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Leadership

Leadership Coaching: An Insider’s Guide

What Exactly Is Leadership Coaching?

In the broadest sense, whenever you are working with someone acting in a coaching or mentoring capacity in an ongoing relationship to; raise your awareness, grow as a human being, develop your leadership skills and effectiveness, work through some of the common challenges managers and leaders face, close gaps between where you are now and where you want to be, translate goals into specific actions, change behavior, increase the impact you are having, and generally get better results – you could be considered to be engaged in some form of leadership coaching.

Who Seeks Coaching

Most clients that come to leadership coaching tend to be proactive and take their growth and development seriously. They are typically open-minded, high performers who are used to seeking out the best support and training available. However, a percentage of coaching clients may also be noticing elevated levels of stress or perhaps some early symptoms of disengagement or burnout.

Coaching is most valuable on the more important challenges clients face, or the bigger changes they seek to make, where they do not seem to be making the progress they desire. Generally speaking, the bigger the emotional investment in reducing the current level of discomfort, or achieving the payoff of the most desired outcome, the more someone will benefit from coaching.

How Does The Process Of Leadership Coaching Work?

There are hundreds and hundreds of well-trained and experienced coaches who work with leaders or aspiring leaders, and there is a wide array of approaches they take. On one end of the spectrum, let’s call it the “pure coaching” end, you have coaches who will work with a leader on whatever agenda the client brings to coaching. These coaches may or may not have relevant experience or additional training in any leadership or business competencies. However, if they are well-trained, they can assist the client get clear on an agenda that aligns with what matters to them, identify strengths, pinpoint gaps, evoke growth, set priorities, stay on track and get better results. (I know quite a few very effective and successful coaches who have no background in business or organization life, yet manage to add great value to their clients.)

On the other end of the spectrum, there are many coaches who are not only well-trained in the core coaching skills, but also have dozens of other qualifications and/or relevant personal experience in leadership issues. Let’s call this the “expertise” end of the spectrum. These coaches typically have training in a wide variety of assessments, team intervention protocols, or other specific competencies of common interest to leaders or their organizations. At this end of the spectrum, coaching is often kicked off with some form of assessment, or more elaborate intake process, which sets the learning agenda for the subsequent coaching.

In my experience the majority of leadership coaches fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Here, in addition to being well-trained, they typically do have some relevant experience as a leader, and often have accumulated additional knowledge on topics of frequent interest to their leadership clients such as: common leadership models and competencies, leadership and communication styles, team development, confidence building, stress management, etc. However, here in the middle of the spectrum coaches may not lead with assessments or have as much of a prescriptive approach. Typically the majority of leadership coaches tend to meet whatever agenda a client brings to coaching. (With my leadership coaching clients the 3 most common topics that contribute the greatest value are usually: 1) Learning the various core leadership competencies – which include; challenging the status quo, developing a compelling vision that connects to all constituents, enabling/empowering others, walking the talk as a leader, and mastering the wide range of emotional and communication skills required to keep people emotionally engaged. 2) Understanding the different common styles of leadership, (commanding, pace setting, visionary, coaching, etc.) their strengths and weakness and when a particular style is most effective. 3) Stress and time management. Stress is the silent killer of countless leader’s initiatives and careers, and wreaks havoc with time management, overall energy and happiness levels.

Also, I would estimate that approximately half of all leadership coaching is done in-person, and half is done over the phone. There are some coaching agendas that benefit from in-person coaching. (For example if a coach is observing a client to team interaction.) However, the vast majority of coaching I do is very successfully done over the phone. The benefits of phone coaching is greater flexibility, a greater sense of confidentiality (which often translates into greater candor and thus faster change) and because no travel is involved, phone coaching is often more affordable.

Benefits – How Do I Know It Is Working?

In any coaching interaction, you should experience value quickly. (I tell my clients if they do not get value out of every session, they are free to leave at any time.) You should also expect the coaching process to be overwhelmingly positive. Meaning, coaches are trained to build on your strengths and help you keep emotionally connected to the best possible outcome while you work to close any gaps or move past current obstacles. (There is a good reason for this. Modern neuroscience has shown that none of us can grow or change optimally when we are too stressed out or solely focused on our shortcomings.)

In terms of tangible benefits, over the years there have been a few ROI studies on the value of coaching. One study conducted by MetrixGlobal, LLC, found the Return on Investment of coaching was calculated to exceed 500%.

Other industry studies have shown the percentage of clients reporting topic specific benefits in the following areas:

· Self-awareness: 67.6%

· Setting better goals: 62.4%

· More balanced life: 60.5%

· Lower stress levels: 57.1%

· Self-discovery: 52.9%

· Self-confidence: 52.4%

· Improvement in quality of life: 43.3%

· Enhanced communication skills: 39.5%

· Project completion: 35.7%

· Health or fitness improvement: 33.8%

· Better relationship w/ boss, co-workers: 33.3%

· Better family relationship(s): 33.3%

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Leadership

Leadership 101: More Is Caught Than Taught

There are hundreds of quotes that illustrate the meaning of leadership, some more poignantly than others. Let’s see, there’s this famous one by John C. Maxwell: “Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” Then there’s the popular John Quincy Adams quote, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” And don’t forget Andrew Carnegie’s “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.”

There’s No ‘I’ in ‘Leader’

No matter how you describe it, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘leader.’ The words of well-known leaders, both past and present, have been immortalized so that we may all collectively uphold the principle that leadership is more about our influence over others than it is about ourselves. Many aspiring leaders stumble over this concept believing that, in order to achieve leadership, there’s a predetermined set of actions they need to take. They might try their hardest to stand out in a new role, striving to be recognized for merit and performance. They may be labeled a leader by those who recognize the potential within them, they may be promoted, and they may earn the respect of their peers. But these things alone do not cultivate true leadership. There’s certainly nothing wrong with striving or even overachieving, but leadership isn’t a title or some fancy letters you get to add to your name after obtaining a certification. Leadership is often a silent credential, and there are many dos and don’ts to learn along the way.

Being C-Level Doesn’t Make You a Leader

Some guys have all the luck. Charm, charisma, enthusiasm, a gently commanding presence… and others, well, not so much. There are, indubitably, cases of accidental leadership – inherited, best available, unchallenged, you may even say undeserved. But in the case of leaders who are more than just your bosses or superiors, there’s typically some universally accepted formula for their influence (and I’m not talking about C-suite titles, business savvy, or fancy suits).

Ingredients of Quality Leadership

Make-your-own, DIY, and customized products and services are all the rage today. We even have the ability to modify the genetic makeup of certain foods! So, if you could choose the qualities of a leader like ingredients from a supermarket and put them in a blender to make a leadership smoothie, what would you be drinking? Humility and grace? Honesty and compassion? Decisiveness and approachability? Authenticity and objectivity? Many of the people who are considered leaders today, whether unsung or well-known, most likely posses more than one of those traits. Maybe they’re also receptive and strategic. Responsive and tactful. Adaptable and responsible. Transparent and trustworthy. But if you were to poll a bunch of companies and ask the employees to describe the person or people at the helm, you can be certain that among the top qualities of well-liked and respected leaders you’d see adjectives like empathetic, motivational, empowering, kind, inspirational, and engaging.

More is Caught Than Taught

It has been said that “bad leadership is contagious.” Jack Zenger’s article from Forbes.com, called ‘The Results Are In: Bad Leadership is Contagious,’ explains that the effects of leadership, both good and bad, trickle down from the top and have a cumulative effect on an organization. Zenger states, “… good leaders are expending a lot of energy they could be using more productively when they have to manage and act as the buffer for a bad boss. This should be blindingly obvious and, yet, so often in our practice senior leaders ask us to ‘fix’ the leaders below them. The reality is our job would be much easier if the leaders at the top were as highly committed to fixing themselves first. Our premise is clearly proven: leaders cast a strong shadow on those who report to them.”

Zenger’s research further supports the concept that leadership is not about the individual, but the effects he or she has on others. The best leaders are those who lead by example and whose behavior, work ethic, and disposition are consistently worthy of emulation and yield an enjoyable company dynamics. Good leaders tend to leave everything better than they found it; optimism and improvement seem to be hardwired or second-nature to them. These leaders are typically proactive, mindful, even-keeled, and adept at communicating candidly.

Needless to say, employees are much more likely to embrace a company’s directives when the investment and buy-in from their superiors is clear. If a boss or leader is characteristically disengaged, disrespectful, or otherwise behaving negatively, other team members will begin to feel insignificant, misguided, and will be more apt to fall out of line. It’s simple: people mimic the behaviors of those around them, for better or for worse. This can create rapport or discord, and the latter can spread like a virus to poison the company from the inside.

Leaders Rarely Call Themselves Leaders

Leadership isn’t always a lifelong endeavor – it can be achieved at any time. If you’re already a leader, you may not think of yourself as such. You may not realize that others perceive you as a leader. Even if you don’t fulfill a traditional leadership role, if you affect others in a positive way, motivating them to take action and be open to change, then congratulations – you’re a great leader. But if you don’t consider yourself a leader and you aspire to become one, I would offer you two pieces of advice:

1) Don’t be afraid to fail. Aim high, miss high. Try new things; speak up.

2) Pay attention to how you relate to others and how others respond to you. Engage in teamwork whenever possible and try your best to cultivate a sense of support and encouragement among your peers or your department.

Who am I to give such advice? What makes me credible in this department? I don’t know, probably not much, other than having observed plenty of poor leadership and having had the privilege of working for and being friends with some really great leaders. Comparison and hindsight are valuable facets of experience, and experience can be a great stand-in for credibility.

What Leadership Means to Me

I think much of leadership is about using your gifts. My pastor delivered a church sermon a couple of weeks ago about how being gifted is part of one’s salvation and ignoring our gifts is like stagnating and resisting that sanctification. Whether or not you appreciate the religious analogy, think of the unique gifts (personal or corporate) possessed by a memorable leader in your life: Is he a gifted artist? Is she a talented chef? Is she an enthusiastic team-builder? Is he a captivating public speaker? Does she have the gift of diplomacy? Is he skilled in the art of persuasion? And how much of your perception of this leader is shaped by the ways in which they utilize their gift(s)? Isn’t that much of what you admire about them? How have those gifts contributed to their success? How might their reality be different if they didn’t employ their unique gift(s)?

Leadership also seems to encompass personal development, across the board. Great leaders are always soaking up knowledge and looking for ways to improve and innovate. Many of the leaders who inspire me are known to be avid readers. I was once told to surround myself with people who know what I want to know, have what I want to have, and do what I want to do, and then learn from them, copying them if possible. I’m all for reading personal development material – some call it ‘self help’ but I think in the professional realm it’s not as made-fun-of. Some of my favorite books on leadership are The 360° Leader by John C. Maxwell and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Whether you enjoy books or brushing up on articles and podcasts, reflecting on leadership material is a great way to nurture and shape your perspective towards leadership and even life in general.

Join the conversation: Do you have an example or a story of a great leader and the qualities you admire in them? What’s your best advice for future leaders? Do you have a favorite leadership quote? Please comment below!

And after you do that, be sure to check out my website at http://www.25hoursconsulting.com/.

My name is Jessica Champion, and I help businesses create and articulate their message with precision and creativity, driving engagement and visibility. If you’d like to learn how content marketing consulting can optimize your brand and ultimately boost your bottom line and leadership abilities, feel free to contact me via the above link.

Marketing 25/7, it’s what we do. Copyright 2015 Jessica Champion and 25 Hours Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jessica_Champion/2170971

 

Leadership

Leadership Principles of the Warrior – Series Eleven Leadership Ascendency (Part 3)

In a world fixated on the safe mediocrity of the status quo, easy targets of discourse, simplistic thinking, and the relentless pursuit of “get rich quick”, “self-help” and materialistic consumption, leadership suffers a dismal demise. In fact, there are fewer examples than ever before. America has a leadership deficit. Any contemplation of such, strains for valiant, heroic and forthright examples across the social spectrum.

For the few who strive, leaders must always endeavor for balance in their personal life. By duty, discipline and consistent devotion to principles put into practice, one avoids the distractions of a devolving culture. Such is the regression of societal obsession with materiality, consumption and excessive gain. Leadership is a “Spartan” existence. That is a notion of austere insistence on pursuing perfection beyond possession.

The conception applies to every aspect of life, as well as facing one’s final departure. Likewise, organizational life exemplifies a serious focus on the matters at hand, aside from personal defect, or shortcomings. While many whine, some unwind the complexity of their weaknesses and ascend to higher places. Thinking is the primacy of making personal transitions. What is each moment worth for the sake of betterment?

What is the value of time that ends at some unknown point of finality? It is not so much the journey, as it is who is on the quest and what he or she becomes along the way. The “family”, the “brotherhood-sisterhood”, the authentic sense of camaraderie, works toward harmonious interaction in the promotion of mutually inclusive goals. All “members”, of whatever “team”, work in harmony for productive unison.
However, the majority will resist in various ways, some overtly divisive, and others more covertly. Yet, the leader, and those who willingly follow, know there place, and must endeavor to avoid strife with each other. Purposely, each strides to show respect, follow necessary rules when possible, and obey the orderly necessity of interactions, in order to protect the “family organization’s” mission. Detractors will be watching.

Historically, from ancient times to the present, human interactions at every level of engagement remain a difficult challenge. Warring factions will always be present in some form or another, as dangers come from internal and external interferences. Diversions and discordant intentions, from inadequate personalities may “attack” without warning.

Leaders stay vigilant and look for signs of dissent, infiltration and adverse compromise. Leadership encourages each to act with a sense of equality, fairness and equity toward others. Realistic blunt honesty, openness and analytic rationality are preferred to immature “feel-good” platitudes. Silly cliches, bumper sticker slogans and simplistic “psychology” are counter by the value of reason over emotionalism.

The easy conjecture of facetious assertions, wrought with simple-minded analogies, prove nothing in the end, except counterproductive digressions. In association with that by contrast, most meetings and gatherings waste precious time. Frequent “get-togethers” typically offer dissenting options for prolonged gripe sessions. Complaining, criticizing and gripping about one thing or another seldom solves problems.

On the other hand, critical analysis through insightful and in-depth thinking, based on reason and evidence, has greater potential. Within the conception of the whole, each must be led to devote oneself to the service of others selflessly. Primarily, this is instigated by more enlightened and evolved thinking processes. For the sake of these undertakings, wisdom transcends the arrogant selfishness of biases perspectives.

To aid in this learning process, leaders must be work diligently to be competent, assertive and demonstrate by example. They must motivate others toward individual, group and organizational effectiveness given their respective roles and responsibilities. The management of the organization in every extended sense is the responsibility of everyone who functions within it. Systems work when people work.

Organizations fail when people fail to be responsible and accountable, and none can survive for very long without leadership. Unless everyone works together toward the harmony of the entire framework of interaction, the organization, the community and the society will devolve. Once again, getting people to change and ascend to greater levels is difficult. Humans are different from each other in many ways.

Diverse with a variety of wants, desires, and purposes, no one is the same as another. We cannot expect everyone to see the world in the same way. Each is at a place where he or she is either evolving or devolving. Individually, and in groups, or sub-units, they can be cold, calculating, and cruel. Although selfish, arrogant and counterproductive, everyone has a unique responsibility as part of an association. Likewise, everyone ought to be held accountable for his or her lazy, slothful and illicit performances.

Regardless, everyone is different in his or her perspective, beliefs and particular presence at a point in time, they are no less liable for their behaviors. Everyone is always responsible for what they say and do, and how they treat others. There are no excuses for misbehavior, especially within a legitimate organizational environment. Rationalizing inappropriate actions reflects selfish satiation for personal gain. Sometimes, part of leadership involves leaders spending time to ensure the equity of responsibility, and especially accountability for everyone in a particular setting.

Leaders recognize that a key aspect of competent leadership includes effective management of people with a keenly balanced insight into human behavior. It requires an understanding and wisdom for the fundamental nature of a committed stewardship of people and resources. At the same time, we must be constantly vigilant to the fact that an “evil” nature lurks within each person. Slothful, mediocre and apathetic people constantly look for ways to infect the organization with their negativity. Leaders must be ready to effectively engage adversity with sure, certain and swift action.

With a serious commitment to reason, a leader insists upon knowing the facts. Factuality in rational evidentiary proofs suggests a special penchant for understanding the details of any given situation. Likewise, the patience for the proclivity to comprehend the various factors involved, necessitate the examination of each problem solving aspect. To skeptically inquire consistently, using rational thinking processes is not something readily employed by most people. Even presumed smart people act stupidly.

Investigation of detailed information is critical. A thorough investigative continuum is essential. Those who do not take the time to ensure the facts relative to the evidence confess inefficiency, incompetency and ineffectiveness. In regard to the general public, in the event of an emergency condition, emotionalism trumps reality and evidentiary proofs are replaced by stupidly contrived dogmatic assumptions. Fallacies of subversive inference are perpetrated by magical thinking to satiate hasty generalizations.

In the contemporary scheme of pretentiousness to the act leadership, anyone can hold himself or herself out to be a “leader”. However, in reality, there are very few, perhaps less that 25% across the population, who actually have such potential. Forget finding sufficient examples of high quality leadership in the political arena. Those days are gone, selfishness is more prevalent for hedonistic agendas.

Reliable, consistent and exemplary leadership, from a selfless capacity for service and exceptional performance is in scarce supply. Why? There are a number of reasons. From a lack of accountability to responsible growth and maturity, some aspects are institutional, while other elements are primarily personal. Cowardice for the satiation of gain at any cost, with little or no risk or challenge, to the plundering of human and natural resources that punish or penalize ingenuity and creativity.

Organized political and commercial interests, concentrated in an increasingly smaller sector of a powerful few, selfishly manipulate conformity in communal processes. Intelligence is often criticized by the silly conjecture of foolish diatribe. However, for the limited number of leaders, they bravely persevere in spite of the rampant stupidity that surrounds them. While ignorance may be bliss among a significant number in any given organization, including presumed “smart” people, stupidity has a hefty cost.

The price of imprecise thinking, coupled with metaphorical psychobabble and silly inappropriate analogies, reflect the dumbing down and eventual demise of a culture. A failure to grow maturely, to ascend to a higher evolved status, requires exceptional capacity, skillful ability and deeply profound thinking. A brain creates the thinking we call a “mind”, and that inner entity must assure the reality of every moment.

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Leadership

A Leadership Model for the 21st Century

COMMON PROBLEMS FACING TODAY’S LEADER

In today’s fast-paced and turbulent environment, as a leader you struggle with the demands and burdens of assuming the mantle of leadership. You truly want to be a dedicated and effective leader, but you feel on the verge of burn-out as you face ongoing challenges which never seem to end. Your employees don’t seem as motivated, they’ve lost their commitment to the larger vision, and they’re not as productive as you’d like them to be. You’re also tired of putting out fires and wish people would stop complaining, and just do their work.

And to make matters worse, you often feel isolated and believe that nobody really appreciates what you’re going through. You ask yourself – who can I trust to share my burdens with? Where can I go for help to turn things around?

If you can relate to these issues, then I have a provocative question for you: Have you ever considered that your basic assumptions about leadership may be contributing to your struggles?

Let’s examine some current leadership models and their limitations, and then propose a model that more effectively addresses the common problems confronting today’s leader.

CURRENT LEADERSHIP MODELS

Our culture has no shortage of leadership theories and models. There is charismatic leadership, situational leadership, and transformational leadership to name only a few. Each theory has its own focus as to what makes for an effective leader, whether it be the sheer appeal of one’s personality, the context in which leadership occurs, or the needs of the organization. In effect, they all attempt to answer the question: What leadership style must a leader adopt in order to maximize his or her effectiveness with followers? However, leadership style is really not the most fundamental issue to consider. Effective leadership has more to do with one’s intentions or motives for leading. Put succinctly, the question is: Whose interests are you ultimately serving as a leader? How you answer this question determines not only your effectiveness as a leader but also the success of your organization.

THREE TYPES OF LEADERSHIP:

Autocratic

If your honest answer to the above question is: “I’m really serving my own interests,” then you’ve likely adopted our culture’s prevalent value system in which power, status, and/or wealth are the primary motivators driving one’s leadership.

A leader who embraces this model of leadership is known as the autocratic leader (OLAGroup.com). This type of leader uses power to coerce followers into complying with his or her own needs. In effect, the autocratic leader is a dictator who treats followers as servants. Autocratic leaders de-value and even abuse their followers which results in devastating consequences for the organization such as loss of trust, low morale, decreased productivity, suspiciousness, and fear.

We’ve all heard stories of leaders who abuse their power and whose organizations suffer tremendous hardship as a result. Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson are just three examples of blatant abuses of power. Autocratic-led organizations usually experience high turnover rates because workers do not feel valued or appreciated for their efforts, and they eventually burn out and leave.

Paternalistic

There is another type of leadership which is less toxic but more common in today’s organizations. According to extensive research conducted by Dr. Jim Laub, Professor of Leadership Studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University, paternalistic leaders are those who view themselves as parents and their followers as children. They tend to place the needs of the organization above the needs of their employees.

Paternalistic leaders can be either nurturing or critical but what they share in common is their belief that followers are not truly adult partners in the leader-follower relationship. This type of relationship results in mere compliance rather than true internal motivation. Although willing to delegate responsibility for some tasks, paternalistic leaders retain the right to make the most important decisions for the organization. Laub’s research (OLAGroup.com) has revealed that most of today’s organizations are paternalistic in their leadership practices.

Servant

The third type of leadership is known as servant leadership. The term, initially coined by Robert Greenleaf, refers to placing the legitimate needs of followers above one’s own self-interest. Servant leaders treat their followers as adults and are willing to collaborate, share their power, and commit themselves to others’ growth and development. They are also willing to grant decision-making authority to followers in order to foster a deep sense of commitment and investment in the organization. Furthermore, servant leaders value and seek to foster a strong sense of community among all stakeholders within the organization.

Character development is also a priority for servant leaders as they seek to display honesty, integrity, humility, authenticity, and accountability in their personal and work relationships. They are willing to take risks to stand by their convictions and muster the needed courage to “do the right thing.”

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Leadership

Leadership Principles of the Warrior – Series Ten Leadership Ascendency Part Two

Ascendency in leadership references the capacity to move beyond the simplistic. It is a dominance of character where goes beyond mere self and into visionary realms. While leaders carry out the fundamental philosophy of the organization, guide the goals and objectives for others to follow, and exemplify competence, the also evolve themselves in the process. In their differentiated capacity for being present in the moment, they instill an ascendant framework by which others find inspiring and illuminating.

A leader sets the course for an unfolding and consistent example at a certain juncture in time for others. After that point, the leader is gone; he or she has completed his or her tour of duty. Nothing lasts forever, and quickly it’s over, as someone else replaces him or her. In a three-dimensional world, where time is considered an essential element, each moment is precious, and presence is powerful.

Why sweat the small stuff and waste energies on inconsequential matters that, in the grand scheme of things, are largely irrelevant. Yet, many people squander the limited time they have. Pride, envy and anger are used in one’s arrogance to devolve a personality that doesn’t want to change. Instead, by petty jealousies and blaming games, many won’t move much further than high school glories, and grade school thinking. By contrast, the leader is above the mundane, the superficial and the hollow thinking.

A leader epitomizes exhibition of a profound expression of self-determination and transformation. With a particular psychological orientation, the leader gives the “organizational framework” a positive concept of authority and command presence. For the moment, it may be or at least perceived as well defined. However, the reality is such that the leader is transforming and changing in very dynamic ways. As such, to be “well-defined” could be viewed as complete, unchangeable or fixed in place.

On the contrary, leadership is an ongoing process, requiring many wise and mature factors. The effectiveness of leadership unfolds from the style of “management and supervision” that develops from a particular personality over time. By strenuous effort of managerial capacity in mental complexity, given one’s character traits, he or she promotes effectiveness and efficiency through appropriate actions.

This is an ongoing mission underscored by a proper vision of an action-oriented perspective. Such passionate energy is critical to the leader, the organization and the personnel within it. It is a process of that never ends. By good leadership, the organization is enhanced by competent strategies in recruiting, training, equipping, staffing and promotions. Preparing people for above average service within the organization is a vital task. Leadership reinforces those efforts at every opportunity, designed to foster productive operations so people get the job done.

Willfulness, intelligence building, skillset enhancement and well-tested techniques develop over time, and remain a lifelong learning process. Even though a hierarchy exists, with a chain of command, division of labor, subdivisions and so forth, effective executive insight focuses on the betterment of the people. That is because leaders encourage a high sense of camaraderie within a special kind of “family”.

One must persevere to live by the validity of the truth, by way of proven facts, experience and reliability, even though risks are part of the gambit. Essential to proper motivational aspects is the manner by which time is effectively managed within the organization and its various subunits. There is a high probability that in every organizational setting, you will discover unwise misuses of the time element.

Many of us constantly mismanage time by our own willful misguided choices. As a result, once understood, much of the day can be streamlined into those things that really matter. Unfortunately, we all too often allow ourselves to be arrogantly seduced by what we think is important, but essentially wastes the precious moments of a limited time frame. Lacking discipline and maturity, we are often interrupted and distracted.

And yet, a focused mind is vigilant to the passage of time, and the urgency of self-evolution toward an ascendant transformation. Patient, empathetic, gentle and wise, the leader is a mentor, a guide and one who is an example to others. As others cannot be taught a single thing, they can only learn given their willingness for paying attention. One is mindful of his or her presence for the time they have. Strength of character demands hard work and a mature framework in order to transcend the moment. Unflinching is the courage of one’s resolve to overcome selfishness in primal nature and prevail against the surrounding cowardice of herded conformity. Wolves often wear sheep’s clothing, as so-called experts close in to ensure their deceptions and disrupt the processes.

For bloated is the grotesque obsession of many for the consumptive satiation of devolving perceptions and regressive actions. Leadership is undaunted by the unholy fearfulness of the weak minded. Lazy, slothful and unimaginative purposes collaborate within the pretentiousness of “group-think”. For this, the leader is ever vigilant and creative, by being steps ahead of the rest. Courage is of high value.

Immaturity in oppositional forces contrives to prevent us for going forward with the mission we are called to pursue. Personally, we must rise above the foolishness and show that we are undaunted by obstacles. Professionally, we must endeavor to be visionary and inventive, concerned with productive progressions. The processes must be led in such a way, that interactions work effectively.

Reality trumps frivolity that wastes time, allows abuses and squanders precious resources. Each aspect ought to be critically analyzed for every probable instance of innovation, inspirational creativity and cooperative persistence, within the organizational structure. Excessive, misguided, and gossipy time-wasting conversations, foolish juvenile antics, aimless chitchat, and insincere interactivity distracts from the higher calling. Like useless meetings to have meetings, such insecure obsessions should be altered immediately. Leaders seize the moment and are alert to the many deceptions.

For the brevity of flash in time, overuse of every aspect of telecommunications in any form, not productive to the mission and goals, individually and professionally, for the advancement of enlightened collectivity, should be carefully evaluated. People use excuses of all kinds to escape responsibility and accountability. Alleged pretenses to “transparency” ought to encourage the frankness of straightforward commentary. To be open is to be blunt, honest and truthful, regardless of the offense that might be taken. Grownups use discourse conducive to wise and purposeful advancement.

Immature people use whining, sniveling and malcontented self-centeredness to promote their dysfunctions. A sense of maturity in one’s “warrior mindset” is one in which the individual travels a lifelong learning passage of self-evolving enlightenment. The warrior is one engaged in the “warfare” of life and death, whereby one embraces the pains and pleasures of personal existence. Psycho-physiological ascendency stimulates the warrior to stay in the personal struggle of transformation. Vigorous courage in the face of many obstacles is required to remain committed to the engagement.

A non-anxious, confident and differentiated perspective, as one encounters the daily contrivances of human nature, remains essential to perfecting leadership capacity. Distractions pull the senses in various directions, deflecting from the critical matters at hand. The most important is self-evolving maturation. Nothing really matters but the matter that transcends the mundane anxiety of selfishness. To this, are the myriad mazes of foolish time wasters within any organizational structure.

The list, the chronology and the accumulation of time wasters is exhaustive. Immaturity, self-validation, fragmented selfness, juvenile obsessions with bygone eras of high school frivolities, boyish carnalities, and failures to self-transcend one’s experiences, dogmatically pursue wasteful regressions. Leadership utilizes timeliness in profound and properly managed frames of reference, to enhance self-mastery.

One strives to be calm, controlled and properly allocated by sensory awareness within the scope of many points of interactivity. A lot of a person’s squandering of timeliness relates to poor discipline in planning, and the failure to establish the right priorities. Time leadership is essential to accomplishing the goals and objectives of the organization, the group and the individual. This also applies to the subunits within the organization, as well as the larger social culture and subcultures within it.

Even with the vast possibilities of techno-savvy innovations, most people squander the little time they have in this finite realm of life. Effectively managing the wonderful opportunities of time, assists the assurance of quality productiveness. As such, leaders must continually be on guard for time bandits. Attentive, aware and action oriented, leaders remain watchful for those who think they can cunningly deceive the rest. Leadership is about using skills to make time-space relationships work for the betterment of those involved. Leading is not “ruling”, it is inspirational.

Direction, power and control equalize with consistency the distribution of wise, prudent and judicious actions that guide personnel and resources. In the direction of higher thinking and actualization of thought into action, the leader cultivates dedication and discipline designed for successes. His or her principles and precepts must be the foundation of a totality of efforts, as well as sincere focus of attentiveness. By impartiality of mature actions, leaders reward the worthy and instill confidence for others to rise above themselves and forsake their selfishness in personal liberation.

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