What do you think?
Rate this book
Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning
"Reflection is the Key to Learning: Dive into Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn to discover the power of reflection as a source for learning. Uncover never-before-published "insider stories" from pivotal moments in Toyota's history and fascinating nuances that inspired the Toyota Way. And walk away with fresh insights and excitement about people-centered leadership, organizational excellence, and yourself. If you've ever been mentored -- in business or in life -- by someone whose words, experiences, and perspectives changed you for the better, you know that an entire book of honest reflection and deep wisdom can have a profound impact on the world. For today's business professionals -- dedicated to continuous learning and people-centered leadership -- this is that book. Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind tapestry that will inspire both veteran and aspiring leaders to reflect and learn. It's a book for leaders of all levels, in any industry, anywhere in the world, who strive to create a culture of continuous learning and to lead with intention -- by helping others discover their best selves, while also developing themselves."
352 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 14, 2020
118 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Katie Anderson
2 books7 followersKatie Anderson is an internationally recognized leadership coach, consultant, and professional speaker, best known for inspiring individuals and organizations to lead with intention, and increase their personal and professional impact. She founded her consulting practice in 2013 to help leaders and their organizations to connect purpose, process, and practice to achieve higher levels of performance.
Katie is a lifelong learner whose career has traversed through roles in academia, consulting, and healthcare operations and process improvement. Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Katie held leadership roles at two prominent California-based healthcare systems, was a consultant for PwC Australia, and held academic research positions at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Sydney. She has deep expertise and experience leading and coaching change in a variety of industries, including healthcare, biotech, manufacturing, education, government, and information technology, and is highly regarded among experts in the lean leadership space.
In addition to her consulting practice, Katie is on faculty at the Lean Enterprise Institute and Catalysis and volunteers as Vice-Chair of the Board of the Mother’s Milk Bank and a member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence West Region Board. A California native, Katie has lived in six countries outside the United States — including the UK, Australia, and Japan. In 2015, she and her family moved to Tokyo for an 18-month experience in Japan, where Katie developed a professional relationship with 40-year Toyota leader Isao Yoshino. What began as a connection filled with deep conversations evolved into international Amazon #1 bestselling book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning.
Now back in the San Francisco Bay Area, Katie retains a strong connection to Japan and leads frequent study trips to Japan for leaders looking to deepen their knowledge of lean leadership, the Toyota Way, and Japanese culture. Katie holds a BA with honors from Stanford University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Australia, where she received her Master’s degree in public health from Sydney University. Katie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two sons, nearly a dozen chickens and hundreds of daruma dolls. When she is not traveling around the world, you can find her in her backyard with her family or on a bike traversing the hills of Northern California. Katie
remains passionate about helping people around the world learn to lead and lead to learn. Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn is Katie’s first nonfiction business book.
Katie is a lifelong learner whose career has traversed through roles in academia, consulting, and healthcare operations and process improvement. Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Katie held leadership roles at two prominent California-based healthcare systems, was a consultant for PwC Australia, and held academic research positions at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Sydney. She has deep expertise and experience leading and coaching change in a variety of industries, including healthcare, biotech, manufacturing, education, government, and information technology, and is highly regarded among experts in the lean leadership space.
In addition to her consulting practice, Katie is on faculty at the Lean Enterprise Institute and Catalysis and volunteers as Vice-Chair of the Board of the Mother’s Milk Bank and a member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence West Region Board. A California native, Katie has lived in six countries outside the United States — including the UK, Australia, and Japan. In 2015, she and her family moved to Tokyo for an 18-month experience in Japan, where Katie developed a professional relationship with 40-year Toyota leader Isao Yoshino. What began as a connection filled with deep conversations evolved into international Amazon #1 bestselling book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning.
Now back in the San Francisco Bay Area, Katie retains a strong connection to Japan and leads frequent study trips to Japan for leaders looking to deepen their knowledge of lean leadership, the Toyota Way, and Japanese culture. Katie holds a BA with honors from Stanford University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Australia, where she received her Master’s degree in public health from Sydney University. Katie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two sons, nearly a dozen chickens and hundreds of daruma dolls. When she is not traveling around the world, you can find her in her backyard with her family or on a bike traversing the hills of Northern California. Katie
remains passionate about helping people around the world learn to lead and lead to learn. Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn is Katie’s first nonfiction business book.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 5, 2021
„We build people while we make cars“ I wish more companies had this attitude towards their employees.
This book gave me a good impression how a people first, high performance culture looks like and how large the effort is to translate such a culture into a different environment. And how it can fail, despite best effort, if everything not lines up properly.
Especially the Toyota Water Sports adventure and also the success but lack of overall impact on GM of NUMMI were eye opening for me in the sense of how inherently difficult to impossible it actually is to change culture in large organizations. Even for people in leadership positions that came equipped with all the right mindset and tools, such TPS.
What strikes me about this sort-of-biography in particular are the many reflections on all of the things that didn‘t work out in Yoshinos career (besides all the obvious successes such as the NUMMI training program), how he learned from them and how he specifically adopted a positive stance to failure. That‘s something I would also love to achieve at some point ;)
A book that I probably read at the right stage of my career. Highly recommended!
This book gave me a good impression how a people first, high performance culture looks like and how large the effort is to translate such a culture into a different environment. And how it can fail, despite best effort, if everything not lines up properly.
Especially the Toyota Water Sports adventure and also the success but lack of overall impact on GM of NUMMI were eye opening for me in the sense of how inherently difficult to impossible it actually is to change culture in large organizations. Even for people in leadership positions that came equipped with all the right mindset and tools, such TPS.
What strikes me about this sort-of-biography in particular are the many reflections on all of the things that didn‘t work out in Yoshinos career (besides all the obvious successes such as the NUMMI training program), how he learned from them and how he specifically adopted a positive stance to failure. That‘s something I would also love to achieve at some point ;)
A book that I probably read at the right stage of my career. Highly recommended!
March 23, 2021
One of the best books I have read in a while.
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Was it going to be a biography? Was it going to be a leadership book? Was it going to be a Toyota book? The short story is, to me it was all of these and none of these.
Ms. Anderson is successful in laying out Mr. Yoshino's time at Toyota and covering his successes and his failures. She does excellent at highlighting his leadership style and how he dealt with challenges. She introduces many of the aspects of the Toyota Way, especially the concept of 'respect'. However, for me, the single greatest takeaway is not any of those things. It's how Mr. Yoshino deeply learned by practicing his hansei.
It was apparent through listing to podcasts with the author that Mr. Yoshino was going to walk the reader through his hansei when things went poorly, but the thing I appreciated most was the reflection and learning that went on when things went right.
Growing up I was always given a pat on the back or a reward when something went right and punished when something went wrong. If I got an 'A' on a report card I would get an "atta-boy", but if I got a 'D' I was given a lecture usually accompanied by some form of punishment. I would be told for the 'D' that I, "needed to understand what I was doing wrong and fix it", but I was never told with the 'A' that I, "needed to understand what I was doing right and repeat it".
I do daily reflection each night and I usually focus on what went wrong and how I will fix it. I am going to add time to reflect on what went right and how I will incorporate that.
The structure of the book is very well thought out and it flows very nicely. Each chapter ends with questions you can ask yourself to kickstart your hansei. The lessons span a 40-year, but the lessons can be applied no matter what level you are at in your career.
I am a slow reader so I cannot wait for an audio version so I can add to my annual re-read list.
I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Was it going to be a biography? Was it going to be a leadership book? Was it going to be a Toyota book? The short story is, to me it was all of these and none of these.
Ms. Anderson is successful in laying out Mr. Yoshino's time at Toyota and covering his successes and his failures. She does excellent at highlighting his leadership style and how he dealt with challenges. She introduces many of the aspects of the Toyota Way, especially the concept of 'respect'. However, for me, the single greatest takeaway is not any of those things. It's how Mr. Yoshino deeply learned by practicing his hansei.
It was apparent through listing to podcasts with the author that Mr. Yoshino was going to walk the reader through his hansei when things went poorly, but the thing I appreciated most was the reflection and learning that went on when things went right.
Growing up I was always given a pat on the back or a reward when something went right and punished when something went wrong. If I got an 'A' on a report card I would get an "atta-boy", but if I got a 'D' I was given a lecture usually accompanied by some form of punishment. I would be told for the 'D' that I, "needed to understand what I was doing wrong and fix it", but I was never told with the 'A' that I, "needed to understand what I was doing right and repeat it".
I do daily reflection each night and I usually focus on what went wrong and how I will fix it. I am going to add time to reflect on what went right and how I will incorporate that.
The structure of the book is very well thought out and it flows very nicely. Each chapter ends with questions you can ask yourself to kickstart your hansei. The lessons span a 40-year, but the lessons can be applied no matter what level you are at in your career.
I am a slow reader so I cannot wait for an audio version so I can add to my annual re-read list.
July 17, 2021
The best book I have read this year 5/5 ⭐️ Amazing! A captivating leadership & learning experience journey by Isao Yoshino, an insider who worked for Toyota in Japan. Katie Anderson has an excellent talent for storytelling. She captured Isao Yoshino experience and narrated it in an easy way to understand.
For those who heard of Lean, Toyota, Continuous Learning, Kaizen, and Japan, this is the book that provides you with a great insight into what happens actually at the workplace in Toyota and how all those management concepts are practiced. A truly inspiring story. Discover how Respect for People is one of the essential pillars in Toyota. An enabler for leadership growth and the cycle of continuous learning.
For those who heard of Lean, Toyota, Continuous Learning, Kaizen, and Japan, this is the book that provides you with a great insight into what happens actually at the workplace in Toyota and how all those management concepts are practiced. A truly inspiring story. Discover how Respect for People is one of the essential pillars in Toyota. An enabler for leadership growth and the cycle of continuous learning.
December 16, 2020
Enjoyed reading the book a lot - very helpful when you want to get to know more about alternative leadership styles. I totally recommend it!
March 25, 2025
One of the best business books I have ever read - a blend of leadership lessons, Japanese business philosophy, and personal reflection
One of the best business books I have ever read. The book centres around Toyota leader Isao Yoshino and his decades of experience at Toyota. It’s a blend of leadership lessons, Japanese business philosophy, and personal reflection. My key takeaways are below.
1. Recognise the differences between hoshin kanri (lit. "policy management") and management by objectives (MBO). It's important to focus on the process to attain the result, rather than focusing on just the result. If you focus on results only, you'll understand whether you failed or succeeded but you won’t necessarily learn how you got there or how to improve. Refining the process enables you to continue to attain results.
2. Intercultural communication and negotiation are a precursor to successful partnerships. A quote directly from the book is "Common sense can vary depending on cultural perspective." It's a reminder for me to be flexible in my approach and attitude to situations.
3. When arriving on a new assignment, Yoshino would spend his first few weeks assessing the conditions of his team and the work - by going to gemba (lit. "the place where things happen"), observing and talking to his people. While context matters, the statement "proximity matters for team success" has always held true during my employment history in safety and quality management - visiting actual workplaces has been a precursor to forming strong relationships built on trust and achieving a real impact on the ground.
4. Each chapter had a "practicing hansei" (lit. "self-reflection") section. One reflective prompt asked about a time the reader had to influence without authority. In safety management, the answer is almost always all the time. The benefits of getting this right, for me, has led to the creation of a collaborative environment, significantly increased buy-in, and enhanced leadership skills such as communication, persuasion, subject matter expertise, and relationship building.
5. The book also delves into the criticality of building and leveraging relationships to promote learning. I'm extremely fortunate in this regard to have always been surrounded by thought leaders (even if they don't self-identify as such) within organisations I've worked for. I've also been surrounded by exceptional sources of knowledge through suppliers to my employers, various professional associations, recruitment agencies and through my involvement in politics. These experiences within and beyond the traditional workplace have undoubtedly shaped the professional I am today.
Thank you Katie Anderson for writing this book.
One of the best business books I have ever read. The book centres around Toyota leader Isao Yoshino and his decades of experience at Toyota. It’s a blend of leadership lessons, Japanese business philosophy, and personal reflection. My key takeaways are below.
1. Recognise the differences between hoshin kanri (lit. "policy management") and management by objectives (MBO). It's important to focus on the process to attain the result, rather than focusing on just the result. If you focus on results only, you'll understand whether you failed or succeeded but you won’t necessarily learn how you got there or how to improve. Refining the process enables you to continue to attain results.
2. Intercultural communication and negotiation are a precursor to successful partnerships. A quote directly from the book is "Common sense can vary depending on cultural perspective." It's a reminder for me to be flexible in my approach and attitude to situations.
3. When arriving on a new assignment, Yoshino would spend his first few weeks assessing the conditions of his team and the work - by going to gemba (lit. "the place where things happen"), observing and talking to his people. While context matters, the statement "proximity matters for team success" has always held true during my employment history in safety and quality management - visiting actual workplaces has been a precursor to forming strong relationships built on trust and achieving a real impact on the ground.
4. Each chapter had a "practicing hansei" (lit. "self-reflection") section. One reflective prompt asked about a time the reader had to influence without authority. In safety management, the answer is almost always all the time. The benefits of getting this right, for me, has led to the creation of a collaborative environment, significantly increased buy-in, and enhanced leadership skills such as communication, persuasion, subject matter expertise, and relationship building.
5. The book also delves into the criticality of building and leveraging relationships to promote learning. I'm extremely fortunate in this regard to have always been surrounded by thought leaders (even if they don't self-identify as such) within organisations I've worked for. I've also been surrounded by exceptional sources of knowledge through suppliers to my employers, various professional associations, recruitment agencies and through my involvement in politics. These experiences within and beyond the traditional workplace have undoubtedly shaped the professional I am today.
Thank you Katie Anderson for writing this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2022
“Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: Lessons from Toyota Leader Isao Yoshino on a Lifetime of Continuous Learning”, by Katie Anderson, is an informative, insightful self-help book with both universal and personal messages about improving leadership skills.
Not everyone wants to lead, but if you do, and you want to get better at it, you will find some good, solid advice in this book. Anderson is a coach specializing in leadership, and Toyota leader Isao Yoshino both brings you amazing tools, including the philosophy behind effective leadership, and how it goes hand in hand with learning. By combining their years of experience and expertise, they share with you the best guidance there is. This book will inspire you to grow from where you are now, by offering a good foundation, and then providing concrete advice.
This is the kind of book you can keep for years to come, because it offers a way of thinking, a way of approaching leadership and life, that can benefit your generation and the ones to come. It can also help bridge differences and discrepancies in society and cultures, bringing individuals, organizations, teams, groups, and businesses together.
I love Yoshino’s philosophy, “The only secret to Toyota is its attitude towards learning.” I would have to agree, as learning keeps us curious, motivated, invested. You’re never too accomplished to learn something new. With 40 years of experience at Toyota, Yoshino knows how to motivate a spirit of learning/leading. Where Anderson is concerned, she presents encouraging stories of personal growth, self-reflection, and puts her own individual spin on them—all to show you how to learn to lead, and lead to learn. I personally love success stories, and this entire book is about that. If your mindset or leadership style could use a jumpstart,
“Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn”, by Katie Anderson, delivers the insider information you need. It’s time to get excited about leading and learning again, with people as the focus. Having this book is like having a mentor on standby
Not everyone wants to lead, but if you do, and you want to get better at it, you will find some good, solid advice in this book. Anderson is a coach specializing in leadership, and Toyota leader Isao Yoshino both brings you amazing tools, including the philosophy behind effective leadership, and how it goes hand in hand with learning. By combining their years of experience and expertise, they share with you the best guidance there is. This book will inspire you to grow from where you are now, by offering a good foundation, and then providing concrete advice.
This is the kind of book you can keep for years to come, because it offers a way of thinking, a way of approaching leadership and life, that can benefit your generation and the ones to come. It can also help bridge differences and discrepancies in society and cultures, bringing individuals, organizations, teams, groups, and businesses together.
I love Yoshino’s philosophy, “The only secret to Toyota is its attitude towards learning.” I would have to agree, as learning keeps us curious, motivated, invested. You’re never too accomplished to learn something new. With 40 years of experience at Toyota, Yoshino knows how to motivate a spirit of learning/leading. Where Anderson is concerned, she presents encouraging stories of personal growth, self-reflection, and puts her own individual spin on them—all to show you how to learn to lead, and lead to learn. I personally love success stories, and this entire book is about that. If your mindset or leadership style could use a jumpstart,
“Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn”, by Katie Anderson, delivers the insider information you need. It’s time to get excited about leading and learning again, with people as the focus. Having this book is like having a mentor on standby
May 25, 2023
I liked the "Focusing on the good and choosing excellence" chapter. I see this as putting your best efforts in to whatever position you're in, working at the edge of your circle of influence, what Stephen Covey calls "proactive focus", which ultimately results in positive and progressive outcomes and a larger circle of influence. Really powerful mindset for someone stuck in a position not entirely to their satisfaction with no obvious ways out.
I also really liked the hansei (reflection) questions at the end of each chapter. Usually I put a guard up on these kind of exercises in a book, but I genuinely looked forward to these ones as they were framed really well and followed nicely after the content of each chapter.
I also really liked the hansei (reflection) questions at the end of each chapter. Usually I put a guard up on these kind of exercises in a book, but I genuinely looked forward to these ones as they were framed really well and followed nicely after the content of each chapter.
November 26, 2022
Many people know TPS, Toyota production system, by its technical pillars: kaizen, standardized work, autonomation, andon, etc.
However, we seldom see another Toyota coming up in other area. That’s is because what makes Toyota Toyota, is not only those continuous improvement tools or techniques, it’s also Respect for People! It’s even more important at this day and age.
This book focuses on the people pillar of Toyota Way, equally impressive and exciting, if not more!
However, we seldom see another Toyota coming up in other area. That’s is because what makes Toyota Toyota, is not only those continuous improvement tools or techniques, it’s also Respect for People! It’s even more important at this day and age.
This book focuses on the people pillar of Toyota Way, equally impressive and exciting, if not more!
September 4, 2023
I listened to this and read the book. Such a wonderful story of leadership and lessons learned. Katie does a masterful job of weaving together the story of Mr Yashino and helping the reader glean their own lessons from his lessons. Highly recommend this book for anyone who appreciates Lean, continuous improvement, continuous learning and leadership lessons. Katie’s narration is fantastic- it’s helpful to her the story in her own voice.
November 30, 2021
Book explains role of managers in lean companies
Katie’s book clearly lays out the role of managers in lean companies, which is totally different than how most managers view themselves as doers and tellers. Any manager in any company will benefit by reading this book and learn how to transform yourself into a leaner, and guide others on the never-ending path of learning.
Katie’s book clearly lays out the role of managers in lean companies, which is totally different than how most managers view themselves as doers and tellers. Any manager in any company will benefit by reading this book and learn how to transform yourself into a leaner, and guide others on the never-ending path of learning.
August 14, 2021
Excellent insighs and narrative by Katie Anderson , lots of leadership lessons, taken from real experiences of One of the Toyota's great leaders , you will never stop Learning , and then you keep leading to learn...
May 12, 2022
This is one of the few books that I’ve read twice. Once fast and once very slow. It’s filled with rich reflective wisdom from the life of Isao Yoshino. The ups and downs, successes and failures are life.
October 6, 2024
What a fascinating insight into the career and wisdom of Isao Yoshino and the lessons he has learned about continuous learning through developing others. By reading about his experiences, we reflect on the “warp and weft” of our own lives.
January 4, 2024
I love the lessons, the learning, and, most of all, the quotes. Very inspiring and in a way, super functional. It's a book I keep on my desk to this day.
January 8, 2024
A lot of good lessons and shows the discipline required to lead well and being humble to always learn from others
August 17, 2022
This book changed my views of lean and process improvement as well as A3 documents. I need to know the why behind the method and this book gives all of the information I needed to really wrap my head around some difficult concepts that were championed by Toyota.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews