Leadership Articles

Speaking with greater clarity and purpose is vital for any leader, whether they are talking to an employee, client, board room, or the news media. Those who lack this ability will appear weak, befuddled, and ineffective – and will fail to convey their ideas and leadership vision. But those who have a mastery of communication have a powerful asset that can influence others and ensure extraordinary success.

When you hear or think about the word December, many things likely come to mind; but one word that likely doesn’t is . . . productive.rnToday I want to challenge that thought, and even give you some very specific ways to use the last month of the year to be as productive, or perhaps more so, than any other month of the year.rnActually, in some ways, for many of you December is a very productive month. Think about how much you accomplish: you attend more parties than any oth

The Herman Group issued a great report that indicates more and more employees are seeking employment with organizations that value their corporate values. As Roger Herman's report indicated, "More people, in their work environment, are basing work and life decisions on personal and ...

At the end of the dinner, the president of our association asked the board of directors if we had any questions. My first thought, don’t you have any questions for us?

It isn’t working. Almost nothing about the way a leader led in the Nineties works today. If you need proof, just look around. Businesses are gone that should be thriving, new businesses are sprouting that weren’t even a dream back then. Yesterday’s roadmap for success doesn’t work for today’s entrepreneur and business strategist any more than a 1931 Ford Model A could successfully race in the Daytona 500. Yet leaders continue to employ the same set of “old” traditional rules

Have you ever heard of a sports massage before? Whether you're a beginner athlete or elite competitor, these types of massages are amazing in treating your muscle tension and pain after an intense workout or game. It's reported to have a host of benefits that can help in improving the way you play and perform, making it a popular choice for anyone who plays sports or does intense workouts.

Quotes of the week *============================================================* “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” - Maria Robinson “The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” Flora Whittemore “Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” Keri Russell “Change - the only constant in the equations of life; you ignore it to your peril or embrace it to your advantage.” – Kemmy Oluleye Article of the week

A friend of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once observed that all Dr. Peale did when he gave a speech was to tell a story and make a point, then tell another story and make another point. He asked Dr. Peale where he learned that form of communication in his presentations. Dr. Peale’s answer was simple, “Jesus.” Jesus taught using parables and like Dr. Peale I’ve discovered the power of parabolic communication. A parable can be defined as “a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.”

You are a manager. Everyone is a manager. A person may manage an executive team, executive team members manage managers, managers manage supervisors, supervisors manage workers, and workers manage themselves. We are all managers. So what is the most valuable competency? I learned this ...

I’ve got four questions for you… four questions that can, as I promised above, change your results. I’m going to say more about each of them, how they can make a difference, and when you would want to apply them, but first, here they are:rnWhy?rnWhy not?rnWhy not me?rnWhy not now?rnYou can apply these questions in many life and work situations including when you want to:rn• Create a changern• Communicate a messagern• Consider an idearn• Issue a challengern• Cr

The saying goes; absence makes the heart grow fonder.rnWhile that may be true in some cases, another old saying is also true:rnOut of sight, out of mind.rnBoth hold shades of truth for any of us wanting to communicate more effectively with people when we are separated by space. More often though, the second holds more truth at work than does the first.rnIf you are in business today, you likely deal with this situation at least occasionally. But most of us deal with it every d

Every great performer has a coach. As the pace of the world of business gets faster and more competitive, it’s difficult to keep up with all the changes in your industry – in addition to running your business every day.rnBusiness coaches help you with the winning game plan for your business. How? A Business Coach brings in objectivity, he listens and guides you to success. A good Business Coach will make you focus on your business and hold you accountable to the things yo

We are born with a body whose systems are ready to sustain life. As we mature, those systems develop into a fully functioning physical person. Having a fully functioning physical body is one half of the life equation. The other half is the programming that is needed to make it function. That ...

Building positive workplace relationships is vital for career success. Relationships can positively or negatively affect your satisfaction with the job, your ability to advance and gain recognition for your achievements. When you build positive relationships, you feel more comfortable with your interactions and less intimidated by others. You feel a closer bond to the people you spend the majority of your time working with. However, for a lot of people, relationship building

Introductio Why do we keep hearing that 70% of mergers and acquisitions fail? Why do wrenching stories of failed mergers, like Time Warner and AOL, linger for years? Why do you risk huge loss of your best talent if you do not lead change with spirit and skill? A client executive with an ...

Most of the time I'm pretty motivated and enthusiastic about work. What's not to be excited about? I get to share my passion for leadership with people who truly benefit from my work. I make my own hours and often work with two cute dogs at my feet. I realize, however, that not everyone enjoys high levels of motivation every day. Many of you replied to our recent survey and said that employee motivation is a major challenge. You asked: "What can we do to help employees bring

As leaders we are in the influence business.rnThink about it – while it might be desirable and make our lives easier, we can’t make anyone do anything, at least not for very long, and without there being unintended consequences.rnIf we as leaders can’t control others, we must influence or persuade them.rnWithout question, as leaders we are in the business of influencing others to choose their actions, choices and words. We want them to follow our lead and direction. And

Your future success is a choice; you have to choose to want to be successful Just before he died, renowned playwright George Be ard Shaw was asked to name a famous deceased man whom he missed the most. Shaw replied “the man I miss the most is the man I could have been”. This was an interesting response from Shaw in his final days.

You don't have to be in a leadership position to have good leadership skills! Leadership is the skill of motivating individuals to have a common goal! The better you are at motivating them the more likely the goal is achieved! That does not remove the fact that the individuals must have certain skills to perform the tasks necessary to accomplish that goal. But if all things are equal a person with good leadership skills will have a better performing group of individuals than a poor leader.

Motivating people is a myth. People cannot be motivated by others. They are motivated from within. Leaders can however, set up an environment in which people are able to motivate themselves. To set up an environment that enables employees to be motivated, leaders need to understand what the ...

One absolute necessity for effectively leading a growing environment is the art of delegation. The leader who fails to delegate will inhibit growth of the organization and stifle leadership development of the team. Delegation is something to be learned and practiced. To get you started, here are 3 tips to delegating effectively: Give Away – You have to start somewhere. Find a project or task you would normally do and give it away to someone. Of course you want to trust the

1. Take regular breaks. Some people seem to take pride in the fact that they never have a break. " Lunch is for wimps " as Michael Douglas said in Wall Street. I think these people are just plain wrong. Even a short break helps you to re-energise, relax and refocus. Without a break, you may think you're working hard but you're getting diminishing returns. You're slowing down and working less efficiently. 2. Take some exercise.

It’s time, and you know it.rnYou and your team have identified the idea that will change your world and results.rnIt’s your Disney World, your iPad, or your DVD player. OK, it might not be that big, but it will be a game changer for you. It is big, it is bold, and it is not like anything you have tried before. You’ve implemented ideas before, but nothing this important or big. So you are excited, and a bit scared; but you know it is time to act.rnHere are the things you

Team members need managers to do more than just set expectations and provide encouragement. They need support and someone to clear the path for them with others. Have you ever had a manager ask you do something where you found yourself faced with having to influence others outside your scope of ...

As we approach the end of the year, it’s common to begin planning ahead and setting goals for the next 12 months. This is a great ritual that keeps many of us focused on what we want to accomplish in the coming year. In addition to this, it’s also important to take time to look back at past accomplishments -- to celebrate the success of what we’ve achieved.

To carry out their role many managers will benefit greatly from leadership training. Very few, if anyone is born as a natural leader. Some people are naturally better at it than others are, however even those people can benefit from some training. Why Leadership Training Is so Critical to Success rnWith good leadership training your managers will become adept at leading their team. They will learn how to clearly communicate goals and aims and lead their teams towards the achi

I've learned a LOT about leadership while growing my business. I cannot say these have been easy lessons. I've probably made every mistake in the book. I've been too hands off. I've been too rigid. My standards have - at times - been out of reach. In those moments, I've let my frustration get the better of me. I know that there are people who choose leadership roles to boost their ego. Yet, I've found that leadership is a profound and often under-appreciated form of service.

If we take a look at all the past mayhem and destruction, we will find it all emanates from the minds of human beings that used their intellectual brain to the detriment of humanity. On the 4th August two main headlines hit the news. Martha Stewart was sentenced to three extra weeks for being outside and enjoying the fresh air and going to Yoga classes. This is reminiscent of any past witch hunt by religious zealots. n nAnother headline read - Ayman al-Zawahri, a deputy leade

"Every valuable human being must be a radical and a rebel, for what he must aim at is to make things better than they are." - Neils Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962) Danish physicist - Nobel Prize for Physics - 1922. Creativity and imagination are masterful tools often underutilized in tapping into ...

Leadership is the ability of an individual to guide another or groups of people towards achieving a certain set target. The society looks for a leader to act as a center of concentration of their power and install their trust in him or her to make decisions for them. In business, on the other hand, a leader is someone who is able to successfully take over and move an entity forward, invent, supervise and solve any arising problems that face it. In any leadership position, one

Have you or one of your team members ever attended a seminar, class, or important meeting where they picked up valuable ideas and information, but then got back to work only to become so busy or distracted that the ideas were never implemented? Of course, it happens to most of us. What can you do to get these ideas implemented? Here are two simple techniques that can significantly increase the probability that you and your direct reports "use it and don't lose it."

* Survey showed employees regarded managers as “the least trusted group’. * Staff morale in the west has hit rock bottom but China’s GDP grew strong. * What can we learn from eastern insights in to personal impact and relationships? Research showed that employees regarded senior manager as “the least trusted group”. Today, a big challenge in business is how senior managers can exercise the right kind of leadership styles to win hearts and minds and get the best performance from employees.

Professor Marie McIntyre of Georgia’s Institute of Government has researched the relationship between managers and personality. Her findings confirmed my own experiences as a psychologist and a consultant, and probably will confirm yours as well. Managerial types are more analytical then ...Professor Marie McIntyre of Georgia’s Institute of Government has researched the relationship between managers and personality. Her findings confirmed my own experiences as a psychologist

I was outside pulling some weeds this morning in the front yard. It's frustrating to have to go out every week, pulling the weeds just to have other sprout up in their place. And I realized that my problem is that I am pulling the larger weeds out, but the smaller ones that are harder to see ...

Customer Service is extremely important when we think about our clients, but do you show the same level of customer service as a leader to your employees? One of the most valuable resources we can give our employees is time. Unfortunately, in today’s fast based business environment we are ...

Though some aspects of good leadership such as confidence and problem solving skills may be taught in leadership courses, there are some things that simply must come about naturally to have the desired effect. The benefits of the most important leadership traits are obvious, though the actual traits themselves may not be obviously present. Competitive A good leader is driven and competitive. They pride themselves in offering the best available service or option, and will work

You may be thinking “I don’t lead leaders; I don’t need to read this.”rnEven if you don’t (yet), there are three important reasons why you need to keep reading:rn• Some day you might lead leaders – and thinking about these ideas now is worth the minimal effort required.rn• You may want to share it with your boss or others to encourage and help them grow.rn• The points below apply to all of us; they just become even more important when we are in that more sen

A virtual team is one that has members in different physical locations (e.g., buildings or countries) or working at different times (e.g., shifts). One of the major trends in business is to get work done, projects accomplished, or goals achieved via virtual teams. Yet studies have shown that only 18% of senior managers consider the performance of these teams as highly successful. (1) How successful is your virtual team? There are a number of variables that affect team success. Here are the top ten tools research reveals can improve your virtual team's performance:

You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands – your own."n--Mark Victor Hanse I love autumn. It brings endings and ...

Have you ever think, what makes a good leader? Well, answer may vary with person to person. Some believe that the leadership skills are inborn whereas, some consider that these can acquired with proper learning and training. The important leadership skills include Commitment and determination drive various aspects of a business towards a common unified goal. Risk-taking – think ‘out of the box’, develop products and services for business expansion and strengthen their g

It’s always a desirable idea to start your day with some honest blog tips that can help you increase your conversions with your network marketing company. I wrote ‘Successful Blogging Tips for the Network Marketer’ with you in mind. In this blog post, you’re going to learn some essential things that work for me and will work for you as well as your mlm blog. Blogging for Content, Not Google Points

The first thing I remember purchasing with my own money that I earned was a basketball. Basketball GymAs a boy, when I wasn`t working on the farm, often I was shooting baskets. While my high school career stalled for a variety of reasons (being small, 5`9", and having mononucleosis as a sophomore didn`t help!), I`ve always loved the game. While I still love to pick up a ball, dribble and shoot, most of my focus now is on watching, especially college games. Time spent watching

If you are a leader, you make decisions, large and small, every day. Many are straightforward and take very little time, but if you have been a leader for very long at all, you have had to face a complex, multi-faceted and difficult problem, where the decision was far from easy or obvious.rnOften when we get in that situation, is it hard to lift our head up to look at how to make the decision, because we are so consumed by the problem/decision itself. So today, when perhaps y

In most corporate cultures, the focus is on “What’s wrong?” Very few of the world’s organizations are fed by creative and positive thinking that produces questions like “What’s right,” “What’s the opportunity here,” and “How can we make this work?” Yet these are the very questions that can produce thriving organizations with strong profitability and a cohesive, even fun, organizational culture.n n The “what’s wrong” perspective leaves most employees and leaders today spending

It's been happening more and more. Clients are complaining about their managers' inappropriate behaviors, lack of management skills, and inability to take on greater responsibilities. Yet, when I ask what they've done to discuss the problem areas with their managers, I'm told, "It won't do any ...

46 years today and tomorrow (as I post this), July 20 and 21st, 1969, are days that everyone my age or older remembers.rnThese are the days when the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon (the 20th) and when Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon (on the 21st).rnThis was an accomplishment of epic proportions and if you are old enough, you remember where you were watching those historic transmissions from space. But this post isn’t about history or scient

It's simple, repeat this affirmation: "I will incorporate the concept of behavioral characteristics and let it simply lead me to success." The concept of behavioral characteristics will lead one to success by them understanding when to adjust, but more importantly; How?. Everyone, everyday adapts to all obstacles and situations in their daily routines. Learning when and when not to be aggressive, for example would be ideal in the business world as well as throughout life as

The epitome of Success is the result of a series of Decisions that coincide with your goals and aspirations. The first ideal thing to do would be to assess your current pre-disposition, are you contented, happy or is change a necessity? I believe “change can only be attained from within” The idea of Change and acting on it is too cumbersome for most people hence you cannot make people change. The best you can hope for is to encourage them to want to change themselves! And

Any successful business organization understands how investing in the next generation of leaders is significant to sustaining its competitive advantage, as well as in achieving corporate growth in the long run. This is why it is no longer unusual to have business organizations having some form of leadership development training to help equip its functional managers with advanced decision making and executive skills, which are deemed quite important in becoming successful mult