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Leadership

Leadership Principles of the Warrior – Series Nine Leadership Ascendency (Part 1)

The persistent, mature and enlightened leader is the one who assumes command and understands what that means. By certain authority, some have become mangers, and mange for better or for mediocre acceptance of the mundane. Boring is their legacy, and uncreative is their heritage. Others have aspired to be reasonable supervisors. Yet, their journey has not seen the infinite vision of a leadership summit. The pinnacle of the vista remains allusive to those who cannot self-evolve and set free their differentiation.

Herded, huddled and homogenized by the hordes, the operational consistency suffers the defeat of confused tactical necessities and vital strategic urgencies. By wishful thinking, clever subjective validation, and well-defended posturing, they have invented themselves into realms they are not equipped to visit. On the outside, they appear competent in their specific domain, and yet, their credentials are subject of suspicious. Leaders understand this spectrum in the paradox of human nature.

With that in mind, the lesser ones, the so-called “experts” in this or that, continue aspiring to ensure a legend, a claim to all manner of accolades, from specialists to cultists. Each according to his or her own deception seeks to inspire the superficiality of their conjecture. All is folly, such is foolishness and much is vanity, as nothing is new but that which is rediscovered in a different time, form a divergent perspective. Fear is a good starting point in the revelation of the individual trek.

From there, the hard work is to rise up, challenge oneself and build a better version of the original design from within. One does not do this by the cowardly excuses of external deterministic forces, for some contrive cultic dogma. Nor, does one ascend by simple-minded adherence to unquestioned mythic doctrine, or political expediency. It is by the free willed force of mindful independence, a strong body and amative passions. Vigilance and valor, embracing the energy of life, a leader must self-evolve.

In brief, one must become exactly that, an individual, well differentiated from the rest.

A leader is one who leads the pack, breaks rules as needed, risks derision from others, and blazes pathways. Sparingly in the use of words, their actions whisper much louder the determination to ascend higher peaks of knowledge and understanding. At the end of the day, at the setting of the sun, what is it that you need?

Leaders realize this juncture of insight, and exert the passion to know the nature of such possibilities. To know, do and believe, are constant reminders of the role for which one has been called. And, even though the culture devolves, the society regresses and empires collapse, a leader perseveres to lead. He or she embraces an honorable acceptance of finality. All things must end eventually. When you walk away and face the encroaching shade of the shadows, you sense an irrevocable conclusion.

Not looking back, you can grasp the essence that collective memories are of brief duration. Many will forget, a few might remember, but things fade. No monument, statue or street name to your credit, or otherwise, stops the history clock from ticking. Good or bad, whatever the pretended legacy, the crowds thin out, the adherents find another, and all are replaced in shear moments of cosmic transitions. Serious is the responsibility of leadership in the present with your profound ascended presence.

Quiet, yet courageous, is the spirit of such a mindset. From its potency, the vision of greater self-determination unfolds. On a less complex level, the baser passionate range of salacious stirrings urges a focused imaginative carnality to transmute one’s present reality. From a broader spectrum, each moment, awake or in a dream state, invites the disciplined discovery of individual transformation. A calling to leadership requires us to be capable of managing our perfection from life-long learning processes. While engaging the assigned tasks we have chosen, public and private, we can inspire others.

But, the others must freely choose their devolution or evolution. We can do nothing to change them, control their journey, alter their mindset, or control their desires, needs or wants. If we complain, show anger, or impatiently grovel in negativity, then we regress by or own choosing. Only they must decide the level to which they want to ascend. We have the wonderful opportunity to be an example to others, and provide a glimpse into this enlightened sphere of self-transition beyond mortal materiality.

A closer relationship with the sincerity of rational belief in fundamental principles of reason, and the passion for a selfless transforming personality, builds upon the viability of our trek to higher levels. Leaders offer the insightful guidance and instruction to encourage others to rebuild themselves. We strive to avoid the placement of barriers and stumbling blocks in the way of those around us. Competent leadership is a reflection of growth and maturity by experience, practice and ceaseless learning.

In a devolving culture, where most do not desire to change, the leader remains challenged by the negativity to surrounds him or her. Regardless of the ineptness, incompetence and treachery, a leader understands that his or her ascendency means a profound transformation. The renovation of positive and productive thinking within his or her leadership continues to evolve. Among these few, there is the need to grow a style of leadership that is conducive to the mission, both individually and collectively. There is no perfect typology. Developing a particular style is an individual characteristic.

As the leader evolves, he or she studies others and gains insight into the leadership qualities of effective role models. Nevertheless, it is he or she, the individual, who develops a personal perspective on what that means. No one else can do that for the leader, because this is a personal quest. It is a journey of purposeful differentiation over a lifetime of experiences, trials and errors, successes and failures, as well as experience and education. This requires focused effort by virtue of disciplined devotion.

From an historical perspective in brief, there have been three basic styles of leadership, or as some might allude erroneously, a conception of management. Again, there are three very different perspectives within an organization as suggested in here. There is management, supervision and leadership. A leader has to be effective within the scope of all three concepts. Many are good at management. Some are even better at supervision. But, only a select few are exceptional at leadership.

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Leadership

Developing Real Leadership: The 5 BIG Mistakes

The 5 BIG Mistakes that organisations make when developing their leadership talent is costing them in productivity, staff engagement, staff satisfaction and staff retention; never mind the escalating costs of replacing individuals and getting them up to speed to do an effective job.

As you read through these 5 BIG Mistakes – and the problems they create – you’ll immediately be in a position to introduce new strategies to develop your leadership talent, increase engagement and reduce those costs associated with employees being disengaged and leaving your company for “greener pastures”. In fact… continuing to do what the industry has always done will continue to get you the same results. Many of the standard old and tired approaches to leadership development simply don’t work and fail to deliver on organisational (and employee!) expectations. It’s time to take a new approach.

Every organisation wants them and every organisation says they’re committed to building them but how many organisations actually produce great leaders at every level throughout their business?

There are many benefits of having leaders, including self-leaders, at every level of the organisation and some of these include:

 

  • Proactivity: The ability to set and achieve our own objectives.
  • Accountability: Taking responsibility for our mistakes and making them right.
  • Motivation: That drive that gets us to the office early and keeps us focused throughout the day.
  • Confidence: Being able to present new ideas and having the self-assurance in ourselves and our capabilities.
  • Harmonisation: Being a team player, making decisions and acting in-line with organisational values.
  • Enthusiasm: Having the energy and “juice!” to overcome any challenges we come across.
  • Inspiration: The ability to move people toward a cause that is greater than themselves.
  • Self-awareness: Understanding ourselves, our strengths, our weaknesses and taking on the challenge of becoming better.

 

#1: Employees will pick up leadership skills on the Job…

If you want to be a great leader the best way to become one is to get close to an individual who already demonstrates great leadership practices. Stick with them as much as you can, learn everything you can from them, observe them, especially in the tough times; get to know how they think and how they make decisions. Most importantly, identify those unique character traits that set them apart and work on developing those within yourself.

That’s the ideal way… regrettably most organisations lack great leadership in the first place and there is a shortage of good leadership role-models. Unfortunately, when people are asked about ‘leadership’ they tend to think ‘management’.

Start developing real leadership skills in your organisation now and reverse this trend!

Another unfortunate aspect of organisation culture is that there is no incentive to developing leaders; therefore we are more concerned about getting the job done rather than spending the time needed with our people to help them grow. We are too busy in our day to day jobs to realise that by developing our teams they will experience the confidence to step up and take on many of the day to day tasks that prevent you, a leader of people, from focusing on where you can add value most. Most leaders don’t have the skill-set to do this because they have never experienced it themselves and lack the knowledge of how to apply it to others.

Bill O’Brien, former president of Hanover Insurance in the United States argues that managers must redefine their job. They must give Bill O’Brien up “the old dogma of planning, organizing and controlling,” and realise “the almost sacredness of their responsibility for the lives of so many people.” Managers’ fundamental task, according to O’Brien, is “providing the enabling conditions for people to lead the most enriching lives they can” (Senge, 1992).

Developing a great leadership culture doesn’t happen by chance. It takes time, effort and focus. It takes an understanding of the core leadership competencies and embedding these into the organisational culture where they are measured and reviewed.

Each member of staff should be on a leadership programme with goals and objectives within this space. Cave and Tappin (2008) suggest that to become a complete leader of tomorrow requires apprenticeship. Learning leadership is like a quest – there’s no defined path to success. It’s a personal journey and is different for everyone.

Identify where your leaders are spending their time. Is their focus on developing their people or managing the things their people do?

Believing that employees will learn on the job without a dedicated leadership culture in place will lead to disappointment and frustration for all involved.

 

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” ~ John Buchan

 

How are you going to start developing your people rather than manage them? What activities can you let go of and give to an aspiring team member to free up your time and contribute to their growth?

What are the leadership objectives for your team members or yourself? Remember, leadership is about leading yourself first! What changes can you make in your life to become a real leader?

#2: Sending employees on 2 or 3 day leadership training courses…

If you’ve ever been on a 2 or 3 day training course I’ve no doubt that you learned a lot of valuable information and that the course was a great buzz… a fantastic cerebral hit! You’ve probably come away from the course motivated to make loads of changes and become a truly great leader.

But what happens when you get back to your desk? Generally there are hundreds of unread emails waiting for your urgent attention. That little light on your phone is blinking away telling you have several phone messages also waiting for your urgent attention. Don’t forget about your team… They’ve been fighting the fires while you were away and now they all need a decision on this and a decision on that. Soon those valuable lessons you learned during those two or three days recede into distant memory and you never get the opportunity to make any real and lasting change.

Organise your training in a series of short hits over a period of weeks to allow time for practice and feedback.

Apart from the inconvenience of being out of the office for two or three days at a time and never really being able to shut off to give the material the attention it deserves, does the core content actually deal with real leadership competencies?

And more to the point, does it help you develop them? I would argue that they don’t and they can’t. Orr and Sack (2009) suggest that no one has time for anything that isn’t going to help them do their job better or faster today. Make sure that you provide skill building opportunities that are just-in-time for on-the-job application.

Real leadership stems from character and the thing with character is that it can’t be developed in a couple of days… no matter how well the material is delivered. When I mentioned above that most courses are a ‘fantastic cerebral hit’ I wasn’t exaggerating. Intellectually they are very stimulating but that’s the problem.

You see, most people know the competencies of great leaders but very few know how to develop those traits that makes them stand apart. If it was as simple as understanding these traits we’d all be leaders but unfortunately this is not the case. It’s not the case because the area of the brain that is involved in, say, developing empathy (a core leadership attribute), is different from the area that is used to understand an intellectual task, such as risk analysis.

A large part of your leadership development should be on creating awareness, developing rapport, influencing and active listening skills.

Developing leadership competencies takes longer, it takes practice and it is largely a personal journey of understanding yourself, your fears and what makes you tick.

Sending employees on a two or three day training course is largely a ‘tick the box’ exercise for most organisations (merely an output) that rarely delivers on helping your people transform into great leaders… the real outcome.

Emotional Intelligence involves the circuitry of the brain that runs between the executive centres (prefrontal cortex) and the limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses and drives. Skills based in the limbic areas, research shows, are best learned through motivation, extended practice and feedback. The limbic brain is a much slower learner [than the neocortex used in intellectual learning] particularly when the challenge is to relearn deeply ingrained habits.

This difference matters immensely when trying to improve leadership skills: At their most basic level, those skills come down to habits learned early in life. If those habits are no longer sufficient, or hold a person back, learning takes longer. Re-educating the emotional brain for leadership learning, therefore, requires a different model from what works for the thinking brain: It needs lots of practice and repetition (Boyatzis, Goleman, & McKee, 2002). That’s why standard two or three day leadership training courses don’t develop true leadership skills.

 

“Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.” ~ Harold Geneen

 

Are you going to continue to be a follower and send your people on the same old “trusted” leadership courses or are you going to be a leader and try something new? Something that will make all the difference!

Do you trust that you have leadership skills in you now or will you rely on a training course to tell you what they are? Are you going to step up and trust yourself… and surprise yourself?

#3: Focussing only on the intellectual competencies…

Management is largely about the ‘head’; it’s planning and control, systems processes, problem solving, written communications, and so on and it’s really important for organisations to have people who excel at these functions. There’s no doubt that in order to be competent at any of the above there is a certain level of intelligence (IQ) needed. However, this is management.

Leadership, on the other hand, is all about the heart; it’s feelings, it’s emotions, it’s connectedness, our sense of respect and values. It’s about being aware of ourselves and being able to understand others. These competencies are much more intangible and are often referred to as ‘soft-skills’… they’re called this because they’re much harder to grasp. People who exhibit these skills generally have a high Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Real leaders, and people who are, in general, happier in life, have a high level of EQ. An example of some of the research on the importance of EQ as a predictor of success is the Sommerville study, a 40 year longitudinal investigation of 450 boys who grew up in Sommerville, Massachusetts. Two thirds of the boys were from welfare families, and one-third had IQ’s below 90.

However, IQ had little relation to how well they did at work or in the rest of their lives. What made the biggest difference was childhood abilities such as being able to handle frustration, control emotions, and get along with other people (Snarey & Vaillant, 1985 cited by C. Cherniss, 2000).

Measure key soft-skills in all performance reviews – the application and measurement of these will be different for leaders and for staff.

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Leadership

Real World Leadership and Real World Leaders

What Is Leadership?

There are few questions that have had as many attempts at being answered as that of what is leadership?

For as long as I have been interested in leadership, it has always seemed to me that much (the overwhelming majority, no doubt) of the literature on leadership concentrates on the exceptions (Shackleton, Churchill, Napoleon, choose whoever are your favourites to expand the list). Just one example must suffice. A book by John Adair entitled Inspiring Leadership has the subtitle Learning from Great Leaders. As the title and subtitle suggest, the book is a roll call of a plethora of historic leadership figures.

I do not for a moment suggest that this is wrong nor that we cannot learn from such leadership studies. However, the leadership that happens day in day out in colleges, schools, offices, factories and other organizations, at all levels, I should suggest, is carried out by very ordinary people whose names will never enter the history books. People who have not been born great; will never achieve greatness, nor have it thrust upon them.

Leadership In The Real World

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio reads out aloud a letter that had been written with the design of tricking him into making a fool of himself with Olivia. If the comedic effect of the letter is put to one side, as so often with Shakespeare, the words offer an acute observation of human nature, albeit a minute section of it. A few leaders are born great (perhaps, Winston Churchill, William Gladstone), some are driven to achieve greatness (Napoleon Bonaparte, perhaps) and others have it thrust upon them (Ernest Shackleton, for example). No doubt the three categories overlap.

It is my contention that the overwhelming majority of leaders do not fall into any of those three categories. Some are born highly talented, some are driven to succeed and no doubt some find themselves in the right place at the right time to achieve something special. However, leadership, says Hasib Muhammad, writing for the Huffington Post, is not reserved for extraordinary people:

“Everyone, regardless of talent or caliber, has leadership. Leadership is about leading yourself and others. In today’s society, those who lead others are celebrated because the results of their choices are easily seen. What about the man who has worked long, silent nights to provide for his family?”

I think the point in the above quotation is one that is well made. We are tempted always to equate leadership with greatness. But why should that be. There will always be acts of great leadership and there will always be great leaders who are defined by their leadership. On the other hand, there will always be, there always has to be, a whole army of very ordinary people who day in day out exercise leadership in a way that is nothing more than competent.

Referring to these acts of leadership as nothing more than competent is no insult. Indeed, it is quite the reverse. Modern society could not function unless there are people who are prepared to take on the tasks of real world leadership. They will never be honored; they will hardly be known outside of their communities; they will never be written about. But without them, our lives would be far more burdensome.

In short, it is my contention that day-to-day leadership is exercised not by people who fall into one of Shakespeare’s elite triad but by people who are born competent, achieve competence or have competence thrust upon them.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry writes blogs on all matters to do with care and business. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet’s website at http://www.caremark.co.uk/thanet

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Garry_Costain/1718866

 

Leadership

A Holistic Approach To Executive Leadership Development

Leadership has been a much discussed and debated subject over the last several decades and is under contention even today as to whether it falls under the category of Art or Science. Historically leadership programs tended to focus on creating a standard set of parameters or rules that candidates in training were meant to comply with. In recent years however, declining levels of leadership success has opened the eyes of the industry to what seemed a rather simple yet non-apparent problem – every individual was different and was not setup for success under a rigid system of compliance. Thus was born the paradigm of leadership training modeled around individual leadership styles. Corporate leadership programs today understand this and have taken steps to customize their setup to accommodate these changes.

So exactly how do these companies do this? In this article we will look at the modus operandi of leadership development programs run by companies that are actually structured according to the leadership style of the individual participating in the program, geared toward developing strategic leadership skills. Here are some leadership styles that such programs cater to:

Autocratic Leadership

These candidates generally tend to have intense or abrasive personalities and tend to make decisions on their own without feeling the need to consult with their team members. While they absolutely get things done, they tend to think that their judgment is in everyone’s best interest and it would be in everyone’s best interest to follow suit. For such a leader, training programs work to build their trust and relationship with fellow peers. Learning to delegate and share responsibilities in the crux of the training.

Democratic Leadership

This type of leader gives his team plenty of say and encourages everyone to share their opinion and judgment, but tends to make the final decisive judgment himself. While this does produce a good degree of satisfaction and camaraderie, it does not serve as a good model for when urgent and quick decisions need to be made. For this type of leader, programs are designed to take the weight of decision making so that the leader is equipped to handle difficult cases.

Laissez-faire

This type of leadership style tends to give full powers and abilities to the team, while playing a supporting role as a counsel or expeditor from the side. While this may encourage team satisfaction because of the trust factor, it still assumes that the worker or team knows best and is impervious to faults or errors. This can be problematic in the event of a team member making a drastic mistake or oversight. These type of leaders are trained to act as checks and balances to provide accountability for the team at all times.

Bureaucratic Leadership

This type of leader tends to go by the book and is a stickler for detail. Everything and everyone needs to follow a rigid pattern of adherence to a pre-conceived set of guidelines. Objectives and targets are achieved by meticulously conforming to these parameters. This leadership style however does not work in all environments. These type of leaders need to be trained to think out of the box and learn to trouble shoot creatively in the event of an unforeseeable circumstance or situation.

For more information on Leadership Training Program, please refer to the following article – global leadership development.

MMM Training Solutions conducts executive coaching, soft skills, leadership and presentation skills training programs for corporates in India and abroad. Our programs are customized based on the objectives, experience of the target audience and the type of industry. We have been in business since 2005 and some of our clients include Daimler, Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, Novartis, McKinsey, Boeing, Cipla, Deloitte, Caterpillar and many more.
Pramila Mathew, Owner and Founder of MMM, has a dual background in Business and Psychology and has significant work experience in both India and USA. Please visit our website http://www.mmmts.com to know more about our programs and our trainers.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Pramila_M_Mathew/186771

 

Leadership

What If We Have This Whole Leadership Thing All Wrong?

Imagine that you just read an article on how your competition is steadily stealing your market share. This is nothing new to you, they have been out innovating you for some time now and it’s now apparent that your current products or services are inferior. Slowly you’ve seen your talent leave for greener pastures as rumors of downsizing abound. There is a fear permeating the organization as people wonder what the future holds. What’s needed is a real leader! Someone who can come in and make things right again. We’ve seen this scenario play out time and again. The Board will likely remove the C-Suite and bring in a leadership savior. Yet, what if we have got this whole leadership thing all wrong? What if the very essence of how we define leadership is no longer serving us?

We can’t really fault why we seek a leadership savior in these scenarios. It’s engrained in our DNA! Adaptive Leadership Theory explains that since the dawn of time we have engaged in a social contract within groups. Essentially when a group member emerged to offer us much needed direction, protection and order, we in turn granted them authority over us. As long as this person kept their side of the bargain, we continue to reward them with increased power. At some point we started calling this authority figure our Leader, Chief, or King which anointed them with title and elevated social status as well. The key distinction to make here is that we started associating the exercising of authority with leadership. This is a huge mistake as leadership is totally different.

Given the above scenario, direction, protection and order is exactly what we crave. We want a new direction and our new leadership should have the ability to see what we cannot. We require protection from our competitors and the threat they present. We desire order as a power vacuum emerges from the loss of key talent. Yet, what if instead of providing the direction we need to go, leadership helped us to figure out where we collectively want to go together? What if instead of sheltering us from our competitor’s threats, leadership exposed the reality that we faced and challenged us to be more? What if instead of returning us to a calm and comfortable place, leadership taught us to embrace the chaos of change and to value living on the edge of constant learning? In short, what might happen if instead of exercising authority, our leadership actually led us?

Intuitively, we get this. While management is an important aspect of a productive society, deep down inside we all want to be led more so than managed. When we experience true leadership we feel empowered to grow to our full potential. Outside of experiencing love, there is perhaps no greater feeling than pushing yourself to be more than you thought you could be. Yet, with the pleasure of growth we often experience loss and pain. We have to let go of a part of ourselves and learn to be something new. Learning then becomes a series of failures until we ultimately get it right. This can be a very disappointing and humbling process. Thus, true leadership requires us to disappoint our followers at a rate that they can tolerate.

This is the very reason why we see more authority rather than leadership being exercised in our world. There is a real art to establishing enough trust with followers so that they allow you to disappoint them. Disappoint them too much and you will soon be looking for a new job. Yet, it’s important to note that if you disappoint them too little, as when exercising pure authority, and you will also be looking for a new job! Exercising authority will not promote the learning needed for organizational growth, and thus results will be the same over time. With consistently poor to average results, you will eventually be replaced as your organization seeks out new “leadership.” Thus, the next time you feel the pull to provide direction, protection and order to your team, take a step back and try to recognize what is really needed in this moment. Start practicing leadership rather than authority and watch your organization begin to flourish.

David understands how effective leadership generates success. He a holds a degree in Leadership Development from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Science in Organization Development from American University. A combat veteran with corporate leadership experience, he now consults to Fortune 500 companies internationally. David is recognized for his creative learning designs and ability to facilitate highly engaging training events. David holds expertise in the MBTI, DiSC, EQ-i 2.0, and PMAI behavioral assessments, as well as in non-verbal (somatic) communication. Learn more at http://www.leadergrowthgroup.com/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Spungin/1372660