Category Archives: Leadership

Leadership

Leadership: Why Define It? Can We Define It?

Warning… This leadership discussion his highly flammable.

Leadership. It cannot be defined. What? That can’t be because Webster defines it, Oxford brands it, and Google’s all over it. Right now, there are leadership “experts” calling me names. They mock me and call me an amateur. Ron Burgundy is calling Busch League. They say I’ve lost my mind. That’s fine. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last.

Leadership. It cannot be defined. I’ll throw out some questions I hear that lead me to this premise that I keep repeating and experts keep denying:

Why are there thousands (OK, hundreds) of books on the subject?

Why are there so many different ingredients in leadership, many that people agree upon, many more that they won’t?

When you ask 10 people to name 5 traits that make up a good leader, you’ll get 10 different answers.

Is leadership a noun, a verb, both?

Is there good leadership? Bad leadership?

Are there poor leaders?

If I view leadership as a positive, how can you have poor leadership? Isn’t that like having dry water?

I could go on and on about the subject of leadership and how we can’t pin down it’s true definition. Why would we want too? Why do we constantly try and put leadership in this neat little box and package it as one size fits all? Why do we go back and forth on the makeup of great leaders, than try and construct one like were in the movie Weird Science? No thanks, I’ll pass on the Scud Missile in my living room.

Leadership. It cannot be defined. It’s “true” meaning changes colors like a chameleon as it adapts from situation to situation. Leadership was never meant to be defined. It’s a Unicorn, Sasquatch, the Lock Ness. It can transform like Optimus. We have faith in it and we believe in it, right? It can be surrounded by fog yet simultaneously crystal clear. It’s all around us but we can’t physically see it… or can we? It’s a ghost that whispers your name but you can’t tell which direction it’s coming from. If leadership falls in a forest and no one’s around, does it make any noise? Leadership is a Stealth Bomber, undetectable on radar. Lincoln and Washington were great leaders right? Why? I guarantee that someone’s answer can be applied to Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn… for arguments sake.

Now’s the time to stop defining leadership. It needs no definition. It needs no introduction. Leadership has no agenda and doesn’t play favorites. Leadership doesn’t play at all.

Let it be… it will find you.

[http://www.fogofleadership.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tim_Woody/207212

 

Leadership

Leaders Are Students of Leadership

Leadership is about growth and development, if you are not growing and developing on a continuous basis, you are simply not working hard enough. Leading is like being a student in a laboratory; every day you should conduct experiments to see what works and what doesn’t. After trying your hand at leading, you go back to the drawing board to tweak your style and approach. Students are constantly challenged to look for new ideas and to develop fresh thinking. The key is to keep learning. As a student of leadership you must immerse yourself in all things concerning leadership – you must practice it, you must talk about it, and you must live it every day. You must keep experimenting because you never really “master” leadership. Every day you will face new situations that call for different ways of leading.

Being a student takes effort – you have to study hard, you have to seek understanding, and you have to interpret what you learn. Furthermore, as a student of leadership, you have to apply leadership theories and concepts to real-life problems and situations dealing with people, processes, and systems. Being a student implies a search for knowledge and wisdom. Students focus on learning new concepts to deepen their understanding and to acquire new knowledge, so should the practicing leader; in fact, you never “finish” your journey as a leader because there is always something new to learn.

The key to becoming a student of leadership is to continuously hone your craft and to work towards becoming a master at the art of leading people. The main purpose of your study is for you to grow and to get better at what you do. This study can take the form of practical hands-on experience, reading, or observing other leaders in action. A key benefit of being a student is that you can experiment with the tools and knowledge you gain… you can pick and choose different tools and techniques until you find those that work for you. The next step is to find ways to apply the lessons that you learn so that they become part of who you are as a leader.

Author and speaker, John Maxwell developed the 5 Levels of Leadership model to outline the growth that a leader experiences over time. This growth is not automatic; in fact, you could potentially be a Level 1 Leader for your entire career. You must consciously decide to take the necessary steps to move up to Level 2. You must increase your learning to make the transition from one level to the next higher level – you do that by becoming a student of leadership – devoting your time and effort to becoming the best leader you can be.

How do you become as student of leadership? You must study leadership ideas and theories in order to capture the essence of leadership; however, this study is not an end in itself; your study should be leveraged and transformed into actionable ideas that you can use in the leadership laboratory called life and work.

Tips for becoming a student of leadership:

 

  1. Learn how great leaders think;
  2. Identify what great leaders study and read;
  3. Learn how other leaders think about leading and leadership;
  4. Leadership involves communicating and advocating ideas effectively – do you know how to communicate an idea effectively?
  5. Leading is a contact sport; you must get engaged with people and their issues;
  6. Learn how other leaders use their experiences to grow, to get better, and to transform;
  7. Study the different styles of leadership and learn how and when to use each effectively;
  8. Leaders seek opportunities to lead on different levels, in different environments, and in changing circumstances.

 

Vernon Myers is the founder of 100LeadershipInsights.com, a site dedicated to observing, reflecting, gaining insight, and taking action on leadership insights. I am seeking to connect with people who have ideas, insights, and leadership experiences to share.

Vernon is also the author of The Idea Journal visit his website at Get the Idea Journal [http://www.ideamerge.net/products/] to find out how to unleash your urge to create.

Copyright (c) 2013, all rights reserved.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Vernon_Myers/22918

 

Leadership

The Spirit of Leadership Part 2

What will leadership look like in the future? How will it be different? Based on the next generation of kids I know and have met, leadership could be a scary position for those who are chosen to lead. The next generation of kids follow a different code of ethics and possess a radically different set of values. For those reasons, the next generation of children will radically change how we think about leadership. It won’t be the same leadership hierarchy that we followed. You can be sure of that.

I’m starting to see some of the changes now. In fact, I’ve seen how parenting has changed over the past generation. Leadership has no choice but to change. Parents are friends instead of parents. Kids talk back to their parents and teachers. Kids even talk back to the law. The next generation probably won’t follow leaders for leadership sake.

There will be radical paradigm shift for leadership. While I’m sure exactly how leadership will change but we know for sure it will. But somehow, the next generation of leaders will be up for the task. They will find a way to face the global, national and local challenges that lie ahead. However, we need to adopt a new methods of training and developing our future leaders.

Although leadership may not be as rigid or structured compared to the leadership we grew up with, there is still a need for leadership and someone has to take charge.

According to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, leadership in the future will change in six major ways:

 

  • Leadership won’t be as hierarchal. The leadership triangle will be flatter.
  • Leaders will be more digitally knowledgeable.
  • Leaders will be better able to communicate.
  • Leaders will be better able to create organizations at no cost or minimal cost.
  • New forms of leadership will emerge.
  • Leadership will move away from conflict as a way of dealing with things.

 

However, this is one important caveat to this type of leadership. This type of leadership is predicated on the type of leadership in the company and the ability of its followers. Not all companies or organizations will be able to run their business like this.

Let me explain. To run an organization where leadership style is won’t be”dictatorial” and the hierarchy will be flatter, you will need a more educated, knowledgeable and better trained workers or staff. Basically, the workers have to be leaders.

And for that to happen, workers will have to receive leadership development training which will prepare them to become company’s future leaders.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_T_Andrews/1625696

 

Leadership

Building Leadership on Natural Strengths

In the first article in this series, I defined leadership development from the Your Talent Advantage (YTA) perspective. We describe six distinct leadership profiles in YTA, but believe that the unique leadership aspects of each profile notwithstanding, all six are developed to their highest level of effectiveness by growing five skills that are common to all leaders.

These five common leadership skills are:

 

  1. Leaders build on their natural strengths.
  2. They are aware of their limitations, and seek input from people with perspectives different from their own.
  3. They are aware that any group of followers contains people who see the world differently than they do, and they find ways to communicate effectively to each of them.
  4. They recognize the talents of others, and seek to build teams based on complementary skill sets and perspectives.
  5. They learn to accept/own their natural limitations and develop techniques to mitigate them.

 

This and the subsequent four articles will focus on these skills, and how each is developed, one by one.

Leaders Build on Their Natural Skills

The core belief of Perceptual Style Theory (PST) is that everyone has the innate capacity to lead, but that the skills associated with that innate capacity vary depending upon which of the six Leadership Strengths Profiles (LSP) an individual has.

Before a person can begin to grow and develop their innate leadership capacity into actual, usable leadership skills they must recognize, understand, and claim their LSP. What determines a person’s LSP is their Perceptual Style (PS). PS describes the way in which they perceive the world around them; therefore, understanding one’s unique PS is the first critical step to becoming a leader.

Another way to state this is that in order to be an effective leader it is important that there is comfort and acceptance of one’s unique strengths as well as comfort and acceptance of one’s blind spots and short comings. Both sides of this equation can be challenging.

Too many times, would be leaders focus their leadership growth and development efforts on strengths in areas that are outside their innate skill set. It is our experience that many people are unaware of and discount what they do naturally well. Rather than focusing on discovering and working on developing their natural strengths to their fullest expression, they spend precious time focused on trying to acquire skills that are not an innate part of the way they see the world.

Working on one’s weaknesses or those skills that are missing from one’s skill set is a common approach to personal growth and its goal is a “well rounded” individual or, in this case, leader. Unfortunately, the end result of this approach is mediocre rather than outstanding leadership. It is impossible for any individual to master all six different LSPs, and, in fact, it is truly only possible to master the specific LSP that each person already has as an integral part of whom they are.

The LSP program takes a strengths based development approach with an emphasis on getting better at those leadership skills that are innate to the individual. Those who wish to lead; indeed, anyone who wants to perform at their highest level of effectiveness needs to begin their development time on learning how to do more of what they do best and delegating the rest to others for whom the skill is an innate skill.

In order to accomplish this first step of leadership development and master the skill of building on one’s natural leadership strengths, it is necessary to know what those strengths are. The challenge to strengths discovery is that people find it easier to identify what they don’t do well than to recognize and claim their natural strengths. Simply asking, “What are your natural leadership strengths?” is not an effective method.

While there are multiple ways to discovery one’s natural leadership strengths and blind spots, most require more effort and time than most people are willing to invest. The LSP program provides a quick and easy assessment that identifies the user’s LSP, describes the profile experience, lists behavioral leadership skills, identifies optimal leadership situations and leadership challenges, and describes ways to mitigate leadership weaknesses. The concise summary delivered by the LSP assessment results provides a solid base from which to begin the crucial first step to developing one’s leadership strengths to their maximum level of effectiveness.

Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 32 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology – Berkeley. He is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. For more free information on how to succeed in life and business doing more of what you love, visit http://www.YourTalentAdvantage.com.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Gary_M._Jordan/22166

 

Leadership

Intent And Urgency In Leadership

In this life of mad activity and high levels of stress it can be seen as dangerous and unwise to call for urgency. However, excellence and effective leadership is not achievable without a good sense of urgency. Of course, no-one needs more fruitless activity. What we do need is urgency in leadership.

Too often does one find that managers get worked up about the demands of the customer, operational tasks, project deadlines, the boss’s or shareholders’ expectations, the competition’s latest moves and many other typical considerations, but they drag their feet when it comes to leadership. Working on their personal vision for their area of responsibility, consulting key people about the vision, giving new direction, planning and facilitating meetings for optimum engagement of team members and building of the team, setting up one-on-one meetings for feedback and executing plans to develop team members are things that can wait for another day. More often than not these things remain only good ideas and intentions. They never become a matter of urgency.

Some people rationalise about their leadership responsibility with thoughts such as: it is a waste of time; it is not work; other people need to take responsibility for themselves; this is not what I was trained for; I have a job to do; it is for higher level management to do; the time is not right.

The truth is that the lack of leadership actions leads to low levels of collaboration, shared purpose and focus, commitment and general effectiveness. The cost is huge in terms of time spent to correct wrong perceptions, miscommunications, uncoordinated work and poor application due to low motivation. The truth is that people with those views and lack of urgency in leadership never get to develop beyond their functional, technical or managerial expertise. They become a lid to the potential of their own and others’ collective efforts and growth.

Controlled urgency

Once the leader interacts with others with intent and urgency in his leadership, it is infectious. It stimulates energy and movement. However, misplaced urgency can be very demotivating and counterproductive. If in the leader’s communication everything seems to be equally urgent the potential positive effect is lost. If the leader’s urgency is experienced as inauthentic a lot of damage will be done. Pretending his message is urgent in the interest of the organisation the truth might be that it is driven by personal interests or ambitions. Urgency should also not be driven by fear, but by inner conviction. In time people are perceptive enough to ‘read’ the leader’s sense of urgency and where it comes from.

As with so many dimensions of leadership, the art is how to deal with two paradoxical but equally important approaches. Urgency in leadership does not translate to impatience where others can sense the leader’s frustration, or worse, irritation. The leader needs to demonstrate urgency in his leadership and be willing to be patient when it comes to the effects of his leadership actions. There has to be urgency in doing what is right, patience in the expectation of results. Urgency in the empowerment of others, patience in the act of doing so.

Consistency

Mixed signals of what the leader sees as urgent is also counterproductive. Urgency in leadership is not compulsive or an emotional reaction to pressure. It is about commitment and application in the areas that will ensure sustainable effectiveness. Enthusiasm for new technology, new products, the promise of an acquisition or bonusses when targets are met can easily overshadow the more important commitments for building the organisation for the long haul.

Fuel your passion

We are only human and personal dissapointments, disruptions and all kinds of adversities impact on the levels of our energy and entusiasm for what we do from day to day. From time to time we can even be in the situation where the next challenge is not that obvious. We become complacent. Work, as we see it from day to day, has become boring. The problem is not only the lack of urgency we have, it is the lack of desire and passion.

Even as our energy is deserting us, in fact more so then as in other times, we need to see the urgency of refueling our passion. It is time for ‘timeout’. Time to break away from the usual routines and make new discoveries. Of course one has to take some risks. Of course one has to enter the unknown. Else, how can there be new discoveries? The more important and transforming risks will be the risks we take in our thinking. But often we need a different experience to stimulate different thinking.

For reflection

We therefore need to face some tough questions and face them courageously.

 

  • Have you made the commitment to your leadership responsibility over and above your functional or role responsibilities?
  • Have you worked out what such a commitment means in practice?
  • Do you procrastinate the actions you know you need to take as a leader?
  • Are you consistent in the energy and passion you show in your leadership?
  • Is it time to prioritise refueling your passion for and purpose in life?

 

Let us be reminded by Leonardo da Vinci’s observation:

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

New Era Leadership offers an unique online development program on 32 leadership principles. A one year registration give access to a journey through 32 week modules with blog participation and a journal included. This program can easily be linked to coaching to help you develop your leadership. Coaching can be done on Skype. Register to receive regular articles and key thoughts on leadership and self-development.

Visit my website at http://www.newlead.co.za to register and begin your development journey!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dr_Gerhard_van_Rensburg/1587108