Leaders on Leadership: December 2006

Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Leadership Imperative: Making Your Leadership Your Life

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: 468

Summary: The author describes a vision of leadership that you can use throughout your career. It's a vision that will also help enrich your life.

The Leadership Imperative: Making Your Leadership Your Life by Brent Filson

Nearly all leaders I've encountered are underachievers. They're getting a fraction of the results they are capable of. And in most cases, it's their fault. Their failures are the result of the choices they make. For the opportunities to consistently get more results are all around them all the time, theirs for the taking.

For instance, to start getting more results than you are accustomed to getting, you simply have to change your mind-set. You should aim to make your leadership your life and your life your leadership. If you don't, you diminish both your leadership and your life.

To have the change in mind-set really sink in so it changes you in a deep, fundamental way, you must cultivate two dynamics: a vision of the purpose of your leadership, and the dedication to realize that purpose.

The word ""vision"" has been used and misused ad nauseam. The trouble is that most leaders misunderstand it. When they think ""vision"", they look at themselves, at what they can do for themselves. To do well for yourself, an inward focus is the wrong place to look.

Here's a vision that you can carry with you for the rest of your career, for the rest of your life. I call it the Leadership Imperative.

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

This vision has two parts: one is result-accomplishments and the other is the betterment of the people.

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 that the jobs you take on, the career(s) you have, will, in terms of your doing well by them, take care of themselves.

However, vision alone is not enough. You must be dedicated to realizing it. Realizing this vision means living not an easy life for ourselves but a hard life for others.

There are many ways to make such realization happen, and it should be our life's journey to find them and put them into action. The point is that when you turn the focus of your ambitions away from yourself and toward other people, when you become truly ambitious for their success, your success will take care of itself.

How do we really let our leadership sink deeply into our life and change it and shape it throughout our lives? By dedicating ourselves to passionately realizing the Leadership Imperative.

About the author: 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 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

A Managerial PR System You Will Love

by Bob Kelly

Its a happy day indeed when business, non-profit, government agency or association managers end their preoccupation with (and reliance upon) the simple mechanics of press releases, broadcast plugs and special events. What theyve decided is, they no longer wish to be denied the best public relations has to offer, preferring instead the quality public relations results they believe they deserve.

Thus they begin construction of a workable managerial PR system by putting in place a high-impact action plan designed to do something meaningful about the behaviors of those important outside audiences that MOST affect the departmental, divisional or subsidiary units they manage.

Inevitably, the new plan helps create the kind of external takeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives; in this case by persuading those key outside folks to the managers way of thinking by helping move audience members to take actions that help the managers unit succeed.

It rapidly becomes apparent to these managers that the good news implicit in PRs underlying premise is the reality that good public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and result in changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

But what about PRs underlying premise? As a manager, see if you can live with it. People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

With such an approach to public relations, an awful lot of warm and fuzzy end-products can appear: customers begin to make repeat purchases; new prospects actually start to do business with you; politicians and legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; welcome bounces in show room visits occur; community leaders begin to seek you out; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up; and membership applications start to rise.

Of course, whether the PR people assigned to your unit come from an agency, parent company or are direct hires, they are already in the perception and behavior business. So look first to them to manage your data gathering activity. But be certain that they really accept why its SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. In a word or two, be sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Also spend some quality time with your PR people analyzingyour plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Suggest queries along these lines: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Be aware that using a professional survey firm to do the opinion gathering work, can be an expensive alternative to using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity. But whether its your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

This is when the establishment of a clearcut and realistic PR goal is necessary, one that calls for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring.

You may decide to straighten out that dangerous misconception, bring to an end that potentially painful rumor, or correct that awful inaccuracy.

Part and parcel of your public relations goal is the right, action-oriented strategy that shows how to get to where youre going. Actually, you have just three strategic options available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion.

Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Needless to say, the wrong strategy pick will taste like mushroom gravy on your sardines. So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly dont want to select "change" when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Because youre going to have to prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking, ask the best writer on your team to get ready to prepare a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. The writer must produce some really corrective language that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Carefully selected communications tactics will carry your message to the attention of your target audience, and there are many such tactics available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Another reason to stay alert to the means you use to communicate a message is that its credibility is fragile and always suspect. Thus, you may wish initially to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings rather than using higher profile news releases.

Demonstrating how far youve come compared to the starting point will highlight progress made. First,youll be demonstrating, in the form of periodic progress reports, how the monies spent on public relations can pay off. But its also an alert to start a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Here, youll use many of the same questions used in the benchmark interviews. Only difference now is, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Its also possible that momentum could flag suggesting that adding more communications tactics, and/or increasing their frequencies, will adequately address that problem.

In brief, this is a management public relations system with a remarkable prognosis: as a manager, it will move you beyond preoccupation with communications tactics, freeing you to use the right PR system to alter the perceptions of your most important outside audiences, leading directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

About the author: Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:www.PRCommentary.com

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Is Your Leadership Is Effective?

Author: Michael Beck

In many ways, good leadership is hard to define. It can't be directly measured. There's no leadership ""score"" or report card. In fact often the measure of leadership is qualitative rather than quantitative - although quantitative results always follow. So, the questions remains, how can you tell if your leadership skills are effective?

Plain and simple, leadership is about getting others to take action. If leadership effectiveness is lacking, less than best effort is put forth. The better the leadership, the better the effort. Exceptional leadership inspires the best effort in others.

Effective leadership is a function of both individual competencies and organizational culture. What are some signs that leadership isnt as effective as it could be? There are a number of them. They are indications that something is missing in the leadership equation.

* Inability to Motivate People * Difficulty Attracting/Retaining the Right People * Low Productivity * Poor Customer Orientation * High Stress * Isolation * Declining Profits * Ineffective Delegation * Lack of Creativity * Lack of Initiative * Ineffective Teams * Poor Communications * Lack of Vision * Diminishing Revenues * High Turnover

What can be done to improve leadership effectiveness? The answer is simple to understand and yet not so simple to implement. It starts with understanding the foundations of what makes someone an effective leader and what kind of organizational culture is most effective.

Effective Personal Leadership

When I ask workshop participants about characteristics of both good and bad leaders, the list never includes issues of intelligence, technical skills, or effective decision-making! Instead, the list is full of people-related traits good listener, respectful, good communicator, develops others,

Effective personal leadership can be summarized as being competent in these skill sets:

* Becoming Influential * Facilitating Teamwork & Collaboration * Being a Catalyst for Change * Managing Conflict * Developing Others * Having & Communicating a Compelling Vision

Unfortunately, improving ones competency in these areas is often a challenge. Let me explain why Unlike factual information, which gets processed in the neo-cortex of the brain, people-related skills are processed in part of the brain called the amygdala. This portion of the brain regulates emotional insights and responses rather than logical insights and responses. Improving the leadership skills set forth above require one to break old habits/responses and form new ones, and we arent able to do this simply by learning and acquiring knowledge. Thats the difference between the neo-cortex and the amygdala.

There are a couple of inherent challenges with this process. Pretty much everyone acknowledges that they have room for improvement. The first challenge is knowing which areas to improve. We all have blind spots. We're aware of some of our shortcomings, but usually not all of them. Secondly, breaking habits and forming new ones requires commitment, persistence, and time. It usually takes support from others people who can point out when youve acted in a way contradictory to your intent. Its important to use a reliable assessment to identify areas of growth opportunity. From those results, we can develop a plan of development which bolsters weaker areas and leverages stronger areas. The final aspect of a successful personal development plan relies on having one or more people who can support you, give unbiased, non-judgmental feedback, and help you make course corrections.

Organizational Culture

The foundations of a strong organization are:

1. Developing a clear and compelling Purpose 2. Identifying the organization's Mission to achieve the Purpose 3. Agreeing on a set of Values by which to carry out the Mission 4. Adopting a Servant Leader attitude throughout the organization

An organization's Purpose is the ""Why"" of its existence. Its not what it does as much as what it is striving to accomplish. It is a statement of the greater good it is attempting to achieve. It answers the question: ""Why are we here?"" and helps give clarity and focus to each person in the organization. It is the yardstick by which decisions are measured.

An organization's Mission is the ""What"" of an organization. It is a definition of what the company does to achieve its stated Purpose. It begins to define the core proficiencies of a business and helps keep it focused on achieving its Purpose.

An organization's set of Values is the ""How"" of an organization. It defines what an organization most values in the execution of its Mission. It's not an all encompassing list of possible values as much as a statement of what the organization most values in its people and their conduct. It defines behaviors and culture within an organization. It helps set the guidelines of what is and is not acceptable.

At the core of Servant Leadership is the premise that the customer is the most important person to the organization. As a consequence of that premise, it only follows that the most important people to the customer are the frontline staff. They're the people who customers interact with on a daily basis. This understanding leads to the philosophy that the job of the manager of the frontline people is to make their jobs as easy and effective as possible so the customer has the best experience possible. The result is an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid. This servant attitude focuses leaders on developing those around them. It leads to people working together in a collaborative, solution-oriented environment.

How does one go about developing Purpose, Mission, and Values? Falling back on our understanding of Servant Leadership and the importance of everyone in the organization, the creation of Purpose, Mission and Values requires input from people in all areas of the company. They (the Purpose, Mission, and Values) need to be relevant to all involved, they need to be consistent with one another, and they need to be used consistently as a yardstick for decisions and policies. Theres nothing worse than developing Values and just paying them lip-service by not living them day-to-day. A practice like that lacks integrity and actually becomes a demoralizer.

In summary, when we combine personal competency in all areas of leadership skills with an organizational culture which supports people, their development, and their success, we end up with exceptional leadership which, in turn, inspires the best effort in others.

About the author: Written by Michael Beck, President of Exceptional Leadership, Inc. a firm which develops exceptional leaders through leadership enhancement and executive coaching. Michael can be reached at 877-977-8956 or mbeck@XLeaders.com , and you can learn more about the company and these ideas at www.XLeaders.com Permission to reprint with full attribution. © 2005 Exceptional Leadership, Inc.

Leadership For Deep Results: Without Them Are You Wasting Your Leadership And Your Life? (Part Two)

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 811

Summary: The author asserts there are two kinds of results leaders achieve, standard results and deep results. All leaders know what standard results are, but few leaders know what deep results are. In the long run, standard results, though necessary, are far less important than deep results.

Leadership For Deep Results: Without Them Are You Wasting Your Leadership And Your Life? (Part Two) by Brent Filson

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 THEY 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.

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.

We are this mind/body in this space/time continuum. We know that. But to realize it, we must live it. To live it, we must seek it in our living. And that knowing and living and seeking is deep results.

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 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.

A New Time For Leadership

Author: Judi Singleton

In today's fast changing world the challenges presented for leadership are ever changing. Old methods are constantly changing and new leaders must change with them. These demands for leadership are changing so fast that there is now a lack of people to fill these positions. In this ever changing enviroment of global business reform is now definitely called for in doing business.

If organisations are to succeed in this changing enviroment leaders must be skilled at using their staffs to their full potential, giving the customer excellent care, have an ability to forsee and implement use of technology, and not least the ability to work cross culturally. What is needed today is leadership that are visionary.

They are first and formost dreamers. They can envision dreams and inspire others to blossom to their full potential by encouraging them to dream.

They are able to build global trust and use our diversities to dream beyond anything that has ever been known to man before this time.

The future CEO will be ask to balance broader social roles that companies are being ask to play all over the world. They will be asked to manage a diverse multicultural workforce and not the least of these talents will the future CEO will be ask to handle the painful ethical issues that arise out of the intersection of business and technology.

This new leader will use their understanding of trends in a dynamic environment to craft a sound strategic direction. They will create movement by motivating key players to overcome the obstacles they encounter along the way. These obstacles will be many and one of the biggest will be the CEO's themselves working with a diverse multicultural enviroment.

As we step into the future all who do global business will have to possess the ability to build alliances and business partnerships. In the International markets there is an overriding imperative to form alliances and partnerships. The new leader will have to be able to form and negotiate these partnerships. They will be have to be able to gain lower cost production through scale, and be able to know and navigate the regulatory enviroment of foreign countries.

Keeping others focused and working as a team in an enviroment that may be new to the leader as well as the team is especially challenging.

Being the mentor, coach, even communication can be difficult in an environment where cultural norms, symbols and values are all Also working where political, regulatory and business landscape can change quickly and without warning. Keeping up with these changes as well as motivating others in this kind of enviroment can certainly be challenging.

Leader who aspire to business leadership positions, particularly in globalising companies, must look and assess their talents and abilities in all the above areas. If they do not possess these qualities they must ask themselves how they will educate themselves in these areas. Many of these areas are not something one can obtain through education perhaps through mentoring, but one thing is solid in the evaluation of self for the new leadership position is it will take great sensitivity and the ability to be flexible. True leaders are born with a attitude of learning from others, learning as they go along, sensitivity, and respect. Their true education comes in experiences. There has always been and will always be a shortage of these kinds of leaders.

About the author: Judi Singleton is a free lance writer and publishers she publishes ten blogs a week if you would like to join one of her blogs go to http://www.motherearthpublishing.com

Friday, December 29, 2006

In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action. (Part 2)

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 687

Summary: Results don't happen unless people take action. But there are right and wrong ways to take action. Here are eight ways of right action that every leader must challenge the people they lead to take.

In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action. (Part 2) by Brent Filson

In Part 1, I said that leaders who can't have people take right action are ineffective, and I listed four of the eight ways of right action. In Part 2, I'll describe the remaining four ways.

Action must be: (5) LINKED TO NEED. The people's needs are their reality. If you are an order leader, you clearly do not have to know their needs. You simply exhibit a my-way-or-the-highway attitude. But if you want to motivate them to take action, you need to understand that reality. Because their motivation is not your choice, it's their choice. Your role is to communicate, their role is to motivate, to motivate themselves. It's their choice. It's not yours. So their needs are not only their reality, in the leadership equation, their needs are the only reality. They don't care about your needs. They don't care about your reality. They only care about their reality. Tie the action you want them to take to THEIR NEEDS, not yours. Which means of course that you have to clearly identify their needs.

(6) URGENT: Patience is a virtue, but it can also be a tender trap. Urgency is a results-multiplier. A Roman centurion said the secret to instilling urgency in the troops was summed up in two words, ""hit them."" His credo lives today in the order leader -- not necessarily in a physical sense but more importantly in a psychological sense. But trying to gain urgency through ""hit them"" is far less effective than having urgency come from the people's internal motivation. Here's a process to have people take urgent action: IDENTIFY THEIR NEEDS, SEE THE PROBLEMS IN THEIR NEEDS, AND HAVE THEIR TAKING ACTION PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO THOSE PROBLEMS.

For instance, in a police academy, an instructor came into the room with a note that said CLEAR OUT THIS ROOM IMMEDIATELY. The first cadet ordered his colleagues out. A few cadets left but most stayed. The instructor handed the note to a second cadet who pleaded for his classmates to leave. Again, a few left but most stayed. Finally, the instructor gave the note to a third cadet. This cadet understood how to identify needs and have people take action to solve those needs. He said two words, which emptied the room. ""Lunch break!""

People are always willing to take ardent action to solve the problems of their needs. The question is can you identify those needs. Once you do, you hare half way home to getting them to take such action.

(7) DEADLINE: All action you have people take must have a deadline. Otherwise, it might become a low priority for them, and they will not be especially urged to take it. Be constantly monitoring yourself when motivating people to take action by asking, ""Have I a put a deadline to this action?"" If you haven't, do it.

(8) FED BACK: True motivation isn't what the people do in your sight. True motivation is what they do after they have left your sight. Many leaders get the ""head fake"" from the people they're leading -- their nodding their heads and saying, ""Yes,"" face-to-face with the leader; but inside saying, ""No."" When they leave your presence, they do what they want, not what you want. Make sure that the action you challenge them to take is fed back to you, so that you are aware -- and they are aware that you are aware -- of that action.

Leaders do nothing more important than get results, and results come from people taking action.

The trouble is, most leaders have people get a fraction of the potential results because these leaders misunderstand what action really is -- and in that misunderstanding misapply and misuse it.

When speaking to people, keep the eight ways of right action in mind so people take the right action to achieve the right results.

The Secret of High-Trust Leadership

Author: Joe DiSabatino

A good friend of mine, C, was the manager of the human factors group for a telecommunications software engineering company. Her boss called her aside one day. It turned out that the CEO of the company had noticed and complained that a number of her team members were regularly seen hanging around, small-talking in one office. That's not what he was paying them to do, the CEO complained. Didn't she notice what was happening? Her boss instructed C. to pass on the reprimand and see to it that the situation improved.

C. knew her team was a bright, highly productive group. They were also mostly new hires, just forming their sense of team and how they would work together. The timing for this type of reprimand was lousy. She didn't want to do it, but she knew she had to do something.

She called her group together, and began with, ""I know you're a great team and you've done everything I've asked you to do, oftentimes more."" She then described the issue to them without criticism, saying that there was a problem in how they were being perceived by the CEO, that it was serious, and that it needed to be cleared up immediately.

Instead of warning them, she asked them to come up with the best course of action to change their boss' perceptions, so he would get a more accurate picture of the hard work they ere actually doing. Rather than get defensive or hurt, the team took up the challenge and together they found a set of solutions that worked beautifully. The best part for C. was that a potential trust-damaging episode actually improved her credibility with her team. And in fact it improved her respect for them, as well.

After the success of her managerial experiment, she decided to relate to her team all the time in that way. ""Whether things are going well or not,"" she told me, ""I've let go of 'I know best, here's what you should do,' and instead I've embraced, 'You're excellent, I'm proud of you, and here's a problem we're facing, so let's brainstorm together'."" It wasn't always as directly spoken as that, but as a general place to come from, she found it very powerful.

Doing this had a strong impact on the quality of their work and productivity, she discovered. Enough to get noticed. A few months after C. started this form of trust-building with her team, her boss one day called her a ""natural manager,"" something he had never said to her before in five years with the company.

Some time later, when the telecommunications industry slid into decline, all thirty engineers and the entire support staff for her office were let go, leaving only her team left. ""We were absolutely stunned. They basically kept the office open just for the five of us to keep doing our work. Ordinarily an R&D group like ours would be let go first, yet here we were. I think it was because we listened, took challenging problems and came up with creative solutions for the company. It really wasn't me, it was them.""

There are some good lessons in this story about creating high-level trust. Trust, like all other worthwhile qualities, comes in degrees. My interest is helping leaders take their capacity for inspiring trust to the highest possible level. When C. said, ""...here's a problem we're facing, let's brainstorm together,"" she hit on a powerful source of inspired leadership. She had discovered that her unique gift as a leader was giving people the room to find their own greatness.

Every leader will have something different to offer. To get at your own version of what C. had hit on, ask yourself this question: what qualities do I bring to my leadership role that make me unique at what I do? These are the qualities that you feel are important to share. Sometimes they are the way you often wish others would treat you (rather than the way they do). They will nearly always also be the qualities that are responsible for your professional and economic success.

What do I mean by qualities? I'm talking about the particular life-enhancing virtues that you give to people at work when you are operating at your best as a leader. People will feel most inspired by your leadership guidance when you're simultaneously drawing on your personality strengths, your core values, and your expertise. For some leaders it is their sense of humor that inspires, for others it is caring, or thoroughness, poise under pressure, unflagging enthusiasm, or the ability to help people think creatively or to discover their greatness.

A good way to identify your unique leadership gift is to remember a specific time at work when you felt particularly good about what was happening between you and a person or team you manage, or between you and your boss. Try to identify the positive inner qualities these people were receiving from you at the time that met their needs and made them feel good about you.

Perhaps their confidence or peace of mind or ability to see light at the end of the tunnel went way up as a result of what you said and did. Is this something that people receive from you when you are at your best? If so, then that's your gift.

Keep this alive in as many ways as you can. So if you identified something like ""I'm great at supporting creative business people who want to turn their bold ideas into marketable products,"" then why not add that phrase to the way you think about your current job or position? ""As the Director of New Product Development I actually get paid to do what I love the most--helping a team of creative business people keep their confidence and vision alive through the difficult process of turning great ideas into marketable products.""

You see the difference? You are shining the light on the very thing that makes you great--the unique gift that people receive from you. Sometimes you just forget or lose sight of your gift in the daily grind. By reminding yourself what it is that you give people, you'll be able to use it more consciously and consistently.

But how often do we fail to recognize and acknowledge in ourselves this avenue to greatness? It's easy to take our unique strengths for granted--""well, that's no big deal, that's just who I am."" The next time someone asks you what you do, you might try replying with a variation of your leadership theme instead of giving your job title right off. ""You know how difficult it is to get a new product idea into the marketplace? Well, what I do is...""

When you fully and humbly and proudly take possession of your unique leadership gift and use it more and more intentionally, you may find that it's the key to your career success. As a result of promotions, your gift will ""naturally"" find wider and wider avenues for expression.

About the author: Joe DiSabatino helps companies turn aroud morale problems by building high-trust work environments with an emphasis on integrity and core values. For more information go to: www.phoenixleadership.com

Blueprint for Leadership - How to Be a Better Leader

Author: Steve Kaye

If you were to build a house, you would begin with a blueprint. This blueprint proves useful because it contains more than directions on how to build a house. It also describes the finished house.

So, what does this have to do with leadership?

Last month I asked an audience of leaders to tell me the characteristics of an ideal leader. Their answers were (in the order collected):

A good listener, enthusiasm, passion, shows appreciation, a visionary, role model, trusting, integrity, organized, knowledgeable, credibility, persuasive, charisma, team building, clarity of purpose, problem solver, attitude of service, leads by example, patience, willing to act without complete knowledge, understands followers, consistent, empowers other people, and adapts to change.

I'll add that this is essentially the same list that I receive from other audiences when I ask this question. From this comes some useful insights.

1) Notice what the list contains. All of these characteristics relate to the human side of leadership. That's interesting because I often hear people minimize this side of leadership with terms like ""soft"" or ""touchy feely."" Actually, applying these characteristics requires more strength than not.

2) Notice what the list excludes. Absent from this list (and all lists from other programs) are characteristics such as stern, mean, serious, short tempered, vindictive, tough, angry, harsh, punitive, controlling, violent, or ruthless. And that's interesting because many popular representations of leadership emphasize at least one of these ""hard"" characteristics. In fact, these characteristics are the refuge of those who lack the strength (or the skills) to apply the human side of leadership.

3) How about you? How would you rate yourself as a leader compared to the list of positive characteristics? If you were to survey the people who report to you, how would they describe your leadership? Would they list characteristics from the ""soft"" list or from the ""hard"" list? Could you become more effective by improving upon any of the ""soft"" characteristics? And how about the other leaders in your organization? Do they truly maximize human potential?

People want leaders who treat them with genuine compassion, courtesy, and respect. They want leaders who help them become more successful. They want leaders who inspire them with a vision for a better world and show them how to go there.

About the author: IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and author Steve Kaye works with leaders who want to hold effective meeting. His innovative workshops have informed and inspired people nationwide. His facilitation produces results that people will support. Call 714-528-1300 or visit his web site for over 100 pages of valuable ideas. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.stevekaye.com

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Leadership

Author: Gary Glasscock

Webster's defines leadership as : 1. the office of position of a leader, 2. capacity to lead, 3. the act of instance of leading, 4. LEADERS. Dale Carnegie, founder of the Dale Carnegie Institute and teacher of leadership skills, defines leadership as a mixture of traits and skills that can be learned and honed. John C. Maxwell, founder of INJOY and professional speaker on leadership, agrees with Carnegie, but further states that there are five levels of leadership with the highest level being attained by only a few people.

So what really determines leadership? Does the position or office determine the leader or is it the capacity to lead? Just because a person holds a certain position in a company or in government does not necessarily mean they can be a leader. We can look at out previous President and see that the office does not make the leader. Because a certain individual has been promoted to a leadership position with a company, does that make the person a leader? They are expected to be able to lead, but what truly makes a person a leader? Is it a skill that can be learned, practiced, and enhanced by qualities that we are born with?

Leadership is a combination of traits, qualities, and skills that not only learned and practiced, but are not necessarily inherent qualities that a person is born with. To develop leadership we must become students of human relations. The we can become goon communicators and listeners, offer genuine appreciation and praise to others, and show others the respect they deserve. WE then must learn not to be overly critical, to harness enthusiasm, give people a good reputation to live up to, and keep a sense of fun and balance in out lives. These are all good qualities that one must strive to obtain to become a leader of people. Not only will they then reap the rewards of being a leader, but they will also begin to develop others into leaders, thus expanding their influence as well as building up the organization they are associated with. Not only is that a trait of a good leader but also that is a responsibility the leader must live up to if they wish to become a great leader. In his book, Developing the Leader Within You, John C. Maxwell lists the five levels of leadership as:

1.Position the lowest level of leadership, based solely on title and position. 2.Permission as relationships are developed with others, they give permission to the leader to be led beyond the limits of his/hers job description. 3.Production as the group becomes more productive together, leadership is advanced. 4.People Development developing people and assisting them to reach their potential. 5.Personhood this requires a lifetime of developing others to their highest potential.

As we can see, the development of people into leaders is level four and wen a leader reaches this level, they indeed have become a great leader.

Why would anyone want to become a leader and exactly who can be seen as a leader? The obvious answers would be a boss, a pastor, a government official, a coach, and a corporate executive. There is another more important position that most people overlook when asked to list people that are leaders and that is teachers. Teachers should strive to reach level five more than anyone because due to their position they have the opportunity to influence the future of our country by influencing the minds of our children. Parents should also strive to become the best leaders they can so that they can positively influence their children and help to make our country, perhaps even our world, a better place as an end result. The latter definitely have been lacking in their duties as leaders for many years as can be seen by observing Generation Xers as they pass through our institutions of higher learning and ultimately into the work force of today. Most of these individuals have never been exposed to quality leadership in the home or at school; as a result, they not only lack the understanding of how important leadership qualities are, but fail to ever grasp the concept of leadership.

As parents and teachers we must develop the leaders without ourselves so that we can develop the leaders within our children and make a more positive impact on the lives of others and hopefully turn the situation we are now in around. WE have a responsibility, nay a duty, not only to our children, but also to our country and to the world we live in to do this. We must read the proper books written by quality leaders so that we can learn how to develop ourselves and lead by example. When we ourselves learn what makes good leaders and practice these learned traits, we will find that in the end not only have we become better people for it, but we have helped our children to become better people as well.

About the author: Gary Glasscock provides qualtiy copywriting services to marketers and companies on an as needed basis. If you are in need of copywriting services, visit his website at www.gc-copywriting.com or contact Gary at gary@gc-copywriting.com

In Leadership, Dreams Are The Stuff That Great Results Are Made Of

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 919

Summary: The importance of motivation in leadership cannot be denied. But most leaders overlook a critical component of motivation, the human dream. The article describes what dreams really mean in the realm of leadership.

In Leadership, Dreams Are The Stuff That Great Results Are Made Of by Brent Filson

Leadership is motivational or it's stumbling in the dark. The best leaders don't order people to do a job, the best leaders motivate people to want to do the job.

The trouble is the vast majority of leaders don't delve into the deep aspects of human motivation and so are unable to motivate people effectively.

Drill down through goals and aims and aspirations and ambitions and you hit the bedrock of motivation, the dream. Many leaders fail to take it into account.

Dreams are not goals and aims. Goals are the results toward which efforts are directed. The realization of a dream might contain goals, which can be stepping stones on the way to the attaining dreams. But the attainment of a goal does not necessarily result in the attainment of a dream.

For instance, Martin Luther King did not say, ""I have a goal."" Or ""I have an aim."" The power of that speech was in the ""I have a dream"".

Dreams are not aspirations and ambitions. Aspirations and ambitions are strong desires to achieve something. King didn't say he had an aspiration or ambition that "" ....one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"" He said he had a dream.

If you are a leader speaking to people's aspirations and ambitions, you are speaking to something that motivates them, yes; but you are not necessarily tapping into the heartwood of their motivation.

After all, one might aspire or be ambitious to achieve a dream. But one's aspiration and ambition may also be connected to things of lesser importance than a dream.

A dream embraces our most cherished longings. It embodies our very identity. We often won't feel fulfilled as human beings until we realize our dreams.

If leaders are avoiding people's dreams, if leaders are simply setting goals (as important as goals are), they miss the best of opportunities to help those people take ardent action to achieve great results.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that ""Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,"" he was writing about a dream. Not one European government at that time was a democracy. There had been few true democracies in the West since the fall of the Athenian democracy more than 2,000 thousand years before. But Jefferson's ""dream"" motivated people to take action. In fact, that dream motivates people to act around the world today.

Understand the dreams of the people you lead. People will not tell you what they dream until they trust you. They won't trust you until they feel that you can help them attain their dreams. Acquiring that understanding can cement a deep, emotional bond between you.

Dreams are not fantasies. Going to the mountain may be a dream. Standing on the mountain may be a dream. On the other hand, having the mountain come to us is a fantasy. Dreams can be realized, fantasies can't. Focus on dreams, on what is objectively achievable, not on fantasies.

Dreams are positive, uplifting. The Old English word ""dream"" means ""joy, music, and noise-making."" But that positive, inspirational quality can have negative effects on an organization.

Negative dreams can damage an organization. For instance, union/management issues are often particularly inflammatory because of conflicting dreams, of both sides seeing the other as ""the enemy."" Your audience wanting to go back to the ""good old days"" can be a negative dream. Only a trusted leader can help people reshape their dreams.

Most people have a dream for their life and work. Even people in abject circumstances, such as prisons and concentration camps, dream of a fulfilling existence beyond their present circumstances. If they lose their dreams, they lose an essential quality of their humanity.

People won't be transformed by your leadership if you have a low opinion of and low expectations for their dream and/or if they are convinced that you can't help them attain that dream.

Many people don't consciously realize what they dream. But that doesn't mean that they are not influenced by their subconscious dream. A subconscious dream can motivate people to act without their clearly understanding why they are acting. Have the people you lead be fully conscious of the content and meaning of their dream or risk having your organization's activities be impeded by a dimly perceived yet none-the-less potent dream.

Each dream has a price. It's one thing to think it. It's another thing to do it. Know the price people will have to pay to attain their dream. Have them understand the price.

As a leader, dream with the people! Without hitching our wagons to stars, the wagons and the stars lose their true meaning in our lives.

Dreams give meaning to emotion and purpose to action. People who believe they're living their dream see their jobs as part of a higher cause and will work accordingly. Conversely, people who see their jobs as antithetical to their dream, may see that work as oppressive; and they too will work accordingly.

Dreams are supreme reality. Dream graffiti on a Paris wall during the 1968 student rebellion said, ""Be realistic: Do the impossible!""

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

About the author: 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 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

Leadership Lessons Learned The Hard Way, Part I

Author: Bill Willard

This widely circulated after-action report prepared by a 1stSgt Paul Berry, USMC following Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 offers priceless leadership advice for business owners and managers. While much of this may seem obscure or even irrelevant for people not making a career in the Marine Corps, looking after your people, coaching top performance, cutting through red tape, and letting savvy middle managers make the calls, are sound business leadership practices and managerial common sense in anyones book.

After almost a month of successfully conducting raids, convoys, civil affairs and other missions as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, members of Battalion Landing Team 2/2 (""The Warlords""), attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), boarded ships and began the long journey home. On their first night at sea, 1stSgt Paul Berry, 34, of the battalion's Weapons Company, received an e-mail from his former battalion commander, who asked him to record his observations about the experience. From the Warlords, details Berrys concerns as a Marine Corps Staff NCO: caring for his Marines and ensuring the appropriate use of force.

In those details, a sense of what it means to be a combat Marine with small-unit leadership responsibilities comes through loud and clear. But this remarkable document can also teach business owners and managers priceless lessons about coaching, mentoring, leadership, and managerial common sense. Read on

From the Warlords -- Real-Life Applications of Management Principles

At first blush, much of the information in 1stSgt Berrys after-action report may seem obscure or even irrelevant for anyone not making a career in the Marine Corps. But think about it. Arent the hard-earned lessons Berry describes actually real-world applications of standard business practices and management principles and philosophies?

Sir, without making a big formal list at this time:

Logistics drove operationsWe made some long moves, as long as 15 hours on the road at a time. Plan your supplies. Fuel was the key more than water. There is always room for some chow.

NVGs [night-vision goggles] work. Use them. All night devices worked great. Batteries can be an issue. Plan!

A combat load is heavy on the Marines and the vehicles. Take only what you need.

A clean weapon is a happy weapon. Plan for it. Inspect them.

Always plan fire support. We held a major road intersection in the middle of nowhere. We used Mortars as security and, out of the blue, we needed mortar fire: Plan for it. Lay guns in all four directions for 360 coverage. Plan on call targets. Plan for and use illum.

Plan for medevacs. On foot, vehicles and air. Don't count on the air. Look for LZs [landing zones] at all times.

Plan for a react force for any major event. Have that reserve ready. We used it several times. CAAT, LAR, JAV [anti-tank missiles], even five trucks of HQ-type guys with SAWS [Squad Automatic Weapons] is better than nothing.

Plan for where you put your heads. It's a big deal with over 200 Marines in a matter of hours.

PM [preventive maintenance] everything as time permits. Our vehicles never ran better because the Marines did not want to get stuck on the side of the road.

Spread your MT Mechs [Motor Transport mechanics] all over the BLT [Battalion Landing Team]. These guys saved us everyday.

Take Care of Your People and Theyll Take Care of You!

Start a sleep plan before you go ashore and ensure your Marines sleepLook at your Marines daily if you can. Ask questions. Marines will not tell you they are sick until they go down hard. They are a proud bunch.

Know first aid. Make it a top training event. Get medical supplies and put them in each vehicle. We used an ammo can with pressure dressings and IVs. Teach your Marines how to give IVs.

Ensure your Marines write letters on anything they can get their hands on. MRE [Meals Ready-to-Eat, field rations] boxes work great. I put an ammo can on my vehicle for outgoing mail. Get the mail out. There is always a way. Pass if off to other units if you have to. Find a helo and give him your mail. Give him a can of dip to do it for you.

Training in combat? You bet. Talk through it; walk through it. Use sticks and rocks. Get the Cpl [Corporal] up there to brief what is going on; he knows more than most. Immediate action drills for everything.

Planning for the unexpectedpreparing for the worsttaking care of details! Thats the kind of managerial common sense (or parental advice!) business owners can go to school on and readily apply. And Berry, a native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, a Marine since 1986, has probably never been anywhere near the Harvard Business School!

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net.

Sources:

From the Warlords, 1stSgt. Paul Berry, USMC, www.usmc.mil A First Sergeant's Timeless Advice To Fellow Marines, By David Wood, Newhouse News Service, 2003 Corps Values, David H. Freeman, Inc. Magazine, April 2001 Assistance with acronyms provided by 1st Lt. William L. Willard, Jr. USMC

About the author: Bill Willard has also been writing high-impact marketing and sales training primarily for the financial services industry for 30 yearsbut as Will Rogers put it: ""Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Through interactive, Web-based ""Do-While-Learning"" programs, enewsletters and straight-talking articles.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Benefits of Leadership Skill Training

Author: CMOE Development Team

DESCRIPTION

CMOEs Leadership Skill Training addresses a wide range of leadership development topics, based on the needs of the audience and scope of delivery. Leadership Skill Training for new leaders might be targeted to help them make the transition from individual contributor to effective leader. For more experienced or advanced audiences, Leadership Skills can address the situational decisions leaders face to either involve their team members in decisions, or to rely more on their own experience, expertise, and responsibility.

The Leadership Skill Training focuses also on strategic thinking skills for leaders at every level of the organization, delegation and communications skills, leadership styles, fundamentals of teamwork, and developing employees.

This flexible leadership approach also provides participants with the skills and models necessary to analyze individual situations, identify the relevant characteristics, and make the appropriate decision on the involvementsole decision scale. Rather than always approaching problems or decisions in the same way, flexible leaders recognize that each situation requires an evaluation of several criteria to determine the level of involvement to apply to it. EXPECTED OUTCOMES - PARTICIPANTS INVOLVED IN LEADERSHIP SKILL TRAINING WILL: Understand the role of the effective leader in your organization Assess their own natural leadership style, and identify areas for development and improvement. Learn how to make decisions to involve team members to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the circumstances of each situation. Learn to communicate, delegate, and follow through effectively, to help the team deliver business results and develop group capacities and strengths. EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP SKILL TRAINING SHOULD INCLUDE HANDOUTS & MATERIALS: Comprehensive Participant Manual Full-color, easy-to-use models and tools for application Exercises, sustainability ideas, and practices, to ensure deep penetration of concepts, and implementation of new skills over time.

About the author:

To learn more about CMOEs Leadersh ip Skill Training and the success it is having around the world, visit their website . You can also speak with their Regional Managers at (801) 569-3444.

Leadership Coaching at Gettysburg

Author: CMOE Development Team

The battle at Gettysburg is one of the most notable events in U.S. History. It is a battle where more lives were taken than in any other battle in North America. In this small farming community in 1863, George Meades Union Army comprising of 90,000 troops met Robert Lees Confederate Army of 75,000. We can read volumes of literature and accounts of heroes, leaders, front-line soldiers and others directly and indirectly impacted by the event. Certainly there are incredible leadership coaching and other lessons from the lives of these men and women and the strategic events which became the critical turning point in the Civil War.

On the morning of the first day of the three day battle, Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain was faced with a coaching and influence opportunity. As the sun was coming over the horizon, Joshua L. Chamberlain stood before a group of tired soldiers from the Second Maine Brigade. At that point, these men had been participating in heavy battle for weeks and were seeking mutiny. However, due to the number of casualties prior to Gettysburg, their service at this time was desperately needed. Chamberlain explained that he had been instructed to order these men to join the brigade or they would be shot. Yet, he calmly informed the troops that he did not plan to follow this instruction. He recognized their suffering, and then explained the necessity of their military service and the role they could play. Chamberlain eloquently proceeded to instill a renewed purpose in these men, helping them to remember why they were involved and had originally enlisted. He referred to their fellow soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. He sought their commitment to move forward with conviction. If we lose you, we lose the war, if you join us, I will be grateful. To conclude, he proposed a powerful idea: Join us, and if so, the situation (the mutiny) would not be revisited. If they chose not to join, he would seek fair treatment in their behalf. We are moving out he concluded, and gave them an opportunity to ponder and determine where their commitment would lie.

Shortly thereafter, as the brigade proceeded to Gettysburg Chamberlain wondered if the men would follow his leadership. As it turned out, one hundred and fourteen soldiers (who had originally planned to mutiny) followed this instrumental leader into battle. All but six men were awakened and made the commitment. The rest went on to make history in the crucial defense of Little Round Top at Gettysburg.

Effective leadership coaching and influence is not a fad. It is a proven technique that has stood the test of time. Although terminology and external environments may change, the concept is the same, people are a valuable resource and they can be influenced. Looking back at Chamberlains experience, six men did not make the commitment, and in some situations leadership coaching may not always work perfectly. However, as we face modern crucial battles and attempt to build strong organizations, making the effort to coach is always worth the investment. There are many other instances in history where great leaders utilized some kind of coaching or influence. As leaders today, we face similar challenges that require commitment and sacrifice that only comes from a solid partnership with people. It is as true today as it was back then that A leader can only achieve excellence through relationships with others.

About the author:

If you would like to learn more about leadership coaching and what thousands of managers have learned around the world over the past 25 years, please contact one of our Regional Managers. They can be reached at (801)569-3444 or visit our website.

In Leadership, Identifying Dreams That Lead To Great Results

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 956

Summary: The importance of motivation in leadership cannot be denied. But most leaders overlook a critical component of motivation, the human dream. Before you can work with people's dreams, you must identify what they dream, a sometimes difficult task. Here's how to make such an identification.

In Leadership, Identifying Dreams That Lead To Great Results by Brent Filson

History teaches that when people needed to do great things, a leader first had to gather them together and speak from the heart. This heartfelt speech was often connected to defining and reinforcing a dream shared by both the leader and the people.

Drill down through goals and aims and aspirations and ambitions of the people you lead, and you'll hit the bedrock of human motivation, the dream.

For instance, Martin Luther King did not say, ""I have a goal."" Or ""I have an aim."" The power of that speech was in the ""I have a dream"".

A dream embraces our most cherished longings. It embodies our very identity. We often won't feel fulfilled as human beings until we realize our dreams.

If leaders are not tapping into the power of people's dreams, if leaders are simply setting goals (as important as goals are), they miss the best of opportunities to help those people take ardent action to achieve great results.

But what do people dream? How can we discover their dreams? After all, people usually won't tell you what they dream until they trust you. They won't trust you until they feel that you can help them attain their dreams. Knowing and sharing their dream can cement a deep, emotional bond between you.

Here are three things you can do to get at what people dream. Be helpful. Be hopeful. Be scarce.

Be helpful. Follow the Leadership Imperative: I WILL LEAD PEOPLE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY NOT ONLY ACHIEVE THE RESULTS WE NEED BUT THEY ALSO BECOME BETTER AS PEOPLE AND AS LEADERS.

The relationships cultivated by the Imperative lend themselves to dream sharing and dream motivation.

Be hopeful: ""Hope,"" said Aristotle, ""is a waking dream"". Nobody wants to be associated with a leader who thinks the job can't get done.

In the face of dire circumstances, there is usually hope to find and communicate.

A great leader I knew who consistently had people get more results faster, continually, had a refrain: ""You may think you can't meet the goals I set for you. But I believe in you and I believe you can and I'll support you in every way possible so you can.""

That hopeful refrain had the power of a dream; and in the relationships he established, he was able to identify and share in their dreams.

Be scarce: Cultivate the art of being scarce. In other words, give them space to get results.

Use this art the way a homeopath prepares medicine by diluting drugs which would produce in a healthy person symptoms similar to those of the full-blown disease.

The full-blown disease in this case is total scarcity -- meaning the leader is never around. Not being there for the people can be a leadership pathology. After all, in the historical example, a leader had to GATHER PEOPLE TOGETHER -- leader had to be with the people. Many leaders are absent without leave. One secretary described her seldom seen CEO as follows: ""He's like Elvis -- There are rumors of sightings of him. The only time we know he's around is when we smell is pipe smoke.""

But being with the people can be a fault, if the people resent it. They make think you're trying to micro-manage them or are snooping around trying to get the goods on them.

The art of being scarce is predicated on your giving them the space to do well. The coach of a great Arkansas basketball team said, ""I don't want to hamper them by coaching them."" Likewise, don't hamper the people you lead by leading them in a domineering way.

People's dreams are pathways to their inner heart and their most ardent desires. However, most leaders don't know how to go down those paths. Be helpful, be hopeful, be scarce will help you walk your talk, letting people get great results though the gift of their dreams.

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 566

Summary: Leaders can achieve more results if they create an environment in which people are ardently committed to the leaders' cause. A key factor in creating this environment is developing a critical convergence, the joining of leaders' enthusiasms and the people's into a single force for success.

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results by Brent Filson

The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when we believe our enthusiasm over a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people we lead.

If ignorance is bliss then leaders going around blithely adhering to the Leader's Fallacy have cornered the market on happiness.

The truth is, it's more realistic to believe in INVERSE RECIPROCITY: i.e., whatever motivates you, ""DE-motivates"" the people.

That's especially so for leaders who are trying to motivate people to meet extraordinary challenges.

You'll never know how good you are as a leader unless you are motivating others to be better than they think they are. In that endeavor, you'll inevitably get at least some of the people angry.

Most people are settled into a comfortable status quo and resist and resent being challenged to break out.

But if you aim to get great results, people not only have to be pushed but more importantly, they must be challenged to push themselves.

So, if you're not getting some people angry with you over the pushing, you're doing something wrong as a leader, you're not challenging people enough.

This doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't have the people share in your enthusiasms. You must. That sharing is called CRITICAL CONFLUENCE, the joining of your enthusiasms and theirs so they are as enthusiastic as you about meeting the challenges you face. Until a critical confluence happens, you can't get great results consistently.

The Leader's Fallacy is an obstacle to the critical confluence. Don't think the Critical Confluence will happen automatically. Know instead that you must work hard to achieve it.

After all, you yourself must be motivated about those challenges. If you're not motivated, you shouldn't be leading. But your motivation is irrelevant simply because it's a given.

Here's what's relevant: Can you transfer your motivation to the people so they are as motivated as you are? And can you translate their motivation into action that achieves results?

Everyone has major needs that shape their thinking and their actions day in and day out. If you want those people to take ardent action for you, you must provide solutions to the problems of those needs so the action you have them take brings them closer to realizing those solutions.

By the way, the critical confluence is not ""win/win"". It's much deeper and richer. Unlike ""win/win"", the critical confluence is an on-going relationship process from which flow mutually beneficial expectations and solutions.

Here are three steps you can take to help make a critical confluence happen.

(1) Understand their needs.

(2) Turn their needs into problems.

(3) Have their commitment to your cause be a solution to their problems.

To get the best out of people, we must embrace the best in them. Whenever you need to lead people to tackle important challenges, recall the Leader's Fallacy. Know that their commitment to your cause doesn't come automatically. You have to earn it by embracing the best of who they are. When you take the trouble to build a critical convergence, you'll see a significant jump in the results you have others achieve.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Two Leadership Traps: How To Avoid Them. How To Get Out Of them (Part 2)

Author: Brent Filson

Word count: 619

Summary: Most people fail in their careers because of leadership deficiencies. A key reason for their failure is they continually and unknowingly keep falling into two leadership traps. The author describes the traps and how to get out of them.

Two Leadership Traps: How To Avoid Them. How To Get Out Of them (Part 2) by Brent Filson

Here's how to get out of, or avoid, the ""I need ... "" trap. It simply involves changing what you think and what you say in very simple ways.

In my working with leaders worldwide for more than two decades, I've noticed a character trait that the most successful share: They focus consistently on understanding and supporting the people whom they lead.

For instance, you could say, ""You need ..."" which is a good way out. Or, you could say, ""The team needs ... "" which is a better way out.

Or, you could say, ""Do you need? ..."" Which is the best way out, especially with a question mark attached. A corollary to this question is, ""What do you need from me to help you get the team to succeed?""

Asking a question rather than using a declarative is often more effective because it gets people reflecting upon their situation. 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.

A question can trigger such reflection and ultimately lead to their making the choice to be motivated to be your cause leader. You may not like the answer; but often their answer, no matter what it is, can better lead to more results being achieved than your declaration can.

Furthermore, asking questions like, ""What do you need for the team to succeed? ..."" works much better than saying ""I need ... "" because you are forging a ""critical confluence"" the confluence of your or your organization's needs with their needs.

You may think I'm putting too fine a point on these changes; and to a degree, you'd be right. Making simply one change may not be important; but when you multiple the changes many times during the day, day in and day out, month in and month out, their aggregate can add up to tremendous change indeed. In fact, it can add up to job and career transformation.

So, the next time you are tempted to say, ""I need ... "", don't. Instead, say, ""Do you need? ..."" or ""What do you need? ... "" Over time, you'll forge great changes in how people relate to you and your leadership, changes that will lead to substantial increases in results.

However, watch out: In getting out of the ""I need ..."" trap, you may find yourself in another trap. Asking ""What do you need? ..."" might play right into their hands of people who don't' trust you or want to sabotage your leadership or use you to further their own ends. Such people want to lead you down their private rabbit hole. They want to get you exploring things that have nothing to do with your getting the results you need and everything to do with satisfying the needs of their ego or whatever agenda they have. ""Don't you think you need? ... "" could be their ticket to ride. Before you ask the question, be aware of the ride and how to get off.

THE SECOND TRAP. The ""You do ... "" trap. Most leaders miss a great opportunity that presents itself to them daily. Since leadership is all about having people take action that gets results, it's important to understand the kind of action people should take to get the best results. You can ensure it is the best kind of action by challenging people not simply to do a job but to take leadership of that job. After all, there's a big difference between people doing and leading; and when you are constantly saying, ""You do ... "" you are missing out on getting a lot more results.

Now that you know how to avoid two leadership traps, you'll find that your career will be boosted in many marvelous ways.

Leadership Lessons For Sales Managers

Author: Bill Willard

Leadership, like class, is hard to define, but easy to spot.

Someone once defined management as the effective coordination of the efforts of the individuals in a group to accomplish that stated objectives of the organization. Managers get results by establishing goals and working with and through people to achieve those goals.

As a manager, your success depends on your ability to:

Find and attract career-oriented men and women who have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to do the job, who are motivated to work, and who will cooperate with you and each other, and;

Develop and manage these people to meet specific performance standards.

Management is a process because it involves a series of skills. But management is as much attitude as it is skills. Managers should be helpful supporters, working to build trust and confidence, and seeking to improve performance by recognizing that individuals have different needs, motivations and aspirations.

That means, the more of a leader you are, the better manager you will be.

Happily, most leaders are made, not born. They are cultivated, shaped and strengthened by education, training and real-world experience. Understanding leadership AND management is a good way of becoming more proficient at both.

What is leadership? What does it take to be a leader? Here's a short course: Leadership means having a mission and inspiring others to be committed to it. The mission is everything; leaders approach it with enthusiasm.

Leaders are agents of change; they make decisions based on a vision of the future, not just on established directions.

Leaders take risks to make things happen that would not otherwise happen.

Leaders need a combination of competence, integrity, credibility and authority. They're seen as being involved in a lot of things and able to answer a lot of questions.

Leadership is a collaborative, not individual, process. It's the ability to get people to do what you want them to because they want to do it!

Leaders help people do their best.

Leaders depend on themselves and act on their own authority, but they recognize the importance of others.

Leaders ask questions and know how to listen.

Leaders let others talk; they don't talk about themselves.

Leadership begins when people disagree.

Leaders recognize that performance and progress are forged on the anvil of constructive conflict.

Leaders are willing to be unloved! In the words of Admiral John S. McCain (the late father of the Senator): People may not love you for being strong when you have to be, but they will respect you for it and learn to behave themselves when you do. Try it; it works!

Qualities of an Effective Leader

Leaders are purposeful; they have a clear view of their objectives and avoid digressions into irrelevancy.

Leaders know their stuff; they have a thorough grasp of their subjects, when possible, backed up with hands-on experience.

Leaders are prepared. No matter how well you know what youre talking about, choose appropriate ways of getting your message across. Avoid shortcuts.

Leaders are enthusiastic, but season their enthusiasm with intelligence and appropriate humor.

Leaders understand the use of drama. Dull is boring, so cultivate a sense of staging, especially when addressing a group.

Leaders are confident and easy-going. Regardless of their management style, they speak clearly, projecting their voices and looking people in the eye. Distinct speech is a sign of distinct ideas; self-assurance catches on.

Leaders maintain a positive attitude. They never speak ill of their organizations or of individuals under their management. The glass is always half full, never half empty.

Leaders demonstrate the contagion of example. Its not enough to talk the talk; leaders must walk the walk.

Leaders support their subordinates, giving them the widest possible authority and discretion, while keeping responsibility centralized with themselves.

Leaders live the U.S. Armys motto: Adapt, Improvise and Overcome.

Leadership Makes Businesses Work

If management ability keeps systems operating efficiently, leadership identifies management needs and seeks systems to address them. If management skills are required to administer existing programs and systems, it takes leadership to create a vision of success, and get people excited about attaining it.

In short, leadershipprovided by agency heads, sales managers and other members of the management teammakes businesses work. It enables them develop to the limits of their potential, then helps them break those limits.

Want More? Send comments and questions to w.willard3@knology.net

Sources: Management Online A Do-While-Learning Program, The Diversified Group The Marine Officers Guide, Naval Institute Press

About the author: Bill Willard has been writing high-impact marketing and sales training primarily for the financial services industry for 30 years. Through interactive, Web-based ""Do-While-Learning"" programs, enewsletters and straight-talking articles. And fun!

MLM Network Marketing Training- MLM Leadership- The Two Golden Words..

Author: Doug Firebaugh

"" MLM Leadership-The Two Golden Words.."" By Doug Firebaugh

Many a Leader in Network Marketing get into the business, and really go after it....they see where they want to go, and truly start on an excited journey to success....but little by little, it starts to fade...

Ever seen that in you or your folks?

The gleam in their eyes has started to fade, and the pounding in their heart is not as strong, and the Fire in their words is now burning low...

Where did it go? What happened?

And as a Leader,you think"" What caused it?"", and why can't you see this ""Creeping Cancer"" start?

You can...

And you can actually help prevent it...with what we at PassionFire call ""The Two Golden Words...""

Too many times in MLM Leaders are blindsided by something that most Leaders are not even aware of, or at least not focused on it....and if they were, the ""Creeping Cancer"" could be at least diagnosed, and dealt with on an emergency basis...

As a Leader, or an Aspiring Leader in Network Marketing, you will build an organization, and many times will shake your head at people quitting, walking away, for no apparent reason....and most of the time, it is caused by one thing....and it truly is a 'Creeping Cancer"" in your business and the Industry as a whole...as well as Life itself...

What is that Cancer?

Compromise.

And what are the Two Golden Words in MLM Success?

NO COMPROMISE.

Simply...you, as a Leader, must promote and enroll your folks in a No Compromise Vision...(CLUE!!!) How does this happen?

Well...it starts with a Lack of awareness that this can and will happen, and if it is not focused on and handled, will grow as a part of how most mediocre people live their lives...Little by little, inch by inch..a little compromise here...a little compromise there...Lowering their standards and expectations for success.... ..that is how this business becomes a low priority with folks after a while...

It's called ""The Rust Factor""...Just as a new piece of steel if left to the elements will rust...so does your Vision and dreams if left to the ""Elements of Compromise...

"" The ""Rain of Doubt..."" The ""Wind of Frustration... "" The ""Hail of Negatives"" The ""Storm of Adversity...."" The ""Heat of Anger....""

RUST.....Regressing Under Someone-else's Thinking.... Do you do that???????

Lower and regress you dreams under someone else's Little thinking and ""advice""? DON""T!!!!!!!!!

How does this happen with the new distributor?

1. The new MLM distributor sets high goals, and starts their business, but after a little while with little results, they lower their dreams, and compromise their success...and life...and future..and expectations..

2. The new MLM distributor starts their business, and as they start contacting their warm market, the people they hold in high regard are negative to them, and want to ""Bring them down to earth""...and to ""reality""...and due to their Influence, the new distributor compromises His/Her success by lowering or abandoning their dreams, to please their friends...to ""Fit in"" and not rock the ""Boat of Acceptance....""

3. After a while, the new distributor gets to know some ""Veteran Distributors.."" and these folks ""Tell it the way it is...""..and whine and complain to the new distributor, and the newbie starts to lower their dreams and goals to ""Fall in line"" with what is ""real"" in MLM...compromising their life again...

What if Abraham Lincoln had compromised His Standards?What if Thomas Jefferson had Compromised His Standards? What if Mother Teresa had compromised Her standards?

Greatness in ANY Leadership endeavor starts with a NO COMPROMISE Mindset and ""Heartset"" as well..... And the sad part about it, a lot of MLM Leaders are the one's who compromise their New Distributor's dreams and standards because they have not been dilligent in their own pursuit of success...(Are you guilty?)What can you do?

Start a ""NO COMPROMISE Campaign"" with your group....

1. Announce it to your group....and tell them NO ONE is going to steal their future as long as you are their Leader...NO ONE!

2) Tell them that Compromise is NOT AN OPTION in your group...amd you will STAY THE COURSE-REACH THE DREAM...which is the true Secret of Leadership in this Business...and the 3 most important words to drive your campaign: NO MATTER WHAT!

3. And ""NO COMPROMISE"" Flyers, button, stickers, whatever you want to promote the message....and everytime you chat with your Leaders...remind them... Only People who DON""T ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS... compromise...We WILL achieve our dreams.... NO MATTER WHAT!

And one final thought... The Last word in Compromise is Promise....

Are you focused on that part of the word?If you have compromised, you have broken a Sacred Leadership Promise, and Trust, to Navigate your folks to Success...

What does a promise mean to you?What does your Vision and your Folk's Vision mean to them?

DON""T let life, or negative people compromise your future, dreams, and Success...

Don't Compromise..... but CAN-Promise.... and Lead your people to a future that CAN and WILL be achieved...but only with a NO COMPROMISE Leadership..... NO MATTER WHAT!

Compromise... The ""Creeping Cancer"" of MLM Leadership...

Cut the Tumor out at the Heart of the Cancer....

with Radical and Massive Radiation Treatment called... Passionate Leadership in MLM and Network Marketing.!

Subscribe to the MLM Network Marketing Training Letter- PF HEAT http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_3.html

About the author: Doug Firebaugh, living in Birmingham, Michigan, is one of the top Trainers, Speakers, and Authors in the MLM and Network marketing industry. Having built a huge group, he draws on his 20 years experience and giftings to create unique and fresh trainings for the industry. He can be reached at doug@powerfire.com

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Flexible Leadership Workshop

Author: CMOE Development Team

The Leadership Challenge

Leaders in todays society are faced with an increasingly complex challenge: To deliver business results in the face of rapidly changing conditions, while building team members capacity to address the future. While organizations are becoming generally flatter, less hierarchical, less command-and-control, individual managers must still determine which leadership style to employ. As leaders, we may recognize the value of developing our delegation and facilitation skills, but be unsure whether we can use them in every case, and still get the results we desire. This is where a flexible leadership workshop can help. Diagnose and Apply the Appropriate Style for Every Situation

The Flexible Leadership Workshop is designed to provide todays leaders with the tools they need to apply the right leadership style to every situation. Some models for situational leadership focus only on the readiness of the individual; some models are too complex to use effectively in the workplace.

The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE) has created a learning experience that provides: An easy-to-use, intuitive tool for diagnosing workplace situations. Clear and specific criteria screens for choosing the appropriate leadership style. Extensive practice to gain confidence in use of new tools and skills. Personal flexibility assessments and evaluations that identify gaps in learning and areas for development Develop Confidence and Skills in Managing in a Variety of Situations

Participants in this leadership workshop will learn to delegate more effectively, facilitate discussions when involvement of team members is required, establish clear commitments and accountability, and know when each style is appropriate to the situation. For leaders wishing to strike the balance between personnel development and getting things done, Flexible Leadership provides a helpful road map to guide their decisions and efforts.

About the author:

To find out how CMOE can assist with your Leadership Workshop needs, contact our team toll free at (888) 962-6224 or visit our website .

Leaders on Leadership

Sunday, December 31, 2006

The Leadership Imperative: Making Your Leadership Your Life

A Managerial PR System You Will Love

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Is Your Leadership Is Effective?

Leadership For Deep Results: Without Them Are You Wasting Your Leadership And Your Life? (Part Two)

A New Time For Leadership

Friday, December 29, 2006

In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action. (Part 2)

The Secret of High-Trust Leadership

Blueprint for Leadership - How to Be a Better Leader

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Leadership

In Leadership, Dreams Are The Stuff That Great Results Are Made Of

Leadership Lessons Learned The Hard Way, Part I

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Benefits of Leadership Skill Training

Leadership Coaching at Gettysburg

In Leadership, Identifying Dreams That Lead To Great Results

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Two Leadership Traps: How To Avoid Them. How To Get Out Of them (Part 2)

Leadership Lessons For Sales Managers

MLM Network Marketing Training- MLM Leadership- The Two Golden Words..

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Flexible Leadership Workshop

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