Right Wisdom

This week we are going to look at various leadership styles. I will look at a few that are commonplace within the leadership institution and a few unique styles. Today I want to look at Servant Leadership these won't be deep dives into the styles but more of a general overview and my opinion of the style. The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader , an essay that he first published in 1970.  This is from the following webpage Greenleaf Center .  The term "Servant Leadership" has only been around since 1970 but the concept is been around since the beginning of time. Jesus was the ultimate Servant leader in that He was willing to lay down His life for others. It is that mentality that a leader should have if they want to drive success in their followers. Servant Leadership isn't a me first leadership style. Instead it is a you first leadership style. The leader is always looking for ways to improve and grow those aroun...

Whether you have been a leader for many years or you are just starting in your leadership adventure it is always good to find out what type of leader you are. Some people might think a leader is a leader what does it matter about the leadership style. The style of leader matters quite a bit because if you can identify what type of leader you are or your boss is then it will help with those doing the following. Once you become a leader you do not stop following. Everyone has someone they are accountable to so it is important to understand the various leadership styles. Over the next several days we will look at the various leadership styles. Some leadership styles are the same across the industry but there are other unique styles depending on who you ask. Every expert has some unique styles they have identified. I will look at the main types of leadership styles and also offer a couple of my own unique styles. This will not be a comprehensive list but ...

As a leader finding ways to relax can sometimes be a challenge. I hope to give you many alternatives every weekend of the year. Yesterday we looked at the arts and gave you some options for viewing the visual arts, movies excluded. Today we are going to look at music I am currently listening to some great music on my computer as I write this blog. I can create a playlist and start it playing. Then I sit back, write and enjoy the inspiring music. In this day and age with Ipods, MP3s, cell phones and tablets we have the option to carry with us hundreds even thousands of music titles and listen to them on the go. One day this weekend I would like for you to not take your music with you. Instead I want you to dock your ipod or create a computer playlist, find a comfortable easy chair in your house, get something soothing to drink, sit back and escape for an hour in some of your favorite music. Leaders need that time to just unwind and listening to your favorite music in a relaxing ch...

Each weekend we spend some time looking at ways leaders can escape their leadership role and just relax. Two weekends ago we looked at spending time with family and friends. Last weekend we looked at sports. This weekend our focus is on the arts. If you live in or near a large metropolitan area you may have many art opportunities. Winter may be a time when you can't attend outdoor art shows or festivals. There should still be plenty for you to do. I live in the Twin Cities and one thing we have done as a family is to take in the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Every month they have a family Sunday and it is a great time to expose the children to the world of art. They have special hands on events for the kids during that family day. If you don't have children take a venture anyway to the art museum. Nothing is more relaxing than casually walking around an art museum and admiring the wonderful works of art. As the weather gets better and summer is upon us you may have many ...

For the last two weeks we have been looking at giving quality business presentations through the concept of sowing and reaping. The sowing was the presentation and the reaping was the audience. I hope that you found this information valuable. During our examination of the audience I am sure you found yourself described in one of the four audience types. Are you reactionary, energetic, apathetic or processor when you hear presentations? It doesn't matter which one you are you will have to make sure if you are creating a presentation that you cater to all the audience types. Here is a summary of what we discussed. The Presentation S = Substance           Mission/Vision           Details           Facts O = Ownership           You are the Driver           R...

I hope you have enjoyed our look at audience types. When I say audience I am talking about those you might meet if you were making a business presentation. During this series we have looked at the business presentation and now we are looking at the audience who you will be presenting that presentation to. We are using the concept of Sow and Reap to understand the business presentation and the audience who sees it. Today we are looking at the P in REAP. It stands for Processor. These are the people who upon hearing your presentation can't immediately make a decision. They have to think things over. They like to analyze everything they are presented with. Sometimes they almost come across as apathetic but that is not true they just want to process the information. How can you as the presenter address this group of people? Make sure your presentation is solid. Make sure it has all the facts and details in your presentation. Make sure you show that you are in charge and show that i...

This week we are working our way through audience types when you are giving a business presentation. We are using the acrostic REAP. Today we are going to take a look at the A. It stands for apathetic. That's right you will have people in your audience who are apathetic. They won't care what you have to say or what you are presenting. They are those who sit with their arms crossed looking at you but not really hearing what you have to say. Just because they are apathetic doesn't mean they won't be receptive to what you have to say. This group of people you may have to work a little harder to get them engaged. Working harder means making sure your presentation really has a great WOW factor. That presentation needs to knock them off their feet. As you are presenting if you wow them it will get their attention and they will become engaged. Once engaged the apathetic people in your audience will be sold on what you have to say. You've got their attention they will w...

I hope everyone had an opportunity to read about those in your audience who are reactionary. It is important that any time you give a business presentation you will be confronted with a potpourri of listening and reacting styles. We are understanding these styles through the acrostic REAP. They are the ones reaping what you are talking about or selling so it is important to understand who they are and what you can do to get them excited about your presentation. Yesterday we looked at the R for reactionary. Today we tackle the E which stands for Excited. This is the group of people in your audience who immediately get excited the moment they hear your presentation. They get jazzed and ready to tackle the project you have presented. The excited ones you definitely want on your side because they will talk up your idea and get others excited. They will be the cheerleader for your project. The thing to be careful about is that they can sometimes get so excited about the idea or...

We have been looking at what it takes to give quality business presentations. We are looking at it through the concept of Sow and Reap. The sow portion of the concept is the presentation itself and we looked at those last week. This week we will be looking at what the REAP stands for. Each of the letters in REAP stands for a different type of person you might encounter in your audience when presenting your presentation. R = Reactionary E = Excited A = Apathetic P = Processor Today we are looking at the reactionary audience member. Those who are reactionary and hear your presentation are immediately going to have something to say about your presentation. These people usually react with negatives about your presentation and idea. They will offer positives as well but more often then not it is the negatives you will hear. How can you hear only positives or very minimal negatives from the reactionary types? Make sure you have done your homework. Make sure your presentation has co...

This weekend we are looking at spending your leisure time enjoying sports. Yesterday we looked at going to your favorite venue to watch your favorite team live or stay at home and watch them on TV. Today we are going to get personal with the sports. Another way you can relax is to watch you child participate in their sporting events. It is an opportunity to watch them grow and learn about a sport they love. It is also fun to watch children whether grade school, middle school or high school compete in sports. It helps to build character and it helps you as a leader to enjoy something your children enjoy. If you don't have children maybe you participate in sports. This weekend is an opportunity for you to unwind by playing a sport you love. Spending time expending physical energy is a great change from all the mental energy you used during the week. Any form of exercise will do as a great way to expend that energy. Be sure this weekend you spend some time burning some physical ...

Every weekend we will look at how leaders can find ways to relax from the hustle and bustle of a busy leader life. Every Saturday and Sunday I will give you some things to do that will help you relax and just enjoy life. Put the busy work life behind, sit back and enjoy some easy ways to decompress. Last week we looked at relaxing with family and friends. This weekend we are going to look at sports. If you are a big sports fan and you live near a major city in the United States you have access this time of year to watch Basketball or Hockey. If you don't like pro sports then find a local college and watch their teams play. This weekend take time to relax by watching your favorite team in action. If you aren't interested in spending money and going out to watch them play then enjoy a number of games on TV. If football is your thing that season isn't over. We have two great match-ups this weekend Giants vs. 49ers and Ravens vs. Patriots. Enjoy the football match-ups th...

Any time you give a presentation it is not only the presentation that is important but the audience may be just as important. It is the audience that you are selling your idea to and presenting the information to as well. It is important to make sure you are meeting the needs of your audience. In that regard you need to understand the types of people that could make up your audience. We are looking at the concept of SOW and REAP. The SOW portion was the presentation itself and it included Substance, Ownership and WOW Factor. The REAP is the audience, starting Monday I will address what the R stands for. First lets look at the principle of sowing and reaping. The idea is that whatever you sow that you will also reap. If you plant corn you should reap corn. In our little scenario if you plant a quality presentation with great ideas you should be able to reap success. If you present a bland and boring presentation your will probably put your audience to sleep and your idea and present...

How is that business presentation coming? I hope you have been crafting some substance for your presentation and taking ownership of the project you are presenting. Remember we are looking at business presentations using the idea of SOW for the presentation and REAP for the audience. Yesterday we looked at the O in SOW. Today we will look at what the W stands for. The late Steve Jobs was the king at presenting Apple's new products in a way that blew people off their feet. Steve Jobs used what you might call the WOW factor, that is what the W stands for. It is essential in any presentation that you create some sort of WOW factor that will blow the audience off their feet. There are three things you need to think about when creating that WOW factor. If you follow these three things you will have a presentation with that WOW factor. Bells and Whistles - If you can show off what your project or idea might be able to do that is out of the ordinary then be sure you ring that bell...

This week we are looking at how to give good business presentations by looking at the principle of Sowing and Reaping. Yesterday we looked at the S in SOW which stood for substance. Today we will look at the O. The O stands for Ownership. Anytime you have an idea or project and you are giving a presentation on the idea you want to take ownership. You want to show that ownership in your presentation. Take that idea and show that you are the owner of the idea. You can show ownership in your presentations by showing the following three things. You are the driver - Show that you will take ownership of what you are presenting. Show your knowledge and that you will be the leader of the project. Road Map to Success - Show exactly how you the driver has a plan in place to make this project a success. Show how you will get from the infancy of the project to the successful culmination. Passengers - Show who will be the key players in the project. Who are you taking along for the ride. Make...

We are starting to look at what it takes to create and present winning presentations. If you have ever had an idea or project an you wanted to sell the idea to your boss you may have to create a winning presentation. The tool you need to make sure your presentation is a winner is to use the simple concept of SOW and REAP. Each letter of these two words stands for some aspect of the presentation. The SOW relates to the presentation and the REAP relates to the audience. Today we will look at the S. It stands for Substance. Every presentation must have substance. It can't be vague and general. You really have to give details and back it up with facts. There are three things you must have in order to establish substance within your presentation. Vision/Mission - Have a vision as to where your idea or project will go. Convey that vision in your presentation. Details - Back up your vision with details. Supporting your idea with details in your presentation will give it credence. ...

Monday morning, fresh off a weekend of relaxation with family and friends. Are you ready for a week of leading others and helping others find success?  This week we are going to focus on business presentations. I know what you are thinking "I give presentations all the time, what help do I need?" That may be the case for many of you but I am going to hopefully give you a tool that will help you understand your project and then help you create a winning presentation that will get your project the audience it deserves. If you ever have to give presentations about projects or ideas that you have then this is the blog to read over the next several days. This won't be your ordinary here is how to do it blog. I will present this in a fun and memorable format. This will be only a condensed version of a more in-depth process. If you are interested in hearing more and if you want your company's leaders to benefit from this, please contact me and I'll gladly come in a...

How is your weekend going? Are you spending time unwinding from the busy week you had leading others to success? I hope Saturday's blog helped give you some ideas to try. Today I am going to give you two more things you can do to help yourself relax and unwind on the weekend. This weekend we are focusing on family and staying around home. Make one of your weekend nights a movie night.       If you have kids watch a movie early that the whole family will enjoy. Depending on their ages a classic animated Disney or Pixar one is always a good choice. If you want one that isn't animated I recently saw Mr. Popper's Penguins that was a funny and entertaining movie. After the kids are in bed watch one that you like, make yourself popcorn and just lose yourself in the story. On Sunday be sure to go to church.      Hopefully you don't have a leadership role at church. Regardless of what religion you are faith is important to refreshing you...

All hardworking leaders need some leisure no and again. The weekend is the time for leisure. This weekend we are focusing on the time you spend with family. The leader needs time to rest, rejuvenate and relax and release yourself from the duties as a leader. What things can you do this weekend with your family that will help you avoid those leadership decisions? Here are two suggestions. I'll give you two more on tomorrow's blog. Go out to eat with your spouse or a loved one.           Find a restaurant that you both enjoy and go spend some quiet time away from the home and the office. Enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant and pick your favorite comfort food that is on the menu. Mine is fish, any meal I eat that includes fish and I'm not talking shrimp is comforting and relaxing for me. What is your comfort food? If you have kids play a game of their choice. If you don't have kids either play a game with some friends or enjoy an individ...

It is Friday and soon the weekend will be upon us. It is sometimes hard for leaders to pull away from that leading and just relax and enjoy the weekend. It is however very important to do so. If you find yourself being a leader during the week and then on weekends volunteering for projects that require your leadership you may find yourself burning out. It's okay to volunteer but find some time for yourself. As a leader you need the weekend to refresh and renew, decompress a little so you are energized for the week ahead. In this blog I am going to try and spend every weekend looking at ways leaders can escape from the life of leading and become just another face in the crowd. This will be an opportunity for you to find places to go and things to see that don't require your leadership abilities. This weekend I am going to focus on family time. Every Friday I will introduce the topic and then on Saturday and Sunday I will address two to three items that can make your weeken...

Now that we have looked at three stumbling blocks to overcome to be a great communicator let's look at one more essential item that will make you a leader in communication. It is not a megaphone or a t-shirt that says you are a great communicator. It is actually being a good listener.  Listening is essential to being a great communicator. It doesn't matter if you have eloquent words to say or a great idea to convey if you aren't listening to the audience you won't be able to meet their needs. Being a great communicator means being able to listen to others and then speak to their needs and their points. It is the best way to make an impact on who you are talking to, listen to what they have to say. How are your listening skills? Are you hearing what the audience wants you to say? Become a great communicator and start listening to your audience. It is the best way to also improve your leadership skills.

How many of you remember the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"? If you recall the teacher in that movie who gave a question and conducted his lectures in a monotone voice. They showed one student asleep on his desk with drool coming out of his mouth. There are many people in positions of authority who speak like that teacher, boring and monotone. It makes me want to rip my ears off. It almost hurts the ears to listen to someone like that. Have you ever been in a meeting or at a conference and someone spoke like that? I hope you determined in your mind to not speak like that. It brings us to the third stumbling block to overcome, make your voice interesting. Don't bore your audience with a boring tone and no excitement in your voice. If you are talking about something or communicating to someone about a subject I would hope you have some passion for the subject. As a leader you want to be able to engage your audience with a compelling voice. You almost want to make ...

Ronald Reagan was known as "The Great Communicator". He knew how to explain things clearly and concisely. Do you want to be a great communicator like Reagan? Yesterday we looked at the first step to becoming a great communicator, eliminating filler words from your language. Today we look at the next step to becoming a great communicator, using the right words. When I was in college earning my undergrad degree in math education I sat through many math lectures where the professor couldn't explain how to do the math. These were great minds and knew math like the back of their hand. They could do the problems but couldn't explain how to do the problems. The problem was they were horrible communicators and couldn't convey their message. If you want to be a true leader you need to be able to explain things so people understand. It doesn't happen overnight it is something you really have to work at. You have to understand the person or audience and you have to k...

Every single one of us are given an opportunity to communicate. However, not everyone who communicates, communicates effectively. Have you ever heard the saying "It's not what you say, it's how you say it". Communication isn't about talking it is really about conveying a message. Getting that message across can be the challenge. We will spend the next couple of days exploring how to overcome those communication roadblocks. Then we will spend some time looking at ways to improve what you say.You want your message to be clear and concise but you must first get rid of some problems before improving what you have. It is like selling a house, you have to fix some things to make it worthy of selling. If you want to convey a clear message you will need to clean house. There are three stumbling blocks to becoming a great communicator. Removing filler words Using the right words Making your voice interesting Have you ever listened to an interview and the person b...

For the next several days we are going to take a look at an essential need of leadership.  That need is communication. It is imperative that if you want to be a leader you need to communicate and you need to communicate well. Communication goes beyond just talking it also involves listening and it includes how you say the words. We will look at all of these things of the next several days. Today I want to give you a background and offer a place you can go to become the great communicator that you want to be. I have been involved in Toastmasters for six years and it is a program that helps build communication skills and leadership skills. The value you receive from Toastmasters is unmatched. You will have an opportunity to speak at every meeting you attend. Some of the speaking will be in formal speeches, impromptu speaking and leading meetings. I suggest if communication is something you want to get better at then join a Toastmasters group near you. Here is the link to Toastmas...

Did you create all your SMART goals this week? Remember, no more resolutions only goals. How are your goals looking? Are you satisfied with them? We discussed this week the idea of not creating resolutions but SMART goals because that will give you a better chance of reaching your goals. The other thing about goals that you need to remember. It doesn't just take January 1st to get you motivated to create those goals. Something might come up in June and you will want to create a new goal. Now you have the tools to do so. You can also use your goal setting on your job. They might help you get the raise or the job promotion. Keep me updated on how your goals are coming for you.

T Hopefully for all of you it has been a great week of goal setting for 2012. Today we will be looking at the final letter in SMART. The T stands for trackable or timely. When setting that goal make sure you have an end point to accomplish the goal. Let's look at our weight loss example, instead of saying you want to lose 20 pounds put a date that you want to lose those 20 pounds. Lose 20 pounds by April first. Maybe something is happening in April and you want to look your best so you set that as a timeframe. What this does is helps you focus on the goal gives you something to strive for and an end in sight as you work toward that goal. It also allows you to track the progress of how you are doing. Twenty pounds by April will allow you to weigh yourself every week and know that you are making progree toward your goal. Of course be sure when you set that time to complete your goal that you also follow the SMAR portion as well. You could set a goal and an end date that is not r...

R We are almost done with our SMART analysis. How is the goal making coming? I hope the goals you have created are specific, measurable and attainable. Today we are looking at the R it is for Realistic. You need to make your goals realistic. It needs to fit in line with who you are and within the scope of the project. You don't have to try to leap that tall building in a single bound. You aren't Superman. Take it one floor at a time. However you also can't make it too easy. It might be important to create smaller goals that are realistic that will eventually lead you to your ultimate goal. Be sure that if you set small goals that they too follow the same SMART formula. By now you may have realized the if you have created a specific, measurable and attainable goal that it is realistic. That may very well be the case. The idea is to create these goals that will work for you yet challenge you to be successful. It is only you who can determine whether the goal is too eas...

A Today we are going to tackle the A in creating SMART goals. Remember don't make 2012 a year of loosely defined resolutions make it a year of SMART goals and you will be more likely to reach success. The A stands for Attainable. Your goals need to be able to be reached. You can't set goals that are so far fetched that no one could reach them. So far this week you have created some specific goals that are measurable. Often when we set those specific goals we make them unattainable because we want to reach them quickly. Take a look at your goals you have set for 2012. Are you able to reach these goals in a reasonable amount of time? For example: If weight loss is your desire in 2012 you don't want to say you will lose 20 pounds this week. That seems impossible to reach unless you are going on a complete fast. On the other hand you do want to push yourself with the goals so think of an attainable amount or goal that will still push you to success. How are you doing on ...

M Today we are going to tackle the M in the SMART goals. M stands for Measurable. Simply put your goal needs to be able to be measured. If you can't measure the progress and how it is going for you it will become too easy to give up and quit. How do you know if your goal is measurable. Take a look at the ones you wrote down yesterday when you made them specific. Are these specific goals measurable.  Are you able to track the progress of your goal and is there an ultimate end in sight? For example if you had the goal of losing weight first of all that is not very specific but it is also not measurable. You haven't listed an end date or an amount of pounds. As I said yesterday being vague about your goals will increase your chance of failure. Be sure that you are able to see progress along the way. That will help encourage you to reach that goal. Use this slogan when designing your goal to help you remember the M. "Make it Measurable and Measure the Makeable" T...

S Day 2 of 2012 and we are trying hard to make the most of those resolutions. As I said yesterday they should be goals not resolutions. We want to create SMART goals for 2012 so we can stick to them and make them last. Today we are looking at the S in SMART. The S stands for specific. Your goals need to be specific, they can't be general and vague in nature or you will quickly forget about them and not reach that goal. How exactly can you go about turning your resolutions into goals? First go ahead and write down everything you want to be a resolution for 2012. Remember yesterday I told you to have a Word document ready. Here is the first steps: Go ahead and write those resolutions (goals) down. Read them over a few times. Identify which ones need some re-wording. Maybe all of them do. Make sure they are specific. For example if you want to lose weight for the year and you have made a resolution to say lose weight. That resolution isn't going to get you out of Januar...

It is 2012 and I suppose everyone is blogging about new year resolutions. Of course many are also making new year resolutions and others right now 1 day into 2012 have broken their new year resolution. The problem with so many being broken so quickly is that while the definition of resolution is a strong and firm definition most people take it as just a suggestion or an idea. Thus making it more difficult to be resolve in adhering to the resolution. If we are going to make resolutions we need to be firm in what they are. We need to write them down and we need to keep that vision in front of us. Instead of calling them resolutions make them goals for the year. Make sure your goals are SMART goals, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Trackable. For example don't just day you are going to lose weight this year. Make it a goal to lose weight and put a specific weight that you want to get to and put a plan in place on how you will achieve that goal. One of my...