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Leadership

Businesses Benefit from Leadership Programs

If you are planning to build a wonderful career, maybe you should first go through some preliminary training. Nowadays, there are very successful leadership programs being developed. Leadership programs will help you to acquire some very necessary skills. Leadership programs will give you the needed power to achieve the best both in your career as well as in your personal life. Leadership programs will be the management-training program you are looking for. As well as good professional training, they will help you gain self-confidence and self-respect, things that are very helpful in your private life. These programs are undoubtedly a very effective way to gain the assurances that you will need to be ready for a prosperous career and life.

I know from experience that a leadership program can easily improve and perfect a person because I have been teaching leadership courses for years. If you go to a leadership program with the right attitude, confident that you desire success, you will become a perfectly changed person. Naturally, there are people who challenge the necessity of the leadership programs. The success of the leadership programs depends usually on the way they are taught. As people who teach leadership programs are different, as different are the profits you can take from leadership programs. From young people to older, all of them make the best use of any type of leadership programs. You can choose between practically different leadership programs, although almost all of them have some fundamental elements in common.

One of the key components of all leadership programs is that they are aiming to build up abilities to work in a team. Some leadership programs even acquire this building of team-working abilities as the center of the whole leadership program. As an example, I will tell you that I have heard about leadership programs which center on the fulfilling of physical tasks as lifting every member of the group over a wall.

Of course, the point of this is not to gain muscle mass but to learn how to work as a team. This part of the leadership programs will teach you how to seek each member’s strengths and weaknesses. Leadership programs will teach you how to leave behind the egotism you have and to put all your strengths into the group work. This is probably the most important lesson that the future leader will learn from the leadership program.

The second fundamental component of leadership programs is that leadership programs usually tend to emphasize on self-confidence and self-esteem. A leader should be first of all self-confident. A leadership program has to teach you how to be convinced that everything you say is important. The leaders have not become leaders because they are more capable, or more intelligent than other people are. Surprisingly, it may turn out exactly the opposite thing. The leaders have become leaders because they more confidence than the other people to contend that what they say is important.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning business. Learn more at Leadership Programs [http://www.generalbusinessinfo.com/business-information/business-news/businesses-benefit-from-leadership-programs.html]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Morgan_Hamilton/45413

 

Leadership

Collective Leadership and Dysfunctional Leadership Teams

In my experience most leadership team members spend a day a month meeting together and the other 29 days complaining about what a waste of time it was and how they aren’t talking about the ‘real issues’.

Almost everyone I say that to cracks a wry smile. We’ve all seen it. Most of us have suffered the effects of it. Many of us have even been part of it. It seems to me that most organisations seem to survive in spite of the fact that their leaders don’t work effectively together – and yet few organisations are actually doing much about it!

But, before we get too smug, aren’t we all members of ‘leadership teams’? Whether it’s the team that heads our part of the organisation, things we’re involved in outside work or being part of the team that runs our household and family – we all have leadership roles which we share with others.

I call this kind of leadership Collective Leadership and I think it is a vital area that is little written or spoken about.

Levels of leadership

Essentially, collective leadership is where we need to lead together to achieve things that we cannot do alone.

It has been said that ‘nothing very significant in life can be achieved alone’ and it is easy to agree. Collective leadership, however, challenges our ideas of leadership.

Generally, when we talk about leadership we are talking about an Individual with some sort of positional power or authority whose role is to set direction first and then mobilise people towards it second.

This model is increasingly flawed in the modern world. However senior we get, we keep discovering that we don’t have direct or complete authority over the people we need to influence to accomplish things. Even where we do, our ability to exercise that authority is significantly diluted by the agendas of others and their ability to find creative ways to achieve their ends whilst doing the minimum possible to help us meet ours.

So why is it so hard to make leadership teams work?

The core of the problem is in the division of responsibilities. Ever since Henry Ford invented the production line, we have been ever more keen to divide up work and give people individual accountability for elements of it.

The big advantage of this is that each person can focus and specialise on their part of the jigsaw and, over the years, we have become more and more creative at ways of reinforcing that focus through measurement, performance management and reward of all kinds.

The challenge that this brings is that when groups with different responsibilities come together they become representatives for their agendas rather than members of a collective team. This in turn leads to meeting agendas that are typically full of items from each department seeking the support of the heads of other departments.

In this way the leadership team’s time together becomes crowded with decisions on marketing or operations or HR etc. Limited time means that, as a result, the big issues like strategy, customer service, processes, people and leadership are either not discussed at all or don’t get enough time.

Because they affect everyone they can only be progressed by the leadership team working together so they tend to remain unresolved as running sores. These in turn create a series of problems and symptoms in Marketing and HR and Operations that require top team agenda time…….

So what can we do to get our team working?

The first thing to do is to clarify what the big, collective issues are. My experience is that there is rarely a consensus on this and the way to begin is to talk to each member of the team to find out their views before presenting a consolidated view back to the team for discussion and agreement.

Once this is clear and agreed, meeting agendas can be changed to reflect these priorities. This will involve some debate and creative thinking about where the decisions that the team were previously making should be dealt with.

The team is likely initially to need help to work together in new ways. Typically these will be more ambiguous than the tactical content that dominated previously and will require new ways of preparing, discussing and listening in order to make progress.

It is also common for there to be relationship issues which need to be addressed (see ‘Have you ever wondered why… leadership team members don’t seem to get on’ on the website or in this newsletter.)

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Leadership

Leadership Training

Leadership training is of paramount importance to those who aspire to be good leaders and stand tall among others. Leadership training improves communication skills and other qualities that are key to becoming a successful and confident leader.

Effective leadership training also entails helping individuals form an enterprising and immensely focused group. The leadership qualities assist an individual in making sure that members of the group function jointly in an efficient and constructive manner. Leadership training helps a leader to imbibe a sense of optimism in the group to which he belongs. The group’s members are guided by the leadership virtues of the key man.

A majority of times it has been observed that, despite possessing leadership skills, a person cannot flourish. This inability to come out in flying colors stems from the fact that the person is not conversant with the subtle techniques that help bring out the leader in him.

Individuals aspiring to be successful leaders may at times find that their efforts are undermined despite their best efforts. This is due to the fact that the individual lacks the motivation to overcome his obstacles. A proper and suitable training in leadership skills often helps one to overcome these barriers.

Leadership training generates the motivation that is otherwise lacking in individuals with potential leadership skill. It helps an individual in formulating a dependable, tough and admirable foresight of the future. This will make the persons associated with him regard him with deference and have faith in his capability. This would ensure that they would be eager to actively pursue the guidance provided by their leader. Leadership training helps one to convey his goals effectively to others so that they are reasonably influenced.

Leadership training helps be a composed and self-assured guide, and also instills in him the confidence to inspire trust in other persons.

Leadership Training [http://www.WetPluto.com/Corporate-Leadership-Training.html] provides detailed information on Leadership Training, Leadership Development Training, Corporate Leadership Training, Leadership Skill Training and more. Leadership Training is affiliated with Leadership Development [http://www.WetPluto.com/Leadership.html].

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Thomas_Morva/44492

 

Leadership

The Optimal Leadership Model

Transformational Leadership and the Integrated Leadership Model

To optimize the rate of success in today’s competitive market, businesses must have an effective leader who will maximize the human resources available to increase market share. Transformational leadership focuses on developing leadership strategies that align an organization’s vision with the tasks performed. “A characteristic of Transformational leaders is that they create a new vision; a vision that separates them from competitors, and from where the organization is now” (Symons, 2006, p. 18). The behaviors exemplified by a transformational leader provide the effective leadership skills necessary to provide momentum that will innovate today’s businesses. “Over the past two decades, transformational leadership has emerged as one of the most popular approaches to understanding leader effectiveness” (Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006, p. 327).

The integrated leadership model emphasizes leadership behaviors which focus on establishing a relationship between increased job performance and customer satisfaction. Leaders can use the philosophy of the integrated leadership model to obtain the momentum necessary to motivate and maximize the utilization of human resources. The integrated leadership model illustrates a relationship between job satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Integrated Leadership Model promotes job satisfaction and motivates staff to participate in activities that will produce quality customer outcomes” (Perra, 1999).

Knowledge of Skill Levels

Gaining a broader understanding of employee’s skill levels is a behavior in transformational leadership that helps leaders to develop strategies to maximize the use of human resources. Leaders can use the practice of evaluating the behavior aspects of employees to determine how to provide successful motivation and stimulation for employees. “For leaders, understanding the differences in how generations approach authority, leadership, and loyalty can be especially important” (Salopek, 2006, p. 22).

The lack of knowledge on the skill levels of employees can cause an organization to have treats that have a negative effect on organizational performance. Successful leadership depends on a leader’s ability to develop strategies which maximizes the use of available resources. The process of maximizing the use of available resources includes matching skill levels with organizational tasks.

Understanding Core Objectives

Preparing employees to have a better understanding of an organization’s core values and objectives is an example of the utilization of the integrated leadership model. The awareness of employees on the values and objectives of an organization promotes consistencies in work ethic and performance. A better understanding of organizational values and objectives will assist leaders in providing the direction employees need in completing the mission and vision of the organization.

Lack of knowledge on the goals and objectives of an organization can negatively influence the performance of members of an organization. Rosen discusses how sales teams have the tendency to focus on only 20 percent of an organization’s customer based on the assumption that 80 percent of an organization’s revenue being generated by only 20 percent an organization’s customer base (Rosen, 2006). Building your sales team around the 80-20 rule contradicts the core objective of leadership which is, to make your people more valuable” (Rosen, 2006, p. 26)

Cultural Leadership

Focusing on cultural leadership is a behavior characteristic in the transformational leadership which enhances the merger of employee’s personal values with an organization’s values. In an interview with L. Daniel Jorndt, chairman and chief executive officer of Walgreens Co., Jorndt illustrates this confidence he has with Walgreens Company’s current culture. Jorndt stated,
True to the generations of leaders before them, the people who run Walgreen Co. today are not flashy. They don’t generate much media buzz, stage lavish parties or generate headlines like higher-profile corporate trendsetters. They speak plain, Midwestern terms about hard work, discipline and long-term rewards rather than short-term gains (Griffin, 2000, p. 221).
The interview portraits the strong cultural values which Walgreens has built over their 100 plus year tenure in the drug store industry.

The existence of sub-cultures within an organization can make it difficult for an organization to enforce its cultural values among the organizations employees. Businesses must evaluate and focus on ways to improve organizational management the awareness of the organizational values and desired cultural environment. Turman feels that organizational management includes using focused agencies designed to improve program management, and created or enhanced an evaluation culture within an organization” (2003).

Conclusion

To compete in today’s market place business must have the ability to maximize the use of available resources. Effective leadership will provide organizations with the direction and the vision needed to maximize survival. The behavior characteristics discussed by the author provide a collaboration of transformational leadership and the integrated leadership model to optimize organizational leadership. The combination of transformational leadership and the integrated leadership model represents an optimal leadership model for today’s competitive market.

References

Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row. New York. Retrieved June 26, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Griffin, M. (2000, December). Positive, Productive People Are Key to Walgreens’ Success: An Interview with L. Daniel Jorndt. Chain Store Age. 76(12), 221. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Duta, A. (2005). Meta-Level Dialectical Interpenetrations in Transformational and Leadership. Conference Papers — International Communication Association, Annual Meeting. New York, NY. Retrieved June 28, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Piccolo, R. and Colquitt, J. (April, 2006). Transformational leadership and job behaviors: The mediating role of core job characteristics. Academy of Management Journal. 49(2), 327-340. Retrieved June 26, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Perra, B. (1999, January). The Leader in You. Nursing Management. 30(1), 35. Retrieved June 27, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Rosen, Keith. (June, 2006). Kill the 80-20 rule. Qualified Re-modeler. 32(6), 26. Retrieved June 26, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Salopek, J. J. Leadership for a new age. (June, 2006) T+D. 60(6), 22-23. Retrieved June 25, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

Symons, J. (April, 2006). The vision thing. e.learning age. 18-19. Retrieved June 26, 2006 from EBSCOhost Database.

I am currently pursuing my Doctoral degree in Business Administration to leverage my education with my work experience to further my development as an optimal strategic decision maker equip with the tools necessary to manage the challenges faced by today’s large corporations.

I am currently employed at IBM Corporation as a System P Sales Specialist. I have a strong sales, technical operations, and customer relations background due my job experiences and educational background. My employment experiences have enable me to master skills such as labor management, organizational development and training, technical expertise, conflict resolution, forecasting, organizational restructuring, as well as operations management.

I obtained my MBA in 2006 from the University of Phoenix and I received my BS in Computer Science in 1995 from Bethune-Cookman College.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Hemmanns/40057

 

Leadership

The Art of Diplomatic Leadership

As leaders encounter entirely new kinds of challenges and responsibilities, they find that they have the strength and resources to meet these challenges. For example, some first-time leaders ultimately learn that they have a gift for leading and inspiring others. Others find that they’re especially talented at gauging others’ motivations and values. Each time you make something happen as a leader—whether it’s shaping your group’s culture in positive ways, helping someone master a new task, or assembling a top-notch team—leaders expand their abilities. They become more seasoned, experienced, and confident leaders, and have a sharper awareness of their own strengths and areas for improvement. Not only do they learn more about themselves as they progress in a leadership role; they also learn more about organizational life in general.

The command and control techniques of previous generations are increasingly ineffective. Today’s leaders must be forward thinking, possess moral courage, and skilled in the art of diplomacy. As a Trustee, I can recall several joint board meetings when the Pastor wasn’t present and it was difficult to keep everyone on task. I experienced similar instances onboard ship when the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer were ashore. The changing structure of organizations, the growth of alliances between organizations, and the changing nature of work itself calls for new approaches to leadership. Paul suggested a new approach in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” By faith, Paul refers to something more than the knowledge of the earthly life of Jesus. He means a commitment of an individual to the way of life Jesus exemplified. This approach has less to do with formal authority and the power to control, and more to do with using situational, strategic, and ethical leadership skills to keep groups of people who may not report to you aligned with an overarching purpose.

The most Important Ingredient: Ethics

Ethical Leadership includes a variety of elements. Beliefs regarding ethics involves taking into account the purpose of the action taken, the consequences to self and others, and the moral standard by which the action is measured. This doesn’t mean ignoring profit and loss, productions costs, and so forth but rather concern for the rational measures of performance coupled with the recognition of the importance of treating people right every day. “Moral leadership is about distinguishing right from wrong and doing right, seeking the just, the honest, the good, and the right conduct in its practice” (Daft, 1999, p. 369).

Whether it involves judgment based on character or legal infractions, ethics has always been a popular topic. When leaders wonder whether their conduct is ethical, they need to ask ‘What would I think if someone else did it?’ Paul believed that the law identifies the flaws in a person’s character but it does not remove them. Paul writes, “…whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Compassion is grounded in a larger understanding of our relationship to God and one another. When we define Christianity as a list of do’s and don’ts, we restrict ourselves from enjoying an intimate relationship with God. We get caught up in rules as if God were waiting to catch us out of line when He’s really waiting to pick us up when we fall. Christ does not make demands on us that limit our self-direction therefore we should not be inclined to judge others in that manner. In his Virtue-Centered Theory of Judging, Lawrence Solum argued “theories of fairness are prior to theories of justice (2003, p. 178). True Christianity sees the role of leadership as based on love and grace.

We have all known people whose character was not consistent with their personality. However, character is of higher importance than personality. Malphurs (2003) maintained “A Christian Leader emphasizes godly character” (p. 19). The organization will hold people accountable for their behavior (character) but not for their personality traits. If the ‘fruit’ of the spirit (love, joy, peace, etc) and ‘fruit’ of the flesh (adultery, hatred, envy, etc) are the outcomes, then our character is the means towards that outcome. We must seek to do the right thing.

Character is our commitment to doing the right thing, which is why we should focus on character development. In 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul urges Timothy “…exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” Character and self-discipline are a leader’s moral strength to behave according to proper values. The difficulty arises not in knowing what is right but rather doing what is right. Look for organizations where the leaders have clearly defined, articulate, and exemplify the organizational values. “Leadership is doing the right thing even when we do not feel like it, perhaps especially when we do not feel like it” (Hunter, 2004, p. 145).

There are numerous ways to assist emerging leaders in ethical development. I would start with leading by example. It’s difficult to appreciate the pressures on a leader unless you have had that position. The best way to assist up-and-coming leaders whether they’re your peers or subordinates is to let them see Christ working through you. “The movement away from command and control leadership has brought new leadership styles that are more democratic and coach-like” (Lassiter, 2001). Terms such as shared or servant leadership are increasingly used to describe some of these ways of interacting.

Another way to develop ethical behavior is to develop a personal creed – that which defines who you are, what your goals in life are, and how you intend to live your life. Kouzes and Posner (2002) observed “When you clarify the principles that will govern your life and the ends that you will seek, you give purpose to your daily decisions” (p. 394). An ethical leader has one personality. Whether at home or at work, there is only one set of principles that guides his behavior.

As an Engineering Training Team leader onboard a Guided Missile Frigate, I worked hard to build trust within the team. Everything was smooth until Petty Officer Johnson joined. Several members suggested that he lacked experience and he did not collaborate very well. The group went out for a “team” lunch, and left Johnson behind. I was shocked and disappointed. Johnson was extremely competent and showed passion for his work. I met individually with all team members, including Johnson, to allow them to communicate their concerns. I actively listened to what’s being said. By better understanding the concerns of the group I was able get to the root causes of the problem. One method that helps make teams innovative is to “Make sure that the members of the group are communicating with one another.” (Biolos, 1996, p. 1).

The Most Important Lessons: Situations

“A Christian leader is a servant with the credibility and capabilities to influence people in a particular context to pursue their God-given direction” (Malphurs, 2003, 131). The same person can be a successful leader in one situation but fail in another. It is unlikely that there is a single set of abilities and characteristics that can be found in all leaders. It’s not that the characteristics are not important, but rather, the essential characteristics of the leader vary depending on the circumstances. The requirements to be a successful Naval Officer, for example, would differ from those of a Elementary School Principal or Sales Manager. McGregor (2006) suggested “…that it is more fruitful to consider leadership as a relationship between the leader and the situation than as a universal pattern of characteristics possessed by certain people” (p. 253).

The Situational Leadership Theory developed by Hersey and Blanchard focuses on the characteristics of followers as the important element of the situation, and consequently of determining effective leader behavior. Yukl (2002) observed “Major situational variables include the characteristics of followers, the nature of the work performed by the leader’s unit, the type of organizations, and the nature of the external environment” (p. 13). In other words, subordinates vary in readiness levels therefore leader behavior should be influenced by the factors that influence the entire situation.

Daft (1999) summarized the relationship between leader style and follower readiness into four categories: telling, selling, participatory, and delegating. Telling is very directive, selling involves explaining decisions, participatory is sharing ideas to facilitate decision making, and delegating is a style that affords very little direction and support. (p. 99 – 102). As leaders, our professional identity will transform in relation to the skills and abilities of the group as well as outside influences. This means that we look at the world from a different perspective.

As the Material and Logistics Officer for a Destroyer Squadron my areas of responsibility included two major departments on each of our six ships: Engineering and Supply. At the end of every month I experienced difficulty in getting summary reports from the Engineers but the Supply reports were always right on-time. However, when the ships were underway the Engineering departments functioned admirably while the Supply departments were somewhat shoddy. I had to adjust my style of leadership when dealing with the Department Heads as the situations changed. For the monthly summary reports I used delegation with the Supply Officers but a more directive approach with the Engineers but the reverse during the operational phases. From a naval perspective, the Engineers were very operationally and technically proficient while the Supply Officers were very business oriented.

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