World Class businesses have world class leaders. So what does it take to lead a successful World Class manufacturing business in 2012? Here’s my view…

The leaders of World class manufacturers are highly driven; they need to be the best in the world at what they do. They have high expectations, they create a strong sense of urgency and they inspire the right people to join them on the journey.

They understand that you don’t have to invent anything new and different in order to be world class. What you have to do is configure a value chain that delivers unique value in a different way.

Here are some of the things that they do:

Purpose: they communicate the purpose of the organisation in a way that is meaningful

Performance: they inspire people to perform at their best and they do not tolerate mediocrity

Passion: they are personally invested in what they do – they get fired up and it’s contagious

Process: they create streamlined processes that deliver outstanding and unique value to their customers

People: they get the right people on the bus; they expect to make some people unhappy

These are just some of my own thoughts – what are yours?…