They will see kaizen as not just making incremental improvements, but also as a way of growing everyone’s knowledge of the very complex environment we work in today. I’d recommend Steven Spear’s new book, “Chasing the Rabbit” which develops this point and the way in which the “high-velocity” companies like Toyota, the Rabbits, outstrip their competition.

I might disagree (very mildly) about the need for a “directive” style in some situations; you cite a situation like 9/11. Given time a good leader would need to revert to command and control in such a situation. If she or he is a truly versatile leader, his or her team would not need to be directed. They would assimilate information and make the right decisions quickly.

I’d be careful about the term “empowerment”. Those of us with memories going back to the last Ice Age, remember how this term was abused. People were given the responsibility but not the authority to achieve certain goals, and this caused a lot of frustration.

The real issue about leadership is whether we are developing enough really good ones. I cannot help feeling that in the West we are paying Premier League salaries for Sunday Pub League abilities (my apologies to my American audience, but this metaphor is related to the English football, sorry, soccer, scene). Perhaps it is the tyranny of Wall Street wanting bigger and better results every quarter. Perhaps our business schools have bred a species of Brahmin which does not like the mess in the Gemba or does not like getting their hands dirty.