Improve Team Morale With These 5 Easy Methods

Team morale is a massively important element of motivation and is also a key driver of productivity. If you can manage the morale of your team effectively, you can help them produce results in a way that will be as fulfilling for them as it is for you. Different team members with different personalities in different roles will respond to some morale-boosting tips better than others, so please don’t use this guide as a checklist. Be selective, and tailor your strategy to which you think your subordinate or team members would love.

1. Keep employees informed to tackle ‘them and us’ attitude

The retail industry (among many others) suffer from a ‘them and us’ culture, where employees increasingly see management as standing against them. This culture explains the high absenteeism, shocking employee turnover and extreme demoralisation that some retail giants (See: Walmart) suffer from. A communication defficiency between the organisational layers is the main cause of this problem. Elect to be up-front with employees, discussing problems and storms on the horizon as they’re discovered, and not after decisions have been made.

2. Explain the value and benefit to the business they’re creating

A workers morale is derived from the value they believe they’re creating. In this way, a director of a multinational corporation will have a serious morale surplus! However, a cashier at a fast food chain may not feel as well-endowed. Naturally, these grass-root positions in organisations still create plenty of value for the company though, and it pays to remind their occupants of this fact. A manager could, for example  let a cashier see how many sales they’ve put through the till that week. It will likely be an impressive figure reaching into four digits for a full-time employee, and may let them impress themselves!

3. Deliver proper training

When your employees are being trained, are they simply thrown in front of a TV and told to sit through a dull and dated video? Or do they get to be coached one-on-one by a consultant, and put through a personalised and well-tailored training programme? A thorough and professional training scheme will fill employees with a sense of empowerment and self-respect. The thought that a company is investing time and expenses into developing their skills will remarkably improve their morale. For existing employees, consider a 2-day training excursion to refresh competencies and update their knowledge with recent market/company changes.

Training schemes are often out of the control of operational manager, and are ‘slotted into’ the induction programme by senior HR managers. However, if you’re in a small company, you may have sizeable influence over the structure of these training programmes. When it comes to budgets and spending, hotel & travel costs will quickly become astronomical if you choose a distant venue. My advice is to hire a local venue that will take employees out of their workplace, but will not require overnight accomodation. This is the key to receive value for money on training programmes, and will allow you to spend more on top quality talent to train your staff!

4. Consider worker’s outside lives by being flexible

Employees flex their lifestyles to fit their jobs with mixed success. Some people, especially young, single professionals manage to get by fine. However those with many responsibilities, including looking after family simply loose a grip on a sensible balance between fun & meaningful activities, and their career. Employ these ‘common sense’ policies into effect today, to create a positive change:

• Allow reasonable personal calls to be made during working hours.
• Use your discretion in allowing employees to leave earlier or arrive later than normal, with the understanding that the hours will be made up later.
• Put money torwards a medical treatment for a parent’s sick child.

5. Treats and team building exercises

I’d describe treats and team building days as ‘expensive and reliable’. Whether you see them as reliable or not, will depend on what you expect to get from them. If you expect a white-water-rafting day to cohesively give your organisation a firm sense of direction, then you probably need to take your head out of the glossy brochure. If however, you would like to encourage positive behaviour you’ve seen recently, and allow a disjointed, new team a little room to gel as a productive unit, then you could be making a wise investment.

6. Suggestion schemes (for large companies with many employees per manager/shop)

The notion that suggestion boxes are somewhat impersonal is a catastrophic understatement. Suggestion boxes are completely impersonal, and don’t directly help the relationship between management and employees. The cloak of anonymity can encourage people to be reckless, hurtful and careless with what they say.

Question: Why did these old-fashioned boxes make it on my list?

Answer: Because they actually work.

Indeed, despite what I’ve said; suggestion boxes do their job rather well. They’re not there to let employees vent anger, or for managers to gleefully ignore. They’re there to take a poll of employee sentiment, feelings, and pick up some of their ideas. I want you to think about the revolutionary (pun intended) element of the 360 feedback exercise. The key element is that you also get feedback from those beneath you, and a suggestion box is a simple way to do this that has been around a long time before such buzz words were ever printed. You need to be disciplined to encourage the use of a suggestion box. You must not let positive comments fill your ego, nor let the angry or hateful words trash your whole strategy. Gather plenty of responses about the exact topic in question, (be sure to ask for constructive ideas alongside any comments) and sit down in a professional fashion and see what you can incorporate into the working environment.

Expert™ Tip: Don’t look up for support

The green flag from a board of directors to go crazy with employee entertainment and training budgets is an recurring fantasy, but don’t hope for it. Don’t resent those ‘fat cats’ for not even supporting a practical, cheap and (in your opinion) worthwhile training project. Instead, become a manager that others will respect. In the face of an old fashioned and top-heavy corporate culture, make your own success in building morale.

You don’t need permission from your boss to tell Jessica how well hard you know she worked last saturday. You don’t need a dual-sign off on a anniversary card to give to an intern graduate you recruited precisely 1 year ago. Morale comes from the heart, and no board member, no chairman and certainly no accountant can stop you in leading your team to new highs of morale.

To Your Success in Achieving Higher Morale!

Simon Oates ~ Leadership Expert

“The Awakening” – Personal Development Essay

I thought I’d share with you today a famous essay written by an unknown author, which has been featured in many personal development books, but through the power of the internet, I can share with you today.

The Awakening

“A time comes in your life when you finally get…when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out…ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on. Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.

You realize that in the real world there aren’t always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you…and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are…and that’s OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself…and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you – or didn’t do for you – and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and everything isn’t always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself…and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties…and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for you next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don’t know everything, it’s not you job to save the world and that you can’t teach a pig to sing. You learn the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drinking more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it’s OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn’t always fair, you don’t always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people…and you lean not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody’s punishing you and everything isn’t always somebody’s fault. It’s just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You lean that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than you heart’s desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in you heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.”

I hope you take as much from this essay as possible. I think it holds many truths that every one of us needs to hear. You probably won’t find a single individual who actually lives by every single ideal listed here, so everyone has some room for improvement and something to gain from reading this essay!

I invite you to share the link to this page with as many people as you can to spread some positivity around the world right now!

http://www.leadership-expert.co.uk/the-awakening/

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 information regarding your progress, so make no attempt to hold this information back. Indeed you should be pro-active in delivering such information 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 unnecessary.

• 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

The Seven Habits Of Incredibly Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are some of the most powerful individuals in society. Not because they’re wealthy, but because the habits they possess ensure that they are successful in whatever they set out to accomplish. Take a look at the seven habits below and find out which habits you have in common with incredibly successful business leaders, managers, team leaders and entrepreneurs worldwide!

1 – A Hatred for Sleep

You’ll find most entrepreneurs never sleep in late (unless perhaps when on vacation!). Every second you spend lazily snoozing in bed, is a second spent watching your productivity plummet. For most people, this is pleasurable and a welcome break, but for an effective entrepreneur and leader, it’s a restless affair.

Taking a break is worthwhile. But that’s what your 8 hours of sleep is for. If you don’t feel happy unless you’ve had a good measure more than this, then there’s a good chance you won’t cut it as a business leader.

2 – The Willingness to delegate

From low-level positions, delegation is seen as a mouth-watering perk. Who wouldn’t love to be able to give important tasks to people below them, and take the weight off their own shoulders? The real answer is; less people than you’d think.

While most people think delegation is something they could get very used to; in practice it’s a very tough and draining process if done incorrectly.

Imagine yourself as the bride in a wedding. It’s an event you’ve been thinking about for a long time, and there is an awful lot of pressure on the event being a success. Would you happily delegate all the decisions in this case to a relatively inexperienced wedding planner? Of course you wouldn’t. You would likely think along the lines of:  ‘My wedding day is far too important to let someone else potentially mess it up. Surely they won’t give it as much attention and care as I would. It simply isn’t worth the risk. I’ll do it myself’.

This is the scenario that many new managers find themselves in. They have the ability to delegate tasks completely to those below, but are afraid to because so much stands on the success of the activity, and it causes them too much worry to have anyone other than themselves perform the task.

A successful leader simply places confidence in those beneath them, and let experts do what they do best, leaving the entrepreneur do what they do best – Leading!

3 – The Lightening Pursuit of Opportunities

The difference between a successful entrepreneur and a normal individual, is that when they both see a business opportunity, their reactions are different. A normal individual may actually consider a business opportunity that has presented itself, and have a look at their bank account… maybe plan the possibility of leaving their job. However by this point, the entrepreneur will have already organised a team to begin!

4 – Proactivity

Business Leaders do not wait for opportunities to slip onto their lap. They instinctively partake in continuous research (or pay someone else to) to always make sure they have some new directions to be exploring. They’re never happy staying in the same place, and are always looking for the next new idea. Even successful entrepreneurs that are seen to stay firmly within one business, may be actually exploring several products or business models within that single entity.

5 – Optimism

An ineffective entrepreneur may think – “There are pro’s and con’s here… lets weigh it up”
The successful business leader thinks – “Those pro’s are significant enough to pursue this, we will solve the cons later.”

Being optimistic is a crucial habit for entrepreneurs, because it’s the only way to deal with the amount of risk these people take on! Would you risk your year’s salary in order to make more money next year? Many wouldn’t, and that’s why successful entrepreneurs aren’t common.

6 – Ruthlessness

Its probably their most famous trait – Entrepreneurs are often ruthless individuals. This isn’t to say they’re immoral folk, but don’t expect to receive politeness and ‘niceties’ if it will hinder their success. You have to be this focused too. Maybe you’re thinking ‘It isn’t worth it’. Well, being an incredibly successful entrepreneur isn’t for everyone!

7 – Obsession with attention to detail

Everything has to be perfect. Competition is so fierce in today’s business world that entrepreneurs cannot afford to do a half job. A successful businessperson won’t go home until the job is completed 110%. Delivering above what is expected is a classic signature of entreprenuers. This is how extraordinary profits are made and how a small venture can explode into a multimillion dollar success.

Which habits do you possess? Which habits do you think are the rarest and hardest to possess? Leave your comments below!

 

How To Build A Responsibility-Driven Culture

By Emmett C. Murphy, Written for Leadership Expert.

In 2003 Lego lost $238 million due to overly complex designs, failed forays into new markets, and costly licensing ventures.  In 2004 they took previously untried steps to restore integrity and profits.  Lego engaged a group of devoted fans to help them redesign a lagging product—Mindstorms, the company’s customizable robotics kit.  This move broke with the creative team’s history of privacy and exclusiveness.  The “Mindstorms User Panel” wanted to be paid in Lego blocks.  They purchased their own tickets to Denmark for meetings.  They routinely replied to single-line queries from the company with multi-page emails.  They enabled the creation of wildly new and unconventional robots, such as toilet scrubber robots and bulldog robots.  After experiencing the pitfalls of insularity, Lego’s decision to partner with the customer was an act of humility.  It was also an act of responsibility.  Leaders who admit they have a lot to learn, that they make mistakes, and that they can’t run the company alone earn respect and engender responsible attitudes in others.  Three key practices of good leadership stem from humility—and inspire responsibility.

Partner with the Customer—Achieve a Shared Vision

Before Lego partnered with its customers, it was at risk of alienating them. Users had begun losing interest in products they considered too complex.  Leaders who do not believe in the partnership model often act out a predatory model, subordinating the customer’s interests; Lego was heading in that direction.  Instead Lego executives traveled to the world outside the organization to guide the customer to the center of organizational life.  This act overtly recognized the organization’s dependence on the outside world and helped build a stronger ethical relationship between customer and organization.  By “traveling outside” to gain new knowledge, Lego executives created a dynamic organizational model that embraced the “constant” of change and the need for continual adaptation.  By working in close back-and-forth contact with their customers, the leaders at Lego also found that partnering with customers meant achieving a consensus.  Rather than compromising or seeking to win, the customer-partner model describes a synergy that comes from achieving a shared vision.

Connect with the Frontlines—Learn From Those Who Know

Leaders who act with humility aim to achieve a shared vision with everyone in the organization.  They want to understand the perspectives of those at the frontlines and adapt to accommodate those perspectives.  Recently Brian Dunn, the chief executive of Best Buy, expressed his faith in following the frontlines—he had been a frontliner himself once.  As a teenager working at a grocery store he had interacted with customers on a daily basis.  His manager regularly asked him what he thought of new policies—for example, the store’s policy of having customers load their own groceries.  “I know it seems simple,” Dunn said in a recent interview with The New York Times, “but just that notion of learning from people who are actually doing the work, and the encouragement he gave me to tell him exactly what I thought really stayed with me.”  Leaders motivated by fear or arrogance remain aloof, removed from their employees.  Those motivated by humility remain physically present and personally connected; they fear ignorance more than they fear confronting mistakes or problems.  Humility drives responsibility:  when leaders focus on customer needs, they train others at the frontlines and elsewhere to move beyond self-interest too.

Understand Work Roles—Don’t Place Blame

Strong leaders respect the careers of others as much as they respect their own. Rather than assuming they know what’s going on in the workplace, leaders driven by humility make a practice of asking questions to understand what others do and what they need.  They practice active listening and seek out quiet environments to interact with others without distractions.  They empathize with their associates and ultimately empower them by reinforcing strengths and resources.  When problems arise, worksheets and scripts can help a leader chart an individual’s work life in a pragmatic and open-minded way.  The work-life map then serves as a tool for learning what changes need to be made.  When a leader finds misalignment in an individual’s work-life map, he or she practices humility by avoiding blame.  The goal of assessments is to transform problems into opportunities and to encourage others to take responsibility for their work, not to engage in a blaming game.

The most responsible leaders don’t let pride get in the way of progress.  They seek a purpose for leadership beyond self-interest, which helps them create partnerships—with customers, frontliners, and associates.  You might say that when Lego solicited its staunchest fans to help with product development, it pioneered one of its best designs yet.

Emmett Murphy, Ph.D., is Founder and President of Murphy Leadership (www.murphyleadership.com), a global leadership consultancy.  Murphy is the author of several books including Talent IQ.   He is currently at work on his new book, Entrepreneurial IQ.

Why Use Golf To Develop Leadership?

There’s a surprising similarity between playing the game of golf and leadership. Once the analogies are made clear to you, you’ll wonder perhaps why you didn’t see it before. By the time you’ve finished reading this, you’ll know the major connections and feel compelled to find out more.

35% of registered golfers in the UK are senior managers, professionals or executives , according to Mintel. This rises to 43.3% of London Golfers. And 12.8% of all golfers in the UK are senior managers, executives or professionals – that’s about 1.8 million golfers are senior managers, executives and professionals in the UK alone! (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) 44% of senior managers executives and professionals in the UK have played, do play or would like to play golf. (Source: BMRB/Mintel) Add another 1.4 million managers (Source: GB TGI, BMRB Quarter 4 2006/Mintel) and you realise just how big a sport golf has become – and it id predominantly ABC1 who play the game, and still predominantly male – 83%!

In part, business leaders, particularly those with some marketing or sales role, play golf to network with prospects and clients. There’s certainly some social status about being a golf club member, and for sure, in part there’s the ‘coincidence’ of playing golf and being a business leader.

The characteristics of those who play golf and those who are business leaders shows considerable similarities. For example, the desire to score well (even win) a round of golf. To be concerned about one’s personal performance and strive to improve it relates to a strong personal ‘Achievement Orientation’. I want to do well because I want to do well!

There are differences too, and important ones. On the golf course, the golfer is playing against the course. It is one of very few sports where the play of others has no effect on the golfer’s performance at all… unless he (and it is predominantly still ‘he’) allows it. This is not the case for the majority of business leaders where personal performance can be impacted by the performance of others. So the golf course is the place where a player can assuredly adopt the attitude, it’s MY performance that matters and only their actions change the result. This suggests the desire for control – or Directiveness.

76% of golfers play for social reasons (GMI/Mintel) – this demonstrates a desire, if not ability, in the competencies of influence and communication.

So why use golf to develop leadership?

The game of golf attracts business leaders more than other groups – & perhaps the conclusions above suggest why. So it became increasingly obvious to our team that golf could be both an attractive idea for development within this group, and that the game of golf itself could be deliberately used to develop the competencies and behaviours associated with great leadership. Indeed, many of our clients confirm the attraction of golf for our senior management training programmes by requesting training to take place at golf clubs.

Our research into using simulations has shown that given a truly safe environment to practice the tools and techniques of leadership and management, participants not only learn more (23% greater learning) than using more traditional methods like case studies, they enjoy it more (17% greater) and demonstrate greater transfer of new behaviours to the workplace (26% greater transfer).

Not only this, but studies in societies where females are considered disadvantaged in management showed a greater improvement in demonstrated management and leadership competencies after a simulation based programme than a traditional programme over their male counterparts 16% greater improvement in demonstrated competencies. The key to the success of using simulations is that they provide a realistic, safe environment to practice the tools, techniques and behaviours of great leadership (Kenworthy 2005)

Is golf a safe, realistic environment?

The great thing about golf is that it is one of the very few activities that provides a genuinely level-playing field – through the well-established handicapping system. It may not be perfect, but it’s very close. This means that a scratch golfer competes fairly with a complete beginner. There are also rules within which the game must be played – these represent the constraints of doing business. There are established game rules that encourage pairs or foursomes to work together, and there are rules to foster individual competition -sometimes in business we want our leaders to be entrepreneurial and ‘go-getters’ – leading by example, at other times, we want them to be team leaders, or team players.

Caddies, provide a perfect metaphor for coaches and mentors. The course itself provides a varied environment, shifting according to things beyond the control of the player, but observable by them. The hole provides a target, the course provides for a strategic plan to achieve the real goal. The points scored can directly relate to revenue or profit. The clubs and balls are resources – even the golf pro can be a consultant resource.

The game of golf provides a fantastic platform to learn leadership – its safe and fair, it’s as realistic as you need it to be and it’s fun!

Can you just play golf to develop leadership?

There’s certainly something about the game of golf that shares characteristics of great leadership, but whether it’s the playing golf that develops the person as a leader or that the leadership capability makes for a golfer is an unanswered question. Like any powerful training programme, leadership development needs a supporting, robust model of development. Unfortunately it’s not much use telling someone to BE Jack Welch, or even to tell someone what it is that Jack Welch does – that doesn’t make you a leader. Nor, can we simply seek to develop the 10 principles, 7 habits, 12 big things etc. of the best leaders in the world – leadership is personal – the first step in becoming a leader is to take charge of yourself and align your personal values to achieving what you want to achieve. If it were that simple then there wouldn’t be a leadership issue anywhere in the world today.

Solid Foundations

Effective leadership development (indeed for adults to learn anything effectively) needs the learner to go through three learning processes according to Bloom -cognitive, affective and psycho-motor learning. That we need to develop knowledge about leadership, associate a feeling or emotion with the desire to learn the knowledge and physically put that knowledge into practice.

Most business leaders have some knowledge about what constitutes ‘good’ leadership – though few practice it all the time. They may have seen ‘good’ leadership exemplified by others in their past or present. They may have read a book on leadership – such as the 7 Habits. Where these most often fail to become new behaviours is twofold – Firstly, most examples of ‘good’ leadership are often carried out ‘naturally’ by the person demonstrating them -we often refer to them as ‘born leaders’. They are ‘good’ leaders, but they don’t consciously know what it is that they do – and therefore they are unable to share with others what they should or could do. Most books, on the other hand, tend to focus on one of two aspects – how to be a leader – here is Mr Great CEO and this is what he did, you must do the same. or they distil ‘best’ behaviours and provide a checklist for you to do ‘good’ leadership.

In the former situation, the ‘born leader’ is unable (or unwilling) to give you the requisite knowledge to learn. In the latter (books), they often fail to make an emotional connection to implement the knowledge (other than you’ve bought the book therefore you must want to learn), or they provide simplistic implementation checklists, do this, then this then this at work. If the new ‘habit’ doesn’t work first time, the book provides little or no guidance as to what you should do now.

What people need is a synthesis of the tools, techniques, attitudes and attributes of ‘good’ leadership within a structured model supported with templates that enable you to physically learn the behaviours. And one way of ensuring an emotional learning hook is by using the game of golf as a metaphor, and golf provides a means for you to put your behaviours into physical practice for yourself first – i.e. self-leadership, then you can use the templates at work. All practiced within a safe and realistic environment that is fun.

Build on this foundation the safe and realistic learning environment of a business simulation on the golf course and you have leadership development that actually does what it says on the box.

Author:  Gainmore Advantage – www.celsim.com

Leadership Development Programme

Leadership Development Programme is just one of the leadership development articles at Leadership Expert™. In this article, we will be taking a brief look at what a leadership development programme is and how to build an optimal programme for your employees.

What Is A Leadership Development Programme?

Leadership Development Programmes are tailor-designed schedules of activities that seek to improve the leadership skills of a workforce or group of workers. Leadership development programmes are typically targeted at the graduate intake who have been within a company for 3-5 years. At this critical point in their career – these ‘Generation Y‘ individuals will be looking to move on to the next step in their career. Whether that future is at their current company will depend on how attractive and possible a leadership role will be on their current path. Therefore by targeting leadership development programmes at twenty-something employees, companies are helping to retain talent within their organisation.

How Do I Build A Good Leadership Development Programme?

Good leadership development programmes consist of the following 5 success factors.

1. Multiple leadership training techniques

Employees learn in different ways and favour certain teaching techniques over others. Therefore it would be dangerous to create a course with only one technique in mind. You are not creating a ‘fad diet’ leadership course. You want to create a course that will hit all the bases and have the best chance at really engaging with the participants.

2. Hollistic view of leadership

Many companies take a very narrow view of leadership. Often management skill and strategic thinking are put at the forefront of important topics. While a good leadership development programme should also address people skills, leadership traits and charismatic leadership to deliver a wide picture and full curriculum.

3. Link  to On-The-Job Application.

A crucial element in a leadership development programme is the link between theory and practice.Abstract leadership principles may indeed be sound, but the true measure of the success of a leadership programme is whether these principles can be taught in a such a way that they can be instantly applied to the management of the business.This real-life link is the key factor that distinguishes self-help books from life coaches, dieting books from fitness instructors, and management books from good leadership programmes.

4. Respectable length of time

Leadership isn’t a skill that can be perfected overnight. Leadership excellence is often grown over years of experience. In an attempt to replicate this gradual development – it is important that leadership development programmes are low-intensity courses that span several months, as apposed to a one week crash course. By increasing the length of the programme – instructors will be able to use the programme to actually support and enrich the professional development that the manager gains from their day-to-day job. For instance, the manager can discuss problems that they are running into during the application of certain leadership techniques they have learnt in ‘class’, and hence the skills can be perfected and honed over time. And thus the programme and work life becomes incorporated.

5. A meaningful conclusion

Like every task set in a business – the end must be kept in mind. Why is this programme taking place? To prepare young employees to be managers? To improve the ability of senior management? Whatever the objective – the programme should end with a concluding activity that will display the skills that the participants have learned on their course. As well as this being motivational tool to keep participants actively involved with the course, it also helps to build confidence and affirm the belief that they are now capable of achieving more through leadership.

Examples of such events could involve hosting a conference (involving public speaking), implementing an initiative, heading up a new division, or receiving a promotion.

If you keep these success factors in mind when creating your leadership development programme – you should see improved results.

 

The Pursuit Of Something Better – Review

If you’re looking for a review of “The Pursuit Of Something Better” then you’ve come to the right place. I’m currently reading an advance copy, and will be publishing LeadershipExpert’s official review within a week, so stay tuned!

Introduction

‘The Pursuit Of Something Better’ follows the story of  US Cellular – a regional telecoms company, through its journey to becoming home to one of the most vibrant and motivated cultures in the USA. As an underdog in the telecoms industry – US Cellular has to fight to survive in the modern world, but the employees fight for it, due to their extreme loyalty and pride.

On one day every year, the managers from across the organisation leave their positions to attend a conference that announces the results of something very dear to them – the annual employee satisfaction questionaire. Grass-root staff rise to the challenge and the company ticks over just fine without them. The atmosphere at the conference is likened to that of a concert – not an annual review. What on earth has happened at this company to drive such enthusiasm?

Well, you’ll have to buy the book yourself to find out!

Review

Review is coming soon!

Purchase

This title was released on the 15th of August 2009.

You can pre-order this book on Amazon UK here

If you’d like to read a review of this book on other blogs, you can visit here and here.

Team Leadership

One of the most difficult tasks that a company’s management team has is building effective communications within their departments. Effective communications with all levels of management as well as co-workers is essential to employee morale as well as increased productivity. The rationale behind that is that a lack of communication skills within the business leadership structure causes stress and tension among the workers. These feelings then develop into feelings of worthlessness and into feelings of inadequacy and inferiority.

Team leadership skills are essential to the creating a work environment that is both productive and loyal. If the management team leaders are tuned in to the needs and feelings of the workers on their team, the workers are going to care more about the productivity and quality of the work they are assigned to do. Communication involves everyone within a management team, both supervision and employees. A lack of communication in any area within the management team structure will break down the morale, and once moral has decreased for the team, they will no longer be interested in doing any more than the minimum that is expected. In a production environment this may not be as noticeable since there will always be those who don’t pay attention to anything that is going on around them, concentrating solely on their own work; however, in a sale environment, the results can be disastrous.

Unfortunately, some management styles or leadership characteristics prohibit the thought of developing a rapport with employees, let along communication, but be assured that this is the least productive management style and does nothing to help with the moral of the department or the efforts of the corporation in increasing productivity or sales volume. The manager who continually uses this approach without seeing the detrimental effects will certainly be on the losing end of the bonus list at year’s end when it’s too late to turn things around.

What is your management style? Do you tend to rule the department with an iron fist or do you effect communication between workers and supervision? Look at the statistics of your team leadership and see if there are areas needing improvement, and if so, decide if communication that is more effective is the answer to that improvement. The better a team communicates with management, the more equipped each is to understand the need for meeting and improving goals. If you are not communicating effectively with your team, now is the time to improve your communication skills.

Leadership Quotes

Quotes can be pretty influential on our life. Little did we know that just a few strings of words could really make a difference in our life. There are quotes on friendship, relationship, leadership, success and many others that can be pretty inspiring and impactful on us. But is it true that quotes on leadership can make you be a real leader?

Some people are still skeptical regarding the hidden potential of the leadership quotes. You are definitely not to be blamed if you are one of them.

Quotes actually serves more than just the purpose of inspiring someone. These quotes are actually very useful tool in offices and schools. Good quotes on leadership are the ones that are able to move you. Not all quotes can be inspiring as such it is important that you choose one that is able to leave an impact on you after you finish reading it.

As well as use leadership quotes, effective leaders have never been afraid to invest in themselves, and have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. These days, many e-courses tend to be rather disappointing, but I’m pleased to recommend one e-course that is still respected by leadership professionals such as myself:
The 11 Forgotten Laws
. It’s generally seen as an essential and core ‘crash course’ in the laws and secrets you need to know to further your leadership & career and even help find happiness in other areas of your life. Its an excellent base upon which you can build your personal development.

Quotes comes in all length and personally, I would prefer the ones that are short and to the point. Succinct and to the point – that should be your ideal quote.

But why use quotes? Well, quotes are actually great sources of inspiration when you are down in the dumps. Quotes on leadership can give back the life in you and spur up all determination to lead again.

Being a leader is not an easy task and that is why you will definitely got to have all it takes to be one. Quotes of leadership are just like your back up support that reminds you of who you are and what exactly do you do in life.

“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” -Dwight David Eisenhower

Quotes such as this helps to remind you of certain traits or qualities that might have brushed past you while you were leading. Humor, decisiveness, care and concern towards fellow co-workers are just some of the attributes that these quotes posses to keep you reminded of your role and responsibility as the leader.

But the question is, does this quote really work as well as it should do? As aforementioned, not all quotes are worth remembering. Some quotes are just too long winded such that you lost the meaning halfway through reading it. Just choose one of your favorites and know it like it’s the back of your hand.

These quotes are just like positive affirmations that get registered into your brain if you keep on repeating it to yourself. This is a good thing of course as over time, you will realize that you will soon base your leadership on the set of leadership qualities that are said within the quote. As such, it will definitely be handy to know a few quotes.

You do not need to memorize the thick book of quotes just because you think that with more quotes you memorize, the better you will be. Unfortunately it does not work that way. Quotes are meant to the left as it is, and not as a bible that you should read and remember by hard. Quotes on leadership and management can make you be a real leader indeed.

Go grab a quote and make it yours today!