How to Become a Leader in an Organisation

Regardless of the type of organisation you are involved with, whether it be profit driven or charitable, a strong leader will be essential for achieving goals and driving progress. The foundation of good leadership is based upon a solid understanding of what motivates and inspires others. Every employee works better when properly motivated and when given direction. A successful leader is someone who can help others reach their full potential. The following points are just some of the key elements needed to become a successful leader. If you need to lead people regularly this is information you can’t do without.

Be the Change you want to see

It has been said that people are the average of their five closest acquaintances. What this statement suggests is that the behaviour and habits exhibited by people are determined by the people they come into contact with on a regular basis. Given this, if you want an employee to work hard and commit, you will need to set a good example and do the same yourself. A quality leader will be a role model for employees. How can you inspire confidence if you are incapable or lazy? Go the extra mile and you will find others more willing to do the same.

Talk from the Perspective of Others

A good leader knows how to influence people and win them around to their way of thinking. This is extremely important as a leader must guide people forward. If people don’t agree with the leader’s decisions they may be reluctant to follow. When you’re attempting to persuade people to act, remember to talk from their perspective. Put another way; explain to people how the job you need them to complete will benefit them. People are very likely to be concerned more with their own well being than that of the organisations as a whole; therefore demonstrating how they can benefit is an effective motivational tool.

Make use of the Software

As a leader you need to utilise every resource possible, there is lots of great software for HR professionals available. Using the software will help you to keep track of your employees, including personal information, expenses claims and pay review information. As well as for administration, HR software can also be very helpful when initially learning about new employees. Being able to remember a person’s name and birthday, for example, can be useful when trying to show you’re a leader who cares. Showing you care is important because employees who feel valued and respected are going to be more inclined to commit to the organisation.

Become an Emotional Intelligence officer.

Being able to manage your emotions, and understand the emotions of others is a skill every leader needs to master. This skill, often abbreviated to EQ, is essential for dealing with the emotional challenges you will deal with as a leader, and also for helping employees overcome emotional barriers of their own. Being able to empathise with your employees will help you to understand their perspective, allowing you to communicate with them in a way they will respond positively to. There is also much evidence to suggest that a happier employee will also be more productive. If you can help your employees achieve a higher state of happiness you will be adding productive value to your organisation.

By becoming a role model, talking from the perspective of others, utilising HR software and developing an in-depth understanding of emotions you will be well on your way to becoming a competent leader with the ability to guide a team of people forward. Having these skills will help your organisation expand and will make managing and leading your employees enjoyable and easy. Don’t hesitate, take action today and get the most from yourself and your employees.

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Be a winner in 2012.

People often ask me “what does it take to be a leader in today’s complex world?”  Granted, we are seeing unprecedented change in the business world in which we all operate. We are traversing choppy waters and it will take more skills than ever before for leaders to navigate their teams, organisations and themselves through these difficult times.

This is such a massive issue that everyone that’s anyone is either writing about or seeking information about leadership. The voices of those people immersed in leadership and management positions, and those who aspire to become successful and accomplished leaders, are asking the same questions… How do I become a successful leader? How do I inspire my team? How do I build a winning team?

There are hundreds of tools at your disposal and over the course of 2012 I will share with you some amazing techniques you can employ to stand out from the crowd and become a respected, winning leader in your chosen field. But, just like an Olympic Athlete, you will need to train hard. Focus. Subscribe to Leadership-Expert™ (its free!) and visit this site every week to pick up, learn and apply the latest tips and techniques which are guaranteed to give you a winning edge.

Becoming a winner doesn’t happen overnight. You have to train regularly. It takes commitment and dedication. We often can’t do it on our own. We are so much more powerful with these three things:

1. A system we can use.
2. A coach by our side.
3. A group of people cheering us on.

I am so passionate about helping people to develop leadership capability. Hopefully you can see that by how much free or very low cost material is available to you on this site.

So lets start with you. First I want you to shake off the erroneous notion that leaders are born and not made.

Come on me with this journey. I will be your coach and guide. My journey began 20 years ago with my first junior management promotion in the corporate world. Since then I have enjoyed an incredible career reaching the dizzy heights of executive directorship and in recent years an entrepreneur, building and developing my own business and my own winning team of dedicated, inspired individuals. I have become the Leadership-Expert through passion, dedication and connecting with many great leaders and leadership authorities around the world. They helped me publish The Ultimate Leadership Guide – Secrets to Success at Work and In Business (which only Leadership-Expert readers can REDEEM with a 25% Discount using code LE001).

So, I hope you can see I have had to work hard at learning how to become a strong leader in both the corporate environment and in business. I was not born a leader. I became one, through reading, learning, training, having my own coach and through application of some tried and tested principles, which I will share with you now. I have the credentials to enable you to be just as successful. Leadership success starts with you.

You need to do three things:

1. Allocate specific time for self-development
2. Use trusted sources and systems and people to help you
3. Apply what you learn, reflect and then revise your approach where appropriate

There are two ways of doing this:

• The free way
• The low cost way

The free way – action plan:

1. Save this website to your bookmark and subscribe to get all our free information and top tips to enable you to become an accomplished leader.
2. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date that way, or follow updates on Twitter.
3. Allocate up to 1 hour per week (your quietest time) to read the latest articles posted, make notes and apply the principles contained within.
4. Write specific goals for your work each week. What does a good week look like? Who do you need to inspire and motivate this week? What’s the best approach?
5. Apply these goals.
6. Take time to reflect on the success (or otherwise) of your actions. What did you learn? What do you need to do to continually improve?
7. Following this process relentlessly every week you will start to feel and see a difference in your performance and that of your team.

The low cost way – action plan:

Every great leader invests both time and money in self-improvement, training and learning. They follow a system that prompts thinking; action and results. Here is a system I would strongly recommend to anyone looking to become the best in their field. It is a proven system that I use to create the results I want. Although it’s not my system, I have used it for over 10 years and it fascinates me how my progress has always exceeded my expectations. It is based on 5 principles of personal transformation:

1. First, take time out to appreciate your success to date.
2. Learn your lessons (what winning ingredients do you already use?)
3. Shift your limiting beliefs – you can be whatever you want to be.
4. Live your values – what are your personal values?
5. Set and focus on your top 10 goals

I invite you to join me and a growing community of people world-wide who use this system to reach their full potential (and give them a winning edge). To learn more click here.

In summary, becoming an accomplished and respected leader starts with self-development. This leads to increased self-awareness about the impact you have on people around you. Leaders set the tone. Learning new techniques and applying them will give you greater confidence in how you manage and lead your team. With a greater repertoire of leadership tools at your disposal you will be amazed at the response. The most exciting thing of all is that you will realise you have the power to change. Change yourself and change the people around you, so that everyone starts to realise their full potential.

I have described above the process some of the world’s greatest athletes are currently going through as they prepare for the Olympic Games of 2012. To be a winner as a leader, you too must adopt the same techniques and you will be amazed at what you can achieve. As Mo Farah recently said “Don’t dream of winning…. Train for it.”

Click here if you want 2012 to be your Best Year Yet.

 

 

Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership by Warren Bennis – Book Review

‘Still Surprised’ is the long-awaited memoir from leadership legend Warren Bennis. Bennis, who can name US Presidents and CEOs among his coaching clients, has provided countless insights into human behaviour through academic research, and later, his teaching and writing. His books ‘Leaders‘ and ‘On Becoming a Leader‘ have both ranked with the FT’s 100 Best Business Books. Warren is currently the founding chairman of University of Southern California’s Leadership Insitute and a distinguished professor of business administration at the USC Marshall School of Business.

However, upon reading this book I sincerely believe that to introduce Warren Bennis in such a way is to still hold back some of the credit he deserves from a lifetime dedicated to leadership and management. A lifetime that is told in terms of several ‘good stories’ in this book. Warren immeadiately

Warren immeadiately shares the following with us upon opening his book:

“Alfred Hitckcock said that ‘Drama is life with all the boring bits cut out.‘ I think that’s what a good memoir is as well”.

With this in mind, Warren swiftly skips over his “dull” childhood and takes us to the moment he was sent off to train as a second lieutenant in World War 11. From that terrifying training period at ‘Fort Benning’, Warren begins to unwind the secret to how one man came to learn so much about leadership.

Warren jumped into the arena of Social Science at the perfect time. The industry was booming with optimism, and thanks to a close relationship with his small university’s president,  none other than Douglas McGregor (who theorised about theory x and theory y workers), he was soon mixing with management greats such as Abraham Maslow and Elton Mayo.

It seems that Warren Bennis’s interlect was only matched by his great fortune, as opportunities arose that took his career from one level to another.

‘Still Surprised’ is an enjoyable read. Warren writes with a quiet confidence that is intriguing yet comforting. Wary of being ‘over-modest’ as he senses other authors are, Warren quites with refreshing honesty and reasonable pace. In his own words, Warren says the he hopes his book will give the reader “a good picture of our world since about World War 11 up to the present, from Roosevelt to Obama. I’ve tried to capture the changing culture of our country, as reflected through my experience.”

If you want a brief peek into a world where the height of your success is based upon the boldness of your ideas, and where lively debate is the centrepiece of conversation, I invite you to explore Warren’s extraordinary world in a memoir that can only be described as inspiring.

‘Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership‘ is available for £10.82 from Amazon.co.uk or $18.45 from Amazon.com respectfully.