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.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)