This is perhaps the misconception about team leadership that is the most damaging. It is damaging because so many people believe it and it discourages people from taking on team leadership roles.
Anybody type of personality can be an effective team leader. You do not have to by funny or confident speaking in front of people. You do not have to be tall and handsome or beautiful.
Effective team leadership is not about those types of things. Effective team leadership is founded on your honest efforts to help those around you be successful. You can do this no matter what type of person you are.
There is a common phrase about team leadership that we think does not get the respect it deserves; “He/She leads by example” You absolutely do not have to be charismatic to lead by example, yet it is one of the most powerful ways to lead.
People will follow you based on your actions, not how you look or what you say.
Click here to search our article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Old Growth Forests and .... Leadership?
We're just back from a few days of tramping around old growth forests near Sisters, Oregon. To show you how weird our brains are it all got me thinking about leadership qualities that are all too scarce in today's business environment.
Some of what you can't escape as you experience the wonder of an old growth forest is the reality of time. The hundreds of years it takes to develop the glorious resource that is around you is obvious and humbling in a way. But what one also can't escape is the impact of man's decisions on this precious resource. I don't just mean pre-meditated crime.. that's obvious. But what we learned about was the impact on this environment over the years from well intentioned decisions by people, by caretakers, by politicians, by business, and by government.
We learned of scores of decisions and actions that seemed right at the time but also caused unintended consequences that resulted in major problems. Unintended consequences... if they had only known.
And that's when my brain started thinking about Leadership. It is simply not enough to do the research, to perform the analysis, to run the numbers, and let the bottom line give you the answer. The most effective leaders we see are those who exhibit leadership qualities that search for full understanding. They search because they know it is likely that every solution also carries some unintended consequence.
They may still make mistakes but the most effective leaders dig deep to see what unintended consequence might be lurking within a solution. They exhibit a leadership style that both questions and listens, especially to those with a different point of view. They insist on additional tactics to mitigate possible unintended negative consequences.
In short, they exhibit a leadership style that goes beyond the obvious and they don't assume they know all the answers. They don't just guess to see if it will work. And they show a responsibility to the overall, not just to solving a narrow problem.
Try it yourself. When your team has concluded a problem study and has a solution in hand, take the extra time to test your brains and uncover and manage "unintended consequences".
Some of what you can't escape as you experience the wonder of an old growth forest is the reality of time. The hundreds of years it takes to develop the glorious resource that is around you is obvious and humbling in a way. But what one also can't escape is the impact of man's decisions on this precious resource. I don't just mean pre-meditated crime.. that's obvious. But what we learned about was the impact on this environment over the years from well intentioned decisions by people, by caretakers, by politicians, by business, and by government.
We learned of scores of decisions and actions that seemed right at the time but also caused unintended consequences that resulted in major problems. Unintended consequences... if they had only known.
And that's when my brain started thinking about Leadership. It is simply not enough to do the research, to perform the analysis, to run the numbers, and let the bottom line give you the answer. The most effective leaders we see are those who exhibit leadership qualities that search for full understanding. They search because they know it is likely that every solution also carries some unintended consequence.
They may still make mistakes but the most effective leaders dig deep to see what unintended consequence might be lurking within a solution. They exhibit a leadership style that both questions and listens, especially to those with a different point of view. They insist on additional tactics to mitigate possible unintended negative consequences.
In short, they exhibit a leadership style that goes beyond the obvious and they don't assume they know all the answers. They don't just guess to see if it will work. And they show a responsibility to the overall, not just to solving a narrow problem.
Try it yourself. When your team has concluded a problem study and has a solution in hand, take the extra time to test your brains and uncover and manage "unintended consequences".
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Leaders Must Have All the Answers
Most management training teaches that the leader must have all of the answers. They are the “go to” person to solve all problems. This is a misguided belief about team leadership.
The leaders with the best team leadership know that no single person can always have the best answer. They instead hone their skills in asking the right questions. They ask questions that allow people to open their minds to more effective thinking. This is effective team leadership.
Doing this allows people to solve their own problems which is much more effective team leadership than being told what to do.
Click here to search our article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
The leaders with the best team leadership know that no single person can always have the best answer. They instead hone their skills in asking the right questions. They ask questions that allow people to open their minds to more effective thinking. This is effective team leadership.
Doing this allows people to solve their own problems which is much more effective team leadership than being told what to do.
Click here to search our article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
A Key Team Leadership Quality: Give People Room to Work
Here is a rarely understood team leadership quality. At the detailed operational level you can earn trust and show respect to your people by not micro-managing their work. Allow your people to decide how they will accomplish their responsibilities. The best team leaders understand that there are many paths to any destination. They allow others to select their own path while still holding them accountable for reaching the destination.
But, an important factor in this team leadership quality is to not get too far away. Stay close and follow up with your people. Ask them how you can help them accomplish their objectives. It is common for leaders to get so busy that they are not available to help. Those who are best at team leadership can be relied on to respond thoughtfully and timely when people ask them for assistance or perspective.
Click here to search or article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
But, an important factor in this team leadership quality is to not get too far away. Stay close and follow up with your people. Ask them how you can help them accomplish their objectives. It is common for leaders to get so busy that they are not available to help. Those who are best at team leadership can be relied on to respond thoughtfully and timely when people ask them for assistance or perspective.
Click here to search or article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Management Training Tip - Remove Barriers to Performance
Every organization is filled with projects and processes. Left untended these always become cumbersome and convoluted. This wastes your and your staff’s time and hurts everyone’s morale.
Management training rarely addresses this. But, those with the most effective team leadership styles take accountability for removing the barriers that block effective performance. There are many facets to meeting this responsibility.
One of these critical leadership qualities is collaboration
Start by asking your people what they need to do their work effectively and efficiently. Listen closely. Ask questions to clarify your understanding. Also, seek out the perspectives of people from outside of your department. Your objective is to gain broad and deep perspective on the circumstances that affect the issue you are dealing with.
This simple act of collaboration is one of the key components of a highly effective leadership style. Click here to search or article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
Management training rarely addresses this. But, those with the most effective team leadership styles take accountability for removing the barriers that block effective performance. There are many facets to meeting this responsibility.
One of these critical leadership qualities is collaboration
Start by asking your people what they need to do their work effectively and efficiently. Listen closely. Ask questions to clarify your understanding. Also, seek out the perspectives of people from outside of your department. Your objective is to gain broad and deep perspective on the circumstances that affect the issue you are dealing with.
This simple act of collaboration is one of the key components of a highly effective leadership style. Click here to search or article and newsletter archives for dozens more team leadership tips.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Open Minds.... and the Right Questions
We often run across senior executives who think they alone know the answer to their organization's problems. They usually want help in masterminding an approach to team leadership that gets their lower level people to do just what they want. Sometimes they ask for the magic bullet of management training with the mistaken hope that it alone will create all the change they want. Well, we will have to confess we don't have a very successful record of helping these types of senior executives very much.
But thankfully we also run across another kind of senior executive. We find some with wide open minds. We find some whose leadership style emphasizes getting the best thinking out of the people that they lead. We find some who seek the answer from those closest to the problem and where the actual work really gets done. We find some who have become very skilled (or want to be) at asking the right questions in order to unlock the wisdom of the team.
Instead of just trying to show how smart they are or deciding every crucial issue, this second group of executives display leadership qualities that allow them to combine their own experience and knowledge with that of the people they lead.
Can you guess which group consistently gets a higher percentage of successful outcomes? Ask yourself today where you stand. Consider building your leadership style to include a wide open mind and asking the right questions.
But thankfully we also run across another kind of senior executive. We find some with wide open minds. We find some whose leadership style emphasizes getting the best thinking out of the people that they lead. We find some who seek the answer from those closest to the problem and where the actual work really gets done. We find some who have become very skilled (or want to be) at asking the right questions in order to unlock the wisdom of the team.
Instead of just trying to show how smart they are or deciding every crucial issue, this second group of executives display leadership qualities that allow them to combine their own experience and knowledge with that of the people they lead.
Can you guess which group consistently gets a higher percentage of successful outcomes? Ask yourself today where you stand. Consider building your leadership style to include a wide open mind and asking the right questions.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Where Did The Time Go?
The leadership skill of managing your time and the time of your team is critical to success. I want to reveal to you one of the worst "black holes" that suck time away from you...meetings.
Meetings are the life's blood of a business, but only if they help move work forward. How many meetings do you waste time in? A lot I'll bet.
An excellent leadership skill to develop is determining which meetings are really worth your time and which one's you should avoid. Be discriminating with your time, it is valuable. Only spend it in meetings that add value to your results.
We wrote an article a while back about this critical leadership skill of time management. Click here to read more.
Meetings are the life's blood of a business, but only if they help move work forward. How many meetings do you waste time in? A lot I'll bet.
An excellent leadership skill to develop is determining which meetings are really worth your time and which one's you should avoid. Be discriminating with your time, it is valuable. Only spend it in meetings that add value to your results.
We wrote an article a while back about this critical leadership skill of time management. Click here to read more.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Do You Like Shiny Things?
A common mistake leaders make is to get distracted from executing their strategic priorities. Management training rarely, if ever, addresses this tendency, but avoiding it is a critical leadership skill.
Leaders too often get distracted from their current work by the next new, “shiny thing.” Just because it is new does not make it better to do than what you are already working on.
You are far better off seeing your current efforts all the way through to the end. The leadership quality of fully implementing your ideas is one of the keys to leadership success.
Leaders too often get distracted from their current work by the next new, “shiny thing.” Just because it is new does not make it better to do than what you are already working on.
You are far better off seeing your current efforts all the way through to the end. The leadership quality of fully implementing your ideas is one of the keys to leadership success.
Friday, June 6, 2008
No One's Listening
We were thinking some more about the communication challenges that our survey respondents are asking us about. In our last blog we wrote about the need to tell the hard truth. What else do we think you need to know to really communicate well?
A phone call yesterday from one of our CEO clients sparked an idea. We had just completed a strategic planning process for an organization that he had recently acquired. One of the executives of that acquired company had said something to the CEO that he thought was important for us to hear.
He told us that the executive every year for 20 years he had participated in strategic planning, but had never been listened to. The plan was determined by two executives with only a perfunctory attempt at gaining perspectives from the rest of the executive team.
This executive told the CEO that for first time ever he really felt a part of the planning process. Because of that her felt real ownership of the plan and was excited about implementing it. But, what he said next is the most important point. Because he felt that he was truly listened to, he was much better able to listen to others instead of merely fighting for his point of view.
As questions, be open to different points of view. Do not push your point of view too hard. If you want to be listened to, start by listening to others.
A phone call yesterday from one of our CEO clients sparked an idea. We had just completed a strategic planning process for an organization that he had recently acquired. One of the executives of that acquired company had said something to the CEO that he thought was important for us to hear.
He told us that the executive every year for 20 years he had participated in strategic planning, but had never been listened to. The plan was determined by two executives with only a perfunctory attempt at gaining perspectives from the rest of the executive team.
This executive told the CEO that for first time ever he really felt a part of the planning process. Because of that her felt real ownership of the plan and was excited about implementing it. But, what he said next is the most important point. Because he felt that he was truly listened to, he was much better able to listen to others instead of merely fighting for his point of view.
As questions, be open to different points of view. Do not push your point of view too hard. If you want to be listened to, start by listening to others.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Team Leadership and Communications
We have received hundreds of responses to our recent online survey asking people about their leadership challenges. If you have not already completed the survey please click here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Wp9FUFQbA6G3MLxZacyKug_3d_3d and tell us about your challenges. Your input will help us develop products and services to help you.
One of the most common challenges leaders have shared with us is communicating effectively. As I reviewed the survey results and saw this concern expressed over and over again I was reminded of a situation that happened to me when I was a very young consultant.
I was working on my first merger integration. Two large healthcare organizations were coming together. I had just completed a series of focus groups with front line staff. One of their biggest concerns was that they believed that senior management was lying to them about whether there would be any layoffs as a result of the merger.
I am sitting in the Board Room with all of the senior executives. I told them about the staff's concern. The executives looked at each other, but no one said anything for several seconds. Then the Chief Operating Officer said something that stunned me; "Of course we're lying to them. If we told them the truth they would cause us all sorts of problems!"
What happened next stunned me even more. Nothing happened next. No one said a word. They just moved on to the next topic. No one cared that leadership was lying to the staff. There were layoffs, of course. Once they started the staff lost all trust for management. The best people began to leave the organization. Within three years the merged company was out of business.
The communication lesson here is to tell the truth even when it is hard. If you tell the truth even when it is painful to hear people will begin to trust you. When people trust you they will listen to you. If they listen to you they will follow your leadership.
Team leadership requires trust. Build it by telling the hard truth.
One of the most common challenges leaders have shared with us is communicating effectively. As I reviewed the survey results and saw this concern expressed over and over again I was reminded of a situation that happened to me when I was a very young consultant.
I was working on my first merger integration. Two large healthcare organizations were coming together. I had just completed a series of focus groups with front line staff. One of their biggest concerns was that they believed that senior management was lying to them about whether there would be any layoffs as a result of the merger.
I am sitting in the Board Room with all of the senior executives. I told them about the staff's concern. The executives looked at each other, but no one said anything for several seconds. Then the Chief Operating Officer said something that stunned me; "Of course we're lying to them. If we told them the truth they would cause us all sorts of problems!"
What happened next stunned me even more. Nothing happened next. No one said a word. They just moved on to the next topic. No one cared that leadership was lying to the staff. There were layoffs, of course. Once they started the staff lost all trust for management. The best people began to leave the organization. Within three years the merged company was out of business.
The communication lesson here is to tell the truth even when it is hard. If you tell the truth even when it is painful to hear people will begin to trust you. When people trust you they will listen to you. If they listen to you they will follow your leadership.
Team leadership requires trust. Build it by telling the hard truth.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Secret of Motivation in Team Leadership
We received some interesting results from our recent survey on team
leadership. One of our questions was what people found most challenging about team leadership.
We received many answers about strategic planning, decision making, communications and so forth. But, a challenge that many people expressed is how to motivate their team.
We are going to make this easy for you. To motivate your people you do not have to be “motivational”. You do not have to be charismatic or even a particularly skilled communicator.
Just do one simple (but incredibly powerful!) thing. MAKE THE LIST OF THINGS YOUR PEOPLE ARE DOING MATCH THE TIME THEY HAVE TO DO THEM.
This is a leadership skill that most managers do not have. It is a skill that is rarely, if ever, taught in management training programs. But, it is the most important aspect of team motivation.
People are motivated when they feel like they are making progress. If their task load is always more than they have time to do they will feel like they are spinning their wheels.
As the leader you can fix this and tap into the power of a motivated team.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
leadership. One of our questions was what people found most challenging about team leadership.
We received many answers about strategic planning, decision making, communications and so forth. But, a challenge that many people expressed is how to motivate their team.
We are going to make this easy for you. To motivate your people you do not have to be “motivational”. You do not have to be charismatic or even a particularly skilled communicator.
Just do one simple (but incredibly powerful!) thing. MAKE THE LIST OF THINGS YOUR PEOPLE ARE DOING MATCH THE TIME THEY HAVE TO DO THEM.
This is a leadership skill that most managers do not have. It is a skill that is rarely, if ever, taught in management training programs. But, it is the most important aspect of team motivation.
People are motivated when they feel like they are making progress. If their task load is always more than they have time to do they will feel like they are spinning their wheels.
As the leader you can fix this and tap into the power of a motivated team.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
Monday, May 5, 2008
The First Sin
The first “deadly sin” discussed in our newsletter opt-in bonus is, “Put yourself first…your people and the organization lower or non-existent”. This sin comes first in the document because it is one of the most important to avoid if you plan on being a successful leader. A good leader has many qualities, an important one being that they help to cultivate other good leaders. You can accomplish a lot by yourself, but you can accomplish a lot more with great people working for you. A selfish leader will try to get all of the best projects, all of the praise for a job well done, and make sure they are always in the spotlight as the best of the best. A good leader will get all of those things and more while helping others to achieve it for themselves. Recognize the potential around you and become an even stronger force in your business. Your organization will be more successful as a whole and you will be doing your part to drive it there.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
If you have any questions or comments about “The 7 Deadly Sins of Leaderships”, please post here or email us at info@successfulleadershipskills.com
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
If you have any questions or comments about “The 7 Deadly Sins of Leaderships”, please post here or email us at info@successfulleadershipskills.com
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Seventh Sin
If you’ve signed up for our newsletter you’ve received the “7 Deadly Sins of Leadership”. The seventh sin is “Use Rumor and Innuendo For Decision Making…Ignore Facts and Logic”. We’ve built a successful consulting business by guiding our clients to make all decisions based on facts and logic. Think about it, makes complete sense doesn’t it? Then why do so many people make the mistake of honoring rumors and selective opinions when making decisions? Could be that they are guided by emotion, low confidence, over confidence…the list goes on.
Whatever the reason, get rid of it. When you are faced with decisions the very first question you should ask yourself is, “what are the facts and logic of the situation?” Do your research to answer this question honestly. Don’t let one or two people tell you what is going on in your organization. Dig deep and get to the truth before you make decisions. Build a reputation of being a reasonable and great leader by letting facts and logic guide you. You will earn more respect as a wise decision maker if you avoid the seventh sin.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
Whatever the reason, get rid of it. When you are faced with decisions the very first question you should ask yourself is, “what are the facts and logic of the situation?” Do your research to answer this question honestly. Don’t let one or two people tell you what is going on in your organization. Dig deep and get to the truth before you make decisions. Build a reputation of being a reasonable and great leader by letting facts and logic guide you. You will earn more respect as a wise decision maker if you avoid the seventh sin.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
www.successfulleadershipskills.com
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Fifth Sin
The fifth deadly sin in “The 7 Deadly Sins of Leadership” that you received when you opted into our newsletter was “Throw your people under the bus”. This seems to be a natural response for some people when something goes wrong. People don’t want to deal with the possible consequences the mistake will bring, so they are quick to make sure that everyone knows that they are not at fault.
Nobody likes to be blamed for something that went wrong. But with many mistakes it doesn’t even matter who was at fault, what matters is that the situation is fixed and that steps are taken to ensure that it does not occur again. Placing blame will only delay fixing the mistake.
As we advised you in “The 7 Deadly Sins of Leadership,” the next time something goes wrong take personal accountability for it. Instead of placing blame take a moment to consider the problem and be the first to come up with the solution. Show that you’re up for any challenge and that you are a leader who will take accountability, take action and make good things things happen!
Nobody likes to be blamed for something that went wrong. But with many mistakes it doesn’t even matter who was at fault, what matters is that the situation is fixed and that steps are taken to ensure that it does not occur again. Placing blame will only delay fixing the mistake.
As we advised you in “The 7 Deadly Sins of Leadership,” the next time something goes wrong take personal accountability for it. Instead of placing blame take a moment to consider the problem and be the first to come up with the solution. Show that you’re up for any challenge and that you are a leader who will take accountability, take action and make good things things happen!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Leadership Development Program For One
Yesterday we published the April issue of our monthly newsletter. In the article titled, “Moving Beyond the Leadership Cult of Personality,” we advise executives to develop a model of leadership for their organization and measure all leaders against it.
What we imply in the article is that this should be done for every leader. This is the best way we know to transform an entire organization.
But, what if you are an individual leader trying to get better and do not have the CEO-level authority to initiate an organization-wide leadership development effort? Can you use our advice to create a “leadership development program for one?”
Absolutely, yes! Define you personal list of leadership principles. Ask people close to you in your organization to give you feedback on how you are doing in leading according to those principles.
You may not transform your whole organization, but you will transform yourself!
If you do not already receive our free monthly newsletter, please go to SuccessfulLeadershipSkills.com and sign up!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
What we imply in the article is that this should be done for every leader. This is the best way we know to transform an entire organization.
But, what if you are an individual leader trying to get better and do not have the CEO-level authority to initiate an organization-wide leadership development effort? Can you use our advice to create a “leadership development program for one?”
Absolutely, yes! Define you personal list of leadership principles. Ask people close to you in your organization to give you feedback on how you are doing in leading according to those principles.
You may not transform your whole organization, but you will transform yourself!
If you do not already receive our free monthly newsletter, please go to SuccessfulLeadershipSkills.com and sign up!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Ignoring Proven Leadership Techniques
Last week we received an email from a reader of our book, “6 Secrets of Successful Leadership” and we thought she brought up a point worth noting to the rest or our reader community. She wrote:
“When I reached Chapter 5 of your book, Facilitate the Success of Others, I thought this would describe me exactly. In this area I’ve always felt that I am an excellent leader. I do my best to make sure that those who report to me get praised, have plenty of opportunity to grow and use their skills to the fullest. Then I got to the part in the chapter about keeping your ego in check with your fellow leaders and helping them to succeed as well. That brought me to a grinding halt. This is not how my organization is structured. I work in a place where everyone is fighting for recognition and superiority. When I first came to work here it took some adjusting because I know that is not how leadership is proven to work. I tend to look at the whole organization as one big team, but my colleagues felt very differently about it. So I changed. I became just like them in order to play the game that I thought was required. Since reading your book I have made several small changes to follow the rules about leadership that I know have been proven to work rather than the standards that have been set here by the people that have created this environment. I’ve been available to those outside my department and have approached collaboration opportunities with a whole new attitude. My boss visited my office this morning to let me know that my efforts have not gone unnoticed. Thank you.”
Obviously we were extremely happy to receive this email from one if the readers of our book, but not at all surprised by the circumstances in this person’s organization. What we thought was most interesting about this email was that she described going against the leadership skills that she knows have been proven to work to fit in with the others she works with.
This story reinforces our belief that while you should have an ambitious nature and a strong drive to succeed to be a great leader, you should not do it at the expense of the proven approaches to leadership.
“When I reached Chapter 5 of your book, Facilitate the Success of Others, I thought this would describe me exactly. In this area I’ve always felt that I am an excellent leader. I do my best to make sure that those who report to me get praised, have plenty of opportunity to grow and use their skills to the fullest. Then I got to the part in the chapter about keeping your ego in check with your fellow leaders and helping them to succeed as well. That brought me to a grinding halt. This is not how my organization is structured. I work in a place where everyone is fighting for recognition and superiority. When I first came to work here it took some adjusting because I know that is not how leadership is proven to work. I tend to look at the whole organization as one big team, but my colleagues felt very differently about it. So I changed. I became just like them in order to play the game that I thought was required. Since reading your book I have made several small changes to follow the rules about leadership that I know have been proven to work rather than the standards that have been set here by the people that have created this environment. I’ve been available to those outside my department and have approached collaboration opportunities with a whole new attitude. My boss visited my office this morning to let me know that my efforts have not gone unnoticed. Thank you.”
Obviously we were extremely happy to receive this email from one if the readers of our book, but not at all surprised by the circumstances in this person’s organization. What we thought was most interesting about this email was that she described going against the leadership skills that she knows have been proven to work to fit in with the others she works with.
This story reinforces our belief that while you should have an ambitious nature and a strong drive to succeed to be a great leader, you should not do it at the expense of the proven approaches to leadership.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Leadership and Selflessness
Wow! A growing number of you are sharing some very interesting and insightful perspectives with your comments to several of our recent posts. This is fantastic; as one of our hopes was that we can all continue to learn from each other.
If you have not had the chance yet, check out the comments and enter the discussion!
Our perspective today involves the management training aspect of leadership and selflessness. We were working earlier today with a group of leaders going through a merger. One of them raised the concern of whether or not they would still have a job after the merger was complete. A very human question. However, leadership calls us to a higher level of thinking.
As a leader we are called to think beyond ourselves, beyond our departments, beyond the people that we lead. We must always think and act on what is best for the success of the entire enterprise we are a part of.
The worst leaders fight for their personal gain. The more evolved leader fights for their people or department. More evolved yet again the leader fights for the success of the enterprise.
But, there is an even more enlightened level of leadership that only the very best reach. These leaders are so selfless that they do not first think of the success of their enterprise. Instead, they are always thinking about what is best for their customers.
In all of your management training to develop excellent team leadership keep your customer at the forefront of your mind. They will always lead you in the right direction.
If you have not had the chance yet, check out the comments and enter the discussion!
Our perspective today involves the management training aspect of leadership and selflessness. We were working earlier today with a group of leaders going through a merger. One of them raised the concern of whether or not they would still have a job after the merger was complete. A very human question. However, leadership calls us to a higher level of thinking.
As a leader we are called to think beyond ourselves, beyond our departments, beyond the people that we lead. We must always think and act on what is best for the success of the entire enterprise we are a part of.
The worst leaders fight for their personal gain. The more evolved leader fights for their people or department. More evolved yet again the leader fights for the success of the enterprise.
But, there is an even more enlightened level of leadership that only the very best reach. These leaders are so selfless that they do not first think of the success of their enterprise. Instead, they are always thinking about what is best for their customers.
In all of your management training to develop excellent team leadership keep your customer at the forefront of your mind. They will always lead you in the right direction.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Management Training and the Leadership Guru
One of our newsletter readers shared a challenge with us yesterday. He said that his number one leadership challenge is properly implementing what he learns from leadership “gurus.”
We thought this was such an important management training issue that we wrote an article about it.
Please click on the link below to read what we think about this. Then please come back to the blog and comment on what you think!
www.successfulleadershipskills.com/LeadershipGuru.html
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
We thought this was such an important management training issue that we wrote an article about it.
Please click on the link below to read what we think about this. Then please come back to the blog and comment on what you think!
www.successfulleadershipskills.com/LeadershipGuru.html
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Were You Born to Leadership?
People believe a lot of things about leadership that are just plain wrong. New leaders tell us all the time that they were surprised about how different leadership is compared to what they expected.
Here is a belief about leadership that comes up a lot in conversation; “Leaders are born, not made.” We have had many spirited debates about this point of view.
We want to hear what you think about this issue. Click on the Comments button at the end of this post and tell us what you think!
Do you think that some people are born to be great leaders, that they are just “naturals”?
Or do you think that great leadership can be developed through management training?
What have been your personal experiences on this subject?
Let’s figure this one out together!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Here is a belief about leadership that comes up a lot in conversation; “Leaders are born, not made.” We have had many spirited debates about this point of view.
We want to hear what you think about this issue. Click on the Comments button at the end of this post and tell us what you think!
Do you think that some people are born to be great leaders, that they are just “naturals”?
Or do you think that great leadership can be developed through management training?
What have been your personal experiences on this subject?
Let’s figure this one out together!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Are You “Rigidly Flexible”?
We were with a large corporate client yesterday. The VP of Facilities was talking to a group of managers about project planning. He told them that as they worked on their management training they needed to strive to be “rigidly flexible” as they planned and executed their projects.
This caught our ears. What he was talking about is the fact that plans never unfold exactly the way you planned them. Circumstances change. New opportunities and challenges present themselves.
What you want to do as you further your leadership development is to be rigid in your resolve to accomplish your most important objectives. But you also want to be flexible to adapt your approach as you adjust to new circumstances.
Keep alert! Being “rigidly flexible” requires that you pay attention to what is happening around you so you will know when to make adjustments to assure that you reach your goals.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
This caught our ears. What he was talking about is the fact that plans never unfold exactly the way you planned them. Circumstances change. New opportunities and challenges present themselves.
What you want to do as you further your leadership development is to be rigid in your resolve to accomplish your most important objectives. But you also want to be flexible to adapt your approach as you adjust to new circumstances.
Keep alert! Being “rigidly flexible” requires that you pay attention to what is happening around you so you will know when to make adjustments to assure that you reach your goals.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Time Management and Leadership Development
Time management is a critical aspect of a leadership development. Most leaders are severely misguided about it. We have written an article about this important leadership skill.
The information in the article will point you towards the simple, but critically important skill that you must master before you can master your time.
To read this article, click here, time management and leadership development.
The information in the article will point you towards the simple, but critically important skill that you must master before you can master your time.
To read this article, click here, time management and leadership development.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Vice President of Wisdom
We spend a lot of our time facilitating senior executive teams as they develop strategic plans and solve big organizational problems. A big hole in the leadership skills of many leaders is a willingness to take risks in these sessions.
Specifically, too many leaders are too quiet. They are afraid to take the risk of stating their opinions.
This is a big mistake. A willingness to share your point of view is vital to effective leadership. Even if you are naturally shy you must take the risk of speaking. You may just have the idea that unlocks the answer.
Let us tell you about the Esther, the Vice President of Wisdom.
We were leading a planning session at a large international foods company. We had met with all of the team members individually before the session. When we talked with Esther she told us she was very shy in groups and probably would not say much.
We told her we understood, but that at some point in the process her perspective would be vital. We encouraged her to try to share when that time came.
For the first two days of the sessions Esther said almost nothing. On the third day the team was at a tough point and was having a hard time deciding what to do.
Esther tentatively raised her hand, took a deep breath and said; “Rob and Rich told me there would be a time I needed to talk. This is what I think is causing our problem and here is what I think we should do…”
Esther went on to share an insight that completely unlocked the answer to the team’s problem. Her teammates nicknamed her The VP of Wisdom. To this day, more than 10 years later, every team member goes to Esther for advice when they are dealing with a tough issue.
That day Esther provided a breakthrough for her team. She also provided a breakthrough for herself as a leader.
Be brave to take a risk like Esther. Be your organization’s “VP of Wisdom”.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Specifically, too many leaders are too quiet. They are afraid to take the risk of stating their opinions.
This is a big mistake. A willingness to share your point of view is vital to effective leadership. Even if you are naturally shy you must take the risk of speaking. You may just have the idea that unlocks the answer.
Let us tell you about the Esther, the Vice President of Wisdom.
We were leading a planning session at a large international foods company. We had met with all of the team members individually before the session. When we talked with Esther she told us she was very shy in groups and probably would not say much.
We told her we understood, but that at some point in the process her perspective would be vital. We encouraged her to try to share when that time came.
For the first two days of the sessions Esther said almost nothing. On the third day the team was at a tough point and was having a hard time deciding what to do.
Esther tentatively raised her hand, took a deep breath and said; “Rob and Rich told me there would be a time I needed to talk. This is what I think is causing our problem and here is what I think we should do…”
Esther went on to share an insight that completely unlocked the answer to the team’s problem. Her teammates nicknamed her The VP of Wisdom. To this day, more than 10 years later, every team member goes to Esther for advice when they are dealing with a tough issue.
That day Esther provided a breakthrough for her team. She also provided a breakthrough for herself as a leader.
Be brave to take a risk like Esther. Be your organization’s “VP of Wisdom”.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What is Your Organization’s Mission? A Leadership Secret
Just about every leader talks about their organization’s “mission statement.” It is common for teams to spend hours, days or even weeks developing one. There are management consultants who make entire careers charging lots of money to help clients create them.
Don’t do this!
Nearly every mission statement we have seen is uninspiring and says nothing unique about that organization. They provide nothing useful to guide the organizations effort. Mostly, they all look alike. Boring and wasteful!
Here is a leadership secret about how to get a mission statement right.
Let the mission statement flow from your strategy not the other way around.
When you develop your strategy you will spend a lot of time thinking about the needs of your market. Meeting those needs becomes your mission. Write down in a few simple sentences what benefits your market will get from doing business with you. That is you “Mission Statement.”
Simple! Powerful! And, something that your people can get behind and use as guidance for their work.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Don’t do this!
Nearly every mission statement we have seen is uninspiring and says nothing unique about that organization. They provide nothing useful to guide the organizations effort. Mostly, they all look alike. Boring and wasteful!
Here is a leadership secret about how to get a mission statement right.
Let the mission statement flow from your strategy not the other way around.
When you develop your strategy you will spend a lot of time thinking about the needs of your market. Meeting those needs becomes your mission. Write down in a few simple sentences what benefits your market will get from doing business with you. That is you “Mission Statement.”
Simple! Powerful! And, something that your people can get behind and use as guidance for their work.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Monday, March 17, 2008
One More Thought About The Most Important Management Training Tip Ever
Hello readers. I’m Lisa Alvarez and I am the Internet Marketing Director for Successful Leadership Skills. You haven’t heard my voice on this blog yet because I am certainly not the leadership expert that Rob and Rich are, however, based on the most recent blog posts I thought now would be the perfect time to give you some of my perspective. Through my work I have had the opportunity to be in some meetings with the senior executives of very prosperous organizations. While Rob and Rich are pretty much running the meetings, I’ve been able to sit back and observe some highly successful teams in action.
The biggest thing that I have seen a senior team struggle with is strategic planning. Everyone naturally comes with their own biased agenda and ready to fight for what their department wants and needs the most. I’ve sat back and watched teams wrestle for days and weeks and months about what their highest priorities will be in their organization…and no one wants to let go of what they “own”. And then I’ve seen two very different things begin to happen.
1) People who came in with a passionately narrow mind have suddenly begun to discuss other departments as if they have a responsibility for those too…as if they think something else just might be equally important (if not more important) than their “baby” that they’ve fought for every year as long as they’ve been there.
OR
2) No matter how many hours some people spend in a room with the organization’s top thinkers (which they are expected to be one of) they cannot get their heads around the organization as a whole. This is made obvious by either their unyielding stubbornness or their retreat into the shadows…not wanting to be called upon for an opinion because they really have no idea about anything outside of their department.
I’ve sat there and watched people who have many years of leadership behind them, who’ve somehow managed to get so close to the top only to completely drop the ball at this critical point. And it does not go unnoticed. The person at the top, the one who really runs the show, wants to be surrounded by exceptional leaders. The CEO has a much better chance of achieving great things if they are surrounded by people who are capable of thinking the way they think…what is best for the organization as a whole and how are we going to make it happen.
The people who have a firm grasp on this are beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most important to an organization. This trait is shared by all of the most valued leaders I’ve ever come across.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
The biggest thing that I have seen a senior team struggle with is strategic planning. Everyone naturally comes with their own biased agenda and ready to fight for what their department wants and needs the most. I’ve sat back and watched teams wrestle for days and weeks and months about what their highest priorities will be in their organization…and no one wants to let go of what they “own”. And then I’ve seen two very different things begin to happen.
1) People who came in with a passionately narrow mind have suddenly begun to discuss other departments as if they have a responsibility for those too…as if they think something else just might be equally important (if not more important) than their “baby” that they’ve fought for every year as long as they’ve been there.
OR
2) No matter how many hours some people spend in a room with the organization’s top thinkers (which they are expected to be one of) they cannot get their heads around the organization as a whole. This is made obvious by either their unyielding stubbornness or their retreat into the shadows…not wanting to be called upon for an opinion because they really have no idea about anything outside of their department.
I’ve sat there and watched people who have many years of leadership behind them, who’ve somehow managed to get so close to the top only to completely drop the ball at this critical point. And it does not go unnoticed. The person at the top, the one who really runs the show, wants to be surrounded by exceptional leaders. The CEO has a much better chance of achieving great things if they are surrounded by people who are capable of thinking the way they think…what is best for the organization as a whole and how are we going to make it happen.
The people who have a firm grasp on this are beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most important to an organization. This trait is shared by all of the most valued leaders I’ve ever come across.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Most Important Management Training Tip Ever…A Little Bit More
If you have not yet read yesterday’s blog post, “The Most Important Management Training Tip Ever”, please click on it now and read it first.
Ok, you’re back. Yesterday we talked about the single most important leadership skill; thinking and acting like a general manager. We said that you will know you have this skill mastered when you make decisions for the benefit of the organization that actually sacrifice some aspect of the part of the business you are responsible for.
We want to tell you a story about exactly what we mean by that.
Remember the blog post a while back that linked you to our article, “The Devil and Management Training”? If you have not read that one yet, please click here to link to the article and read it before you go on.
Ok, you’re back again. What does that story have to do with thinking and acting like a general manager?
During the 6 years of “Good Robert’s” leadership he continued to exhibit the leadership qualities that the management development program was teaching him. One of those leadership skills was thinking and acting like a general manger.
“Good Robert” was the mastermind behind a new business unit that he was certain was going to skyrocket to massive success. However, it was three years old and completely failing. It was generating millions of dollars a year in losses for the organization.
But, “Good Robert” was convinced that his idea was going to be successful if the organization just kept pumping more money into it and giving him more time to turn it around.
Now, back in his “Bad Robert” days there is no way he would have listened to anyone else’s opinion. But, those days were behind him. After long deliberations with his senior team partners he agreed to shut the business unit down.
This was very painful for him. The new business was his idea, he ran it, it was very visible in the community and industry. He had to publicly admit that his idea did not work. VERY HARD TO DO, BUT HE DID IT!
Hi did it for the good of the whole organization. “Good Robert” passed the test and everyone in that thriving organization continues to benefit from it.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Ok, you’re back. Yesterday we talked about the single most important leadership skill; thinking and acting like a general manager. We said that you will know you have this skill mastered when you make decisions for the benefit of the organization that actually sacrifice some aspect of the part of the business you are responsible for.
We want to tell you a story about exactly what we mean by that.
Remember the blog post a while back that linked you to our article, “The Devil and Management Training”? If you have not read that one yet, please click here to link to the article and read it before you go on.
Ok, you’re back again. What does that story have to do with thinking and acting like a general manager?
During the 6 years of “Good Robert’s” leadership he continued to exhibit the leadership qualities that the management development program was teaching him. One of those leadership skills was thinking and acting like a general manger.
“Good Robert” was the mastermind behind a new business unit that he was certain was going to skyrocket to massive success. However, it was three years old and completely failing. It was generating millions of dollars a year in losses for the organization.
But, “Good Robert” was convinced that his idea was going to be successful if the organization just kept pumping more money into it and giving him more time to turn it around.
Now, back in his “Bad Robert” days there is no way he would have listened to anyone else’s opinion. But, those days were behind him. After long deliberations with his senior team partners he agreed to shut the business unit down.
This was very painful for him. The new business was his idea, he ran it, it was very visible in the community and industry. He had to publicly admit that his idea did not work. VERY HARD TO DO, BUT HE DID IT!
Hi did it for the good of the whole organization. “Good Robert” passed the test and everyone in that thriving organization continues to benefit from it.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Most Important Management Training Tip Ever
A member of our newsletter reader community wrote to us the other day. He said he had a strong desire to become a CEO someday and asked for some tips on how to make this dream a reality.
Of all the leadership qualities that you eventually want to acquire, the single most important leadership skill that will lead you to more senior positions is the ability to think like a general manager.
No matter what your current role is you want to start thinking and acting like you are responsible for the success of the entire enterprise.
The CEO is the general manager of the entire business. Their entire mind is bent towards a single purpose…maximizing the organization’s success.
You want to put your mind to this purpose. Every time you are faced with a decision ask yourself what will benefit the entire organization the most. Take that action. Do not do what is best just for your division, department or team. That is not how the best senior executives act.
You will know you have this skill mastered when you make decisions for the benefit of the organization that actually sacrifice some aspect of the part of the business you are responsible for. You make a program cut, a headcount reduction or re-prioritize a departmental project to make time to work on something that has a greater impact on the whole.
This may sound easy to do, but it is not. To really act like a general manager you have to consciously think differently. Remember to always test your decisions by asking if it is really the best thing for the whole organization’s success.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Of all the leadership qualities that you eventually want to acquire, the single most important leadership skill that will lead you to more senior positions is the ability to think like a general manager.
No matter what your current role is you want to start thinking and acting like you are responsible for the success of the entire enterprise.
The CEO is the general manager of the entire business. Their entire mind is bent towards a single purpose…maximizing the organization’s success.
You want to put your mind to this purpose. Every time you are faced with a decision ask yourself what will benefit the entire organization the most. Take that action. Do not do what is best just for your division, department or team. That is not how the best senior executives act.
You will know you have this skill mastered when you make decisions for the benefit of the organization that actually sacrifice some aspect of the part of the business you are responsible for. You make a program cut, a headcount reduction or re-prioritize a departmental project to make time to work on something that has a greater impact on the whole.
This may sound easy to do, but it is not. To really act like a general manager you have to consciously think differently. Remember to always test your decisions by asking if it is really the best thing for the whole organization’s success.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Why Good Leaders Do Dumb Things
Rob was in British Columbia when the news of Elliot Spitzer resigning the governorship of New York broke. The local paper, The Vancouver Globe and Mail, published an article on March 12th, “Why Good Leaders Do Dumb Things.” The writer made an interesting point:
“Leaders can tend to fall in the ditch when they surround themselves with people who bow down to power and never question them. This builds a mystique inside the leaders’ heads that they are somehow omnipotent.”
The higher up you go in your leadership career the more your management development depends on surrounding yourself with people who will challenge you.
Seek out the opinions of people that you know think differently than you do. Be prepared for this to be hard. You will hear things that you are not used to hearing; “That’s a terrible idea,” “That’s fine as far as it goes, but what about this issue that you appear to be completely missing.”
We encourage you to welcome this dissent and debate. Without it you run the risk of going terribly off course.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
“Leaders can tend to fall in the ditch when they surround themselves with people who bow down to power and never question them. This builds a mystique inside the leaders’ heads that they are somehow omnipotent.”
The higher up you go in your leadership career the more your management development depends on surrounding yourself with people who will challenge you.
Seek out the opinions of people that you know think differently than you do. Be prepared for this to be hard. You will hear things that you are not used to hearing; “That’s a terrible idea,” “That’s fine as far as it goes, but what about this issue that you appear to be completely missing.”
We encourage you to welcome this dissent and debate. Without it you run the risk of going terribly off course.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
A Most Valuable Leadership Skill – An Open Mind
A new CFO joined one of our clients. He and the former CFO (who was now running one of the main divisions) were continually having strong disagreements on the strategic direction of the organization. They both thought the other was doing great damage to the company.
We were working with the senior team to develop a new strategic plan. One of the things we always do is something called a “Turning Points Analysis.” In brief, the team identifies certain major events in the organization’s history that they considered a turning point (performance either radically improved or declined.)
As this senior team worked together to analyze their Turning Points the former CFO did a lot of the talking because he had been there longer than anyone else. He had detailed recall of those times and circumstances.
As the organization’s history came to life in that conference room an interesting transformation took place. At one point the new CFO stood back and looked at several walls filled with flip charts describing the organizations past circumstances and decisions. He looked at the former CFO and said something that we will never forget:
“You know that I have strongly disagreed with nearly all of your decisions. But, now that I clearly see the circumstances that you were faced with I have to tell you that I would have done the exact same things you did.”
From that moment they began to work more effectively together. While they never became great friends, their improved working relationship allowed them to make a difficult joint decision to shut down an underperforming division that was sucking profits from the rest of the organization.
If the new CFO had not kept an open mind and been willing to change his opinion of the former CFO and his decisions they would have kept fighting and never been able to work together for the benefit of the whole.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
We were working with the senior team to develop a new strategic plan. One of the things we always do is something called a “Turning Points Analysis.” In brief, the team identifies certain major events in the organization’s history that they considered a turning point (performance either radically improved or declined.)
As this senior team worked together to analyze their Turning Points the former CFO did a lot of the talking because he had been there longer than anyone else. He had detailed recall of those times and circumstances.
As the organization’s history came to life in that conference room an interesting transformation took place. At one point the new CFO stood back and looked at several walls filled with flip charts describing the organizations past circumstances and decisions. He looked at the former CFO and said something that we will never forget:
“You know that I have strongly disagreed with nearly all of your decisions. But, now that I clearly see the circumstances that you were faced with I have to tell you that I would have done the exact same things you did.”
From that moment they began to work more effectively together. While they never became great friends, their improved working relationship allowed them to make a difficult joint decision to shut down an underperforming division that was sucking profits from the rest of the organization.
If the new CFO had not kept an open mind and been willing to change his opinion of the former CFO and his decisions they would have kept fighting and never been able to work together for the benefit of the whole.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Competitive Advantage of Management Training
We received an email from a reader of our newsletter the other day. We want to share part of it with you because it points out how broad a positive impact excellent management training can have on your business.
Our reader wrote:
“I deal in wholesale and retail pharmaceuticals. My company employs 20 people. My responsibilities are to see to
the day-to-day activities of the business; i.e.. purchasing, supplies,
business development and acquiring financing for growth.
My main challenge is that it is tough to get funds to help grow my business and this is made even more difficult because the pharmaceutical market is really choked.”
On the surface his main challenge of finding financing for growth does not appear to have a direct connection to management training or leadership styles. But, there is actually a strong connection.
Finding financing is always a challenge. Financiers are looking for well-managed companies that have something special about them that their competitors cannot duplicate. Excellent leadership skills and on-going management training will differentiate you from your competition.
Many executives do not understand the powerful impact that great management development can have on their business’ success. But, the leaders that get this connection and implement it can gain a tremendous competitive advantage.
This advantage shows itself in better performance from your people leading to better business results. And most importantly, because your people are more motivated they will perform well over the long term.
We encouraged our reader to begin to implement some of our leadership perspectives in his business. Then, when talking to finance companies or individual investors we suggested he reference
these leadership practices as part of his presentation. Talk about how this puts his organization ahead of the competition and positions the business to be successful for the long term.
We encourage you to look at management training as more than a tool to better handle your internal responsibilities of leadership. Look at great management development and the leadership skills it provides as a “secret weapon” against your competition. They won’t know what hit ‘em!
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Our reader wrote:
“I deal in wholesale and retail pharmaceuticals. My company employs 20 people. My responsibilities are to see to
the day-to-day activities of the business; i.e.. purchasing, supplies,
business development and acquiring financing for growth.
My main challenge is that it is tough to get funds to help grow my business and this is made even more difficult because the pharmaceutical market is really choked.”
On the surface his main challenge of finding financing for growth does not appear to have a direct connection to management training or leadership styles. But, there is actually a strong connection.
Finding financing is always a challenge. Financiers are looking for well-managed companies that have something special about them that their competitors cannot duplicate. Excellent leadership skills and on-going management training will differentiate you from your competition.
Many executives do not understand the powerful impact that great management development can have on their business’ success. But, the leaders that get this connection and implement it can gain a tremendous competitive advantage.
This advantage shows itself in better performance from your people leading to better business results. And most importantly, because your people are more motivated they will perform well over the long term.
We encouraged our reader to begin to implement some of our leadership perspectives in his business. Then, when talking to finance companies or individual investors we suggested he reference
these leadership practices as part of his presentation. Talk about how this puts his organization ahead of the competition and positions the business to be successful for the long term.
We encourage you to look at management training as more than a tool to better handle your internal responsibilities of leadership. Look at great management development and the leadership skills it provides as a “secret weapon” against your competition. They won’t know what hit ‘em!
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Natural, Intuitive Leadership Qualities Will Only Take You So Far
We were working with one of our clients the other day. She had been in a very senior position for a few years. However, recently the organization had really stepped up its pace and the CEO was intent on extensive growth. Everyone’s leadership was being stretched through an intensive management training program.
In our conversation, she said that up until now leadership had come pretty easily for her and that all she had to do was act like herself and everything worked out pretty well.
But that now the bar for team leadership had been raised. She realized that she needed to be more conscious of what she is doing. That she must think about the probable impact of her words or actions before she speaks or acts. She understood that to advance at this senior level she needed to make changes to her leadership style from some of the things that had allowed her to reach that level to begin with.
This is a great insight. The higher up you go or the more complex your organization gets, the greater the demands on your leadership. You do not have the luxury to keep doing things the way you always have. The executives that maintain highly effective leadership are all “lifetime learners.” They never stop working on their team leadership.
Keep at it. Read about leadership. Engage other leaders in discussion. We can all learn from each other.
As a matter of fact, that is the primary purpose of this blog; to learn from each other.
Please post comments on your experiences with leadership development. We know you have valuable insights and experiences that will help other leaders in their management development efforts.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
In our conversation, she said that up until now leadership had come pretty easily for her and that all she had to do was act like herself and everything worked out pretty well.
But that now the bar for team leadership had been raised. She realized that she needed to be more conscious of what she is doing. That she must think about the probable impact of her words or actions before she speaks or acts. She understood that to advance at this senior level she needed to make changes to her leadership style from some of the things that had allowed her to reach that level to begin with.
This is a great insight. The higher up you go or the more complex your organization gets, the greater the demands on your leadership. You do not have the luxury to keep doing things the way you always have. The executives that maintain highly effective leadership are all “lifetime learners.” They never stop working on their team leadership.
Keep at it. Read about leadership. Engage other leaders in discussion. We can all learn from each other.
As a matter of fact, that is the primary purpose of this blog; to learn from each other.
Please post comments on your experiences with leadership development. We know you have valuable insights and experiences that will help other leaders in their management development efforts.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Solitary Team Leadership
We just wanted to quickly share a perspective about team leadership today.
This does not have anything to do with a management training program or an elaborate management development process. And this is something that you can start doing today without any help from some “leadership” guru.
Ready…take time each day to stop working and think. Get someplace quiet. Shut your office door, go to a quiet place nearby your office. Just get away to someplace where no one can bother you for 30 to 60 minutes and think.
So few leaders today create the time to think. We are stuck in a never-ending chain of reactions. This is not how the best leaders act.
We are working on a book about the leadership styles and leadership qualities of CEO’s. One of the CEO’s we interviewed was recently retired from a highly successful career. He told us the story about how he would “disappear” from the office for about an hour each day and go down the street from his office to the local public library and just think. He said it was one of the most valuable things he did as a leader.
So take the time to get quiet and think your way to leadership success.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
This does not have anything to do with a management training program or an elaborate management development process. And this is something that you can start doing today without any help from some “leadership” guru.
Ready…take time each day to stop working and think. Get someplace quiet. Shut your office door, go to a quiet place nearby your office. Just get away to someplace where no one can bother you for 30 to 60 minutes and think.
So few leaders today create the time to think. We are stuck in a never-ending chain of reactions. This is not how the best leaders act.
We are working on a book about the leadership styles and leadership qualities of CEO’s. One of the CEO’s we interviewed was recently retired from a highly successful career. He told us the story about how he would “disappear” from the office for about an hour each day and go down the street from his office to the local public library and just think. He said it was one of the most valuable things he did as a leader.
So take the time to get quiet and think your way to leadership success.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Devil and Management Training
We have written a fascinating new article that will open up some new insight for you about management training. In fact, we will go so far to say that you should not make any decisions about management training until you have read the story this article tells.
It is a story within a story that answers some of the most fundamental questions in management training:
· Can you change leaders’ behavior?
· Can really bad leaders change?
· Can you change a leader’s heart and really make the change stick?
· How long should management training last?
Click here to read this article on management training.
After you have read it link back over to the blog and please tell us what you think.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
If you would like to email us with questions or comments, please email info@successfulleadershipkills.com.
It is a story within a story that answers some of the most fundamental questions in management training:
· Can you change leaders’ behavior?
· Can really bad leaders change?
· Can you change a leader’s heart and really make the change stick?
· How long should management training last?
Click here to read this article on management training.
After you have read it link back over to the blog and please tell us what you think.
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
If you would like to email us with questions or comments, please email info@successfulleadershipkills.com.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Team Leadership At Speed
A client sent us an email the other day asking; "What's the trick for going fast, doing the right thing and actually succeeding in my business and in my team leadership?"
Great question. This calls on some important leadership skills. The essence of the answer is in "...doing the right thing." This comes from being clear about your objectives. What really defines success for you? What are the right things for you? What do you want your team leadership style, your business and your life to be like?
You want to invest some time to clarify these things so when an opportunity presents itself you can quickly evaluate it relative to your objectives. Does it move you towards them? If so, then act...now! If, not, let it go.
Here are some specifics:
· Put your objectives in writing. What do you intend to accomplish? The discipline of putting them in writing will help you be clear on what you want.
For example, if "Becoming the CEO of the company" is one of your objectives don't be shy, write it down. Don't be shy; think big!
By the way, we have found that for us, doing this with pen and paper works better than a keyboard and computer. Feels more real and committed.
· Develop a short list of criteria (six or seven) that define a valuable step towards you objectives.
For example, a few of our criteria are: 1) the opportunity furthers our progress towards more than just one of our objectives. 2) The opportunity furthers the leverage of our personal time. 3) The opportunity has a low cost of entry. We have a few others, but this gives you the idea.
Evaluate each opportunity against your criteria. Does it still seem like a good idea?
· This next step is critical. Without it you risk getting nowhere...and spending a lot of time doing it!
Develop a short list of what we call Probability of Success (POS) criteria. These will help you determine how likely it is you can successfully capitalize on a given opportunity.
A few of our POS criteria are: 1) We have a strength in this area or we can easily pay for that strength at a reasonable price. 2) It is simple to manage. If it is too complex to stay on top of...we won't! 3) We are interested in it. This is a big one for us. If we’re not interested we will not stay focused even if it’s profitable. A lesson learned the hard way...many times over!
· Give a rating (1 to 5, 1 to 10, whatever you want) to each Value criteria. Do the same for each POS criteria.
Obviously, you want to act on those opportunities with both high value and high POS. There are some subtleties of what to do if you have something with high value and low POS, perhaps we’ll write about that in a future post. Once you have your criteria set you can do this analysis very quickly.
· The final issue to consider is time. Do you have the time necessary to work the opportunity?
Time as a zero-sum deal. Everybody we know is as busy as they can possibly be. Therefore, to do something new you have to stop doing something you are currently doing. Or you have to streamline your processes to take less time to do what you are currently doing.
Time cannot be manufactured. You only get it in trade.
You can spend 100’s, even 1,000’s, of dollars on management training and not pick up secrets like these. We have seen this approach work unbelievably well for individual leaders and their teams and for entire organizations.
With preparation and discipline it is possible to go fast, do the right things and have fantastic business results!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Please visit our site by clicking this link, management training and leadership skills.
Great question. This calls on some important leadership skills. The essence of the answer is in "...doing the right thing." This comes from being clear about your objectives. What really defines success for you? What are the right things for you? What do you want your team leadership style, your business and your life to be like?
You want to invest some time to clarify these things so when an opportunity presents itself you can quickly evaluate it relative to your objectives. Does it move you towards them? If so, then act...now! If, not, let it go.
Here are some specifics:
· Put your objectives in writing. What do you intend to accomplish? The discipline of putting them in writing will help you be clear on what you want.
For example, if "Becoming the CEO of the company" is one of your objectives don't be shy, write it down. Don't be shy; think big!
By the way, we have found that for us, doing this with pen and paper works better than a keyboard and computer. Feels more real and committed.
· Develop a short list of criteria (six or seven) that define a valuable step towards you objectives.
For example, a few of our criteria are: 1) the opportunity furthers our progress towards more than just one of our objectives. 2) The opportunity furthers the leverage of our personal time. 3) The opportunity has a low cost of entry. We have a few others, but this gives you the idea.
Evaluate each opportunity against your criteria. Does it still seem like a good idea?
· This next step is critical. Without it you risk getting nowhere...and spending a lot of time doing it!
Develop a short list of what we call Probability of Success (POS) criteria. These will help you determine how likely it is you can successfully capitalize on a given opportunity.
A few of our POS criteria are: 1) We have a strength in this area or we can easily pay for that strength at a reasonable price. 2) It is simple to manage. If it is too complex to stay on top of...we won't! 3) We are interested in it. This is a big one for us. If we’re not interested we will not stay focused even if it’s profitable. A lesson learned the hard way...many times over!
· Give a rating (1 to 5, 1 to 10, whatever you want) to each Value criteria. Do the same for each POS criteria.
Obviously, you want to act on those opportunities with both high value and high POS. There are some subtleties of what to do if you have something with high value and low POS, perhaps we’ll write about that in a future post. Once you have your criteria set you can do this analysis very quickly.
· The final issue to consider is time. Do you have the time necessary to work the opportunity?
Time as a zero-sum deal. Everybody we know is as busy as they can possibly be. Therefore, to do something new you have to stop doing something you are currently doing. Or you have to streamline your processes to take less time to do what you are currently doing.
Time cannot be manufactured. You only get it in trade.
You can spend 100’s, even 1,000’s, of dollars on management training and not pick up secrets like these. We have seen this approach work unbelievably well for individual leaders and their teams and for entire organizations.
With preparation and discipline it is possible to go fast, do the right things and have fantastic business results!
To your continued success,
Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano
Please visit our site by clicking this link, management training and leadership skills.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Management Training - A Black Hole of Time and Money
Hey, I thought you might find this interesting. I don't want you to make the same management training mistakes that we've seen people make so many times.
I wrote an article about some of the best stuff we've ever used.
Listen to this, I got into a debate with one of my CEO clients a few years ago. He said that management training was a black hole of time and money. It had never worked for his organization. And he had wasted (sit down for this) over $10 million on management training. I told him I felt his pain, but it didn't have to hurt anymore.
I described a better way to develop fantastic team leadership. He started that day putting this together for his organization. Today, three years later, he will tell you that every leader in his organization is transformed.
This is what I want for you.
Please click on this link, management training, to check out this article.
I wrote an article about some of the best stuff we've ever used.
Listen to this, I got into a debate with one of my CEO clients a few years ago. He said that management training was a black hole of time and money. It had never worked for his organization. And he had wasted (sit down for this) over $10 million on management training. I told him I felt his pain, but it didn't have to hurt anymore.
I described a better way to develop fantastic team leadership. He started that day putting this together for his organization. Today, three years later, he will tell you that every leader in his organization is transformed.
This is what I want for you.
Please click on this link, management training, to check out this article.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Most Amazing Team Leadership I've Ever Seen
I can rarely tell this story without a tear in my eye. It shows incredible team leadership. But that's not the story. This happened without this manager getting any management training whatsoever!
A hospital client of ours had just completed a merger with its largest competitor. There were many challenges. The senior team developed a set of leadership skills unique to this newly merged organization. They implemented a management training assessment process for all leaders.
The challenge was how to use the leadership skills to effect change at the most fundamental operational levels. The CEO knew it had happened when a low level manager of housekeeping told this story about how he used the organization’s leadership skills of Patient Service.
He said, “I tell my people to always look for nurses in need. Of course we can’t provide clinical care, but we can go get a blanket, make a phone call, run to summon a doctor. Basically, I tell them to help in any way they can.”
Then the manager hit the essence. He paused and said; “and if nothing else, we can always just hold the patient’s hand.”
This story illustrates that it is really possible to create a team leadership culture that is evident at the most tactical levels of your organization. Here are a couple of things that you can do to make it happen:
- Working in collaboration with your team, get down on paper the most important leadership qualities that you want people in your organization to exhibit. What behaviors do you want all of your people to exhibit every day?
- Use management training to teach those team leadership styles to everyone in the organization. Have every department head collaborate with their teams to determine how these team leadership qualities can be exhibited within that department. This will make the skills very practical and easy to understand on the floors of your organization.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
A hospital client of ours had just completed a merger with its largest competitor. There were many challenges. The senior team developed a set of leadership skills unique to this newly merged organization. They implemented a management training assessment process for all leaders.
The challenge was how to use the leadership skills to effect change at the most fundamental operational levels. The CEO knew it had happened when a low level manager of housekeeping told this story about how he used the organization’s leadership skills of Patient Service.
He said, “I tell my people to always look for nurses in need. Of course we can’t provide clinical care, but we can go get a blanket, make a phone call, run to summon a doctor. Basically, I tell them to help in any way they can.”
Then the manager hit the essence. He paused and said; “and if nothing else, we can always just hold the patient’s hand.”
This story illustrates that it is really possible to create a team leadership culture that is evident at the most tactical levels of your organization. Here are a couple of things that you can do to make it happen:
- Working in collaboration with your team, get down on paper the most important leadership qualities that you want people in your organization to exhibit. What behaviors do you want all of your people to exhibit every day?
- Use management training to teach those team leadership styles to everyone in the organization. Have every department head collaborate with their teams to determine how these team leadership qualities can be exhibited within that department. This will make the skills very practical and easy to understand on the floors of your organization.
Visit our site by clicking here, management training and leadership skills, to learn more.
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