Great post on Forbes – well done! Offers 15 keys to leadership success. They are spot on. Continual practice leads to unconcious competence.
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
Links
Leadership and the Power of Principles
Another excellent look at #leadership and the power of principles. Once principles are foregone there is little to anchor decisions, connect people, advance the mission, achieve the vision. Every #leader can learn a great deal from the political debacle.
Wise leaders delegate
Excellent article with lessons for all #leaders – hope the politicians are reading.
Seeing it From the Customer’s Perspective
I recently vacationed in a newly renovated resort. The facility had a fabulous entrance, well appointed lobby, a lovely poolside restaurant, and the view and beach boardwalk were spectacular.
Unfortunately, simple things above the lobby didn’t work. The elevator signal lights never illuminated. Only one of the ice machines available made ice. The elevator floor indicator said “9” no matter what floor I was on. “What must be going on that is not visible to the guest?” I wondered.
The staff very politely received my concerns but during the course of my stay, nothing changed. No one in management must have ever ventured above the ground floor. For the cost of a few light indicators and the dispatching of a maintenance person I was left an unsatisfied guest who was left to wonder about maintenance overall. I surely will not recommend the resort nor return there.
It gave me pause – as leaders and business owners, how guilty are we of not ‘riding the elevators’ of our businesses. What glaring problems exist that are so apparent to our customers yet we’re never positioned to see them?
For the sake of your success invest in this same assessment: play out the metaphor in your business.
- What is your organization’s equivalent to the ‘elevator’ the customer rides? How frequently would you have to ‘ride the elevator’ in order to measure your product’s success from the customer’s vantage point?
- What ‘guest’ areas of your business only seen by ‘housekeeping’? What reports would you want from ‘housekeepers’ on a regular basis to know all was in fine, working order? How could you know your ‘ice machines’ aren’t working before your customer ever does?
- How well does the functionality of your ‘private’ areas match the grandeur of your ‘common’ areas? Does it occur that your ‘guest’ walks into your product breathless but leaves under impressed?
Monitoring customer satisfaction is important. Putting proactive processes and tools in place to assure they never have dissatisfaction to report is even more critical.
5 Powerful Leadership Lessons From Politics
The current political chaos has many valuable lessons for leaders. And they are on display daily and likely will be for the foreseeable future. The bad news – you can’t escape the political rancor. The good news – everyday you can learn to more effectively lead change. And what leader won’t benefit from that!
1. Clarity of Vision
Define your most powerful, engaging and compelling vision for the future. Unless you know where you’re going, why would anyone follow you?
80% of the world engages in new information when the have a visual perspective, whether it is metaphorical or pictorial, making it visible is essential.
2. Clarity of Purpose
Why should followers engage in your vision? How is their world positively impacted in the short and long term? How is their immediate and extended community benefited into the next generation?
Unless you are clear about why, how can anyone engage in making it real with you?
3. Shared Agreement of Approach
Who, how, when and at what cost (monetary and other wise) must all be clear and yet open to modification as more people engage and join the process. And as the process evolves, the approach must be informed by lessons that are learned, gains that are made and value that is created.
When the how is unclear your message is but a platitude. When the how is non-negotiable, it will never be shared by and owned by followers.
4. Speak of the Amazing Future
When leaders focus on the negative, they generate more negative. And the corollary is equally true. Placing time and energy on the problems that are currently true or were caused by someone else or you speculate could become an obstacle are NOT engaging. People are drawn to the amazing future they can participate in creating. And then they are engaged in creating it with you!
Consistently keeping possibility in the conversation keeps people engaged and moving forward and that moves the vision into reality.
5. Recognize, Reward, Refocus, Refresh, Respond, Re-energize
Wise leaders pay careful attention to the impact they are having on others and the responses that is generating. They respond vs react. They look for the attempts people make at change and reward those energies. They monitor for messages that have veered off course and refocus the energies. They consistently and gently re-direct.
Savvy leaders are in the business of creating a future not denigrating a present or a past. Great leaders never demean. They build up and energize.
What future is on your radar screen that is compelling enough to champion, rally the troops around and have them bring to fruition?
What change do you need to make in your approach to leading that will keep the work ever positive, ever green and ever more compelling to more and new followers?
Creating the Ownership Mindset
Great post from Leader to Leader. This is a must read if you’re frustrated by an inability to get the workforce invested in what you’re leading.
http://www.hesselbeininstitute.org/knowledgecenter/journal.aspx?ArticleID=902
The Future of Entrepreneurship
Interesting article – can entrepreneurship be taught? I have a bigger question. As we drift toward an entitlement mindset I wonder if, as a culture, we value it enough to sacrifice in ways that are required for entrepreneurial success?
http://hive.slate.com/hive/invent-your-future/article/can-you-teach-entrepreneurship