Leadership Skills - The Tools of the Trade

What is one of the key skills every lead member of a company possesses? I'll even give you a hint...this feature is generally found in those that currently lead a team or department. Give up? Why, leadership skills of course! Obtained in our childhood days, and honed throughout our adult life, you need to become a master of your own version in order to gain the trust of those you seek to lead. If you are unable to find that common link between your team members, creating a cohesive atmosphere for all will be that much harder. True leadership skills are much more than leading the proverbial horse to water and making it drink. The skill lies more in leading them, and trusting in what they have learned to kick in and come to their own aid. You have to have faith in them, for them to have faith in you.

Second on the list of desirable top business traits is a mastery of communication skills. In today's technologically advanced world, this does not simply boil down to being able to string a few words together. No, it goes much deeper than that. You need to be able to speak well, type well, write well, and sometimes even text well to make certain you are in contact with everyone at any given time. You may be a supervisor with a team of twenty, or a platoon leader watching out for "Charlie", but if you can't keep it together, you may fall victim to a tragedy due to lack of communication.

Two of the many key business traits looked for in today's world, yet two of the most important. Take advantage of each opportunity that comes your way. If you don't end up sharing an interest in the business, then perhaps it is not the right fit for you. I doesn't make you a bad person....merely someone that knows what they don't want and is discovering what they have had inside all along.

Leadership Lessons From a Five Year Old

I recently wrote an article about how leaders focus on things a little differently than others and that it's not that they engage in different activities, as much as it is how they engage. Leaders tend to think differently about their daily activities and focus on a different outcome, so they get exactly that. One example that I used was that some of the best leaders I've worked with enter a meeting thinking about what they need to learn from their team and how to help them find solutions, while others may enter a meeting thinking about what they need to tell their team about how to execute better. Both leaders had a meeting, but only one actually moved the business forward and increased the capability of the team.

One of the key points I was trying to get across is that leaders are typically thinking about how to best help others improve as they go through their daily activities, while many managers are focused more on what they need to get from others during those same activities. There's plenty of time for leaders to focus on what they themselves need, but that should be done when they aren't around others in the business. That's precious time to learn and to understand different perspectives that others have. The more leaders understand the perspectives of those around them, the more they are likely to broaden their own view, look at problems in new ways, and find new solutions and new avenues to greater success.

A few days after I wrote the article, I was taking my 5 year old son fishing and caught myself making the very mistake that I was asking leaders to be aware of. I was standing there while he was fishing, but I wasn't engaged in what was going on with him at all. I was thinking about my own business and the things I needed to do to accomplish my own goals. I was missing a leadership opportunity. And although it wasn't about business, it was still about leadership. Becoming a leader isn't just about business; it's about others.

I wasn't focused on helping him build capability, cast better, learn patience, or even build a better relationship with his Dad. I was thinking about clients and projects and deadlines and business momentum. It's impossible to lead others, in business or in any area of life, while I'm focused on my own needs but that's exactly what I was doing.

I go through a lot of days thinking about what I need to get done and there's a need for that. I should be focused on goals and growth and making a difference in how the business succeeds. But as leaders, we need to recognize when we should be focused on those things, and when we should be focused on helping others build their own capability and fuel their own success. Those are the times when we really make a difference for others and build a business that's capable of accomplishing more.

It doesn't matter whether it's in business, a family, or a community. Leaders who understand when it needs to be about someone else and make the most of those opportunities are the ones who create capability. They understand that real success is about helping those around them become able to accomplish more. Not just because it's fundamentally a better way to go about things, but also because it will take any group of people to a higher level. In business that means success and growth. In a family or a community it can have even more impact. I need to remember that when I'm working with others, or fishing with my kids.

Develop a Personal Growth Plan

Leadership can be defined quite simply as the ability to influence. Your ability to lead has a direct effect on your level of influence. For instance, if your leadership skills rate an 8 out of 10, then your level of influence will be 7 at the most. There is a direct correlation.

As a network marketer, your goal is to lead your followers, develop them into leaders and then lead leaders. If your leadership skills are limited then your effectiveness is also limited. So it is critically important that you develop and grow your leadership skills regularly. Doing so can dramatically increase your effectiveness and, ultimately, increase the level of success that you achieve.

Successful leaders are learners. They integrate a plan of continuous learning into their daily activities. They may set aside an hour a day devoted to personal development or they may set aside a few hours one day a week. Whether you use the time to read books, listen to audio or attend leadership seminars, it is the best investment you can make in yourself and in your business. Developing and improving these skills on a regular basis is a major factor in differentiating leaders from followers.

Remember also that you want to develop your team into leaders. Let them know that personal growth and leadership development are valued and rewarded. By encouraging growth and development you will end up attracting high achievers and people with great potential - a win/win situation for you and your team.

To become great at anything in life, you need to practice every day. Leadership doesn't develop in one day; it takes a lifetime.

Leadership Coaching - A Continuously Changing Education

In terms of leadership coaching, people are an important asset. However, this is not used and known by everyone. Since there are still businesses which lack the correct leadership and treats the workers as part of the disposable variable cost on the subject of the economics of things.

With leadership competencies changing as the competitive environment changes, leadership coaching likewise changes with it. As the new international environment brings with it higher ambiguity and also skepticism, other important forces also have an impact on businesses and corporations. A great deal of, if not completely, facets of management will need a shared approach to leadership. Today's model of productive leadership is a learning environment which capitalizes the whole company's workforce asset potential.

The failures in conventional methods of training and also coaching have happened as a result of leaders and managers that are merely outdated in the learning vehicles of time. These are also affected by the unchanging habits, patterns as well as outcomes. As a solution, a kind of leadership coaching may be used, one of which is known as behavior-based coaching.

The important value produce by behavioral-based coaching is high opinion for others and a method of communication that stimulates real exchange. This kind of unadulterated openness results in not only a larger self-awareness as well as a increased understanding of other people. There's also several important behaviours or psychological-based diagnosis tools a leadership coach needs. Being a leader, you must manage to improve the employees as well as draw out the best inside them.

For you to hasten the procedure, there's a requirement of more skillful leaders to be able to realize success in making a tomorrow which will sustain the business or firm. In addition, there exists a need for leaders that have focused on inner mastery, who know themselves and deliver their best selves onward in a day-to-day basis. You can never lead if you haven't followed. Leaders are likewise examples.

To be competent to coach leadership into a person and also produce a leader among followers (the employees), we will need to continuously mold them as a person. As somebody who has not still drawn on all his / her latent potential, as someone who still has a great deal of qualities to deliver forward. Employees are persons too, not merely some disposable variable cost. Leaders ought to figure out how to clarify their visions, beliefs, and values, and realize how to stretch their capacity to lead and influence. Moreover, using the proper coaching they need to manage to infuse these characteristics to their subordinates.

On a different note, teachers from the past preached that one's ability to will can be a secret weapon to success to everything on earth. As a footwear manufacturer always stated, "Nothing is impossible". Well, I guess it's true to each man or woman that has the grit and also perseverance to will it in to reality. History has demonstrated time and again that an individual, who possess a determined will, will ultimately win and grab the day.

There was an individual that said there are three types of people in the world; the Wills, the Won'ts and the Can'ts. Choose the first. Be a leader which will push the organization forward along with your workers.

I suppose after realizing the dilemma of several firms being grounded in the history of old behaviors, you can have the ability to have a strategy for future years. Nevertheless knowing only part of history will not be enough to totally alter the future. We should all try to shoot for the sky. With these information along with the appropriate form of leadership coaching, everything is possible.

Stop Managing Your Agents

I've seen it repeated over and over again. Sales managers managing their agents. Or more accurately, sales managers "trying" to manage their agents. And it never works. This is especially fruitless with respect to teams of independent sales agents.

You see... people can't be "managed". Things get managed. People get led. It's not simply a matter of semantics. There's a fundamental difference between trying to manage agents and effectively leading them. Let's start by examining how managers attempt to "manage" their agents, and then explore what effective sales leadership looks like.

In a nutshell, we're managing agents when we try to get them to do things or reach goals that are our own or those of the company. These generally take the form of production or activity goals. There's nothing wrong with these goals, and your goals along with those of the company are important. But when we try to impose our goals on other people, "management" occurs. We generally sit down with each of our agents and tell them what we want them to achieve.

We might encourage them, offer to mentor them, or even threaten them. But I think you'll agree that these "management" techniques generally are ineffective. It's not that your agents turn you away. No... they'll agree with you and offer to do something beyond what they've been doing, but at the end of the day, nothing changes.

This pattern seems to hold true even if you're running a promotion or conducting year-end goal-setting meetings. Sure, you'll have a few agents respond to a promotion, but generally the majority of agents don't respond at all. There's very little lift in production. The same holds true for year-end "business plans". Often the plans are credible, do-able, and promise the results you want, but by the end of the year not much has changed. "Managing" agents just doesn't work.

In the alternative, sales "leadership" is much more effective. There are a number of components to effective sales leadership, but before getting into the specifics, it pays to understand the whole idea of leadership and how it makes a difference. Pretty much everyone agrees that good leadership is important, but very few of the people I've asked about it can explain why leadership makes a difference. Over the years, I've distilled the purpose and effect of leadership down to one simple sentence.

Effective leadership inspires the best effort in others.

When effective leadership is present, people work to do the best they can, they take pride in being part of the team, and they take pride in advancing. Not only that, but in the presence of effective leadership, people become all those things because they want to, not because they're being "managed".

It's within this concept of inspiring people that the dynamics and strategies of leadership become apparent. Effective sales leadership begins with the "culture" of your sales team. Culture determines how you recruit, who you recruit, and what your new agents' expectations are. The culture of a team is created by the leader and goes beyond the simple mechanics of what gets done. It defines how things are done and it establishes the character and values of the team, its members, and its leader.

This concept of inspiring leadership is also embodied within the leader. After all, like it or not, we all lead by example - good or bad. An effective sales leader must strive to enhance personal leadership skills and then learn to communicate them effectively. Effectively communicating or projecting oneself as a leader is a study in public relations. Everything that a leader does or says makes an impression.

The final piece to creating inspiring leadership is that of working one-on-one with agents. Having the first two pieces in place (culture and personal presence) can especially leverage this effort. Leading your team to higher production starts by acknowledging an important truth. This truth is that regardless of what your team production goals are, each individual agent has his or her own personal goals. And these goals will determine how much more an agent will be willing to do, if anything. These goals can be spoken or unspoken, acknowledged or unacknowledged. But make no mistake, they exist. Our task, as inspiring leaders, is to bring these goals to the surface, bring them to life, and then help our agents overcome their personal "roadblocks" in order to achieve these goals.

Unfortunately, the reality is that for most agents, other situations also exist. The first situation is that an agent may have given up on their dream. They may have vocalized their dream at one time, but now feel that it's unattainable. Our job as a leader is to re-kindle the fire of that dream and goal. An adept leader can inspire an agent to once again strive to reach their goal.

The second situation is that an agent may not truly believe they can succeed. Our role as leader is to develop each agent so they can realize their full potential. Leaders develop people.

And the third situation is that regardless of what we'd like for our agents, some agents are satisfied with their present level of accomplishment. No amount of poking, prodding, pleading, or threatening will cause them to change.

An effective leader will avoid attempting to reach their team goals by working with each and every agent. Instead, they'll identify the agents who have higher aspirations and are open to improvement, and then focus on working with them.

By becoming an inspiring sales leader for your team and your agents, you can have greater impact, accomplish more with less effort, and produce better results - not to mention being looked up to and having a great time.

Assessing Vs Judging

This past week I had an interesting conversation with one of my favorite clients.� He's a C-level executive for a national company and was doing a bit of venting about another executive in the company who displayed a behavior which my client felt was weak for someone in that position.� It was nothing unethical or irresponsible, but this executive had taken a position about an issue and then, after someone else presented a different perspective, changed his position.� It felt to my client like the executive didn't have the conviction of his beliefs on the issue at hand; that he hadn't thoroughly thought through his answer.

The details of the incident aren't as important as the concept of assessing vs. judging.� When we judge, we naturally conclude that someone or something is good/bad or right/wrong.� We also tend to generalize about that person based on our judgment of that one particular event, statement or action.� We compare the other person (or thing) against our own abilities and experience.� This is exactly what happened during the meeting my client related to me.� I believe many of us have developed a judging approach to people and things, which causes us to take a trait or lack thereof and project it in a general way to all aspects of that person.

After some discussion, we concluded that this executive had many redeeming qualities and skills, and that painting him with a broad paintbrush was inappropriate.� A better perspective could have been developed assessing the situation and the person, rather than judging them.� Let me explain...

The dictionary defines 'Assess' as, "To determine the value, significance, or extent of" and defines 'Judge' to mean, "To form an opinion or estimation of"� When we judge, we form an opinion, which often occurs quickly and with little other input.� When we assess, we determine someone's (or something's) value, which requires gathering facts and putting them in perspective relative to everyone or everything else.� If someone were to highlight an area in which we, ourselves, were weak, we'd probably say, "OK, but what about all the areas of strength I do have and all the other skills I possess?"� In other words, we'd help the other person put everything in proper perspective.

The above scenario relates to how we observe others as well as how others observe us.� Yes, the other person surely has weaknesses, but you can only determine the importance of their weakness by assessing them as a whole.� By example, someone may be poor in math skills but have an extraordinary creative talent.� If you were to judge them strictly based on their math skills, you might generalize and conclude that they aren't very sharp and therefore couldn't really make a positive contribution to the team.� On the other hand, if you assess their skills properly, you'd conclude that they indeed can be an important contributor to the team,... just don't ask them to add!

Learning to assess rather than judge comes from appreciating the variety of strengths people have and at the same time recognizing our own weaknesses.� No one is always right and no one is always wrong.� By developing the habit of looking for the positive in people, you, as a leader, can make better decisions, build better teams, and develop stronger contributors.� You'll be taking your leadership skills to the next level.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

I've recently had some discussions with clients regarding whether employing the competencies of Emotional Intelligence in their leadership style will accelerate or decelerate their productivity and progress. Study after study has shown that leaders who sharpen and employ EI skills consistently outperform peers who lead through variations of the stereotypical Command-Control model. Additionally, companies which promote the use of EI skills outdistance competitors who haven't refined their corporate cultures. Despite these results, many people still feel that creating an EI culture will soften the performance and results of their company/division/department.

I believe that there are common sense perspectives we can take and observations we can make in an effort to "make the case" for the use of EI in leadership and in a company's culture. As an example, when selecting someone for employment in a management/executive role, which set of traits and skills do you value most - technical skills or people skills? My response and the response of every leader I've spoken with is the same - people skills. Why is that? Isn't technical competency important? After all, isn't "getting the job done" what it's all about? The answer of course is that technical skills ARE important and productivity IS important. It's just that they are fairly easy to come by. It's relatively easy to find a competent engineer or accountant, right? The challenge is finding someone who has those technical skills but also knows how to deal with people. One's ability to deal effectively with people is the skill which make things happen. This brings us to my second example.

In order for someone to be an effective leader, they must have followers. My contention is that under Command-Control leadership, people perform out of fear. They may be afraid of losing a job, not getting a raise, or being chastised by a superior. But they are basically obeying the commands of the person in charge, who in effect, controls them. The observation to be made here is that there is a large gap between obeying and following. People who obey do their work, but only to avoid the consequences of poor performance. Followers, on the other hand, are spurred on by a multitude of forces - both internal and external. It's no wonder that EI-focused companies tend to be more innovative, have less turnover, and are more profitable.

The final common sense case for employing EI skills comes from each of us in our own experience. Can you remember a time in your work life (maybe even now) when a manager or boss didn't respect you or your ideas, or when they displayed a lack of integrity? Have you ever had a boss blow up at you without hearing what you had to say or, even worse, for no apparent reason? How did these incidents affect your attitude at work (or even at home)? How did your shift in attitude affect your productivity or your interest in doing that little bit extra? Did you stop working? Of course not. Did you sabotage the efforts of the company? Not likely. But did your intentions, your interest, and your commitment suffer? I know mine always did. My commitment just wasn't the same after that incident. And that's the real cost of not employing Emotional Intelligence in leadership. Without followers, you can't be a leader.

Employing Emotional Intelligence in leadership style is essential in accelerating growth, innovation, and profitability.

Effectively Developing People

One of our obligations as a leader is to develop people.� In fact, I believe it to be one of the cornerstones of excellent leadership.� Effectively developing people accomplishes several important things for us and our organization.

When we develop others, we add to their value.� They become more versatile, more productive, and more confident.� As a person's knowledge base expands and their ability to accurately assess situations improves, their capacity for creative problem-solving increases.� As their breadth of knowledge and abilities expands, so does the pride they take in their work.� And pride in work and workmanship leads to higher productivity, more creativity, and the desire to go the "extra mile" to ensure excellence.� Their ability to take on more responsibilities increases.� Their potential for advancement elevates, and their likelihood of becoming another leader moves closer to reality.

Additionally, as we demonstrate an interest in the progress and success of others, they in turn, become more loyal to us.� Taking an interest in the success of others helps them take an interest in our success.� As a leader, it's important to be respected by the members of our team, and effectively developing others nurtures this respect.

There are even more direct benefits to us as a leader when we develop others.� When we increase the capacity of our team members, we create the ability to delegate more and more.� The more we can delegate, the more we can leverage our time and our effort.� Delegation leads to greater productivity.� In addition, the more of our work we can delegate, the easier it is for us to rise above the grind of always working "in" our business and spend time working "on" our business.� One of the things that holds us back from taking our business or our career in new directions is not spending enough time stepping back from our busy-ness to see the bigger picture.� Effectively delegating allows us to take that step back.

Besides improving our personal productivity and insightfulness, we also move others closer towards taking on a leadership role of their own when we develop them.� Which means that we are grooming someone to take over our responsibilities from us.� At first glance, this may seem like a foolish thing to do by making us replaceable, however it allows us to easily "fill in" behind us, which in turn, makes us more "promote-able".� If no one else can do our job, then we aren't in a position to move on to bigger and better opportunities.

OK, now that we've established the importance and wisdom of developing others, let's talk about how to actually do that.� How do we effectively develop others?� One of the challenges in developing people effectively is that development is an art rather than a science.� It takes a bit of skill and judgment to become good at it.� Effective development requires the ability to read people and understand their strengths and weaknesses.� It requires the judgment to know which areas to develop a person in, which tasks are good candidates to delegate, and how hard to push someone's growth.� It takes being sensitive to the other person's demeanor to decide whether to ask them if they have a desire to take on something new or, in the alternative, to simply place the new task in their lap.� The whole process can be broken down into deciding on which tasks to delegate and then deciding on how to delegate to whom.

Let's start by discussing which tasks or responsibilities to delegate.� These fall into two categories - those that require no judgment (like compiling a report) and those that do require judgment.� Clearly, tasks that require no judgment are always good candidates for delegation.� Key points for being effective in delegating these tasks are 1) to ensure you choose the right person, 2) ensuring they have the proper tools and knowledge, and 3) clearly communicating your timeframe and level of importance.� Tasks or responsibilities that do require judgment are good vehicles for developing someone past the basics of "getting the work done".� You must choose these tasks/responsibilities carefully so as 1) to avoid undermining the person's self-confidence and 2) not to create problems if poor judgment is demonstrated by the person being developed.� You'll need to gauge the person's level of self-confidence before you assign a challenging task.

How do you ensure that a misstep doesn't wreak havoc on your organization?� Two suggestions: 1) Don't delegate anything too critical and 2) When you delegate something that requires judgment, make sure you regularly check in on their progress and always leave enough time for review and correction before the results are released to others.

As far as determining how to delegate and who to develop, it really depends on the task and where a person is in their skill level, state of mind, capacity for change, level of self-confidence and self-image.� Someone who is lacking in self confidence or is just starting out on their development path requires more guidance and "hand-holding" than someone who is experienced and has already developed a higher level of confidence.� Sometimes people need to be asked whether they're open to learning something new or taking on more responsibility.� Remember, a key to effectively developing others is to make sure that they are open to growth and to stretching beyond their current state or present comfort zone.� Too often, we believe in others more than they believe in themselves, and as such, may push them harder and faster than they want to go.� While it is important to stretch people, we don't want to "break" them.� This is part of the "art" of effectively developing others.

Clearly the amount of judgment you expect someone to demonstrate will depend on their level of experience and their track record of making good decisions and good choices.� Placing someone in a position to make decisions in an environment they are unfamiliar with creates the opportunity to teach and mentor for growth.� Just make sure you use the opportunity to teach and mentor, and don't react to mistakes or poor judgment with criticism or belittlement.� Situations that are new and/or challenging offer us great opportunities to teach.� An excellent way to teach and develop is to adopt a "coach-like" manner in your leadership.� Rather than tell or criticize, guide and reveal insights to the other person.� Be a guide and mentor, not a manager or boss.

By refining your development skills, becoming an effective delegator, assessing others accurately, and adopting a coach-like approach, you'll help others grow, add to their value, improve their self-confidence, and further your own interests as well.� Effectively developing others will propel you towards exceptional leadership.

Negative People Are a Challenge to Your Leadership Skills

Negative people in your team can cause untold damage to the motivation of the rest of your people. Their negativity is like a virus and can undermine all your attempts to improve various aspects of work life such as safety, quality, productivity and training. For every positive thing that you say, they have a negative answer. For example, in a team meeting you might want to talk about progress that's been made in developing a safer workplace. The negative person will either dismiss the results or suggest that they are incorrect. This leaves the rest of the team with doubt in their mind that they have actually achieved anything. One of the ways of avoiding situations like this where your ability to give positive reinforcement is being undermined, is to set meeting rules which include only positive comments being acceptable.

The problem you are faced with is that most negative people are quite persuasive and eloquent when they are being pessimistic. There are many ways of dealing with the negative person. But before you launch into a program to handle this person, there are a number of things to remember. The first thing to avoid is the confrontation and the attempt to persuade them that they are wrong. From a leadership perspective, is quite tempting to placate the person by agreeing with them. If you do this, you will lose the opportunity to introduce change because you have endorsed their opinion. It is also best to avoid a solution to the problem because this will give them a further opportunity to pour cold water on to the situation.

When you have a negative person in your team, it will test your leadership capacity for thought and creativity. The principles are quite simple, don't confront, don't try and persuade, and don't suggest alternative solutions. Okay, this leaves you plenty of opportunities to take an alternative approach. One of the better ways of dealing with negativity, especially in the group setting, is to ask them for solutions. This means that they have to engage their brains in the problem rather than just pointing out that it won't work.

Part of your leadership development is to understand the motives behind behavior. This can be tough, especially with negative people. You will find that most pessimists believe that they have no control over the future. Their lives are directed by things that are a long way outside their control and they have no power. If you have a person like this in your team, it is very difficult to control their effect on the other people. Sometimes, they have no idea of the negative effect they are having on the rest of the team. If this is the case, gently suggest to them that they should examine their comments before they make them and discard anything that has a hint of pessimism about it. Explain the effect they are having and offer to help them balance their pessimism by demonstrating the control they do have over the future.

Why Decisive Executives Have a Hard Time Being Effective

Most of us have developed our leadership style by observing the leaders, executives and managers we worked with or for throughout our career.� Of course, we inject our leadership style with our own take on the world including our values.� However, these are usually modifications of the model we've observed and been a part of over the years.

The classic leadership model is one of command and control - a system taken from the original large organization: the military.� In a military environment, a clear system of command-control is essential to respond quickly and efficiently - critical criteria in achieving objectives with the fewest casualties.� Companies soon adopted this efficient style of leadership in an effort to impose efficiency on their commercial organization.� This command-control model of leadership generates top-down management.� Decisions are all made at the top and dictated through the ranks of management and staff.� And, this would work fine except for some important differences between the military and commercial organizations...

In the military, personnel pretty much are required to do what they're told.� When someone is insubordinate or abandons their post, there are serious consequences.� In the corporate world, management and staff work under different rules.� There is no real "requirement" that someone perform their duties.� There is no rule of unquestioned discharge of duty.� Substandard performance is regularly accepted and quitting is always an option.� In addition, if the organization doesn't achieve their objectives, no one's life is put at risk!

The result of these differences between military and corporate is that the command-control model begins to fall apart in the corporate world.� It no longer represents an efficient form of leadership.� Which brings us to the point of this month's newsletter.� People are usually put in positions of responsibility because of their good judgment and their ability to make insightful decisions.� And the tendency is to fall into the command-control model:� Here's the decision.� I know it's right.� I don't want to discuss it.� Just do the work to achieve it.

But here's the catch...� Executives - by their very definition - don't actually do the work!� They oversee, guide, manage, etc. - but need to rely on others to get the job done.� In a true command-control model, a decision and command yield results.� Orders are followed without question and duties are discharged appropriately.� In a corporate model these "orders" are always accepted.� But accepting commands and following through with them can be very different things.� We live in a world where people have increasing diversity and increasing choices.� Attempting to "force" or coerce an employee never works very well.� Those terms sound fairly harsh, however we see them in all their variations on a daily basis:� An implied threat of job loss, a poor review, loss of bonus, etc.� These are the typical means of attempting to make a command-control style of leadership work in a voluntary environment.

This is the challenge that decisive executives have in leading within a voluntary world.� They make good, quick decisions and want to see their vision achieved as quickly as possible.� Handing a decision down is extremely efficient.� But while this leadership model is clearly efficient, it is not always effective.� And after all, the goal is to be an effective leader.� Becoming an effective leader is a challenge, however the difference in results between effective leadership and efficient leadership can be dramatic.� But that's a subject for another article...

How Does Your Level and Quality of Faithful Leadership Compare With Theirs?

It was away back in 2002 when in the World Cup soccer and football tournament the Cameroon nation ran into serious trouble when they had planned to play in sleeveless strips. The kit was ruled illegal, and the Cameroon officials somehow attached and added black sleeves to the jerseys in order that they could participate in the competition.

These were the rules and it is always a wise decision to conform to the established rules, and it is always wise too to be properly dressed.

Interestingly, the early Church of Jesus Christ did not conform to all the legalistic and rather formal religious rules and regulations. These men and women had the life of God in them and the traditions of men were simply nothing other than spiritual death.

These early disciples of Jesus depended upon God totally and they trusted in the risen and living Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that has to become out position today.

The religious authorities did not like it then and they imprisoned many of the leaders and also the people too. These were tough times for that young vibrant church of Jesus Christ. In many countries around the world things have not changed all that much, as persecution rages fiercely.

Many are quite unaware of this.

The religious authorities always want to hinder and prevent and even stop the preaching of Jesus Christ and His ability to change and rescue and save people out of their messes and sins. Why is this? There is an enemy of God who has a vested interest in halting the spread of the Gospel! Make no mistake about that and do not be confused or misled.

The leadership of the church stood up for Jesus and were courageously strong declaring that they had to obey God rather than men, and God honoured their stand. And, when we think about our dress and clothing, it is important to be wearing what the Scriptures call the robes of righteousness.

We are called to obey God before all others. That will make us different and will even cause us to stand out and stand apart from others at times. It is really the practical outworking of holiness which means 'set apart'.

People will see and be aware that we love and serve Jesus Christ more than our reputations and positions. There may even have to be some real sacrifices, and there usually are some very sore and painful sacrifices.

We were made to serve God and that requires bold leadership.

That will mean putting God first and focussing upon Jesus Christ and knowing what is in the Bible and what these pages mean today, when all around us there is greed and corruption and selfish ambition, resulting in economic collapse and financial chaos.

This is where leadership really comes into its own, and many will be looking for strong spiritual leadership more and more.

Men who are called to be true leaders will refuse to compromise and be sidetracked and diverted. Jesus Christ remained faithful to His Heavenly Father, and Peter and John and Paul remained faithful and loyal to Jesus Christ even unto death.

How does your level of leadership compare with theirs?

Sandy Shaw

Three Types of Followers

Mark Brouwer said, "A man is only a leader when a follower stands beside him." There can be no leader without followers. It seems that everyone wishes to be only a leader and every leader is looking for followers. But where are the followers? How do we identify them? How do we find them?

Every man is born free as individual. He likes to maintain his individuality and freedom. Yet man being a social animal has to surrender some of his power in the interest of the society. It is never easy to be a follower. A follower has to surrender his decision-making power to the leader. Even a common citizen in a democratic country allows the leader to take decisions on his behalf by electing the party or individual.

Thus leaders and followers are integrated in the structure of human civilization. However, all followers are not same. We can classify the followers in the three categories.

1. Voter Follower

The simplest level of following, a leader can get is the voter in democracy. The leaders do not know their voters as their number is large, yet their votes decide who leader should be. The voters are the individuals who have decided to give their support to the leader and give them the right to represent themselves. They do not have any commitment for the leader. They may not even know the leader personally. Yet they vote for the best leader as part of their duty.

They know that every individual has to make a choice of the leader. If the person does not decide by casting his vote, others shall elect leaders who have the power to rule them. It is evident from the voting pattern of most of the democratic country that half the population doesn't vote as they are just not interested who the leader of the country shall be. They prefer to lead themselves as they do not see the need of a leader to represent themselves. Most people do not vote in peace time as they can protect themselves in their society. However, when the society is passing through crisis, almost everyone vote as they need the leaders to sail through the troubled times. Even in the organisation, most people do not like to be associated with leaders as they can rise purely based on their professional competence. They are happy to be independent and they often vote for the person they know personally or the one who seeks their vote.

2. Customer Follower

A normal voter has no specific preference of a leader and he may not know anyone individually. Usually he does not expect much from the leader in return of his vote. However, some voters are like customers who have a need. They have chosen to vote for a as they have some expectation from them in return of their support. Thus, they have a professional relationship with the leader. Anyone who can fulfill their requirement is their leader. They do not vote for ideologies but for their own selfish interest. They can very well go to the other leader offering his vote if he promises to fulfill their needs. They have no loyalty or liking for the leader but only uses leader to accomplish their goals. They are, thus like a customer who buys the product in the market which given them the best value of their money.

3. Loyal Followers

Most leaders are dynamic people with charismatic personality. Their leadership is based on certain ideologies which attract the people towards them. They are often great orators and intelligent people. No wonder, they attract a number of admirers from the people who like their leader for their vision and charisma. They are attracted towards the leader for the personality. They love them and develop loyalty for them. These loyal followers are committed followers who develop a special loving relationship with their leader. They may vote their leader irrespective of the qualities of their opponent. They attend their rallies, read their speeches and discuss their visions amongst themselves. They have high regards for their leader and they have high hopes from their leader. However, unlike the customer, they do not seek anything for themselves, but they have faith on the vision and philosophy of their leaders. They wish and pray for the success of their leaders.

A leader should not assess his strength on the basis of the followers who are mere voters or customers. They can change their loyalty anytime and go with the rival leaders. The genuine followers are those who have loyalty towards the leader. They are the people who stand by their leader in his thick and thin. They are the real strength of the leader. A leader must take care of the loyal followers more than others if he wishes to retain his leadership.

Leaders in Every Walk of Life Must Know the Powerful Significance of Sacrifice to Be a True Leader

To progress in the Christian Life, there has to be sacrifice. To grow spiritually, there has to be sacrifice of some form. Now, do remember that this book was written to Hebrew Christians or Messianic Jews who had not grown and matured in Christ. He is the one who is sent. He is the one who sacrifices, and we are called to follow Jesus. Read this amazing book which was written to these Hebrew disciples of Jesus and grow and develop and mature in the faith, and to exercise leadership which is so sorely needed today no matter where we work and serve.

Look at II Samuel Chapter 6 and at verse 13 in the Old Testament. So much of the book of Hebrews refers to incidents in the Old Testament and we must never neglect that. Now, here we see leadership in the spiritual realm and all of this can be applied to our every day lives no matter where we work and serve.

The Ark was being brought back to Jerusalem. The Ark contained the Word of God.

When those who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had taken six steps, King David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.

The Ark will never go more than six paces until someone makes a sacrifice. The Church will not progress until someone makes a sacrifice. King David showed such powerful leadership. Yes, he had his weaknesses as do all human leaders but he had qualities of leadership which Almighty God blessed and used.

Here is King David's leadership being referred to positively in the New Testament.

You can maybe get six paces, but that is not very far, and it is a long way from your destination and from where God wants you to arrive.

There has to be a sacrifice, if we want to progress, as individuals or as a Church, and if we are going to advance and grow, and move on in the will of God. To progress in God there has to be sacrifice. How many leaders are really away of the significance of this?

The only way Jesus Christ could return to His Father was by way of the cross. That is an amazing thought.

Sacrifice and that theme continue in the next verse. Read verse 10 of Chapter 2.

Jesus was made perfect or complete or mature, through suffering! How many leadership conferences and courses and seminars cover this essential element when discussing the basic qualities in the lives of leaders?

Jesus Christ is the pioneer, the captain, the leader, and the author of our salvation and faith. This is not an easy word to translate to grasp its full meaning. Jesus is "the one who initiates and carries through".

There is no path to perfection, or to maturity, or to completion, which by-passes suffering.

From the signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the writer brings us to this reality of suffering!

I would venture to suggest that the more you become involved in the former, the more you will experience the latter. The more we experience miracles and spiritual blessing and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the opposition and antagonism can suddenly become fiercer. Many know quite a bit about that, with first hand knowledge of persecution, which can be physically sore or mentally subtle.

When we touch something spiritually real the enemy does not like it. Leader must be aware of this and must know how to deal with it when it arises.

Sandy Shaw

How Can a Follower Become a Leader?

Good leaders may have a large number of followers who admire them and identify themselves with the leader. Yet the admirers are busy in their job and their relationship with the leader is like that of the fans of a hero. Yet some of the followers choose to actually participate with the leaders in fulfillment of their missions. These people join the leader as worker to accomplish his dreams. In business organizations too, such followers give their express support for the leader and work for them. They perform all the tasks which are assigned to them by their leader.

Workers are the backbone of any organisation as the leaders accomplishes their goals through them. They represent the first level of overt follower as they openly display their loyalty towards their leader and work for them.

The workers are, however, the potential leaders as they have chosen to join the leader and work with them. They are like new recruits in a company who may reach to the top position. Many workers aspire to move higher and become leaders themselves.

An active worker gradually comes in the notice of the leaders. Good leaders always reward their workers by listening to their demands and suggestions and by giving them higher responsibilities. If they find the worker capable, they assigned them higher position in the organisation. Good workers are gradually elevated to the level of managers to test their ability as leaders. They are made responsible for performing important tasks for the organisation. There may be several layers of the managers in any organisation. A good manager also performs the job of a leader as he or she provides leadership to large number of workers. They too have vision and leadership qualities which are needed to manage the workers under them. Most managers are assigned the tasks but they have the freedom of adopting methods to deliver the results. Thus a manager is a leader in making. The only thing that distinguishes them from the leaders is that they do not have their independent vision. They implement the vision of their leader.

A manager is like an employee of a company. He can be hired and fired. Managers are also quasi- leaders as they perform the task of the leader within his limited domain. However, the performing managers gradually become indispensable for the leaders as they are often better than the leaders within their own domain. For example, some people can be greater fighters than the leader. Some may be great strategists while others may be great economist. The managers with great ability become gradually indispensable to the leader trust them very much. They gradually become part of the close nit group with whom the leader shares his secrets and strategies. These people are like Ministers in a Parliamentary system of Government who are all leaders in their given ministries. They sit with the leader and formulate the strategy. The leader may be considerable weaken if they decide to leave the leader. They are no longer replaceable as they personalities have become integrated with the leadership. They all have the potential of becoming leaders as they have already proven themselves as great managers and presently handling large responsibilities as leaders. They still do not know the whole picture as they are master of only one domain. They have proven to be good managers, but they have yet to prove themselves as leader. What they lack is the holistic leadership and acceptance by the followers.

The final stage of a follower is to become a leader. Such a person is known by his own name and respected for his own abilities. Each leader creates many such leaders who are like offspring's of the leader. They have the same DNA but have distinct personality and style. Great leaders like Gandhi created a generation of leaders who all have the same principles but different style and vision to lead the people. They proved their ability when they got their chance to lead their people.

Thus a follower is a leader in making. Just like a person join a school to get education wherein he passes different level of examination, a follower too become leaders by passing through different layers. Every follower may not become a leader and reach to the top, yet they become greater leader as they learn about leadership in the process.

Are You Aware of Your Leadership Style?

I have had lots of learning this last while on what it means to be a leader. I have learnt that the way I lead depends on the people I am leading and the circumstances under which I am leading. Different people react different ways in various circumstances. As a leader I need to be aware of the people and circumstances and adjust accordingly.

When I say adjust accordingly, I don't mean change who you are. Being authentic is vital. What I mean is that, for example, sometimes people need tough love and sometimes they need compassion. What I have learnt as a leader is to follow my intuition. When I am in tune with my "gut feeling" and pay attention to it, I know what kind of leadership is necessary in the moment.

I tend to be a "strong" person and unsympathetic at the best of times. I like to see things get done and I rarely have the patience for reasons why they didn't. However, my learning as a leader is that sometimes people need the compassion to allow them the space to learn and grow. Sometimes if I come on too strong, they will just stay stuck or shut down rather than move forward. As a leader I want the best for my people and inspiring them to move forward is way more powerful than them shutting down.

How do you lead in your life? Are you strong? If yes, do you have a good balance of compassion? Are you compassionate more often than not? If yes, do you have a good balance of strength to lead your people through good and bad times?

Who inspires you as a leader? What characteristics do they have that you aspire to? How can you move in this same direction?

What kind of leadership is necessary in your life? It is very likely different from home to work to friendships to community. How are the people you are leading responding to you as a leader? Do they love to follow you or is there often resistance and conflict? Step back and take a look at the kind of leader you are being. What do you need more of and what do you need less of in your leadership to become a bigger inspiration as a leader?

It is usually hugely beneficial to ask too. Ask people you lead how you might be a better leader. They will offer you amazing insights that will transform you into an even more amazing leader than you already are.

What do you need to do to become an even better leader in your life?

"Leadership isn't about simply being in charge and treating your people like soldiers and barking orders. Leadership is sharing your knowledge and your direction so that others grow and reach their potential."

~ Cal Ripken

Take a conscious look at yourself in your leadership roles. Every one of us is a leader in many ways. Determine the next step for you to grow as a leader. How do you currently show up in each role? How are others responding to you as a leader? Write this down.

Who are the leaders that inspire you and what characteristics do they have? Write these down too.

Make a complete list of the characteristics of a great leader that YOU desire to embrace. This will be a foundational piece from which you can build and grow.

Also, how can you follow your intuition more and give people what they need to learn and grow? Sometimes you might need to be a tiger and sometimes a pussy cat. The challenge is to determine what is most effective and when. This will allow you to grow as a leader and to inspire many.

It starts with recognizing where you are at and where you want to go... then it is just one step at a time in that direction. And slowly but surely you transform into an incredible leader that has a huge impact on the people s/he leads. The world needs more great leaders!

Visualize You Are on Top of Your Game

I pushed off the lift chair and skied slowly to the beginning of the run. I paused for a few seconds running rapidly in my mind the new techniques learned in the previous 3 days. Lean forward, body toward downhill, hands somewhat in front, knees slightly bent, shift weight to downhill leg pressing the ski edges, uphill leg smoothly and lightly paralleling the downhill legs... Still mumbling other instructions when I decisively pushed forward accelerating rapidly down the mountain. Freezing wind and snowflakes hit my face. My mind ignored the storm while screaming muscles fought the steep slope and rapid turns. Screening again the techniques, I struggled to stay in control of the unbelievable speed. Suddenly, the slope changed to a gentle angle approaching a chair lift. I shouted with joy... and opened my eyes. It was dark in the room. My family was sleeping and I was in bed visualizing the following ski day.

For 3 days I had made progress using visualization before a ski session. Each day moved me toward better ski techniques and skills.

Visualization is a well known technique that athletes use. Seasoned basketball, football and tennis players screen game situations in their mind before an important match. Track and field athletes visualize high jumps, distance jumps or the 100 meter sprints before they actually go on the track.

There are 3 kinds of visualizations - Have Visualization, Be Visualization and Do Visualization.

The Have Visualization is visualizing what we want to have in life. It has been promoted in recent years as the "law of attraction" fad. We cannot argue with the popularity of "The Secret". Thousands are still waiting to have their new house and car by visualizing down to the smallest details.

The Be Visualization is visualizing what we want to become. We can visualize that we look fit to get fitter. We can visualize ourselves appearing in TV and magazines to become famous. We can visualize ourselves wealthy to get rich. The Be Visualization focuses our mind on our goals. It creates a clear vision of what we want to do. This vision will motivate us and keep us on track toward achieving that vision. This might happen as long as visualization is followed by action. Action is the only differentiator. Otherwise, Be Visualization is just a day dreaming.

The Do Visualization is visualizing what we want to do. This is a no-nonsense, straight forward technique that is very powerful when you are taking action. We can take advantage on Do Visualization to be on top of our game exactly like top athletes.

To champion our leadership game we should visualize it before we take action.

I gave a speech a few days ago and visualized the whole speech days before. Upon reaching the venue, I spent some time with the attendees to get to know them. From the minute the speech started, my subconscious mind ran the show based on the visualization preparation while my conscious mind interacted with the listeners. No slides or notes were needed. After the speech, I checked my documents and found that not one topic was missed.

Visualization is a leadership skill we can use to enhance our performance, develop our capabilities, and enrich our lives. More importantly, visualization will help us to make an impact on other people lives. Isn't it what leadership all about? Visualize that.

Winning With People

Winning With People: The Best Way To Become Successful With Just About Any Business Is To Lead Other Folks To Success.

Now have you by chance in your life observed or read about a leader who scammed people that were following them?

Have you suddenly had a professional (maybe a sales rep) make you guarantees which in turn ended up being misleading?

Anytime we have been scammed, it really is difficult to trust and follow without questioning. Yet, when many of us follow a leader that leads successfully along with integrity, the majority of us will follow this leader anyplace!

The Following Is Actually A Good Story On How God Promises To Never Mislead Us

One day God called Abram to depart his home because God planned to make use of Abram to create a new country. God called out to him, "Follow me Abram, and I will present to you a new nation. I have given you a brand new name, Abraham. The new land will belong to you as well as your children along with your children's children. You'll be the father to a nation with a lot more descendants than stars within the skies and grains of sand on this shoreline."

This was extremely hard to believe considering the circumstances! Why? Because Abraham was an old man- 100 yrs old to be exact, and his wife Sarah was 90 yrs old. So how in the world could God make such a promise. It's no wonder that after Sarah heard this, she laughed. She was way beyond child bearing years.Yet God said, "There is nothing too much for me! Believe it or not, one full year later, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. God had kept his promise to Abraham and Sarah. With two unbelievers, God created a nation. Quite a story don't you think. There are numerous, fascinating stories like this in the Bible.

What promise has God given you that has not yet been fulfilled? Maybe you think that you heard God wrong and are starting to doubt the promise that he has given you? You might be thinking that your dream will never come true. And as a result you doubt yourself, God, or even both. Because of this, it really is challenging to depend on his promises and step out there in faith again.

Yet God in no way misleads us! You may have come across a bump in the road, which doesn't mean this is the end of the road. God has promised he has a wonderful plan for our lives, for good and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11).

That promise can never be misleading. God will never bring us along the wrong path to mock us with false hope. You can believe in God to keep His word, regardless of how hopeless your life might look now. It doesn't matter how difficult or impossible your situation is, God will never leave you.

A friend of mine a while back gave me the footprints poem to console me after I had lost my infant son. I was wondering why there weren't two sets of footprints in the sand if God was walking with me. The reason why was when life gets too difficult or too hard to bare God will carry you and that is why there is only one set of footprints in the sand. God will never allow a single step to be wasted. There are absolutely no stumbles for those of you that draw near to God!

Winning with people and developing the leader within you is an area that is needed in order for us to be successful in life and in our business. To those that are natural leaders in order to stay at the top you will still need to develop your leadership skills as well.

Your Leadership Ability - For Better Or Worse

What is a leader? Many wish to be a leader but few understand what it takes to be a leader. These are just a few of the many abilities you must have to grow into a leader that can influence and lead others.

1. A crystal clear vision

2. Execute tasks

3. Be objective

4. Be loyal

Vision and action go hand in hand. A leader has to be able to see beyond today's obstacles, set long term goals and be able to still stay in the moment to accomplish today's tasks. Vision without action and action without vision will leave you lost. You have to have a clear vision to sail your ship into the open sea. Execution is the ability to follow through and carry out the decision long after the excitement is long gone.

Usually leaders make quick decisions, stick to them, and are slow to change them. This is not to say leaders never change course. Everyone has the choice to change course. Leaders change course not out of fear, but out of intuition or insight. New challenges come in the way, and a great leader sees it coming and changes course...being proactive not reactive. Objectivity is being able to see things as they are. Being able to see who their team is and being able to see their own shortcomings. Knowing that their own shortcomings do not define who they are...knowing that they need to work on themselves. They are their own best student.

They are self correctors and don't deal in the blame game. Being loyal to yourself...your vision, the journey and your team. No room for guilt or fear..true leaders never use guilt or fear to control their team. Loyalty is found in love, trust and empowering others. Be loyal,serve others, support them to their success. I believe that success is within the reach of all the desire it. Leadership develops daily not in a day. Make a habit of investing in your leadership skills daily, the process doesn't happen overnight. To lead tomorrow you must learn today. Successful Leaders Are Learners,

The Essence of Effective Leadership

It is commonly and wisely stated that the most important element of leadership is to have followers. True enough. But every bit as important is action. There are not many situations where effective leadership occurs without action. After all, to lead is to lead somewhere. Prerequisite to action is the all-important call to action.These calls are framed by well chosen and spoken words.

So there you have it. I have distilled years of study on leadership to a simple sentence. The essence of leadership is to motivate followers to action with words. Oh, but this is so much easier said than done. For evidence, look no further than our last two Presidents.

No one will argue that George W. lacked bias for action. With rare exception, he was the embodiment of action driven by ideology and ethic. He pushed his political agenda with the same vigor that he tackled brush clearing on his ranch in Crawford. Words, however, were not his strong suit. His inarticulate manner of speaking was not up to the task of setting the stage for his actions, leaving his underlying motivation subject to the interpretation of others. Never a good thing for a leader.

Then there is Barack Obama. A veritable master of the spoken word. Arguably the most articulate President since FDR. He sets the stage for action with stirring speech and inspiring rhetoric, audaciously raising our hopes. Then we get the same old, same old political morass and dysfunctionality. So just as we get excited to be lead, we go absolutely nowhere.

To all of the current leaders out there and those who aspire to such, let these men be a cautionary tale. Know that to lead others begins with finding the right words to help them imagine what they can not on their own. To enable them to see possibilities. Then to orchestrate a series of actions that make the possibilities a reality, course-correcting as situations require, all while keeping the vision alive.

A Leader Has to Be Reborn

The key for understanding leadership is to understand persons who are widely accepted as leaders. Leadership flows from leader and not vice-versa. A leader never follows any leadership theory or style (Otherwise he is not a leader). The theories and styles are created by scholars after a person has proven himself a leader.

Leadership is like an art which is always unique. An art is not known to the world and even to the artist till it is created. If you ask a novelist the story of his next book, his answer has to be negative. He cannot know what is going to strike in his mind in future. No musician can have even a hint of his next composition. All artistic creations are like the children which are created by the union of male and female members of the specie. It is impossible to predict the attributes of the child and no father or mother have any say in creation of the child. They only come through their parents yet they are independent. This had been beautifully expressed in a poem by Khalil Gibran which reads

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

It is not that children are independent of their parents. They take all their physical and metal attributes from their parents. Their features, intelligence, colour of the skin, height, weight, blood group resembles their parents. Yet they are independent and they may vary widely from their parents considerably as a human being. Most genius and great leaders were born of ordinary parents and not from great parents.

Just like every man or woman had the potential to create another person, every man has a hidden leadership. Only when the man faces a situation which is exceptional, a leader is born. Thus the leader the man can be considered as the father of the leader and the situation or environment can be consider as the mother of the leader. Only when the right person mates the right situation, a great leader is born.

Leaders cannot be created but every ordinary person has the potential to become a leader. A leader is not born, he is born-again. First, he is born as an ordinary person and then he take birth as leader.

In Christianity, it is believed that every man should be born twice. He is first born as a physical being just like any other animal. However, he must be born again as a spiritual being to achieve salvation. Jesus says,

"I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5 KJV)".

The leaders too are born again people. The physical man dies and then only the birth of leader takes place. The leader may have the feature of the parents yet he is different from the man who was born as a child. A leader may not a pure spiritual being and he is not born again to enter in the Kingdom of God. He is born again to take the kingdom of the earth, which too has been created by God. He guides the humanity through the path determined by God. A leader is a king of his nation, state, society, origination or his family. Everyone follows his command. His followers worship him like a king, often like a God as there is no one above king in this world.

Sometime, people become king before becoming leaders. This was more common in ancient and medieval societies where the son of the king only could become king. Even in the modern world, often the son of the presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings and the Heads of the Organization get the chair of their father even without proving their leadership. It is like entering into the kingdom of God without having performed the required good deeds. The kings too lose their kingdom and often prosecuted by their own people if they fail to emerge as leaders.

The leadership cannot be taken for granted. You have to reborn as leader, if you wish to take the leadership roles in the organisation. A leader is a man of the masses and he sacrifices his personal interest for the sake of the followers. If the leader continues to behave like ordinary mortals, his leadership cannot be accepted for long.

Which is the Best Style of Leadership?

The style of leadership varies with every leader. It is difficult to predict the style of the next leader. The styles of leaders are decided not only on the basis of the personality of the person but also the situation and the type of followers. The leadership styles are broadly classified into three categories.

1. Authoritarian: The Leader decides everything without consulting anyone.

2. Participative (Democratic): The leader decides everything after consulting the people who shall be responsible for the implementation of the decision.

3. Delegative (Laissez-Faire): Leader delegates his power to another person who decides everything on behalf of leader.

A good leader uses all three types of styles to provide leadership to his people. Yet some styles are more suitable in a particular time and situations.

Authoritarian styles are best suited in war-like situation when there is a question of life and death. You cannot afford to waste your time on discussion and consultation. The leader has to take the call based on his intuition and best judgment. There is very little information available since it is difficult to know everything about the enemy. However, even in such situation, if the leader tries to force his decision, the followers may back out if they do not have much faith in the leadership. This may lead to the collapse of the leadership and defeat of the group. However, if the leader is the most competent person of the group and the followers have trust in his capability, authoritarian style can produce the best result in such situation.

The participative leadership style is best suited for realizing the long-term goals of the organisation. It is said that two minds are better than one. Hence if the decision is taken after the participation of many brilliant minds, the future strategy can be failure-proof. The brain-storming can be extremely useful to solve complex problems and find a lasting solution. However, the selection of the participants is extremely important in such decision-making. Even a single negative thinker or pessimist can really sabotage the efforts of many brilliant minds. This leadership works best when the leader and participants have similar intelligence and expertise in the matter and they have mutual respect for each other.

The delegative leadership style is best suited for larger organizations where the people with good talent is available at lower ranks. The leader instead of being expert in any field must be expert of the experts. He must have the capability to pick the best man from his team and assign the job which can be done by his men better than the leader. In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

The nature of delegated work should be important but routine in nature and no major creativity should be required by the delegated leader. There must be absolute trust between the leader and the led. The delegative style of the leader makes the leader free to focus on the more important issues and concentrate his energy on realization of the vision of the organisation. It is difficult to say which style is the best? A good leader must use all the three styles of leadership for leading his people. Every good organisation has all three types of work, all three types of situations and all three types of persons. A leader must know how to make the best use of all for achieving the vision of the organisation.

A Few Tips For Leaders to Attract Followers

We often think that the world can be neatly divided into two groups' i.e. leaders and followers. Nothing can be farther from the truth as most people are neither leaders nor followers. They are simply individuals who follow their own path. They are their own leaders and they have no desire to become either leader or follower. Then there are many, who are leaders as well as followers. They are leaders in one field while follower in other fields.

Who wants to follow in this world where everyone is interested in only becoming a leader?

It is as difficult to follow a person as it is difficult to lead people. Every man has a free will and he finds it difficult to surrender his freedom of making decisions to anyone. Hence, for most people, it is more difficult to follow than to lead.

If you wish to lead the people, you must have followers. Mark Brouwer said, "A man is only a leader when a follower stands beside him". Most people fail to become leaders not because they are not competent to become leader or that they do not have the qualities of a leader, but they fail since they fail to attract followers or their followers do not stand by them.

How can there be a leader without followers?

Therefore, if you wish to lead, you must ensure that people shall follow you. In order to ensure that people follow you, try to put yourself in the shoes of the follower. Just imagine that you are a follower and a person is exhorting you to follow him. You are busy in your job. You have to earn your living and take care of your family. Why should you follow a person? You are surely not interested in the interest of the leader.

Everyone is interested in achieving their own objectives. You may follow a leader only if you are likely to get some benefits by following the leader.

Therefore, you must be able to play the role of both the leader and the follower in your mind. There must be a discussion and even an argument in your mind where things must be discussed from the point of view of the leader as well as the followers.

You must however, remember that people have different values. Hence do not expect people to follow you simply because you are following an ethical path. Though people are attracted towards the people with values, they must get some benefit by following a leader. These benefits may not be material alone as human beings have other requirements like appreciation, recognition etc. However, no one would follow another person unless he finds some definite benefit in it.

As the next step you must again think as leader and ask yourself if you can really ensure some benefits to your followers.

The answer to this question depends upon how much the chances of your success are. Why should anyone believe in your success? Do you have some track record of success? Have you ever succeeded in such venture or such mission in the past which should reassure the followers in sacrificing their person interest for your mission?

Depending upon what you offer, you are likely to get followers. Suppose your leadership enables them to become more prosperous, you may get people who desire money. Similarly, if you wish to offer them peace, enjoyment and happiness, people who are restless and unhappy are likely to follow. If you promise to give the people respect and recognition, you can expect following from the people who are neglected in the society.

Unless you are extremely creative and lucky, in all likelihood there must already to people who must be leaders in that area. For example, if you promise to remove poverty in your country, there could have been a large number of leaders before you who would have already made these promises to the people. They might have failed the people and the people might have lost hope in such promises. You have to think, why people should trust your promise. What is so unique in your scheme that has never been tested yet that can assure people that you shall succeed while others have failed?

In reality, the leaders and followers are not separate but share the same vision. They come together to attain a common objective. They fulfill each other's need by combining the talents and resources of a large number of people. Leaders must show them the way to success.

Why Some Followers Can Not Become Leaders

Tom Peters said, "Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders." A follower can be considered to be the leader in making. Followers learn leadership under the guidance of a leader just like a pupil acquires knowledge with a teacher. You can also compare a leader with a captain of a team who has to play with his team to provide victory and glory to his team. A leader is thus selected amongst the people who have learned to follow.

A good leader is, therefore, a good follower as he knows the feelings and aspirations of a follower. He can see through the heart and soul of the follower and knows their inspirations and motives. The followers may never tell such inspirations to their leaders and only through their intuition; leaders understand their feelings and emotions.

Yet, leadership is not everyone's cup of tea. Some people are good followers and team members but they fail miserably as leaders. Since all leader's rise from the level of follower, how can you possibility know whether or not you would become a successful leader.

The key difference between the leader and the follower is in the width of the personality. Good leaders are not only intelligent in traditional skills but also emotionally intelligent. They know not only their heart and mind but also know the minds of other people. They are not only good at their work but also know something of everything.

Some people are so specialized that they develop a tunnel vision. They cannot see the complete truth as they are blind outside their area of specialization. When the leadership comes in their way, they are frightened like a frog that has seen only the water in its well and never seen a river whose horizon he cannot see.

A leader is one whose vision is exceptionally wide. Even when he is working like a specialist, as a team member, he has the vision of a generalist. He knows everything of his specialized area but he also knows something of all other areas. He is always excited in discovering more that lies beyond the horizon of his specialized territory. He is always excited to meet people who share their stories of a different world with him. He does not disbelieve such stories simply because he has not seen them by his own eyes. He learns to see the world through the eyes of other people.

The imagination of a leader has no limit and he can see everything from the eyes of his imagination. Thus even when he is merely a team member who must follow the command of the team leader, he thinks like the team leader. He always sees the point of view of other specialists who are part of the team and he does not consider his role as anyway superior to the roles of others. He tries to create the synthesis of all the team members' points of view. He spends good amount of time in learning from others, even if it mean reducing his focus on his field of specialization. He understands that it is impossible to see the whole picture if you focus only on your specialization.

However, most people are in so much accustomed to their tunnel vision which gives them comfort and security. They are excellent team members and followers but they fail miserably when they are selected as leaders as they neither understand nor appreciate the holistic vision. They are like an engineer who has not learned the skill of assembling all the parts of a car to make a complete car. The expertise of assembling parts is different than manufacturing the parts itself. A leader focuses not on making the parts but on assembling the parts to make a useful machine.

This is the Single Most Important Leadership Behavior

There has been considerable discussion about leadership behavior in recent years in various suggestions have been made concerning the single most important leadership behavior. For many leaders, their most important leadership behavior is MBWA ( Management By Walking Around). They sincerely believe that this contributes most to their effectiveness as a leader. However, a totally different view has emerged that has been backed up by extensive research. Dr. Judith Komaki, professor of psychology and leadership researcher, has carried out important behavioral research to reveal vital leadership behaviors.

She and her research team have discovered that the most important leadership behavior is, what she describes as monitoring. At first glance, this looks like it is related to Management By Walking Around but there are very important differences because the research pointed out that there was only one topic of conversation that had any relevance.

The core of her research is that the most effective leaders seek to gather information but only information regarding performance. In her definition, monitoring is the deliberate inquiry into the relationship between the person and their work. One of the questions that could help to focus on this relationship would be, "How did you do that?" And let the person explain how they achieved their result. When you ask this question, you are implicitly doing several things. You are showing respect for their achievement, you are asking the question, you are listening to them, you are recognizing the importance of their work and you are giving them positive reinforcement.

Another question you can pose is, "What were the challenges in achieving that result?" This question also recognizes that they have exerted some effort, either mental or physical, to achieve the result. To develop other questions, reflect on yourself and the questions that you would like to be asked about the relationship between you and your work.

When you reflect on your progress during the day you can ask yourself, "Who taught me something today?" When you answer the question you will know who you positively reinforced during the day.

If you consider your followers one by one, ask yourself what are the things that you can do to positively reinforce them in conjunction with their work. Remember that there is one almost universal positive reinforcer, and that is the relationship between their work and its contribution to the overall objective. There is another one but it only represents a small portion of what is reinforcing. It's useful to know that when they teach or show you something that they know or can do, they are immediately positively reinforced.

Everybody in a leadership or management position should be able to use this concept successfully straight away.

Leadership Development and Your Most Valuable Asset

So just how is leadership development going in your organization these days?

It's a struggle, right?

If being a leader were easy, everybody would be one. I'm exaggerating a bit, but that's small consolation when the future of your organization depends on cultivating leadership skills at all levels. Is it really that hard to find people in your company who possess the personal attributes desired in a leader?

We both know that a good leader possesses strong character, integrity, excellent communication skills, the ability to build trust, passion, and a spirit of continuous learning. That's quite a combination of traits and skills. We also know that leadership is hard and can often be a lonely, thankless job. Leaders have many irons in the fire, often have to make unpopular decisions, and are expected to perform flawlessly in the face of a crisis. By now, it should be plain to see that not just anyone can be a leader.

In my travels, I've met people who were ideally suited to be leaders and I took some time to learn as much as I could from them. I've also met plenty of people who were in leadership positions for all the wrong reasons. These are folks who are putting your company at great risk right now and your best bet for creating a leadership development program that really works is to identify them and guide them towards the career that is the best fit with who they really are.

So how do people find themselves in leadership roles that they don't truly desire, or have the ability to succeed at? If you've ever heard of the "Peter Principle", then you know part of the reason already. This principle states that people are promoted to their level of incompetence, but that's a bit of an oversimplification. It's not necessarily that the employee is now incompetent, but perhaps the leadership role just isn't a good fit for their skills and it may even be something they're not passionate about.

Because it's common to consider high performing individual contributors for leadership roles, many find themselves thrust into these roles at the encouragement of their managers. The promise of a raise, additional responsibilities, and a higher status within the company are all very attractive to the average employee. Once some of these young leaders start struggling, they seek out leadership development programs to help fill in those skill gaps that they perceive are the reasons for their lack of success.

Leadership development training helps for a while, but many of these young leaders don't show any sustained improvement in their performance. Many of them continue to struggle, or just hang on for dear life, while constantly dealing with stress and diminishing job satisfaction. The money, the status, and the inability to deal with failure keep them stuck in a job they now hate. This is why a successful leadership development program must begin with a clear process for identifying candidates with leadership potential.

There are some important questions to ask anyone before placing them into a leadership development program. These questions relate heavily to self-image and values. Someone who determines their self-worth based on their ability to earn a living, or on their ability to produce results perhaps doesn't understand what it really means to be a leader. Will a person who bases their self-image on the approval of others be able to make tough, and often unpopular, personnel decisions?

Those with leadership potential often have a self-image that is closely aligned with their core character. They live by natural, unchanging principles that serve as a rock at the center of their being. External factors simply don't sway them. These types of people make leaders who build trust easily, can form a clear vision of success, and allow their employees to risk and grow on a daily basis.

Aren't these the kind of folks who've always envisioned as the future of your organization?

What separates leaders from followers? Download your free e-book, "The Human Condition" and begin to explore why some develop a leader's passion and some don't. Begin to learn what goes on in our minds and, more importantly, how we can start gaining more control over it.

Leadership For Group Activities - Tips For Leading Small Group Activities

Group activities, of course, can range from learning to cook to discussing a book club choice. But there are some generic tips on leading groups that can put the odds of their success in your favor.

1. Be clear on the focus of the group activities. Sounds obvious - goal: learn to cook (duh). But do you want the group to learn a deeper understanding of herbs so they'll more often shop at farmers' markets? Or do you want cooking to just be the background for socializing? Group leadership means keeping the specific focus in mind and attracting others to do the same.

2. Keep the meeting time consistent even though there are times some just can't make it. If you switch the time to accommodate Susan, Jean and Tom may resent the fact that they had made special arrangements to be there during the original time, and feel Susan should do the same.

3. Do set boundaries. People feel safer and work better in group activities within chosen boundaries. State the hopes for the gathering at the beginning, and restate it throughout where it feels appropriate without sounding nagging.

4. Balance focus and boundaries with a little free time. Ideas and thoughts will naturally appear that need to be expressed at appropriate times. Depending on the nature of the activities of your group, decide when free time should take place. You can allow it at the beginning, but realize you'll have to get everyone focused at some point when their minds may have wondered. You can allow free time after the group activity, but realize people sometimes start visiting and have to be shooed out the door. If your group activities take place in a public location, and everyone can leave according to their own schedule, that wouldn't be a problem. If you lead group activities in someone's home, it can be hard to get participants to leave. A mid-break period of free time is another good option. Participants have already started out focused and it may be easier for them to return to focus after a mid-activity break.

Find Out the Biggest Mistake a Leader Can Make

Too often in business I see other people wanting their business associates to follow their every move, to play the game as if you're part of "Simon Says." Unfortunately, what some business associates never realize is that to create success, you'll want to be Simon and not the one that mimics the antics of Simon.

The biggest mistake a leader can make is to expect his new people to follow his every move. When you expect someone to follow your every move then it becomes a parent-child relationship. Them waiting for you to okay their moves and you giving the nod of approval or the shake of the head. What true leaders understand is that other leaders are not always going to want to do things exactly like them. That it's okay to disagree, hey in fact you'll probably get a better product or service in place with not everyone looking to you to complete everything.

You see, leaders understand this...

Leaders lead.

Followers don't.

True leaders don't create followers...True leaders create other leaders.

How can you create a leader? Isn't a leader born that way? Some may say "Yes," that either you've got it or you don't. I'll admit I'm an Aries. Leadership for me is like breathing. Some would argue that you can learn to be a leader.

I think some people are just natural born leaders as if they came out of the womb that way and others grow into their leadership like an acorn grows to an mighty oak. When you hold an acorn in your hand, you have no idea the power, strength and longevity of the oak.

For some, it takes the push out of their comfort zone into their leadership shoes and for others they come with the leadership shoes already in place and running!

How to Create More Leaders

1. Give Them Game

A leader must have the freedom to create and implement. A leader must be able to go with his gut. Nothing worse than having a great idea and those around you are saying, "I don't know..." Give your leader more opportunities to grow and shine the light for others.

2. Charge!

How does a rhino go after his desire? By charging. He will not stop until he reaches his goals. Can you even imagine a infantry Sergeant charging up the hill and then looking back at his men saying, "What do you guys think?" Heck no. Charge! Charge! Charge!

3. Always Paying It Forward

How can people pay you back for your time, effort and commitment to them? By paying it forward to assisting their new leaders. Period. You want to pay me back? Help someone act in their greatness.

4. Let Action Guide You

The Eagle pushes the eaglet from the nest. It takes flight, whether it was ready or not. Always assist others in moving with action. Ideas, thoughts and plans are all great, but I'll take one consistent daily action over the greatest of ideas, the deepest of thoughts and the best laid plans. Let action be the drum that you march to everyday.

5. Always Leaving Others Empowered

Shining the light for others, seeing and recognizing their greatness even before they see it in themselves is key. Be the person that they know will raise their game, not join them on the bench.

Remember that true leaders don't create followers...true leaders create other leaders.

I'll look forward to hearing your results in creating and attracting more leaders into your business.

The Zen of Leadership

There are many aspects to leadership that parallel the philosophies, concepts, and perspectives of Zen Buddhism.� I don't profess to have a great depth of knowledge regarding Zen Buddhism, but from the insights I do have, I can see the application with respect to effective leadership.

The parallel exists within the concept of leading without leading.� It exists in the ebb and flow of leadership style.� And it's reflected in the very duality of the role of a leader within an organization.� Let me share my perspectives on each of those concepts as an insight into effective leadership.

The first concept to expand upon is that of leading without leading.� Many people hold the notion that leadership is about leaders and followers.� They feel that an effective leader learns how to either "pull" their followers along, or they become adept at "pushing" followers to "follow".� At first blush, this might sound a bit simplistic, unrealistic, or na�ve, but the practice of pulling or pushing followers is much more prevalent than one might expect.

When we push or pull followers along, they're simply acquiescing to our demands or desires.� In contrast, when a leader truly has people following him or her, people act not because they "have to" so much as because they "want to".� How is this accomplished?� How do we shift our team from acquiescing because they feel they "have to" to a place where they excel because they "want to"?

That is captured within the concept of leading without leading.� An accomplished leader develops the ability to inspire those around him or her to be, do, and give their best.� The leader inspires them to be, do, and give willingly.� An effective leader elicits excellence from their team.� It's not about "getting" people to do anything.� It's not about being viewed as "the leader".� It's really about becoming the kind of person others admire, respect, rely on, and want to emulate.� People are attracted to and respond to someone because of who they are, and not because of what they do.

Effective leadership is about leading without leading - a Zen-like philosophy.

The next concept to examine is the ebb and flow of leadership style.� Many leaders make their mark on an organization by staying true to a certain style of leadership.� And while consistency and acting in integrity are critical to strong leadership, one's style of leadership needs to ebb and flow with changing situations and circumstances.� It's analogous to the Eastern concept of Yin and Yang.� The very symbol for Yin/Yang illustrates the never-ending flow between hard and soft, strong and weak, expanding and contracting, masculine and feminine.� And even within those concepts, the seed of its opposite exists.

For leadership to be truly effective, there needs to be a flow of style.� Sometimes a strong, unyielding style is required, and other times, a determined, yet yielding style is called for.� The more adept at masterfully flowing among the various leadership styles that one becomes (yes, there are more than two styles), the more effective that leader can be at eliciting excellence.

Effective leadership is about ebbing and flowing - a Zen-like philosophy.

The final leadership concept to examine is that of the duality of the role of a leader.� This philosophy once again parallels some of the principles of Zen Buddhism.� The duality of leadership is reflected in the fact that sometimes a leader is the Master and at other times, a leader is the Servant.� In truth, Servant Leadership can be an extremely effective role which fosters respect, admiration, and trust - all of which are very powerful influences in eliciting excellence.

It is the very existence of the role of Master that allows the role of Servant to exist - and to exist with such impact.� Without having a role as Master, the impact and influence of the role of Servant is greatly diminished.� Conversely, without the role of Servant, the role of Master loses its effectiveness as well.

If a leader acts in self-interest without regard to the people they are leading, then their impact and effectiveness is soon diminished.� Over the years, we've seen the self-interest of many corporate leaders exposed, and their power and stature destroyed.

The other extreme can be just as ineffective.� If a leader abdicates his or her authority, is unable to make confident decisions, and does not command respect, an organization will soon lose its way and drift apart.

Effective leadership is about the duality of Master and Servant - a Zen-like philosophy.

The concepts of leading without leading, flowing among leadership styles, and understanding the role of leader as both Master and Servant are essential to effective leadership and to eliciting excellence.� If a person is to excel as a leader, they must abandon the concept of developing themselves as "leader" and must instead, embrace the concept of mastering the ability to elicit excellence in others.� This is not simply a matter of semantics, but a fundamental shift in perspective.