Leadership Articles

Every place I go, if I’m in an organization long enough, I’ll hear people lament about the lack of accountability. Specifically, I hear things like: “They just don’t seem to care enough, I guess.” “Those action items never get done – I don’t know why we even identify them.” “I have trouble ...

The gnawing anxiety in the pit of my stomach kept me awake. I had invested all my savings in this entrepreneurial venture, borrowed money from friends, and was near the limit of my credit cards. The nightmare of losing my home also thundered in my brain.

When I started my company, I committed to reserving one day a week for “me time”. Now, it took me about three years to take advantage of this one day; however, I believe I am finally there! On one of these occasions I decided to get my hair done – usually a three hour process. The beauty shop ...

Whether you are a manager who wants to improve or someone looking for ways to shine in hopes of becoming a manager, there are actions you can take to become a better leader at the office. Taking the following steps will show your employer that you are an ambitious employee with leadership potential. 1. Define Your Leadership Style By analyzing your leadership style in the workplace, you can mold your strengths and weaknesses into a style of your own. Each type of leader has s

Every leader I’ve ever talked with has been busy. Some are more stressed by their workload than others, but the reality of work today is that we all (leaders included) have plenty to do. Which should make the title of this article of great interest, I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in better ...

rnDo all leaders possess the same key traits? The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu thought so. In his famous book on leadership, The Art of War, he proposed that all effective leaders possess the same five characteristics: intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline. In modern times, however, we’ve discovered that different leaders lead in different ways – and that what works for one type of leader won’t necessarily work for another. Style theories

Have you ever sat down and thought about how you could be like the great minds such as Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci? Have you ever considered if you have what it takes to do the things that would make history like they did? If could put your finger on that thing that could make you a creative genius, then would you use it? You could do just that if you wanted to. You might not believe this, but you have the capabilities to become a genius. You probably have gifts and ta

About ten years ago Cliff Arnall, a British scientist, reportedly created a calculation to determine “the most depressing day of the year.” The equation includes seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since last failed attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.rnSince then, it has generally been determined that the last Monday in January qualifies as the worst/most depressing day of the ye

According to the National Institutes of Health, "people who feel more in control at their jobs tend to feel less stressed out." While executives and senior leaders have more control of their work, they manage people who feel like they have less control, which makes them stressed out Employees in general are feeling more anxious and stressed. They're worried about lay-offs, wage freezes, and reduction in benefits. If they are in an organization where there has already been a r

Even if you’ve never taken the time to articulate your company culture, you probably have some feeling of what it is. When you go to work each day, you have some general sense of what the team values, what it takes seriously, what it pursues—and what it doesn’t. There can be comfort in those patterns, which makes changes to your company culture unsettling. Yet as the team itself changes, or as leaders come and go, culture can change all around you.

Many top organizations where I work as an outside consult or a speaker delivering professional development seminars are rushing right now to create new internal women’s leadership groups. That’s because these large companies understand that as the economy imposes changes in how they do business, it also triggers a change of leadership positions within their firms. To enhance their profit margins they are streamlining middle management and top positions – and it appears that more men are being impacted in adverse ways than are women.

A cornerstone of resiliency is adaptability: the skill of finding multiple solutions to an event, challenge, or opportunity. The emphasis is on the word "multiple". The more options one can create, the greater is one's resiliency quotient. However, innovative thinking requires a different mindset than analytical thinking. The latter strives for one right answer. Innovative thinking seeks many answers. To hone innovative thinking, practice asking many questions: What if? Why not? Why? Who says so? How about? Where could we?

My “Old Man” worked in a steel mill for 42 years as a millwright and hated every day of it. With 7 children, he had no choice. At times, he worked three jobs to make ends meet. Never complaining, he raised us all with a strong work ethic, sense of family and most importantly a sense of humor. If it hadn’t been for his sense of humor, I am quite certain that the stresses of the jobs and the seven kids would’ve killed him. The legacy he passed of seeing the humorous side of things has helped me throughout my entire life and truly been the recipe for success in my professional life.

IT projects have never had a great reputation for successful project delivery – of course, technology has always been complex but it is becoming more and more so with every year that passes. So it is understandable that IT projects are not the easiest to deliver on-time, on-budget and on-scope. But there are three main areas of project management that are most likely to result in a less than successful outcome to an IT project:

If you are like me, you are living some distance from the devastation wrought by Katrina. If you are like me you not physically impacted and can watch the plight of others on television in the comfort of your home. And if you are like me, you are wondering what you can do. I believe the ...

I just attended the fantastic Atlanta SHRM conference and came away from the event realizing that HR executives are the new game-changers of the business world. They’re providing visionary strategic leadership for companies both large and small, and value they bring to the table permeates the entire organization. The theme of this year’s conference was “Attract, Connect, Engage and Retain,” and these topics were woven into the entire experience. Here’s a review of my two spectacular days – as seen through my “perpetual learner” lens. A Rockin’ Keynote

I have a friend who worked in the family business for most of his adult life. Sure he operated as a business owner, but his father started the business. It was his father who spent sleepless nights worrying about making payroll and whether his suppliers would extend credit again. My friend was insulated from such anxieties . . . until the family business was sold, and he started his own business. He became an entrepreneur really for the first time.

“If a man constantly aspires, is he not elevated?” - Henry David Thoreau The pursuit to be in control of one’s life is powerful, yet life does challenge each and every one of us. No one goes unscathed in their life’s journey. Who hasn’t experienced loss of some kind? It can be a loss of a ...

A recent Harris Interactive survey for Whitepages.com eleased findings on what communication modes are most open to misunderstanding. Not surprisingly, 80% of adults found it most easy to misinterpret the tone of e-mail. Seventy-eight percent found text messages to be misleading, while 71% ...

Yes, it bothers me. I'm a blog content writer for hire and I read a lot of "how to blog better for your business" article. They all talk about riveting content, tight copy, and getting conversions. And that's all good advice… But, what if your small business is your blog or a series of blogs? What then? Better Blogging for Your Blog

In your employees’ eyes, the totality of your leadership is dependent upon the things that they see you do. That means things like your ethics, values, morals, attitude, beliefs, character, skill, knowledge etc. are closely watched and examined by those you are leading. Your action as a leader counts a lot in achieving credible leadership. You see, credibility is a leaders’ currency. With it, he or she is solvent; without it, He or she is bankrupt. Let us look at credibil

Since we are born with the mental and psychological ability to make choices, our lives will be determined mostly by what we want to do with our freedom of choice.

I just finished Mitch Albom's 'the five people you meet in heaven.' It's an interesting quick read. And it left me, as I'm sure it does all readers, wondering who I'd meet if I were to have a similar post-life experience. Just as Mr. Albom's main character meets individuals whose lives he ...

I enjoy running out on the mountain trails on the weekends. During the drive to the trails, I see several people biking on the roads. There are a lot of long hills that wind up and down the mountains which make for a tough ride I assume. There is an area where you travel for about a mile in ...

He marched down the hall towards me. He wore a black suit, white shirt, and a gray tie that matched his silver hair. Oh no, I thought to myself, it's Mr. McNulty, the executive director of this entire YMCA. Ten yards from me, he stopped and bent down to pick up a candy wrapper that had escaped from a careless child in our youth department. He then strode to the trash bin next to the desk where I was checking children into their afte oon classes. "You're Dave Jensen, aren’t you?" He barked. "Yes sir," I stammered.

Recently I had a conversation with my father-in-law who used to sell and repair televisions as a side business. Somehow we started talking about early color sets. He mentioned that he owns the first color set he ever sold, and we reminisced about the first color sets we had. We got ours when I was ten, in the fall of 1972. How do I know? Because that was the first World Series I saw in full color.rnTelevision and movies worked in black and white – but for the most part, whe

One of my favorite quotes is from a famous American football coach, Vince Lombardi. He lived betwee 1913 and 1970 and produced many great quotes that are now classics. Most of them are related to Teamwork. The quote I am talking about is one really famous. You can see it all over the Internet, and it has become a motto for many online professionals. The quote is: “Leaders are not born, they are developed”. If you think about it for a while, you might disagree. We have all s

Any leadership development training should take into account some of the basic facts, which ought to be made available to the individual concerned for developing his leadership skill and techniques.nnThe training or program must adequately deal with deliberations on leadership, and not limit the understanding of the term to its limited sense. Any reference to conventional typecast leadership should be shunned. The training should also incorporate a comprehensive understanding

If you can Master this two skills, I bet Your life will change today. I have been asked this question many times by people, friends, family and colleagues, what is that a person needs in order to be successful in life and achieve his/her dreams?. My answer is just simple,” master these two skills and without no doubt you're going straight to the top". These skills are very essential and needs to be learned and understood for one to survive in this planet earth. 1.

"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it." - Pearl Buck (1892-1973) Reinventing yourself from one career to another is an adventure. The adventure can be welcomed or not. It depends upon personal circumstances. To some ...

Here are some questions to ask before you start your own business:

Would you like to obtain the respect of many individuals in your organization? nDo you want your ideas to be heard, validated, and implemented?nWould you like employees to come to you for assistance with problem-solving on projects?nWould you like to move up to a higher level of leadership? nnIf you answered yes to any of these questions, read on.nnnI’ll share with you four qualities crucial for an effective leadership, which are summarized by the acronym, LEADnnL is for le

Individuals who have the most career success are typically those who take full ownership and control of the direction their career is heading. They do not sit around and wait for the next opportunity to arise or for someone to tell them what they need to do. Instead, they grab hold of their own ideas and passions and build their most successful career. So, what exactly do they do?

(c) Copyright 2006 by Amy M. Potavin nnHow many times have you been asked "What are you going to do to motivate your employees?" nnIf you are like most people, you immediately start spouting off ideas about incentive programs, raises in compensation, or other actions that YOU intend to take. Unfortunately, that approach is ALL WRONG!n nWebster defines motivation as a "condition of being motivated by a motivating force" which is further defined as a "stimulus, influence, incen

Good results come from strong self-management habits. The important point to remember, though, is that self-management habits are learned behavior. They can be changed. Your self-management habits may control your destiny, but you can control your habits. The first step is to change your thinking. Henry Ford put it this way, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” What you think is vitally important. You usually act in ways that are consistent with your belief

Have you set yourself goals at work for this year? If you haven’t, go away and set some and then come back and read this. Done it? Good. Now read on to see whether you’ve set the right sort of goals or whether you might be selling yourself short… What’s the point of setting goals at work? Well, it helps you to focus, to plan and to motivate yourself. If you’re clear about what you want to achieve, you can work out a strategy to make it happen. If you leave things vague, you’re far less likely to take the actions necessary to succeed.

I've been thinking a lot about gratitude. I am a firm believe in the concept of, "you get what you give" and have seen it play out in my life (and the lives of others) on a regular basis. In everything we do and say in our lives, we are emitting energetic vibrations and those frequencies that we emit come back to us in the same fashion. (Some refer to it as karma). Therefore, being kind and loving will bring that back to you, as will being angry and frustrated. The more angry and frustrated you are, the more you experience things around you that are frustrating and make you angry.

If you have been leading for very long, you’ve had bad news to deliver to someone or to your entire team.rnI do realize that there is “bad news” and there is "seriously-work-and-life-changing-bad-news", but regardless of the depth, leaders worry about the impact the news will have on the psyche, attitude and motivation of their teams.rnWhile that is a worthy concern, there are several things to think about that will change your approach, your expectations and likely you

Do you provide a good product or service to your customers? Do you ship orders on time? Are your employees well-trained and professional with each other and with your customers? Do you address customer problems as soon as they arise? If you do all of these things - good. That's your job. Your ...

Have you ever asked yourself “Is business ownership right for me?” A large number of people when asked will say that they would like to own a business. However, when digging deeper, these same people aren’t really clear on what involved in owning a business. Here are 7 questions you should asked to find out if business ownership is right for you? 1. How long can you go without having a regular income or company benefits? 3 Points - I have other income. 2 Points – I can go 6

You've probably heard the phrase "be careful what you wish for", haven't you? Let's assume you have. That was my exact thought at the age of 26 when I was thrust, unexpectedly, into the role of Vice President/General Manager of one of Minor League Baseball's most successful franchises in the mid-80s in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ove ight I went from being comfortable in my role as assistant general manager into the top position of a $3 million business.

Do you have an appreciation for the impact that a “culture of leadership” can have on the success of your organization? Does your definition of leadership include the whole organization or are you bearing the entire burden? Are you afraid to let go or have you just never been taught how truly effective leaders transform organizations? It is easier than you think, and the rewards are astonishing. Benefits of Strong Leadership The organizations with strong visionary leaders reap many of the following benefits: • Continual flow of business at profitable rates • Low turnoverr

If you’re a manager, you can’t afford to have negative, non-performing employees on your payroll. 3M discovered that. When management laid off the bottom 10% (their poorest performers) at one facility -- their productivity skyrocketed up 18%. When they laid off another 10% (the next poorest set of performers) -- productivity went up another 4%. 3M learned that negative employees not only produce less, but they also they cost more. n nNegative employees destroy morale and

It's easy to assume that the problem with a company lies in management not being effective or employees not working hard enough. A good leader knows, though, that they sometimes must step outside of the situation and look at all the variables. If management at your company is not positively affecting the culture, motivating employees and generally contributing to the bottom line, the trouble may not necessarily be with the management team - it may be the leaders on your team

I recently visited an organization that was suffering from what I call “too many sheep”. My first exposure to this organization of financial planners was at a seminar presenting their services to prospective clients. The seminar began with a brief introduction by one of the representatives, and then the office manager proceeded to deliver the rest of the material about the company and it’s services.

Magic WandThere are tools, seminars, books, CD`s, teleseminar, webinars and workshops (and more) to help you learn and improve in any area of your life. I should know, I have bought and attended many of them, and sold a great number of them as well. This article isn`t meant dissuade you from investing in these opportunities, in fact far from it. All of these learning tools are valuable and important and will help you accelerate your progress dramatically in your particular ar

Let’s face it – almost everyone has a boss. Our relationship with our immediate supervisor impacts so many aspects of our lives. A solid rapport with that person allows us to balance work/life more effectively, work in a positive environment and feel more fulfilled in our careers. On the other hand, a poor relationship with our boss gives us a bad attitude – one that spills over into our personal lives after we’re off the clock. When the bond between us and our boss is weak, we often feel helpless – like victims to our careers.

In this era of intense competition, rapid change, and overwhelming complexity it can be a dog eat dog world. It is the survival of the fittest. Simply put, you either come correct or stay at home! What do you do when you feel like you can’t run with the “big dogs;” and staying on the porch is not an option? The 5 steps to courageous leadership can provide you with strategies that give you the confidence you need to lead in uncertain times. Step 1 Do Not Focus On Problems C

What is happening to common courtesy and customer service? This month I went to one of my favorite fast food restaurants for breakfast and ordered my favorite breakfast menu item. Here’s the verbal exchange through the drive in window: “Can I help you?” I gave my order. “Is that it?” I gave my reply. “Drive Forward”. When I got to the window, I was told the price for my meal. As I quickly put my change away I heard “Here”. I took my breakfast, said “thank

Content may be king and knowledge may be power, but people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Many managers and supervisors who want to be effective leaders make the mistake of believing that because they are an expert on a subject that that makes them the boss. However, to be quite honest most people don’t want a boss. What people want is to be inspired. What effective leaders do is inspire. Let me let you in on a little secret; being right does