That professional is bringing insight, tools, principles, and personal example to someone—to some crew, team, or section; to a business unit; or to something even bigger, such as a hospital, a federal agency, or a school system.
This task is going to be bigger than the sole person, perhaps much bigger. It will involve other people, with all of their complexities, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and fears. So whatever our quality professional is working on, it is going to take leadership to get the job done.
Some have made the case recently that quality professionals lack the business skills needed to connect with the C-suite. Others note that quality professionals sometimes lack the “soft skills” needed to make the case for quality outside the quality department. Leadership encompasses all of the above. Business savvy, people skills, and decisive action all are required to get results in the world.
Now I want to hear from you. Do you think you are a quality leader? What kind of leadership training did you receive and was it enough?