Merry Christmas!!

Tis the season, many people are in the midst of celebrating Christmas. They are shopping, entertaining and enjoying time with family and friends.  This is a great time of year to really relax and get away from your role as a leader. However to many people this can be a stressful and hectic time. It becomes a time for many to juggle their obligations to family, to work and the finances.

How do you deal with the stress of the season? You need to find that one thing that is a constant during this hectic holiday. For me it is focusing on the real reason for the season. I focus on Jesus and His birth. It is a calming effect to focus on the one constant in life, Jesus Christ. Through all the chaos and craziness of this season the author of peace and calm is Jesus so I focus on His birth and every blessing He has given my family and I.

What are some things that keep you calm during this hectic season? Here is a list of some things that might help you think about whether they are calming in your life or not.

·         Focus on Jesus

·         Go Shopping (After all you are buying for others)

·         Bake Christmas Cookies

·         Cook a Christmas meal

·         Decorate your house

·         Visit family and/or friends

If you have more please share.

Merry Christmas!!

Five Things

I am sorry I haven't blogged in while. I have had some things I have been taking care of. I found the following blog article that I would like to talk about. It tells five things you shouldn't do if you are a manager. This blog article "Five Things a Boss Should Never Do" is by Brenda Morris please read the article.

The five things are:

• Micro-manage
• Constantly Re-prioritize
• Lose your temper
• Set unreasonable expectations
• Avoid making decisions

If you are a leader you may have encountered people who have done one or all of these things. Have you done any of these things? There is a difference between managing and leading not doing the above will help you manage like a leader instead of manage like a manager.

The next time we will look at Micro-managing.

What's Your Leadership

I would like to find out from my audience what your leadership life is like? Do you find yourself a leader only in one aspect of your life or in all aspects of your life? Maybe you use different styles at work as opposed to your home. Are you a double agent when it comes to leadership, a Jekyll and Hyde type of situation when you lead. What I mean are you a nice leader in one area of your life and a tyrant in the other area of your life?

I want to hear from you. Let me know how you lead in certain situations and if you lead differently and the reason why you lead differently.

It Has Arrived

Winter has officially arrived. Minnesota winters can bring snow and brutal cold and usually both. Today we spent the day digging out from our biggest snow dumping in two years. Last year we were spoiled with mild temperatures and very little snow. In the northern suburbs where I live we were fortunate to be hit with close to 15 inches. Because of this I spent part of the morning shoveling and then this evening shoveling again. I am one of those Minnesotans who does not own a snow blower. I have to clear the snow the old fashioned way, exercise and sweat.

This is all part of a weekend of leisureship. I know what you are saying; shoveling snow doesn’t sound much like leisure. It really isn’t but if you look at it as exercise it is leisure. Many of you might spend money on a gym membership or home equipment when all you have to do is buy a shovel and live in Minnesota.

It is good exercise, shoveling snow, but you have to be careful when shoveling snow to make sure you don’t hurt yourself. Just like any physical activity care should be taken to make sure they exercise does good to your body and not harm.

If you are planning to shovel here are some things to do to prepare yourself before shoveling.

·         Dress in warm layers

·         Avoid caffeine before shoveling

·         Stretch your muscles

·         Begin Slowly

·         Pace yourself and listen to your body

Follow these items and you could have yourself a decent cardio workout. Be sure you also don’t lift too much heavy snow at one time and take short breaks if you need to do so.

Toothless Leadership

I have been having a tooth ache for a while so last Friday I went in and they said I need to have a root canal done. I know what you might be saying what does this have to do with leadership? While I sit and try to manage my pain until I go in for my root canal on Monday I find myself thinking about what the dentist said. He gave me two options, “root canal” or “pull the tooth”. Since it is a molar back next to my wisdom tooth we decided it was best to keep the tooth that is why it will be a root canal and not a pull.

Leadership can be like this tooth. Is your leadership methods worth saving or should you pull the plug on your failed leadership skills? Leaders should always be evaluating their leadership skills to determine if the method they are using is a valid method. Does that method work or has it run its course?

When your leadership skills only need a tweaking or some minor adjustments it might be a good idea to save that leadership style. It might be time to give your leadership a root canal. Dig down deep to the root of the problem and drill out what is bad and bothering you with your leadership skills. Then when you are done pack it with fresh leadership material. If you do this you will find yourself chewing on positive leadership skills in no time.

When your leadership has gone south and nothing seems to be working you might consider pulling that skill. It might be you aren’t cut out for leadership and you have to pull the plug on your failed experiment. Sometimes being a toothless leader is better than trying to deal with the pain of leadership. Trying to deal with the pain and suffer through poor leadership will only make others resent you and not want to follow you. Time to get out that pliers and pull that bad leadership. Then you can start over by using another method or approach.

What is it for you? Are you ready for a root canal on your leadership or are you going to pull the whole project?

 

The Big Weekend

I would like to discuss an aspect of leisureship. We are in the throes of a long holiday weekend and just spent Thanksgiving celebrating the blessings and giving thanks for everything we have been provided.

These weekends are supposed to be stress free and relaxing. We are supposed to spend time with family and friends enjoying their company. Thanksgiving is a great time for family, food and football. It is also a great time for leaders to relax and enjoy those three things. How did you spend your Thanksgiving? Sometimes people do other things during Thanksgiving evening and the weekend after.

Friday is dubbed black Friday for the amount of money spent at stores on great shopping deals. Do you venture out on black Friday? It is starting to bleed over into Thursday and become black Thursday. I think it is crazy that stores open on Thanksgiving. I say let your leaders and workers relax that day and come into work the next day ready to be met by all the turkey hangover shoppers.

Saturday and Sunday people are now starting to decorate their house for Christmas. This also is become a trend that is occurring earlier and even before Thanksgiving. I am a purest and would prefer not to see any Christmas Decorations lit up before Thanksgiving.

How did you spend all of your leisure time during this Thanksgiving weekend? After all it is about relaxing and rejuvenating yourself so you can be ready for the leadership challenges that confront you.

Here is a list of things you can do during this kickoff to the Holiday weekend.

·         Eat copious amounts of food

·         Laugh with family and friends

·         Cheer on your favorite football team

·         Shop for those great black Friday deals

·         Decorate your house for Christmas

It's About the Turkey

Today I would like to share with you a little Thanksgiving story. Actually it is a made up humorous story that I also hope will be thought provoking. It is looking at Thanksgiving from the turkey’s perspective. It is a question you can pose to your family and friends and be able to understand a little about their leadership style.

I want you to think of yourself as a turkey. There are two kinds of turkeys in this fictitious world.

Which group do you belong to?

• The first is a group of passive turkeys who believe it is their destiny to be eaten on Thanksgiving they view it as an honor to be served and eaten. They would do anything to make sure they were one of the select Turkeys chosen for this holiday.
• The second group is a band of turkey freedom fighters they will do anything to avoid being eaten. They think the lesser birds should be consumed because turkeys are above such a degrading display. They hideout and avoid the slaughter hoping to fight another day

Days before Thanksgiving we find the following scene:

The freedom fighter group is gobbling around with signs that say "Heck no we won't go!!" or "Eat Chicken they are the lesser bird" or "Why not a Cornish hen?" They are having a "gobble In" and they are feeding tryptophan to the police and then they sneak away when the police fall asleep.

Then the passive group is wandering around compliant and innocent excited to potentially be picked. They are fluffing their feathers and grooming their wattles. You see a line of them parading to the turkey gulags, willingly, subservient to wanting to be eaten. They know it is their destiny to be eaten and feel proud to be chosen to be served.

What group are you in?

I find myself drawn to the first group. Fighting to the end to preserve my life and hiding out until black Friday when I can shop for something to cover up my wattle.

Are you a passive subservient leader or a freedom fighter leader? Do you have what it takes to handle the difficult challenges of leadership or do you just fall in line and comply, not really strutting your leadership wattle.

UFO Leadership

Yesterday I looked at Bigfoot leadership. Today I will continue on with the myth idea and look at UFOs and leadership. Whether you believe in UFOs or not you have to admit the idea of life beyond earth is interesting. You might be one of those people who has been abducted by aliens and even been aboard their ship or maybe you don’t believe in any of that. Regardless we can learn some lessons about leadership from UFOs and our belief or unbelief in those UFOs.

A UFO is an unidentified flying object. Are you the type of leader who no one recognizes? Do you think you are a leader but you aren’t that would be a ULO Unidentified Leading Object. Don’t be that ULO instead make your leadership known and become recognized as a leader among leaders.

A UFO is out of this world. Are your leadership ideas crazy and out of this world? As a leader you do need to be an outside the box thinker but don’t have far out ideas that aren’t successful. Your ideas need to be reasonable and they must be successful.

According to the myth of UFOs they also come to earth to take over the world. Don’t be a leader who walks into a situation and tries to take over. You have to be a leader who learns about the situation and then makes reasonable decisions based upon the information you have. Often times leaders just take over and overhaul everything when it isn’t necessary.

Are you a UFO leader or a down to earth leader?

Bigfoot Leadership

How many of you believe that Bigfoot exists? How many of you think it is just another lame hoax or urban legend? I am here today to tell you that Bigfoot does indeed exist. He exists in each of us in the form of leadership. That’s right, I said leadership. I know you are probably saying how can a hoax generate any sense of leadership?

Today I am going to blog about Bigfoot leadership. How you can have Bigfoot leadership and become a leader people will believe in.

First of all what is Bigfoot? Some say it is a gigantic ape others say just a man in an ape suit. Do people know who you are as a leader? Are you just someone wearing a leadership suit or are you a real leader. Hopefully you are a real leader someone others can believe in and know that what you stand for they can grab a hold of. I would hope you aren’t just parading around in a leadership suit trying to pass yourself off as something you aren’t. People won’t believe in you and they will stop following you.

Second, Bigfoot is in hiding. Are you the type of leader who hides behind a desk or a closed door and refuse to interact with your people. Hopefully you are a leader you likes to be noticed but not for your own satisfaction but for the work done by those you lead. Maybe you come out from behind that door or desk and interact with your people, Don’t be a leader in hiding because that really isn’t leading it is avoiding.

Lastly, Bigfoot has many names depending on what part of the world you live in. Sasquatch, Abomidible Snowman, Yeti are just a few of the alternative names for Bigfoot. Are you the type of leader who has gained other names, many which are not endearing you to those around you. Don’t be the kind of leader who gets called names behind your back. Be a leader in which people will call you a leader and respect your leadership. Gain that respect from those people by being a true leader, lead by example and you will be a champion among leaders.

Avoid Bigfoot leadership, instead embrace true leadership and instead of becoming a legend in your own mind you will be an ultimate leader to others.

Brain or Hands

Today I am going to write a little bit about leisureship. It is a way leaders can break from their leadership role and relax on the weekend or in the evenings. Today I had the pleasure of tearing up a carpet in our basement. The basement is flooded and I need to get the stinky wet carpet up and out.

You might say to yourself that doesn’t sound like a lot of leisure. It really isn’t too much leisure but it is different than the normal leadership. Sometimes doing manual work if it is different than what you normally do can give you a sense of satisfaction.

I didn’t finish but got a major sense of satisfaction from finishing what I did accomplish and that is relaxing for me. I like getting in there and fixing or renovating things I might not be the best at it but I like working with my hands sometimes because it is a break from the brain work I do.

If you are one of those leaders who does brain work for a living then find something opposite of brain work to help you relax on those weekends. Here are a few:

·         Renovate

·         Paint

·         Play music

·         Be athletic

If you are one of those leaders who works with your hands for a living then find something opposite of physical work to help you relax on those weekends. Here are a few:

·         Do a puzzle

·         Read a book

·         Watch an educational program

·         Solve some math problems (That’s right for fun, I do it all the time).

Find what works for you to relax and do it so you can be refreshed for the leadership week ahead.

Grand Old Party

Now that we have had a day to digest what happened in the election last night we can clearly make some assumptions about what went wrong. As I listened to the radio and thought about exactly why Romney lost and other key conservative voices I determined that it is the brand.

The Grand Old Party is no longer grand but it is just old. They have a platform that is full of quality conservative ideals however the leadership of the Republican Party believes it is better to distance themselves from those conservative values. They say they will do something but they do the opposite or they climb in bed with the Democrats.

No one wants to vote for and have leaders who say one thing and do another. Sure all politicians do that, Obama said he would close Gitmo and he never did. The difference is the media embraces his changes as positives while chastising the conservative choices. This taints the brand so people view it as a negative brand and want nothing to do with it. Despite the fact that I believe the majority of people in the US believes and wants those conservative values they don’t trust the Republican leadership to deliver it.

I also believe that more and more Americans like the freebies that are being offered and don’t want to let go of the teat of the federal government. America is changing and I don’t think it is for the good. The leadership of the GOP needs to stand up for what the conservative values stand for and don’t back down. They also need to convince America that it is what they want because if they don’t it will get worse before it gets better.

Election Night

Well, our country looks like it will be lead by Barack Obama for four more years. Is this the leadership you wanted? Leadership isn’t about changing the greatest country to a destitute and socialist society. It looks like that is what America wants. They want to be spoon fed everything that the government can give them without lifting a finger to do work.

America is changing because the leadership is becoming too controlling. Leadership is listening to people and making decisions based on what you hear. America has spoken and it looks like America wants four more years of a poor economy, joblessness, high prices and lower incomes. Now that is what America is all about.

We need to rise up as leaders, leaders in our homes, jobs and communities. We can’t let the government control our lives but we must control and lead our own life. Leading is about showing direction and strength even in tough times. It is about overcoming problems and finding solutions to those problems. It is like all those people on the east coast devastated by hurricane Sandy, FEMA and the government are not going to bail them out they need to rise up and band together as leaders and overcome the problem. I am not being callous but all of us encounter problems and often times during those problems people might not be there to bail us out.

We need leaders in Washington who aren’t looking for every opportunity to create a law to control us but are looking for ways to help us create our own opportunities. Far too often Washington leaders want to control us but really they work for us, we pay their salary. They should listen to us and let us be successful because of our own works and not that of others.

Are you a leader or a blind follower?

Lonely At The Top

I have been reading a devotional and there is a series I just finished that was titled “growing into leadership”. One of the days it referenced verse 1 Corinthians 3:9 it addressed the issue of us all being laborers together. Have you ever heard the phrase “it is lonely at the top”, which is what the devotion portion addressed.

Being a leader doesn’t have to be lonely and the bible verse is correct in that we are all in this together. Each person has a role to play whether you are a leader or a follower you have a role that is just as important as the next person.

It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top. Some leaders make it that way by ignoring those around them and by alienating others by not including them or asking for their help or expertise.

I believe that each one of us have been given gifts. Those gifts work in unison with each other to make a successful project, business or event. It gets lonely when the leader doesn’t realize that they have helpers, people who are experts in certain areas and they can help make it successful. When a leader tries to do it themselves they fail to recognize the gifts that surround them they won’t find success and it will be lonely.

Next time you hear a leader say it is lonely at the top tell them it doesn’t have to be. Ask them if they have tapped into the gifts of those around them. Ask them if they interact with their followers.

Are you a leader and are you lonely. If so start relating to those around you and tap into the gifts that they have.

Pumpkin Pictures

I have been away from doing my weekend leisureship writing. I hope to get back on track with that feature on my blog.

October is a great time for football, raking leaves and going to pumpkin patches and apple orchards. With Halloween right around the corner and crisp temperatures in the air it is a great time to spend your day picking out just the right pumpkin and then spending time as a family carving that pumpkin.

My son's pumpkin, hope you can make
out the dinosaur.

We did that this evening. First, one of my daughters came home from a friend’s house with her carved pumpkin. She used a stencil to carve a cat on the front of her pumpkin. My son had a pumpkin from a couple of weeks ago and we have had it outside. We brought it in tonight and carved it. He wanted a dinosaur on his pumpkin. So my other daughter drew the dinosaur on the front, she is the artist, and then we carved out the dinosaur. Whatever happened to old school designs on the pumpkin? Today people want pictures or sayings and they use stencils instead of free hand.

Whatever is your preference it is fun to carve the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. We also cleaned the seeds and will bake the pumpkin seeds and enjoy eating them. This is always a fun way to relax as a leader. Spend some quality time with the family creating memories that they will remember forever.

What favorite fall event do you do that bonds your family and creates lasting memories? Apple orchards, hayrides, pumpkin picking and carving or attending a highschool football game are a number of fall time events. Whatever is your pleasure go out, relax and enjoy the fall.

Making Opportunity Count

This is the final installment of my analysis of looking at creating your own leadership style. Today I will look at the final positive and negative impacts for creating your own style. There are many styles of leadership but designing and creating your own has some benefits it also will have some drawbacks.

Here is a positive impact.

·         You can pick and choose which parts of other leadership styles you want to use.

Anytime you can pick and choose the best parts of different leadership styles and make them your own will make for a fun and unique style. It isn’t too difficult to spot parts of styles that you determine fit your skills and interests. In fact that is what makes creating your own style fun.

Here is a negative impact.

·         You might miss an opportunity – because you are limiting yourself you may miss a greater leadership opportunity.

By picking and choosing bits and pieces of your style you might overlook a very important aspect of a particular style. If this happens you might find yourself missing golden opportunities to grow as a leader. You want to make sure you are looking at everything even if it doesn’t seem like it fits it might be a good match or compliment one of your strengths then you will become a stronger leader.

Opportunity knocks so don’t narrow your focus to your skills but look for ways to grow as a leader and challenge yourself with other parts of the leadership styles. Lead on!

The Waiting Game

I am deviating from my series to discuss something I like to call “The Waiting Game”. Today I had a doctor appointment at 9:30 I didn’t get out of there until 11 and it was just for a simple follow-up appointment. I didn’t get called back until about 9:45 then after an initial visit I sat again waiting for a room for about a half hour.

Why is it that when you go to the doctor’s office their time becomes more important than your time. They act as if you have nothing else to do that day than to sit in their office. Real leaders manage their time and delegate duties to others so they can manage their time.

I do believe doctors are leaders but they it seems that they do not have a gift of time management. Time management is an important aspect of being a leader without it leaders will find themselves struggling to lead because they won’t be able to manage their time correctly.

Time is valuable and I found myself wondering today why at a doctor’s office their time becomes more valuable. If they came into my business and I made them wait for a half hour to forty-five minutes they probably wouldn’t do business with me anymore. I could change doctors but sometimes that is not an option.

If you are a leader and running a business or department don’t play “The Waiting Game” it will only hurt your business or your reputation. Be a leader and manage your time and value the time others are giving you.

Make Your Weakness Strong

Today I am going to look at one more positive and one more negative about creating your own leadership style. It is important to note that all leaders don’t stick to one style and no leader is constricted to just one type of style. What I am looking at are those leaders who try to define and create their own leadership style. I identified three positives and three negatives to creating your own style. Yesterday I looked at one of each, today two more.

Here is a positive impact.

·         You can let your skill set and your leadership shine – Since you are defining your own leadership style you can focus on matching it to your skills.

Creating your own leadership style can help you to match your skill set with different aspects of leadership styles to help you become more impactful as a leader. It allows you to delegate tasks that you might not be good at thus allowing you to build the skills of those around you. It also can help you build up future leaders.

Here is a negative impact.

·         You can become too constricted – If you are only focusing on your skills and strengths you don’t have an opportunity to improve your weak areas and become a well rounded leader.

You can become too limited by only focusing on your strengths. It won’t give you an opportunity to grow as a leader. You will become stagnant in your leadership. Finding those weak areas and working on improving them will help you become a better leader. One of my daughters does competitive swimming. They have them work on all the strokes even though the butterfly is her weakness eventually working at it will help her improve it. That is what leaders need to do.

Focus on your strengths but improve your weaknesses and you will become a much better leader.

Make Your Own Habits

A few days ago I started a series that looked at leadership styles that were made by each individual. It isn’t one type of style but a hybrid of a number of styles that each leader makes the style their own. I listed three positive impacts and three negative impacts of creating your own style. Today I am going to look at one positive and one negative and compare them and contrast them.

Here is a positive impact:

·         Your leadership style is your own – You don’t have to fit a mold but be yourself.

Making it your own can be very beneficial because you can pick all the pieces of the styles that best fit your personality. You also don’t have to be someone you’re not. Creating your own style can really help you be a better leader because you will find success quicker because you are leading in your comfort zones.

Here is a negative impact:

·         You can create bad habits – something you think is a good leadership characteristic may actually be a bad habit and will make you a poor leader.

If you create your own style you can find yourself falling into bad habits. Since you are leaning on your own knowledge of leadership you could find yourself doing things that you think are good leadership methods but they really aren’t. You may find yourself slipping into those old habits thus creating negative leadership.

To counter the negative continue to educate yourself on your personal style. Make sure the practices you use are industry best practices so you don’t find yourself falling into bad habits. Lean on those positives and also get a mentor who you can discuss matters with.

Tomorrow we will look at two more.

Hospital Leadership

I am deviating briefly from my series I started to write about something that has been going on over the last several days. On Friday my wife went in for surgery on her spine. She is doing well now and the surgery was a success.

While spending time at the hospital I noticed how many different levels of leadership there are at the hospital. As a patient or a family member of a patient we don’t get to see the hospital administrator. However we see levels of leadership across all areas within the hospital.

It is a great example of how many ways people can lead. The nurses lead by directing what needs to be done in taking care of the patient. The doctor leads by explaining the diagnoses and making sure everything is done correctly in the surgery or the care of the patient. Nurses assistants lead by following the orders to get the vital signs and helping to make sure the patient is taken care of properly.

A hospital is a massive place that requires everyone to do their job and lead at every level in order to make sure the patients’ needs are met. This is a place where leadership is crucial because lives depend upon it.

Leadership is important in any walk of life but if you are a leader and others depend upon you to be that leader you need to always be on top of your game. If you are a leader always be on top of your leadership game because you never know when someone’s life depends upon it.

Making it Your Own

The more I am out there viewing and working with leaders the more I realize that for each person there is a different style of leadership. Each person seems to find their own style and tweak it. Sure each one is a modification of a general style of leadership but they like to make it their own. This can have a positive impact or a negative impact depending on how you look at it.

I will list three positive impacts and three negative impacts and then over the next several days I will discuss one of each.

Here are the three positive impacts.

·         Your leadership style is your own – You don’t have to fit a mold but be yourself.

·         You can let your skill set and your leadership shine – Since you are defining your own leadership style you can focus on matching it to your skills.

·         You can pick and choose which parts of other leadership styles you want to use.

Here are the three negative impacts.

·         You can create bad habits – something you think is a good leadership characteristic may actually be a bad habit and will make you a poor leader.

·         You can become too constricted – If you are only focusing on your skills and strengths you don’t have an opportunity to improve your weak areas and become a well rounded leader.

·         You might miss an opportunity – because you are limiting yourself you may miss a greater leadership opportunity.

There you have the three positives and three negatives of creating your own leadership style. For the next several days I will pick one of each and explain in further detail.

Rigid Requirements

Have you ever closely read job descriptions? They are always full of what they want you to do and what they expect you to have to be able to be competent in the job. As I thought about these more I got thinking about whether they are precise requirements or just suggestions.

Here is why I think they should be requirements. Most companies or positions are always looking for an “outside the box” thinker. Someone who will push the envelope and make things happen. Yet in their job description they are steadfast in their requirements. Instead of practicing what they preach they keep their rigid ideals for their perfect candidate and then try to make that candidate into something they are not when they get hired.

What I would like to see is more and more companies looking beyond their rigid requirements and really finding a person who best fits the job description. I once worked as the director of a learning center and I hired staff. You might think the best candidates would be licensed teachers. All of the elementary teachers I interviewed couldn’t pass my tests so they didn’t know the math. However, on a trip to California I met on the plane a senior in high school in the district my learning center was located. I told her when she got back to give me a call and I would have a job for her. She blew the math tests away and worked very well with all the kids. I didn’t stick to the thought of having a licensed teacher and I found a great employee.

I hope companies can start to think outside their own box and avoid the rigid restrictions they put on their job descriptions. If they do I think they will be hiring competent engaged employees who can do jobs the company may not have thought they could do.

Opportunity Knocks

Giving your followers or those who report to you small opportunities to lead will help build their confidence and help to build their leadership skills. If you have aspirations to become a leader and are not in that type of position you need to look for opportunities in which you can lead.

Here are some opportunities you might consider that will help you with your leadership skills.

• Serve on a committee and volunteer to lead one of the projects. Ask to be the chair of a committee and start letting those leadership skills shine.
• Look for ways in your job to be a leader. Maybe there is a project or something you are working on where you can hone those leadership skills.
• Find a leadership class, seminar or a training session that your company will pay for and take it. Take it all in and learn what you can.
• Find a mentor who can help evaluate your leadership skills and help you find other opportunities within the company.

Follow this things and you will start to form into the leader that you want to be. Remember opportunity knocks so open the door when you hear the knock.

All Kinds of People

Having good people skills is also essential to being a good leader. If you have aspirations to become a leader you will need to work on honing your people skills. That doesn’t mean schmoozing and talking about yourself to others. People skills really means interacting with people and making sure you can meet their needs.

Here are three things you can do to improve your people skills.

• Talk to people – Don’t tell them about yourself, instead ask them about what they like to do and what they enjoy. The most important part of people skills is getting to know the person not letting them hear you ramble on and on.
• Network – Find groups to join and network. Work on introducing yourself and finding out about those in the group. When networking ask how you can help them to be successful. Getting to know them will help you potentially meet their needs.
• Be yourself – Never try to be someone you aren’t people will see right through you if you try to feign sincerity. Be sincere in your presentation and interaction with others. Ultimately be yourself, use humor when necessary and appropriate and be serious if it calls for it.

Follow these three things when interacting with others and your people skills will improve. Also improving will be your people base. You will find yourself with many more connections and positive connections at that. Go out and improve those people skills.

Failure to Communicate

Communication is essential to good leadership. It is imperative that if you plan to be a leader that you learn to communicate. However communication comes in many forms and it isn’t just about being able to talk. Part of communication is being able to listen and also to be able to evaluate what you hear. When speaking as a communication tool you must be able to be articulate.

Here are some things you need for solid communication skills.

Public Speaking ability – You don’t have to be a public speaker you just have to be able to communicate your ideas clearly and articulately. If you can do this people will listen.

Be an active listener – This means to listen to those who are speaking with empathy and attentiveness. Be sure to acknowledge and repeat what was said so it affirms that you listened.

Evaluate and act upon what you say and hear – After you have spoken articulately and gained the respect of those around you act upon what you say. Don’t sit back and expect someone else to do what you have vision for. After you hear ideas of others ask how you can act and participate in their vision.

If you have trouble with any of these things I might suggest you find an organization or a club that will help you get better at all of these things. One organization that can help you with all of these things is Toastmasters. Get involved and you will see great improvement.

Leadership Lost

Have you ever been in a position where you feel lost? Where sometimes you are clueless to what is going on around you or worse clueless to the job you are supposed to do? Do you know of people, leaders or managers at your company who are in over their head?

Sometimes leadership is thrust upon people before they are ready and other times leaders are waiting too long to take over the reins. Today I am going to address the issue of those who have leadership thrust upon them. I have often wondered how people get put into roles of leadership when they aren’t ready.

I do believe that everyone has leadership potential but it just so happens that some aren’t ready for the responsibility of leadership until they have been trained or seasoned. Giving them smaller leadership roles is the ideal way to go instead of full responsibility. It might be that their leadership strength is in dealing with smaller roles or projects than overseeing a whole company or large group.

Leadership requires people skill and ability to do the small things while still focusing on the big picture. It is important for leaders or potential leaders to be ready for this. If you are in a position to create future leaders or mentor future leaders here are a few things to help you when working with those future leaders.

·         Work on their communication skills

·         Work on their people skills

·         Give them small opportunities to be a leader and expand as you go.

·         Give them responsibilities but not too much at first.

Over the next several days I will expand on each of these four items. Until the next time, “lead on”.

Average to Superior

Today I would like to analyze another leadership quote. From time to time I list a quote and then give my interpretation of the quote.

Today’s quote is found at brainyquote.com

"Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people."
John D. Rockefeller

 

One of the biggest roles of a leader is to motivate and inspire average people how to do the work of superior people. This is a very true quote. Leaders are someone who is looked up to and sometimes even emulated. That leader needs to motivate the followers so they can reach their greatest potential.

I have been involved in Toastmasters for 7 years and when I first got into Toastmasters it was all about the communication aspect and the desire to improve my speaking ability to eventually become a public speaker. My focus has changed somewhat. I still want to be a public speaker but I really love the leadership portion of Toastmasters. It has been many of the leaders who I have met within Toastmasters who have inspired me to reach my greatest potential. It is those same leaders who have inspired me to do the work of superior people. I have never thought of myself as superior. It has been through Toastmasters that I am doing that superior work. Now I want to be a leader who will lead the next generation of Toastmasters into doing superior work in their lives.

Average can be above average and above average  can be superior. It is all a matter of motivation and inspiration from leaders who have led before you.

Spice it Up!

Today is my wedding anniversary. I am married to a wonderful woman and have enjoyed our 17 years together. I look forward to many, more years spent with my best friend and my love. What does this have to do with leadership? Leaders are sometimes in their leadership roles for years, 17 or more. They also may love their job and never want to leave that job. Just like a marriage leadership has its ups and downs but it is how you work through the difficult times and celebrate the good times.

In your leadership role are you stuck in a rut? Are you mixing it up and making it exciting? It is important that regardless how long you have been in your leadership role that you don’t take it for granted and you work through the tough times and celebrate the good times.

Here are some things you can do to keep that leadership role fresh.

·         Fall in love with being a leader again.

·         Celebrate special events with your followers

·         Find a creative way to overcome a tough situation

·         Vacation and really decompress from work, get away from it all.

·         Collaborate with your team on innovation, ideas and problems

I would love to hear from all of you if you have an idea to help keep your leadership role fresh. Don’t take your leadership for granted, instead spice it up with some new and innovative ideas.