Tag Archives: Culture of Leadership

Leadership

Leadership – The Medium Is the Message

The titanic achievements of Ghengis Khan, Julius Caesar, F John Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Socrates, have left an indelible impression on our civilisation. They are remembered not only for their achievements, but for their ability to communicate their leadership to others. Leadership that inspired, and motivated, their followers to great achievements.

Some leaders rely on the power of their position, or fear. Others rely on their power of persuasion. Versatile leaders rely on both the power of their position, and persuasion, as the situation demands.

Leaders exist only by their ability to communicate. The medium is the message! Leadership is the message. A message determined by the medium in which a leader chooses to communicate that message e.g. aggressive, cooperative, facilitating, can’t miss, etc.

One-dimensional leadership that uses the power-of-position only, is destructive. One-dimensional leadership discourages the personal growth of other’s, denies them fulfilment, and responsibility, does nothing for their self-esteem. Power-of-position leadership negatively motivates by anxiety, implied threat, and fear for a person’s performance review, employment, and career should they not comply with their leader’s commands.

Persuasive, versatile, leadership encourages personal growth, fulfilment, responsibility and self-esteem. Versatile leadership motivates by example of the ‘right’ attitude. The ‘right’ leadership attitude, of feelings, emotions, beliefs, and values, that permits the leaders information to enter the mind of the other person, and influence, motivate and predict his, or her, behaviour.

You have probably met a person with the same attitude as yourself. You instinctively like that person. Your information, your reasoning, your leadership, is readily allowed to enter that person’s mind. You talk easily, freely, together. Words have the same meanings and implications, for both of you. Trust is almost spontaneous. Your message, your sales, your negotiation, your leadership, your friendship, is most effective in motivating that other person’s self-esteem, and confidence, to achieve your objective.

On the other hand when you meet a person with different attitudes to yourself, your information, your leadership, your persuasion, meets barriers, and is refused entry into that person’s mind, it is ignored and cannot motivate him, or her, in the way you want. You have nothing in common to discuss!

As a versatile leader your awareness recognises, and adopts, the other person’s attitude, to ensure your leadership is permitted to enter that person’s mind, inspire and self-motivate him, or her, to achieve your objective for his, or her, reasons, not yours.

What are the attitudes of a versatile leader? Watch a good leader. Look for his, or her, situational awareness as they deftly adopt different attitudes to motivate different people in changing situations. These situations include:

1. Organising Others: to achieve the objective uses attitudes of: accommodating – compromising – complimenting – conciliatory – moderate – prescribing – prescriptive – resistant

2. Engaging with Others: to achieve the objective uses attitudes of: collaborative – conferring – experimental – conciliatory – facilitative – prescribing – prescriptive – what ‘if’

3. Motivating Others: to achieve the objective uses attitudes of: authoritative – “can-do” – “can’t miss” – confronting – emphatic – persuasive – single – minded – visionary

How many Leadership attitudes do you use?

The greater the number of leadership attitudes you adopt (without self-stress), the more effective your leadership. Your leadership readily self-motivates a greater number of people, with its vision, drive, planning, and commitment to achieve your objective.

The fewer the number of leadership attitudes you adopt without stress, the less effective your leadership. Your leadership is less effective in motivating others to achieve your vision, drive, commitment, planning and objective.

Your culture of Leadership Attitudes significantly influences the situational quality of your leadership.

Versatile leaders Culture of Leadership attitudes (without self-stress), that spreads across all three culture groups, of organising, engaging, and motivating, have significant advantages when leading, and motivating people to change, and to succeed in our increasingly complex and fast changing world

On the other hand, leaders whose culture of attitudes is confined to one culture group are hobbled by self-stress, have difficulty in leading and dealing with change. Their self-stress can increase, spark, or spontaneously combust into ineffective, inappropriate, or even counter-productive leadership decisions and attitudes.

Everyone has attitude? Effective leaders lead with the ‘right’ attitude. The more attitudes in your quiver, the better your leadership.

Harry Wolfe. Grad. Dip. Org. Behav. FAICD.

[http://www.managementdynamics.info]

Management Dynamics International, Geier Profiles translate intangible motivatation into validated fact. They examine beliefs, values to describe, psychologically measure, benchmark & validate: attitudes, behaviour, leadership, ability to manage change, organisatuion culture, to predict a person’s job performance, future potential, and culture ‘fit’.

Unsurpassed for: Personal & Leadership Development – Teambuilding Programs – Selecting the best person for the job – 360 Performance Management – Executive & Leadership Development – Organisational Design & Development – Managing Change Programs

Visit [http://www.managementdynamics.info] to purchase profiles, or to be an accredited faciltator of Geier profiles

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Harry_Wolfe/136300

 

Leadership

Creating a Culture of Leadership

Many organizational managers assume that by adding leadership training or a leadership development program that they are able to create a culture that accepts leadership. The move from non-existent leadership to a leadership culture takes time – and a few steps in between. Let’s look at how you can create a culture of leadership.

First, you, as the organizational leader, must acknowledge the existence of leadership potential. It sounds simple, but many leaders do not want to admit that they are replaceable – that someone or more than one person would be capable of taking the reins once they’re gone. Don’t be that leader – seek out and recognize that the organization has talent. Acknowledge that the talent will one day be capable of taking over your vision and moving the organization forward. By making this acknowledgment, you’re telling your mid- and senior-level leaders that a path exists. And you’re telling new hires that the sky is the limit in your organization.

Next, clearly outline what a leader in your organization “looks like” – and hold people to the standard. The list of leadership competencies is a long one. You’ll never find one leader who executes all competencies perfectly. So, you must determine the competencies that mesh well with your organization and its climate. Don’t forget to decide which competencies lend themselves to your vision for the organization and where you see the organization in the future – even after you’ve gone. You should also consider the functional leadership competencies that go along with your organization’s line of business. If you choose too widely, you’ll end up with a picture of a leader who doesn’t exist. Once you’ve determined the competencies, lay them out for the organization. Simply put, you can say that a leader in your organization has these competencies and displays these behaviors. As people move into leadership roles, hold them to the standard.

We’ve already mentioned the fact that organizations do create leadership training and development programs – and you should do that to build a leadership culture. The program should be ongoing and consist of various levels – from “beginning” leadership to the advanced. In fact, your leadership program should begin reaching down into the lowest levels of the organization right away. For example, offer a leadership program to new-hires that details what your leader “looks like”. It’s the seed that will keep leadership growing through all levels. Your program should include seminars, networking, and even real-time project management at the higher levels. By creating a multi-level program, you’re keeping the leadership machinery in motion – and giving the organization a sense that anyone can move up to the leadership ranks.

Now that you’ve got your program, put your mid- and senior-level leaders through the program. You should even include yourself. This way, the message goes out loud and clear that your organization expects the same standard of leadership from everyone – executives included. Any cultural shift should start from the top. If they don’t buy in, how do you expect the lower levels to buy in? It may be an unpopular decision with your executive team, but you’ll be taking big strides in creating the culture of leadership.

At this point, it’s important to explain why you’re making the shift to leadership. The explanation shouldn’t just be afforded to executives and managers but to all levels of the organization. Explain that you’re looking to give everyone an opportunity to advance – and to learn what it takes to do so. Outline the fact that you’re looking for bench strength for all leadership positions – including your own. Not only this, a leadership orientation prepares you for succession planning at all levels, as well as talent management. The benefits to the organization are numerous and it’s your job to explain them.

Finally, focus on the success of the program. When you have a successful advancement due to the leadership program, highlight it publicly. Or, let’s say one of your leadership teams “in training” solve a business problem in their project assignment. Showcase this development as related to the culture of leadership at your organization. When the members of your organization see that the program and its culture are successful, you’ll have no trouble keeping your talent pipeline full.

There are many ways to move to a leadership culture. Follow these steps in the beginning and you’ll find that the transition is simple and beneficial.

Copyright 2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Managing Director and National Sales Trainer – assists executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

Subscribe to his blog – and learn the legendary secrets of top business training programs at: [http://www.BryantNielson.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bryant_Nielson/142446

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1307327

Leadership

Leadership Exists at All Levels of the Organization

When we think of leadership, many times we immediately think about senior and executive level managers. Although this is true, leadership exists at many levels below the senior one. First of all, you should examine your functional levels for emerging and existing leaders. This means that the very lowest levels of your organization will grow leaders – and you must look for them there. A functional leader is someone with a great deal of knowledge in a functional area, such as assembly lines or bank proof operators. The difference is that the functional leader uses that knowledge to empower others, solve problems, and develop his or her career. You may find that these functional leaders even exhibit more of a leadership role than their direct supervisors – and it’s up to you to decide what to do with them.

You can also look for leadership in the middle supervisory or management areas, as well as the functional supervisors. Many times our inclination is to leave this group out – they are productive, happy, and get good feedback from the people who report to them. Therefore we think that they’ve achieved their career goals – but think again. You’ll find that these middle management leaders are solving problems, championing your vision without being asked, and taking the time to motivate and inspire their workers. These leaders can be ready for advancement – and advanced leadership training. Take the time to seek them out. Obviously your senior and executive management teams are full of leaders – but it’s still your responsibility to keep them motivated, inspired, and in a leadership stance. In fact, it may be that this group is your biggest challenge – you’ve got to find a way to keep these leaders motivated even though they may have reached a staying point in their career with the organization.

So if you’ve identified these various levels of leaders, what can you do to develop, motivate, and retain them? At the functional levels, you should always offer additional functional training, whether it’s in the same area of expertise or across functions. Consider adding management and leadership courses within the function. For example, if you’ve got emerging leaders on the assembly line, develop courses that teach these leaders how to coach and motivate within the assembly line environment, using specific examples and scenarios from that area. The middle management and supervisory areas are the best places to begin leadership development in earnest. Offer management and leadership courses and seminars for anyone in these roles or anyone who is aspiring to or recommended for these roles.

These learning interventions include coaching, human resources management, and leadership. Open these courses and interventions up to the functional leaders at various times, as well. In fact, you may want to consider using a leadership assessment tool to prove the leadership aptitude at the functional levels – and open the leadership development program to those individuals. This level of development motivates the functional and middle level leaders to continue working hard and developing their skills. At the executive or senior level, leadership development should take on a much more “intense” tone. For example, leaders could undergo intense team building, such as ropes courses or survival type interventions to solidify the team. Or, leaders at this level can be placed into work groups to solve real organizational problems and lead the project teams. Development at this level should be real-time and use real problems – and you can gauge the leaders’ abilities in numerous competencies. This isn’t necessarily something you or your training department should tackle alone – there are numerous consultants and firms that can help you with leadership development at the senior levels.

Now that we’ve discovered where leadership exists and how to develop it, let’s talk about why you should take the time and money to do it. First of all, you’re creating a culture of leadership. In fact, this could be one of your values – the ones you want to pass into the organization’s culture. By identifying leaders and developing them, you’re showing that the organization is dedicated to maintaining leaders – and finding new ones at all levels. Not only this, you’re extending your culture of development. Your organization may offer training of many kinds, but adding leadership development shows a high commitment to excellence.

Any time you invest in leadership development, it gives you the opportunity to create and maintain a talent pool. You’ll be amazed at how your leaders react to their development – and how you begin to put together the puzzle pieces related to talent management and succession planning. As development grows, you’ll have a constant talent pool – and the ability to rest easy knowing that your leadership needs, planned or unplanned, are already met. Finally, and most importantly, identifying and developing leaders at all levels creates and maintains a level of motivation. You’ve taken the time to outline the competencies you look for in leaders, so aspiring leaders have a way to grow. They will strive for recognition as leaders – and inspire their direct reports to do so, as well. And the fact that you recognize leaders at all levels will inspire a motivation that’s hard to achieve.

Copyright 2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Managing Director and National Sales Trainer – assists executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for sales organizations. Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

Subscribe to his blog – and learn the legendary secrets of top business training programs at:

[http://www.BreathtakingLeadership.com] & [http://www.BryantNielson.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bryant_Nielson/142446