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.

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Leadership Skills - Apply Your Leadership Skills To Your Own Life And Take Better Care Of Yourself

By Richard Hamon

Many good leaders and professional helpers neglect themselves. They often lavish unfaltering attention onto the people they lead or help while ignoring their own needs.

This article will address the importance of good self-care and offer proven tips on how to make it easy and fun while increasing your success.

Case Example

For many years, I have conducted workshops and seminars for busy professionals on self care, stress management and relaxation. I've asked participants what kept them from taking good care of themselves. The answers have always surprised me.

The answers range from "there isn't enough time" to "I've always been this way . . . taking care of everyone but myself!"

Surprisingly, a high percentage of the audience said they didn't know how to provide truly excellent care for themselves!

How To Give Yourself Top-Notch Care

A. Realize the difference between taking good care of others and rescuing them. So often the latter masquerades as the former. Rescuing only creates dependency. And it takes a lot of energy and time. Caring for others and leading them without rescuing is another matter!

B. Refuse to allow yourself to feel guilty for giving yourself a little TLC. There is nothing to feel guilty about. In fact, if you deprive yourself you will only be hurting yourself . . . and others. If you crash or burn out what kind of motivation will you offer? What kind of example will you be?

C. Stop and recognize that you are human, too. And you need care and feeding. Think of the consequences of ignoring your needs. How easy it is to squander our health away by working too hard or not eating a healthy diet.

Good self-care basics are not rocket science. It's easier to do than you may think.

Interested in self-help? All self-help plans start with good self-care.

Three Big Tips To Ensure The Success Of Your Self-Care Plan

One, you may have to set some limits with people in your life, making sure they understand that you are truly commited to giving good self care. Let them know what to expect!

Two, don't allow yourself to be talked out of your self-care needs. Establish a routine and stick to it.

Three, give good self-care even during a crisis or stressful time. After all, that's when you'll need it the most.

If you won't take care of yourself, who will?

Case Example

I know a woman who is always reading a good book. She does it for herself. Yes, she is busy with her career, and she has a family who needs her, but she also needs to be a healthy, happy individual. So she does this one thing for herself. She reads a good novel and then starts another. It gives her time to relax and unwind, and each good book gives her great personal satisfaction. You might say reading is her special hobby.

What can you do to give yourself better care? Get a hobby, if you don't have one. And always spend a certain amount of time pursuing your hobby.

Simple but effective.

The All-Important Relationship With Yourself

It pays to build and maintain excellent, high-quality business and personal relationships. But that all-important relationship we have with the self can be one of the most wonderful relationships of our lives. It is a relationship many forget about.

It is prudent to invest in your relationship with yourself. Set aside the time necessary to take care of yourself . . . time for relaxation and blowing off steam. Time for spending quiet moments alone. Time for just doing what you want to do.

Be responsible to the self:

-- Take care of your health.
-- Deal with stress.
-- Grow your inner and spiritual life.
-- Be yourself.
-- Reach for your dreams.
-- Live a life of courage.
-- Endeavor to know thyself!

If you want to be your best, don't neglect that all-important relationship with yourself. It is a hidden source of happiness and strength.

In a nutshell, you'll be in good shape if you take time to recreate and have fun, eat properly, exercise, keep up with your doctor's visits, follow a stress management plan, and take time for yourself -- time alone.

Don't forget . . . you can't love others if you don't start with yourself.

Richard Hamon is a professional therapist and coach with over 25 years of experience. Richard's Relationships For Success Coaching helps people to enjoy truly satisfying relationships and find great success in all areas of their lives.

Richard has written a unique eBook, The Ultimate Relationship Solution: How Secrets Discovered From A Near Death Experience Can Help You Ignite Passion and Realize Success in All Your Relationships. The eBook tells about an actual Near Death Experience the author had in 2003, which transformed his life and led to a series of insights, revelations and secrets about building extraordinary relationships.

You can find Richard's eBook, The Ultimate Relationship Solution at: LINKED TEXT

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5 Essential Attributes in Leading Others

By Duncan Brodie

Leading others brings new demands on individuals and requires them to have or develop new competencies and attributes. People are often promoted into posts where they are required to lead others because they were high performers at doing a task orientated job. Yet leading others does require different skills from doing something yourself. So what are 5 essential attributes in successfully leading others?

Providing feedback

The first essential attribute in leading others is to learn how to provide feedback. People in organisations are looking for feedback, praise and recognition for what they are doing to help you get results. A large proportion of our life is spent at work and we all like to feel valued. If you had to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 in terms of providing feedback (10 being excellent) what score would you give yourself? Providing feedback takes little or no time, costs nothing and is one of the biggest contributors to a happy workforce and staff retention levels.

Listening and involving

An autocratic style where people were told what to do and get on with it will not work in the modern business world. People want to be involved in contributing to key decisions and feel that their points of view have been heard. As the leader, you clearly need to take the final decision. Chances are that not everyone will agree with the decision but if you have taken the time to listen to and involve others in the decision process, they are more likely to get behind the decision you reach.

Getting the balance right

One of the challenges in leading others is getting the balance right between delegating to others and keeping track on progress. Too much involvement could result in the other person or team thinking that you don't trust them. Too little involvement could mean that you find out too late that things are off track and deadlines are going to be missed. Making the time at the outset to brief others, check their understanding and agree review points is a simple but effective way of getting the balance right.

Setting objectives

In leading others, it is vitally important to set clear objectives. Leaders sometimes fall into the trap of believing that a long job description with lots of detail about what the employee is required to do serve that purpose. In addition to this, make a point of setting around 6 key objectives for each person. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, results orientated and time limited.

Training and developing

When leading others you need to make the time and give the commitment to training people. So often employers put in a lot of effort when it comes to employing people but make no investment of time and/or money in training and developing people. As a leader, you need to make the time to help people grow and get better at what they do.

Successfully leading others is vital to the success of an organisation. You may already be performing outstandingly in this area. If you are the challenge is to keep yourself at this high performance level. If you are still developing as a leader, where do you need to focus on to move towards outstanding performance?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements (G&A) works with professionals and progressive public and private sector organisations who want to develop their management and leadership capability in order to achieve more success. With 25 years business experience in a range of sectors, he understands first hand the real challenges of managing and leading in the demanding business world.

You can learn more about Duncan, Goals and Achievements services and products and sign up for his free e-course and monthly newsletter at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/

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Leadership Skills Training: 5 Irrefutable, Non-Negotiable Laws of Leadership You Must Know Now

By Kevin Berchelmann

Triangle Performance, LLC

Leaders, new and old, sometimes lose sight of the most fundamental tenets of leadership. Here's a reminder&

I frequently tell executives that leadership and its concepts, theories and core applications haven't changed in a millennium.

Some of our demographics may have changed. This forces us to use alternative applications of those concepts. But the basic leadership concepts and theories remain.

So, why don't we "just do it?"

Sometimes we aren't motivated. Sometimes the "time" just doesn't seem right. Maybe we simply forgot some of the basics& hence this article.

When I train companies and corporations worldwide on how to improve management and organization performance, I start off with these 5 laws new and experienced leaders should never ever forget.

Kevin's Leadership Skills Training Survival Kit for New & Experienced Managers

Leadership Law #1: Never delay a decision that must be made.

Make your decision and move on. You may have to immediately make another decision. This doesn't mean your first one was wrong. It merely means that your second one had the benefit of additional knowledge.

Leadership Law #2: When you want something specific done, say so specifically, using clear, plain language.

Employees generally have some difficulty doing their basic jobs. By adding "mind-reading" to their description is just plain unfair.

Do not use hints, implications, or innuendos. Say what you want, and use plain English! Directness counts.

Leadership Law #3: Never answer every employee's every question.

Questions are teaching moments -- don't rob employees of the opportunity. But don't spend your whole time answering questions.

When you always answer every employee's every question, you'll forever be answering your employee's every question. This will leave you with no time to spend on areas that need your direct attention now.

Sounds trite, and I don't mean it to.

If employees are asking because they're stupid, get rid of them. If they are decent employees asking because they do not know, then teach them. They'll know next time, and you'll both be better for it.

Leadership Law #4: Make your expectations clear, then back up a bit and give employees room to do their job.

That doesn't mean to never look back. To inspect what you expect isn't micromanagement. It's good management.

Even your top performers need clear expectations. Give them a target. Provide resources and guidance. Remove obstacles when necessary. Then let them do their job. But, don't forget to check back later, since you still have management responsibilities.

Leadership Law #5: Employees need their managers to be leaders

Your employees don't need a shoulder. They don't need a buddy, a sympatico, or a commiserator. If you want a friend, buy a dog.

We all struggle with this. Everyone wants to be liked, and it always seems difficult to decline a beer after work, or something similar. I'm not advocating a monk-like existence, disallowing any contact with your troops. I'm just merely reminding you that they would like to have a friend, but they need a leader if they are to be successful.

You do want them to be successful, don't you?

Closing Leadership Thoughts

These leadership laws are fairly intuitive, and certainly not rocket science or brain surgery. They are simple management and leadership truths that have passed the test of time.

Print these out. Laminate it. Put in your top desk drawer and don't forget them.

Described as a Human Capital Expert by The Harvard Business Press, Kevin Berchelmann helps private equity, Fortune 500 and medium mom and pop companies foster, motivate, and improve existing human capital to achieve breakthrough levels. To get your FREE "At C-Level," cutting edge newsletter go to triangleperformance.com/register

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