When I first audited an industrial equipment business many years ago, the owner made it clear that having a certified quality management system was not something he wanted. Certification was a requirement from his customers rather than a strategic choice, and while he agreed to implement it, there was a clear sense of reluctance behind the decision. Quality, in his mind, meant extra work, unnecessary paperwork, and disruption to how the business already operated.

I worked with an organisation where quality had a clear owner. There was a dedicated quality role, years of experience, and a strong grasp of the standard. The system itself was well documented. Procedures were current. Audit results looked respectable. On paper, it all stacked up.

When I was auditing a business last year for their new certification, their documented system was immaculate. Every procedure was well documented, current, and presented like a showcase piece. The leadership team was so proud of it and genuinely looked at it as if this was a representation of how strong the system was.

Congratulations! You’ve mastered the Circle of Knowledge, (and must be feeling pretty clever) and the Circle of Application, (which means you’re very practical too). Now, in Part 3 we arrive at the third – and perhaps the most underestimated – piece of the Quality Leadership Model: Soft Skills.

n our last blog we introduced the Quality Leadership Journey to refresh your memory.

If you don’t know where you are in your leadership journey, it’s easy to get stuck. You might find yourself overthinking, second-guessing and missing the chance to lead. 

But when you do know? You unlock clarity, confidence and momentum. And the power to shift from doing quality… to leading it.

Now that we’ve conquered the Circle of Knowledge, we’re feeling pretty good. We’ve got a strong foundation. We know the standards and sharpened our interpretation skills. We’ve learned our systems holistically. And the reason it feels good is because knowledge is powerful. But it’s only the start. It’s not enough on its own.