Leadership Articles

Do you ramble when you speak, packing in too many irrelevant details? Perhaps you skip from one idea to the next with no connection between them. The first conversation pattern makes you boring and the second makes you confusing. Either one can have a negative impact on your ability to influence ...

A powerful symbol, the Inuksuk, stands as a guide to the Inuit tribe of the Canadian Arctic. Built of stones it is a messenger to those who cross the barren tundra of these lands; a signpost where food is stored or shelter can be found; a map to help arctic travelers navigate safely across the tundra, showing direction across a valley or pass or a warning marking danger up ahead - a stone structure that stands in for a human. The meaning of a specific Inuksuk is given by the

According to a survey conducted by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, about half of all American households experience customer service-related problems. Over two-thirds of those customers were “very” or “extremely upset” about the company response when they complained. Over one-third reacted by yelling at the rep while the number of consumers cursing nearly doubled to 13%. If we surveyed your customers, how would they rate their experience with your business?

Self-knowledge has always been the key to preparing for competition. Knowledge of your attributes, abilities, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and traits is essential to riding the front end of the wave of change into the new century. To fully assess your own talents, realize that studies ...Self-knowledge has always been the key to preparing for competition. Knowledge of your attributes, abilities, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and traits is essential to riding the fron

There are a myriad of characteristics attributed to great leaders in the literature on leadership. I’ve chosen five that are critical for everyone seeking to lead. Not fully appreciating or understanding the ramifications of not following these ideas can lead to misery for a leader. How do you rate and what is your current misery index? Everyone is a leader. If one examines their life’s routines, it becomes easy to segment when leadership was part of the activity. Raising children? You’re a leader. Do you sometimes offer a helping hand to others in your workplace?

Have you ever wondered why good to great employees leave your company or your team? Have you ever thought of what you could have done wrong or how you could have supervised them better when they were still with you? rn‘Brain Drain’, according to Answers.com, is the loss of skilled intellectual and technical labor through the movement of such labor to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments. It is one of those that a company avoids, stays away from, and is afraid of. It is also one of the measures of how well a company takes care of its people.

Because they are so powerful, words must be chosen carefully. Words are much more than letters strung together. They are the means by which we convey our thoughts to one another. Words touch all of our senses. They have a rhythm we can feel and hear. They evoke pictures in our minds. They help us recall memories, sights and smells and experiences. Like most other disciplines, leadership has its own language and to communicate as a leader is to speak in that language. Much of the traditional language of leadership has relied on metaphors from sports or the military.

Whoever spent time as a child on a school playground and been the victim of name calling knows the deflective phrase used to counter those slurs, “sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me,” isn’t enough to overcome the impact of those bullying communications to youthful, developing ears. The messages young children hear in those early years often become part of their psychological makeup for years to come, and sometimes lead to visits to therapists as adults.

My Faith Storyr

Change in the workplace is accelerating. Technology development and infusion into new products is almost a daily event. Companies are in endless pursuit to drive costs down to become more competitive. Rightsizing, downsizing, reorganization with layoffs are the norm. Changes driven by Six ...

For those of us who are Catholic, part of our faith includes a belief in and reliance on the Holy Spirit. However, this article is not intended as a lesson on Catholicism. But I thought, as I reflected on them in my daily readings, that there is a great fit for us to utilize as we grow our personal potential.

Relationships are not easy, be it marriage, romantic or even with friends. It happens, people change, times change, we grow with time and sometimes time just makes us grow apart. Marriage takes a lot of work, those of you who have been married know exactly what I mean, now imagine having to do all that work whilst you're a well known celebrity?

There is one problem we’ve all encountered that can be simultaneously frustrating and disappointing. As an innovative leader and team player you present a great idea to your boss. But the boss doesn’t accept the idea or promote it upward through the organizational chain of command. Instead he or she is just indifferent, believes it isn’t doable or realistic, and says “No.” To help you succeed at overcoming this kind of resistance here are five helpful tips and guidelines.

Have you ever felt ‘stuck’ in a conversation with three or more people that just wasn’t going anywhere? People are droning on and on about this and that, leaving you bored and wishing you could just slip away? This is an all too familiar social situation - we’ve all been there and , chances are, ...

People form opinions and make judgments about us in the first 60 seconds of a meeting or when speaking with us on the phone. Statistics indicate that 87% of people's opinions are formed based on the tone of our voice while only 13% is based on the actual words we use. The 500 most frequent use words in the English language have 14,000 meanings depending on how they are used. So what does this all mean to your office and the success that you're going to have with your clients? Everything!

The Foundation for Building Your Workplace In the competitive and volatile workplace of the 21st Century, employers can ill afford to waste time, money or resources. A loss of any type affects the bottom line. Experiencing too many such loses can close the doors of a business. So what can a business do to maximize these resources? TIME: There are only 24 hours each day and no way to create more. However, there are many ways to become more efficient with time use. Without going into my time management seminar, let me share a key idea that, if applied, will make a difference.

"I'm happy for the players; I didn't do this," he said. "All I did was create an atmosphere of accountability. When you see something done the wrong way, you say, 'Hey, that ain't good enough.' And after a while you get the players to do that for each other. It's about helping them take ownership of their own team." – Buck Showalter "You reward performance and develop potential! You do NOT reward potential!" – Bill Parcells In a lot of organizations, NOT achieving planned

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common abnormal or irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) in the world today. In AF, the atria (upper heart chambers) contract in a chaotic way causing the blood to pump through the heart less efficiently. Since the atria do not contract properly, blood pools in these chambers and tends to form clots. These clots may dislodge, and if they develop in the left atrium, can result in the most common complication of AF; a stroke.

Every year, we gain a clearer understanding that without positive change, decline is inevitable. The challenge is to recognize that what we are now doing can be reinvented by paying attention to our intentions. Yet, it is very hard to bring about significant change without changes in ...

Leadership, or the lack thereof, has been receiving a lot of attention over the last few years but, let’s face it, it’s a fairly woolly topic. There are as many definitions of leadership as there are people. Personally, I define leadership as the ability to look forward and clearly see the future you want for your organization, communicate this throughout the organization and to enable people to achieve it.

What Type of Leader are YOU? You’ve worked with many leaders and have your favourites and those that got the very best out of you. They may have been very involved in your day-to-day activity, or simply left you alone to get on with the job. They either gave you clear direction, or allowed you to make your own decisions. So what type of leader are you? There are four distinct leadership styles dictated by how much involvement the leader has at the front line and how much the

This book review was provided by Joe Farcht , the Official Guide to Leadership Skills. Leadership Skills are the tools and traits acquired to facilitate guiding or a directing a group, most commonly toward a shared goal. nnJoe Farcht has identified Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse as a valuable resource for people interested in leadership skills and it is avaialble through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble .nnnn Review nVenkatesh Pamu Book Reviews : "The bo

“We need to be confronted by our actions, messages, and shortcomings if we expect to learn and grow. No more hiding behind excuses. No blaming others. No hiding behind phrases like—"This is just the way I am.” E. James Wilder As part of our career growth path, we must engage in constant evaluation of our actions to determine if they are the right activities to get the job done. We must be aware of the messages we deliver to our peers and to those we lead in our work environment. What we say becomes who we are.

St. Thomas Aquinas is considered by many to be the Catholic Church’s greatest theologian and philosopher. Among the many great works he created, Aquinas wrote about the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. As I was reminded of these gifts during a recent Sunday church service, I thought it would be relevant to take them out of the spiritual realm and bring them to the workplace. I’ve renamed the list the Seven Gifts of Great Leaders. 1.

“Say what you mean and mean what you say,” says Frank Luntz, communications researcher and author of several books including What Americans Really Want…Really. Today’s workforce craves truthful comprehensive communications and aligned action from leadership in all aspects. They want to know the what, why, how and when – and they care about the long-term implications of decisions made by their leaders. Luntz’s research states that the most desirable company attribute for the

Leadership as a reciprocal relationship in which one person points in a direction and others follow. Below, we have outlined five qualities of effective leaders. Those qualities are: 1. Their behaviors build on their natural strengths. rn2. They are aware of their limitations, and seek input from people with perspectives different from their own. rn3. They are aware that any group contains people who see the world differently than they do, and they find ways to communicate ef

When you first start a new job, it's very beneficial to have a "first 90-days plan." Why? First, because it gives you some direction about where you want to focus your time and attention in your first three months and second, because many companies will give you a "90-day review" after your first three months on the job or even your first three months in a new role. Therefore, having a plan for those first three months is an important factor in your ability to be successful from the start.r

Over the last 25 years of working with individuals and groups the topic I have studied the most is leadership. It is my favorite topic of all. Here are five lessons I’ve learned about leadership. Lesson #1: Leadership is Not a Labelr In studying leaders and in working side-by-side with leaders as an executive coach in over 30 industries, I have always searched for what these individuals had in common. First, here is what they did not have in common: height, size, race, gende

Leadership and Marriage are two concepts we don’t often put together. Relationships are about love, about communication, about listening and conflict resolution. Marriage is also about leadership, which is about vision, action, goals, and accountability. Recently in my work with business owners and corporate executives I have been increasingly asked ‘what constitutes a healthy marriage?’ This question leads to the interrelationship between leadership and marriage. These two

Ask most successful leaders to pinpoint an event that was pivotal to their career success, and they are likely to say,' it was the time my manager gave me a project that felt way beyond my ability'. Over and over again, leaders attribute their own career success to someone who trusted them enough to delegate a career-changing project. For business leaders, there are few responsibilities more important than developing people. Yet, many managers struggle with delegation - resul

Bullying is Very Bad K S VENKATARAMAN Almost 30% of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a recent national survey of students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves.1

As leaders, we are often called to help people get perspective and to see and move through apparent inner and outer limitations. During this process, people will sometimes experience emotional reactions as they face challenges in their personal and professional lives. Our conditioning might tempt us to lose ourselves in their dilemma in an attempt to sympathize with them. We may find ourselves saying things like: “Oh you poor thing. What happened to you is just terrible! You must feel awful. I wish there was something I could do.” Do these words sound familiar?

How we manage employees has some striking similarities to how we manage anything in business. And one striking difference! Managing anything is simply directing or controlling the use of that thing. Managing in a business environment would also entail making the most effective use of that ...

"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds." Colin Powell The discussion of the characteristics of anabolic and catabolic leaders focuses on how (and if) leaders assess themselves, and examine how their actions and attitudes affect their results, as well as impact the people around them.

The current system of national currencies is a system that accumulates. It is designed to do so. The fact that interest is charged for the lending of money goes against every religious injunction, including Christianity. That injunction was over ridden and now usury is a common practice with 23% ...

This is the type of person who insists on following the rules to the letter, even when it is explained to him (or her) that the situation is urgent and speed is essential. He is more conce ed that he has done everything correctly, even if it means that the goal is missed. He is rigid and has no situational flexibility.

Diffidence vs. Self Confidence K S VENKATARAMAN During that evening, Mani Sharma, a great singer was to sing in that famous music hall. There was a very huge crowd of his fans. The house overflowed with eager fans. Quite a number of connoisseurs of music had gathered in the hall and had taken seats in vantage rows. Everybody was eagerly waiting for the arrival of the singer. There was some delay. Then Manian, the Secretary of the Sabha (music hall) came to stage and announced that due to some unavoidable reasons, the singer could not arrive as programmed.

When was the last time that you went to a party and watched someone walk into the room to bring in a fresh aura of enthusiasm and cheerfulness? The new visitor seemed to be having an electrifying presence, captivating those in the room with his or her personality, body language and overall ...When was the last time that you went to a party and watched someone walk into the room to bring in a fresh aura of enthusiasm and cheerfulness?

In today’s economy business leaders can’t afford to accept under-performing personnel in their companies. Yet, in a recent survey 44% of them reported being unhappy with the performance results of their employees. In order to solve a problem such as this, employers need to first identify the cause and then create viable options for applicable solutions. There can be many reasons why employees under-perform and some leaders may point to poor attitudes, low motivation and individuals’ inability to work with others, or accept and adapt to change.

As we move into the New Year, what is it about your life, career and/or personal accomplishments that you want to change in 2010? Don’t take this question lightly. It is filled with deep thinking requirements. Change, just for change sake, is not what this question is about. Rather, it’s designed to make you become very introspective and think about what worked for you in 2009 and what didn’t work. Below is a list of other questions to help you “dig deeper” as you ponder where you’d like to be at the end of 2010. 1. Is your life as happy as it can or should be?

If you're involved with any group of people who are trying to achieve common goals, you soon become acutely aware that those goals will be achieved only through the work of the people in the group. Yes, all work is done through relationships and wisely managing these relationship is critical to your team, group, division, company and community. Put simply, organizations don't succeed in and of themselves. They succeed only through individuals working in groups or teams.

rnHow can your organization sell more and sell smarter? By creating a powerful sales culture – an environment that inspires and engages everyone in the organization to become part of the virtual sales team and support the sales efforts. What Is Sales Culture?rnSales culture is the concept that everyone in an organization is in sales – including CEOs, accountants, lawyers, administrative assistants, as well as sales team members. Organizations with a sales culture are full

When did the inability to adapt to change become a protected disability? Why is it so difficult to roll out an idea, a decision, a direction, a company need and be met with a simple and strong “yes” from employees, teammates and colleagues? When did this become optional and subject to analysis? When were all employees granted veto powers?

75% of people say that they do not get any real job satisfaction from the work they do. They long to retire, they hate weekdays and long for weekends. They envy people who enjoy their work and they very much envy those who enjoy it and who get well paid for it. But why envy someone when you can do the same thing? Life is too short to spend it doing a job you hate or feeling under valued. Instead of wasting time on the wrong thing and then having regrets make sure you are happ

Sony KDL40HX800 BRAVIA 40-Inch HDTV Resolution: The 40-inch Sony KDL40HX800 BRAVIA Series 3D HDTV delivers great Full HD 1080p resolution allowing you to enjoy the best home TV resolution with its 16:9 wide screen panel. With high quality features, it is one of the best selling 3D HDTVs in the market. This model boasts a realistic 3D viewing experience with the use of its Sony sync transmitter and active glasses, which are sold separately. However, some may feel that the 40inch screen may be too small for maximum viewing pleasure.

When we stand resolutely in support of others, we give optimism, passion and purpose to our own path to abundance Every day, in so many parts of this wonderful world in which we live, there are people who embrace their purpose. They are living fulfilling lives through doing what makes them happy; enriching and empowering others to be exceptional. Perhaps you’re one of those wonderful people – more power to you. It means you’ve embraced your purpose and are selflessly sharing your Conscience-based leadership skills with others.r

I recently had this powerful and enlightening conversation with my husband about all human beings, creatures and natural things aspiring to grow and become “better.” The ever-pragmatist that I am – replied – No. Not all things want to grow –nor do all living things aspire to improve. We debated for several hours. He felt that even those who do not demonstrate the desire to grow, still harbor it. Blocked – they are blocked by memory, fear, trauma or even defeat of constant rejection.

In the 2004 Summer Olympics, the Australian Women's Eight rowing team stood in fifth place, three seconds behind the leading Romanian crew team 500 meters from the finish line. When the Aussie’s were inside 400 meters one of the eight women quit rowing. She dropped her oars and laid back resting her head on the lap of the rower seated behind her. The Aussies finished dead last, 10 seconds behind the next closest finisher. Ever feel like one of your teammates isn’t pulling their weight in your company?