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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