In the worlds of martial arts and LEAN, a Sensei is a teacher, a coach, a mentor. How could those qualities help you and your organization?

For most of us, coaching ended when we left high school, or maybe college, but think back to what your coach did for you. Didn’t they teach you a new skill? Didn’t they help you practice that skill over and over until you perfected it?

Wouldn’t it be great to have someone who could not only teach you the tenets of LEAN, but who could then coach you as you perfected your use of them?

Few of us had a real mentor, a trusted advisor who was further along the path of knowledge than us, and who helped us through the more challenging parts. In LEAN organizations, it’s critical to make good decisions more quickly than our competition. Mentors can help us do just that.