Category: Personal Leadership

How to Be a Great Mentor Without All the Fuss

By admin on Dec 28, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Some mentor-mentee relationships just happen. They meet, they talk and they stay in touch. But are they defining their roles up front? Defining the two roles will ensure both parties benefit from the relationship and learn from each other. Yes, even mentors can benefit from the relationship.

Have you ever been a mentor or mentee? If so, what was one positive outcome from the experience? Or what advice do you have for others looking to join one?

The Long Era of Lackluster Leadership

By admin on Dec 27, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Many businesses have seen little progress in leadership development. Research has two insights into the problem with leadership development: 1. “Leaders are not numbers and accountability oriented, but they should be.” 2. “Leadership is getting and will continue to get more demanding.” What can companies do when leaders feel overwhelmed today? The article provides four recommendations.

What do you think of the recommendations?

If You Don’t Read This, You’re Going to Die

By admin on Nov 24, 2010 in Personal Leadership

How do you feel about learning? Personally, I want to be learning every day for the rest of my life — whether I work or not. Why would anyone not want to learn? Figliuolo thinks some folks believe they’ve learned all they need to know. Unbelievable, but that’s hubris for you.

What can you do to keep learning?

Six Extras that Build Power and Leadership

By admin on Nov 22, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Kanter identifies her top six extras in what turns people into an effective leader. It isn’t just for high achievers with the right skills. Leaders with these extras take care of people and the business. However, extras also have a downside.

What’s one extra you exhibit or will work on?

The One Thing You Need to Get Ahead

By admin on Oct 27, 2010 in Personal Leadership

If you could pick between hard work and power, which would you choose? Why? according to this interview with author and Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, power is what you need to be successful in your role. He explains the definition and how to improve your power at work.

How can you improve your power at work?

Mastering Innovative Leadership

By admin on Oct 26, 2010 in Personal Leadership

What’s your basic leadership orientation? Are you “maintenance oriented” or “innovation oriented?” What does it even mean to be an innovative leader? Actually, you want to work with both orientations, but knowing your main orientation is akin to knowing your strengths and weaknesses and adjusting your game based on the information.

How do you balance your orientation between the stronger one and weaker one?

No News Is Not Always Good News

By admin on Aug 26, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Tarmac Syndrome is the feeling you get when you’re sitting on a plane in the middle of the runway and not knowing why. This feeling can happen in the workplace. Now being annoyed with the delay is a different thing. Knowing this, what makes you feel better about Tarmac Syndrome? Information. Good leaders communication as much as possible, even if it’s not new information. It reassures employees.

How does communicating no new news make a difference?

Great Boss Is Confident, But Not Really Sure

By admin on Aug 25, 2010 in Personal Leadership

It’s OK to have doubts as long as you remain confident. The article shows how strong leaders have the “ability to act confidently on what they know, while doubting their knowledge.” When a team works on improving processes, they are confident they will make it work while they remain unsure about possibilities of failure. This keeps them in line in anticipate problems so they can be fixed before they start or as soon as they occur.

Why do you think the balance between confidence and doubt works?

Your Strength Is Your Point of Leadership

By admin on Aug 05, 2010 in Personal Leadership

You’ve probably heard it all. Focus on your strengths, build your weaknesses. Work on your weaknesses, don’t worry about your strengths. This audio suggests delegating your weaknesses so you can focus on the things you do best in supporting the business.

What do you think of the idea to delegate your weak areas?

What’s the Most Important Thing You Can Do as a Leader to be Effective?

By admin on Aug 03, 2010 in Personal Leadership

The article advises “be trustworthy” is the most important thing you can do to be an effective leader. Wait, that’s not all. The article digs into the seven aspects of being trustworthy. It’s a great read that won’t take much of your time and have a big impact on your leadership style.

What do you think is the most important thing you can do to be an effective leadership? Why?

Lead like A Child

By admin on Jun 18, 2010 in Personal Leadership

No, a great leader shouldn’t throw tantrums and leave toys all over the floor. Leading like a child means asking those “why” questions. Why, why, why. The why questions may drive parents crazy when it feels like the child won’t stop no matter the answers given. “Why” can reveal more than “how” and “what.” The author offers five ideas to help leaders act like children again.

What other ways can you think of that leaders can act like children to be great leaders?

The Leadership Wonder Drug

By admin on Jun 16, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Most of us have probably worked for a manager who never compliment employees’ good work. But how many of us have worked with people who crank out praise on a daily basis that it loses meaning? Terry Starbucker sets guidelines for praising employees.

How do you ensure the praise you hand out is meaningful?

Amp-up Your Leadership, Part II

By admin on Jun 07, 2010 in Personal Leadership

As a leader, your attitude affects the team’s energy and enthusiasm. The article takes a page from Einstein’s book and reframes his famous formula to: “Einstein�s famous formula E=mc2 as: Energy = magnetism (multiplied by) collective confidence.”

You don’t have to be a leader or have direct reports to use this powerful concept and apply the six strategies covered in the article.

How can having confidence affect your work environment?

Leaders as Teachers

By admin on Jun 04, 2010 in Personal Leadership

The article discusses two powerful leadership lessons from a piano study book. Yes. Piano. Think about it. Piano teachers teach their students. Leaders can also be teachers.

The first lesson is to never teach without fun. Think about a movie or two focused on a teacher. The teacher had passion about the topic, right? It’s contagious!

Second lesson is to show rather than tell when teaching. Much like “Give a man a fish, you feed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a life time. Or.. Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.

How can you apply these lessons in a business?

What Sets Great Leaders Apart

By admin on Apr 29, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Succeeding in increasing stock prices year after year like GE’s Jack Welch did and creating a vision and a five-year growth plan are all good, but not what makes for a great leader. “True leadership is about bettering the lives of the people around you.” The article provides examples of this in action.

What do you think is true leadership?

Amp-up Your Leadership

By admin on Apr 28, 2010 in Personal Leadership

This is the first of three parts in the “Amp-Up Your Leadership” series. Part one focuses on energizing you. Complete the 60-minute self-assessment to evaluate your leadership honestly and privately, determine standards and practices of a successful leader and create a game plan to take your team to the next level.

What three leaders do you see as role models and why?

Leadership Is Something You Decide To Do

By admin on Apr 12, 2010 in Personal Leadership

Psychologist and psychometrician Robert Jeffrey Sternberg believes in the “WICS” model for creating leaders. WICS is “wisdom, intelligence, creativity synthesized.” Leaders are neither born nor made — but “something you decide to do.”

What do you think makes a good leader?

5 Tips to Manage Like Jack Welch

By admin on Apr 09, 2010 in Personal Leadership

We can learn a lot from the man who increased GE’s market value from $12 billion to $505 billion. Some say his management style was brutal, but his leadership got results — big results. You may not become Jack Welch-like with these five tips, but you can take your leadership to a new level.

What do you think of the five tips?

How to Resolve Conflict as a Leader

By Meryl on Mar 22, 2010 in Featured, Personal Leadership

It’s not the easiest of tasks being a leader – yes, you do have the advantage of holding a fancy title and commanding the troops, but on the downside, when something goes wrong, you’re the first one in the firing line.

Three Questions Executives Should Ask for the New Year

By Meryl on Mar 18, 2010 in Featured, Personal Leadership

It’s the end of the year, time to reflect. So ask yourself what have you learned this year about business?

7 Most Important Words Leaders Hear or Say

By Hank on Feb 17, 2010 in Featured, Personal Leadership

When someone asks you something and you don’t know the answer, what do you say? There are seven words you can say — it doesn’t matter if you’re a leader or not — they make a big difference in helping you in a situation when you need more information than what you have on hand. Those seven words?

What Makes a Good Boss?

By Meryl on Jan 28, 2010 in Featured, Personal Leadership

Bosses get a pretty bad rap. Where two or more employed people gather, you’re sure to hear a story that involves the word “boss” and one of the following descriptors: “stupid,” “dumb,” “incompetent” or “clueless.” Turn on the TV or go to the movies and bosses don’t fare much better. They’re either bumbling fools or conniving villains.