When you are at work, do you get frustrated because things don't seem to be happening the way they’re supposed to be? You see people milling around but nothing gets accomplished. And in the daily hustle and bustle, do you feel that your goals remain just that – goals. Then maybe its time for you to stand up and do something about it.
Most people are content just to stand around listening for orders. And it isn't unusual to adopt a follow-the-leader mentality. But maybe, somewhere inside of you, you feel the desire to make things happen – to be the head, not the tail. Then maybe leadership just suits you fine.
Some people believe that great leaders are made, not born. Yes, it may be true that some people are born with natural talents. However, without practice, without drive, without enthusiasm, and without experience, there can be no true development in leadership.
You must also remember that good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their natural skills. This takes a commitment to constantly improve in whatever endeavor a person chooses.
First of all, let's define leadership. To be a leader, one must be able to influence others to accomplish a goal, or an objective. He contributes to the organization and cohesion of a group.
Contrary to what most people believe, leadership is not about power. It is not about harassing people or driving them using fear. It is about encouraging others towards the goal of the organization. It is putting everyone on the same page and helping them see the big picture of the organization. You must be a leader not a boss.
First of all, you have to get people to follow you. How is this accomplished?
People follow others when they see a clear sense of purpose. People will only follow you if they see that you know where you are going. Remember that bumper sticker? The one that says, don't follow me, I'm lost too? The same holds true for leadership. If you yourself do not know where you're headed to, chances are people will not follow you at all.
You yourself must know the vision of the organization. Having a clear sense of hierarchy, knowing who the bosses are, who to talk to, the organization's goals and objectives, and how the organization works is the only way to show others you know what you are doing.
Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It's about who you are, what you know, and what you do. You are a reflection of what you're subordinates must be.
Studies have shown that one other bases of good leadership is the trust and confidence your subordinates have of you. If they trust you they will go through hell and high water for you and for the organization.
Trust and confidence is built on good relationships, trustworthiness, and high ethics.
The way you deal with your people, and the relationships you build will lay the foundation for the strength of your group. The stronger your relationship, the stronger their trust and confidence is in your capabilities.
Once you have their trust and confidence, you may now proceed to communicate the goals and objectives you are to undertake.
Communication is a very important key to good leadership. Without this you can not be a good leader. The knowledge and technical expertise you have must be clearly imparted to other people.
Also, you can not be a good leader and unless you have good judgment. You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out a solution.
It is this judgment that your subordinates will come to rely upon. Therefore, good decision-making is vital to the success of your organization.
Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. You should not claim to know everything, and you should not rely upon your skills alone.
You should recognize and take advantage of the skills and talents your subordinates have. Only when you come to this realization will you be able to work as one cohesive unit.
Remember being a leader takes a good deal of work and time. It is not learned overnight. Remember, also, that it is not about just you. It is about you and the people around you.
So, do you have the drive and the desire to serve required of leaders? Do you have the desire to work cooperatively with other people? Then start now. Take your stand and be leader today.
Lets start LEADING
Showing posts with label leader. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leader. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Leaders come in different flavors
Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders
throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize
and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about
leadership.
Leaders come in different flavors.
There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your
lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators,
congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of
their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by
virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of
Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders
practice a combination of leadership styles.
·Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative
·Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative,
and participative
·Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic,
pacesetting, and commanding.
Lets start LEADING
throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize
and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about
leadership.
Leaders come in different flavors.
There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your
lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators,
congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of
their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by
virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of
Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders
practice a combination of leadership styles.
·Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative
·Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative,
and participative
·Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic,
pacesetting, and commanding.
Lets start LEADING
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
6 Reasons Why Leaders Fail
1. They lose sight of what's important
Leaders are usually distinguished by their ability to "think big". But when their focus shifts, hey suddenly start thinking small. They micro manage, they get caught up in details better left to others, and they become consumed with the trivial and unimportant. The good work of leadership is usually a result of who the leader is. What the leader does flows naturally from inner vision and character. It is possible for the leader to become too action oriented and, in the process, lose touch with the more important development of self.
2. They fail to communicate effectively
A lack of focus and its resulting disorientation typically lead to poor communication. They begin to believe that truly committed followers automatically sense their goals and know what they want without being told. Misunderstanding is seen by such managers as a lack of effort on the listener's part rather than their own communication negligence.
3. They become driven by fear of failure.
When driven by the fear of failure, leaders are unable to take reasonable risks. They want to do only the tried and proven. Attempts at innovation that typically characterised their initial success, diminish and eventually disappear.
4. They lose their credibility
The highest principle of leadership is integrity. A leader's credibility is the result of two aspects, what they do and who they are, a discrepancy between these two aspects creates an integrity problem. When integrity ceases to be a leader's top priority, when achieving results becomes more important than the means to their achievements, that is the moment when a leader steps onto the slippery slope to failure.
5. They have poor self management
While leadership is invigorating, it is also tiring. Leaders who fail to take care of their physical, mental, social, spiritual, family and emotional needs are headed for disaster. It is absolutely vital that leaders continue to grow and develop in all areas of their life.
6. They lose sight of their vision
The hard work of leadership should be fulfilling and even fun. But when leaders lose sight of the vision that compelled them to accept the responsibility of leadership, they can find themselves working for causes that mean little to them. They must stick to what they love, what motivated them in the first place, to maintain leadership fulfilment.
Lets start LEADING
Leaders are usually distinguished by their ability to "think big". But when their focus shifts, hey suddenly start thinking small. They micro manage, they get caught up in details better left to others, and they become consumed with the trivial and unimportant. The good work of leadership is usually a result of who the leader is. What the leader does flows naturally from inner vision and character. It is possible for the leader to become too action oriented and, in the process, lose touch with the more important development of self.
2. They fail to communicate effectively
A lack of focus and its resulting disorientation typically lead to poor communication. They begin to believe that truly committed followers automatically sense their goals and know what they want without being told. Misunderstanding is seen by such managers as a lack of effort on the listener's part rather than their own communication negligence.
3. They become driven by fear of failure.
When driven by the fear of failure, leaders are unable to take reasonable risks. They want to do only the tried and proven. Attempts at innovation that typically characterised their initial success, diminish and eventually disappear.
4. They lose their credibility
The highest principle of leadership is integrity. A leader's credibility is the result of two aspects, what they do and who they are, a discrepancy between these two aspects creates an integrity problem. When integrity ceases to be a leader's top priority, when achieving results becomes more important than the means to their achievements, that is the moment when a leader steps onto the slippery slope to failure.
5. They have poor self management
While leadership is invigorating, it is also tiring. Leaders who fail to take care of their physical, mental, social, spiritual, family and emotional needs are headed for disaster. It is absolutely vital that leaders continue to grow and develop in all areas of their life.
6. They lose sight of their vision
The hard work of leadership should be fulfilling and even fun. But when leaders lose sight of the vision that compelled them to accept the responsibility of leadership, they can find themselves working for causes that mean little to them. They must stick to what they love, what motivated them in the first place, to maintain leadership fulfilment.
Lets start LEADING
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
In Search of the Uncommon Leader
Leadership is a very hot topic today. It always has been and probably always will be. There is for good reason. There are not a lot of Uncommon Leaders around! The question is - why not? And what can we do to develop more Uncommon Leaders?
Let’s start by defining what an Uncommon Leader looks like.
Uncommon Leaders fill a void by bringing direction and vision. They pull people together to use their resources (financial, mental, spiritual, physical, etc) to achieve an outcome that benefits everyone. They have tremendous charisma that influences people to want to achieve their best. They create momentum and motivation. They show others how to become better and achieve more. They help people hold themselves accountable. They support creativity and original thinking. They inspire action and greatness. They make things happen. They breed excitement and enthusiasm.
Now before you go out thinking that these super-human beings are all heads of corporations, political legends or NFL coaches, let’s clarify something right now. Everyone and I do mean everyone at some point in their life take on a leadership role. Any parent takes on a leadership role. Anyone who supervises employees has a leadership role. Anyone that works in a job that has some type of customer service has a leadership role.
As you look back at our definition of what is an Uncommon Leader could it not apply to a parent? They are leading a family. It’s not quite the same as leading the fifth infantry division, but it is still leadership. And frankly anyone that has any type of leadership role would love to hear themselves described as we described our Uncommon Leader above.
All Uncommon Leaders of great note in any area of life first became Uncommon Leaders in ways that were not so public and as they got better they became better known until ultimately they became Uncommon Leaders of note. The really good news is that everyone can develop better leadership skills than they have today. But only with concerted effort and clear objectives can better skills are acquired.
So let’s take one very important trait of Uncommon Leaders and analyze it. The trait is that of “clarity of vision”. A Leader could have all of the other traits of the Uncommon Leader, but without clarity of vision he could never become an Uncommon Leader. The reason is very simple. Without a Clear vision, there is no rallying point. There is no way too get people fired up. There is no way create excitement.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say you are planning a sales conference for your top salespeople. However, you are not clear in your vision. You try and sell the idea to your salespeople by saying that the top salespeople, perhaps with their spouses, will go on a trip for a few days at a nice place.
Compare that to a having the same conference with a clear vision. You might say the top 10 salespeople will be flown down first class to Cancun with their spouses for a 7 day vacation getaway at the Ritz Carlton. While there, they will be wined and dined by the Chairman of the Board, the CEO, and the President of the Company.
Now lest you say that the trip sounds more exciting because it is Cancun, even Kansas City sound better that the unclear vision.
The top 10 salespeople will get an all expense paid vacation to Kansas City with their spouse for 7 days staying at the Courtyard by Marriot. While there they will dine with the Chairman of the Board, The CEO and the President of the Company.
Now I will grant you that The Kansas City story was not near as exciting as the Cancun story. However it was infinitely more impressive than the “someplace nice” story.
Do you work harder and better if you know clearly what your benefit will be at the end of your work? Imagine coming into your present employer for a job and when you brought up compensation he said we’ll see how it goes and decide then. Would you take the Job? Probably not, you want clarity.
Uncommon Leaders are great about getting really clear visions. They dream in Technicolor. When they share the vision you see it, you feel it, you taste it, and you smell it. They make it alive. They can only do that once it is truly clear in their mind. The better that clarity, the more uncommon of a leader you can become.
The big problem today is we seldom spend the time, thought and effort necessary to get the clarity and focus that would create momentum. Instead we get a fuzzy idea of about what we would like to do.
If you want to be an Uncommon Leader fuzzy is not OK. Get clarity, clarity about your values, your strengths and weaknesses. Get a clear picture of your vision for your life, your business and your family. Share that vision with those that are close to you. You will become excited and so will they. Once you have it crystal clear you have acquired the first trait of The Uncommon Leader. Congratulations!
Cheers to Success
Let’s start by defining what an Uncommon Leader looks like.
Uncommon Leaders fill a void by bringing direction and vision. They pull people together to use their resources (financial, mental, spiritual, physical, etc) to achieve an outcome that benefits everyone. They have tremendous charisma that influences people to want to achieve their best. They create momentum and motivation. They show others how to become better and achieve more. They help people hold themselves accountable. They support creativity and original thinking. They inspire action and greatness. They make things happen. They breed excitement and enthusiasm.
Now before you go out thinking that these super-human beings are all heads of corporations, political legends or NFL coaches, let’s clarify something right now. Everyone and I do mean everyone at some point in their life take on a leadership role. Any parent takes on a leadership role. Anyone who supervises employees has a leadership role. Anyone that works in a job that has some type of customer service has a leadership role.
As you look back at our definition of what is an Uncommon Leader could it not apply to a parent? They are leading a family. It’s not quite the same as leading the fifth infantry division, but it is still leadership. And frankly anyone that has any type of leadership role would love to hear themselves described as we described our Uncommon Leader above.
All Uncommon Leaders of great note in any area of life first became Uncommon Leaders in ways that were not so public and as they got better they became better known until ultimately they became Uncommon Leaders of note. The really good news is that everyone can develop better leadership skills than they have today. But only with concerted effort and clear objectives can better skills are acquired.
So let’s take one very important trait of Uncommon Leaders and analyze it. The trait is that of “clarity of vision”. A Leader could have all of the other traits of the Uncommon Leader, but without clarity of vision he could never become an Uncommon Leader. The reason is very simple. Without a Clear vision, there is no rallying point. There is no way too get people fired up. There is no way create excitement.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say you are planning a sales conference for your top salespeople. However, you are not clear in your vision. You try and sell the idea to your salespeople by saying that the top salespeople, perhaps with their spouses, will go on a trip for a few days at a nice place.
Compare that to a having the same conference with a clear vision. You might say the top 10 salespeople will be flown down first class to Cancun with their spouses for a 7 day vacation getaway at the Ritz Carlton. While there, they will be wined and dined by the Chairman of the Board, the CEO, and the President of the Company.
Now lest you say that the trip sounds more exciting because it is Cancun, even Kansas City sound better that the unclear vision.
The top 10 salespeople will get an all expense paid vacation to Kansas City with their spouse for 7 days staying at the Courtyard by Marriot. While there they will dine with the Chairman of the Board, The CEO and the President of the Company.
Now I will grant you that The Kansas City story was not near as exciting as the Cancun story. However it was infinitely more impressive than the “someplace nice” story.
Do you work harder and better if you know clearly what your benefit will be at the end of your work? Imagine coming into your present employer for a job and when you brought up compensation he said we’ll see how it goes and decide then. Would you take the Job? Probably not, you want clarity.
Uncommon Leaders are great about getting really clear visions. They dream in Technicolor. When they share the vision you see it, you feel it, you taste it, and you smell it. They make it alive. They can only do that once it is truly clear in their mind. The better that clarity, the more uncommon of a leader you can become.
The big problem today is we seldom spend the time, thought and effort necessary to get the clarity and focus that would create momentum. Instead we get a fuzzy idea of about what we would like to do.
If you want to be an Uncommon Leader fuzzy is not OK. Get clarity, clarity about your values, your strengths and weaknesses. Get a clear picture of your vision for your life, your business and your family. Share that vision with those that are close to you. You will become excited and so will they. Once you have it crystal clear you have acquired the first trait of The Uncommon Leader. Congratulations!
Cheers to Success
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