Leaders on Leadership: June 2006

Friday, June 30, 2006

A Powerful Leadership Tool: Delighting In The People You Lead

Author: Brent Filson

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

Word count: 685

A Powerful Leadership Tool: Delighting In The People You Lead by Brent Filson

Leadership entails getting results, and getting results entails human relationships. The more closely the people and the leader bond, the more results will usually accrue.

However, most leaders and the people they lead look at those relationships as a one way street: charismatic leaders being commonly defined by sentiments bestowed on them from the people. But great leadership is really a two-way street, also involving sentiments going from the leader to the people.

We never know how good we are as leaders until we are delighting in the people we lead and, through that delight, leading them to get continually better results while they become continually better as leaders and as people.

For instance, I recently received an email from my old company commander inviting me to a reunion. He wrote, ""I was the luckiest rifle company commander in the Marine Corps when I was surrounded by the best group of infantry officer lieutenants I ever knew. And they were all in our company!""

I had not heard from him in many decades, but I remember not so much what I did but what he did. He went against the grain of the leadership style and conduct of some officers I knew -- officers who got the job done by being pretty much focused on themselves and their careers. My ex-company commander, however, got the job done by being inspired by the troops, not by himself.

Out in civilian life, I've seen other leaders take a similar delight in and be inspired by the people they lead, and I have come to realize that this penchant is really a powerful, though rarely used, leadership tool.

However, to use the tool properly, three things must be kept in mind.

1. Delight must happen within the context of high results-expectations. In your delight, don't be hampered by the bigotry of low expectations. My company commander was known for having his men undergo the most difficult training and take on the toughest assignments. He delighted in his troops not just for what they wanted to do but what he challenged them to do. After all, leadership is not about having people do what they want to do. If they did want they wanted, you wouldn't be needed as a leader. Leadership is about having people do what they may not want to do and be committed to doing it.

2. Delight must be truthful. Don't try to manipulate people through your delight. When the circumstances called for it, my company commander was brutally honest with us. If we weren't measuring up to his high standards, we'd know about it from him in forceful and vivid ways. His honesty was a leadership lesson: have the troops see themselves as they should be seen, not as they want to be seen. Sure, he riled us up many times. But because his honesty helped the troops become better Marines, it was eventually accepted and even welcomed.

3. Delight must be practical. My company commander was always linking the delight he found in the troops with lessons learned in accomplishing missions and best practices that came from the lessons. His delight wasn't meant to have people feel good about themselves but to motivate them to take actions to be continually better. In that striving to be better and, getting better in the striving, we bonded. Clearly, going where we had to go and doing what we had to do, we were often miserable; but through it all, there was, in the back of my mind at least, the compulsion not to let him down -- and not to let each other down.

You may not have thought about delight as a leadership tool, but it is one of the most effective because it goes right to the heart of getting results through the cementing of right relationships. Keep these three factors in mind when expressing your delight, and your leadership will be blessed daily with new opportunities.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and for more than 21 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,"" at http://www.actionleadership.com

About the author: The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's most recent books are: THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. http://www.actionleadership.com

Leadership For Deep Results: A New Look At Your Career

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 1200

Summary: Standard results, though necessary, are far less important than deep results. Here's how to define them and how to achieve them.

Leadership For Deep Results: A New Look At Your Career by Brent Filson

I've challenged all leaders I have worked with during the past two decades to achieve ""more results faster continually.""

They can get on track to start achieving such results not by working harder and longer but by slowing down and using Leadership Talks on a daily basis.

However, I also tell them that getting on the more-results-faster-continually track is not an end but a beginning. They must then begin focusing not just on the quantity and speed of results but the kind of results they aim to achieve.

There are roughly two kinds of results, standard results and deep results. Most leaders understand standard results but fail to come to grips with deep results. In fact, these leaders go through their entire careers getting the former, but they don't have a clue about the latter. Of course, standard results are necessary. But in the long run, they are far less important than deep results.

We know what standard results are. They are the results we must get in our jobs, such as: speed, productivity, operations efficiencies, sales closes, sales leads, sales to new customers, failure prevention, health and safety advancements, quality, training, quality control, logistics efficiencies, marketing targets, new revenue streams, sales erosion, price calibrations, cost reductions, demand flow activities and technologies, inventory turns, cycle time reductions, materials and parts management, etc.

Whereas achieving standard results enables us to do a better job and have a better career, deep results are different. Deep results are about being better leaders and human beings.

Of course, being a better leader will have a positive impact on your job and your career. But there is something else involved: Being a better leader means being a better person. Who we are as a leader and who we are as a person should be the same thing. If they're not, we diminish both our leadership and the person we are.

Look at it this way: Standard results are about ""doing""; deep results are about ""being"". Our most important achievements as leaders are not just what we achieve but who we become in that achieving.

For instance, if we don't get standard results in our job, we fail in that job or at least in that particular aspect of the job.

But in the realm of deep results, such failure might lead to success if in that failure, we find a better way to lead, a way to be better.

Here are some ways deep results differ from standard results.

--Deep results emerge over longer periods of time.

--Deep results encompass wider circles outside your job, usually impacting your family, friends, and relatives.

--Deep results are often not conventionally successful results. They can come in the guise of failure.

--Deep results can't be quantified. They're usually a quality of living or being.

--Deep results are often not immediately apparent. Usually, you become aware of them after they appear and sometimes long after they appear.

--Deep results are formed in your inner life and the choices you make over the things you control, your opinions, aspirations, and desires.

--Deep results shape, and are shaped by, character. How does one go about getting deep results? There are many paths up this mountain. But one path is straight and steep and clear. That is the path of the Leadership Imperative.

I WILL LEAD PEOPLE IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE TOGETHER NOT ONLY ACHIEVE THE RESULTS WE NEED BUT THEY ALSO BECOME BETTER AS LEADERS AND AS PEOPLE.

The Imperative has two parts: one is results-accomplishments and the other is self betterment.

You are never more powerful as a leader as when, in getting results, you are helping others be better than they are -- even better than thought they could be. Guided by the Leadership Imperative, you'll find yourself realizing deep results.

Deep results are not a measurement or a direction. They are not a central purpose. They are a process of being. They are not something achieved. They are an achieving -- taking place not at a special place in a special time but at every place at all times.

You are deep results before you know that you are. Though deep results are easy, though often they do not come easily.

The task that we shoulder reveals our heart to the world. Deep results show our soul to the world.

Examples of deep results:

--With the disasters of the Franco-Prussia War tumbling down upon Paris, a remarkable event took place, the word of which spread like wildfire through the city. The great author Victor Hugo, exiled for 19 years, had come back to Paris. Traveling through German lines, through the war-ravaged countryside, he had come into the city on virtually the last train. He had come to share the sufferings with the Parisians in their darkest hour when his arriving meant virtual imprisonment in the city. Throngs gathered at the station to applaud him. One man shouted over the crowd, ""If defeat brings us Victor Hugo, we couldn't be better rewarded!"" - deep results.

--Doug Collins, member of the '72 U.S. Olympic team that ultimately lost the gold medal on a disputed call to the Soviet Union, describes the dramatic moments at the end of the game. We're losing by one. The Soviets have the ball. The clock's running out. I hide behind the center, bait a guy into throwing a pass, knock it loose and grab it. A Russian goes under me as I'm going up for the lay-up. I'm KO'd for a second. The coaches run to me. John Bach, one of the assistants, says, 'We gotta get somebody to shoot the fouls."" But coach Hank Iba says, 'If Doug can walk, he'll shoot.' That electrified me. The coach believed in me. I can't even remember feeling any pressure. Three dribbles, spin the ball, toss it in, same as in my backyard. I hit 'em both and got the lead. I didn't know what I was made of until then."" -deep results.

--Herb Rammrath, a General Electric client of mine in the late 1980s, told me this. ""I was a young Naval officer reporting with many other new sailors aboard an aircraft carrier. The captain met us in a formation on the flight deck. He shook my hand and went down the line greeting many other sailors. I didn't think anything of it until several weeks later when he passed by me in a passageway. He said, 'Hi, Herb!' I never forgot that. He remembered my name despite the fact that he had met scores of new sailors that day. It's made a tremendous impact on me till this day."" -deep results.

--Seeing abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison dragged with a rope down a Boston Street, Wendell Phillips became so outraged that he joined the abolitionist movement and became one of its most effective activists. -deep results.

Many people go through their careers ignorant of deep results. But when you view your career as a whole, don't you think that the ultimate yardstick of your life should be deep results?

Deep results are not about getting but giving, not about doing but becoming, not about material accumulation but about self-enrichment and the enrichment of human relationships. From now on, when thinking about getting results in your jobs and your career, think too of the deep results you should achieve.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,"" at www.actionleadership.com

MLM Training- The 5 MLM Leadership Team Building Questions

Author: Doug Firebaugh

MLM Training- The 5 MLM Leadership Team Building Questions

by Doug Firebaugh

We all go through it. The inevitable. We get some folks in our group and we get all excited and we think:

""This is gonna ROCK!""

And they turn into a Rock.

Lifeless. Listless. Immovable. Sets there. Duds. All of them.

Sound familiar? And you get to the point that you wanna sream...AAAGGGHHHH!

Been there?

Well... I got some good news and some not so good news. The not so good news is it's partly your fault. The good news is, is that it can be fixed in a lot of cases.

There are what we at PassionFire call the ""5 Downline Reality Questions"" and they reveal what you really need to take a look at when this happens.

INFERNO Secret:

If you are in Network Marketing it WILL happen to you in some shape or form. It's all part of Leadership in this business.

As a Leader, and sometimes it's tough being the Leader you need to be, you must ask yourself these questions and be honest with yourself. I taught this in our group and sometimes we are more focused on blaming others for our weaknesses than ourselves.

""I have a weak downline!"" ""I have a bunch of Losers."" ""I cannot believe I lucked out with such a sorry downline.""

I have heard it all and even said some myself. We all get frustrated in this business and it is the Leader that is not afraid to ask these questions that can turn it around in a lot of instances.

Here they are:

1) ""What are you NOT doing?""

A lot of times, we look at what our downline is NOT doing...and not us. and in reality, they are duplicating us. We get into a ""management"" mode and expect the folks to go out while we sit on our ""buts.""

INFERNO Secret:

it's the ""buts"" in this Network Marketing business that will kill you.

Are you Prospecting? Are you Contacting? Are you doing Presentations? Are you Following Up? Are you Getting the Decisions? Are you Training your people? Are you providing a growth Environment for your folks? Are you siitng on YOUR Behind too? Take a look at what YOU are NOT doing, and then see if You have been duplicated in most instances you have.

2) ""What is Missing?""

What is missing in the MLM Success Formula? Prospects? Activity? Focus? Belief? Follow Up? Resiliancy? Does your downline have adequate training? Does your downline have adequate support from you? Does your downline have the Tools they need? Does your Downline have the system they need to recruit? Does your downline SEE YOU and HEAR YOU in All Out Massive Action YOURSELF? Oh I understand. You are too busy ""helping"" your downline to LEAD THEM.

INFERNO Secret:

You LEAD in this business by setting the MLM Success Model and Path and Role so they can do what you do.

Are they missing in their business what you are? Most of the time when a downline is NOT doing anything: What is missing is NOT them getting off their behinds, or getting them to DO More.

It is your MLM LEADERSHIP.

3) ""Do they have 'Focus Targets'?""

What is that? Anything that Focuses your group to work towards something. It is a Target to shoot at and aim for.

It can be:

An Event. NOTHING focuses distributors like a Major Event.

INFERNO Secret:

It gives them a REASON to focus and energize their activity.

A Major Conference call.

These are AWSOME! Schedule one with a successful upline or someone from corporate, and have them congratulate the up and coming stars.

A National Conference.

INFERNO Secret:

If you can get someone to a National Conference, they will be a YEAR ahead in this MLM business than where they are now. I know from experience.

INFERNO Secret:

This is a business of ""Event Marketing.""

You market all events as the most IMPORTANT event. Whether conference calls, or Live Super Weekend events or the weekly event. Those that understand that and engage it get incredibly successful.

4)""Are you 'locking arms' or 'letting go'""?

If you are going to get your group SIZZLING, you must Ignite the Fire.

INFERNO Secret:

Average distributors in MLM recruit someone and WAIT for something to happen. Leaders in this business recruit someone and MAKE something happen!

You need to Lock Arms and get into the trenches with your people and create a Sense of ""Success Destiny"" in this business, NOT Let Go of them after on training and expect them to figure it out. Paint Word pictures of Success in their minds and keep them there!

Create a ""Power Path"" for them. A Step by Step Pattern to follow. ALL PassionFire training is based on a Sequential Model of MLM Success.

INFERNO Secret:

If left to figure out this business, 95% of your folks won't. Have you left them to figure it out or locked arms with them to create figures on a paycheck?

5) ""Are you making them Co-Dependent?""

A lot of ""Leaders"" in this business need to be the ""star"" and do everything that needs to be done for their people and what happens is they become not INDEPENDENT but Co-Dependent on each other.

You need them to make you feel like a star and they need you to create them a paycheck and do the business.

INFERNO Secret:

There IS a REASON why the agreement you signed is called the ""Independent Distributor"" agreement in Network Marketing.

Here is a MILLION DOLLAR Secret:

The Wealthy in this business create and develop Independence IN their people and then they stand behind the spotlight and keep it aimed ON their people.

You must through Leadership foster and build Independence in your group. That is why we have the Leadership programs and Tape Re-Sources to train you on how to create an OnFire Army of Independent Maniacs that go out and Ignite the World while you lead them to Success!

That is why we put together the MLM Library Pages together on the site and in the ebooks.

That is why we provide training calls. That is why we are constantly letting you know about new ezines and trainings.

To STOKE the Fire!

What better scenario can you have?

If your downline is not doing anything, you can do 2 things:

1) You can provide the Leadership and Support they need and then get in the trenches and work with those who DESERVE it.

or...

2) If you have done that, and they still are lifeless go get new people.

INFERNO secret:

It is a whole lot easier to give birth, then raise the dead.

http://www.passionfire.com

http://mlmnetworkmarketing.blogspot.com

About the author: Doug Firebaugh is one of the top MLM Network Marketing Trainers in the world. Over a million people a month read his training ezine. He spent the last 7 years traveling the world speaking and training on Success. He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can receive a FREE subscription to his training ezine- The MLM Success HEAT- at: http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_9.html http://www.passionfire.com

Instant Leadership Talks

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 1600

Instant Leadership Talks by Brent Filson

An extraordinary feature of the human heart is its capacity to be profoundly changed in an instant. Experiences that take place in the blink of an eye can propel individuals to radically alter their behavior and even the course of their lives.

Making use of this inherent quality of the heart can boost the effectiveness of your leadership. For it is in the realm of heartfelt words and actions that great leadership results accrue.

For the past 22 years, I've been teaching a process to leaders of all ranks and functions in top companies worldwide, a process that can help you take advantage of the heart's great potential. It's called The Leadership Talk.

The Leadership Talk is a way of making deep, emotional connections with the people for the purpose of achieving great results. Specifically, the Leadership Talk motivates people to choose to be your cause leaders. Only cause leaders can achieve great results consistently. To prompt people to take leadership for your cause, you must develop a special relationship with them. After all, one may do a task and get average results; but to get great results, one should take leadership of that task. Taking on leadership for your cause will require they embrace higher levels of expectations and achievements. So it is not a commitment people will make easily or lightly. Your giving a Leadership Talk -- i.e, saying those things that will motivate the people to help lead your cause -- can take any length of time. I've seen people give a successful Talk in just a few minutes. I've seen people give a series of Talks over days and weeks before their audiences would make the choice. However, because of the heart's extraordinary dynamics, a Leadership Talk can be done in a moment. Here are a few ""instant Leadership Talks."" Note that sometimes no words were involved. Words are not absolutely necessary when it comes to giving Leadership Talks.

--Seeing abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison dragged with a rope down a Boston Street by a pro-slavery mob, Wendell Phillips became so outraged that he joined the abolitionist movement and became one of its most effective activists.

--When anti-French passions were sweeping England in the late 18th century, Voltaire who had been living in London for several years was set upon by an angry mob. ""Hang the Frenchman! Hang him!"" shouted the rabble.

Voltaire responded, ""Men of England! You wish to hang me because I'm French? Isn't NOT BEING BORN ENGLISH PUNISHMENT ENOUGH?"" The crowd laughed and cheered and escorted him back to his quarters.

--Doug Collins, member of the '72 U.S. Olympic team that ultimately lost the gold medal on a disputed call to the Soviet Union, describes the dramatic moments at the end of the game. . ""We're losing by one. The Soviets have the ball. The clock's running out. I hide behind the center, bait a guy into throwing a pass, knock it loose and grab it. A Russian goes under me as I'm going up for the lay-up. I'm KO'd for a second. The coaches run to me. John Bach, one of the assistants, says, 'We gotta get somebody to shoot the fouls."" But coach Hank Iba says, 'If Doug can walk, he'll shoot.' That electrified me. The coach believed in me. I can't even remember feeling any pressure. Three dribbles, spin the ball, toss it in, same as in my backyard. I hit 'em both and got the lead. I didn't know what I was made of until then.""

--a General Electric client of mine told me this. ""I was a young Naval officer reporting with many other new sailors aboard an aircraft carrier. The captain met us in a formation on the flight deck. He shook my hand and went down the line greeting many other sailors. I didn't think anything of it until several weeks later when he passed by me in a passageway. He said, 'Hi, Herb!' I never forgot that. He remembered my name despite the fact that he had met scores of new sailors that day. It's made a tremendous impact on me till this day.""

--In the first December of the first World War, Admiral Beatty received a radiogram from Sir George Warrender from his ship. ""Scarborough being shelled. I am proceeding to Hull."" Lord Beatty replied, ""Are you? I'm proceeding to Scarborough.""

--King Henry II and Thomas Becket, his archbishop of Canterbury, quarreled for years over the rights and powers of the church and the state. When Becket remained steadfast in his excommunication of Henry's appointees, the Bishops of London and Salibury, Henry, celebrating Christmas in Normandy, raged, ""Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"" Four knights, members of his household, answered the question. They crossed the Channel, rode to the Cantebury Cathedral and killed Becket at the altar. Eventually, the Cantebury Cathedral became a shrine, Becket was canonized, and Henry was made to atone by walking barefoot in a sack-cloth through the streets of Cantebury being flogged by eight monks with branches.

--At a public meeting during which he was censuring the recently dead Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev was interrupted by a voice in the crowd. ""You were one of Stalin's colleagues, why didn't you stop him?""

""Who said that?"" Stalin roared. There was a painful silence in the room. ""Now,"" Khruschev said, in a quiet voice, ""you know why.""

--A year and a half after the battle of Yorktown, the Continental Army was becoming increasingly rebellious. Many of the troops hadn't been paid in two years. Their promised pensions were not forthcoming. The troops and its officer corps contemplated overthrowing the Continental Congress and installing a military government. On the Ides of March in 1783, dozens of officers, representing every company in the army, met in a log hut to vote on taking this action when George Washington suddenly and unexpectedly walked in. He gave a speech denouncing the rebellious course they were on. But it wasn't the speech that carried the day, it was the Leadership Talk at the end of the speech. Witnesses report that Washington's speech left many officers unconvinced, and when he was finished, there was angry muttering among them. To bolster his case, the general pulled out a letter he recently received from a member of the Continental Congress. As he began reading, his usual confident air gave way to hesitancy. Then, unexpectedly, he drew out a spectacle case from his pocket. Few officers had ever seen him put on spectacles. Usually a severely formal man, he said, in a voice softened with apology: ""Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.""

The deep, human, emotional power of that moment electrified the officers. Here was their commander who had never taken a furlough during his eight years of command, who had faced storms of musketry fire, who through his daring and intelligence had kept the Army in tact in what most of the world thought was a lost cause, here was George Washington modestly asking his officers to bear with him in an all-too-human failing. It was an astonishing turning point.

As Maj. Samuel Shaw, who was present, put it in his journal, ""There was something so natural, so unaffected in this appeal as rendered it superior to the most studied oratory. It forced its way to the heart, and you might see sensibility moisten every eye.""

After Washington left the hut, the officers unanimously voted to ""continue to have unshaken confidence in the justice of the Congress and their country ...."" The result was that the Continental Army disbanded without incident and thereby set in motion the relatively peaceful events that led to the creation of the Constitution.

There are countless more examples of a moment's action or words having a great effect on people's lives.

--Winston Churchill: ""We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.""

--John Kennedy: ""Ask not what your country can do for you ....""

--Muhammad Ali making history in 1967 at an Army recruiting station in Houston, Texas when he refused to take one step forward with a group of fellow inductees to indicate his willingness to be drafted, a refusal which led to his being stripped of his heavyweight championship title.

--Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095 exhorting the knights of Europe to set off on the First Crusade to capture the Holy Land, ending one of the most important speeches in all of history with this rousing cry: ""Deus vult!"" (""God wills it!"")

--Ronald Reagan: ""Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!""

--Samuel Alito's wife fleeing the hearing room in tears and prompting the Democratic leaders to sheathe their critical knives and end their verbal assault on the judge, paving the way for his appointment to the Supreme Court.

I am not saying that every instant Leadership Talk will work. The time has to be right, the situation right, the speaker right, and the audience right. However, when the right things come together, all it takes to trigger great change may be -- like a diamond cutter's single blow precisely cleaving the gem -- a momentary Leadership Talk. As we've seen, that Talk can be a few words, one word or no words at all.

Because of the heart's capacity to be changed in an instant, the length of time you interact with someone to gain their heartfelt response is irrelevant. When you master The Leadership Talk, you can make that impact consistently with many people throughout your entire career. 2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Leadership Talent: Winning The Succession Wars

Author: Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

The demand for leadership talent greatly exceeds supply. If economic growth continues at a modest 2 percent for the next 15 years, there would be a need for one-third more senior leaders than there are today. Who will replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company's leadership pipeline full?

Baby boomers have already started to retire. Most large companies will have to scramble to meet gaps in senior leadership talent. Who will replace your retiring executives, and how will you keep your company's leadership pipeline full?

To make matters worse, the global and more dynamic economy of the 21st century requires executive talent with a more complex skill set:

* Greater technological literacy * A sophisticated understanding of global marketplaces * Multicultural fluency * Relationship savvy, with extensive networks of alliances and stakeholders * Leadership skills over a delayered, disaggregated and virtual organization

Succession Planning in the 21st Century

In response to these challenges, organizations have a renewed interest in succession planning systems. While these systems functioned merely as replacement charts in the past, and were HR executives' function, there are two critical differences today, emphasizing:

1. Leadership development at all levels (not just senior executives)

2. Responsibility and involvement for leadership development within the work group, with the person's manager and team members (and no longer an HR function)

Distinct Leadership Levels

Most development models fail to consider leadership requirements at all levels. As a person is promoted from line manager to business manager to functional manager, skills and requirements change.

Companies mistakenly focus on leadership traits, styles and technical competence. They commit a major error when promoting successful individuals without acknowledging required skill set differences at different levels of leadership responsibilities.

The Leadership Pipeline

Hiring gifted people makes sense as a tactic, but not a strategy. Companies need to build leaders, not buy them. Research and experience demonstrate that potential is not fixed. The more people achieve, the more they learn. Their willingness to tackle new challenges increases. To capitalize on potential, companies must define the true work requirements at each key leadership level. Succession planning systems must spell out what's needed to make a successful transition from one layer of leadership responsibility to the next.

Succession Planning to Fill the Pipeline

The following five-step plan will facilitate succession planning:

1. Tailor a leadership pipeline model to fit your organization's succession needs. 2. Clarify standards for performance and potential, in your own language. 3. Document and communicate these standards throughout the organization. 4. Evaluate succession candidates through a combined potential-performance matrix. 5. Review plans and progress of the entire pipeline frequently and seriously.

About the author: Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. writes articles for business and executive coaches and consultants. She provides articles on leadership and executive development for sale, and formatted into customized newsletters. Get Patsi's Secrets of Successful Ezines 7-Step Mini-Course to learn what you need to know to publish a successful ezine. http://snipurl.com/Ezine_MiniCourse

A Leadership Secret: Appreciating The Difficult People

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 1117

A Leadership Secret: Appreciating The Difficult People by Brent Filson

For decades, every summer, welcoming his scholarship players, Alabama coaching legend, Paul ""Bear"" Bryant, asked: ""Have you called your folks to thank them? No one ever got to this level of excellence in football without the help of others.""

Bryant didn't just appreciate the importance of other people in the development of a young athlete; he wanted the athletes to appreciate it too. Such appreciation is also a lesson in leadership. Nobody becomes a successful leader unless others want you to be; you need help; and part of your growth as a leader is to recognize and show appreciation for that help.

But you'll give your leadership and ultimately your career a real boost by extending your appreciation not just to the people you like and who are on your side but also to the people you may dislike: the difficult people in your life, those people who for right or wrong reasons cause you grief.

One of the most effective ways of dealing with them is to appreciate them. I mean truly appreciate them. When you do, you may find that you are dealing with them in surprisingly productive ways.

The word ""appreciation"" comes from a Latin root meaning ""to apprehend the value."" In other words, your appreciation of difficult people must be centered on your genuine understanding of the value they offer you and your organization.

You are not just understanding their point of view. You are actually appreciating it; and you are using that appreciation as a tool to get more results, more results than if the difficult people had not entered your life. Otherwise, your appreciation, at least as far as leadership is concerned, is a waste of time.

Here's a four step process to make appreciation a results-generator.

(1) Team up. To get appreciation rolling, know that you must be a team, you and the difficult person, in the development of it. Mind you, you're not trying to get the difficult person to appreciate you. You have little control over the other's appreciation. You do, however, have control over yours. So, focus on cultivating yours. That cultivation happens only in a relationship -- a team relationship with the other person, not necessarily a personal relationship. In a team-relationship, you don't have to like the other person. You simply have to work with them -- actively and wholeheartedly, irrespective of personal feelings. And the goal of your team is to forge out of the difficulties you're having with one another a leadership process that achieves results.

(2) Identify. When you're dealing with a difficult person, you're often entangled in strong emotions. The first thing to do is, with the person's help in a face-to-face meeting, get at the precise causes of the difficulties. Try to remove yourself from your emotional entanglements. ""Break down"" what's happening the way football coaches break down the plays of opposing teams studying game films. This breaking down is a collaborative process, and it should go like this: First, have the person describe the exact moments when you were having trouble with each other. It's important to keep focused simply on the physical facts of those moments. What were the specific actions and words that triggered the emotions? When the person gives h/her side of the story then and only then can you give yours. Only when both of you are clear as to those moments and agree on what took place can you start to talk with each other about your feelings connected to those moments of physical action.

For instance, that person may contend you are not listening to what h/she says to you. Have the person describe the exact moment when you were not listening. Where were you? What was being said? Precisely, what gave that person that impression?

(3) Agree. You and the person must agree on what is important in regard to the difficulties you are having. A gap between what you think is important and what the other person thinks must be closed. The test in closing it is results. Does the difficulty you are having with the person go right to the heart of the results you need to achieve?

The person says you don't listen. Do you agree? Is that person's perception important? Until you can come to agreement as to whether you were or were not listening and the importance of that, you'll continue to have difficulties. Which means you won't be able to go to the next, and most important, step.

(4)Transform. Transform the specific into a results process, a process that will get you increases in results. Without such a process, the previous steps are useless. For instance, let's say you both come to an agreement that you need to be more attentive when the person is speaking. Then, you might develop a ""listening process."" Such a process may involve applying ""continuers."" This is a process taught in medical schools to help overbearing doctors be more empathetic with their patients. When interacting with patients, the doctors are taught to say, ""uh huh"" three times when the other person is talking before saying a word.

Of course, ""continuers"" are one of many listening processes you can draw on. And clearly, ""not listening"" is one of many problems one might have with the people you lead. Whatever process you come upon in whatever difficulty you are having with people, that process must achieve specific increases in results -- more results than if you had not used the process.

As for the ""not listening"" example: You may pick out one actionable item from what was being said that can lead to results increases. I worked with a leader who did this. Several people he led accused him of ignoring them, and consequently those people were bucking his leadership. They all sat down around a conference table and went through this four-step process. They developed a process to actively and systematically listen to one another and come to agreement on what was spoken and what was heard. Then they selected actionable particulars that came out of their communication. They made sure they followed through on implementing those particulars to achieve increases in hard, measured results.

Like the poor, the people who cause us difficulties will always be with us. No matter how experienced and successful you are as a leader, difficult people will always be lined up outside your door, wanting into your life. Moreover, there are probably a lot of them inside the door too, trying to cut you down to size, thwart your plans, besmirch your reputation.

Instead of clashing with them or avoiding them, try appreciating them. When you use this process, you may find that they're not liabilities but assets.

Situational Leadership as the Key to Effectively Managing People

Author: Nick Larson

For over 25 years, major corporations and organizations throughout the world have used the concepts of Situational Leadership to improve the effectiveness of their managers. Dr. Heresy and Dr. Blanshard at Ohio State University to provide managers with a practical and simple approach to achieve the best results from their people developed one of the most outstanding leadership models.

There are many ways you can be an effective leader - there is no single ""school solution"" to the management process.

Real leadership means managing people fairly for mutually rewarding and productive purposes and has nothing to do with manipulation - taking unfair advantage of or influencing others for self-interest, or making people feel uncomfortable.

Motivating and controlling people toward accomplishment of planned objectives requires 3 important skills:

- understanding past behavior

- predicting future behavior

- directing, changing and controlling behavior.

Research studies indicate that effective leaders can be engaged in different types of behavior: task behavior relationship behavior. Task behavior provides guidance and direction - the leader clearly spells out duties and responsibilities to an individual or group about everything.

Relationship behavior emphasizes two-way communication with followers and exchanging information with them. This type tends to be more nonverbal than task behavior.Synonyms for relationship behavior are supporting, facilitating, and encouraging.

Some good leaders manage to combine both types of behavior in their work, though all of them have different leadership styles.

Leadership style is defined as the leader's patterns of behavior - including both words and actions as perceived by others.

There are 4 leadership styles:

- High task, low relationship behavior (the leader provides specific instructions and supervises followers closely, sometimes it's called ""telling"")

- High task, high relationship behavior (the leader explains decisions and provides followers with opportunities for clarification - ""selling"")

- High relationship, low task behavior (the leader shares ideas with followers and facilitates decision making - ""participating"")

- Low relationship, high task behavior (the leader turns over responsibility for decisions and implementation to followers - ""delegating"")

The Largest Online Money-Making Directory

The most friendly forum about online money-making

Nick Larson

About the author: Yo!Pages Forum admin. Make his online business since 1998.

A Whack Up 'long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Obligation

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 1600

A Whack Up 'long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Obligation by Brent Filson

When we perceive the simple center in the seemingly complex, we can change our world in powerful new ways.

Albert Einstein perceived the simple E=MC2 in the complexities of physical reality and changed the history of the 20th century.

Big Daddy Lipscomb, the Baltimore Colts 300 pound all-pro tackle in the 1960s perceived the simple center of what was perceived to be the complex game of football. ""I just wade into players,"" he said, ""until I come to the one with the ball. Him I keep!"" -- and changed the way the game was played. Likewise, human resources, despite its complex activities, should have a fundamentally simple mission, yet it is a mission that is being neglected by many HR professionals. I call that mission the Leadership Obligation -- helping the organization recruit, retain, and develop good leaders.

Clearly, without good leaders, few organizations can thrive over the long run. What characterizes a good leader? A good leader consistently gets results -- in ethical and motivational ways. Because they interact with all business functions and usually provide education and training for those functions, human resource professionals should be focused primarily on recruiting, retaining, and developing leaders that get results. Any other focus is a footnote.

Yet working with human resource leaders in a variety of companies for the past two decades, I find that many of them are stumbling. Caught up in the tempests of downsizing, compliance demands, acquisitions, mergers, and reorganizations, they are engaged in activities that have little to do with their central mission. Ignoring or at least giving short shrift to the Leadership Obligation, they are too often viewed, especially by line leaders, as carrying out sideline endeavors.

Many HR leaders have nobody to blame for this situation but themselves. By neglecting the Obligation, they themselves have chosen to be sideline participants.

Here is a three-step action plan to get the HR function off the sidelines and into the thick of the game.

Recognize. Link. Execute.

Before I describe each step, let me define leadership as it ought to be. For your misunderstanding leadership will thwart you in applying the Obligation.

The word ""leadership"" comes from old Norse word-root meaning ""to make go."" Indeed, leadership is about making things go -- making people go, making organizations go. But the misunderstanding comes in when leaders fail to understand who actually makes what go. Leaders often believe that they themselves must make things go, that if people must go from point A to point B, let's say, that they must order them to go. But order leadership founders today in fast-changing, highly competitive markets.

In this environment, a new kind of leadership must be cultivated -- leadership that aims not to order others to go from point A to point B -- but instead that aims to motivate them to want take the leadership in going from A to B.

That ""getting others to lead others"" is what leadership today should be about. And it is what we should inculcate in our clients. We must challenge them to lead, lead for results with this principle in mind, and accept nothing else from them but this leadership.

Furthermore, leadership today must be universal. To compete successfully in highly competitive, fast changing markets, organizations must be made up of employees who are all leaders in some way. All of us have leadership challenges thrust upon us many times daily. In the very moment that we are trying to persuade somebody to take action, we are a leader -- even if that person we are trying to persuade is our boss. Persuasion is leadership. Furthermore, the most effective way to succeed in any endeavor is to take a leadership position in that endeavor.

The Obligation applies to all employees. Whatever activities you are being challenged to carry out, make the Obligation a lens through which you view those activities. Have your clients recognize that your work on the behalf of their leadership will pay large dividends toward advancing their careers.

Recognize: Recognize that recruiting, retaining, and developing good leaders ranks with earnings growth (or with nonprofit organizations: mission) in terms of being an organizational necessity. So most of your activities must be in some way tied to the Obligation.

For instance: HR executive directors who want to develop courses for enhancing the speaking abilities of their companies' leaders often blunder in the design phase. Not recognizing the Leadership Obligation, they err by describing them as ""presentation courses."" Instead, if they were guided by the Obligation, they would offer courses on ""leadership talks."" There is a big difference between presentations and leadership talks. Presentations communicate information. Presentation courses are a dime a dozen. But leadership talks motivate people to believe in you and follow you. Leaders must speak many times daily -- to individuals or groups in a variety of settings. When you provide courses to help them learn practical ways for delivering effective talks, to have them speak better so that they can lead better, you are benefitting their job performance and their careers.

Today, in most organizations, the presentation is the conventional method of communication. But when you make the leadership talk the key method by instituting ""talk"" courses and monitoring and evaluation systems broadly and deeply within the organization, you will help make your company more effective and efficient.

Link: Though such recognition is the first step in getting off the sidelines, it won't get you into the game. To get into the center of things, you must link your activities with results. Not your results -- their results.

Clearly, your clients are being challenged to get results: sales' closes, operations efficiencies, productivity advances, etc. Some results are crucial. But other results are absolutely indispensable. Your job is to help your clients achieve their results, especially the indispensable results. You must be their ""results partner."" Furthermore, you must help them get sizable increases in those results. The results that they get with your help should be more than the results that they would have gotten without your help.

For instance, when developing company-wide objectives for leadership talks, you should not aim to have participants win a speaking ""beauty contests"" but instead to speak so that they motivate others to get increases in measured results. When you change the focus of the courses from speaking appearance to the reality of results, you change the participants' view of and commitment to the courses and also their view of and commitment to you in providing those courses. So have the participants define their indispensable results and link the principles and processes they learned in the course to getting measured increases in those results.

Execute: It's not enough to recognize. It's not enough to link. You must execute. ""Execute"" comes from a Latin root exsequi meaning ""to follow continuously and vigorously to the end or even to 'the grave.'"" Let's capture if not the letter at least the spirit of this lively root by insuring that your activities on behalf of your clients are well ""executed,"" that they are carried out vigorously and continuously in their daily work throughout their careers. If those activities are helping them get results, you are truly their ""results partner.""

For instance, in regard to the leadership talk courses, HR professionals can lead an ""initiative approach."" At the conclusion of the course, each participant selects an initiative to institute back on the job. The aim of each initiative is to get sizable increases in their indispensable results by using the principles and processes that they learned.

The initiatives and their results should be concrete and measurable, such as productivity gains, increases in sales, operations efficiencies, and reduced cycle times.

The participants should be challenged to get increases in results above and beyond what they would have gotten without having taken the course. They should be challenged to get those increases within a mutually agreed upon time, such as quarterly reports. In fact, if the participants don't achieve an increase in results that translates to at least ten times what the course costs, they should get their money back.

Don't stop there. Getting an increase in results is not the end of the course, it should be the beginning -- the beginning of a new phase of getting results, the stepping up phase. The more results participants achieve, the more opportunities they have created to achieve even more results. The leadership talk course should have methods for instituting results' step-ups.

One such method can be a quarterly leadership-talk round table. Participants who graduate from the course meet once a quarter to discuss the results they have gotten and provide best practices for getting more. Human resources should organize, direct and facilitate the round tables. In this way, the results the leaders are getting should increase quarter after quarter.

When HR professionals promote such leadership talk courses, courses that are linked to getting increases in indispensable results and that come with the ""results guarantee,"" those professionals are truly seen as results partners in their organizations. I have used the leadership talk as an example of how you can greatly enhance your contributions to the company by applying the Leadership Obligation. Don't just apply the Obligation to such courses alone. Apply it to whatever challenge confronts you.

When you recognize how that challenge can be met through the Obligation, when you link the challenge to getting increases in measured results, and when you execute for results, you can transform your function.

You don't have to be as distinguished as Einstein or as awesome as Big Daddy Lipscomb, but you will in your individual way perceive the simple, powerful center of things. You'll be in the thick of the most important game your company is playing -- helping change your world and the world of your clients.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 20 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,"" at www.actionleadership.com

The Listening Leadership Talk

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 897

The Listening Leadership Talk by Brent Filson

For more than 20 years, I have taught the Leadership Talk to thousands of people worldwide. And maybe the most important thing I've taught isn't about talking -- at least the leader's talking.

I've taught there is a hierarchy of verbal persuasion. The lowest levels, the least effective, are speeches and presentations. The highest levels, the most effective, are Leadership Talks.

I've taught that speeches/presentations communicate information; Leadership Talks, on the other hand, have leaders establish deep, human, emotional connections with audiences -- indispensable in achieving great results.

Of course, the Leadership Talk is by definition about talking. But often there's a more effective dynamic to employ: listening. Not passive listening -- but listening for one purpose, so the other person gives you your Leadership Talk.

After all, it's not what you say that's important in a Leadership Talk but what your audience does after you have had your say.

And if they do the best thing not after you speak but after you listen, then you have given one of the most effective Leadership Talks of all -- a Listening Leadership Talk.

The Listening Leadership Talk focuses on what other people are invariably interested in, themselves. But here's the key: their simply talking is useless to your leadership. It is only useful when their talk is the talk you need for them to give.

Moving people from talking their talk to talking your talk -- and ultimately walking your walk --is the art of the Listening Leadership Talk. Here are a few tips to make it happen.

(1) Use question marks. Your asking questions encourages people to reflect upon and talk about the challenge you face. After all, we can't motivate anyone to do anything. They have to motivate themselves. And they best motivate themselves when they reflect on their character and their situation and are also given the opportunity to talk about their reflections.

You may not like what they say; but often their answer is better in terms of advancing their motivation and your results than your full-stop sentence.

Furthermore, their answer may prompt them to think they have come up with a good idea. People tend to be less enamored of your ideas than they are of their own.

However, be aware of the difference between asking a question of somebody and questioning them. When asking a question, you communicate you're interested in the answer the person wants; when questioning, you communicate you're interested in the answer you want. And if the people you are interacting with think you are there not for them but for yourself, you damage the environment a Listening Leadership Talk can thrive in. (2) Create a critical convergence. This will help you avoid the ""herding cats"" syndrome. Once you get people talking, they may be all over the map, talking about everything but what you want to have talked about.

Keep things on track by establishing a critical convergence, the joining of your enthusiasms and theirs so they're as enthusiastic as you about meeting the challenges you face. Do that by understanding their needs as problems and seeking to have them voice solutions to those problems, solutions that advance your leadership concerns.

For instance, at a police academy classroom, the instructor passed a note to one of the recruits. It read, ""CLEAR THIS CLASSROOM OUT NOW!"" The recruit started shouting, ""Everybody out of the room!"" People looked confused. A few left. The remainder stayed. The instructor gave the note to another recruit, who pleaded, ""Please, everybody out."" Still, people remained there. Then the instructor gave a note to a third recruit, who developed a Listening Leadership talk by creating a critical convergence. He asked, ""What time is it?"" ""Quarter to twelve,"" someone answered. The recruit with the note simply shrugged and in the silence, let the idea emerge. ""Lunch break!"" the recruits called in unison and quickly cleared the room.

Creating a critical convergence establishes and environment in which the Listening Leadership flourishes.

(3) Develop a Leadership Contract. This may be written -- from a few ideas scribbled on a scrap of paper to a more formal typed version calling for your signatures -- or the Contract may simply be an oral agreement, sealed with a handshake. Clearly, it's not a legal instrument -- nor should it embody legalese. It's just a spelling out of the leadership actions you both agree must be taken to accomplish your goal.

Here's the key: The best way to get that agreement is first to have them talk about actions they propose to take. Make sure they describe precise, physical actions. And not just any actions but leadership actions. Discourage them from talking about how they'll be doing tasks. Instead, encourage them to talk about how they'll be taking leadership of those tasks. (There is a big difference in terms of results generated between doing and leading.) Then ask how they need to be supported in those actions. Finally, ask them how those actions should be monitored and evaluated. In getting answers to these questions, you'll be putting together a Leadership Contract by giving a Listening Leadership Talk.

The Leadership Talk is the greatest leadership tool. But the tool has its gradations of effectiveness. Often your talking is not as effective as your audience's talking. When your Leadership Talk comes out of their mouths, not your mouth, you may find you are raising your leadership effectiveness to much higher levels.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,"" at http://www.actionleadership.com. More about the Leadership Talk: http://www.theleadershiptalk.com

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

How do develop the 10 Capabilities to Leadership - Capability 1

Author: lee stemm

John C Maxell's definition of leadership is influence. The ability to influence to lead others successfully is a skill and is developed not discovered. People don't want to be managed they want to be lead. Whoever heard of a world manager? World leader yes. Every one of us continually exerts influence. Is it empowering or controlling? The issue is not whether you influence someone. What needs to be settled is what kind of an influencer are you? Will you grow into your leadership skills? What would happen if you asked each team member - ""how could I lead you more effectively?""

Capability for Self Awareness

A successful leader clearly entails a considerable degree of self-knowledge and self acceptance. The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for choice and freedom.

Leadership demands that we be motivated by a genuine interest in and concerns for ourselves and others. Such a perception entails a belief that reason can triumph over fear, and that people are resourceful, competent, capable of self-direction and able to live fulfilling and productive lives. A leader who is motivated and inspired by these beliefs can guide and support individuals to develop their capabilities and stimulate, constructive, lasting change.

With a high degree of self-awareness it becomes easier for you to understand and channel your feelings, as well as listening to others and responding to their immediate issues and needs. You will be able to re-build relationships and eliminate mis-understandings that could re-occur in the future.

There are several benefits for self awareness and these are:

o You gain self awareness that enables you to recognise your own feelings and to manage them effectively. You know the difference between feelings and behaviour and what their origin is. - knowledge is power o It is possible for you to find a balance between expressing and controlling your feelings o There is a balance between your thoughts and feelings o You realise that you are responsible of your own feelings o You have empathy with the feelings of others and can understand them o Your improved communication skills give rise to healthier relationships o You have the skills to assert yourself. You provide for fulfilling your needs without intruding onto the rights of others o Is possible for you to formulate goals that make your life interesting and effective o Emotional baggage can be left behind while your increasing energy makes it possible for the 'new you' to strive towards new ideas

REMEMBER: You can only change yourself if you consciously decide to change. Nobody can do it for you. You can not change another person. The change process could bring resistance because it is more comfortable staying unchanged. The question is do you want to live a comfortable life, or do you want to live an enriched fulfilled life?

Keep a look out for - How to Develop the 10 Capabilities to Leadership - Capability 2

About the author: Lee stemm is a leadership + performance coach who supports business and organisational leaders in developing a framework that fosters transformation and the alignment of personal managerial behaviour with the culture change. free mini course at - http://www.inspiringexcellence.net

Dump Your Speeches For Leadership Talks!

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 600.

Dump Your Speeches For Leadership Talks! by Brent Filson

The CEO of a worldwide business asked me to help him develop a talk he planned to give to several hundred of his top executives. He said, ""I feel as if I'm Daniel going into the lion's den.""

Indeed, it was the business equivalent of a lion's den that he was entering. Hired from a competing firm, he was a stranger to the company, a company hobbled by declining market share and bad morale caused by the arbitrary actions of the previous CEO, an isolated dictator.

""This is the first time most of them will see and hear me,"" he said. ""I'll give a presentation on the state of the business.""

""Hold on,"" I said. ""Don't give a presentation. Give a Leadership Talk instead.""

There is a difference, I explained, between a presentation/speech and a Leadership Talk. A presentation/speech communicates information, but a Leadership Talk not only communicates information but makes a deep, emotional, human connection with the audience.

Most leaders give presentations and speeches most of the time when they should be giving Leadership Talks.

""You're facing an important leadership situation,"" I said. ""The old saying, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression' applies here in spades. You've got a great Leadership Talk opportunity. But to have people believe in you and follow you, they must be emotionally committed to you and what you say. So understand what their emotional needs are.""

I went out into the field and talked to a number of his managers and found out that they were feeling intimidated by the demands of increasingly sophisticated customers. I found out that they feared not being supported in the decisions they made in the field. I learned that they were angry at having to meet what they considered unnecessary reporting requirements. I learned that they didn't trust the top executives.

Intimidation, fear, anger, distrust . . . those emotions described the state of his audience and, in truth, the state of the business.

The CEO gave a Leadership Talk that spoke to and answered the needs of those emotions, a talk based on the single idea that he was a person that they could trust.

That Leadership Talk marked the beginning of a turnaround for that company.

The lesson: Analyze and speak to the emotion of a situation, and you can become a dramatically more effective leader.

Make that analysis happen this way: * Know the difference between a presentation/speech and Leadership Talk then view every speaking situation you encounter as either a presentation/speech situation or a Leadership Talk situation. * Know that you rarely give presentation/speeches and that The Leadership Talk should be your primary leadership communication tool.

* Analyze the emotions of your audience by asking what they feel at the time you speak, what they fear, what angers them, what inspires them.

* Structure your talk around emotional-talking points. For instance, list three things that angers your audience. Make those things the main headings of your talk.

* Speak to them about their emotions. Tell them, for instance, that you realize they are angry and what they are angry about. Tell them what you realize they are feeling.

Speak thus, and you are revealed in powerful motivational ways. Furthermore, they are revealed to themselves.

These revelations can create strong bonds between speakers and audiences.

Understand the speaking situation in terms of its emotional content, and you understand that situation in new ways. Understand it in new ways and you speak in new ways. And when you speak in new ways, your audience will act in new ways.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 22 years helping them achieve sizable increases in hard, measured results. Sign up for his free leadership ezine and get a free guide, ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results,"" at http://www.actionleadership.com For more on the Leadership Talk: http://www.theleadershiptalk.com

Career Enhancement Leadership Course Review

Author: Joyce Jackson

Leadership is a tricky subject, at best. Perhaps this is why finding a single source that covers every aspect of this topic seems nearly impossible. And, what's more, much of the information available on leadership today taps into dated research, making modern day leadership mastery more elusive than ever.

Sure, there in a plethora of information out there - books, websites, etc., but finding a credible, go-to source that can be counted to bring about strong results, can be next to impossible.

That is, until now.

For if you are a manager, team leader or inspired professional, you finally have within your reach the tools needed to lead successfully. Thanks to the team at Mind Tools, everything needed to achieve leadership success - the latest research, the proven tools, techniques, resources and exercises, have been assembled in a single resource, appropriately entitled ""How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You"".

Thoroughly researched and written by a recognized team of experts, ""How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You"" teaches the simple, practical principles that anyone can apply to become an effective leader.

Furthermore, this leadership course and workbook dispels the myths surrounding leadership (for example, that good leaders are born, not trained) by explaining the clear, simple, up-to-date principles that are the foundation of solid, respectable leadership. And it teaches the 48 essential skills needed to become an effective leader.

Written by Mind Tools Founder James Manktelow, who also wrote ""Make Time for Success!"" and ""Stress Tools,"" along with world-renowned leadership expert Felix Brodbeck and knowledge-transfer specialist Namita Anand, ""How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You"" is the result of a year-long collaborative effort that tapped into some of the greatest minds in the world's leadership arena.

Furthermore, the course is brought to you by the highly-specialized MindTools.com team, one of the world's most-visited management training and career development sites, educating more than 4,000,000 guests each year.

""How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You,"" is comprised of eight different modules, including:

The Meaning of Leadership Get to Know Yourself Get ""The Right Stuff"" Creating Winning Ideas The Power to Rouse Getting Things Done Develop Your Team Get the Extra Edge

Each module is followed by a detailed guide that shows exactly how to implement the tools and techniques, supported by exercises that further ensure participants have a full understanding of what it takes to be an effective leader.

Similar in format to other popular Mind Tools e-books and courses, there are also additional sources, links and other information provided throughout ""How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You."" The link to the class can be found at http://www.careerenhanceo nline.com .

About the author: Joyce Jackson is an expert in the filed of career enhancement and fast track advancement. Her exptensive website provides tols, resources, links and valuable information on careers at Career Enhancement Basics.

Get Out Of The Communication Stone Age: Give Leadership Talks

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 715

Get Out Of The Communication Stone Age: Give Leadership Talks By Brent Filson

160 years ago, the newly invented electric telegraph carried the first news message. The message zipped 40 miles in a flash over wires from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.

The public was dazzled -- except Henry David Thoreau. He wrote: ""We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.""

Today, we live in a Golden Age of communication. We have the Internet. We have faxes. We have e-mails. We have streaming video. We have on-line audio. We have RSS feeds. We have logs and blogs.

Yet today Thoreau is as right as rain. When it comes to really getting our messages across, we're stuck in the Stone Age.

Here's why. The vast majority of business leaders I've encountered are repeatedly making a huge mistake in communication, a mistake that's screwing up their jobs and careers. They're stuck giving presentations and speeches. They're NOT giving Leadership Talks!

What's a Leadership Talk? Look at it this way: There's a hierarchy of verbal persuasion when it comes to business leadership. The lowest levels are speeches and presentations. They communicate information. The highest, most effective way of communicating is the Leadership Talk. The Leadership Talk does more than simply send information. It has the leader establish a deep, human, emotional connection with the audience. That's where leaders communicate for the best results.

Here are a few examples of leadership talks. When Churchill said, ""We will fight on the beaches ... "" That was a leadership talk. When Kennedy said, ""Ask not what your country can do for you ... "" that was a leadership talk. When Reagan said, ""Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"" That was a leadership talk.

You can come up with a lot of examples too. Go back to those moments when the words of a leader inspired people to take ardent action, and you've probably put your finger on an authentic leadership talk.

Mind you, I'm not just talking about great leaders of history. I'm also talking about all leaders everywhere no matter what their function or rank. After all, leaders speak 15 to 20 times a day: everything from formal speeches to informal chats. When those interactions are leadership talks, not just speeches or presentations, the effectiveness of those leaders is dramatically increased.

That's where business leaders communicate for the best results. You can order people to go from point A to point B. But the best way to get great results is to have people want to go from A to B. Instilling ""want to"" in others, motivating them ... isn't that what great leadership is all about?

Don't get me wrong. The Leadership Talk is not some kind of ""feel-good"" way of relating. It took me 20 years to figure out how to give Leadership Talks and write two books about it. There are specific processes one must manifest in order to give Leadership Talks. Usually it takes me two full days to teach people how to do it. Once they learn it, they can use it throughout the rest of their careers. The Leadership Talk is relatively easy to learn and it takes years to master. The point is that through it, you can take specific, concrete steps to motivate people to take action that gets great results. For instance, before leaders can develop and deliver a Leadership Talk, they must first answer ""yes"" to three simple questions: ""Do you know what the audience needs? Can you transfer your deep believe to others so they believe as strongly as you do about the challenges you face? And can you have that audience take ardent action that gets results?"" If leaders ""no"" to any one of those questions, he/she can't give a Leadership Talk.

160 years ago the dots and dashes that chattered down the wires from Baltimore to Washington spelled out that the Whigs had nominated Henry Clay to run for the presidency.

Back then, Thoreau might have said nothing important was communicated; but today if you want to lead for great results, take Thoreau to heart. Communicate what truly IS important. Don't give presentations and speeches. Give Leadership Talks. Forge those deep, human, emotional connections with your audiences. Get them motivated to take ardent action for great results.

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine at http://www.actionleadership.com and get a free white paper: ""49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results."" For more about The Leadership Talk: http://theleadershiptalk.com

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Three C's of Leadership

Author: Rick Johnson

Curiosity - Creativity - Commitment --- The Three C's of Leadership BY: Rick Johnson CEO Strategist llc

People who get results are high impact leaders. They are consistent, explicit and concise and they command a presence when they walk into a room. They have enough charisma to turn the dullest moment into a high-energy event. When they move on, others want to go with them. Their openness and honesty creates a legacy which people admire and look up to. They gain commitment and foster trust.

Most of us are not born leaders. However, a good percentage of us long to become leaders of men and make deep connections in our careers seeking that ultimate leadership position. It may be Sales Manager, Warehouse Supervisor, Vice President, CFO or even CEO.

To achieve our leadership objective understanding the Three C's of Leadership is essential:

* Curiosity * Creativity * Commitment

Curiosity

Every successful leader demonstrates a curiosity that would not be satisfied without personal examination of what exactly were the causes of failure to meet expectations. This was validated through NAW's (National Association of Wholesaler Distributors) research ""Profiles in Wholesale Distribution Leadership. http://www.nawpubs.org/orderform.html . In this project, individual leadership models differed in their specific approaches. The common thread that linked every model together was their respect for the individual and the willingness and ability to listen with an understanding that embellished their own leadership contribution to the organization. The most obvious similarity between these the seven exceptional leaders interviewed was the fact that they were all curious, creative and committed. Leadership is about curiosity, scenario planning, strategic planning and calculated risk taking. Effective leaders are excellent listeners that have tremendous questioning skills. The power of influence is often in the question and not in the answers. Effective leaders understand this concept. A common trait found in every successful leader I have ever been associated with is unhesitant curiosity. Curiosity about their markets, their business, their industry, their employees and what it takes to grow, prosper and create competitive advantage. These leaders have accepted the fact that they may not have all the answers. More importantly, they recognize that they don't have to have all the answers. Changing a leadership style is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Development of their leadership skills is a continuous process. This process includes: * Enhancement of their instinctive curiosity and a strengthening of their focus on being a customer driven organization. Service and quality become a way of life within the organization and it is used to support their competitive advantage. * Taking their vision and redefining it as an end game which challenges their executive team to create a strategic plan to meet this end game. * The recognition that employees are the most precious asset and backing up that recognition by the willingness to invest profits in the development of these employees. * Empowerment that is accompanied by the resources necessary to succeed and accountability for results. * Utilizing a board of directors as a resource while sharing management challenges seeking policy and guidance, incorporating contingency planning and scenario planning as a regular exercise. Wholesale distribution organizations increasingly are characterized by a large and incredibly complex set of independent relationships between highly diverse groups of people. To be successful, today's leader must determine how to get active involvement built on a platform of creativity, commitment and curiosity out of their employees. Creativity

Successful leaders take the time to listen, imagine and investigate numerous alternatives. With the involvement of people they forge creative solutions to difficult problems. They challenge their people to stretch, go beyond their previous boundaries and think outside the box. Successful leaders feed off their people and allow their people to feed off of them. They give credit where credit is due. They give recognition as a means of gaining respect. They believe individuals can make a difference. Through these methods they learn to create new insights and possibilities. Successful leadership means creating a sense of urgency, getting mutual commitment to action. Action steps are always clearly defined and precise. Often, due to the personification of the leader's own personality and charisma, employees are eager to leap into action - without forethought. A successful leader recognizes this possibility and takes the necessary steps to avoid this pitfall by teaching precision in planning. They are clear and explicit. They communicate with encouraging clarity that commands ownership by everyone involved in the commitments made. The successful leader is constantly building advantages into the organizations. The belief is that you don't always have to be better than your competition but you must be different. This concept demands creativity and innovations.

Commitment

Commitment is critical element to success whether the company is in a growth mode, a stabilizing mode or an acquisition mode or any other type of circumstance. Failure to demonstrate commitment by the leader can have negative consequences that inhibit success. Commitment is essential to developing trust. Trust is necessary to get people to reach down deep inside and give everything they have under the most difficult circumstances. The reason people follow any leader, especially in the business world, is due to trust. The only way to develop trust is by demonstrating personal commitment to success. Talking to people with respect to gain their respect and demonstrating your personal work ethic is part of your commitment. Their respect is a key ingredient to developing trust. Trust is gained when people think the company cares about their welfare and recognizes the role they play in creating a profit.. People have to think that the company not only cares about their problems but that the leader and the company is committed toward making every effort to solve them. Employees want to take pride in their leaders. They are eager to give their trust but demonstrating the kind of commitment as a leader that deserves that trust can not be over emphasized. Don't let the employees down. Commitment to the employees and the company is built around a true concern for the people within the organization. It is based on fairness and consistency. The effectiveness of a true leader is not measured in terms of the leadership he or she exercises. It is measured in the leadership evoked. It is not measured in terms of power over subordinates but in terms of the power released in subordinates. Leadership is not measured in terms of goals and objectives but it is measured in terms of the accomplishment of others as a result of that leadership. Leadership is not measured in the decisions made, the costs cut, the plans made. It is measured in terms of the growth in confidence, sense of responsibility and acceptance of accountability of the employees that are a result of that leadership.

Leadership and commitment are intertwined. They go together. Leadership and commitment help create solidarity. Solidarity implies a unity within a group that enables it to manifest its strength and exert its influence as a group. Unity implies oneness, especially of what is varied or diverse in its direction or clarity. Unity describes the inner relationships of individual parts making up the whole. It is an achievement that demands the probability of action and leadership. That action, that leadership, if appropriate and precise, leads to trust. Demonstrate your commitment to the company, to your employees and to success in every possible way. Your employees need to know you are committed.

Once these principles are learned and practiced , leverage of these leadership skills to develop the management team is the next step. The true test of a successful leader is that he leaves behind the conviction, the will and the understanding to carry on.

Leaders must make emotional connections with the management team that surrounds them. They must encourage these people to open up, share dialog and reveal dreams. They must teach and mentor. It's not as easy as Willie Nelson would have you believe. A good leader is not intimidated by the success of others. They encourage others to succeed and help them fulfill their wants and needs. Leveraging leadership helps determine the hidden factors in communication. Understanding inferences and assertions become a key component to understanding people. Curious leaders have high questioning and prospering skills that allow them to drill down to real facts and issues. Leveraging their leadership allows successful leaders to establish emotional connections, which diminish fear and intimidation. This encourages enthusiasm and cooperation.

Excellence in what you do, continuous improvement aren't words. They're a way of life. When you understand that they're a way of life, then the change that you have in the way you perform is beyond comprehension because you just wind up operating at a different level, and if you can find a way to capture that in the culture of your business, in the culture that you emanate to your people, then as this culture structure changes, you have an opportunity for a superior level of performance. Excellence, and that's what in the end it's all about. Excellence breeds a high level of profitability. Chuck Steiner (2003) his NAW interview,

Success depends on more than just ""best practice"" success drivers. Success demands a superior level of leadership--a level that requires deep commitment. This commitment will not flourish in workplace environments that are still dominated by the ""slap & point"" or the ""carrot and stick"" method of management often used in the past.

About the author: www.ceostrategist.com Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is the founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in leadership and the creation of competitive advantage in wholesale distribution. CEO Strategist LLC. works in an advisory capacity with distributor executives in board representation, executive coaching, team coaching and education and training to make the changes necessary to create or maintain co

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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Three C's of Leadership

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