Leadership Qualities

Webster says that leadership is “the position or function of a leader; the ability to lead; an act or instance of leading, guidance, direction.” Do you enjoy leading, guiding or directing? Do you look forward to making decisions that impact the lives of others? Would you rather give the responsibility for making choices to someone else? Most of us have been in a position of authority and all of us have met someone who possesses the qualities of an effective leader.

Being a leader is a difficult task especially if you are given responsibilities that you are not familiar with. If you accept this position, you are going to be scrutinized by how you act, the way you look and the way you talk. It is important to be conscious of your actions because the goal is to project an image of influence. Good leaders possess certain characteristics that can help them gain the respect and recognition of others, these are know as leadership qualities – and the good news is they can be learned and applied to help you become a successful and authentic leader.

Be A Good Example. The first concept is to lead by example. You need to work harder than those who surround you in order to gain their respect. Demonstrate your dedication by being early and staying late. Distinguish yourself through character and integrity when situations are difficult or they are not going your way. Go the extra mile for those who are in your circle of influence.

Be A Good Listener. The second quality of an effective leader is the ability to listen more and talk less. It is more important to listen to the issues that are being raised instead of expressing your opinion about them. Some individuals have the misconception that a good leader talks as much as possible. Effective leaders realize that listening provides them with a deeper understanding of the needs of those that surround them. It also gives them a greater insight into the issues that must be addressed.

Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself. All excellent leaders regularly invest in themselves – they realise that the payoff will always be positive in the long run. Leaders have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. Leaders also invest in their own leadership training programmes or leadership coaching.

Be Concerned. The third concept for effective leadership is the ability to ask the appropriate questions. Analyzing information provides the opportunity to probe the concerns and issues that confront those around you. Express sincerity and as you examine the regards of others. Asking penetrating questions provides the possibility to discover the root causes of problems so that they can be addressed.

Be Decisive. The fourth quality of an effective leader is the ability to make decisions. Make a choice and stick to the plan. A conscientious leader will have options if the original solution is not working. With leadership comes the responsibility for making selections that affect the lives of others. If one has taken the input of those who surround them before making a decision, other considerations can be developed. It is important to examine all of the options thoroughly to avoid unnecessary mistakes and failures.

Not everyone wants to lead. If you are the owner of your home business, the head of your family or the director of a social group you are wearing the hat of a leader. Effective leadership is not necessarily an inherent quality. It can be learned and applied to the different areas of your life. Consider these four qualities as a foundation for developing your leadership skills.

“People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher and better than themselves.”

John Fortner lives in Oregon and works from his home through his online pursuits. He is the owner of Best-Income Opportunities which offers free information and proven opportunities for creating work at home businesses. To learn more about this topic please visit his website at: http://www.best-incomeopportunities.com

Legal Leadership – Can Injury Lawyers Inspire Others?

Injury lawyers work in an interesting legal field. Rather than suffering a wholly financial loss, or a grievance – injury claimants will often present both. Those who suffer problems from whiplash will be unable to perform a manual job for many weeks, resulting in both pain and lost wages.

These double-struck clients will then often have to take a case against a large corporate entity – a fearsome sounding task in itself. However with a well qualified injury solicitors firm at their side, the confidence suddenly creeps back!

A law partnership in the personal injury field may not sound quite as prestigious as their corporate or criminal law counterparts, but 2 key leadership qualities will still be present. Allow me 2 minutes to convince you that the example of law partners should be introduced to management texts, and not merely confined to punchlines.

Credibility
A legal partner will have a good education (such as the LPC), sound experience and plenty of hours under their belt. Whilst a leader need not be a technical leader in their field – a good ounce of credibility will always go far. Credibility lets you jump into second gear from the start line with your people. A good reputation and an aura of knowledge will allow you to orchestrate complicated tasks right from the go with a brand new team.

Flexibility
Not all injury claims are equal. In a legal field where every injury, every environment, and every claimant is different – some cases are a world away from certain. Legal practitioners will need to tailor their approach for each engagement to maximise their chances for success. Flexibility is an infectious leadership trait, and few leaders are aware of the positive impact their flexibility has on the working culture beneath them.

It is common knowledge that lawyers work long hours, and in such a firm it can be difficult for subordinates to achieve a desirable work life balance. However if their partner demonstrates flexibility by allowing middle management to take off occasional afternoons to allow them to make their children’s football games, then middle management will feel confident enough to extend this trust to their colleagues.

Are there lessons here for the way you lead your team? If so comment below, LIKE us on Facebook or subscribe to our leadership community.

 

Leadership vs Management – Analysis

The Role Of Management Through The Century

The traditional role of a manager is primarily to ‘control’ their subordinates.  The success of a managed project depends upon several factors listed below:

• Motivation of staff
• Resources (financial and non-financial) allocated to the task
• Expertise and competence of the staff
• Productivity and efficiency
• Soundness of project plan
• Uncontrollable external factors

Highlighted in bold are those factors that most managers are charged with control over. Often budgeting and strategic planning for an operation is completed at a higher level of management, and thus isn’t always a controllable factor.

In the Fordism era, managers were charged with maximising efficiency of the large staff numbers in manufacturing plants, and the Ford management style was created. Under this theory, staff were given a minimum number of separate tasks and were shown precisely how to do each job so they became an expert in a tiny area. This encouraged operational efficiency, and was used alongside financial incentives to motivate employees to work.

As times have changed, Fordism now appears out-dated. Management experts in the modern day recommend soft (difficult-to-measure) goals alongside the obvious desire to maximise profits. Such ‘soft’ goals could include the following:

• High employee retention rates
• Increased employee participation
• Fundraising for charities
• Reducing the environmental impact of business activities
• Focusing on training top quality individuals

Such goals cannot be achieved with the same old fashioned management styles that dominated factories in the 1920′s, and hence several new theories have been put forward that now better reflect the way society expects managers to behave.

The Role Of Leadership Through The Century

While the role of managers has undoubtedly been made far more complex throughout the last century, the role of the business leader has stayed remarkably similar. This is in part due to the fact that while businesses have been intensely competing for low-level staff as unemployment has hit all-time lows during the 1900′s, demand for top level jobs has remained unsurprisingly solid. This has meant that while businesses have had to adapt and offer a more attractive work environment for new employees, the treatment of business leaders and senior management has hardly changed at all. Boardrooms have always been tense places.

The role of a leader is to create the top level organisational strategies and coordinate senior management in their efforts to implement the companies long term plan. As a figurehead, leaders also are required to liaise with the press and employees alike – promoting their company to both their customers and workers.

Leadership Vs Management

The leadership management comparison can be split into several areas of difference.

1. Leadership Style

Leaders use a transformational or democratic leadership style. This involves inspiring and empowering collegues, whereas managers tend to lean towards an autocratic managing style which allows them to retain most of the authority and decision making power in a business unit. In short, a leader allows people to make effective decisions, and managers attempt to make them.

2. Time focus

While it can be observed that especially among Fortune 500 companies, a CEO has a shorter expected lifespan than general manager at company, leaders still embrace a more long term time horizon. In comparison, managers are given tight targets to meet each quarter which causes them to live in a short term perspective. This can be detrimental to organisational goals but is deemed to carry more benefits than drawbacks in the current economic climate.

3. Nature of relationship with colleagues

It is said that managers have subordinates, while leaders have followers. What this displays is that people who obey managers act like unwilling tools at their disposal, whereas followers of leaders are willing and intrinsically motivated.

4. Risk Adversity

Leaders; especially entrepreneurial leaders, enjoy risk. Risk brings rewards if approached in a successful way. However for a manager, the upsides of accepting risk are minimal. A flat salary or limited bonus package ensures that managers will be more worried about losing their job or respect, than they would appreciate the limited benefits of succeeding. A manager certainly wishes for a more comfortable job than an true leader.

You might want to take a look at this fantastic power-point presentation by Linked2Leadership highlighting many examples of the differences between leadership and management. Click here.

If you LIKE this article comment below or click here to join our community for free.

Leadership Training

Welcome to Leadership Expert’s page on Leadership Training.

What is leadership training about? Is leadership training effective? If my company isn’t presently investing in any leadership training for me – what can I do about it? These will be the questions I will be investigating, evaluating and more importantly – solving for you.

Whether you are a top performing CEO or someone who is considering (or being considered) for their first junior management or supervisory role; providing you with the right tools to do the job effectively is essential. After all, you wouldn’t want someone who knows nothing, or very little about plumbing to come and install a new bathroom, complete with energy efficient boiler, power shower, expensive tiles etc into your home would you? Unfortunately, however, this is exactly what most organisations do. They take a good employee and then throw them into the deep end of management under the auspices of ‘career development’.

Pro-active, innovative and forward thinking organisations do have whole suites of tried and tested, highly effective management induction and learning programmes. Over the course of the next few months I will be researching and interviewing some of these organisations HR Directors and Staff Development managers to see exactly what they do and how they do it. If you currently work somewhere you feel is amazing at leadership training and support I would love to hear from you.

Many of you are telling me that, sadly, you were either thrown in at the deep end, or that you feel your training has been inadequate. The fact is that most of the greatest leaders I have ever come across embarked on a relentless drive for their own self-development, regardless of what their companies offered. It is in this respect that I also plan to investigate the most cost effective and life changing learning programmes that are available to you.

I am currently researching leadership training courses in the following subjects:

• Transformational leadership
• Situational leadership
• Global leadership
• Leadership verses management
• The accomplished executive
• Leadership training for new managers

I will be investigating up to 10 different leadership training companies to see what they provide and how effective their training has been. The list is not exhaustive so let me know what king of leadership training you currently need and I will guide you accordingly. Just so you know, most good leadership courses cost up to £3,000.

One leadership course I would definitely recommend you should take a look at is called Best Year Yet®. What is so good about this programme is that it is goal orientated and behavioral. It is also value based and blended with on-line tracking, audio programmes, webinars, and for those who want it, one-to-one coaching.  It is also one of the cheapest and yet most effective (life changing) programmes I have ever come across. To take a closer look – see my full review.

One of the most effective ways to learn to become a leader is through coaching. Coaching can add so much more value compared to attending a course, because it is more personal, in-depth and can unlock peoples hidden potential in amazing ways.

There is currently an explosion in leadership coaching, because people want to be able to find their own path to success, independently to what their company offers them, or at least, with the ability to discuss real issues with someone from outside the company. This can have major benefits for both the individual and the organisation. External coaches are being accepted in greater numbers into organisations and as part of peoples continuing professional development planning.

For details of the three different types of coaching programme available directly through Leadership-expert™ – click here.

From visiting organisations, I’ve found that the happiest employees and managers regularly invest in themselves and their personal leadership training. People have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and success in leadership. These days, many e-courses tend to be rather disappointing, and although we can all learn from material which is available on-line, finding the right learning programme for you can be a real challenge.

So, if you are looking for access to straight-forward, useful leadership training materials, top tips and tools to help you to become a more effective leader in your organisation, join our community and I will let you know every week when I have been able to update the website with some incredibly useful, cutting-edge leadership thinking and techniques – all for free.

Bespoke Leadership Training:

If you have specific leadership and management training needs and don’t want to spend hours trawling the internet, employ Leadership-Expert™ to find the right solution for you.

If you are looking for very specific leadership training which doesn’t fall into any of the above categories, email me at simon@simonteague.com and I will compile an initial assessment of your development needs and learning style, undertake the appropriate research and recommend the most relevant leadership training solution to meet your and your organisations needs. The cost of this service is minimal compared to the overall training outlay and could save you £thousands if you attend a programme that is ultimately not right for you.

How Should Leaders Respond to Litigation?

The occurrence of an accident in the work place is something that can send managers into a panic. 50 years ago, the concern would have been solely for the health and well-being of the employee. Whilst it would be wrong to infer that managers of today are cold or disconnected – I’m sure they would all agree that they would also feel concern for the impact on the finances of the company – through litigation.

For better or for worse, the rise of valid claim for personal injury in the UK is slowly changing the attitudes of leaders. Previously, health and safety was a term only used in very dangerous work places such as mines, oil rigs, fishing ships, logging yards and nuclear plants. Now, even the tamest of suburban office spaces will have a comprehensive ‘HSE’ plan implemented by a responsible individual.

Some may scoff at such procedure, but I actually see it as laudable activity. Nobody can argue that having first aid kits and trained personnel on site is going to have a negative effect on employee health, so I view it as a step in the right direction.

Many do not share my view, and see the regulations as ‘red tape’. Indeed, the regulations force many businesses, small or large, to incur training and wage costs that they otherwise wouldn’t have. There is however an interesting point to be made; that the more a company spends on H&S, the less they will expect to spend on litigation claims brought by employees. Law firm Moore Blatch predicts that workplace injuries will rise due to the Health & Safety executive announcing they will be reducing the number of inspections to employers.

I guess it will always be difficult to draw the line between lives saved, and costs saved.

Leaders have had little choice but adopt the regulations imposed by legislation, so the end product doesn’t necessarily reflect the enthusiasm of the tone at the top. Never the less, it is easy to spot when management are fully behind the HSE initiative.

As a manager or leader, or simply as an employee, leave a comment below to tell us whether you support Health & Safety initiatives being implemented in your workplace. If you’re from outside the UK, why don’t you share the current situation on HSE in your country and whether you approve of it.

 

 

Leadership Traits

Leadership traits are the characteristics that leaders possess that enable them to lead effectively. I’m going to run down 20 of the traits I believe are most important, it’ll be interesting to see how many you feel you already have, and which ones you’re still working on. Leave a comment below to let me know.

The Top Leadership Traits

20. Patience – A good leader needs to show their employees that they’re willing to give them as much time as necessary to see them perform. A manager who roughly attaches arbitary deadlines onto tasks and aggressively chases employees up will only antognise and stress their workforce. Good leadership management is about waiting as well as acting.

19. Continuous Development – Smart people have always sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. Most these days tend to be rather disappointing, but one brilliant idea that has recently captured my attention is The Ultimate Leadership Guide which contains all the core teachings of 30 top leadership books,  which is simply an essential ‘crash course’ in the principles you need to know to further your career and even find happiness in other areas of your life!

18. Graft – A brilliant leadership trait is the trait of grafting. There’s a simple rule that most good leaders follow – always do the nastiest job yourself. While being able to delegate dire tasks to others is one of the perks of management, t is important that employees never actually question your dedication to work hard. By simply doing the famously nasty job yourself each year, your staff will never have a doubt over whether it’s fair you have the ability to delegate menial work.

17. Fairness/Equity - Fairness is one of the key criteria by which employees measure their superiors.Quite simply, if you don’t behave in an equitable manner at all times, you will lead no more than a rabble of reluctant workers, and will never gain their respect. Fairness is one of Herzberg’s ‘hygeine’ factors from his popular leadership theory. This means that if you are fair, employees will not be inherently motivated, but merely content. If however you act unfairly and break the rules, employees will be demotivated. Very little upside if you possess this trait but large potential negative effects on motivation if you lack it. Its a tough world, but the message is clear.

16. Modesty - An important note to remember is that in every team you lead, some will be envious of your job or position. These people are also often the most active, amibitious and productive members of the group, so it’s extremely important that you keep them onside. By being modest and humble, you minimise the potential for jealousy within the team, and inspire warmth and affection instead.

15. Appreciates Quality - Simple put, a good leader recognises that quality is the most important gauge of the work done. Always. A culture that cares little for quality will demotivate employees and reduce job satisfaction. Staff must be able to feel good about their work and their skills.

14. Sense of Humour - A practical reality for most leaders is that you’ll spend an awful lot of time in meetings or speaking in public. A good sense of humour helps to put across the message you want to convey more effectively and help smooth over awkward or tense moments in board meetings etc.

13. Wide Outlook – A good leadership trait is to be able to take a step back and take a look at the big picture. This is really one the main purpose of a leader, but so many managers instead choose to get bogged down in small decisions that should really be taken care of by someone else. While everyone is cleaning the deck and preparing the sails, somebody has to be looking where the ship is going.

12. Adaptability and Flexibility - A clear fact in life is that many things you enjoy will change, and many things you despise will quickly improve. As a leader, you must be able to cope with negative change, and also be able to quickly grab opportunities as soon as they appear. Less hesitation, and more asking the question “Ok, so how can I make the best of this situation”.

11. Human Understanding – A leader that can understand their employees and really be able to emphasis with the workforce or team as a whole will ultimately be a far more effective leader. Only by being able to put yourself in the shoes of your employees will you be able to make decisions that will enthuse and motivate your staff.

10. Clarity - Job roles and positions within companies can sometimes be at best – a complete mess. Business leadership is about separately and clearly identifying those roles and responsibilities and ensure that everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing.

9. Charisma – The skill of oratory has been perfectly demonstrated recently by Barrack Obama’s surge in popularity en route to the white house, and his continued popularity now that he has gained office. The ability to speak confidently and with meaning is a rare one, and carries much merit for those few who posess it. Increased influence and persuasion is just one of the positive benefits of being a leader with charisma.

8. Ability to Delegate – As I mentioned earlier, delegation is one of the perks of being promoted to a leadership position. Why is it then that so many leaders fail to delegate enough? Why do they continue to ‘meddle’ in small, trivial matters, and refuse to give subordinates the real responsibility and confidence to be able to make their own decisions? The answer is because it’s alot harder than you’d think to be able to properly delegate control to someone else. Especially the control over a job you’ve been doing yourself for many years. By undermining your subordinate’s ability to make decisions independently, you’re being a poor leader. That’s why the ability to delegate is one of my top 20 traits.

7. Calmness – Calmness is a leadership trait that again we could do with learning from President Obama. One of the most common pieces of praise I hear from President Obama is how he has stayed so calm under pressure. With the recession, middle east conflict and recent fiascos such as Swine Flu, Piracy and torture memos – it has sincerely impressed many that this man has been able to keep his composure and present a solid front. Any leader that can achieve this will instantly earn respect.

6. Ability to Listen – The fantastic leaders thorough history were also good listeners. Drawing upon the expertise and ideas of all those around you will improve your decision making. It follows that leaders who listen well simply make better decisions.

5. Confidence – Confidence flows through a team just like cheerfulness or a hardworking attitude. If the leader shows hesistation, self-doubt, or a lack of amibition, it will infect the rest of the team. Enthusiastically following an unconfident will really test employees attitude, and this is something you don’t want to be doing. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to enthusiastically follow your lead.

4. Consistency – This is a similar point to fairness. If you fail to be consistent with your attitude, decisions or behaviour, you will be causing unrest in your team.

3. Approachability & Friendliness – While many managers dream of being a superior and ‘feared’ leader, the most effective type of leader is an approachable one. A leader who an any employee can feel like they could have a conversation with will be able to hear about what the quiet dissenters have to say, or what the ‘real’ results of their latest intiative was.

2. Passion and Motivation – It goes without saying that a leadership trait that will be admired is your passion for what you do. Whatever your role, people will respect the fact that you take pride in your work, you enjoy it, and that you will therefore try your hardest to succeed.Passion and motivation will always trump formal leadership training or leadership coaching.

1. Trustworthiness -Ethics and trust has to come right at the top of the most important leadership traits for one simple reason. Nobody will obey, follow, or be inspired by someone they distrust. A good reputation, likeability and respect will be absolutely impossible if you’re labelled as a liar. Regardless of their own mal-practises, people will never be able to associate with an untrustworthy character.

Take Control of your Business today: Save Energy and Money

The following is a guest post kindly provided by Katy Robinson.

Managers and business proprietors take note: energy bills are set to increase every quarter for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, there is no escaping the rising cost of energy. Even if suppliers are forced to lower tariffs, wholesale energy prices will continue to rise amid economic uncertainty, global unrest and rapidly depleting fossil fuel reserves. It is worth utilising the services of specialists such as uSwitchforbusiness to find the cheapest tariffs, but even these are becoming unaffordable. In order to save money on energy bills, companies must implement change at every level.

The importance of reducing energy usage should be understood by all managers and business owners, many of whom would not have been interested in such matters until recently. Such is the cost of energy at the moment that firms have no choice but to treat energy conservation and efficiency as matters of great priority.

The two main areas in which the average business uses energy are heating and lighting. While both are obviously integral to the everyday running of operations, both tend to be over-used by firms. In order to reduce spending on business energy, it is vitally important that managers and business owners tackle the problem of space heating and lighting.

Fortunately, simple changes can dramatically reduce the amount of energy that is wasted on heating. The most basic improvement of all also happens to be the least costly. In fact, it costs nothing. Turning down the thermostat by just one degree, barely enough to cause even the most sensitive of staff to notice the change, can save up to 8 per cent on energy bills. If an office is particularly warm, even greater savings can be made by turning down the thermostat another degree or two.

Controlling the temperature of an office is made easier by ensuring that the building is adequately insulated. Cavity walls, lofts and ceilings should be fitted with thick insulation, while windows should be double or triple glazed to further reduce heat loss. As less heat is able to escape the building, commensurately less energy is required to maintain a comfortable temperature.

Managers and business owners might also wish to replace old, energy inefficient boilers with the latest condensing models, a number of which generate electricity from waste energy. Upgrading the boiler can reduce energy bills by around 15 per cent on average, depending on the age, make and model of the old boiler and various other factors.

In terms of lighting, it is also possible to introduce significant change on a budget. Replacing old bulbs with LED, induction or T5 fluorescent lighting can greatly improve energy efficiency. The best results can be observed by installing motion sensors to control the lights, ensuring that only those rooms or work spaces actually in use are illuminated.

Who needs leaders?

Complexity science is slowly emerging (pardon the pun) as a force in how organisations are structured.  The following video shows a game used to show the merits of leading in an adaptive way.   I’ll provide a brief description of how to setup the game below, but the video explains it all if you would rather use that.  Here are the rules:

1. Find an empty space.  25 people would require a space roughly the size of half a tennis court.
2. The space needs to be clearly marked so people know the boundaries.
3. Ask people to position themselves at random within that area
4. Also at random ask each person to pick two others within the group (do not indicate who you have picked)
5. Your objective is to adjust your position so that you are equal distance from the two people you have chosen (remember, you’re not allowed to tell them who you have picked)
6. You should move slowly and gradually, making the smallest movements required.
7. Once you have achieved your objective, stand still.
8. Once everyone has achieved their objective, the game is over.

How long do you think this will take to achieve?

Here is the video if you’d like to see the instructions visually.

If you’d like to learn more about how complexity science can benefit leadership, this experiment and more is outlined in Nick Obolensky’s book Complex Adaptive Leadership.  Quote G11EXQ when you buy to get a 50% discount.

Written by Adi Gaskell from the CMI.

Show Leadership in Business

Whether you use leadership to help you in your day to day life or in your business, there are many different types of leadership and they can help you in different scenarios.

Today I thought I’d focus on how leadership can help you if you’re a small business owner.

Always know the competition

If you own a small business in a competitive market, then you should always know what your competition is up to. If you know what your competition is up to then you can plan and act accordingly.

For example, if you find out that your competition has just launched a special offer on their products, you can react and launch a special offer of your own.

Lead by being social

Social has become a massive part of what every business does and social has opened doors to a massive opportunity for businesses to engage with their customers, in a way that wasn’t previously possible.

When you speak to your customers via any social media platforms, you should always try to engage in conversation with them. If you simply just pitch products they’ll treat it more like spam, even if you are trying to help.

You can also follow the competition via the social networks so see how they are engaging, more and more businesses are starting to do this so make sure you take advantage.

One important thing to remember about using social networks is that the majority are completely free to use, so instead of paying for ads you could try to make better use of your money by investing some time in social.

Lead with your finances

Running a small business can be extremely difficult and your finances should always be second nature to you, but for some people that’s not always the case.

People get confused when they look at accounts and detailed spreadsheets but unless you can afford an accountant then you’ll have to educate yourself.

Overspending on products or not paying a supplier because of logistical error can seriously harm business relationships that can be vitally important to businesses survival.

If you do struggle with working out or understanding financial aspects of your business, you should ask someone you know with experience, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. Leaders know when to lead but they also know when to take a backwards step in order to improve.

Lead by example

If you have a small business you should always lead as you want your employees to follow.  If you set a good example to follow it will instil confidence in your employees and they will be happy to follow you.

On the other hand if you set a bad example for your employees and they don’t agree with what you do, it can cause some serious problems. As a result, your employees may become despondent and as we all know, unmotivated employees don’t work as hard as they would if they were happy.

This article was written by Andreas Nicolaides from moneysupermarket.com.

Working Cultures on a Local and Global Scale

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