Tag Archives: Leadership Coaching

Leadership

Effective Time Management For Profitable Business Leadership Results in Strategic Innovative Actions

A strategic way to boost your business leadership results, along with its profits, productivity and growth is through effective time management practices. Because time, as it is in any profession, is a critical resource in making business leadership actions profitable, innovative and transformative.

Before we continue, you need to appreciate this important fact about business leadership – whether we’re talking about market, innovative, strategic, situational, transformational, project or organizational leadership – leadership in any form is always a social activity.

So with that understanding, we can look at business leadership in three generic ways: as market leadership, organizational leadership and human capital leadership.

In business organizations, entrepreneurs may choose to invest their time in human capital related leadership activities, that is in leading, coaching or soliciting and recruiting the support of their associates and trading partners.

Entrepreneurial leaders also have opportunities to use their time to contribute to the quality, quantity or significance of life for their customers and clients. I call these actions a form of market leadership.

Business leadership tasks demand that leaders analyze, plan and re-order their budgets, cash flows, operational systems or their schedules, where their sole objective is to manage their time as profitably, effectively and creatively as possible. We can call these activities organizational leadership.

A fact-of-life for those professionals charged with business leadership responsibilities – which includes the executives, entrepreneurs and managers – they will usually encounter the most disruptions, interruptions or other forms of distractions to their scheduled activities. Unfortunately in the face of that reality, this business leadership personnel tend to immediately discount, ignore or underestimate the potential value in those unanticipated events.

If you ever hope to become an effective leader you should never focus your attention on the management of accomplishing tasks against a daily allotment of your time, you should however concentrate your energies on the management or maximizing the allocations of your significance.

We know that being effective means doing the right things. We also know that being efficient is doing things the right way. Are you doing the “right things” or are you doing things “the right way”?

The problem with the focus of most time management strategies is this, we are told to be efficient in our use of time, that is, we’re taught that the right way of doing time management is to plot whichever tasks we feel or believe we need to accomplish in a certain amount of time segments.

And in the case of business leadership, the right things for your usage of time must be based upon your contributions of quality, quantity or the value of your significance.

In a word, your contributions have to be acts that you take for the purpose of being of benefit to all the actors, artifacts or artifices, attributes and audiences engaged in your social activity. On the other hand, your significance must add a form of excellence, emphasis, essence, elevation, eminence, effectiveness, efficacy, efficiency, execution, elucidation, explanation, exposition, expression or esteem to your actions.

“Most executives, many scientists, and almost all business school graduates believe that if you analyze data, this will give you new ideas. Unfortunately, this belief is totally wrong. The mind can only see what it is prepared to see.” – Edward de Bono, creativity expert

I advise my business leadership clients to keep strategic questions in mind whenever they engage in any activity. I call these mini-evaluations strategic because being strategic means being decisive, deliberate and dexterous – meaning leaders who wish to be strategic thinkers or questioners have to think through, think about and think with their actions, don’t they?

The purpose of those questions isn’t to generate answers consisting of one-word or a single idea. And leaders shouldn’t use these questions to judge a moment-in-time as being either significant or worthless. Rather than making those types of value judgments, these questions should ensure you have competent, strategic responses prepared, organized and ready to go in advance, so that you can optimize, leverage or otherwise make the best use of those planned-for or unplanned-for periods of time.

Here is one set of example questions you could ask to help you make more effective use of your time, regardless of any interruption, or unexpected or distracting event.

“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.” – Pablo Picasso, artist

(Can I Make This) Quality Time?

 

  • Is it pure? [resulting in no distractions, disruptions, delays from your goals or mission]
  • Is it sweet? [warm, refreshing and enjoyable experience or environment or forum or venue]
  • Is it absolute? [secure, or obligated to my relationship, or persuasive or memorable]

 

“We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”
– USA President Barack Obama

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Leadership

Leadership Styles – Participative Leadership

Also known as democratic leadership, participative leadership is the most common form of leadership practiced in the corporate world and political scene. The participative leadership model favours decision making by a group. In this model, the leader consults his team and seeks their opinion, making the decision subsequently. Compared to the autocratic leadership model, this model allows the views of the team members to be heard and encourages team members to participate, hence its name. It is worthy to note that in this style of leadership, the decision is still made by the leader, only that it is based on opinions and perspectives from the team as a whole.

Participative leadership is successful as a leadership style that allows an all rounded decision to be made. It allows a team to make a decision on the matter together. Often, a leader would seek the opinion of the team and possibly encourage discussion and debate to stimulate the thinking process of the team. This way, the every member of the team would feel that his views are being heard, and even if their views are not accepted, they know that it was for a reason and not merely overlooked or brushed away. This, according to Patrick Lecioni in his book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is critical in achieving buy-in, failure of which would result in a team to be dysfunctional.

The mode of decision making of a participative leader is known as the consult-and-decide method. In his book, The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins explained that the consult-and-decide method essentially has the brainstorming done by the group, and the decision to be made by the leader. This is as opposed to both the seeking out of ideas and the decision to be done by the leader. The team also has a part in directing the decision by participating in the discussions.

However, participative leadership may fail should the team be relatively inexperienced. For instance, should a team deciding on the appearance of a physical product sold be a company consists mostly of fresh members, the quality of discussions and debate with relation to the final decision would be superficial and possibly even irrelevant, hence making the decision of how the product should be will not be well thought out. Evidently, a precondition for effective participative leadership is to have a team that is sufficiently experienced and competent at their job.

Participative leadership is particularly popular in the corporate world as the decisions made often has consequences in multiple levels and would require the inputs and expertise of various professionals. In addition, the pace of events often does not allow a free rein style of leadership where the leader allows the team to reach a consensus with a luxury of time.

Lucas Lin is a renowned expert in the field of leadership and management. Having held leadership positions ranging from management executive to operations manager, Lucas is in the prime position to offer advice on leadership and consulting services to leaders across the hierarchy. His years of experience in leadership render his advice highly sought after. Having served in leadership positions in various organisations, including a country club, a school and the military among others, Lucas developed an intimate knowledge of value-based leadership, which can be applied to all vocations.

Visit Lucas Lin for Timeless Leadership Lessons at [http://leadership-lessons.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lucas_Lin/517142

 

Leadership

How to Maximize the Return on a Leadership Training Course

In today’s economic environment every business is looking to maximize the return on investment. One of the hardest things to figure out can be the return on investment for leadership development training. It’s easy to recognize the need for a leadership training course, but how to calculate the return on investment is another matter. Some would say it is easier get a consensus definition of leadership than it is to calculate the return on investment in leadership training.

The best way to calculate the return on investment of a leadership training course is to have a shift in how leadership training is viewed. In most cases, leadership training is viewed as a way to improve the competencies of someone in a leadership position. For example, if you have a leader that does a poor job in their leadership communication, you get leadership development training to improve that competency.

In order to calculate a return on investment for a leadership training course you have to go one step further than just looking at the competency. You have to look at the results of having the competency in place. In other words, if this leader had the competency of effective leadership communication, what would having that competency allow the organization to achieve. Once you begin to focus on the results, then you can more easily calculate the return on investment for the training.

Using our previous example, let’s say that after the leader completes a leadership course on communication the turnover in the leader’s department declines by 5%. That 5% reduction represents a part of the return on investment. There may be other areas that are positively impacted also.

When making a decision on leadership training, you want to calculate the potential return on investment before the training begins. It is much better to know going in what you want to get out of the training and the impact the training will have.

To maximize the return on investment, there has to be a way to reinforce the training after the training event. Most leadership courses are one, two, or three day workshop events. What happens in the training is participants learn leadership concepts and ways to apply the concepts. What usually is missing is practicing the leadership concepts and getting feedback or coaching from the instructor.

What that means is when the participant gets back to the workplace they need to practice the leadership concepts learned in the training. Not only do they need to practice, they also need to get feedback on how well they are developing the skills they learned. Without having a process set up in advance, there is a very strong chance that your investment in leadership development training will be wasted. The old saying is so true: “if you don’t use it, you will lose it.”

Having a coaching and mentoring program is an excellent way to reinforce the leadership concepts learned in the training. The mentor or coach can observe and give feedback as well as recommend additional things that would enhance the development of the person.

Calculating and maximizing return on investment in leadership development training does not have to be a vague concept. Implement the suggestions here and you will want to invest in the leaders of your organization.

And now I would like to invite you to preview a way you can develop your leadership skills by visiting www.leadershipdevelopmentessentials.com.

You will see a unique and effective way to have leadership development training that is convenient and cost effective.

From: Andre Boykin – Managing Partner, CAPITAL iDEA and Co-Creator of Leadership Development Essentials.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Andre_Boykin/247551

 

Leadership

10 Appeals to Your Leadership Potential

Everyone is a leader. What differs is the number of people you are leading. By virtue of your existence you are leading someone every day. That person is you. Others choose to increase in leadership when they start leading a family, leading in a company department or at the very top (CEO) or a government ministry, to presidents. At each level of leadership there is a need for situational sensitivity. By this I mean that you need to adjust and be flexible to realize that the way you lead yourself or your family differs to the way you may want to lead a project team.

The situations are different, the setting, the expectations and time-lines are totally different. It is important to note that it is how much of the leader in you that you would like to expose and maximize that determines the extent to which your leadership grows. The greater the team in terms of size and responsibility, the bigger the decisions and risks you would have to make for the organization. Personally, I have experienced leadership at various levels in my life. In my school days I was class monitor for a season and then became a prefect. In College I was Chairman of Technology Club, in Church I have been head of ushers, sound, music etc. At each of the positions or roles, different leadership styles came in handy. I am making an appeal to the leader in you to awaken and rise to the occasion. The world is not in need of more money but more leaders with wisdom and integrity. You could be the one hiding when your chair awaits you in the decision making meeting already underway.

My appeals to you

– Stop Complaining – Start Leading – Have you ever stopped to ponder on why you are always quick to point what is going wrong and yet you drag your feet when asked to set things right? The leader in you is quick to find faults and even knows what should be done but chooses not to do it. You were created with enough ability to identify, point out and comprehend any diversion from the ideal. I am challenging you to move from being an problem identifier to being part of the solution (problem eliminator). The next time you are tempted to complain about the leader, ask yourself what you are doing about helping the leader to lead better or offering yourself as the alternative. Start leading from where you are. Provide solutions from where you operate from and people follow where issues are solved not where choruses of murmuring are sung in harmony. Shouting from the terraces usually has no impact on the game’s outcome. You can have all the solutions as to how the game can tilt in your favor but if you do not make your hands dirty by getting involved in the birthing of a solution then keep your frustrations to yourself. You actually deserve them.

– Master your own fears and insecurities associated with leadership responsibility – Fear and insecurity sometimes freezes every potential that generations could have benefited from. One would rather create numerous excuses to ensure they are not the one in the fore-front. “I am not fluent, I am too young, I don’t have a degree, and I am not rich enough to lead”. All these are flimsy excuses. All the excuses above can actually be true but they do not qualify as reasons for not taking responsibility. I am so determined to make a difference in my generation hence I don’t deny that I have shortfalls or limitations but I choose to step on them for the sake of leading others. Put me in any situation, “intimidating” as it can
be, I am drawn towards either taking a leading role or actively support the one at the top. If it goes well at the top; the rest of the body prospers. I will always do all I can to support the head to the best of my ability for that reason. Once the head masters his/her insecurities, fears and feeling of inadequacy only then will the leadership potential in them be maximized.

– Leadership is about risks – and so is life in general – Get used to making risky decisions. Don’t focus on “what if it doesn’t turn out well?”, but in the same vein consider “What if it turns out well?” The pessimist is always subject to the optimist. Rather be optimistic and hopeful and miss than shy away totally. The beauty lies in the fact that you tried your best. Risks form the daily diet of those who desire and aspire to lead at higher levels. There is a risk of being rejected and risk of failure and so on. As a leader in my family (first born), I made a number of risks that someone in their “right state of mind” would not have done. At a time when private sector was considered the worst place to hedge your future on, I took a dive into it. That risk has taken me to places where I have never been, meeting people I have never thought I would meet. As a result, those that are after me have also looked outside the box of “Government is the best employer” to studying such areas as Electronics, Computer Engineering, and Social Studies etc.

– Identify your dominant leadership styles and appropriate each style accordingly– I will do a separate article on various styles of leadership as it is a wide and important subject. Know that as a leader you need to know yourself, Are you autocratic (it’s what you say that goes, no suggestions or objections), are you transactional (focus on getting things done), are you transformational (focus on change in self, others, groups and organization) or are you a servant leader (serving others). It is important to note that there is no style considered the best over others. Different styles apply to different scenarios or situations. They have different results depending on where they are applied. I have noticed that within me I am
more of a people person. I tend to focus more on the comfort of those I lead sometimes at the expense of getting the job done. I am a servant leader to a large degree and I exercise situational sensitivity. You must know your predominant style. Are you drawn towards people or towards the task? I appeal to the leader in you to awaken and self-identify.

– Go ahead of those you lead – You cannot take your team to areas you have never encountered with confidence. If you have to grope in the misty cloud of uncertainty at the same time with your team, they lose confidence in what they are trying to achieve. If you are ahead of them you are able to paint a picture of what lies ahead and it keeps them wanting to push more. As a leader you cannot afford to be well read, researched, articulate of modern and current issues. You cannot be rigid when it comes to change and development. The moment you stop progressing as a leader, you are setting limits for those behind
you. They will have a false sense of arrival. I am amazed at my mentors who after achieving their first Doctoral degrees went on to study for another one. Now I am stretched to think deeper. One of my mentors, Dr. Makoni (author, chairman of Rapha Trust, convener of the Champions Turf Dinners) does not only have a Doctor of Dentistry Degree but an MBA and Doctoral in Business Administration. The other significant mentor is Dr. John Stanko (author and Chairman of PurposeQuest) who completes his second Doctorate Degree in 2010. The two are both interested in creating and nurturing champions to live lives of
purpose.

– Leadership is about influence not how many you beat into submission – Leadership is about making an impact in others, making the best out of those you lead. As leader you need to provide an avenue for those below to give their advice and suggestions. It is not a sign of weakness but it brings a sense of belonging to those you lead. It does not mean every suggestion is what you will run with but you give people room to contribute even though you and other leaders have a final say on what suggestions are in line with the organization’s vision and goals. When you encourage, teach, coach and counsel those in your team, you are increasing your reach. When you provide psycho-social support to those you come into contact with you are building a stronger network and enlarging your sphere.

– Leadership hinges on your credibility and integrity – Those following you rely on your word. Is your “Yes” actually a Yes and your “No”, no? As soon as leadership loses integrity, it loses grip on its own followers. Followers have capacity to exercise some level of grace as they know leaders are also humane enough. However, they can only stretch so far. The more signs of lack of integrity they see in you as leader, the less they want to hear you speak to them. This is where you as a leader have to work hard not only to preserve your reputation and how you are perceived (your name) but also on your actual character. A leader has enough power to lead multitudes astray on the basis of his/her character. I am always watchful on what character traits I am duplicating or imparting in others due to the influence I have. Your character can be seen in those you lead. The people below you usually do what they see their leader doing. Be careful not to set the wrong example. Your credibility is far more important that money and fame.

– You can never realize your full leadership potential until you step up and step out – Leadership is active not passive. It calls for you to look past your limitations. I am not guaranteeing that leadership will be easy, as that would constitute a lie. It will certainly build you to become stronger, more resolute in decision making and more responsible (over those you lead). As the old adage goes “The taste of the pudding is in the eating”. Why should you wait for the next person to lead when you too can do it? Why should you look outside you for leadership when you can step up and step out to do it? Start somewhere, whether taking up leadership in your family, community, church etc. Every president has a track record, they did not wake up to realize they had been elected to office; they stepped out to lead in other areas and gained leadership muscle and experience. You need a leadership resume (CV) too. The small victories and achievements you make in life will certainly count for something when you now contest at higher levels. Do not take for granted the humble beginnings. For as long as you sit on potential, you are wasting it. I noticed one thing about me, even when I lose a loved one; I step up and organize everything and mourn later. My first reaction is to bring order, in the midst of pain. When I lost my dad, while everyone was crippled, I rose to the occasion and led my family. I usually let my leadership stand taller than my emotions. I grieve when I have put order in the camp.

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Leadership

Leadership Exposed – Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership

The literature written on leadership is absolutely phenomenal. The guide lines, tips, styles and profiles of exceptional leaders during the course of history are everywhere… and worth reading! As we read and research, we learn to recognize specific leadership ideas and qualities we previously failed to see before. Following is a list of things we thought we knew and understood about leadership.

1) Leaders come in different styles.

History points us toward Albert Einstein, well known for his Theoretical Physics; Leonardo da Vinci, for his Art. These are leaders we use as mentors for their wisdom and experience or by their virtue and expertise, as well as what they contributed to society. Elders of a tribe or grandparents could be included in this category of informal leadership. Then you come up against the ‘formal’ leaders or those appointed or elected to the position of leadership. Senators, congressmen, presidents or judges fall into this category; those who are elected to the position of eldership within a government or club.

Literature written by Lewis outlines the three basic styles of leadership which are authoritative, participative and delegative.

Then there is literature written by Likerts which outlines the four styles: authority that is exploited, authority that is charitable, deliberative and participative.

Also, included in the list of literature written by Goleman, who researches six styles of leadership; visionary, instructive, networking, democratic, commanding and pace making.

2) Leadership is a process of ‘coming into’.

Some people seem to be born with leadership qualities, while others learn the art of leadership. However you come into these qualities, you need to develop and sharpen these leadership abilities. You can obtain knowledge by attending seminars, workshops and conferences on leadership. Another way to increase your abilities is to interact with people who already project and practice these leadership qualities.

Expanding your knowledge and exposure will enable you to obtain and exercise leadership attitudes, insights, and integrate the cycle of learning. Being a leader is a full time, lifelong learning process; not something you accomplish over night. A good leader puts his or her knowledge, skills and attitudes to the test daily; plus, sets a goal to have a new experience each day.

3) Leadership begins with YOU.

First, applying the knowledge you accumulated to your own life is the best way to develop leadership abilities. Leaders enjoy the limelight. Remember, your actions affect your credibility; as in ‘action speaks louder then words’. How you interact with family, friends, co-workers or the public; connect with your actions and development you as a leader. Time management in both your personal and professional responsibilities will affect your leadership qualities, too.

Repetition develops habits; habits form character. ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Steven Covey, a must read for insight on achieving personal leadership.

4) Leadership is shared.

Leadership is designed to be a shared responsibility between members of a group or team. Each individual must fulfill his or her responsibilities. Elected or ‘formal’ leadership positions are merely additional responsibilities from their usual team or group responsibilities. Being and effective leader means sharing the work. Putting a group of individuals together, forming members and leaders to work toward one mutual goal; is the formation of a great team. While learning to work together; there must be trust within the full group to be effective. Through actions the foundation of mutual respect and trust are built, which in turn builds confidence.

This was one of the strongest abilities of Ronald Regan when he was president. He had a tremendous ability to delegate tasks throughout his staff because he felt he had put the right people in the right positions. Which created trust between him and staff, but more importantly… throughout the staff. Creating a collaborative effort between everyone and leaders in the process.

5) Leadership styles connected to situations.

Where dictatorship works in Singapore; it does not work in the United States of America. Leadership styles used in ‘formal’ leadership depends greatly on culture, beliefs, values and the form of government in that nation. There are no restrictions on the number of leadership styles used for any given situation. Most of the time, a combination of styles are used as the situation dictates.

In instances of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death; a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. Leadership is different in times of peace and order, each sector and branch of government can freely work together and positively affect each other while working toward the mutual goal set before them.

Another situation would be leadership within an organization. When there is a high motivation and competent level; a combination of delegative and participative styles of leadership is in order. However, if the competence and commitment is low, a combination of high coaching, supporting and directing style of leadership is required.

The ideas we may already know or concepts we take for granted are actually the most useful insights we can have on leadership. How we apply these insights to our life is the difference between a good leader or a great leader. Either way, there is a leader within all of us. It’s just whether or not you choose to accept it.
Please share any of your ideas about this post below, or any thoughts you had while reading it below. I do appreciate you coming by and look forward to hearing from you!

To your continued success!

Mike Clark

 

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Mike_J_Clark/604724