There are only two paths to lean leadership that people can take. One path, based on traditional human resource development models, nearly always results in failure. The second path nearly always results in success, but precious few leaders are willing to take this one.

The following image illustrates the two paths:

The failed path (left side of image), based on traditional human resource development models, begins with the assumption that the beliefs possessed by all leaders is the same. For example, all leaders believe that the purpose of business is to maximize shareholder value, what gets measured gets managed, employees are to blame for errors, and suppliers are nothing more than entities to bargain with to reduce costs. Clearly, not all leaders share these beliefs.

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