Maintaining Employee Morale During The Recession

How To Fix Your Control-Freak Boss

I read an interesting article today in Fortune Magazine on how to cope with, and even fix a control freak boss. I’d like to share it with my readers.

The problem posed to the magazine by a reader was one that I’m sure most of you can relate to:

“Dear Annie: We used to have a great team here, until our boss was replaced by a manager brought in from another part of the company who is now trying to control our every move. He insists on telling everyone what to do and how to do it in minute detail (even though we’ve all been excelling at our jobs for years). No detail is too ridiculously tiny to escape his scrutiny, and he’s constantly issuing new rules and guidelines, some of which contradict each other.

As a result, some of us are just taking the passive-aggressive approach and ignoring him, which means he bears down harder on the whole group. I could give you examples that would curl your hair, but the point is, it’s driving us nuts. Is there anything we can do to change his behavior, or do we just grin and bear it until the next boss comes along?”

I want you to have a think about what you would advise this reader. What seems the most sensible approach to fixing a control freak? The answer produced by Albert J. Bernstein may surprise you!

He actually advises frustrated employees to not show their annoyance, to not confront their boss and critisise their controlling nature, because this will cause the manager to worry even more.

He goes on to explain that managers become control freaks because they are extremely frightened of failure, and how it will reflect upon themselves. Because of this, they fail to trust others in using their own methods to complete tasks, and thus they become a frustration-inducing control freak (This is why proper delegation is one of the traits that features in my:  Seven Habits of Incredibly Successful entrepreneurs article).

He specifically offers the following solutions, that offer ways to reduce the fear your boss holds:

• Give plenty of reassurance. This involves grasping a clear picture of what your manager expects from you at the start of a task. Take extensive notes that can leave no doubt in their mind that you fully appreciate his vision.

• Offer progress reports before they ask for them. Control-freaks will be comforted by plenty of infomation regarding your progress, so make no attempt to hold this infomation back. Indeed you should be pro-active in delivering such infomation on a regular basis. This will help prevent your manager from feeling they need to swoop down on your at a busy time to demand an update.

• When your boss tries to change your work, asks if this means the end goal has changed. This is a powerful weapon that can potentially stop control-freaks in their tracks, and indirectly cause them to question their own behaviour. If the goal and method was agreed extensively at the beginning (you can pull out your notes to emphasise this fact), and you have a good track record of accomplishing tasks with that given method. Then surely a change in method is unncecessary.

• Maintain this behaviour over an extended length of time. Our aim is to build the trust that the manager has in your work, so a quick flash in the pan will do little to change their attitude towards you. Only after several weeks or perhaps months of this behaviour, will a control-freak realise that you ‘are one of the few he can trust to get on with it’.

These are certainly an interesting set of points, do you agree with them? Have you stumbled upon a different method of coping with controlling co-workers or bosses in your time at work?

Simon Oates ~ Leadership Expert

Boosting Leadership Characteristics Of Quiet Employees

Companies need to have a number of strong leaders within their organization, in order to run efficiently and productively. In some cases, there are quieter, more reserved employees who would make wonderful leaders, if their leadership qualities were properly developed. Here are some tips for developing leadership attributes in employees who don’t always stand out in the crowd as born leaders.

1. Opportunities

Give quieter employees tasks that require them to speak up. Those who hide behind a desk all day are often overlooked for leadership roles, simply because they don’t show initiative as a leader. Having a task that requires them to step outside their normal box can give them a chance to shine. Add additional responsibilities until you feel they are ready to move on to the next level.

2. Shadowing

Allow them to shadow you. Many quiet people are the type who learn by watching, rather than the type who just jump in and take the reigns. Show them the behaviors and actions that you would like to see from them and if they have leadership potential, they will begin to emulate those leadership qualities. It might take some time for them to get over any initial shyness about working in an authoritative role, but as they build their confidence by watching you and working alongside you, the actions will become more natural for them.

3. Decisions

Put them in a position where they must make decisions as a leader, without them knowing that they are expected to take control. When there is a problem at hand, leave them in a position where they simply must deal with it. Any hidden leadership characteristics they might have will naturally come to the surface, and it may inspire them to strive for more within their career path.

4. Timeframe

Developing leadership qualities is something that takes time, so don’t think that a couple of additional tasks or “incidental” scenarios will bring out someone’s full potential overnight. Let your less outgoing employees wander into a leadership role and test the waters. Once they find their footing, you may find that you have a powerful and dynamic leader where a meek and mild employee once stood.

Adapted from an article written by Jason Wilton from http://www.leadershipmadesimple.com.

Leadership Exercises

The success of every corporate organization largely relies on its team-members performances, right the way from lower order employees to highly regarded directors. FTSE 100 managers constantly undertake various leadership exercises to improve the performance of their organization. By using these leadership exercises, they can help craft the atmosphere of their organization.

By using the leadership exercises, the person can increase the productivity and quality of the company. He has several leadership qualities to manage the performance of any corporate organization.

One of the integral parts of these leadership exercises is the teamwork consistently. Such ability to perform with groups increases the strength, productivity and quality of such organization. Such teamwork as a part of leadership exercises contain the skill of the leader to spot the positive points of his team members. Also apart from his teammates, he also gives importance to strengthen his organizing abilities. The leadership exercises also include the quality to tie up the skillful individuals into one unified entity. Also while uniting these skills and different human characters, the consent about the type of work, organization, ideology of the organization is one of the integral part. If the leadership exercises fail to satisfy their team members, the productivity will less and that makes crises in the organization.

So create an environment of mutual understanding is vital leadership exercise for making the environment fresh and undutiful. The true leader always gives emphasis to leading from the front. So leading the team with courage and confidence is the significant part of the leadership exercises. Such positive signs from the leader make the environment of the organization positive and optimistic. Also such leadership exercises also possess positive and attacking thinking which makes him and his teammates hungry for success. the encouragement, admiration and appreciation of the legendary qualities, dynamics of the team members is one of the type of the leadership exercises . These techniques are essential to increase the confidence among the team members.

While recruiting and appointing the eligible candidates, various leadership exercises are held by the corporate sectors, government sectors. The main aim of such leadership exercises is to familiar the trainee candidates with factual leadership tasks, responsibilities and problems regarding the leaderships.

In professional courses like MBA program, various internships of technical courses, civil services examinations; there is a provision to firstly conduct the leadership exercises for the selected, eligible responsible candidates of such course. So the main objective behind that leadership program is to develop the leadership qualities like teamwork, decision making in critical situation, developing the positive mindset, attacking attitude, etc. so these are the vital leadership exercises in the training program which makes the candidate well prepared for the actual situation in society while facing the crises.

In such leadership exercises, the inclusion of the leadership tips gives the candidate slight idea or experience about the adversity of exact problem. Such leadership tips contain the objectives of the leaders which are the vital part of the leadership exercises. These tips are making a plan to achieve the target, building a competent team to achieve that target, making the co-ordination between team members to achieve such targets.

Adapted from an Article Written By Muna wa Wanjiru – http://www.merpetsales.com/leadership/Leadership-Exercises.php

Leadership Development Training

Leadership Development Training is just one of the leadership development articles at Leadership Expert™. In this article, we will be taking a brief look at what leadership development training is, how much it costs, whether it’s a worthwhile investment, and whether there are any cheaper alternatives.

What Is Leadership Development Training?

Leadership Development “refers to any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an individual or organization“. Therefore leadership development training is the formalisation of these activities into a structured plan to develop leadership in employees. Leadership training has taken centre stage in recent decades as managers across the world have turned their attention to nuturing and encouraging leadership skills in their staff. Modern day leaderhip development training is the manifestation of that attention.

Leadership development training includes activities such as seminars, leadership coaching, leadership classes, and other leadership services. More often than not, these are provided by external leadership training specialists. Even Fortune 500 companies seem to prefer to outsource their leadership development training rather than keep in-house dedicated staff.

How Much Does Leadership Development Training Cost?

Pricing varies wildly per employee depending on which type of training solution you adopt. One-on-one leadership coaching will cost between £100-£300 per hour, and hence will only be a cost effective leadership development training solution for senior management.

For middle management – small seminars of 5-10 participants are often used, that cost roughly the same (£100-£300 per hour) but naturally provide for a far greater number of employees to benefit from this same fixed cost.

The cheapest or ‘best value’ leadership development training for organisations are hired motivational leadership speakers who can literally speak to hundreds of your employees at once. Logistical problems aside, this solution is common in the USA due to its simplicity and low cost-per-employee. However the drawback with such events are that the package cannot be personally tailored to a specific job role, nevermind an individual person. And as such – these events can be largely ineffective in actually improving the real leadership skills of employees.

So as you can see, there is a very clear trade off between cost and quality of leadership development training. You quite simply get what you pay for.

Simon Oates – Leadership Expert

Leadership Challenges

We all face leadership challenges at some point of our lives. If you’re searching for leadership challenges then you’ve come to the right place. You could be looking for one of two interpretations of this phrase.

1. Leadership challenge to mean, an attempt to overthrow your authority. “What can I do to protect myself against somebody overuling my leadership?“. For the answers to these kinds of questions, I suggest you reflect upon your own leadership skills rather than those of your ‘competition’. Are your leadership skills up to scratch? If you want to improve them, click here.

2. Leadership challenges to mean difficult and rewarding leadership experiences. “How can I deal with this situation and come out of it a stronger person?“. This is the topic this article deals with.

In most organisations – you will encounter challenges as a leader many times a year, possibly even many times a week, depending on how much pressure is placed on your role. The key to dealing with these is to quickly picture in your head a clear image of the benefits you would receiving from successfully accomplishing this task. Reduced stress? Increased respect? Improved promotion prospects?

Almost every scenario you will encounter – glorious benefits will await you on the other side. The thought of these will help motivate you, and that is why I ask that you picture them immeadiately.

Next, you need to look inwards and decide whether you have the appropriate leadership skills and experience to be able to overcome the current difficulty. Don’t worry if you look at your skill set and admit ‘I’m not experienced at this area’, because you can certainly compensate for lack of experience by good preparation.

To hone up your leadership skills I’d recommend buying a quick and effective leadership course such as ‘Apply Leadership‘, which is the product I talk about most to those who ask me which leadership e-course I would recommend. (You can follow the link to read my review).

Once you have the benefits clearly in mind, and a good preparation, it’s time to tackle the leadership challenge head on. This will probably involve implementing a strategy of leading that you are perhaps not 100% comfortable with. Perhaps you read a leadership book that suggested a certain leadership style, but you don’t feel that it’s working. Don’t worry! A subtle change of direction can go unnoticed by the workforce if you display confidence in your actions.

Follow these tips and you will be able to weather any leadership challenge, and emerge from the other side as a success leader with an extra notch on your belt!

Simon Oates – Leadership Expert

Leadership Services

Looking For Infomation On Leadership Services?

You’ve landed on the right page.

Leadership services come in many different flavours and vary in price to suit the budgets of different organisations. The 3 main types of leadership services are:

1. Leadership Coaching

2. Leadership Training

3. Leadership Classes

4. Leadership Development Consulting

What I’ll do is quickly run through each type, and provide a link to a page on Leadership Expert that describes more about the different leadership services.

1. Leadership Coaching

Leadership Coaching is one of the most expensive type of leadership service. Provided by individuals whom are usually qualified by experience, and not necessarily qualification; leadership coaching is aimed at senior management of medium to large businesses.

2. Leadership Training

Leadership Training is an ambiguous term. Is usually refers to corporate training provided to ‘batches’ of employees, particularly upon recruitment to a certain level of management. Leadership training still retains some of the one-on-one interaction that you’d gain from leadership coaching, except this leadership service can help up to 50 employees to develop their leadership skills at the same time. This slashes the cost-per employee dramatically.

3. Leadership Classes

‘Leadership classes‘ is usually used to describe courses that individuals enrol in outside of the course of their employment. These are undertaken usually with the view to improve performance or to improve their prospects for promotion. These classes are usually rather expensive, and hence is an undertaking that really demonstrates the individuals desire to succeed.

4. Leadership Development Consulting

Leadership Development Consulting is a specific branch of leadership services that have a wider scope than other leadership services. While leadership classes and training focus on the personal development of the participant, leadership development consulting is also delivered with the organisations challenges and problems in mind also. Leadership consultants are first briefed on the specific nature of a businesses problems. The consultant will then analyse both the leadership management, and the leadership culture of the company. The consultant will end by apply their own knowledge and techniques to the scenario, to provide a relevant and effective solution.

How Effective Are Leadership Services?

The effectiveness of leadership services are limited chiefly by the employees willingness to open up to new ideas, and to implement ones that they aren’t at first wholly comfortable with. Leadership services don’t necessarily offer ‘agreeable’ solutions – but tried and tested ones, and thus management must be willing to try out techniques that they have previously rejected.

Is There A Cheaper Way To Improve My Leadership Skills?

Of course there is. Like many things in life – if you look in the right places, you’ll always be able to find a great resource for a bargain. I often recommend ‘The Ultimate Leadership Guide‘ to people because it’s an inexpensive and effective way to boost your leadership skills in a short space of time. It only costs a fraction of the price of a single leadership class, so that’s my advice.

Leadership Culture

Leadership Culture – What is leadership culture, which type does your organisation have, and how can you improve it?

Edgar Schein (1985) defines Leadership culture in an organization as being comprised of three elements: Basic assumptions, value and artifacts – with basic assumptions being the most important and in-grained element, and artifacts being the most superficial and easy to change.

Basic Assumptions in Leadership Culture

Basic assumptions evolve in a company after an action is repeatedly performed. These basic assumptions become part of our perception of our collegues and processes, and are so pervasive, they touch upon thought processes such as;

1. What we pay attention to.

2. What things mean.

3. How we should react emotionally.

4. What actions we should take in reaction to day-to-day events.

If you’d like to see a demonstration of different assumptions in action, then I’d ask you to imagine the reaction a Bailiff would have to someone objecting to pay them, and compare this to the reaction a small industrial company would have to someone objecting to pay them. To the bailiff this would be an ordinary and unsurprising occurance – and they would feel little wrong in continuing to hassle the non-payer for money. On the other hand, a small industrial company would be concerned about maintaining good relationships with customers, and would approach the situation far more sympathetically. Neither reaction is neccessarily the universal ‘right’ way to handle this occurance, this is why different cultures form in the first place.

Values In Leadership Culture

Values are a less permenant form of leadership culture, and thus are more easily changed than assumptions.  Values reflect concensus in the organisation as to how things “ought to be done”. Examples of popular values are:

1. Equal opportunities for all employees regardless of age, race, religion or sexuality.

2. Employees should strive to produce high quality work.

3. Employees should always pursue challenges and opportunities for growth.

Values sound like ‘lip service’ items, but to take ‘pursuing challenges’ as an example – in professional services firms, it is genuinely frowned upon for a member of staff to attempt to stay in their comfort zone and not wish to be promoted further. Values are those beliefs that are commonly held across the company.

Artifacts In Leadership Culture

Artifacts are the most ‘obvious’ and present manifestations of a business’s culture. These include manifestations such as

1. Mission statements.

2. Procedures.

3. Methods of communication.

4. Technology used

5. Business strategy, such as level of customer service

Artifacts are proactively constructeded and sculpted, and hence can be controlled easily by management. If however, artifacts that have been over-managed can become incongruent with the employee’s actual culture – and their influence over organisational culture becomes minimal.

How Can A Leader Change The Leadership Culture?

What this theory demonstrates is that the basic assumptions in a company’s culture need to shift to improve the culture as a whole. This can only be changed through leading by example. This means you need to improve your own leadership skills and display them confidently. If you want to quickly improve your leadership skills then I suggest you check out a cheap product that other leadership professionals and I recommend to our clients: The Ultimate Leadership Guide.

People Leadership

People & Leadership. Two words that are undeniably related. People & Leadership are almost the same thing. Without people, leadership is an empty characteristic. Alternatively without good leadership, no amount of people can help an organisation to meet it’s corporate  goals.

If you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably looking to either develop leadership in other people, or develop your leadership over those people.

People Leadership – Developing Leadership In Others

Developing leadership in others takes time and energy. There are no quick fixes in the area of people leadership. To inspire subordinates and collegues to start their own journey in personal development, you need to have respect from them, and genuine respect is hard to come by in the workplace. Follow the following tips to increase your success at spreading leadership skills.

1. Be patient. Leadership is a complicated skill that needs to be nutured over an lengthy period of time. If you expect people to become leaders overnight, or during a powerpoint presentation, then your goals are unrealistic at best.

2. Teach by example. The best way to share leadership skills is to teach others indirectly. You can do this by simply leading to the best of your ability. This is a crucial point to give more thought. It suggests that you can actually help people develop their leadership skills by simply working on your own!

3. Be as original as possible. Leadership is taught worst when it is delivered in a ‘straight out of the box’ course. To really engage your employees, you’ll have to adjust, tweak, and inject some personality into any formalised training you give.

People Leadership – Developing Your Own Leadership Skills

Pursuing your own leadership development is admittedly an easier process. You are in complete control of your own behaviour and activities, and thus you can shape a plan of action to help improve your leadership skills. Here are some quick tips to help you go about doing so.

1. Educate yourself. One of the easiest and most practical actions you can do right now is to educate yourself and read widely on the subject. This could include looking in our leadership archives to explore deeper into the world of self improvement. You’ll find plenty of articles and material to get you thinking about leadership.

2. Invest in yourself & try out inexpensive e-courses. In the modern age there are a wide range of digital courses out there for you to absorb and master, some of which are available  for the same price as a restaurant meal. Such courses would normally cost hundreds of pounds if taught in person, but due to the ‘free’ delivery of such products – their prices are rock bottom. If you want to quickly improve your leadership skills then I suggest you check out a cheap product that other leadership professionals and I, recommend to our clients: The Ultimate Leadership Guide.

Author – Simon Oates

My Journey & The Secret To My Success

Welcome!

If you are interested in attracting wealth and success into your life using the law of attraction, then I’m confident you will find my own personal development story of at least ‘some use’ in your own journey. It’s a little longer than my average post, but you owe it to yourself to read it all and learn from my experience!

About 11 months ago I was in a terrible place. I felt like I was going absolutely nowhere. After being an employee for so long, I had become conditioned to feel like this was my only route – my only choice.

It turns out I was thankfully mistaken

Whether you’re a graduating student or a manager of 20 years, it’s likely you feel that you have very limited control over your life. Joining a graduate training scheme, or bidding for the next promotion seems like the natural path we should take.

But how often do we solemnly stop, think and weigh up whether the ‘obvious’ course of action is the right one? I had never really done that, and as a result I felt powerless and unhappy with where I was.

But June last year, I uncovered a resource that held the secret to the success that now fills my life with happiness (and wealth) just one year on. It is a powerful secret that I am more than happy to use Leadership-Expert.co.uk to share with you all and hopefully enrich your life as a result. It helped me to destroy negative thoughts and even create serious wealth in a short period of time.

“I Finally Found The Courage To Do What I REALLY Wanted For A Change”

The powerful resource I am about to tell you about should take all the credit for helping me to get to where I am today.

It taught me that almost everything that happens in your life is a result of your manifested thoughts and feelings. This is the fundamental theory behind the law of attraction. It’s an incredible theory and principle that I uncovered along with 10 other natural laws one year ago. The laws sounded simple at first, but contained such meaning and relevance to my life, that I was able to apply them, use them, and take advantage of them to improve my own success. They were taught with so much enthusiasm and wisdom that I couldn’t help but use them to achieve greater heights the moment I stepped back out into the world.

So what is this special resource that I discovered used to change my life for the better? Which course inspired me to create Leadership-Expert.co.uk, and to reach out and grow in other areas of my life?

It’s a downloadable course called The 11 Forgotten Laws

The 11 Forgotten Laws is a revolutionary audio course, taught by Bob Proctor, who starred in the hit personal development feature ‘The Secret’ and went on to receive international acclaim. The course contains 12 digital discs with 95 tracks that cover all elements of the 11 Forgotten Laws. These tracks are so enjoyable and empowering to listen to, and yet while having fun, you’ll also be re-shaping your future.

The course de-mystifies laws such as ‘the law of receiving‘ and ‘the law of supply‘. They underpin everything that happens in our lives, and conquering the concepts behind them will allow you to achieve more than you ever have before. If you will it to happen, it will happen if you can master these 11 forgotten laws.

Have you ever wondered why some people just seem to be ‘destined’ for a richer and more successful path than you? Why, even though they aren’t actively seeking wealth, they stumble into fortune and opportunity again and again?

That Isn’t ‘luck’. The Ability To Use The 11 Laws Simply Comes Naturally To These People

Mastering the law of attraction and the other 10 laws will allow you to craft a life in which success and opportunity appears to present itself to you in a similar way. Soon you will be the envy of your friends for your apparant good fortune.

Also included in the course are a bounty of bonuses, including a video seminar, an exclusive membership invitation and an entire bonus course focused on increasing your prosperity. I don’t have room in this post to discuss all the bonuses, so you’ll have to head over to the site to see them for yourself.

http://www.the11forgottenlaws.com/products/special/dollar-trial

Implementing The 11 Forgotten Laws is easy, and practical steps are suggested for you to start working on right away to:

• Attract happiness into your life

• Find new ways of creating wealth and prosperity

• Destroy doubt and anxiety and start to replace it with courage

• Develop an hunger for opportunities and start grabbing them now

‘The 11 Forgotten Laws’ is available to try for just $5/£3.

That’s right – for a limited time only, the 11 Forgotten Laws is available for a $5 one week trial. If you’re not completely happy with the product then you just need to send a quick email to the publisher and you will never be charged another penny and you can still keep all your bonuses! How’s that for a deal?

It’s risk free, and is yours to try for only $5/£3. That’s the tiny price of a Big Mac. If you’re ready to start taking control of you life and opening the floodgates for success, your journey begins NOW. £3 is nothing, visit the Forgotten Laws website now – you owe it to yourself to give it a try, as I did.

Take Action – Visit The 11 Forgotten Laws NOW by Clicking Below!

http://www.the11forgottenlaws.com/products/special/dollar-trial

To Your Success,

Simon Oates – Leadership Expert

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