Leadership Articles

ust one of the versus in Psalm's 46, verse 10, inspires many inspirational Christian stories. The KJV states it like this; “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth”. Good leadership skills come from every part of life, including and more most importantly the scriptures. We can analyze this backwards and forwards and it never stops having a new meaning. The night my Son was born I had to no choice but to be still and know that He was God! He was born two months early several years ago in a small out of the way hos

I recently read two different posts that caused me to think about how people are treated in the workplace. The first was a series written by Chad Balthrop about the trap of transactional leadership. It seems that sometimes, many times, actually, we view our personal interactions as transactions and our language expresses that belief. The second was a post by Tristan Bishop focusing on how purpose improves productivity. What is the purpose of a business?

To managers and employees alike, micromanage is a dreaded word. It is defined in the dictionary as, “to manage or control with excessive attention to minor details.” Most popular management and leadership books suggest that micromanaging should be avoided at all costs – as a matter of fact, they even offer decisive tips on how NOT to do it.

The time changed for most of the U.S. last weekend. We “fell back.” How does this change affect you? Pretty much like any change does. Here are 3 Timely Strategies to Positive Change: Acknowledge the Changer Like most change, the reversal back to Standard Time came without our permission. Congress extended Daylight Savings Time without so much as a phone call to my office…or yours. That’s the way change operates. It shows up without so much as a warning for many of us. We find ourselves blindsided by a software change, a systems change, a pricing change, and the list goes on.

When I am coaching leaders and high achievers regarding their executive presence I hear of the same obstacle over and over again. In fact it always comes up in the very first conversation we have – although they do not realize it or recognize it. Because I have coached so many people I can immediately detect it in the way they explain their frustrations or lack of confidence in achieving personal or professional goals. As I quietly liste I can also hear what they aren’t saying – as they talk around the subject without directly addressing it.

Silence, yes, silence, is a powerful leadership tool. There are many adages about silence such as “he who speaks first loses,” or “silence is golden” which comes from a longer phrase “speech is silver, silence is golden,” placing a much greater value on silence, not just the spoken word. Recent research by New York University’s Ste School of Business Department of Management and Organizational Behavior shows that the workforce is remaining silent. This type of silence is not

It started when a Monarch butterfly appeared in my garden, lighting on the only milkweed plant in the yard. My leadership & life lesson was about to begin: I discover that Monarchs lay tiny, pinpoint-sized eggs ONLY on milkweed. The tiny caterpillars (larvae) emerge and begin gorging ONLY on milkweed, stripping it down to the stalk. Horrified that the yellow/black caterpillars will run out of food, I race to the nursery. Three trips to the nursery! $10 every time per plant. The little buggers are voracious and multiplying like grains of sand.

Leadership development program is now evident in almost all the organization that offers their services across the world. Experts in the management and administration do believe that the explanation and the understanding of the nature of the leadership program is an eminent thing that business people talk about. In this digital age leaders act as an enabling force that helps people and organizations to perform and develop the new age human resources development strategies in

What Story are you Enacting? How much of your life is directed from the foundation of unexamined mythology? What if we are all enacting some sort of story in our lives? Now what do I mean by story? I mean that we have some vision, set of ideas, or beliefs about ourselves that define us as a ...

If you are building a room in your house, you use tools from different disciplines. To pick two, you use carpenter tools and electrician tools. The carpenter tools (hammer, saw) are the most widely recognized, understood and used. The electrician tools (wire stripper, current tester) are less recognized, less understood and less used. There are also tools (screwdrivers, pliers, tape measure) that are useful in both disciplines. A single person will use both sets of tools to c

787 Dreamliner or Nightmare – Boeing Has A Crisis Over the last several weeks, we have read about the problems with Boeing’s new state-of –the-art 787, which has resulted in the FAA “grounding” the entire fleet of this new airliner. The center of the storm is focused on the new lithium-ion batteries used in the construction of the 787.

I’m getting ready to begin a new client project this week and in discussing the scope of the project, one of the desired objectives identified was improving teamwork among the small staff. In investigating the issue further during our discussion, another objective we uncovered was the breaking down of the silos in the organization. When the concept of “silos” was mentioned, I as flabbergasted! I almost fell out of my chair. “Silos?” I exclaimed back to my prospective client, “you have less than 10 employees, how is that possible?”

Have you ever had a patient that sits through a whole report of findings and looks at you with the deer in the headlights look? It's obvious that they don't really understand the treatment program that has been implemented and your communication is off target.

I have adopted a great belief from my husband; “feedback is the breakfast of champions”. At first, I didn’t “get it”, but I have learned that receiving feedback is a powerful gift for personal and professional growth and that giving feedback effectively, makes for more effective leadership and is key to powerful working relationships. I did not always share this perspective. For many years I didn’t fully understand or appreciate this point of view because for me, feedback (a

There's a one-word reason most ideas never see the light of day: Resistance. Resistance is often behind the glassy-eyed stares you get following a presentation, the sarcastic put-downs you have to put up with when you describe your vision for a new product or service, and people's abrupt departures from the water cooler when you approach, enthusiastic and readynto share an idea. What people are saying to you, either directly or indirectly, is "I've heard your idea and I don'

Whether you are an entrepreneur growing your business or the CEO of an international multi-continent corporation, your organization’s sustainable future rests squarely on your shoulders. It is leadership not management that sets the course for an organization and it is the leader’s vision, communication skills and his or her ability to empower the workforce that determines whether the organization will enjoy long term growth and sustainable profitability. Leadership is such

After doing many presentations for sales organizations over the years, I’ve concluded that we are all in the profession of selling. Attributes of a successful sales professional include: • Knowledge of the product • Effective organizational and communication skills • Competency in time and stress management • An ability to mediate dissension and objections • A high degree of confidence, professionalism, positive attitude • The ability to provide consistent follow up and exceptional customer service.

Your employees’ morale is very important for the success of your business. Lack of motivation leads to employees that do not give more than the bare minimum effort towards achieving company goals, while a motivated individual will always strive to go the extra mile. A leader has the important role of providing team members with good motivation in order to increase a team’s feeling of cohesion and belonging. Team building is something that a leader must do constantly, to create motivation and give employees a purpose and the means to achieve that purpose.

"Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment...strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse. The real challenge is to combine strong leadership and strong management and use each to balance the other." — John Kotter, Management/Lead

Leadership theories are all about how best someone directs their group and or even themselves in achieving their goals thus becoming successful. People do apply leadership theories in their day to day business even without knowing it. These theories do apply to group members if you are involved in group studies at school and or when working as a group while in the office. Leadership theories can also be applicable to individuals who often keep to themselves or their work does

Mergers are becoming increasingly popular today for various reasons, including the desire for to share costs and gain a competitive market share. Often there is a great deal of resources spent in planning and implementing the merger itself. Combining processes, technologies, protocols and creating positive public and client communications about the merger tend to be the priority. What can truly optimize the success of the merger is to also utilize this time to design and buil

It’s was my observation during my tenure as a school board member that the vast majority of board members are serving for the right reasons. But regardless of why you chose to serve, here are ten key practices, if implemented will make you an outstanding board member.

I started writing online about 5 years ago. I was so ignorant then of how to blog or find writing jobs that, in hindsight, I lost out on a lot of stuff I could have been doing like growing a brand and building up personal sites as well as adding to my portfolio. I wouldn't call it wasted time, though, as most of those precious days that are now gone were spent learning what I know today. I'm still no "guru" but I know enough now to launch new blogs and sites with moderate success. Also, like they say, "hindsight is 20/20"-so I'm not crying over it, either.

1. Surround yourself with supportive and informed people. Fame, glory, prestige and money -- these are a few of the things that successful leaders gain from their winning experiences. They are consistently supported and encouraged by diverse consumers -- be them strangers, acquaintances, friends, family, and all others who participate in the leader's personal "Hall of Fame". 2. Keep your eye on the value of your business offers. Truly successful leaders do not let fame, prest

It’s an event employees don’t look forward to experiencing and many supervisors cringe having to do. What is this common feared experience? It’s a performance review. There really is no reason for either party to feel bad about doing a performance review. If certain guidelines are followed, ...

Clearly we're all drawn to charismatic leaders. Whether we're talking about political leaders like JFK, public speakers like Zig Ziglar, or trainers like Anthony Robbins, how does the charisma or strength of a leader impact a team, pro or con? We've become increasingly conditioned to being ...

Have you ever sat down to think how success is measured? So many people dream about being “successful” but there’s really no definition of what that really is. Does being successful mean that you’ve finally earned a ton of money and you’re rich? It could also mean that you finally got that promotion and are head of the company, or that your boyfriend proposed, or even that you finally found a job! We all have a different concept of success and this is what makes me wonder if there’s really a secret to it or not.

While studying Great Depression businesses created by successful entrepreneurs, I discovered five core practices that were daily habits for them. They asked themselves five questions daily that charted their course to success. You become a successful business person, also, by asking yourself these same five questions daily. The five questions to ask so you become positively successful are: What Am I Thinking?r

The concept of management is actually fairly complex. The terms manager and leader are often used interchangeably but they are also often confused and misinterpreted. Management implies control in its traditional sense. It has always had a dictatorial connotation and implied a boss employee relationship. It was based on an autocratic style with systematic rules and guidelines. Warren Bennis one of our most recognized business men in the 21st century states that today most employees are over managed and under led.

For people who own dogs, it is a must that they know the dog food secrets into giving the right nutrition to enable the dog to live longer. We treat dogs as our best friends and life-long companion and it is in our hands that we are able to feed them the right type and amount of food to keep them healthy and strong. And since most dog owners do not have the proper knowledge on what to feed their dogs, most of them resort to buying commercial dog food instead.

Individual, collective, and planetary strength is necessary for long term sustainability I love the Apprentice TV series hosted by Donald Trump. This season, Donald recruited a cast of 18 celebrities, competing against one another on various business tasks. Each week the winning team leader is ...

The key to living a life of significance is to understand your own personal definition of success. We can be too quick to fall in line with how society, or our friends and family define success. Instead, true fulfillment comes from being aware of what your priorities are and living your life in accordance with them. Leaders, those individuals who are able to influence outcomes and inspire others, know what they value and live a life focused on those values. Here are five questions that will help you better understand what is truly significant to you: 1.

If you have a mentor you need to make sure that you ask the following questions at some point during your relationship: 1. What are your goals and dreams (Short term and long-term)? 2. How can I help you to accomplish your goals and dreams? 3. Why did you choose to pursue these goals and dreams? 4. What books have influenced your ideas and thoughts the most? 5. What ideas or thoughts inspired you or motivated you to get started? 6. What is the one action you have taken that has accounted for most of your success?

Intergove mental coordination for the purposes of this article encompasses how governments work with each other, both horizontally and vertically. 1. Horizontally with other local governments (cities/counties), other public entities such as the school board or other local elected boards , and local non-gove mental organizations; or 2. Vertically with regional entities such as water and sewer authorities, and state and federal legislatures and agencies.

Perfectionism hurts our relationships When making things perfect is our top priority, we tend to expect others to live up to our rigid expectations for performance. When they don’t, we’re likely to forget the other person’s intentions, efforts, or good work. Instead, we focus on the “less than perfect” aspects of what has been done.

The humble leader in a sea of alpha males and females is a rare sight. And yet, if we are to usher in much-needed change in the way we conduct business on a global level, humility at the top should be the norm, not the exception. Too much ego in any endeavor gets in the way of the purpose for doing business in the first place, and that’s to be of service to the greater good.nnYou say, “But Debbie, in order to be successful in this world you have to have ego.&#8221

Why are so many managers skeptical about time tracking? Let's face the truth: they have already tried to make employees track their time... and failed. According to some recent surveys, up to 87% of companies experience problems with implementing a time-tracking software. However, tech is not the problem. Driving cultural change is the problem. And it will not be welcomed as soon as it creates stress for employees. So the key to success lies in proper change management. Perha

I love this time of year. I find that more team work is exhibited during the holiday season than any other time of the year. Everything from a family working together to put together a family holiday meal, to a corporate work team having a holiday party, or groups of people helping out with making sure underprivileged kids get gifts that they may not normally get without someone caring enough to organize a team to give back to their local community. It is my observation that there are 3 reasons that corporate team building is so effective at this time of year.

Dramatic change has descended upon leaders and the workforce due to the social media revolution. The warp speed shift of workplace communications, interaction and information exchange is causing chaos, mistrust and poor face-to-face communications. This change is forcing leadership to think and interact differently with their workforce in order to engage, encourage and increase their performance. The John Quincy Adams quote, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, lea

When my younger brother and I went trick-or-treating as kids at Halloween, he was scared of ghosts. When he was very young, he had eye surgery a couple of times. All of the OR people wore white. He associated their white dress and the white sheets of “the ghosts” with pain. Like him, we can associate the ghosts of business pain past with present opportunities. We often fear these moments because of the past. Here are 3 Positive Strategies to Transform Business Fear so you Work Positive this week: Fear of You Can’t Do It Right Enoughr

This is the time of year when everything accelerates. Hectic goes to wild; busy becomes crazed… I thought readers would benefit from a powerful tip found in Leading Blog. It is consistent with one of the foundational 21 Powerful Principles found in “Step Up Now,” called “The Power of Stopping.” Next Time You’re in a Slump, Try Stillpower “When our performance is in a slump or we get stuck, we tend to become anxious and reach for any quick fix or technique that promises to g

Whether we recognize it or not it takes good leadership skills to be a good parent! Primarily the leadership skill that stands out to me the most is “Say what you mean and mean what you say!" Not applying this basic leadership skill will sink your ship quickly! When I say quickly I mean all the way to the bottom of the deepest part of the sea!

Ever wonder how two people can be in the same meeting, hear the same speaker communicate the same message - yet once the meeting is over, each person's perception of the event is totally different? Why the different perception? How can one individual think the meeting was terrific and leave completely inspired and motivated, yet the other person walks away believing the total opposite? Answer: "THE CLICK" (More on this in a minute!) Picture yourself being told that your de

If there are times that you feel awkward about getting people to open up to you try using the techniques applied by many talk show hosts. You have probably noticed that many of them have developed the ability to quickly put their guests at ease. They are masters at getting the conversation rolling and off to a good start. Try to become someone who knows how to successfully start and maintain a good conversation. This will give you a great advantage in personal, business, and professional life. It will also provide you with the added benefit of impressing others with your poise and skill.

It was a beautiful day in Costa Rica, the sun was shining and I was on the back of a beautiful horse named Diablo. I had been horseback riding numerous times before with no problems, so I wasn’t prepared for what would happen next. As Diablo and I hit full stride galloping across an open pasture between two majestic mountain peaks, Diablo stepped into a hole and I suddenly found myself tumbling to the ground along with the horse. Wincing in pain, my shoulder separated and rib cracked I looked at Diablo. He was lying on the ground bleeding from the nose.

What usually makes someone a "good" project manager is their experience, the fact that they have made mistakes and learnt from them in a real project environment and that they have achieved success in a real project environment.

One of the first tests in determining a level of your own personal emotional security is your proficiency in handling stressful and pressure packed situations. To create a successful communicative working atmosphere and a harmonious home environment, you need to maintain a level of emotional self-control when challenged with difficult decisions, tasks, and personnel interactions.

The global recession, directly or indirectly, will impact leadership – yours, your market, your competition, your region and, yes, your nation. Why?... Because leadership is ubiquitous. It is all around us. It is of primary importance. Yet, it is seemingly underserved, undervalued and under resourced. Need some proof?... According to the Development Dimensions International ‘s Global Leadership Forecast 2008/091 from research of 1493 HR professionals and 12,208 business leaders across 76 countries:

There is a difference between having good leadership skills and good management skills. Both are important to the success of a business, but in my humble opinion one wins out over the other. In order to be a good leader you must have a vision of where you want to take an organization. You must see the end result in your mind! In order to be a good manager you must be able to take that vision and manage all the necessary resources to get the organization there.

Not seeing any results from your job search? Have your job efforts been limited to responding to the classifieds? Jump-start your job search by developing a marketing campaign utilizing several different strategies to land the job you want. Be creative and think ‘outside the box.’ Try some methods you haven’t used in the past. Everything from networking to creating a career portfolio can speed up your job search efforts.