Category Archives: Leadership

Leadership

The Essentials of Leadership

The question of who and what is a leader has vexed most people, as a leader can mean many different things, to many different people. It also has cultural implications as well. Another aspect not considered, is the environment that the leader has to operate within, which also determines the style and form of leadership required. Leadership has also changed over a period of time as well.

If you look in most management books on sale today, as well as those no longer in print, they all have their own their definition of leadership.

Tom Peters is the management guru’s, management guru and in his book, “In Search of Excellence” stated that; ” Leadership is about discovering the passion, persistence and imagination to get results, to be able to find the Wow factor and to be able to think the weird thoughts necessary to learn and thrive in a disruptive age”.

Peter Druker does give the simplified version, “someone who has followers”, but defines leadership as a means to an end and he details the foundations and requirements of effective leadership. Effective leadership for Drucker is thinking through the organisation’s mission and defining it. Then, establishing the mission and visibly though effective communication. It is the leader who sets the goals and priorities with total clarity. Likewise it is up to the leader to define and maintain standards.

Welch is probably the best known “big-businessman” of his generation (CEO and Chairman of General Electric for over 20 years). The Welch leadership way is typified by clarity of thought and forthrightness of direction. For Welch, business leaders who treat change as an enemy will fail. They need to be aware that the very survival of their corporation rests with their ability to adapt – this is the reality they are working in – and to prepare their workers for change. The faster this can be accomplished the better. Welch believes leadership is about Vision not supervision! The Leaders should set a general framework for their team, the vision should be congruent with the overall goals of the organisation but they should avoid too detailed (and therefore restrictive) plans; this can stifle the ability to change. Trying to keep tabs on detailed plans is not the best use of time: Control slows you down! If an employee can’t live up to the values – get rid of them.

John Adair was a Senior Lecturer and Leadership Training Advisor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He believes that leadership matters deeply, that good leadership is good leadership irrespective of whether it is within a business, charity, sports team, political party or army regiment. He also believes that good leadership can be learnt and that everyone can improve their leadership ability. Great leaders exemplify the qualities that they expect from others. They do not have to be “experts” in their subordinate roles rather that they should personify the qualities desired. He highlights a core list: enthusiastic, energetic, calm in a crisis, warm and tough yet fair. For Adair, leadership is a privilege – a leader is there to serve his followers.

Rudolph Giuliani is a political leader who came to world attention during the 9/11 attack on New York where he was Mayor at the time. His actions and conduct during this period cemented his reputation for great leadership. His leadership advice is a mix of home-spun common sense coupled with simple practical tasks and advice. He founded Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm offering leadership advice in 2002. The publication of his book “Leadership” in the same year confirmed his reputation as a leadership thinker of our age. Giuliani’s leadership style is very reminiscent of Churchill although he tries to distance himself from him. He states that a daily routine, starting with a morning meeting means that things are routinely followed-up; resulting in early wins that encouraged subordinate staff to drive projects towards successful completion. This allowed him to oversee the big picture, while researching other topics that needed his attention. Once a decision was made, it would be “All Go” with total confidence in ultimate success. In getting on with things, especially in times of crises, instils further confidence in others. If he got it wrong, he insists that the leader has to accept responsibility for the teams’ actions and not blame others. Conversely, give praise where praise is due, you honour those who have done well under your stewardship. Have public values and beliefs in place, give subordinates responsibility, giving team members the benefit of the doubt (at least initially, then if they continually fail in expectations, they can be removed), and stand by your people when things get difficult. Doing this enables and empowers the group and encourages them to be bold in whatever they have been charged with.

Peter Scholtes shared the platform with W. Edwards Deming educating corporations about the “new” philosophy of the Quality movement. His view on leadership concentrates on systems thinking. He believes in transforming leadership from hierarchical command and control into a style of inspiring leadership. System thinking requires leaders to understand their organisations as if it was a system, rather than an entity, therefore leadership is a process or set of processes. The leader has to understand system variation, understanding the difference between common cause variation and special cause variation. Common cause variations are dealt with at the strategic level, while special cause variations are mastered tactically. He states that leaders have to understand people, particularly how people learn, interact, develop and communicate. They also need to understand how poor leadership can de-motivate their staff. The Leader of any organisation must show leadership by providing a totally clear meaning, direction, mission, values and focus, which must come from the heart (not be meaningless slogans and wordplay). Staff need to know what to measure and how to measure it.

My understanding of Leadership is as follows. A true leader acts as a catalyst; by galvanizing people or groups to a common purpose though use of their oratory power to convince others to a stated cause, by practicing what they preach. One definition is that a leader has an instinct to lead those around them, using their skills and knowledge. They are prepared to lead from the front (by example), showing utmost care for those who follow them. These leaders will not hesitate to admit mistakes, ask advice and learn from it. They continually keep re-inventing themselves. They are open to new challenges and are ready to adopt unconventional methods and approaches to achieve their objectives. These leaders also have the ability to take large risks, but they are invariably heavily calculated in their favour. In addition to this I personally include mentoring. I take some people that work for me, who have that indefinable spark of “something”, provide them with guidance, advice, encouragement and responsibility. They in turn, as they develop, generally do the same with those around them. They become advocates, allies and your change agents

I believe that personal conviction, communication, confidence, compassion, skill and knowledge, when taken together, make that person a hero to their followers.

Today David is a Management Consultant, who works at executive level with C Type Officers. He also has business interests in the Equine, Internet and Communications Industry. He speaks on “Business Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery” and “Project Management” to business groups.

If you need any guidance, assistance of help, please visit

http://www.global-mgmt.com

It does not hurt you to talk in confidence to him.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_G_Snell/257283

 

Leadership

Why Use Golf to Develop Leadership?

There’s a surprising similarity between playing the game of golf and leadership. Once the analogies are made clear to you, you’ll wonder perhaps why you didn’t see it before. By the time you’ve finished reading this, you’ll know the major connections and feel compelled to find out more.

35% of registered golfers in the UK are senior managers, professionals or executives , according to Mintel. This rises to 43.3% of London Golfers. And 12.8% of all golfers in the UK are senior managers, executives or professionals – that’s about 1.8 million golfers are senior managers, executives and professionals in the UK alone! (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) 44% of senior managers executives and professionals in the UK have played, do play or would like to play golf. (Source: BMRB/Mintel) Add another 1.4 million managers (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) and you realise just how big a sport golf has become – and it id predominantly ABC1 who play the game, and still predominantly male – 83%!

In part, business leaders, particularly those with some marketing or sales role, play golf to network with prospects and clients. There’s certainly some social status about being a golf club member, and for sure, in part there’s the ‘coincidence’ of playing golf and being a business leader.

The characteristics of those who play golf and those who are business leaders shows considerable similarities. For example, the desire to score well (even win) a round of golf. To be concerned about one’s personal performance and strive to improve it relates to a strong personal ‘Achievement Orientation’. I want to do well because I want to do well!

There are differences too, and important ones. On the golf course, the golfer is playing against the course. It is one of very few sports where the play of others has no effect on the golfer’s performance at all… unless he (and it is predominantly still ‘he’) allows it. This is not the case for the majority of business leaders where personal performance can be impacted by the performance of others. So the golf course is the place where a player can assuredly adopt the attitude, it’s MY performance that matters and only their actions change the result. This suggests the desire for control – or Directiveness.

76% of golfers play for social reasons (GMI/Mintel) – this demonstrates a desire, if not ability, in the competencies of influence and communication.

So why use golf to develop leadership?

The game of golf attracts business leaders more than other groups – & perhaps the conclusions above suggest why. So it became increasingly obvious to our team that golf could be both an attractive idea for development within this group, and that the game of golf itself could be deliberately used to develop the competencies and behaviours associated with great leadership. Indeed, many of our clients confirm the attraction of golf for our senior management training programmes by requesting training to take place at golf clubs.

Our research into using simulations has shown that given a truly safe environment to practice the tools and techniques of leadership and management, participants not only learn more (23% greater learning) than using more traditional methods like case studies, they enjoy it more (17% greater) and demonstrate greater transfer of new behaviours to the workplace (26% greater transfer).

Not only this, but studies in societies where females are considered disadvantaged in management showed a greater improvement in demonstrated management and leadership competencies after a simulation based programme than a traditional programme over their male counterparts 16% greater improvement in demonstrated competencies. The key to the success of using simulations is that they provide a realistic, safe environment to practice the tools, techniques and behaviours of great leadership (Kenworthy 2005)

Is golf a safe, realistic environment?

The great thing about golf is that it is one of the very few activities that provides a genuinely level-playing field – through the well-established handicapping system. It may not be perfect, but it’s very close. This means that a scratch golfer competes fairly with a complete beginner. There are also rules within which the game must be played – these represent the constraints of doing business. There are established game rules that encourage pairs or foursomes to work together, and there are rules to foster individual competition -sometimes in business we want our leaders to be entrepreneurial and ‘go-getters’ – leading by example, at other times, we want them to be team leaders, or team players.

Caddies, provide a perfect metaphor for coaches and mentors. The course itself provides a varied environment, shifting according to things beyond the control of the player, but observable by them. The hole provides a target, the course provides for a strategic plan to achieve the real goal. The points scored can directly relate to revenue or profit. The clubs and balls are resources – even the golf pro can be a consultant resource.

The game of golf provides a fantastic platform to learn leadership – its safe and fair, it’s as realistic as you need it to be and it’s fun!

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Leadership

How Leadership Training Develops Strong Business Leadership Skills

Leadership training must evolve beyond programs of improving basic business leadership skills. While discussing the fundamentals of delegation, running meetings, “motivating” employees and public speaking may be OK for newly minted supervisors, it’s really inadequate for the majority of professionals who rely on executive management training to survive in their leadership positions.

If you do not think we need to change our leadership training strategies, here are a few reasons why we should. Our world enjoys a level playing field which empowers billions of people to attain greater prosperity. At the same time, more people are acquiring and improving their business leadership skills through formal educational programs or their own informal development efforts.

The many advances made in computing, communications and other commercialization technologies offer everybody opportunities to quickly develop and sell their ideas. As improvements in the physical technology arenas continue to capture media attention, most business leadership skills courses and leadership training endeavors fail to improve our expertise in applying social technology.

Some people call this period of human history, the Age of Knowledge, yet still others, like me, say it is the Imagination Age. Indeed, we even find ourselves questioning deeply-held priorities, like our use of natural, human and man-made resources, in response to ever-increasing social pressures.

However, leadership training programs, especially in today’s competitive economy, should prepare executives, management candidates and entrepreneurs to energize their business leadership skills in such areas as:

=> Innovation strategy development
=> Talent management and human capital enrichment
=> Technology portfolio designs and analysis
=> Business systems requirements and analysis
=> Coaching, facilitation and consulting techniques
=> Value-oriented analytics and engineering principles

 

All these subjects and others can help you boost growth and improve your performance on the “bottom-line”. But more importantly, directors, executives and managers who work in non profits, a governmental agency or a service organization simply do not understand the contributions of those same subjects to their future success.

When selecting your next leadership training, business leadership skills or executive management training program use the following three tips.

Tip-1 – What Philosophy Is Being Promoted?

Any leadership training program attempts to help you discover the nature, causes and principles associated with the reality of leading, applying the knowledge base of leadership and the reasoning used by leaders.

That statement defines the philosophy of most leadership development programs. However, it’s up to you to assess, measure and comprehend the scope, depth and intensity of your leadership training courses. You do have to evaluate when the needs of your business leadership skills are not being served by your executive management training program.

Tip-2 – How Does This Leadership Training Strategy Work for You?

These days there quite a few numbers of effective, efficient and efficacious educational techniques, delivery systems and program support strategies available to you.

Obviously, you will want to use your schedule, your learning style preferences and your personal as well as your professional requirements to gauge your leadership training options.

Your business leadership skills will be strengthened, sharpened and stimulated if you employ a long-term (6-12 months or longer) executive management training regimen.

Tip-3 – Why Will These Activities Energize Your Business Leadership Skills?

An excellent leadership training program will include classroom or instructor-led, self-directed or home-study and in-service learning activities. Involving this variety of learning situations increases the energy levels of your business leadership skills.

In other words, the doing, dissecting and developing of your leadership performances enables you to more effectively absorb your ‘lessons’ physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically. That’s why world-class organizations give their promising performers executive management training for 2, 3 or more years.

Finally, the last and most critical “Tips” I will share with you are these –

Search for an executive management training program that adds richness, texture, luster, power and scope to the depth, capacity, value, quality and competency of your business leadership skills and experiences on a daily basis!

Invest in leadership training that will help you realize the ideals, opportunities and goals described in these Tips and you will make outstanding contributions to your organization, to your community and to our world.

Copyright © 2008, Mustard Seed Investments Inc., All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Bill Thomas is the author of books, video, and CD-ROM programs, he conducts executive leadership training programs for Awesome Leaders and Innovative Leaders.

Bill helps professionals, managers, supervisors, executives, entrepreneurs, and directors in 75 countries improve their performance by providing in-depth, results-driven leadership development, coaching, and consulting support.

Sign up and receive Bill’s leadership “Power-Tips”, read free ebooks and articles, listen to his weekly radio programs, and get free educational white papers. Bill guarantees his cost-effective services will maximize the returns on your investment.

Awesome Leadership Training Programs and Leadership-Toolkit – Leadership Skills Training

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bill_Thomas/462

 

Leadership

Elevate Your Leadership by Immersing Yourself in a Wide Array of Leadership and Organizational Tools

There are so many books, seminars, coaching, and consulting practices based on leadership and organizational development. There are many forms of leadership and organizational development models such as transformational leadership, executive coaching, Six Sigma, TQM (Total Quality Management), business process improvement, learning organizations, and systems thinking to name a few. Some of you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of authors, seminars, coaching, and consulting practices claiming to have the answers for improving your leadership and/or organization’s performance.

I used to be one of those individuals, as I too was initially overwhelmed by the number of books, speakers, and seminars pertaining to leadership and organizational development. However, I soon realized that life, learning, and leadership is all about taking in knowledge from multiple sources and then deciphering for yourself what works best for you and your particular situation. Whatever improved my personal leadership, I incorporated in my repertoire. Whatever did not work, I allowed to fall into the recesses of my subconscious so that I could retrieve it in case I ever needed it in the future.

There is so much knowledge available in the world in regards to leadership and organizational development. However, all of this knowledge may not be beneficial to our particular situation or life. Therefore, we must obtain this knowledge with a discriminating eye, assessing multiple leadership models from multiple sources, looking for those tid bits of information that can improve and shape our lives and organizations to be what we want them to be. However, for this to occur, we must overcome our intimidation and immerse ourselves in the vast genre of leadership and organizational development for optimal absorption.

Personally, I try to read as many books and articles on leadership and organizational development as my time allows. In addition, I still attend leadership and organizational development workshops and seminars because even though leadership and organizational development is what I do, I can always learn more.

My personal leadership development is the result of all of my years of academic study coupled with my ongoing appetite for learning about leadership and organizational development. The books, coaching, seminars, and blog are expressions of what I have learned and continue to learn. I am sharing my insights with you because I know that leadership and organizational development does not occur overnight, rather it consists of a continuous immersion of both your conscious and subconscious into the depths of who you are and how you relate to the challenges of the world you live in.

By immersing yourself in all of the leadership and organizational development training offered by the various leadership development outlets, you will provide your conscious and subconscious with a steady diet of ideas that you can then pick and choose from. Immersing yourself in multiple leadership and organizational models will afford you the ability to pick and choose the ideas that work best for you. It is important to note that one model may work for one individual and not another. Also, a combination of ideas from several models may work better for you than someone else. Therefore, do not limit yourself to any one model, as there may be something you can learn about yourself, or your leadership from another. Always remember that leadership and organizational development is a life long learning process. If you truly want to develop your leadership, don’t be intimidated by the vast amounts of knowledge in the field. Immerse yourself with a discriminating eye and come out a leader.

Dr. Barrett has an earned PhD in applied management and decision sciences, with a specialization in leadership and organizational change. He also holds a MS in organizational leadership and a BS in organizational management. In addition to these degrees, Dr. Barrett has completed several executive certificates focusing on various areas of management and leadership development.

Dr. Barrett is proud of his academic accomplishments, as they are the product of his long and sometimes difficult journey out of poverty. Along his journey, Dr. Barrett served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, participating in several vital overseas operations in the Middle East and Europe. He has also taught organizational leadership courses at the graduate degree level at Mercy College. This desire to develop leadership whether it be in myself or others is what drives Dr. Barrett. Dr. Barrett currently lives in NYC, where he runs The Barrett Center for Leadership Development, LLC ( [http://www.TheBarrettCenter.com] ) and The Barrett Leadership Blog ( http://www.TheBarrettCenter.blogspot.com ). The Barrett center offers workshops, seminars, coaching, consulting, and speaking engagements focused on the leadership and organizational principles developed by Dr. Barrett. You can find his current leadership model (The Barrett Leadership Model) in his new book Leading from the Inside-Out.

The Barrett Center’s Mission: To help clients develop their leadership from the inside-out. The Barrett Center’s Vision: Uplift the human condition by teaching individuals and organizations how to lead their existence from the inside-out.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dr._Mario_Barrett,_Ph.D./245459

 

Leadership

The How and Why of Participative Leadership

As a business owner, one of your biggest challenges is to lead your team well. Should you focus on employee participation at the cost of business goals? Or do you “show them how it’s done” and expect the team to follow your lead? Is there a different approach for every situation?

In this piece, we’ll take a look at a particular leadership style – “participative leadership” and its benefits.

Leadership means different things to different people. However, a generally accepted definition is that it “is a process that takes place in groups in which one member influences and controls the behavior of the other members toward a common goal.”

While every leader creates his or her mantra of leadership, most leadership practices fall into one of these categories. Try and figure out your style!

Directive Leadership: You have the first and last word, and the group merely follows instructions. Do we sense a secret longing to be in the army!

Supportive Leadership: You create warm, personal relationships with your team members in order to coax their best efforts.

Participative Leadership: Group members are involved in the decision making process right from the start, by contributing their ideas and suggestions. You’re a strong believer in team work.

Achievement Oriented Leadership: You give your team a goal and they work independently towards achieving it. Either you’re plain lazy, or more likely, have a high degree of confidence in your team’s ability.

For now, let us take a closer look at Participative Leadership

A person who follows the participative leadership style will get a buy-in from group members on most changes and important decisions, before implementing them. However, the leader is still the final decision making authority. Remember, participative leadership is not about reaching consensus – if you keep looking for universal approval, you’ll never get anything done.

Some people feel that participative leadership is a “female thing” and makes you look soft. Let’s set the record straight – using this style is not a sign of weakness, in fact, it’s a strength that your team will respect you for.

When does participative leadership work?

While it’s not practical to change your approach with every situation, you might like to try participative leadership under specific conditions. Say you’re working on an assignment where you have limited expertise but your employees collectively have a lot of knowledge and experience. Using participative leadership is likely to create a win-win for both – they will feel included and you’ll make better informed decisions. And if you’re the owner of a start-up firm, getting buy-in on key issues from your core team members could prove invaluable.

Can I learn to be a participative leader?

Sure! Leaders are made, not born. Here are some of the important tips offered by experts:

Encourage group values: Allow the group to establish values and thereby take ownership. Of course, these will have to support the firm’s objectives.

Share vision: Participative leadership is all about sharing, starting with your dreams for the firm. Let your employees know where they’re headed.

Create a healthy environment: It is your responsibility to create an environment based on trust and mutual respect. Give your employees their space. No growth is possible without it.

Equip the team: No point taking their inputs, if they don’t have the necessary skills for the job! Ensure they have the tools and the training.

Organize and energize: Not every speech needs to be “rah rah”, but it’s important that you nurture and motivate your employees. Get those juices to flow!

Take and give feedback: Two-way communication is the cornerstone of participative leadership. Be generous with praise and objective with criticism. Talk, but also listen.

Expect accountability: Since your employees are given more responsibility, they must be accountable for their actions. At the same time, don’t turn into a control freak!

If you are interested in knowing more, take a look at which features a wide selection of books on leadership.

What’s in it for me?

Participative leadership is not all about feeling good about yourself. It can take you through many challenging business situations.

Implementing change: Regular involvement of the team prior to introducing the change will ensure that they’re already prepared for the transition. This works better than a separate “buy-in meeting” that other types of leaders might resort to.

Encouraging risk taking: A senior manager from a global telecom company relates how he used participative leadership to encourage employees to think out of the box, while charting their company’s growth plan.

Solving technical problems: If you need to get a group of gruff, technically qualified people to solve a complex problem, a participative leadership style will help draw out their combined expertise.

So, is participative leadership the best?

There’s probably no answer to that one. Each style works better in a specific situation and vice versa. Participative leadership is no different – while we’ve talked about the benefits, it’s equally important to recognize those instances where it won’t work. A situation that requires firm control and immediate action – like say, a disaster site, certainly cannot afford a consultative approach. To be an effective participative leader, you must also develop an astute judgment for when not to use it!

Hi, I’m Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out [http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net] It’s full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special “Freebie of The Month” at [http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Akhil_Shahani/52098