Step Up To The Plate And Become A Leader

By David Hurley

If you want to establish yourself as a successful Internet marketer, one of the first things that you need to do is to turn yourself into a leader, grow a team, develop success mentoring skills and inspire everybody to emulate you!

I guess that most people see leadership as something that others perform while they watch passively on the sidelines. Most people do not see themselves as leaders, even those who want to do better for themselves in the future. Yet developing leadership skills is probably the single most important thing that you can do to get ahead and achieve your goals. Scurrying away from the challenges of leadership is exactly the reaction that stops people from getting ahead in life.

If you aspire to achieve ambitious goals, then no matter what your goals are, you'll find that becoming a leader is essential to your basic personal development and growth towards achieving those goals.

When you are striving towards leadership, you will find that one of the first things that you have to do is to take responsibility.

Stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility as a leader is not so difficult once you commit yourself to doing it. Decision making is one of the keys to leadership, but to make good decisions you need the right information. But don't imagine that every leader starts out with the information already in front of him.

Another aspect of leadership is taking the initiative to find out what you need to know. To do that it is good to build a list of reliable contacts. They could be people who you admire on various forums, or the writers of newsletters that you subscribe to. So, even if you do not have enough information to make a decision at the outset, you'll find that getting the information you need can be quite easy.

So don't let a lack of knowledge prevent you from becoming a leader.

If you aspire to leadership you need to make sure that your voice is clearly heard. It is more than likely that if you are thinking it, then other people are as well. You will find that you are not the only one who holds your opinion. Part of being a leader is making sure that your opinion is given weight.

Once you become a leader, you will find that your gaze will extend itself over a much wider horizon. You will see things much more clearly. Your new standpoint will enable you to consider things that you never considered before, and see things in a new perspective.

Seeing further than before, you will be able to go further than before, and take your growing band of followers with you.

David Hurley is an Internet marketer who is based in Japan and is the owner of Grasp-The-Nettle.com, which focuses on success mentoring for Internet marketing start-ups. Get your own work-from-home Internet business set up free and find out how you can build an online business at: http://grasp-the-nettle.com .

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Activities Of A Leader

By Mree Vu

Contrary to belief, leadership skills are developed over time and not over night. It takes dedication and commitment to hone these skills that seem so ordinary.

Here are some tips:

Leaders don't sleep the day away! Get up early and get to work. There are so many things awaiting your attention.

Leaders dedicate themselves to LEARNING. Read books about your profession or industry, whether it's sales & marketing or network marketing. Learn all that you can. The more you learn, the more you can share and add value to yourself and your team. Your prospects will also appreciate that they are talking to an expert.

Your local library will have many of these books and audio tapes available for checkout if you have a low budget. There are many online sources as well. You can find numerous educational materials through various search engines. All you need to do is set aside the time to teach yourself success strategies.

Know that there will always be barriers. No matter what business you are in and what level you are at, understand that will always be hurdles or challenges. Don't worry when prospects tell you "NO." Just get through it. Chances are, you'll hear more negative than positive if you are in network marketing or direct sales. But if you accept this and recognize as an obstacle, you'll have at least decrease your frustration level.

Eliminate time wasters! Let's face it. Most of you engaged in home business have families and also work a traditional full or part time job as well. You don't have time to waste on watching television You have better things to do such as following up with prospects, work on advertising online or building relationships with prospects. If you absolutely have to watch television, record your favorite shows and watch them in less time.

But you know what? All the sacrifices you are making are just TEMPORARY. There will come a day when you will be able to sit down and watch television or read a magazine just for the fun of it. You have to pay your dues before you can reap the rewards. Hang in there!

Read everyday. You are going to be a better problem solver is you read on a daily basis. Read newspapers or books of value. By the way, you don't have to read a book a day. You can start by reading just 10 pages or 15 minutes a day. The following titles are good to have in your library: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews or How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

The library and bookstores are full of these types of books. Take some time to find out what style of writing you prefer. You'll get more out of the book if you like the author's message. Do something to stay positive. It's so easy, but don't let doubt creep through your thoughts. Have a "NO MATTER WHAT" attitude. We all have negative days --- even the top income earners in our companies. If they can get through it, so can you. Sometimes it helps listening to a positive audio. Calling your sponsor to discuss your concerns is always an option. Chances are they or someone they know have experienced the same feelings or frustrations. It helps to talk it out. Just don't bottle it and hope it will go away.

Becoming a leader does not happen in one day. It's a work in progress. Continually working on these things will help you develop the skills needed to become a better problem solver and leader.

Mree is a top team trainer and is dedicated to mentoring her team to success. Discover Mree's steps to success. Visit her at: http://www.stellarsuccess101.com

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Leading in Uncertain Times

By Susan Tomlinson

Unless you are one of the Super Rich then there will be very few who will not have been touched by the credit crunch, rising fuel and food prices and global economic and environmental changes. Alan Greenspan predicts that 'the current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the Second World War' (FT, 16 March 2008).

In this situation the natural reaction for businesses is to stop recruiting, lay off staff and spend as little as possible on training and development. Bucking the trend is likely to be a more successful option. Evidence from the last downturn showed that those companies who laid off or failed to develop key staff struggled to regain ground when the economy bounced back.

Developing and retaining leaders will be critical to organizational success in the long term. Towers Perrin-ISR researched global high performing organizations and compared their employee opinion survey scores with those of other global companies. The global high performers outperformed the rest in leadership effectiveness by 14%.

Leaders who can steer a path through stormy waters, manage costs and identify new growth will be in demand in a tighter more competitive environment. To succeed leaders will need to

• Have the courage to take tough and effective decisions
• Build the confidence of employees by communicating a strong vision for the future
• Sustain high performance for themselves and their team
• Be alert to innovative and imaginative solutions

The quickest way to support and develop leaders is through bespoke coaching programmes that focus on the business in hand.

Susan Tomlinson provides bepoke solutions to improve the motivation and performance of managers and their teams. She specialises in helping women in business to build confidence and success. Get her valuable tips and resources and the workbook "Speaking for Success" at http://www.realcoachingsolutions.co.uk/productsandservices/success.htm

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How to Build Strong and Effective Leadership Skills

By Richard Saldan

A good leadership style is often difficult to define as it is more qualitative than quantitative. Some say that a good leader gets the job done, while others argue that a good leader simply inspires and motivates his team. In other words, a good leader gets the work done by inspiring others and he does so, because not only does he know the best method of doing the job, but he helps the doer to look at the bigger canvas. He shows him the path of progress, of independence and the route to success. To put it simply a good leader knows how to get the best out of his team. He has a vision which he constantly shares with his people.

But how does a person get to develop leadership skills? Is it an innate quality or can a person be trained to develop such skills? The right way to approach such issues would be to understand a bit of history and scrutinize leadership styles and traits of people who have made a mark in this world. We have seen through the biographies of several world leaders that many of them were initially shy and reticent by nature but firm in their decisions and assertive in the implementation of such decisions. Each leader has his own way of leading people ultimately persuading them to think the way he does. Incidentally, leadership is not restricted to authority, designation or power of the chair. Leadership traits can be evident even in the smallest fry in the department – who is willing to take on responsibility, who is committed and who has tremendous tenacity to see a job through till its completion. Be that as it may, analyzing the traits and styles of many historical as well as contemporary leaders one can surmise that while some leadership qualities can be innate, these skills need to be honed and fine-tuned further. This does not exclude people who were born without any visible leadership skills. Even such people can be a leader provided he has a strong determination and develops himself through a continuous process of self analysis, training and personal experience.

How does our institute train people to become future leaders and build the most efficient team in an organisation? Our training module is based on certain intrinsic beliefs about leadership traits which we train people to learn and adopt. The keystone of modern leadership style involves building a strong team within the organization – where individual ambition is given an opportunity to dovetail with corporate mission and vision. Team building is an important job of a successful leader where each and every member shares the same magnificent vision which the leader has. A thorough knowledge of individual strengths and weaknesses is another important skill of a leader which we help to develop. The way we look at it is that when a leader knows the core competence of his team, he can use the potential of his workforce to the fullest. Motivational and inspirational qualities are important for the leader to inject his team with renewed enthusiasm even in the face of failures or obstacles.

Our leadership and team building training takes an integrated approach where importance is given to areas including: recruiting and retaining the right people in the organization; rewarding as well as retribution skills; job allocation and rotation skills; harnessing talent to move in the right direction which is in line with organizational goals; development of core competence in every individual working in his team. If leadership is all about how well he manages to delegate responsibilities, we believe that it also includes his skills to build his successor. The sooner he does this successfully, the quicker is his personal growth.

Richard Saldan is a motivational speaker and master magician. His programs will rivet your audience with his stunning magic and proven strategies of success. Richard is exceptionally dedicated, committed, and enthusiastic. For extraordinary results, visit: http://www.motivationalmagic.com

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Strategic Thinking For Leaders

By Bryant Nielson

The process of strategic thinking allows us to analyze situations and problems - and then prepare the plan that will take us to new levels or through a change. First, let's look at the difference between strategic thinking and strategic planning, and put our focus on thinking. Strategic thinking is the input to planning, the creation of a vision for the future. Strategic planning, then, is the roadmap from where we are to where we want to be, the answer having appeared in our thinking process. We probably do quite a bit of strategic thinking in all aspects of our lives, but it's necessary to put it on a formal level in order to really take action. What are the benefits of strategic thinking?

First, strategic thinking allows us to solve problems collaboratively and from varying perspectives. In a true strategic thinking process, even if the only person involved is you, different perspectives will emerge. Second, strategic thinking helps us manage change. We are able to analyze not only where we want to be after a change, but also the impacts and issues that will occur during the change. Finally, strategic thinking for its own sake creates new possibilities and opportunities. Sometimes a broad range of topic categories in a brainstorming session can lead us to fantastic new ideas.

The process itself revolves around asking questions. To start, honesty will be of great importance in the answers to the questions you'll ask. If you're employing strategic thinking techniques for yourself, you'll have to take a good look in the mirror and be honest about what you see. First, you must determine strengths and weaknesses, of the person, group, or company. The best tool for this is a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. Take a large sheet of paper, divide it into four quadrants, and label each as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are usually easy to determine, but what about opportunities and threats? This takes more analysis, more future predictions based on fact.

Once you've answered your SWOT, you have to ask, "just what is the big picture?" This is where you'll think about where you or the organization needs to be. In a family situation, let's say conflict arises every night at bedtime. Obviously the place you want to be is conflict-free. In filling in the big picture, don't overcomplicate matters - yet. It's easy to paint a picture of the ideal if you don't cloud it with detail. Leave that for your planning process.

Next, consider all points of view. Andy Grove, the former chairman of Intel Corporation, always said that the best way to solve a problem was to take yourself and your emotions out of it - and observe it as an outsider. Of course this again means that you'll have to take a hard look at yourself and your group. This also means that after you've looked at the overall situation, you may have to go back in, still as an outsider, and analyze why people feel and act they way they do when confronted with the problem.

Finally, you must determine what will drive the change when you go forward. What will drive the move from where the group is now to where it will be? Your powers of observation will come in very handy at this point - you must find out what motivates people. What inspires them to action? You can also use the observation as a way to determine the group's capacity for the change. In a corporate environment, you may find yourself hoisting change on the wrong group, or a group that's simply not equipped to handle it at the time. From there, the problem becomes which group to move to or how to equip the current group.

One of the best ways to begin any type of strategic thinking is to hold a brainstorming session. GE held sessions like these under Jack Welch - and they later became a formal problem solving vehicle that all business units took part in. It could be as informal as the family sitting around the kitchen table discussing the issues. Or, let's say it's a church group that's about to embark on a big change in policy, doctrine, or business. In either case, you as the natural leader should strive to get everyone involved, record the honest feedback of the group, and use it to shape the vision.

Once you've been through the thinking process, you'll be ready to create a plan of execution - that roadmap from where you are now to where you want to be.

Copyright 2007-2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson - National Corporate 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 many sales organizations. Bryant's 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

Subscribe to his blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

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Secrets of Leadership

By Robert Reed

The influence of leaders on business is irrefutable. Great leaders create great businesses. Average leaders create average businesses. Leaders are the ones that set the vision. They set the tone for the organization and lay the foundation for what's to come. Many leaders find that in order to achieve greatness they must not only bring wisdom to the table but also an air of charisma or charm. People long to find and follow someone they can believe in, someone that they trust, respect and admire, from near and from far. Entrepreneurs understand this and use their intelligence, integrity and class to speak for themselves, and make others want to speak more about them. Entrepreneurs are naturally great leaders and own successful businesses that increase in value and throw off generous cash flow. They are able to lead their companies to victory because they know the seven secrets of Leadership, which are as follows:

1. Have a Critical Eye - As the captain of your business, you must confront reality and recognize what's working and not working and make changes accordingly. Remember Pareto's Law - 80 percent of company profits typically come from 20 percent of the products and customers. You need to know where your 80 percent is coming from and focus on making them happy and consider getting rid of the rest of your clients and seeking more like the ones that are most profitable. Don't worry about hurting people's feelings or shaking up the status quo. Change is inevitable, but it is always easier to deal with if you initiate it. Remaining static in a changing market is actually riskier than actively shifting your strategy.

2. Accentuate the Positive - Focus on your business' strengths rather than diverting attention to correct problems. As the leader, you can't get bogged down in the minutia of the business, nor can you get distracted from the focused strategy. Delegate the task of correcting problems if you must, otherwise keep your focus on building your business' strengths and doing what you do best be it gaining new business or creating new products or services.

3. Accept the Coming Change - We all know from the classic business fable Who Moved My Cheese that it's best to anticipate change and move with it, but it's a constant battle to keep you and your company from becoming complacent. Accept the inevitability of change - it offers great opportunity. By accepting and anticipating change, you can stay on top of your market. How is the economy affecting your sector? How can you reposition your product or service to stay ahead of the competition? What can you add to your value to keep it relevant?

4. No One Can Sell Your Business Like You Can - Be passionate about your business at all times. If you're not convinced that the product or service you are providing is phenomenal, your customers won't be either. As the head of the business, anyone you talk to is a potential client and they will either be attracted to your business by your positivity and passion or repelled by your negativity. As a leader, you are always on, so wherever you are, you must always be ready to talk the talk, business style.

5. Consistency is Key - Consistency of promises and delivery builds confidence and signifies reliability. It is always best to under promise and over deliver to your customers every time. Consistently making patrons happy is what creates loyal repeat business. How can you track and make sure that you are reliably satisfying customers? Can you put out comment cards or poll your clients without bothering them? Can you have mystery shoppers put your team to test?

6. Play a High Value on Continuity - It takes know-how to do a job well over time. Keeping employees happy will keep them around and increase your level of continuity. A high value should be put into finding good employees, training them well, clearly explaining their role and the objectives that they are responsible for and keeping them happy and thus around. If you have high turnover, ask your employees for critical feedback. This can be done anonymously for the most honest answers. It's hard to make your customers happy if you are constantly dealing with employee loss and job dissatisfaction.

7. Keep the Faith - Replace your fear with faith, that is, belief in your ability to succeed. By working hard, pushing for superior value and customer service while keeping your employees happy, you will succeed. The path to flourishing has many twists and turns and can be scary at times. The true Entrprenuer stays strong and shows courage and determination throughout the life of their business venture. The positive people who hold on to this belief get through the hard times and make it in the cutthroat business world. Make sure that you keep the faith.

Written by Robert D. Reed, this article was based on the book, The Chic Entrepreneur by Elizabeth Gordon. Published by Robert D. Reed Publishers http://www.rdrpublishers.com

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Leadership Tools For Inspiration and Motivation

By Bryant Nielson

Inspiration and motivation are musts for any leader. You can have perfect structures, awesome communication, and loads of emotional intelligence, but they aren't worth much if your group is not inspired and motivated to keep moving. What are some of the ways you can inspire and motivate?

First, you should take the time to encourage others. Don't confuse this with coaching - this is simply the act of telling people in the group that you believe in them and that their work is valuable to you and the organization. When you encourage this way, you can also cross the line into empowerment. Sometimes, you can encourage a person by telling them that you believe in their abilities to make decisions - and allow them to do it. Encouragement and empowerment go a long way to create an inspired atmosphere. Jack Welch famously said that the best way to harness people's power is to "let them loose, let them go."

With this newfound empowerment, you should try to create energy in other ways. For example, you must know what motivates people. In community organizations, it may be the motivation to create a better world, to help people. In your family, members could be motivated by personal factors or just the desire to do something, like playing soccer or taking ballet. In corporate situations, you may find that money, praise, or the promise of advancement motivates some people. When you look for motivation, think about your group and break it down from there. Remember that creating energy involves putting the spotlight on others' successes. Many times, the leader of a group is the one who receives the congratulations when things go well - if the members of your group truly contributed to the effort, you should have no problem giving them credit. The fact that your group is competent will only make your leadership look brighter. With empowerment and the spotlight comes accountability. If someone falls short of a goal, you must find out why and hold that person accountable for it. It's a way of teaching that the authority of empowerment comes with serious responsibility. We'll talk about coaching in an upcoming Foundations of Leadership article.

Show your investment and commitment to the group. It may be easy to empower, but what do you do when a person seems to reach their zenith with nowhere else to go? It may be time to send them for education or conferences. Think about the possibility of rotating people in the group through other areas of responsibility. You, as the leader, must prove that you are committed to success and that you are willing to invest in group members to keep them. This is probably easier in corporate situations, where there may be a budget for education or rotation. What about a community organization? Think about the ways you can show investment in the group where cost may be a factor. Perhaps cross-training group members in other functions could be a way to show that you value their contributions and that you're willing to do what it takes to keep them around. When you go home, take the time and money for soccer teams or dance lessons - as long as the accountability is there, you can prove that you want to see advancement.

The spirit of inspiration and motivation continues by driving for results. One of the best ways to do this is to set realistic but challenging goals - you're already aware of the group's abilities and motivations, so why not give them something to reach for? And show urgency in your drive for results - goals should always have a challenging timeline attached to them. Of course, any forward movement will almost always run across challenges and obstacles. You have to show that the momentum must continue in spite of the obstacles and challenges. You can either move the obstacles out of the way or challenge the group to come up with creative ways to go around the obstacle. Either way, you're inspiring the group to keep moving and keep thinking. Are goals and timelines applicable outside of corporate settings? In most cases they are. Think about your community and family involvement and what kind of goals you can set in order to keep people motivated.

When you inspire and motivate a group, you'll be surprised at the energy and loyalty you'll create.

Copyright 2007-2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson - National Corporate 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 many sales organizations. Bryant's 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

Subscribe to his blog at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

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Seven Gifts of Great Leaders

By Billy Arcemenet

St. Thomas Aquinas is considered by many to be the Catholic Church’s greatest theologian and philosopher. Among the many great works he created, Aquinas wrote about the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. As I was reminded of these gifts during a recent Sunday church service, I thought it would be relevant to take them out of the spiritual realm and bring them to the workplace. I’ve renamed the list the Seven Gifts of Great Leaders.

Wisdom: Henry David Thoreau wrote, "It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." The free encyclopedia defines wisdom as "The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting." Leaders who can take these two ideas and blend them into their philosophy of leadership will avoid desperation by being excellent judges of the truth. Wise leaders always deal with the truth and will always act on that truth. Their judgment is always consistent and while their choices may not always be the most popular ones, they are always the best choices.

Knowledge: One certainly must possess knowledge in order to grow wisdom. Aquinas writes that the gift of knowledge perfects a person’s practical reason on matters of judgment about truth. As a leadership philosophy, one uses practical reasoning to decide how to act, i.e. how you will undertake a task. From a cognitive position, strong leaders ignore the unproductive possibilities in favor of productive ones. The more leaders gain knowledge, the better they are able to find the truth and make decisions consistent with that truth.

Counsel: We might also call this being able to provide the "right judgment." Those we lead look to us for guidance on how things should be done. And, they expect decisions to be properly weighed before made and then made in the best interest of all people affected by the decision. That process is prudent and perfects a person’s practical reason I talked about in the previous point.

Fortitude: This is the expectation everyone has for their leader. They want to see courage and firmness of mind to accomplish what is right and ward off what can be detrimental to the welfare of people and the organization. Having the "intestinal fortitude" to do the right thing is a common description of a leader who uses this gift properly. The more difficult the decision, the stronger the fortitude needed to finish in the proper place. No one ever said leading was easy.

Understanding: Last month I wrote about "Common Sense" leadership. Possessing understanding makes one a "common sense" leader. Being able to exercise the right judgment; possessing the ability to follow the right principles of leadership requires understanding. Wisdom creates understanding thus allowing the right decision process to take place.

Piety: For me, piety in a leadership role means possessing goodness. In this sense, a pious leader would be one that always seeks to exemplify good and always seeks to bring out goodness in others and in the entity they lead. Does this always work? I wish I could say a resounding "yes" to that question. But the truth is that even the best of leaders will fail in achieving the goodness they seek. That however doe not mean a strong leader gives up on the idea of piety or goodness in the workplace.

Fear of the Lord: In this religious continuation, the word "fear" really means wonder and awe. So translated to leadership this means having the people you lead thinking the job you are doing is the best. They are in awe of the wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding and piety you possess. When you’ve established this step in the leadership model, you’ve created great followship. And, as you know, if you have no followers, you are not leading.

Closing Thoughts

If anyone wishes to do more reading on the seven gifts discussed, I’d suggest doing a query on Google "Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit" and click on the links provided. I found tons of stuff out there that could have kept me reading for a week. All the information can be used as food to create a stronger leadership effort and it’s not bad food to create a stronger personal spirituality as well.

Billy Arcement, MEd., is a Professional Speaker, Consultant, Leadership Strategist and President of The Results Group. He wrote the books, Searching for Success and Journeying on Holy Ground. Learn more about his services at www.SearchingForSuccess.com 2008. All rights reserved. Use by permission.

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Personal Leadership

By Ann Vanino

For me, leadership is personal. It starts with the individual. Each person brings who they are to the task of leading. If you are a leader or aspire to leadership, I ask you: Is all well in your world? Are you happy? Are you operating at maximum efficiency? If your answer is "yes," then the world is a better place. Personal leadership is about management of self. You start with you, so that you can effectively lead others.

We have all seen leaders who are not managing their life very well. They are leading, but they are not giving their best. Their leadership skills suffer. We have also seen leaders at the top of their game, who manage their lives well. Their leadership skills thrive and those around them are inspired.

Here are some elements of personal leadership:

Balance

Balance is a state of equilibrium among the various demands of your life. Balance is dynamic as opposed to static. For the most part, you are constantly making adjustments, sometimes minor sometimes major, to achieve balance. Maintaining balance allows you to function effectively and productively as you lead.

Fulfillment

Fulfillment comes when you are living the life you want to live. You are able to give your all and be energized by your work. Your being and your work are a match. Your work flows and what you need comes to you. You are aligned with your destiny.

A Positive Relationship with Time

For years, management consultants and self-improvement experts have advised you to "manage" time. Planners, organizers and linear structures are useful, but in reality there is too much information and too many demands on your time to properly manage them. Time cannot be managed, you have to manage yourself.

Focus

Focus allows you to channel your energies to create the life you want. Without focus, things do not happen. Creating focus begins with identifying the top priorities in your life. Once your priorities are identified, spend your time honoring those priorities and getting them done.

Confidence

Confidence attracts people. As a leader if you project self-confidence, people will want to follow you. Confidence involves self-knowledge and appropriate humility. A lack of confidence belies problems that sabotage your personal leadership.

How are you doing with your personal leadership? Here are some things you can do to build your personal leadership skills.

CONDUCT A PERSONAL LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT

Ask yourself the questions below. Analyze your answers to help you determine how you are doing and if there are any areas you need to work on.

Are there "energy drains" you would like to eliminate from your life?

Is your life in balance?

Do you choose what the components of your life will be?

Do you focus on priorities?

Are there elements of your life that are not fulfilling?

Do you live in the present moment?

How is your relationship with time?

Are your relationships and friendships supportive and fulfilling?

Do you like the way you present yourself to the world?

Are you maximizing your impact, using all you are?

Are you healthy?

Are there any fears that have gotten the better of you?

Are you speaking your true voice?

OBSERVE EFFECTIVE LEADERS

The power of observation cannot be discounted. Identify several people that you think are effective leaders. Turn the lens of your observing from how they lead to how they manage their life. Read about them. If you have the opportunity, interview them. For each person you observe, do your best to determine how their self-management affects their ability to lead. From this observation identify your key learnings about personal leadership and how you will apply them to your life.

CREATE FOCUS

Identify the top three things you want to focus on in your life. For each thing, identify what you need to do over the next year to achieve it. Set a plan.

ELIMINATE IMPEDIMENTS

What is holding you back from being the best you can be? Answer this question and let go of what no longer serves you.

Your external leadership skills need a strong foundation within. Personal leadership can provide that foundation. Change within will lead to change without.

Ann Vanino is a business coach, consultant and trainer who specializes in helping people find fulfillment at work. Ann's book, Leadership on Trial: Lessons from The Apprentice offers leadership lessons from the popular TV show. You can learn more about Ann and her work at http://www.MovingForward.net . You can reach Ann at E-mail: Ann@MovingForward.net or Phone: 661-944-6329 (US.)

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Common Sense Leadership

By Billy Arcement

As I read about leadership and management topics and observe events in my consulting services that occur within organizations, I sometimes wonder where some of today’s managers and leaders get their rationale for making decisions regarding people. It’s almost like they have lost plain old common sense when it comes to relating and working with the people they lead and go out of their way to create chaos. Here are a few ideas I’ve picked up during my 50+ years of being thrust into leadership and management roles that I hope prove valuable to you as you strive to bring your common sense leadership into your world of work.

Provide clear direction. Too often leaders assume workers understand their instructions regarding job details. Never forget that it up to the person sending the message to make sure that those receiving it understand the meaning. Never assume, and always be very explicit with your directions. Ask for feedback to be sure understanding is clear and, if necessary, provide training to shore-up skills to get the job done right. Don’t set up people to fail. Remember their failure does reflect on your leadership abilities.

Recognize and reward good performance. We all like to experience feelings of importance. Genuinely be appreciative when workers get the job done right, on time, and at minimum expense. Use staff meetings and on-the-spot encouragement to let people know you appreciate their efforts. When appropriate, and consistent with organizational policies, offer a reward. It can be as simple as a sincere thank you, a lunch with you or as rewarding as a promotion with more responsibility and pay. Recognize and win!

Strive to remove tension in the workplace. Research shows that too little or too much tension has the same result—suboptimal productivity. Maintaining the proper tension is a balancing act for leaders. One must recognize that when tension is too low employees tend to relax, not take on challenges, reduce their efforts and lower their productivity. Like wise, when tension is too high, the workplace becomes prone to employee accidents and sicknesses. Anxieties and stress begin to dominate the workplace thus also losing productivity. Common sense leaders strive to find the proper middle ground. One must always have their antenna up to pick up worker signals. One must also understand that leadership style is a tension builder or tension reducer.

Learn to emulate the traits great leaders possess. Extensive research into what qualities great leaders possess has identified the following as important abilities. Use your common sense and see to it that these traits become part of your leadership style. It’s a good list to start creating a bold, new approach to leading others.

Vision, purpose, and direction: Do you know where you want to take the organization, why you want to get there and how you will do it?

Technical / Administrative skills: Do you have the understanding and tools to get the job done and can you keep the activities flowing in an effective and efficient manner?

Cognition / idea presentation / thinking skills: Can you process the information (knowledge) needed in a way that is understandable and are your people able to sufficiently utilize their thinking abilities to help smooth the path to success?

Drive and motivation: Are you willing to persist and strive to overcome obstacles and moments of discouragement in order to accomplish the vision?

Trust and respect (in both directions): Have I earned respect and trust rather than demanding it?

Teamwork and collaboration: Do I have a good understanding that I cannot do everything alone?

Ability to empower and enable performance: Am I willing to trust that people can help and do I support training to grow their skills?

Capacity to coach, appraise, and reward performance (give feedback): Do I recognize the difference between good and poor performance?

Workers rank these abilities in order of importance to them. As part of the research, workers were shown the above list and ranked the list in order of importance to them. As you carry out your common sense approach to leading, look at how these workers ranked the list and then run the same research with your team of workers. That approach is clearly common sense leadership and might make for an interesting discovery. Capacity to coach, appraise, and reward performance Ability to empower and enable performance Teamwork and collaboration Trust and respect Vision, purpose, and direction Cognition / idea presentation / thinking skills Technical / Administrative Skills Drive and Motivation

Never forget people are watching. I’m always amazed at leaders who continually alienate workers, demonstrate an untrusting management style, grab power and control by stepping on others, and in general are not people persons. These individuals clearly have lost their sense of direction. They lack real common sense when it comes to leading and relating to others. Workers watch your actions much more intently than they listen to your words and the end result is a high tension, low productivity working environment when there is incongruency.

Maximize the skills and talents of those you lead. If you have someone who brings a skill set to the table and you ignore seeking ways to utilize those skills, you are clearly shortchanging yourself, the organization and your worker. Common sense leadership knows that blending all the skills and talents of team members makes for a more effective, efficient, and energetic team. Do you have a clear understanding of all the gifts you’ve been handed and, are you putting these gifts into play? Common sense says that is how it should be done.

Closing Thoughts

We have a leadership crisis in this country at every level. I don’t know why except to think that we have become a very impersonal society where we seldom place the needs of others as an important part of our interactions. Self-centeredness dominates and servant leadership is a rarity.

I recently came across this survey of characteristics for the next president of the United States. As you consider your vote for our next leader, why not use the list as part of your screening process. Information on the survey is found on the NextNationalCEO.com website.

Insightful Judgment, Visionary, Trustworthy, Gets Things Done, Inspires Others, Good Judge of People Influences Others, Courageous, Confident, Energetic.

Billy Arcement, MEd., is a Professional Speaker, Consultant, Leadership Strategist and President of The Results Group. He wrote the books, Searching for Success and Journeying on Holy Ground. Learn more about his services at www.SearchingForSuccess.com 2008. All rights reserved. Use by permission.

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Finding Leaders in the Darndest Places

By Stuart Mcconnell

Some of our greatest leaders were swindlers and thieves. Why aren't today's youth given the same chance?

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
~ John Quincy Adams

As I sit to write this article I find myself being reminded of a young lady (though she would never call herself that) whom I know. She’s a classic anti-leader. In fact, her leadership qualities are so strong that she could easily be the next Pierre Elliot Trudeau if she so desired.

It’s wonderful when you have a group of students come forward and volunteer for leadership roles in your school. It’s great to see them express their ‘type A’ personalities in such a positive way. However, they always tend to be from one or two social groups and don’t represent a good cross section of the school population.

There are leaders among every group of students. Think of it this way, someone has to make the decision of what to do Saturday night when everyone else is sitting on the fence saying "I dunno, I’ll do whatever man." For various reasons, these students will not take on formalized leadership roles in their schools, perhaps they don’t feel they are good enough, they don’t know anyone else in ‘that circle’, or they just don’t see themselves as a leader.

These are the students who need to be cultivated because they have the unique ability to influence their peers. They see the school with its social and political hierarchy in a different way; and, if you’re lucky, they will tell you their views. These are the students who, when taught to communicate effectively and develop their leadership skills, can bring about massive change - if you let them. These are the anti-leaders. I use this term because their ideas usually are outside of the mainstream. They are ‘painted with a different brush’ and not typically considered leaders. But it is their ideas that have the seeds to radical change and they are the ones who will truly make a difference - not only in your school but in our world.

Let’s have some fun by comparing the qualities of a drug dealer and those of a gang leader with those of a student leader. Drug dealers and gang leaders may be extreme examples, but they are the most powerful leaders in your school. Drug dealers and gang leaders are using and honing their leadership skills all day, every day.

Job requirements for a gang leader:

• Inspiring and motivating speaker
• Strong personality
• Good people management skills
• Goal oriented
• Understands the needs of others
• Good decision making skills
• Good team builder
• Risk taker
• Effective communicator
• Confident

Job requirements for a drug dealer:

• Good at math
• Good organizational skills
• Knows the law
• Good at sales and up selling
• Responsible (meeting clients at set times)
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Understands the needs of others
• Good decision making skills (not on choice of career though)
• Good team builder
• Risk taker
• Effective communicator
• Confident

Qualities of a leader:

• Strong personality
• Motivating
• Good people management skills
• Goal oriented
• Listens to the needs of others
• Good decision making skills
• Good team builder
• Risk taker
• Effective communicator
• Confident

In the case of the young lady I spoke of earlier, she is neither a drug dealer nor a gang leader (though she does have quite the ‘following’ of friends). She is passionate, opinionated, well read and sees the world from a perspective outside of the mainstream. What truly sets her apart is that she is not afraid to speak her mind or to put herself on the line for her beliefs – characteristics which constantly get her into trouble.

Her problem, like all other anti-leaders, is that her energy is misdirected. She has never had anyone to help her cultivate and focus her talents and energy in a positive direction. Instead she gets dismissed as ‘another troublemaker’.

So this leads to the question, ‘Why cultivate the qualities of these anti-leaders’?

To put it bluntly if the earth is to survive another hundred years we need a radical shift in thinking and people with the guts to champion the cause. People are getting tired of politicians who just tow the party line to ensure their re-election. Though there are politicians out there who genuinely want to see change, they are not loud enough to be heard over the big machine.

The world needs civil leaders to champion causes that are forward thinking, much like the great civil rights leaders in the 1960’s. Roles like this can only be filled by a-typical leaders; ones who see the world from a different perspective and are not afraid to speak their minds or put themselves on the line to advance their cause and initiate change.

So my question to you is, ‘are you willing to put yourself on the line to cultivate these students and mentor them to use their qualities in a positive way’? If so, what do you think you can do to encourage them into positive leadership programs?

Stuart has been an educator for the past 8 years teaching a wide range of ages – from elementary to college. Stuart is currently the founder and president of 2 education based companies: PepperPot Media for corporate training and Casreep Communications for elementary and secondary school resources. For more information on issues affecting children visit our website at: www.casreep.net

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Effective Personal Leadership

By Michael Beck

When I ask workshop participants about characteristics of both good and bad leaders, the list never includes issues of intelligence, technical skills, or effective decision-making! Instead, the list is full of people-related traits – good listener, respectful, good communicator, develops others…

Effective personal leadership can be summarized as being competent in these skill sets:

• Becoming Influential

• Facilitating Teamwork & Collaboration

• Being a Catalyst for Change

• Managing Conflict

• Developing Others

• Having & Communicating a Compelling Vision

Unfortunately, improving one’s competency in these areas is often a challenge. Let me explain why…Unlike factual information, which gets processed in the neo-cortex of the brain, people-related skills are processed in part of the brain called the Amygdala. This portion of the brain regulates emotional insights and responses rather than logical insights and responses. Improving the leadership skills set forth above require one to break old habits/responses and form new ones, and we aren’t able to do this simply by learning and acquiring knowledge. That’s the difference between the neo-cortex and the Amygdala.

There are a couple of inherent challenges with this process. Pretty much everyone acknowledges that they have room for improvement. The first challenge is knowing which areas to improve. We all have blind spots. We're aware of some of our shortcomings, but usually not all of them. Secondly, breaking habits and forming new ones requires commitment, persistence, and time. It usually takes support from others – people who can point out when you’ve acted in a way contradictory to your intent. It’s important to use a reliable assessment to identify areas of growth opportunity. From those results, we can develop a plan of development which bolsters weaker areas and leverages stronger areas. The final aspect of a successful personal development plan relies on having one or more people who can support you, give unbiased, non-judgmental feedback, and help you make course corrections.

Organizational Culture

The foundations of a strong organization are:

1. Developing a clear and compelling Purpose

2. Identifying the organization's Mission to achieve the Purpose

3. Agreeing on a set of Values by which to carry out the Mission

4. Adopting a Servant Leader attitude throughout the organization

An organization's Purpose is the "Why" of its existence. It’s not what it does as much as what it is striving to accomplish. It is a statement of the greater good it is attempting to achieve. It answers the question: "Why are we here?" and helps give clarity and focus to each person in the organization. It is the yardstick by which decisions are measured.

An organization's Mission is the "What" of an organization. It is a definition of what the company does to achieve its stated Purpose. It begins to define the core proficiencies of a business and helps keep it focused on achieving its Purpose.

An organization's set of Values is the "How" of an organization. It defines what an organization most values in the execution of its Mission. It's not an all encompassing list of possible values as much as a statement of what the organization most values in its people and their conduct. It defines behaviors and culture within an organization. It helps set the guidelines of what is and is not acceptable.

At the core of Servant Leadership is the premise that the customer is the most important person to the organization. As a consequence of that premise, it only follows that the most important people to the customer are the frontline staff. They're the people who customers interact with on a daily basis. This understanding leads to the philosophy that the job of the manager of the frontline people is to make their jobs as easy and effective as possible so the customer has the best experience possible. The result is an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid. This servant attitude focuses leaders on developing those around them. It leads to people working together in a collaborative, solution-oriented environment.

How does one go about developing Purpose, Mission, and Values? Falling back on our understanding of Servant Leadership and the importance of everyone in the organization, the creation of Purpose, Mission and Values requires input from people in all areas of the company. They (the Purpose, Mission, and Values) need to be relevant to all involved, they need to be consistent with one another, and they need to be used consistently as a yardstick for decisions and policies. There’s nothing worse than developing Values and just paying them lip-service by not living them day-to-day. A practice like that lacks integrity and actually becomes a demoralizer.

In summary, when we combine personal competency in all areas of leadership skills with an organizational culture which supports people, their development, and their success, we end up with exceptional leadership which, in turn, inspires the best effort in others.

Written by Michael Beck, "Head Zookeeper" at http://www.ClientMonkey.com , a marketing strategies website dedicated to getting more clients, making more money, and having more fun! Receive a FREE program on recruiting & prospecting success at: http://www.PowerRecruitingandProspecting.com Permission to reprint with full attribution. © 2008 Exceptional Leadership, Inc.

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Leadership Coaching Is Essential For Maximum Performance

By Richard Gorham

Get your free Leadership Coaching ebook!

If you are responsible for one employee or hundreds, or just for yourself, leadership coaching may be the answer to how to handle any situation that arises.

A great tool that teaches you how to take care of anything that comes up can be found in a well written ebook by Richard Gorham.

This guide puts together lessons learned from dealing successfully with different sets of circumstances.

A different approach to a situation may be what you need to succeed in business and in life.

A good leader will have dozens of people who are willing to follow them to the ends of the earth. A leader who has no idea of what they are doing will not inspire anyone to follow them.

Teaching solid leadership principles to your employees is also a great way to help them deal with situations on their own that may seem to prevent them from accomplishing their goals.

A leader who understands that obstacles and challenges will arise is a leader who also knows how to get around these problems. Any obstacle that presents itself can be overcome by putting to use the lessons you learn from leadership coaching.

When employees see that you are not going to fall apart for every problem that comes along, you will instill a sense of confidence in your leadership abilities. They will be more apt to want to follow your lead to accomplish their own goals.

Everyone makes mistakes, however if you do not learn from your mistakes, you will continue to make them. This will affect your business and your personal life in a negative manner.

Leadership coaching is designed to help you realize that even if you make a mistake, it can be corrected. By learning what you can do to avoid repeating mistakes, you will be wiser and more able to handle the next situation that comes along.

Putting all this together in a guide that you can use on a daily basis is the goal of the Leadership Coaching ebook. If you use this ebook to learn some key techniques, you are sure to improve your overall effectiveness as a leader.

Have you ever wondered how someone who seemed to have everything against them managed to succeed and turn their life around? If so, think about this. They most likely had a specific plan and they used someone or something as a coach to help them reach the goal they had set for themselves.

Some of the most disadvantaged individuals have managed to make their way to the top by understanding that leadership required proper planning and determination.

You can be given a position of leadership but what you make of it is up to you. If you want people to follow and respect you and the decisions you make, you will have to earn their trust and confidence.

Leadership coaching is essential for teaching you how to do this in the right way. Examples of others who have gone through exactly what you are going through will help you to appreciate that you can make lemonade from lemons.

Every curve that you are thrown has been thrown before in one form or another. This ebook, which is available at Leadership-Tools.com, will be invaluable for helping you to learn how to make your life as successful as others have made theirs.

Richard Gorham is founder and President of www.Leadership-Tools.com, the premier online provider of free and low-cost leadership tools and resources. He is also the author of "A Leadership Series for Successful Living", offered at www.LeadershipAudio.com.

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Preparing People for Success with Leadership Coaching and Leadership Development

By Vikram Kumar

Leadership coaching and leadership development programs for big and small businesses have been on the rise. Management has realized these tools can greatly increase productivity through enhanced performance of its human resources. The emergence of this necessity gives rise to programmes formulated by LMI-UK.

The firm puts together great minds and developers to help improve business performance. It does not only shore up distressed team members but, with leadership coaching and leadership development, it prepares the upper echelon of the corporation and burgeoning talented and skilled newbies for the challenges ahead. This gives a new career direction for the companies’ possible star employees.

What LMI-UK does through its open courses is provide the opportunity and chance of coaching and facilitation in the workplace. This results to gainful training in addition to making use of dead time to be productive. The programmes practically help people how to focus in their personal life and grow professionally. On the business side, development and training are concentrated on effective supervisory management and motivation. On either side of the coin, it all promotes peak performance and productivity to do faster with fewer means.

Businesses are deriving the professional services from LMI-UK to build up efficient teambuilding skills and attitudes to prevail over what is hampering them to achieve success. Leadership coaching and leadership development can provide the chance to grow fast in business and seek new clients. The company and its people will be ready to take on anything.

The programmes can make better people due to improved communication with the elite executives and human resources development. The support and high-visibility guarantees progress and motivational drives. Economically, this kind of spending has more to gain than to lose. These are proven approaches to inspire employees to get about business without losing money.

Businesses and LMI-UK are all for developing existing skills and bolsters productive attitudes. The firm’s leadership coaching and leadership development programmes make the objectives possible. Individual development and achievement of goals all point to the direction of enjoying greater success.

LMI-UK is supported by qualified professionals, base, and sources. Highly competent directors of the programmes provide a full service treatment. They have impeccable records to boot and they’re equipped with experiences to increase your business profitability. They are well-credentialed with good track record of results with customers. On top of the impeccable credentials, the directors have the right attitude and motivation. One cannot give when one is not equipped with in the first place.

The effective strategies guarantee the benefits of transparent strategy, definite goals, and a greater comprehension of the whole business process. The company can be given a chance to metamorphose from being a manufacturer to a wholesaler or whatever and however the future of the business is. Individual gains range from being more dynamic, more alert, and highly motivated.

LMI-UK programmes and courses are geared towards the development of the people because the firm believes that the people are the heart and soul of the organization. Goals can be easily achieved by individuals with the right attitude, highly skilled, and efficient performance.

Give your people the needed shot. Take the leadership coaching and leadership development programs by LMI-UK.

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Leadership Develops from Consistent Disciplined Effort

By Joe Jacobson

Leaders do not develop overnight. Sure, some are born with more natural talent than others, but all leadership skills are learnable and all must be practiced on a daily basis. John Maxwell, in his book entitled "The 21 laws of Irrefutable Leadership," says that becoming a leader is a process, as opposed to an event. For example, just because you are appointed to a high position, does not make you a leader. Anyone can steer a ship, but it takes a leader to set the course. Here are the five phases (as outlined by Maxwell) you will need to go through as you develop into a leader.

Phase 1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

This is the beginning phase when you must recognize that you have a lot of learning and experiences ahead of you. This is where you must observe yourself and know that there are many things about you that need development. The person in this phase is pretty much clueless and unless they move on to phase 2, they may never grow into a leader.

Phase 2: I Know That I Need to Know

At this point, many people begin to realize that they need to learn to become a leader. For instance, they may have been promoted in their job, but no one is really following them. Or perhaps you have started your own business where you will be leading people. Now you are awake and conscious. Now you can begin to seek out assistance and education to learn leadership principles.

Phase 3: I Know What I Don’t Know

In this phase, you will begin to learn from experienced leaders. Seek out leaders in your community to learn from. Read books, listen to tapes and attend seminars on leadership. As you begin to implement these principles into your business, your employees or associates will respond and you will start to develop leadership characteristics. Remember, what you do on a daily basis will become who you are.

Phase 4: I Know And Grow, And It Starts To Show

Now you will begin to notice how your newly developed leadership skills affect your interactions with everyone you meet. You will see that leadership is the ability to influence others, and you have people following you. Though your practice has been a daily practice, one day you will wake up with quantum leaps of positive change. In this phase, you will still be learning intensely, but more and more people will recognize and respect your character.

Phase 4: I Simply Go Because of What I Know

Maxwell says that in this phase you act with instincts. All your moves will become automatic. You have acted as a leader so much that these leadership characteristics have become a habit. You have followed the process. You have paid the price. Now, you can help others who may be in phase 1 to start their journey of discovery.

Joe Jacobson is a Rep with YTB Travel Network. His focus is on helping others start their own online travel business, as well as helping nonprofits use travel as a fundraising tool. For more information, visit the websites YTB Home Based Business, YTB Travel Network or YTB Travel Canada

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Leadership Qualities - Characteristics of Leadership

By Annette Estes

One of the best books on leadership is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Collins researched a number of companies that were able to sustain outstanding growth over a period of 15 years while their competitors grew moderately, stayed flat, or lost money.

In all cases, the CEOs of those companies were men with humility and small egos who put the organization’s needs above their own. They took the blame when things went wrong and gave credit to others when things went right. Collins calls these men "Level 5" leaders, who have mastered the art of leadership.

His book inspired me to ask a number of business and professional leaders around the country to give me their definitions of what makes a great leader. Here is the second of three articles on leadership.

Dr. Jeffrey Graves, former President and CEO of KEMET Electronics Corporation, offers the following on key elements of leadership: "Communicate a clear ‘vision of success’ for the team/group/organization. Apply ‘facilitative leadership’ skills to draw ideas from the team and evolve them into a sound strategy/plan with ownership from the team. Drive ‘execution’ relentlessly, every day…a clear and logical plan with a few key metrics that measure success. Identify, train, coach/mentor, and reward your top talent…they are the cornerstone of your future."

Debbie Griffith, Founder and President of Professional Network Connections, expresses a belief shared by many that, "A great leader is one who knows when it’s time to lead, and when it’s time to sit back and follow!"

Bill Hemphill, President of Hemphill Consulting, who is a 31-year veteran of the Air Force, says, "In the military we study leadership ad nauseum." Hemphill believes, "A leader puts his organization’s mission first, and his/her subordinates second. A leader has to be quick to commend and slow to anger. A leader must have and be willing to share his/her passion for excellence. A leader must be willing to do anything he asks his subordinates to do."

C. Dan Joyner, President and CEO of Prudential C. Dan Joyner Company gave me two quotes on leadership he says he’s used for many years. "Leadership: The ability to inspire others to join you in reaching to the stars. Leadership: involves building people up through praise and recognition, not being critical of their efforts, even when they fail."

Clifton Parker, President of G&P Trucking, believes, "Leaders are to have no moral or behavior handles that others can grab onto and say, ‘This disqualifies this person from leadership.’ I believe a leader’s qualifications reveal someone who has his or her private and public life in balance, able to exercise moderation and humility while maintaining a good reputation. The time to figure out if someone can lead isn’t after they’ve assumed the role."

What I’m seeing from all of the leaders in this series of articles is that leadership involves being able to get the work done successfully (task-orientation) and being able to manage and lead those responsible for the organization’s success (people-orientation). Most of them focus on the people aspect – how to encourage, motivate, inspire, and develop the best in each person.

In Good to Great, Collins found successful leaders are able to hire the right people for each job. Great leaders agree with him that, "People are not your greatest asset. The right people are."

Get a free leadership skills assessment in the upper right corner at http://www.coachannette.com Annette Estes is a Certified Professional Behavioral and Values Analyst, management consultant, and coach who can help you develop your executive leadership skills and hire the right people. An excellent resource for managers is Annette’s ebook, Why Can’t You See it My Way?, which you can order at http://www.resolveconflictnow.com © Copyright 2008. Annette Estes. All rights reserved

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Leadership Skills – Learning From the Best

By Sacha Tarkovsky

There are some leaders that have to lead there team into situations where they can be killed. Yet, their team follows them without question. Who are these people?

Army officers - If ever their were people who need to show the best in leadership skills its them, as it really is a question of life or death.

Let’s see what are the main leadership skills taught and which apply to civilian leadership.

1. Command Total Respect:

You don’t need to like someone you need to respect them

In the army officers don’t have favorites, everyone is treated the same, there all part of the same team.

In civilian life one of the leadership skills that is lacking is leaders who have favorites on a personal level and give them preferential treatment.

This can cause huge resentment.

Nothing undermines a leader more than office politics and back biting.

Treat everyone with the same respect and ethics.

Your staff will appreciate it and it will foster a better work ethic.

2. Hands On

In the army the officers men know that there commanding officer can either do all the tasks they can do, or at least will be very familiar with them.

Army officers are people who are seen by their men as people who are able to get their hands dirty in a team.

Many civilian leaders fail to get to grips with this concept and are seen as aloof or detached from their team.

A good leader will muck in and be seen as one of the workers at times and be seen as in the team rather than aloof from it.

3. Planning & team spirit

An army officer makes sure his men understand the mission at hand.

He knows there life depends on it.

He makes sure that everyone understands the expectations, goals and objectives.

The whole team knows exactly what’s expected of them and they will all be together and depend on each other.

A good civilian leader will have a plan in place with clear objectives where everyone knows their place in the plan and their exact role.

You need a clear plan, workable goals and a good time spirit

4. Think outside the box and ahead of the competition

One of the key points to remember is that army officers have to constantly adapt to changing situations. They’re used to thinking ahead and thinking independently.

This is a key trait many civilian leaders lack, they don’t think far enough ahead.

They only see the near term picture and before they know it their competition has moved ahead of them. A good leader stays one step ahead at all time and is constantly studying his competition and ways he can improve.

5. Make Tough Calls instantly

Army officers do this is a matter of course the whole safety of his group depends on it. If you are a civilian leader you have no room to procrastinate you need to make the hard calls that ensure the survival of your business.

6. Optimism and Perseverance

Army officers will suffer setbacks but they have ultimate confidence in their team and vice versa. "When the going gets tough the tough get going"

Army officers don’t contemplate throwing the towel in, they remain optimistic and are prepared to persevere.

They remain strong and in control and this is an essential trait of civilian leaders.

If you show you’re worried, not in control and unable to cope your teams moral will drop with disastrous consequences.

You need strength in the bad times and perseverance – All leaders have this trait and are confident they can confront and deal with anything.

Final words

An army officer acts as part of a well oiled team.

He commands respect because he can lead and his men will follow orders unquestionably because they have faith in his ability.

Acquire the traits of army officers above and maybe you to can become a great leader.

MORE FREE INFO PDF AND AUDIO DOWNLOADS

On all aspects of self improvement and leadership visit our website for a huge resource of articles, features and downloads and at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

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Connection in work at home and moral leadership

By Shashi Pal

I had lunch recently with a close friend of mine. He said something that stuck with me. I see a lot of leaders today who don’t seem to have convictions. They are inconsistent. They don’t really lead. They just go through the motions. But worse are other leaders I see who have convictions, but because of political expediency or weak will, don’t live by them.

Political expediency and weak will. I don’t care how talented or how adept you are at making yourself look good, if you lack moral courage you will never be satisfied with your life, you’ll always suffer from paranoia (wondering if your misdeeds will be discovered), and any wealth you attain you will not be able to enjoy. The philosopher William George Jordan said it best. Into the hands of every individual are given a marvelous tool for good or evil - the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the constant radiation of what a man really is, not what he pretends to be.

When looking for online business opportunities I thought about this. I decided I would not consider any business that does not have a set of core values to guide in decision making. John Dalla Costa wrote a book a few years back called The Ethical Imperative: Why Moral Leadership is Good Business. In his book Dalla Costa offers numerous examples of how companies who try to skirt legal requirements to save money end up paying more in fines and legal costs. On the positive side he also offers examples of companies who refuse to compromise core convictions even if it means paying a monetary price for doing so. In every example the companies that hold to their core convictions, who do not take legal short-cuts or engage in questionable business practices ultimately become more profitable. Their reputation as an honest company causes their stock (and stocks) to rise, while companies who pay fines for violating environmental regulations or who seem to find their way into the news for other questionable business practices ultimately lose credibility as astute investors take their money elsewhere while clients lose confidence in their business practices.

I want to know that any business I’m going to become a part of and/or promote to others considers the dignity and worth of every man or woman created by God. I want to know that the business has some core values that serve as a moral barometer for its business activities, and I want to know that the intention of any wealth generated by the business through its affiliates is for improving the moral condition of society rather than for destructive purposes. That’s why I won’t become a part of, or invest money in any business that earns profits through pornography or through casino gambling. I have yet to see either of these activities improve anyone’s life.

I have found that there are plenty of good businesses that are values driven with solid reputations offering profitable home based business opportunities. I would suggest you consider this component before settling on a business to which you want to become connected. When you run across a business you think might be compatible with your interests, or when you see an advertising agency you think might represent your interests well go to a search engine and type in the name of the business and the word "news." That will take you to online forums and to media sources where you discover all the information you need to make an informed decision. It's worth the time and effort and your it will serve as a good compass for leading you in the right direction.

David Moore is a member of the Wealth Online Website system. He is a home based online business entrepreneur and teaches at a University (part-time). He has completed post graduate programs in both Cross Cultural Communications and Higher Education Administration.
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Executive Coaching For Authentic Leadership - Staying True To Yourself

By Maynard Brusman

Authentic Leadership

Employees follow leaders who they believe are real. Authenticity is important for trust to develop.

One of my recent senior vice president executive coaching clients was being considered as the successor to the CEO. He told me the following story. At one of the Board of Director meetings the bulb in the overhead projector burned out. My client quickly rolled up his sleeves and changed the bulb. He received feedback from a couple of Board members that it created an impression of not looking like a CEO. My client is the heart and soul of the company. People love him.

Do you think he did the right thing by changing the bulb? What would you do in a similar circumstance?

Successful executives develop leadership styles that fit their business needs, as well as their personal beliefs and personality. While many leaders ask themselves about the former, few analyze the latter.

Companies require leaders who can express strongly held views, rather than mimic the party line. Do you hold back for political reasons? Do you encourage your people to express their opinions and make waves, if appropriate?

Do not tiptoe around significant issues or foster an atmosphere that encourages employees to do so.

Ask yourself:

• Is my leadership style comfortable? Does it reflect who I truly am?

• Do I assert myself sufficiently, or have I become tentative?

• Am I too politically correct?

• Does anxiety about my next promotion or bonus cause me to hesitate when I want to express my

views?

In the early stages of your career, you may have received plenty of guidance and support from superiors and mentors. As you have been promoted, however, you have probably encountered fewer sources of honest and useful feedback. By the time mistakes have come to light, it may have been too late to fix them.

Successful leaders continually ask themselves hard questions to stay on track in a world of rapid change. Remember to step back and gain fresh perspectives so you are prepared with a new game plan when change occurs. If you are standing too close to the blackboard, you will not see mistakes until it is too late.

These questions are designed to ignite serious introspection. They can be even more productive when discussed with a trusted advisor, coach or mentor.

When is the last time you had a leadership checkup?

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you become a an inspiring and visionary leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare "Board Approved" designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com

Visit Maynard's Blog at http:// http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com

P.O. Box 471525San Francisco, California 94147-1525Tel: 415-546-1252Fax: 415-721-7322E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com Web Site: http://www.workingresources.com

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New Leader For The Future

By Vidya Mulia

The leader for the future leads for achieving the best target than the leader at previous time. Individual, the present leader, a group of people and importance prepare him to be the new leader. A good organization has good stage to form of cadres. The organization can make it by the cultural accumulation or by the arts of the organization. Meanwhile, a bad organization has bad stage to change its leader. This organization does leadership by conflict or problem. In this case, the bad organization performs a conflict that force to form a leadership.

To create new leader, people state many conditions. However, the most important is, a person should comprehend the past time of his organization. Then he has to design an attitude for the future time of his organization. He has to have a constructive reformation spirit. Then, he has to be able to perform his plan in good manner with all the members of the organization. A leader should retain those basics in restructuring his organization to achieve the best target.

In creating the cadres of new leader, companies often do management trainee. With its variations and levels, the management trainee is the trusted way to embrace the best cadres of new leader. Some of the companies in Indonesia proof the best side of the management trainee.

The new leader should be prepared as a person that is able to understand and solve the problems. He is also able to do the operation of the organization in detailed. A formal organization really requires the well-prepared leader. The social or government organization owns the similar thing. However, the top leader in the government tends to the political importance that has authority as its orientation; consequently, the people often meet blurred character of the leader. While the leader turns to be the symbol for the organization, the persons who have long period authority become the operators of the organization. Every one can be a leader for the next era because everyone is the leader for his or her selves.

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Emotional Intelligence At Work

By Kevin Dwyer

Emotional intelligence is more than 90 % of what makes the difference between one leader's success and another leader's failure. Intelligence measured by IQ is less than 20% of what makes the difference.

This is a popular refrain of Emotional Intelligence devotees. Is it true? My experiences with a group of twelve people in a hospitality organisation strongly suggest it is true.

The twelve people were part of a leadership development programme. In two groups of six, they attended face-to-face training over six months consisting of:

Leading yourself (two days)
Leading others (two days) and,
Leading change (two days)

During the three months between the face-to-face training, each team of six was required to complete a project in their own time, which would take them out of their individual comfort zones. As a team, they had never worked together before. Their backgrounds were as far apart as massage therapy, financial control, event management, kitchen and golf course maintenance.

As part of the two days on leading yourself, they completed an analysis using the Simmons EQ profile ably administered by Bob Wall.

Over the six months of training and the following three months after the training I came to a number of conclusions from observing their behaviour and relating it to their EQ profile.

The "after you" team

One of the teams had the following profile of Assertive, Tolerance, Considerate and Sociable attributes on a scale of one to ten:

Assertive: mostly unassertive - five at or below 5, one at 6.5 (10 is very unassertive)

Tolerance: very tolerant - six at 7 or higher (10 is very tolerant)

Considerate: generally not considerate of others - four below 5 and two between 5 and 7 (10 is very considerate)

Sociable: at the extremes of sociability - three at 4 or less, three at 7 or more, (10 is very sociable)

The first three months of their project meetings were depicted by no-one leading. Everyone refused to make an assertion about what they thought should happen and who should do it.

The sociable group met separately from the non-sociable group. Whilst they were not willing to assert what they believed they were coincidentally the group who were less considerate and spent much time criticising other's commitment.

They achieved little during those three months. All bar the project manager had a courage score of less than 5. Being risk averse as a group and generally unassertive, they did not want to challenge others at the property to get information to them on-time and in the manner they needed it.

Team selection was made before the EQ profiles were completed. If, however, their Emotional Intelligence could have been tested before selection, this team would not have been selected to achieve the difficult outcome they were given in their project.

At the end of three months they were required to make a report on their project progress. It was not pretty. They did poorly and the general manager let them know.

Their reaction to the feedback was dramatic. They changed both as a group and as individuals. The next three months were much more productive as they worked on improving their individual limitations, having experienced what impact they, as individuals, were having on the group.

The "Let ME do it" team

The other team had the following profile of Assertive, Tolerance, Considerate and Sociable attributes on a scale of one to ten:

Assertive: mostly very assertive - one below 5, five at 6 or higher (10 is very unassertive)

Tolerance: at extremes of tolerance - three below 5, three above 5 (10 is very tolerant)

Considerate: mostly inconsiderate of others - five below 5 including two below 2 and one above 5 (10 is very considerate)

Sociable: mostly sociable - one at less than 2, one at less than 5, four at 6 or above (10 is very sociable)

This team was expected to interact better because of the diversity of attributes and the combination of sociability, low tolerance and high assertiveness of most individuals. They did. They started with the speed and power of an express train. The very afternoon their project was explained to them, they started work contacting people, setting up appointments to get information and brainstorming ideas.

They all had high (greater than 6) change attribute scores and coped well with new ideas and changes in direction over the first three months. Their high work scores (five well above 5) and energy scores (five above 5 with two above 6.5) predicted they would work hard. They did.

Their mid-term project review was excellent. If we rated it out of ten, the score would have been seven or eight. The first team would have scored two or three.

With the positive feedback they received one might have expected them to power on. They did not. The general work environment outside the project was challenging. Time started to become difficult to set aside and fatigue was a factor. The low consideration levels kicked in and self preservation became the order of the day for four of the team.

This manifested itself in two ways. Two people withdrew, doing the minimum required to stay attached to the programme. Two people shifted their focus to where they thought the highest level of recognition lay on any one day. The other two, which included the project manager, soldiered on to complete the project as best they could, maximising their learning along the way. The project manager was the only one with a high consideration score.

The learners versus the deniers

The group of twelve as a whole can be split into:

those who learnt a lot about themselves and who are, today, better leaders,

those who learnt a little and can talk about what's needed to be a better leader and,

two who did not identify with the work required to change their profile and made no progress.

The common attributes of the two who did not learn were low consideration, very high assertiveness, low optimism, moderate work, and low detail.

When life got tough, they worked for themselves only.

Overall learning

What I learnt during this six month period was that before people can utilise their emotional skills and have the drive to improve where they are weak, they must have a sense of direction. The sense of direction must first and foremost be personal. Without a personal goal people get lost. They have nothing to calibrate their current status in life against and no creative tension to drive the formation of skills, including emotional skills.

The behaviour of people in both teams changed for the better when they had a goal to believe in and for the worse without one. The first team as a whole, improved greatly. They developed skills and improved their emotional intelligence. When they knew they had done poorly in the first report out, their goal was simply not to feel that way again.

The second team tasted too much success and praise too early. After receiving the praise most of the team had a goal of completing the project with as little disruption to their normal work hours as possible.

The project leader of the second team had a goal to learn as much as he could about financial planning, project and people management. He wanted to improve his emotional intelligence attributes where he thought it would improve his people management skills. He remained constant, learnt the most and grew the most.

What I have also learnt is that emotional intelligence does indeed have a large bearing on how people cope. Not just with day-to-day life, but more importantly in times of stress. What I also unexpectedly learnt was that The Simmons EQ profile is an accurate predictor of behaviour and competence at work.

Kevin Dwyer is the founder of Change Factory. Change Factory helps organisations who do not like their business outcomes to get better outcomes by changing people's behaviour. Businesses we help have greater clarity of purpose and ability to achieve their desired business outcomes. Visit our website to learn more or see more articles on Leadership ©2008 Change Factory

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Executive Coaching For Visionary Leaders - A Leadership Map For The Future

By Maynard Brusman

Visionary Leadership

Leaders need to create a vision for the future. It is human nature for people to want to know where the organization is headed and how they fit into the strategic plan.

I frequently consult with companies to help them develop competency models as part of their selection and succession management processes. The challenge is to change the competency models to reflect any changes in the strategy and vision so that all processes are aligned.
How well do you do as a leader in predicting the future?

Keeping up, staying up and getting ahead are now more difficult than we have previously imagined. There is no turning back, but there is turning forward. Mike Jay.

Predictions for the future can be stimulating and challenging, especially if one is a top executive in a business enterprise attempting to make strategic decisions. Our rapidly changing global environment presents problems never before encountered. No one knows what will be required of leaders in the future, but some speculation is worthy of our attention.

Predictions from experts in their fields have not always been accurate. Here are a few examples:
o In 1899 the U.S. Commissioner of Patents, Charles Duell, declared, Everything that can be invented has been invented.

o In 1905, President Grover Cleveland prophesied, Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.

o When Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, wrote a student paper proposing an overnight delivery service, his professor wrote: The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a C, the idea must be feasible.

o Even Bill Gates once mused, 640K of memory ought to be enough for anybody.

New industries are in their gestational phases. Some are already well on their way to becoming established products and services.

- Micro-robotics or miniature robots built from atomic particles that could unclog arteries

- Machine translation or devices that will provide real-time translation between people conversing in different languages

- Digital highways that will make available to any home instant access to knowledge and entertainment

- Urban underground automated distribution systems to reduce traffic congestionVirtual meeting rooms to eliminate business travel

- Bio-mimetic materials that will duplicate properties found in living organisms

- Satellite-based personal communicators that will allow instant communication to anyone anywhere in the world

-n Machines capable of emotions, inference, and learning that will interact with human beings in entirely new ways

- Bioremediation or custom-designed organisms that will help clean up the environment of the earth.

Each of these opportunities is by nature global, with no single nation or region likely to control all the technologies and skills required to turn them into reality. Any firm wishing to become a leader will have to collaborate with and learn from leading-edge customers, technology providers, and suppliers wherever they are located (Hamel & Prahalad, Competing for the Future, 1994). Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you become a a more inspiring and visionary leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare "Board Approved" designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com

Visit Maynard's Blog at http:// http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com

P.O. Box 471525San Francisco, California 94147-1525Tel: 415-546-1252Fax: 415-721-7322E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.comWeb Site: http://www.workingresources.com

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