Leadership and employees. Eight actions for success

Author: Davy Daniels

How can leadership liberate and enable employees Leadership and employees. Eight tips for success Each employee brings a unique set of gifts to an organisation and the role of leadership is to liberate and enable these gifts. How can leadership liberate and enable these?

1.Communicate effectively.

Leaders must make sure the team has clearly defined goals and that those goals align with the overall vision, goals and objectives of the company. People need the stimulation of human communication, particularly in times of change, challenge and uncertainty. What is needed for leadership is to communicate the vision and that involves face to face contact sessions, dialogue and opportunity for people to meet and discuss the key issues. Knowing the company's vision, objectives, and goals will allow the leader and the team to develop strategies that will differentiate their product or service from others and provide them with a competitive advantage.

2.Persuade employees to action.

Set clear goals and show to employees the benefits the company and they will get for their action. Leadership must support them to get those widgets built, sold and delivered.

3.Release the potential of the people.

Any organization contains an incredible amount of human talent, most of which lays undeveloped. It is leadership responsibility to unlock this human potential and engage peoples brains rather than stifling their attempts at being creative in how they go about their work.

4.Reward a great job.

Leadership is needed not only to help the team member to feel better about their job, but to feel more supportive of their mate's work. Leadership needs to roll up the sleeves and get to the front line to see the action that causes the results.

5.Be observant and listen.

The leadership must be observant and listen between the lines of the words the employees are saying. Lack of communication can be a big problem in the workplace.

6.Support their needs.

If a person on your team asks for a piece of equipment, a resource, or additional training don't always make them defend . It will kill morale. If it seems remotely helpful to them, get it. It will let them know you trust them and want to be supportive.

7.Trust to be trusted.

Trust is an important element of good leadership so as to create a team spirit and to unleash the creativity of the employees. It is something that is very hard to earn and very easy to lose. Leadership must trust the team members and they will trust you. Without trust suspiciousness arises and any attempt for creativity is ineffectual.

8.Create understanding.

In any change programme, it is vital that everyone involved knows and understands the reasons behind the change. So often the news of the change and the reasons behind it are spread by rumour and speculation What is needed is a process whereby everyone is informed about the reasons for the change so that understanding is created through the organisation at all levels.

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Quick Quiz: Helping Others with Leadership Skill Development

Author: Richard L. Williams, Ph.D.

Oftentimes a quiz can be an effective learning device. For that reason consider the following questions and see what you learn. Hopefully a few questions will inspire you in the direction of improved management and lead ership skill development . The answers are at the bottom of the column, but please resist the temptation to peak until you have given some serious thought about your answers.

1. How many hours of TV do fathers between the ages of 25-34 watch each week?

a. 10 hours

b. 15 hours

c. 20 hours

d. Almost 26 hours

2. How many hours of TV does the average non-working spouse watch each week?

a. 20 hours

b. 25 hours

c. 30 hours

d. Almost 48 hours

3. How many acts of violence will the average child have witnessed on TV by age 18?

a. 25,000

b. 50,000

c. 75,000

d. 180,000

4. How much time does the average father spend giving meaningful feedback to his children?

a. 1 minute per day

b. 10 minutes per week

c. 20 minutes per week

d. 30 minutes per week

5. How much time each day does the average married couple spend giving meaningful feedback to each other?

a. Less than 4 minutes

b. About 15 minutes

c. Approximately 20 minutes

d. Slightly more than 30 minutes

6. A psychological validation is a specific type of supportive feedback that sustains a person in some way. An invalidation is a critical or sarcastic comment that is hurtful or demeaning. On average, how many invalidations does the average teenager receive each day from: parents, friends, teachers and siblings?

a. 11

b. 21

c. 57

d. 113

7. How many invalidations would the average teenager therefore receive during his or her teenage years (13-19) from the four sources mentioned in question 5? (Do the math)

8. How many validations are you giving your young employees each day to offset the invalidations they are receiving?

9. Some psychologists believe that one effectively delivered validation can offset up to ten invalidations. How many validations are you giving your family members and your employees? How many invalidations do you give or permit others to give in your presence?

10. On average, how much feedback (supportive and corrective) do you give each of your employees each day?

a. 1 minute per day

b. 10 minutes per week

c. 20 minutes per week

d. 30 minutes per week

ANSWERS: 1. d. Almost 26 hours (This is amazing!)

2. d. Almost 48 hours (This is even more amazing!)

3. d. 200,000 (according to the American Academy of Pediatrics)

4. a. 1 minute per day (This is sad, but it explains what is happening to many of our youth.)

5. a. Less than 4 minutes (This explains the 50% divorce rate.)

6. d. 113 (Unbelievable!)

7. 288,715 (Unimaginable!)

8. An effective manager will take every opportunity to deliver validations to all employees, especially those who need them most such as the younger population.

9. An effective manager will not only eliminate invalidations from his or her leadership style, but also will work to ensure that the organizational culture doesn't permit that type of behavior. This is as true at home as it is at work.

10. The needs of feedback are situational and individualistic. Each person's needs are different; it depends on the specific person and the type of situation. Clearly, workers need ample feedback each day from their manager merely to break even. And providing this leadership skill development will help if you want them to resolve problems and/or make progress.

If employees and family members are the most important people in our lives, why are we spending almost 26 hours per week in front of the television? We should be providing more than one minute of our day giving meaningful feedback to our youth. What if those numbers were reversed? What would happen to the problems in our society? Perhaps we ought to introduce ourselves to our employees and families and assist in their lead ership skill development .

About the author: Dr. Richard L. Williams , the author of Tell Me How I'm Doing , is a business consultant specializing in feedback, performance coaching, lead ership skill development , and quality improvement. Contact us at (888)262-2499 or visit our website .

Mastering the Difference Between Leadership and Management

Author: Dave Saunders

It is a common belief that management and leadership are the same role. While it is common that a manager also plays the part of the leader, these two roles are truly separate in function and in the way they add to the success of an orginization. By understanding the difference between management and leadership you will become more effective in helping others see the road ahead.

To understand the difference between management and leadership, consider the construction of a new road. To build that road there are workers, machinery and tools which are all vital in the road's construction. Managers help ensure those workers, machinery and tools work together in the most efficient way possible. A manager makes sure those workers are well-trained, motivated, rested and that they know what they're supposed to do next. The manager does the same thing with the tools and the machinery to make sure that they're working correctly and that the workers are able to use them efficiently and safely. This is the role of management. On the other hand, a leader makes sure that the road is going in the right direction before the construction begins. That leader also monitors conditions in new situations to ensure that the road under construction is still the correct one and is still going in the right direction.

How does this affect you as a leader? Are you spending your time managing people when you should be making sure that the road ahead is the one that you want to be on? To expect to be an effective leader you must present a clear vision and a trail you are willing to walk on first. While there are times when it is appropriate for a leader to fill a management role, it is vital to understand the difference between leadership and management so you can be effective no matter which role you happen to be filling at a given time. If you are a leader overseeing managers, it is important that you provide them with the correct perspective so they may be effective in their management role. Don't manage the managers. Lead them.

If you are not in a formal leadership role, it is also important that you understand that when a leadership opportunity arises there is a difference between being a leader and managing the effort. Even if you end up filling both sets of shoes it's important to understand the difference in roles in order to fill them effectively. If, on the other hand, you learn how to lead by showing people that you are walking down the right road, you will become a natural leader and will be able to help many others find success as your achieve your own.

About the author: Learn more about effective leadership by reading ""12 Winning Leadership Qualities: Unleash the Leader Instinct Within You"" at

www.unleashthelea derwithinyou.com

12 tips for effective leadership

Author: John Graham

Having and maintaining effective leadership over people in the workplace, whether they are your employees or just individuals you supervise, is the key to keeping employees producing at their best. Below are 12 quick tips to help you produce and maintain effective leadership at work:

1. Ask yourself, on an ongoing basis, of everything happening what is the most valuable use of my time, right now?

2. Manage your work and your employees by objectives. Effective leadership is demonstrated by instructive your staff on exactly what you would like them to do, and then, where possible, leaving them to get on with it. If it is not possible only provide them with necessary supervision. Do not watch every move.

3. There is a philosophy called the Philosophy of Continuous Improvement. This involves getting a little better at everything you do every day until you are performing to the best of your abilities. If you practice this then your employees will copy you.

4. If you are in charge of an employee that has exceptional talents which you are not currently taking advantage of, but are useful in your workplace, then create a new position for that specific skill.

5. Have an open door policy and take the time to truly listen to your people when they need or want to talk with you. You will increase their motivation by ten-fold.

6. Recognize that people not products or your bottom-line, are your most valuable asset and work to increase the value of your people. This is one of the most important aspects of effective leadership.

7. Make your employees feel important and valuable to the business. Only then will you be able to motivate them to peak performance.

8. Work hard to create a work environment in which people feel terrific about themselves and their duties. Only then will you be demonstrating truly effective leadership.

9. Always keep your word. Do not promise something and forget it and similarly do not warn about the consequences of a particular action then overlook it. Integrity is the most respected and valuable element of effective leadership. Make sure people know where they stand.

10. Take Albert Schweitzer's advice (Humanitarian & Nobel Prize Winner) when he said ""Men must be taught at the school of example, for they will learn at no other.""

11. The leader is the individual who masters his or her fear and moves towards an objective in spite of that fear. Remember everyone is afraid of something you just can't see it in everyone.

12. Dress for success. Image is important when leading other people. It take no more than 4 minutes (often much less) to create a lasting impression of effective leadership. It is important to always work on that 1st impression as employees and customers judge you by the way you act and look in those first 4 minutes.

About the author: John worked for many years in insurance and finance and now writes on a number of topics including small business and financial advice. Go to effective leadership for more information.

10 Tips for Creating a Public Sector Leadership Development Program

Author: Marnie E. Green

It's the hottest issue facing today's public sector human resource professionals: workforce and succession planning. At conferences aross the nation, numerous sessions are focusing on the growing need to implement workforce and succession planning systems in order to address the mass exodus of workers that is anticipated in the next five to ten years. Clearly, leadership development is a primary tool for preparing the workforce for the future.

Numerous agencies are incorporating leadership development as an element of their workforce planning efforts. Notable leadership development programs that have been documented include those implemented in San Diego County, CA; Henrico County, VA; Hennepin County, MN; City of Las Vegas, NV; City of Phoenix, AZ; and City of San Jose, CA. Many of the best practice elements in public sector leadership development are consistent between agencies. The purpose of this article is to share ten practices that appear to be common threads among agencies that are developing leaders internally to fill anticipated vacancies in the future.

The following tips are provided as guidance to organizations that may be interested in developing their own leadership development programs.

Tip One: Base the program on a competency model.

Before any training or development activities can take place, it is critical to identify the skills and competencies that will be developed as a result of the effort. As discussed in the Public Personnel Journal, Winter 2004, Henrico County developed 20 core leadership competencies including communication, critical thinking and decision making, organizational astuteness, and personal integrity. These competencies provided the framework for their development efforts. Other agencies, including the County of San Diego base their leadership academy on the same model as the multi-rater, 360-feedback tool that is used in the program.

Whether your organization has an established competency model that is used throughout your human resource programming or not, it is critical to spend some time defining the skills that leadership program participants are expected to develop. For example, the City of San Jose conducted a survey of top managers, followed by round-table discussions to determine the competencies to be developed in their leadership program called The Art and Practice of Leadership.

Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.

Each organization must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide. The highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment typically result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.

The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.

Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.

It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that without the full support and involvement from the executive leadership team, the program will fail. Top management must be involved in the development of the curriculum, the selection of the attendees, and in the presentation of the program. Their support is critical for the success and long-term viability of any leadership development program.

Likewise, many public agencies are finding that involvement by an elected official can also supplement the curriculum of a public sector leadership development program. For example, the City of Las Vegas invited a councilmember and the City of San Jose invited the Mayor to address their recent leadership academy programs. The official in each case addressed the class of leaders for up to one hour. They were asked to give their expectations for public sector leaders, and program participants were allowed to ask questions. The dialogue created in these forums allowed the organization's future leaders to see the organization through the eyes of an elected official. A facilitated conversation that followed the presentation encouraged the participants to identify meaningful ""take-aways"" from the elected official's comments. Because program participants have not likely interfaced extensively with an elected official, but will likely be expected to as their leadership responsibilities increase, this has become a critical element in public sector leadership development programs.

Tip Four: Use 360-degree feedback, individual development planning, and coaching as the core around which other development opportunities revolve.

360-degree survey tools provide feedback enabling leaders to realize strengths and areas for development based on their own and other's perceptions. Typically such feedback comes from the participant's direct supervisor, direct reports, and peers. Today, such processes can easily be facilitated on-line and feedback reports are comprehensive and detailed. Numerous vendors can now customize survey tools to reflect your organization's competency model (see Tip One above).

The feedback process, however, is only the start of the development process. It is recommended that the feedback be delivered in conjunction with opportunities for one-on-one coaching, as many participants find the feedback difficult to translate into everyday behaviors. A trained coach can assist the participant in making sense of the data. In addition, the participant should be expected to develop their own individual development plan that addresses competencies that are highlights in the feedback report. The individual development plan, once endorsed by the participant's direct supervisor, should then become the blueprint for the participant's leadership development efforts.

Because the feedback process can be so powerful, it is recommended that any leadership development program begin with this element, as it will provide the direction that each participant will need as they pursue the program. With their feedback, the participant can customize their leadership development experiences to address the identified needs. Because of this flexibility, 360-feedback is a highly recommended and popular tool.

Tip Five: Implement action learning through project teams.

Another popular tool for enhancing the leadership skills within public organizations is the use of action learning. Action learning is a typical educational approach where participants learn by addressing issues that are unique to their own organization and/or community. The format involves a continuous process of learning and reflection, built around learning groups of colleagues, more often with the aim of getting work-related initiatives accomplished.

The City of San Jose is using action learning as part of their new leadership development effort. The program participants are divided into six, functionally-diverse teams. Each team is assigned one of the city's corporate priorities which include:

* Performance-driven government

* Support for effective council policy-making

* Effective use of technology

* Customer service

* City as an employer of choice

* Neighborhood-focused service delivery

Teams are guided by team sponsors, who are all members of the City's executive team. Over a period of six months each team is expected to identify a City issue or project that needs attention. The teams research the issue, benchmark approaches with other jurisdictions, propose solutions the City could consider, develop a formal written report, and make a formal presentation in the City Council chambers as part of their program conclusion. The City Manager and other top executives will receive their presentations and provide feedback to each team. Whenever possible, the team will be given the authority to implement or participate in the implementation of their recommendations which may have citywide or regional implications. As a result, the participants are able to practice their communication and team skills as part of the process, receive feedback on their report writing skills, and practice making presentations in a forum that is new to many of them. They also have the opportunity to showcase their skills related to issues that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to explore.

Tip Six: Use internal and external resources.

As mentioned in Tip Two above, it is important to make full use of your organization's executive leadership team sessions that directly relate to the organization's strategic plan, culture, and expectations. However, other concepts may be better presented by individuals outside of the organization, who provide an outside or neutral perspective. You may also find that your organization does not have the capacity or expertise to address all the competencies included in your model. A balance of internal and external presenters provides participants with the opportunity to compare and contrast the agency's approach with practices and methods used outside of the organization.

Tip Seven: Maximize internal publicity.

In every case, leadership development program participants dedicate a great amount of time and energy to these kinds of programs. Not only is it a commitment of the participant's time, it is a commitment of their manager and staff's time that cover for the participant when they are attending program activities. You can communicate the goals and outcomes of the program and recognize the importance of the effort by using internal communicating tools like email, newsletters and Intranet postings. Everyone who is touched by the program should understand its importance to the organization's goals.

Prior to the start of the program, formally introduce the participants to the organization and encourage each organizational member to support them. After the program, each graduate should be recognized using the same communication tools (email, newsletters, Intranet, etc.) and their managers and staffs should be thanked for supporting them. Internal publicity can help garner support and enthusiasm for the program and its goals.

Tip Eight: Continuously adjust.

The first version of any comprehensive program like this is rarely perfect. It is important to continually modify the program based on the feedback received not only from the participants, but from their managers as well. By continually improving the program, it will meet the needs of the organization, even as the organization changes. Typically, the agenda and curriculum is modified during the program and after graduation to reflect the changing needs of the participants and the organization. It is critical to be flexible and to listen to the program participants and their managers in order to ensure the program continuously improves and maintains its credibility and relevance.

Tip Nine: Celebrate the achievement.

A learning opportunity such as a leadership academy or leadership development program requires a commitment of time and resources, not only on the part of the coordinators, but on the part of management and the participants. A graduation or other public celebration is critical to recognize the achievements of all the parties involved. The graduation does not need to be elaborate or lengthy. A brief lunch with informal presentations will do the trick. Nevertheless, finishing a program like this without some recognition is like going to a movie that doesn't include the credits at the end.

Tip Ten: Measure and track outcomes.

While each organization determines the level and extent to which the results of a leadership development program are measured, a variety of tools can be used to determine the impact of the program. Such measures include:

Knowledge of leadership concepts as measured via a pre- and post-assessment tool

Perceived change in selected leadership skills as measured by a multi-rater, 360-degree feedback tool administered at the beginning of the effort and again one year later

Number of participants retained over one, three, and five years

Number of participants promoted over one, three, and five years

Perception of participant's supervisor related to the participant's change in behavior after attending the leadership development program

Reaction to the leadership development program curriculum as measured by end of session evaluations

However your organization decides to measure the outcomes of your development efforts, it is recommended that the measurements be established prior to the start of the program and that they be monitored closely. Such measures will allow you to make appropriate adjustments to future programs and will assist you in showing the impact of the effort on your organization's strategic objectives.

If your organization has not yet embarked on a leadership development effort, it is likely that you will in the near future. Changing demographics, an impending ""brain drain,"" and a need to enhance retention levels are driving public organizations of all sizes to explore tools for ensuring the stability of their workforce. And, while many organizations are exploring these efforts, each must find a solution that works best for their organization's culture and goals. The elements presented in this article reflect the common practices in public sector leadership development efforts today.

About the author: Marnie Green, Chandler, AZ, USA

Marnie E. Green is Principal Consultant of the Arizona-based Management Education Group, Inc. She is the author of Painless Performance Evaluations: A Practical Approach to Managing Day to Day Employee Performance (Pearson/Prentice Hall). Green is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations develop leaders today for the workforce of tomorrow. Contact Green at http://www.managementeduc

Visions of Leadership

Author: Paul Lemberg

Right about now, you've made the discovery that if you intend to push your company beyond its current plateau, you will have to change the way you relate to your work. You have doubtlessly concluded this next level mandates you to let go of things like hiring, product design, perhaps even day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past - and focus yourself on your role as CEO.

There are three stages to making the transition from chief cook and bottle washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business).

They are:

Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role.

Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job.

Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable.

My last article, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one. This article will examine transition two - recognizing your position as leader and owning the job. Next month I will cover the third transition, Giving it all away.

As CEO of your company - you are no longer the ""head of everything"". It is up to you to provide leadership. That's the job. No ifs, ands, or buts. The sooner you recognize it the better. Being the leader entails certain responsibilities which cannot, under any circumstances, be delegated.

By the way, much has been written about the qualities of leadership. But leadership is not about qualities, such as ""strength of character"" or ""integrity"". While those things are useful, if you aren't already imbued with ""a winning personality"", it can take half a lifetime to develop one.

The core responsibilities of corporate leadership - which you cannot delegate - include:

Owning the vision and the strategy to realize the vision;

Communicating the vision to insiders and outsiders;

Enabling others to act to realize the vision;

Developing new leaders.

Owning the Vision

Vision is our concept of the future of our business. Owing to a quirk of human cognitive physiology, most of us experience our mental representations as images. When we think, or imagine, or conceive, what the future will be like, we tend to see it. Hence ""vision"".

Vision is simply how we perceive and experience the future of our company right now, in the present. We ""see"" the company being a particular way - as front-runners in our industry, as serving a particular class of customers, or perhaps as being located internationally, or generating a certain level of revenues, or even as causing breakthroughs for humanity. Another way to describe the vision is to call it ""The Future"".

A powerfully held and shared vision energizes and inspires people. By giving them a sense of their future - it provides a ""place to go"" or a purpose. It draws people forward like iron filings to a magnet. Vision is the vital catalyst that multiplies the efforts people put into their work, and intensifies/magnifies/ augments/ expands/enlarges the effect or those efforts.

It doesn't matter where the vision came from. It could be have been a brainstorm between three friends over a cup of coffee. It could have been formed in a strategy seminar, or at a board meeting. It could have washed over you in the shower one morning or during the commute home one evening. Visit paullemberg.com/toolsandtips.html for a copy of ""20 Questions to help articulate your company vision""

Regardless of the source - the CEO/Leader is the keeper of the vision, the ""owner"" of the vision. No one else in your company can play this role. Embrace the vision and make it yours. Have this vision be your animating principal.

Your vision will most likely include elements of product vision, company vision, and industry vision.

Communicating the Vision

Next, the CEO/Leader's job is to communicate the vision and help people take it on as their own. By successfully transforming your vision into a shared vision, you empower your employees - they see themselves inside of it, to see the future described as their future.

The vision is now a source of magic - when people see themselves living an inspiring future, they take action consistent with transforming that vision of the future into a reality. Right now, in the present. People become self-inspiring when they own the vision.

Depending on the size of your organization, one-on-ones, round table discussions, town-hall meetings, conference calls, satellite meetings, board meetings, staff meetings, company dinners or outings, off-sites, video and audio tapes, monographs, white papers & newsletters may all be appropriate ways to communicate your vision.

Regardless of the particular venue, every time you get people talking about ""the vision"" they are making it their own.

The CEO also communicates the vision to all outside stakeholders - the Board, suppliers, customers or clients, investors, the media, even the government. When the outside world actively participates in your company's future, many things which were once difficult become easy.

Enable others to act to bring the vision into reality

It is not enough to simply share the vision. The CEO/ leader provides opportunities for people to act to realize the vision. How do you do that?

First off, have people spend 100% of their time on work that is aligned with the company vision. Ask the question, ""Is this or that project moving us toward our designated future?"" If not, kill it - immediately.

Encourage C.R.I.B.:

Creativity - Rarely will same-old thinking foster a bright new future. Get your organization looking outside the box. What new approaches can you take? What new technology can you apply?

Risk taking - Don't punish failure. Silicon Valley venture capitalists actually reward failure. A failed business venture is regarded as a badge of courage and a sign of experience and maturity.

Initiative - Give people permission to do things and launch projects on their own. If you discover someone working on something promising, make sure they get the right resources and funding - and make a big deal out of it.

Breaking with tradition. Just because you did it 'that way' in the past...

Eliminate the kind of thinking which says: ""We don't have the time, or the money, or the resources, to do..."" Cultivate a climate where people say ""How can we..."" instead of ""Can we..."" or ""We can't, because..."" This simple change fosters C.R.I.B.

Finally, ask the question, ""What is in the way of committed action?""

Develop new leaders.

In some branches of the military, a senior officer is measured by the quality of the junior officers for whom he is responsible. In an entrepreneurial company, you will be ultimately successful to the degree you cultivate the leaders who follow you.

Remember, leadership is not a set of attributes, but a set of actions to take. Great leadership ability can develop through practice. If your company embraces C.R.I.B., people will naturally develop the skills of leading.

Look at your development teams as a training camp for leaders. Rotate people through key positions. Change the rules from time to time. Keep projects a little short of resources to encourage flexibility and ingenuity. Ask managers to make decisions on the spot.

Replace yourself in as many critical areas as possible. Push decision making further down your organization, and finally, let go!

Leadership is the ruby which transforms the scattered light of your organization into a focused, coherent laser beam, aimed - with tremendous power - in the direction of your declared future.

By forging a vision, promoting it relentlessly, enabling your people to act to bring that vision into reality, and developing you new leaders to replace you, you create great leverage.

As Archimedes reportedly said, ""Give me a lever long enough and I will move the earth."" Leadership, applied to your business, is the ultimate leverage.

-PL

About the author: Business Coach and Strategist, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only fully systemized business coaching program designed to create More Profits and More Life™ for entrepreneurs.

How To Delegate: One Key Step Towards Leadership

Author: Paul Lemberg

You've made an unusual discovery - there's not enough time left at the end of the day. The corollary, of course, is your list of important things to do never gets smaller. In any company, the CEO's to-do list has the potential to grow infinitely.

What's a senior executive to do?

This is not simply a personal problem. Your company's future depends on what you do next. As you drive your organization beyond its current plateau, you must change the way you relate to your work. There are three stages to making the transition from chief-cook-and-bottle-washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business). They are:

Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role. Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job. Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable. Previous articles, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one; Visions of Leadership addresses transition two. This article examines the problem of delegation - giving the work away.

The Issue

You have doubtlessly concluded your next level of company performance requires a managerial change. And hopefully, you have realized the changes necessary are with you. As CEO (or, on a divisional or departmental level - senior executive) your jobs include holding the vision; inspiring your senior management and your staff; fostering key relationships with customers, vendors, investors and the public, etc.

You now need to let go of some cherished things like product design, hiring, perhaps day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past, often out of necessity - and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What about all these things you used to do? Delegate them. Assign the job to someone else. This doesn't sound like a big deal, why write a whole article on it?

Do you delegate? Of course you do. But do you delegate the important things? The things you ""know"" you could do better? The things you are ""best"" at? Probably not. The question is, should you?

Your highest value contribution

Think about your highest value contribution to your company. Which of your activities generate the most revenue, profit, market share, etc.? Where do you get the most bang for the buck? Like most chief executives, your greatest leverage is in mobilizing the forces around you - your senior staff and your employees, plus key customers, prospects and vendors. Everything else becomes secondary to that in terms of impact.

So the answer is yes. You should give away even the things you are ""best"" at. And then make sure they are done right. Make sure they are up to spec and delivered on time.

The cost of holding on

Now, the thorny part. Many executives refrain from delegating responsibilities they've labeled ""critical"". They fear the job won't be done correctly. Or no one else can do it as quickly, and it won't get done on time. Or the right attention won't be paid. Or something. Or something else.

Give it up! The growth of your organization will be stifled to the extent that you hold on to critical functions. Your company will suffer in the exact areas where you think you are the expert!

Product design? You hold up the development of a key component, because you are the expert, yet you are away at a customer meeting. Staffing? Two engineers can't be hired because you haven't signed off and are out of town at a meeting with investment bankers. Sales? Negotiations on an important deal are held up because you are in Asia meeting with a vendor.

You become the choke point on each of these vital functions. And you feel - of course - ""I have to be involved."" No you don't. To the exact degree you have not developed your staff to assume these functions, the growth of your company will be retarded.

Aside from fear the job won't be done as well, there is another, more insidious reason senior executives (particularly entrepreneurs) do not delegate. If you aren't doing the ""important"" stuff, you become redundant. Dead weight. Overhead. If you have a great VP of Sales, or a Chief Technologist, what will you do?

You feel this way because you haven't completed transitions one and two: you haven't taken the trouble of understanding how you personally create value in your company, and you haven't fully assumed the role of leader. Once you make these transitions, you won't have time for the rest. Delegation, not abdication.

Many executives delegate like this. They say, ""John, would you take on this project? It has to be done by next Thursday. Thanks."" That's it. Then, when the job comes back incomplete, they are infuriated. What happened? They left out accountability. They neglected the structure for making sure things happened according to plan.

There are four components to successful delegation.

1. Give the job to someone who can get it done.

This doesn't mean that person has all the skills for execution, but that they are able to martial the right resources. Sometimes the first step in the project will be education. Maybe your delegate has to attend a seminar or take a course to get up to speed.

2. Communicate precise conditions of satisfaction.

Timeframe, outcomes, budget constraints, etc.; all must be spelled out. Anything less creates conditions for failure. It's like the old story about basketball - without nets the players don't know where to shoot the ball.

3. Work out a plan.

Depending on the project's complexity, the first step may be creation of a plan. The plan should include resources, approach or methodology, timeline, measures and milestones. Even simple projects require a plan. 4. Set up a structure for accountability.

If the project is to take place over the next six weeks, schedule an interim meeting two weeks from now. Or establish a weekly conference call, or an e-mailed status report. Provide some mechanism where you can jointly evaluate progress and make mid-course corrections. This helps keep the project, and the people, on track.

4. Get buy in.

Often timeframes are dictated by external circumstances. Still, your delegate must sign on for the task at hand. If you say, ""This must be done by next Tuesday,"" they have to agree that it is possible. Ask instead. ""Can you have this by Tuesday?"" To you this may seem a bit remedial, but the step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, have your delegate set the timeline and create the plan. You need only provide guidance and sign off. As General Patton said, ""Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.""

If you skip any one of the above steps, you dramatically reduce the likelihood things will turn out the way you want them to. On the other hand, if you rigorously follow the steps, you greatly increase the odds in your favor. Isn't this more work than doing it myself, you ask. No - it isn't.

The time it takes to

1) establish the goals, 2) review the plan, and 3) monitor the progress,

is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That is how you gain leverage. This is how you multiply your efforts.

(Occasionally it does take longer to communicate something than to do it yourself. Delegate it anyway. The next time will be easier.)

Above, I've referred to projects. This is not to say delegation is reserved for discrete tasks and problems. You also delegate ongoing functions. The process is the same in each case.

As an exercise, ask yourself, what am I unwilling to delegate? Make a list of the reasons why not. (Use our worksheet to identify projects and functions to delegate. E-mail for a free copy.) Identify the best person in your organization - not you - to take on this project or function. Then call a meeting. Begin the meeting with step one, above.

If there is no one to whom you can give away key functions, you have to look carefully at your staff situation. It may be time to hire the right people. If you don't have the revenues to support the staff additions, consider what is restraining your growth.

Review your relationship with your assistant or secretary. Have you let them take on there fair share of the workload? Are you giving them sufficiently sophisticated work to do? Are they ready to upgrade?

Some situations call for you to dive back in. Perhaps you are the only one in your company with some particular technical knowledge, or your insight will accelerate the design process, or you have the long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead, dive. Do your thing - briefly, complete the project and resume your leadership position.

Oh, one more thing.

The only point to delegating something is if it frees you for things which create greater value for your company. Don't give away the hiring function if you are spending your time fiddling with the corporate web site. Don't hire a Sales VP, if you are spending your time on purchasing. The greatest leverage you have is in leading your company. Lavish your time on that.

About the author: Business Coach and Strategist, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only fully systemized business coaching program designed to create More Profits and More Life™ for entrepreneurs.

Novell Continues Linux Market Leadership in China

Author: Dave Gosine

WALTHAM, Mass., USA -- Novell holds a 25.1 percent share of the Linux market in China, surpassing other local and international Linux distributors. Novell's success in China reflects a strong commitment to Chinese open source development and to Novell's growing customer base in this rapidly expanding market.

""Looking back at China's Linux Market in 2005, we can see that Novell was no doubt the biggest star,"" said Qian Lei, Computer & Software Analyst, CCID Consulting. ""Novell has gained good results from its investment in China's Linux market. In 2005, Novell revenue topped the Linux market in China with a total market share of 25.1 percent, illustrating strong competitiveness for Novell in China.""

CCID Consulting's research looks at Linux market dynamics and development trends, and includes forecasts for the next five years. CCID Consulting's report finds Novell with a Linux leadership position in China, outpacing both local Chinese Linux distributors as well as other global Linux vendors in adoption by Chinese customers. Novell strengthened its position in China in 2005, establishing new research and development, technical support and training facilities, fortifying partnerships with CS2C, Hua Wei, ZTE, Neusoft, and Skybility, and serving customers like People's Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications Shanghai Branch, and the China Meteorological Administration. Novell also launched a Chinese language version of its openSUSE project at openSUSE.org.cn, the first global Linux distributor with a dedicated Chinese site. To date, there have been nearly 100,000 visitors to Novell's openSUSE site in China.

""Novell has made a strong commitment to China,"" said Sen Ming Chang, managing director of Novell's East Asia region. ""With our new R&D Center and a local support facility, our localized version of our community distribution, openSUSE.org.cn, and expanded offices, our investment is paying off in a growing customer base here. We will continue to lead through superior delivery of a complete customer experience.""

About: Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers Software for the Open Enterprise(TM). With more than 50,000 customers in 43 countries, Novell helps customers manage, simplify, secure and integrate their technology environments by leveraging best-of-breed, open standards-based software. With over 20 years of experience, more than 5,000 employees, 5,000 partners and support centers around the world, Novell helps customers gain control over their IT operating environment while reducing cost. Novell is a registered trademark, and openSUSE and Software for the Open Enterprise are trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. * Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

© Copyright 2006 - Webbolt Company Limited All rights reserved.

About the author: Webbolt provides an on-demand, dynamically presented, tailored, total information solution with increasingly complex and global content. Webbolt continually updates and expands its free news in 22 key topic areas.

How To Delegate: One Key Step Towards Leadership

Author: Paul Lemberg

You've made an unusual discovery - there's not enough time left at the end of the day. The corollary, of course, is your list of important things to do never gets smaller. In any company, the CEO's to-do list has the potential to grow infinitely.

What's a senior executive to do?

This is not simply a personal problem. Your company's future depends on what you do next. As you drive your organization beyond its current plateau, you must change the way you relate to your work. There are three stages to making the transition from chief-cook-and-bottle-washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business). They are:

* Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role. * Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job. * Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable.

Previous articles, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one; Visions of Leadership addresses transition two. This article examines the problem of delegation - giving the work away.

The Issue

You have doubtlessly concluded your next level of company performance requires a managerial change. And hopefully, you have realized the changes necessary are with you. As CEO (or, on a divisional or departmental level - senior executive) your jobs include holding the vision; inspiring your senior management and your staff; fostering key relationships with customers, vendors, investors and the public, etc.

You now need to let go of some cherished things like product design, hiring, perhaps day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past, often out of necessity - and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What about all these things you used to do? Delegate them. Assign the job to someone else. This doesn't sound like a big deal, why write a whole article on it?

Do you delegate? Of course you do. But do you delegate the important things? The things you ""know"" you could do better? The things you are ""best"" at? Probably not. The question is, should you?

Your highest value contribution

Think about your highest value contribution to your company. Which of your activities generate the most revenue, profit, market share, etc.? Where do you get the most bang for the buck? Like most chief executives, your greatest leverage is in mobilizing the forces around you - your senior staff and your employees, plus key customers, prospects and vendors. Everything else becomes secondary to that in terms of impact.

So the answer is yes. You should give away even the things you are ""best"" at. And then make sure they are done right. Make sure they are up to spec and delivered on time.

The cost of holding on

Now, the thorny part. Many executives refrain from delegating responsibilities they've labeled ""critical"". They fear the job won't be done correctly. Or no one else can do it as quickly, and it won't get done on time. Or the right attention won't be paid. Or something. Or something else.

Give it up! The growth of your organization will be stifled to the extent that you hold on to critical functions. Your company will suffer in the exact areas where you think you are the expert!

Product design? You hold up the development of a key component, because you are the expert, yet you are away at a customer meeting. Staffing? Two engineers can't be hired because you haven't signed off and are out of town at a meeting with investment bankers. Sales? Negotiations on an important deal are held up because you are in Asia meeting with a vendor.

You become the choke point on each of these vital functions. And you feel - of course - ""I have to be involved."" No you don't. To the exact degree you have not developed your staff to assume these functions, the growth of your company will be retarded.

Aside from fear the job won't be done as well, there is another, more insidious reason senior executives (particularly entrepreneurs) do not delegate. If you aren't doing the ""important"" stuff, you become redundant. Dead weight. Overhead. If you have a great VP of Sales, or a Chief Technologist, what will you do?

You feel this way because you haven't completed transitions one and two: you haven't taken the trouble of understanding how you personally create value in your company, and you haven't fully assumed the role of leader. Once you make these transitions, you won't have time for the rest. Delegation, not abdication.

Many executives delegate like this. They say, ""John, would you take on this project? It has to be done by next Thursday. Thanks."" That's it. Then, when the job comes back incomplete, they are infuriated. What happened? They left out accountability. They neglected the structure for making sure things happened according to plan.

There are five components to successful delegation.

1. Give the job to someone who can get it done.

This doesn't mean that person has all the skills for execution, but that they are able to martial the right resources. Sometimes the first step in the project will be education. Maybe your delegate has to attend a seminar or take a course to get up to speed.

2. Communicate precise conditions of satisfaction.

Timeframe, outcomes, budget constraints, etc.; all must be spelled out. Anything less creates conditions for failure. It's like the old story about basketball - without nets the players don't know where to shoot the ball.

3. Work out a plan.

Depending on the project's complexity, the first step may be creation of a plan. The plan should include resources, approach or methodology, timeline, measures and milestones. Even simple projects require a plan.

4. Set up a structure for accountability.

If the project is to take place over the next six weeks, schedule an interim meeting two weeks from now. Or establish a weekly conference call, or an e-mailed status report. Provide some mechanism where you can jointly evaluate progress and make mid-course corrections. This helps keep the project, and the people, on track.

5. Get buy in.

Often timeframes are dictated by external circumstances. Still, your delegate must sign on for the task at hand. If you say, ""This must be done by next Tuesday,"" they have to agree that it is possible. Ask instead. ""Can you have this by Tuesday?"" To you this may seem a bit remedial, but the step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, have your delegate set the timeline and create the plan. You need only provide guidance and sign off. As General Patton said, ""Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.""

If you skip any one of the above steps, you dramatically reduce the likelihood things will turn out the way you want them to. On the other hand, if you rigorously follow the steps, you greatly increase the odds in your favor. Isn't this more work than doing it myself, you ask. No - it isn't.

The time it takes to

1) establish the goals, 2) review the plan, and 3) monitor the progress,

is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That is how you gain leverage. This is how you multiply your efforts.

(Occasionally it does take longer to communicate something than to do it yourself. Delegate it anyway. The next time will be easier.)

Above, I've referred to projects. This is not to say delegation is reserved for discrete tasks and problems. You also delegate ongoing functions. The process is the same in each case.

As an exercise, ask yourself, what am I unwilling to delegate? Make a list of the reasons why not. Identify the best person in your organization - not you - to take on this project or function. Then call a meeting. Begin the meeting with step one, above.

If there is no one to whom you can give away key functions, you have to look carefully at your staff situation. It may be time to hire the right people. If you don't have the revenues to support the staff additions, consider what is restraining your growth.

Review your relationship with your assistant or secretary. Have you let them take on there fair share of the workload? Are you giving them sufficiently sophisticated work to do? Are they ready to upgrade?

Some situations call for you to dive back in. Perhaps you are the only one in your company with some particular technical knowledge, or your insight will accelerate the design process, or you have the long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead, dive. Do your thing - briefly, complete the project and resume your leadership position.

Oh, one more thing.

The only point to delegating something is if it frees you for things which create greater value for your company. Don't give away the hiring function if you are spending your time fiddling with the corporate web site. Don't hire a Sales VP, if you are spending your time on purchasing. The greatest leverage you have is in leading your company. Lavish your time on that.

About the author: Business Coach & Strategist, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only fully systemized business coaching program guaranteed to help entrepreneurs create More Profits and More Life™.

21st Century Leadership Empowers Leaders at Every Level

Author: Wayne Messick

Historically a new-hire moved from learning the required tasks of their particular job to eventually understanding the goals, strengths, and weaknesses of the business in an orderly way - often having as much to do with their getting older as with their getting better, smarter, or more capable.

They were then promoted from actually doing the work as a productive part of the organization, to supervising others who are on their way up.

Much later, if the politics of birth, etc. were right, he moved from telling selected people what to do, to the head of the business where he now taught what he knew to the people who were telling the others what to do.

That went on until it was time or past time for him to be let out to pasture.

That was then, ""Doing it Right"" is now and the future.

""Doing it Right"" is based on the principles of right action, the right people doing the right things in the right way and for the right reasons.

For instance, in 2006 a new-hire may know as much or more about the right way as the old man.

The right way to do things is only the right way if it results in pushing us in the right direction.

The old man has valuable insights the new-hire needs to understand, sooner rather than later, about what really is the right direction. And the people in the middle add value to those below and above them.

Contributions to future success come from all levels of the enterprise - and its not just the boys any more.

The problem in many companies is that everyone has their picture of the right ways, the right directions, and the right reasons. They assume their picture is what everyone else is seeing.

A few years ago there was a lot ink dedicated to the revolutionary idea of the ""flattened hierarchy"" style of management, where bureaucratic organizations were eliminating some if not most of the levels within their organization.

The idea was to get ideas, strategies, etc. from the top to the very bottom in 2-3 steps. This was supposed to enhance communications, efficiencies, innovations, etc. This was so obvious. What was the big deal?

The vast majority of all businesses already had that sort of organization in place. And they were not any better at doing things right. Just because they did not have the money to have more levels of management did not mean they were more productive.

Today companies are successful not because of their organization charts but because of an internal attitude that supports the principles of doing it right.

The 21st Century version of the flattened hierarchy is to empower individuals wherever they are in the organization to step outside their defined boxes and contribute.

It is about an atmosphere of learning, doing, and teaching simultaneously by everyone to everyone for the benefit of everyone.

When the machine operators, supervisors, managers, and owner/operators (you fill in your job descriptions) effortlessly pass information and respect up, down, across, and around the organization, they've got it.

If a new-hire thinks they know best about how things should be done, they should be taught why, in terms of the organizations mission to help them confirm to themselves and others that their idea are valid.

Or to teach them more about the direction we are headed to make sure their how will actually take them that way.

The old man needs to know what to look for when putting on more new hires and promoting more people into the roles of a successful 21st Century company.

The more he knows about what is really going on out there on the floor, in the community, and the industry, the better choices he can make.

The people in the middle, the supervisors and team leaders, traditionally being pushed from one direction and pulled from the other, need to learn how to effectively turn this pressure into steam that drives the organization.

So, what is my point? Well it is not your dads or granddads business environment any more. And if that is true how can everyone contribute as team members, cooperate as team players, to create a winning team?

First an atmosphere free of traditional labor vs management must be present. In the 21st Century long-term interdependent relationships based on this old model will not survive.

There is more external competition than we can stand already, we do not need it inside the organization too.

Second the people at the top must admit that they do not know everything and that just because their partner's daughter is twenty three and has been there four months, does not mean she doesn't have excellent/valid input into the way things ought to be.

Third everybody else must admit that just because the boss is old (55+) does not mean he ""just doesn't get it"" and that he will ""never change."" Both groups have so much to offer the team and being able to offer it without fear of criticism is mandatory.

And finally there should be a structured way of systematically reinforcing the right actions we understand, learning the ones we don't, and communicating them within the organization.

Human nature keeps drawing us back to where we are comfortable, so we need a continual push until the new place is more comfortable than the old.

The introduction and reinforcement of right action strategies is the purpose of ""Doing it Right,Realizing Your Company's Potential.""

It dovetails with existing task oriented training to provide the framework for overall actions.

It provides a context for sponsoring organizations, trade associations for example, to better serve their constituencies by providing a framework around their existing educational programs.

The principles of right actions are vital for you personal and business success ""Doing it Right"" may offer you the best way to establish and maintain those right actions.

And now, its content is available online at no charge. There will be no more excuses for not doing it right.

About the author: Wayne Messick wants to interview

business owners positioning themselves for success in the 21st Century. Click here for cutting edge leadership strategies for your business.

Conflict, Leadership, And The Leadership Talk

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: 739

Summary: All leaders have to deal with conflict. The author cites three essentials you must adhere to in your dealings and describes a powerful leadership tool that will help you manifest those essentials.

Conflict, Leadership And The Leadership Talk by Brent Filson

Conflict comes with leadership as the sparks fly upward. If you don't want to deal with conflict, leadership is not your thing.

Being a leader is not about IF you will tackle conflict but HOW. In fact, no other ability (other than being able to get results) so shapes people's careers as the ability to deal with conflict.

Conflict and leadership go hand-in-hand because leadership involves challenging people often to do what they don't want to do. If people did what they wanted, leaders wouldn't be necessary. Great results don't drop like manna from heaven. Achieving them involves people having to get out of their comfort zones, make troublesome decisions, and engage in disconcerting new actions. Leadership helps guide and motivate people to do those things.

There are countless books, articles, etc. devoted to conflict resolution. But let me give you one tool that I've been teaching leaders of all ranks and functions worldwide for more than 22 years. It's the Leadership Talk.

Because the Leadership Talk is results-oriented and deals with fundamental human dynamics, it can be an unmatched way to help you deal with the inevitable conflicts you'll face.

(The many books and many other articles I've written on the Leadership Talk can be seen on my website.)

Here are the three essentials you must adhere to in dealing with conflicts and how the Leadership Talk can help you manifest those essentials.

1. Establish a deep, human, emotional connection with the people you're dealing with. When in conflict, keep in mind that the message is not just the message, the message is the messenger. HOW you deal with conflict and WHO you are in dealing with the conflict are as important, if not more, than WHAT the conflict is. Abraham Lincoln explained the importance of HOW and WHO: ""If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend ... Assume to dictate to his judgment, or to command his action, or to mark him as one to be shunned and despised, and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and his heart; and tho' your cause be naked truth itself ... you shall no more be able to reach him than to penetrate the hard shell of the tortoise with a rye straw.""

The Leadership Talk helps you deal with not only the WHAT of the conflict but also the HOW. It is a clear, practical pathway to winning the hearts of the people you are in conflict with simply because its driving principle is Lincoln's imperative of convincing the other side of your good will and sincerity.

2. Be guided by and empowered through process. It's important for your career to have a simple, clear conflict-resolution process to guide your thoughts, speech, and actions. You may not follow it exactly in every case, but it can help you better deal with the countless varieties of conflicts that you'll come to face.

The Leadership Talk is a powerful conflict resolution process because it engages the human aspects in practical, structured ways. For instance, one of its processes it called the Three-trigger Motivational Process. When you face conflict, you should ask three questions. If you say ""no"" to your answer to any one of those questions, you can't give a Leadership Talk. The questions are: 1. Do you know what the audience needs? 2. Can you bring deep belief to what you're saying? 3. Can you have the audience take action?

3. Stay focused on results. Since leaders do nothing more important than get results, the fruits of how we deal with conflict should be evaluated by whether we are obstructing or promoting results.

In leadership, it's not enough to resolve conflicts, we must also in the process achieve increases in results. Forget about trying to achieve ""win/win."" That can be a tender trap. In fact, in many cases, a win/win objective might impede results by keeping people from going to the next step, the results-generating step.

The Leadership Talk sees conflicts you are engaged in terms not simply of conflict resolution but results generation. Furthermore, its focus is not just about achieving ordinary results but more results, faster results on a continual basis.

Since conflict will always be with you as a leader, you should welcome it as an opportunity to get increases in results. When you're using Leadership Talks, you'll find yourself getting those results consistently.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 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 ht

Empowered Leadership

Author: Kim Olver

It seems that every decade or so there is some new fad the runs through the business world in terms of supervision and in the world of diversity management, downsizing, outsourcing, generational work conflicts and the information age, things are even more complicated than ever before.

No longer does a one size fits all leadership model really work. We can't treat everyone the same and expect that everything will just ""work out"" somehow. Managers and leaders must have a framework with which to manage their workers in a way that honors everyone's unique and specific position on the job.

Empowered leadership is the way to do just that. Empowered leadership shares the power between management and the workers, thus empowering both groups.

Conventional wisdom tells us that when those in power relinquish some of that power by sharing it or giving it to their employees, then they would lose something when in actually, they gain.

Think about it. When people rule with an iron hand, they generally instill fear in those who work for them. Do you do your best work when you are afraid? I don't know about you but I will attempt to comply because I want to avoid negative consequences but it certainly won't be my best work. The absolute best a manager can hope for with coercion is compliance. If compliance is enough, then coercion might work.

However, I will gripe and complain and quietly wait for opportunities to get even. I won't have a kind thing to say about my employer and at every available chance will seek corroboration for how I feel from my co-workers, thus spreading an ""us"" versus ""them"" mentality.

When leaders and managers seek to empower their workers, they will gain their loyalty. Workers want to give their supervisor their best when they are listened to and respected. Without fear, their minds can be creative and innovative.

When managers are willing to accommodate special requests and it doesn't interfere with product or service delivery, then their employees will be sure to give back their best in return. Giving away power only increases a manager's power.

Now, I am not talking about being a total pushover and only advocating for what employees want. As a manager, you have a two-fold job--you are to represent your employees' desires, opinions and suggestions to management while at the same time communicating management's issues, concerns and expectations to your employees. This is not an easy line to walk.

You will never get the best from your employees if they don't respect you. You cannot be a doormat for your employees to walk over. If they believe you have no bottom line or nonnegotiables, then they will never be satisfied and always asking for more. You will feel used and abused and the truth is, you asked for it.

As a manager, you must hold the bar high. Expect great things from each and every one of your workers. If you only expect mediocrity, mediocrity is exactly what you will get. Set the standards and lead by example. If your workers see you giving it your all, it will be difficult for them to perform below standard.

You must have production goals you are attempting to meet for either products or services. Always enlist the help of your employees to set the goals, with the underlying premise being continual improvement.

And as a manager, you have the responsibility to create a need satisfying workplace for yourself and your workers. You cannot emphasize one to the exclusion of the other without there being undesirable consequences.

When you focus on production only and forget the human capital, you will end up with resentful, resistant, angry workers. On the other hand, when you only focus on the people end and allow production goals to be compromised; you will have workers who do everything they can to take advantage and to get out of doing the work. After all, if you the manager don't value production, why should they?

Somewhere in the middle, when you are walking that very fine line between relationships and production goals, you are practicing empowered leadership and that's where you will get the most from your employees.

About the author: Kim Olver has over 20 years experience in staff development and supervision and is an expert in leadership skills, staff relationships and diversity. Certified in reality therapy/choice theory/lead management/quality school concepts, she works with counselors, schools and businesses to apply these ideas. Visit http://www.coachingforexcellence.biz

Leadership Today

Author: Carl Hoffman

The most important thing you do is LEAD your people. Every productive activity on your daily agenda is leadership, regardless of what you call it. You manage, advise, teach, decide, and direct. The list goes on but it's all leading.

The most valuable commodity of any great organization is the quality of good people. They deserve the most inspired caring leadership you can provide.

Leaders seize the opportunity and use it properly to attain excellence.

A critical factor in the exercise of leadership is the adaptability of the person in charge. Whenever any of the variables change, the necessarily ""right"" style must change. The leader must then adjust his or her approach. The style that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow--but the leader will adapt. It takes time for a new leader to identify the ""right"" style of leadership. By the time that leader discovers the correct approach he or she may have damaged his or her credibility. The leader may then have established a pattern of behavior that will stick with him or her for the rest of their lives.

Another component of good leadership is caring. Good leaders care about and take of their people. They help them deal with stress that arise both from the job and from external sources. Leaders never let the pressure of their job interfere with taking care of their people.

What your members of your team or organization say is important. Without exception every group complains to some degree. But this is not always bad. Quality of leadership must be assessed by looking at where the irritants lie. If discussions generally dwell on internal issues within the team or organization, leadership might need improvement. If they focus instead on internal issues at a higher level such as company or corporate headquarters, there is a chance your people are satisfied with your leadership.

Equally important in the assessment of leadership is how participants interact in sensing sessions. This is commonly seen as an indicator of morale--how they feel about themselves. It is also a broad indicator of how they feel about their organization.

Cooperative groups generally come from good environment. They talk about anything. At times they even complain but they also frequently recommend solutions. The tone and body language of these group suggest that they are basically satisfied with their leadership. The willingness to recommend improvements suggest confidence in their leaders to listen to opinions and to act on recommendations.

Vocal, hostile groups generally come from poor environments. These groups use sensing sessions to vent their frustrations. They don't sense that their leaders understand or care enough about them to deal with their problems. In most cases, these groups see their leaders adding more to their burden than they take away.

Reticent groups also generally come from poor environments. They hesitate to say anything. These groups demonstrate the resignation that sets in when they feel no one cares about their problems. Alternatively, they may respresent teams that work under repressive leadership that is intoleratnt to ""whiners"" or threatens retribution for complaining. A good senior leader can do things to overcome poor leadership below them. The converse is not true . Even the most inspired junior leaders cannot compensate for the ""wrong"" style imposed upon them and their team from above.

So far we've dealt with selection of leadership style, based on individual and organizational varibles. Another way to look at leadership is to consider how it is used. We will explore the leader's selection of the ""right"" approach to running an organization in my next edition on leadership.

About the author: Carl Hoffman is a retired Army Sergeant Major who has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience. He has many online ventures and author of many articles on sales, leadership and marketing.

Looking for a online business or building upon an existing one visit him at: http://www.CEHoffman.com

Mastering the Art of Leadership

Author: Vicky Pope

How Can You Tap into Your Latent Leadership Potential?

The answer to this is simple. Through leadership development. Why? Because good leaders are made and the process itself is a continuous process of improvement. Here are seven ways to begin developing your leadership right away. Develop your hard skills through formal education. A master's degree can be very helpful or at least try some schools of continuing education provided by your local university. Read -- aim to read a wide array of books, constantly, and attend management seminars and workshops. Take a formal leadership development program. If your organization is offering one in-house, I advise that you take this route because the design is likely to have been customized for your leadership environment. If your organization does not offer one, check out the Center for Creative Leadership (www.ccl.org) and VIPCG, Inc. ( http://www.thevipcg.com ) Get an executive coach. A good executive coach can ensure that you are on your game as a leader. Executive coaches provide situation-specific guidance and are really useful for when you have to deal with the challenges that present themselves in your day to day functioning. Perhaps the most important skill that you must have as a leader is emotional competence. This skill helps you to achieve maximum results by working effectively with people (superiors, peers, and subordinates). You develop awareness of your personality and the personality of others, learn to manage your behavior and attitude, and develop a habit of taking intentional action. You need the help of a professional to assess your emotional competency levels and provide the guidance for development. Because of some confusion around the boundaries between management and leadership, we have some mental constructs that can affect our effectiveness as leaders. One such issue is confusing formal positions with leadership. The way this affects us is that we get stuck in formal authority roles which we call leadership. This is neither good for you nor the organization. Take a look at your life plans and make sure that you have a ""next station"" plan built in. Put a boundary on how long you will be in your current leadership role, and what you hope to have achieved by the expiration of the period. You can do this by yourself or with your executive coach. Take control of your potential as a leader by engaging your personal leadership. Despite your present external circumstances, you can succeed beyond your wildest dreams because of the potential you have. But you will need to ascertain what your life purpose is, develop a vision of what your life can become, and take action on your strategies. Remember you can't lead others without first leading yourself. Conquer the demon of inappropriate attitude that leads to unproductive behavior that leads to undesired results. Remember you carry with you the environment in which you live, so begin to build positive attitudes for good results. Take responsibility for the leader that you are today and take charge of the leader you can become tomorrow.

©2006 VIPCG, Inc.

VIPCG, Inc. We Transform the Way Leaders Lead.™ http://www.thevipcg.com

About the author: Vicky is the President and CEO of VIPCG, Inc. http://www.thevipcg.com

Specialization

She specializes in leadership development, executive coaching, and using innovative technologies to transform entire systems in organizations. Vicky also specializes in emotional competence, and developing collaborative work cultures and is an expert in cross-cultural development.

Leadership Techniques for Anyone: How Kermit Shared Five Leadership Secrets with the World

Author: Ed Sykes

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the funeral of my friend Kermit. A pleasure, you ask? Yes, a pleasure and a honor, because it was a great celebration of Kermit's life and the passion and spirit he brought to living it.

Usually, when I go to funerals, the spiritual leader (pastor, minister, rabbi, cleric, etc.) goes on and on about the deceased, a person he barely knows; and maybe one or two friends or associates might say something about the deceased. Well, Kermit's funeral was special. The pastor spoke briefly, a singer sang a hymn, and then the pastor asked for comments from the audience. That's when the funeral became really special. After one and a half hours later, over forty people had gotten up and shared their positive experiences and what Kermit meant to them. People from their 20's to well over 60-year-old people from different spiritual, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds stood up to make comments. People who served with him in the Navy (Kermit retired as a Commander) stood up and spoke about how Kermit changed their lives.

There was story after story about how Kermit made the speakers overcome obstacles and made them believe they could do better, and did this with passion. Some of them were as follows:

1. Past ballplayers talked about Kermit's cowbell as a rallying cry at their ballgames.

2. A woman told of having a flat tire on a busy roadway and Kermit, whom she didn't know at the time, stopped and helped her fix the tire; and then they became friends.

3. A businessperson talked about how Kermit volunteered his time to help him launch a business that is still going strong after ten years.

4. A previous player described how he was motivated by Kermit to make something of himself. He went to college and is a very successful basketball coach teaching the same principles that Kermit taught him.

5. A man explained that he was going through a divorce and bankruptcy and was thinking of committing suicide. Kermit heard about his troubles, called him, and helped him through these dark times. Now this person helps others through their challenging moments in life.

Wow! It moved me. Here are five leadership and success secrets Kermit shared with us. How can you apply them to become more successful and outstanding leaders?

1. What is Your Cowbell? Create Passion! Kermit truly enjoyed working with people to make them better. It was not just the cowbell, but the emotion and excitement he experienced when seeing other people succeed. The cowbell was just the tool that Kermit used to show his passion so that others became passionate. Let your passion show. Let people know that you are excited about their accomplishments, and the passion will multiple.

2. Expect the Best. Excellence Will Take Care of the Rest. It was said about Kermit that when meeting people, he never met a stranger. In his mind they were already someone he knew. Kermit always expected the best when interacting with people, and they eventually rose to his expectations.

Expect the best out of people, and they will rise to your standards.

3. Understand So That You Are Understood

Kermit's conversations were always centered on understanding the other person. For all the years I knew him, I never knew he was a commander in the Navy. He didn't make his title the focus of the conversation. You see, it wasn't about him; it was always about the other person's interests, needs, etc. Because of this, people naturally wanted to become involved in Kermit's projects and help Kermit make other people successful.

So my question is: How well do you understand your employees?

Take the time to understand their goals, wants, needs, hobbies, etc. The more you take time to understand them, the more your employees will want to help you succeed.

4. Give of Yourself

Kermit always gave his time, energy, and passion without ""keeping score."" In return, the people he helped not only helped him, but went on to make a difference in other people's lives.

Take the time to go the extra mile to see how you can help your employees, your team, and/or your organization without ""keeping score."" Your employees will feel that you care, and then they will go to a new level of caring.

5. Share the Knowledge

Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others so that they become more successful. Whether it was coaching a sports team, helping a friend start a business, or sharing his experiences to get a person through a difficult time, Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others. Because Kermit shared his knowledge, other people became more successful and they shared their knowledge with others so that they could be more successful.

What special knowledge do you have that can help others succeed? Don't hoard your knowledge, share it. By sharing your knowledge, you multiply yourself and become known as a developer of people. Your knowledge, once you share it, will live on after you are gone.

Apply these five leadership techniques and create success in your business, with your team, in your community, and your life. Just like Kermit, you will also see instant results.

Thanks for sharing, Kermit, and making the world a better place.

About the author: Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and leading expert in the areas of leadership, motivation, presentation skills, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Goto his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, ""Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional.""

William Shakespeare's Leadership Lesson: Crowns For Convoy

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: 660

William Shakespeare's Leadership Lesson: Crowns For Convoy by Brent Filson

As a leader, you'll inevitably be faced with people wanting to leave your team or organization. Learning how to deal successfully with the challenge is a vital skill that can have a major influence on your career. And one of the best ways of developing the skill comes from Shakespeare's Henry V.

The stirring speech of Shakespeare's Henry before the battle of Agincourt contains many leadership nuggets. But commentators who recount the speech usually overlook a particularly valuable one. They focus on the speech's ""band of brothers"" aspects but neglect the fact that Henry also said that if any of his soldiers would rather not fight, he'd give them passport and ""crowns for convoy"" back to England.

Henry was aware that some of his soldiers were reluctant to fight; for he led a rather bedraggled army. History recounts they had marched 260 miles in 17 days. They were short of food. They were drenched by two weeks of continuous rain. Many of them were suffering from dysentery contracted from drinking fetid pond water. And they were facing the flower of French knighthood, knights who were rested, better equipped and eager for battle. So there were probably many soldiers who wanted to avoid battle, get quickly to the coast and board ships for England.

Shakespeare has his Henry respond to these leadership challenges in a telling way. Instead of trying to cajole those who wanted to leave into remaining with him, or on the other hand, punish them, he did something much more effective: He actually offered them passports and money to go.

""Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse; We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us.""

Now, apply this lesson to those people who tell you they want out. Their attitude may seem negative; but you have an opportunity to get positive results by reshaping your relationship with them in productive ways and boosting your leadership effectiveness with the people who remain.

Granted, if somebody wants out, your knee-jerk reaction may be to say, ""Good riddance! Don't darken my door again."" But let's examine this. When somebody wants to leave, two facts apply. One is that, clearly, that person - for whatever reason - is dissatisfied and is looking for satisfaction elsewhere. And two is that you have a relationship with the person. It might be a good relationship. It might be a bad relationship. But here's the point: You don't want to get the two facts mixed up in a bad way. Because that relationship will continue in one way or another even if you don't set eyes on each other again.

A bad relationship with an employee that left your organization can come back to haunt you in many unforeseen ways, such as poisoning your relationships with the people who remain behind.

Whether people want to leave because they want to or because you want them to, do this one thing: offer ""crowns for convoy."" In other words, give them the tangible means to depart. Put aside any rancor or frustration you may feel and become genuinely interested in and actively involved in solving the problems associated with their leaving.

For instance, let the person take charge of their leaving. Help the person draw up an action plan of their own choosing that will facilitate their departure in the best way possible. Support those actions in precise ways - as long as they are reasonable and won't harm your organization and the people who are remaining in it. Provide milestones and ways that you and the person can evaluate and monitor progress in carrying out the plan.

By having the person take charge, by showing good will, and lending concrete assistance, you'll be creating an opportunity to change your relationship with them. You'll set the stage for your working together in a positive way irrespective of whether you'll ever see again. Thus you'll help mend bad feelings that might have otherwise grown unnecessarily worse.

CROWNS FOR CONVOY is all about giving people control of their leaving in an environment of free choice, action, helpfulness, and good will.

In doing so, you may transform a potentially bad situation into a beneficial one. And who knows? Maybe, like Henry, you may achieve an unexpected surprise.

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 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

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

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.

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 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