Industry & Consumer Information with Johnson Opoku-Boateng: Why the best leaders build quality, they don’t chase it

If there is any group that can be guided toward success, the responsibility rests on the one who knows how to harness human potential and capacity to achieve greater heights. Leadership is the engine that drives quality.

When a boardroom is truly committed to the principles of quality, understanding its value, championing its practices, and integrating it into every decision, it positions the entire business to achieve extraordinary growth and reach levels of excellence that once seemed out of reach.

Effective leaders at every level cultivate a shared sense of purpose and a clear direction for the organization. They build an environment where people feel motivated, supported, and empowered to contribute meaningfully toward achieving the organization’s quality goals.

When leaders foster unity of purpose and actively engage their teams, the organization is better able to synchronize its strategies, policies, processes, and resources. This alignment strengthens focus, improves coordination, and enables the organization to consistently meet and even exceed its intended objectives.

Many SME leaders often wonder whether discussions about “leadership” are meant only for large corporations. In my consulting work, however, I’ve seen that leadership gaps are even more visible in small and medium enterprises.

Many SMEs operate with very flat structures where the CEO single-handedly makes decisions while everyone else simply follows instructions. In these cases, there are usually no documented policies, no defined quality objectives, and no clear framework to guide the organization.

Yet leadership, at its core, is about steering the business in a specific direction—and that direction must support the company’s growth. A clear vision and mission act like a compass for the entire enterprise, and it is leadership’s responsibility to communicate them in a way that inspires alignment and action.

If your company has been operating for more than two years and your products are already in the hands of consumers, then it’s time to introduce structure. For SMEs with six or more employees, it becomes essential to begin developing internal leaders.

Grooming supervisors and forming a small top-management team can help establish policies, define quality priorities, and provide consistent direction. These supervisors should guide their teams in setting annual quality objectives and working systematically to achieve them. This investment in leadership capacity is one of the strongest foundations for long-term success.

ISO 9001:2015 and Leadership

In the ISO standard for quality management systems (ISO 9001:2015), clauses 4 and 5 highlight two foundational requirements: understanding the context of the organization and demonstrating effective leadership.

A company’s strategic direction is shaped directly by the strength and clarity of its leadership. It is leadership that identifies relevant interested parties, understands their needs and expectations, and ensures that these requirements are consistently met—and ideally exceeded.

Delivering quality, whether in products or services, requires careful coordination across the entire value chain. Without a well-defined direction from leadership, employees are left without guidance, which ultimately undermines the quality of outputs. Strong leadership therefore serves as the anchor that aligns people, processes, and priorities toward achieving superior quality.

When leadership is strong and aligned with quality principles, the entire organization begins to experience tangible benefits. First, there is a noticeable rise in how effectively and efficiently quality objectives are achieved. Teams work with a clearer focus, and efforts that once felt fragmented begin to move in the same direction.

Processes across the organization become better coordinated, reducing duplication, confusion, and the operational “gaps” that often compromise quality. Communication also improves—people at different levels and across functions start to understand one another’s roles, expectations, and challenges. This clarity strengthens collaboration and reduces the misunderstandings that slow progress.

Ultimately, the organization becomes more capable. Leadership-driven alignment empowers employees, builds their confidence, and enhances their ability to deliver consistent, reliable results. Over time, this collective capability becomes one of the company’s greatest assets, driving sustained quality and performance excellence.

Practical Actions You Can Take

Begin by ensuring that the organization’s mission, vision, strategy, policies, and processes are clearly communicated and understood at every level. When people know where the organization is headed and how their work fits into the bigger picture, alignment becomes much easier to achieve.

Work to cultivate shared values across the business; values rooted in fairness, ethical conduct, and mutual respect. When leadership consistently models these behaviours, it sets the standard for everyone else and helps establish a culture built on trust and integrity.

Promote a company-wide dedication to quality, making it clear that quality is not the responsibility of a single department but of the entire organization. Encourage leaders at all levels to serve as positive examples, demonstrating the attitudes and behaviours expected from the teams they guide.

Equip your people with the tools, resources, training, and authority they need to take ownership of their work. Empowerment fosters accountability, and accountability strengthens results.

Finally, make it a habit to inspire, motivate, and acknowledge the contributions of individuals and teams. Recognition not only boosts morale but also reinforces the behaviours that drive continual improvement and excellence

Conclusion

Quality management Principle Two serves as a guiding light for any business committed to making quality its defining feature. A strong leadership team that consistently aligns organizational strategy with quality objectives will naturally emerge as a driving force for success. After all, the ultimate aim of any quality management system is to satisfy customers, anything less falls short of true quality.

Effective leadership acts like a current, steering the organization in a single, unified direction, with all employees working together toward the same goals. This alignment is essential not only for achieving high-quality outcomes but also for fostering sustainable business growth. By establishing a capable and committed leadership team from the outset, a business lays the foundation for higher quality standards and long-term success.

Johnson Opoku-Boateng is the Founder & CEO, QA CONSULT AFRICA (Consultants and Trainers in Quality Assurance, Food Safety, Health & Safety, Environmental Management systems, Manufacturing, Regulatory Affairs and SME Development). He is also a consumer safety advocate. He can be reached on 0209996002, email: [email protected]; [email protected]

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