EXCELLENCE POWERED BY LEAN

The Lean Leader’s Playbook

A practical guide to developing leaders who empower their teams, solve problems together, and make continuous improvement part of everyday work.

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Time Well Spent

Working hard all day—but wondering where your time went?

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THE BOOK

Learn the Tools.Learn to Lead.Lead Your People.

The Lean Leader’s Playbook by Pete Maher, standing on a stack of books

The Lean Leader’s Playbook brings together Pete Maher’s experience on the shop floor and in operations leadership. It connects improvement methods with the leadership habits that help people grow, take ownership, and solve problems with confidence.

Developing leaders is central to lasting improvement. The book shows how to teach and empower others while using visual management, 5S, first pass yield, root cause and countermeasure work, risk reduction, and more. The resources below help teams practice those methods.

Need help adapting a resource to your operation? Affordable tool customization helps you put these methods to work, even if you don’t have the Excel or PowerPoint skills to make the changes yourself.

View The Lean Leader’s Playbook on Amazon

COMPANION RESOURCES

Tools you can put to work

Download the free resources below, or explore the paid templates through Payhip. Need a different layout, calculation, or application? Ask about paid customization.

Excel Test Sheet file previewFREE · EXCEL

Excel Test Sheet

See a practical example of visual limits and test results in Excel. Automated calculations make the work easier and faster for your operators, while conditional formatting highlights incorrect entries to help prevent errors.

Download free fileNeed this tool tailored to your operation?
Operator Load Chart & Work Breakdown editable Excel workbook thumbnailPAID · EXCEL

Operator Load Chart & Work Breakdown

Calculate cycle time and compare operator workloads to meet takt time. Identify overloaded operators, redistribute tasks, and balance your assembly lines to reduce waiting, improve flow, and optimize operator loading. Includes automatic calculations, workload charts, instructions, and a worked example.

View and purchase on PayhipNeed this tool tailored to your operation?
OEE Calculator & Tracker editable Excel workbook thumbnailFREE · EXCEL

OEE Calculator & Tracker

Measure equipment availability, performance, and quality to calculate Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Identify downtime, speed, and quality losses. Includes automatic calculations, a summary chart, instructions, and a worked example.

Download free fileNeed this tool tailored to your operation?
Utilization & Performance Tracker editable Excel workbook thumbnailFREE · EXCEL

Utilization & Performance Tracker

See how available team time is used and compare actual output with standard output. Track utilization, performance, first pass yield, and delay reasons. Includes automatic calculations, summary charts, instructions, and a worked example.

Download free fileNeed this tool tailored to your operation?
Paid resources

Purchases are completed through Payhip, which provides access to the files after checkout. Customization is a separate paid service, quoted according to your requirements before work begins.

PAID TOOL CUSTOMIZATION

The Right Tool.
Tailored to Your Operation.

Found a tool you like, but need help making it work for your application?

Sensei Solutions Group offers affordable customization of our Excel tools and PowerPoint templates. Whether you need the Excel Test Sheet adapted to your testing requirements, calculations adjusted, or a worksheet organized around your process, I can help.

You bring the application knowledge.
I bring the Excel and continuous improvement experience.

Make it work for your team

  • Adapt test sheets to your measurements, limits, and pass/fail criteria.
  • Adjust formulas, charts, tracking fields, and worksheet layouts.
  • Tailor audit sheets, action trackers, and presentation templates to your process.

A clear quote before work begins

  1. Tell me what you need. Include the tool name, intended use, requested changes, and any deadline.
  2. Review your quote. I’ll review your requirements and propose the scope, price, and timing.
  3. Approve the work. Once we agree on the details, I’ll tailor the tool to your application.

Pricing depends on the changes needed. Customization is a separate paid service for both free and purchased tools.

Request a Customization Quote

Prefer to email directly? [email protected]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Experience from both sides of the work.

Pete Maher started as an hourly assembler in 1985 and later became a Vice President of Operations. A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, he has spent decades helping teams improve safety, quality, delivery, and performance.

His approach combines useful tools with respect for the people closest to the process.

Through Sensei Solutions Group, Pete also offers affordable tool customization to help you adapt these resources to your own operation. Explore customization services.