Featured by Business Week, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal as the cutting edge of corporate management, self-directed work teams (SDWTs) are rapidly replacing traditional boss-driven organizations whose entrenched autocratic management styles have become obsolete. In major companies like Kodak, Apple, Walmart, and Honeywell, SDWTs have transformed personnel into a creative and competitive workforce. Leading Self-directed Work Teams reveals how supervisors in any company - large or small - can take advantage of the leadership skills that make and keep major corporations competitive. Focusing on hundreds of practical, time-tested examples, the author explains innovative practices such as Kodak's 13 Room, where a division created its own board of directors comprised of team members who assumed leadership of the business. This book also examines team leader practices learned from Procter and Gamble experiments - managing by principle rather than by policy and setting boundaries that change as the team matures. In addition, this practical, step-by-step guide explains the intricacies of helping traditional supervisors change to SDWT leaders with: a weekly activity guide to help team leaders remember critical activities; easy-to-access tips and checklists summarizing key concepts and strategies; a special chapter focusing on 3 days in the life of a team leader; and practical solutions for typical team leader problems. In the increasingly competitive marketplace every corporation needs a leg up, and Leading Self-directed Work Teams shows how to create that edge from the shop floor to the executive offices.