Ten Top Tips That Made Steve Job’s Presentations The Worlds Best

How many presentations do you go to that are just plain boring? How many lose your attention because you are facing death by Powerpoint? How many times do you worry that your presentation won’t come up to scratch?

As leaders you will be under close scrutiny. So, give yourself the edge using the ‘Ten Secrets that Made Steve Jobs’ Presentations the World’s Best – And How You Can Use Them to Astound Your Audience’.

Genius. Legend. Visionary.

These are but a few of the superlatives that have been used to describe the late, great Steve Jobs.

But beyond his business acumen, the man behind Apple® computers and Pixar Animation Studios was perhaps the greatest keynote speaker of our time. There are more than 57,000 links to his presentations on YouTube.
What made his presentations so amazing that people all over the world want to see them? More importantly, how can the rest of us learn from Steve to inspire our audiences the way he did?

In her excellent book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience Carmine Gallo takes us behind the scenes and offers Steve’s ten secrets that you can use for presentations that will inform, engage and, yes, astound your audience. You can also access Steve’s tips at GoToMeeting

Holy Smokes, Bullets Kill! (And Other Presentation Tips)

Before planning your presentation, according to Carmine Gallo, it is critical to know the question that matters most to your audience: “Why should I care?” You need to think about how to inspire your audience. Simply trying to sell them something doesn’t cut it. As Carmine writes, “Your widget doesn’t inspire me. Show me how your widget improves my life, and you’ve won me over.” Here are Steve Jobs’ ten secrets for insanely great presentations.

1.    Plan in analog. Brainstorm in advance of creating your presentation. You can use pen and paper, a whiteboard or, better yet, a mind map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DO NOT use PowerPoint®to create your presentation—it will be used only in the final step! (More on this later.)

2.    Create Twitter-friendly headlines. Describe your product or service in 140 characters or less. Preferably, a lot less. Steve introduced the MacBook Air® as simply, “The world’s thinnest notebook.” About the first-generation iPod®, he tweeted: “It’s one thousand songs in your pocket.”

3.    Introduce the villain. Steve saw a presentation as a three-act play that must tell a story, but what is a story without a hero and a villain? Before he introduced the famous 1984 ad to a group of Apple salespeople, he set the stage, casting “Big Blue” as Goliath. “IBM wants it all,” he warned, and defiantly asserted that only Apple stood in its way. His dramatic moment sent the crowd into frenzy. While the villain doesn’t have to be a competitor, it must be a common foe that your audience will want to join with you in rallying against. Your product is then revealed as the conquering hero.

4.    Create visual slides. As Carmine writes, “Neuroscientists are finding that the best way to communicate information is through text and pictures, not text alone.” As for bullet points, Steve never, ever, used them and neither should you. Carmine has a section in her book titled, “Bullets Kill” that describes why you should avoid using PowerPoint to create your presentation.

“Think about what happens when you open PowerPoint. A blank-format slide appears that contains space for words—a title and subtitle. This presents a problem. There are very few words in a Steve Jobs presentation. Now think about the first thing you see in the drop-down menu under Format: Bullets & Numbering. This leads to the second problem. There are no bullet points in a Steve Jobs presentation. The software itself forces you to create a template that represents the exact opposite of what you need to speak like Steve!”4

Take a look at the following comparison of bullet-point slides compared to the same information, presented visually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.    Practice, a lot. Most people read their presentations off of their PowerPoint slides. This is why most presentations are boring. Steve treated every slide as piece of poetry and every presentation as a theatrical event. He wasn’t a natural presenter; he worked very hard at it. Rehearse your presentation, toss the script and look at your audience. Practice at making it look effortless.

6.    Obey the ten-minute rule. It’s a scientific fact that the brain gets tired after ten minutes. Steve’s presentations typically lasted an hour and a half. He would break them up into short intervals of ten minutes or less by interspersing videos, demonstrations, or guest speakers. Don’t let your audience get tired or you’ll lose them.

A great way to keep your audience’s attention when presenting information is though sequencing, which builds the story within a visual one step at a time, making the information much easier to digest.

 

 

 

 

7.    Dress up your numbers. We often deal with large numbers or data that an audience can’t comprehend without context. Breaking them down and presenting numbers visually can overcome this. Notice how much more effectively the chart below illustrates sales figures as opposed to a matrix of data.

 

 

 

 

 

8.    Reveal a ‘holy smokes!’ moment. Maya Angelou said,

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Steve Jobs always produced a memorable moment in a presentation. When he introduced the MacBook Air, he told his audience that while everyone had seen manila envelopes floating around the office, what they had never seen was someone pulling a notebook computer out of one—which is precisely what he did. The audience went wild and images of that moment remain emblazoned in people’s minds four years later.

9.    Sell dreams, not products. When it looked at the iPod, the world saw a music player. What Steve Jobs saw was a tool to enrich people’s lives. Howard Schultz of Starbucks didn’t have a passion to sell coffee; his vision was to create an experience: a ‘third place’ between home and work where people would want to gather. The dream met the customer’s need and the product sales took care of itself.

10.    Have fun! When was the last time you saw someone enjoying giving a presentation? Steve Jobs had fun in every keynote. He made jokes at his own expense. While most people give presentations to deliver information, Steve always created an experience that his audience would enjoy and remember. Most importantly, he sold them on becoming a part of his dream, not his product.

Let me know if this article helps you to become a more effective leader and presenter. I would love to hear your stories. Simon Teague, Leadership Expert.

Poor Leadership verses Great Leadership. Where Do You See Your Organisation?

Surely, the primary role of the leader of any organisation, establishment, business, college or team should be to create a culture where people are inspired to deliver their very best, develop their skills and collaborate to win, every day. Such leaders will focus on 3 key measurements:

1. Living and breathing the vision of the business to such a degree that every employee, partner and customer of the whole organisation can feel it and want to be a part of it.
2. Delivering staggering results by creating a high value, high performance culture and building unstoppable teams.
3. Creating a legacy for long term sustained success through the development and nurture of even greater leaders than the leader himself/herself. Jim Collins Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t calls this ‘breakthrough’.

I have no doubt that when it comes to ticking these three boxes, 95% of leaders will say “Well, of course, I’m doing all these things.” The reality, sadly, is that less than 5% of our current leadership teams globally really measure up. In most cases, all I can hear are leadership teams who blame their staff for under-performance and not living the vision and values of the organisation. Many leaders tell me they are bereft of talent within their company and until they can get the right staff today, they struggle to think further ahead than the current financial year.

Many leaders can’t actually answer the question: “Where does your immediate leadership team stack up against the three key measurements above?” Consequently they do not know where to begin when it comes to addressing these three issues, so they focus on the most pressing one at hand, which is usually the delivery of results (short term ones).

So, how do you know if you are doing a good job and you are heading in the right direction when it comes to bringing to life your vision, delivering sustainable results and nurturing your people? How do you measure up against the five success criteria outlined below? I would encourage you to assess:

• Which boxes would you currently tick?
• What do your immediate leadership team think?
• What’s the view of all the rest of your staff (this view is likely to be closest to reality)

Poor Leadership and Dysfunctional Teams:

 

Vision:

The vision lives on a poster or intranet but very few people can articulate it, let alone live it. Ask your immediate leadership board how do they and their immediate teams bring the vision to life in their day to day actions. There will only be a handful of tenuous examples.

Values:

The senior leader team cannot articulate the values and there are differences of opinion as to what they are. Few people in the organisation know what they are and don’t buy in to them.  This creates dysfunctional behaviour at every level.  Meeting agendas rarely focus on strategic values – they mainly focus on tasks and consequently teams are wrapped up in meeting after meeting, achieving little progress.

Capacity:

There is a blame culture, usually senior leaders pointing their fingers at subordinates, peers or other divisions. The organisation is wrapped up in emails. Things don’t get done. Most people are working in the ‘Urgent but not important box’. This is a team of busy fools. Stress is prevalent and there are capacity issues through high sickness, high staff turnover (above 8%) and inefficiencies. HR is ineffective at driving capacity improvement. Action plans have far too many actions on them causing inaction.

Capability:

The autonomy to make decisions has been removed, because the senior leader team believe they are the only ones with the answers and they want control. Staff work for the leaders. However, they feel disengaged and dis-empowered. Staff meetings are top down cascades. Eventually the best people leave, because this is not an environment in which they can thrive. The leadership is creating a culture of followers who ‘do as their told or face the consequences’. There is an insufficient budget to develop and improve staff skills and what little training that takes place is force fed (mandatory!) and plans for continuous improvement are ineffective. Indeed, leaders feel like they keep asking the same questions over and over again and the organisation is going round in circles.

Confidence:

There are very few decision makers because there is very little delegation from the senior team who don’t have the confidence in their people to ‘let go’. Staff feel they are working in a dictatorship where the consequences of speaking up are dire. There are large numbers of grievances in this organisation and many go right to the very top, wrapping the senior team up in far too many ‘HR issues’ which increase their mistrust of the staff as a whole. Whilst the senior leader team may be doing a good job at convincing stakeholders all is well (because they in turn often only want short term results), there are cracks and flawed strategies everywhere and staff do not feel their leaders are doing a good job. If they could they would fire the boss.

The environment looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Leadership and functional teams

 

Vision:

The vision is clear, visible and well communicated at every opportunity. The outcome of all meetings is vision focused. Leaders are constantly asking themselves, how can we bring the vision to life for everyone who touches our organisation? Staff believe in the vision and want to play a part in the organisations future success.

Values:

The senior leader team and middle management can articulate the values, but it usually doesn’t go any further than that. There are gaps and misconceptions regarding the future, but there is an awareness and desire to rectify issues and bring everyone on board. There is a real understanding that it is through the vision and values that a high value, high performance culture is developed and a long term legacy is built.

Capacity:

In the main people work together and work towards team interdependence is under way. Everyone is aware of the importance of their roles and responsibilities in such a way that they are encouraged to be creative in finding solutions and taking calculated risks to move the business forward. Staff want to come to work and there is an environment of continuous improvement and fun as well as peer pressure for people to raise their game.  Levels of stress are manageable and HR are proactive in supporting and getting the best out of individuals.

Capability:

Everyone has spans of control. And over 80% of decisions are made quickly, without going through a referral process. People base their decisions on achieving the vision and values and driving continuous improvement. The leaders work with the staff. There is good staff engagement with regular 2 way communication meetings and staff feel they are having a real say in the direction of the business and want it to succeed. Improvements are being made at pace and there is a sense of urgency at every level to want to make things better. Meetings drive change although everyone agrees there are still too many actions to deliver effectively. There is regular training and development opportunity and talent management. Keywords, competitiveness, openness, development.

Confidence:

There is good delegation across the organisation enabling people to learn and grow. There is a culture of openness and the sharing of best practice. People know who the senior leader team are and they feel they are doing a good job at driving the organisation forward. There are few grievances as issues are discussed in a spirit of openness and trust and resolutions sought in an effort to maintain a balance of harmony and commitment. HR over 50% of HR time is spent on positive HR issues such as promotions, awards, development programmes and talent. Staff feedback survey results are shared openly and champions appointed to deliver positive change.

Great Leadership and Unstoppable Teams

 

Vision:

The vision is powerful. ‘Making a dent in the universe’ or ‘Putting a man on the moon’. Everyone has total belief in it and wants to be a part of it. Everyone knows the role they have to play in bringing it to life. People who walk in the door for the first time, feel the vision and can articulate it themselves within a few moments. You know as soon as you walk in the door you have entered the realm of an unstoppable team.

Values:

The vision and the values are inextricably linked through the daily attitude and actions of every member of staff. People passionately believe this is the best company to work for. They love working here. There is a strong sense of community. Few people leave. Visitors can sense the values through the consistent behaviour of every member of staff from the top to the bottom of the organisation.

Capacity:

Interdependence and mutual understanding are the cornerstones of the success of this organisation. Staff are operating at their peak and there is a strong desire for everyone to experience their best year yet, year after year. This team works hard and plays hard. However, working harder does not mean working longer. In fact the ability to work in 5th gear stems from not working any longer than 40 hours per week. There is a healthy work life balance, with regular social activities, celebration ceremonies, recognition schemes and public ‘pats on the back’.

Capability:

People base their decisions on whats right for the organisation. There is a culture of learning. The leaders work for the staff. 360 degree feedback is the predominant model for driving change and staying one step ahead of the game. Leaders are outward facing – keeping a close eye on the competition and reporting back to staff if competitors develop and edge. Staff have a say in the strategic direction, forming internal boards to champion and drive key areas of the business. Meetings are results and time focused. Consequently the average meeting time is 1 hour. Actions are few. This is a team of snipers – there is no scattergun approach to this organisation – they know what they want and how to get it. There is significant investment in training and development.

Confidence:

This is a bottom up culture thriving in an atmosphere of challenge – stretching people to their full potential and recognition – celebrating success at every opportunity, thereby leaving people want to experience more and more success. This company is recognised externally as one of the best companies to work for in the country, with many awards in this category. This in turn attracts the very best people. There is absolute clarity regarding the strategic aims and objectives which all staff can articulate, knowing the role they play in bringing it to life. The senior leader team have won over peoples hearts and minds and people feel the warmth of success.

The environment looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion:

Most organisations are on a journey in an effort to become more efficient, results orientated and an outstanding place to work. The leaders of the organisation set the tone and there are huge differentials in leadership skills and performance. The culture is created by the senior leadership team. If, like me, you are a humble servant to the company, feel free to share this article with your Executive – for better or for worse…

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How To Be A Leader

 

To answer the question how can I become a leader, it’s important for us to begin with an understanding of what makes a leader, and indeed what makes a great leader?

I recently met Dr Stephen Covey, world renowned expert on personal development and author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  His definition of leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.

Some of you have asked whether leadership is a choice not a position.

Because of the definition of leadership, the ability to become such a leader is a choice that any person can make; any parent or grandparent, any teacher, any coach, any co-worker, and friend. When Dr Covey speaks throughout the world, he often asks audiences:

“How many of you had someone in your life that communicated your worth and potential so clearly that it profoundly influenced your life?”

Inevitably over half the people raise their hands. He walks around the room and asks them to share their experience with how it happened, who did it, the impact that it had upon them, and if they, too, are making the choice to do the same with other people. People often become very emotional when they talk about the parent, the coach, the teacher, the formal leader, the friend, the neighbour, or the relative who really became very close to them and communicated to them their worth and potential. This is always an inspiring experience.

So, is there a formula for becoming such a leader?

From all my research I believe there is such a formula. They are what I will list as the five imperatives of leadership.

In order to fully understand how to be a leader, you must first make time to train yourself in both the art and science of leadership. There are fundamental principles upon which you can develop leadership skills, but you need to know what they are and how to employ them to best effect. The world (and the people within it) is also constantly changing, so it’s important to stay up to date with leadership innovation in order to adapt. Self-development is the key to learning how to be a leader and unlocking the potential within you. This is the cornerstone to your future success.

Action: Bookmark Leadership-Expert.co.uk now, subscribe and place a recurring appointment in your diary to allow just half an hour per week to read, learn and apply all the great tips, techniques and tools I will give you.

The second is to inspire trust. You build relationships of trust through both your character and competence and you also extend trust to others. You show others that you believe in their capacity to live up to certain expectations, to deliver on promises, and to achieve clarity on key goals. You don’t inspire trust by micromanaging and second guessing every step people make.

Action: Ask yourself is ‘trust’ one of your core values? If so, consider who in your team you need to be more trusting of. Find out what motivates them. What can you trust them with by delegating or giving them greater responsibility?

The third is to clarify purpose. Great leaders involve their people in the communication process to create the goals to be achieved. If people are involved in the process, they psychologically own it and you create a situation where people are on the same page about what is really important—mission, vision, values, and goals.

Action: Ask yourself “More often than not, do I communicate at my team, rather than engage with them?” Think about how you like to be involved and consider how you can engender that ethos in all your dealings with your team. Do you hold regular ‘short’ team meetings focusing on involving your team in setting parameters and guidelines to bring to life ‘mission, vision, values and goals’? Many teams I’ve met don’t even know what these are.

The forth is to align systems. This means that you don’t allow there to be conflict between what you say is important and what you measure. For instance, many times organisations claim that people are important but in fact the structures and systems, including accounting, make them an expense or cost centre rather than an asset and the most significant resource.

Action: Consider what systems you and the organisation has in place to recognise and reward people’s efforts. Create a simple reward system. For example, the CEO of a company I recently coached, decided to rule out just half an hour every Friday afternoon to phone 3 people in the company who turned in a great weeks performance, or where he had been ‘tipped off’ that they had gone the extra mile for a client/the company. Word soon got round, productivity went up and he eventually found himself phoning up to 10 people every Friday afternoon, because what he had inadvertently created was the beginnings of a high performance, high value culture.

The fifth is the fruit of the other three—unleashed talent. When you inspire trust and share a common purpose with aligned systems, you empower people. Their talent is unleashed so that their capacity, their intelligence, their creativity, and their resourcefulness is utilized.

I would add that these are based upon principles that build upon each other rather than techniques or steps that have to be taken independent of each other. These aren’t “management tricks” but real principles that guide a true leaders character.

Action: Consider what you can do differently from today to unleash the talent of your team.

The world is vastly different today and ever-changing. If we can develop leaders who can withstand and embrace the changing times by deeply rooting themselves in these principles of great leadership, then we can develop great people, great teams and great results.

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College Jobs Offer Ideal Opportunities for Developing Leadership Skills

Today, leadership skills are in great demand by employers who want to make sure the men and women they hire are able to help their businesses grow. Students who want to secure the best positions following graduation should take advantage of situations during college that will allow them to develop the type of leadership skills employers are most likely going to be looking for. College jobs provide an ideal forum to develop leadership skills and to show off those skills as they are built. While the types of skills most in demand may vary from employer to employer, college jobs and internships generally are diverse and flexible enough to build the leadership characteristics most employers are sure to be seeking.

Most employers will appreciate employees who show the following types of leadership skills: vision, and an ability to set goals and reach them; ability to motivate others and build a team; the ability to take direction and ask pointed questions; the ability to synthesis experiences into improvement and action; the ability to work independently when required; and the ability to deal with setbacks and use them as opportunities to move forward.

Leadership skills can be developed in several ways through “on the job” experience. Because they are usually supervised, part-time jobs while at college, allow you to voice your independent ideas and thoughts without risk to the company. This type of experience is essential in learning how to translate and communicate your own ideas and vision to superiors on the hunt for positions such as marketing jobs who are looking for ways to help a company move forward.

One of the keys to developing leadership skills while at college is to observe the leaders around you, who can serve as powerful examples of what works and what doesn’t. Look for opportunities to volunteer for duties and tasks that will allow you to observe leaders directly, and to aid them in their own work. Using this type of mentor-ship approach can be a valuable tool in developing the types of leadership qualities prized by employers in todays’ marketplace. While looking for opportunities to showcase your abilities, don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed; a good leader knows that asking for help is part of building an effective team and establishing trusting relationships with other employees.

Another advantage to being at college while working and developing leadership skills is that it is an ideal place to ask questions about how you can improve your performance. Don’t be afraid to ask supervisors about what they consider to be valuable qualities in an employee, and how you can improve your ability to lead others.

In addition to providing work experience and income, a college job is a great place to practice and develop all the skills you’ll need to be a valuable and effective employee. Use the time to gather information, observe actions and reactions and ask questions that can help you become a better leader and make you more in demand when you being your own search for the ideal job.

My own view is that our future leaders will not only possess the academic skills that colleges provide for students, but they will need emotional intelligence as well. Working and learning provides students with the opportunity to develop both skills in equal measure. So, if you are at college, you will stand a much better chance of success in today’s working world, if you make good use of your time and seek out part-time local employment opportunities near you. And all you need to do is get out and ask…

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How Can I Become A Better Leader – Part 4 – Good Listener

 

“It struck me so forcibly that I shall never forget him. He had ‘leadership qualities’ which I had never seen in any other man. Never had I seen such concentrated attention. His eyes were mild and genial, his voice low and kind. His gestures were few. But the attention he gave me, his appreciation for what I said, even when I said it badly, was extraordinary. You’ve no idea what it meant to be listened to like that.” The narrator describes his experience of meeting one of the world greatest ever listeners, Sigmund Freud.

The late great Dale Carnegie How To Win Friends And Influence People tells the story of a time when he met a woman at a dinner party, who had heard about his travels to Europe and was desperate to hear all about it. She commented that she and her husband had recently returned from a holiday in Africa.

“Africa!” I exclaimed “How interesting! I’ve always wanted to see Africa, bit I never got there except for a 24 hour stay once in Algiers.” Dale Carnegie went on to ask if she visited the big game reserves and over the next 45 minutes, she proceeded to tell him all about her wonderful trip. She never again asked him where he had been in Europe or what he had seen. She didn’t really want to know – all she wanted was an interested listener, so she could expand her ego and relive her memories.

Is this unusual? No. Most people are like that. Most of us prefer to talk than to listen. There is a saying:

We were all born with two ears and one mouth, but we don’t use them in proportion.

Dale Carnegie knew the art of listening. He could listen for hours to people talking about what interested them most, without hardly saying a word, but still be known as a ‘good conversationalist’.

Years ago a Dutch immigrant boy whose family lived in poverty, had to gather coal in the streets that had fallen off coal wagons, instead of going to school and yet Edward Bok went on to become one of America’s greatest magazine editors. At the age of 13, he started work as an office boy for Western Union, but he was fascinated by the lives of famous people. He decided to write to them asking for details of their childhood and how they became successful. He wrote to the then President of The United States, famous inventors, industrialists and politicians. And they all replied. Before long, he was corresponding with many of the most famous people in the Nation. They all invited him for holidays, as a welcome guest in their homes. ‘This experience imbued him with a confidence that was invaluable. These men and women fired him with a vision and ambition that shaped his life’.

All because he was a great listener, genuinely interested in other people.

I once came up against an extremely irate and obnoxious customer. (I suppose we all do at some stage of our working life!) He was furious – ranting about my staff being rude to him, not following our procedures and not acknowledging our mistakes.  He had written copious letters of complaint; phoned on twenty occasions; he was threatening legal action; wanted his money back and all his accounts closed. Different staff became involved and despite trying desperately to resolve the situation and explain why certain decisions had been made, he accused them of conspiring and making excuses. The matter became so vitriolic that the staff, including several managers who had been involved, couldn’t cope with him and every attempt to try to resolve the situation just seemed to antagonise him further.

As soon as the situation was referred to me, I picked up the phone, explained who I was and offered to meet him at a time and place convenient to him. “You mean you are actually prepared to listen to my justified complaints about your staff and take me seriously?” Yes I said. So we met and he ranted on for nearly 3 hours. I listened patiently to everything he had to say, making notes on key issues I felt were important to him and displaying empathy for his situation. Never interrupting, I just listened, paying attention to every word. Finally he ran out of steam. I thanked him for letting me know about all the issues. I apologised and explained that I couldn’t solve everything or change the poor experience he felt he’d suffered, but that I did take everything he said seriously and that I will do my best to ensure we improve our service to him in the future.

That was the last thing in the world I think he expected me to say. He had come ready for a fight and here I was agreeing with him, (on the premise that the customer is always right), apologising, listening genuinely to his concerns and being honest about the outcome.

A few days later another letter arrived. This time addressed to my boss, saying I was one of the most professional, courteous and honest people he had ever had the pleasure to meet and that I was a credit to the organisation. After reflecting on his own behaviour he apologised and admitted that he may originally have been wrong in the first place. He remains a loyal customer and significant introducer of new business to that organisation, to this day.

If you want to win the respect of your team, your peers, your boss, your customers and your competitors, DON’T talk incessantly about yourself. If you have an idea while the other person is talking DON’T interrupt in the middle of a sentence. People who talk only of themselves, think only of themselves. ‘A persons toothache means more to that person than a famine in Africa which kills a million people.’

So, if you aspire to be a great leader, an inspirationalist and good conversationalist, be an active listener. To be interesting, be interested. Ask meaningful, relevant questions that other people will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments.

Ask better questions and the result will be better answers.

Real listening develops emotional intelligence. You learn far more by listening to your team and the people in your life than by talking. Daniel Goleman The New Leaders: Transforming the Art of Leadership describes the rare leadership qualities of a ‘Level 5 leader’ – leaders who get the best results are often humble and show a great deal of empathy with their team.

Leadership qualities of humility and empathy come only through listening actively, engaging your teams and creating a culture where they feel they have a voice, where their opinions and ideas are listened to, encouraged and nurtured. This leads to empowerment and creativity, vital components of building top performing teams and great leadership.

Watch out though. Listening can be one of the hardest leadership skills to learn. You will often have to stop yourself… just when you are about to wade in with reams of your own ‘great ideas’; just when you know you have all the answers. STOP. Instead of making suggestions, offering solutions and giving your opinions, ASK. Question your team – get them to come up with the answers. Sit back and LISTEN. You will be amazed at what you hear. This leadership skill takes great practice and much self-awareness and reflection, but I encourage you to spend most of your time as a leader living to Paretos 80/20 principle. Listen 80% of the time and talk only 20% – the results will astound you.

Next week we will take a look at creativity. In thinking there is creating, in creating there is doing, in doing there is learning, in learning there is success.  

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” George Bernard Shaw

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How can I be a better leader? Part 2 – Enthusiasm

One of the defining qualities of great leadership is the enthusiastic and passionate approach leaders adopt, almost automatically, towards their business. Indeed, enthusiasm differentiates leaders from mere managers. The former going about their day to day tasks efficiently and often systematically, the latter adopting a more pragmatic, visionary approach to their work, as if they actually care, not just about the business they are in, but more strikingly, about the people they work with.

Enthusiasm is not just a state of mind; it is behaviour, attitude and action triangulated into one consistent outward display of how leaders interact with the people they come into contact with. We recognise the enthusiastic from the dull, and ironically the former know, feel and thrive on their own enthusiasm (like an inner energy source) whereas the latter are mostly oblivious to their dullness. I’m sure you know exactly what I mean when you reflect on you own experiences.

In this article, I will attempt to address three burning questions, in an effort to provide you with additional leadership skills and become a more authentic leader: What is enthusiasm? How do I become more enthusiastic without faking it? How can I harness enthusiasm to become a better leader?

In short, enthusiasm is the output of a series of inner conscious and sub-conscious building blocks. Our mental DNA, manifesting itself into our physical (body language); verbal (communication) and spiritual persona (charisma). The Oxford English Dictionary defines enthusiasm as “passionate eagerness in any pursuit.” Real enthusiasm comes from the inside out. It is an internal condition of drive, energy, determination, passion and commitment.

These building blocks will often include:
* self-belief
* confidence
* self-control
* respect
* positive outlook
* adaptability
* being highly competitive
* energy
* strategic awareness and ability to see the bigger picture
* an awareness of self and others feelings
* an engaging and inspirational communicator
* a pro-active, active listener.
* and a nice dose of a good sense of humor

The list is not entirely exhaustive, but whats also important to highlight is what enthusiasm is NOT:

It is not:
* Acting
* Something that you are only borne with and cant be learned.
* Short lived (unless it was false in the first place). Although I accept there are times when even the most enthusiastic of leaders can feel abit low. The difference is they pick themselves up, dust off and start all over again, learning as they go.
* a secret to success in its own right

Three ways to become more enthusiastic:
1. Be more self aware (SWOT and Johari)
2. Train your mind and put in place the building blocks listed above
3. Seek feedback and be prepared to adapt and embark on a journey of continuous improvement

In many cases, enthusiasm is the difference between success and failure. Do you fear showing additional enthusiasm would make you look ridiculous? Do NOT fear it. Enthusiasm is a sign of leadership; the sign that you are able to commit yourself fully to you actions. People are drawn to genuine enthusiasm. It can act like a magnet, winning peoples hearts and minds. Why not study the technique of one of the greatest enthusiasts the world has ever known? Who is he or she? You may meet him tomorrow coming down the street. When you get within 10 feet of him, he wont be able to disguise his enthusiasm. He will begin to wag his tail. If you stop and pat him he will almost jump out of his skin to show you how much he likes you. And you know behind this show of affection, there are no ulterior motives. He doesn’t want to sell you something or ask you for money! Its the reason why dogs are called ‘mans best friend’.

Another outward display of enthusiasm can best be described in the following poem recorded in the the book  by Dale Carnegie How To Win Friends And Influence People

It costs nothing, but creates much.
It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give.
It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None are so rich they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.
It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersignature of friends.
It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and Natures best antidote for trouble.
Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is of no earthly good to anybody until it is given away.
And if in the last minute rush of Christmas buying some of our salespeople should be too tired to give you a smile, may we ask you to leave one of yours?
For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!

Enthusiasm is not just an inner passion, it is a genuine behaviour. Additionally, enthusiasm is something that manifests itself in the way that you interact and deal with people. The late Steve Jobs was hugely enthusiastic. He possessed and passion and determination for perfection and an enormous dream to ‘make a dent in the universe’. Although this often manifested itself in an uncompromising, narcissistic behaviour which made him extremely difficult to work for, those who worked for him, testify now that he had an energy and enthusiasm and capability to stretch people beyond what they even thought possible in themselves and those workers would not swap a single day of working for someone like Steve Jobs. I prefer the story of Charles Schwab, one of the highest paid, most successful businessmen in American history who once said of the secret to his success:

“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticise anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise, but loathe to find fault. If I like anything, i am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.”

A fairly recently phenomenon that has people talking and is changing the way people are thinking has come about as a result of the book by Rhonda Byrne entitled The Secret. It describes in a philosophical way the work being undertaken in the neurological scientific field of quantum physics. In short, within creation, there exists a law of attraction and our individual thoughts are so powerful that they create our experiences and the very world in which we live. “What we think about we bring about”. The book provides a fascinating account of the ‘secrets of success’ of many of the world’s most successful people. So if you are looking to become and enthusiastic, authentic and successful leader, now is a great time to begin. Start thinking predominantly good thoughts, start believing in yourself and telling yourself how good you are, start to live your life more enthusiastically, start seeing the good in others – praise more and criticise less.

To begin with you may need to make a conscious effort to become more enthusiastic. It may feel like acting to you, but stick with it. After just a few days and then a few weeks you can completely transform your inner thoughts and outward behaviour and action. Your attitude determines you action. If you seem less than enthusiastic, you may unwittingly transmit a lack of interest and commitment and are unlikely to be seen as a ‘natural leader’. Enthusiasm generates followers.

Here’s a great way to be able to start to live life more enthusiastically. Author and LA talk-show host Dennis Prager says happiness is a serious problem. He suggests that when we rise in the morning, we should notice the many blessings present each do that either go unnoticed or we take for granted. For example you have your health, you hear laughter in the house, you hear birds singing outside. You should know that a full and happy life comes more quickly to those who find themselves swimming a sea of gratitude. So this week, keep a gratitude journal. List all the really wonderful things you love most about your life. You will be amazed how long the list gets.

As you read this article and the ones following in the series to help you become an enthusiastic and accomplished leader, try to stand apart from yourself. Try to see yourself in the corner of the room, in your minds eye, reading. Can you look at yourself almost as though you were someone else?

Now try something else. Think about the mood you are now in. Can you identify it? What are you feeling? How would you describe your present mental state?

Now think for a minute about how your mind is working. Is it quick, positive and alert? Your ability to do this is uniquely human. Animals don’t possess this ability. We call it ‘self awareness’. This is the reason why man has dominion over all things in the world and why he can make significant advances from generation to generation. It is also how come there is such huge differentiation in human endeavour, with the most successful people often being the most self-aware.

This is why we can evaluate and learn from others experiences as well as our own. This is also why we can make and formulate habits. I will finish this week with two great quotes to inspire you to live your life more enthusiastically.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to evaluate his life by conscious endeavour.” Henry Thoreau

“Smile, and the whole world will smile with you”.

Everywhere we look we are all seeing more and more examples of poor leadership, in international bodies, governments, corporations, small business and in our direct boss. Recent surveys show 74% of people would sack their boss if they could, but in the main, people are afraid to speak up, for fear of being shown the door themselves. There is however, a revolution going on in many organisations. The smart are investing (often secretly) in their own self development. The leaders of tomorrow will suddenly come out of the woodwork, self taught, enthusiastic and able to relate to the majority of the populous. These enthusiasts will bring a breath of fresh air to many ailing institutions. One of these enthusiasts is most probably you.

Next week….we will take a look at the incredible benefits of setting goals. A leadership trait of winners…

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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.

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SMART Leadership Objectives

When dealing with any aspect of business, setting objectives can be incredibly important. When setting objectives, whether it’s to do with leadership or any other aspect of business, I think it’s important to follow a certain structure and criteria. Whether you have a business the size of Money Supermarket or McDonalds, I’m sure they all have their own set of objectives that prove vital to their ambitions.

When it’s time for me to set objectives, I’ve found that setting small aims that then lead to an overall objective can help to keep you motivated and on the right path when it’s easy to become distracted. When setting your leadership objectives, remember to keep them SMART.

SMART Leadership Objectives

When you are setting leadership objectives for yourself, follow this criteria and keep them SMART. SMART is short-form for what your leadership objectives should be, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-constraint. I have seen other variations of what SMART should stand for but they all follow the same basic principles. So you might now be thinking, how do I set up SMART objectives now that I know what SMART stands for? Here’s the acronym in a bit more detail:-

•   Specific – A specific objective specifies exactly what it wants to achieve. If you know exactly what you want to aim towards, then this helps you to keep your eyes on the prize, there’s no point having an objective that could have variable outcomes

•    Measurable – An objective should always be measurable, otherwise how would you know when you have achieved what you want to achieve? Keeping your objective measurable helps to keep you motivated as you can measure how close you are to achieving your desired goal

•    Achievable – There’s no point setting yourself an objective that isn’t achievable with the resources available to you, so make sure that the objective is attainable based on your personal circumstances

•    Realistic – Your objectives should always be realistic, but being realistic can cover a lot of variables, from achieving what you want to achieve in a certain time scale, to not trying to aim for something that is completely beyond what you require

•    Time Constraint – Always set yourself a time limit when setting your objectives, you don’t want to let your aims go on forever because you may never see the end point. Set yourself some little aims with short timescales that lead to an overall goal that may be some 6 months in the future.

Examples of Leadership SMART Objectives

Here are some examples of how you can make your Leadership objectives SMART:

•    To increase website visitors by 10% over the next 3 months
•    To develop your leadership skill set by going on a specific course next year
•    To identify your leadership style by conducting a leadership questionnaire before the new year
•    To improve website revenue by 20% over the next 12 months

Set yourself some SMART leadership objectives for 2011 and see how you get on.

Or you could take our leadership styles questionnaire to help you identify your dominant leadership styles, when planning your career objectives.

5 Iron-Clad Ways to Identify & Develop Your Successor

Interestingly, one of the best times to receive leadership advice is when you near the end of your reign. This article deals with the complexities of choosing and grooming potential candidates for leadership succession.

1. Removing Emotion from the Process

For many, after a long-spanning career in a particular position, one can look back on the role as one we have become emotionally attached to. We may know the job, and indeed the office like the back of our hand. When the time comes when we move on from such a job, the process of choosing and grooming a successor is one filled with emotion.

2. Evaluating the Skills Needed (Properly)

The further you travel back through history, the more aristocratic and corrupt succession processes seemed to be, with power being handed down within networks of families and close friends. In the present day, a meritocracy has largely replaced this old fashioned way of doing things. Choosing a successor based on their merits, or skills, is a modern, reasoned and effective way of selecting the next leader. Using skills as the key criteria ensures that the leader who follows you is capable of meeting your expectations and continue the good work you have begun.

Depending on your involvement in personal development in your organisation, you may be very familiar or unfamiliar with the specific strengths you have that allow you to perform the job you do, well. You may also be aware of the weaknesses that perhaps hold you back in terms of productivity or success. Often managers make the mistake of assuming that these strengths are the necessary criteria for a competent successor, but they’d be very wrong in thinking so.

Any job role can be done in a variety of ways, and although your particular style has been successful during your tenure, that isn’t to say that a completely different approach wouldn’t be even better! Therefore you need to take extra care when evaluating which skills a good candidate actually requires. For example, the loud and assertive chief of a marketing team may conclude after an effective few years that their successor must also be extrovert with the desire to make themselves heard as strongly as they currently do. In reality, the actual skills required would not include ‘loud’ and ‘strong minded’ at all, but simply ‘effective at communicating ideas’. Being effective at communicating ideas is a broad skill that could be aquired and used by even the most soft-spoken of individuals. This example, I hope, will instill the attitude that you are not looking for someone who is like you, but instead someone who could also respond to the demands of your job successfully, albeit in a different way.

3. Choosing the Needle

When it comes to identifying the perfect candidate, managers usually have one of two approaches: They’ve either picked out their replacement years in advance and breeze through this stage, or they have a fierce and difficult decision to make between several promising options. For seem reason this choice rarely falls neatly in the middle – where a suitable candidate stands out from the rest after a few of days of thought.

Beyond a formal interview, I wouldn’t recommend you involve the candidates further in response to the tough decision you’re facing. The more you let them invest themselves in the idea of taking hold of the reigns, the more conflict and frustration will result when you announce the 1 winner and several losers. If you’re having trouble selecting the successful candidate, then seek to listen to the views of other managers to help inform your knowledge and perhaps fill in the gaps that exist through infrequent prior contact with some candidates versus close contact with others.

The framework I have developed for making this tough decision is as follows:

1. Which candidates possess most of the required skills?

2. Which candidate has the most advanced critical required skill?

3. Which candidate attracts the most motivated followers?

4. Which candidate has a strong vision of the future of this company?

5. Which candidate has shown loyalty and personal sacrifice to the company?

If you found the same name appearing far more than others, it’s likely you’ve found your successor already.

4. Grooming your Mentee

In many cases where you have identified potential successors, you may still see improvement areas that you’d like to see worked on well before a hand over can occur. You will want to ensure that they develop these skills as part of their annual plan/continuing professional development if possible, but don’t be afraid of assuming a mentor role in one on one workshops that are built around developing those skills. With a counsellor/counsellee relationship, you can share some of your insights, which they will probably been keen to lap up when put in the context of a future promotion!

5. Avoid This Pitfall

The biggest mistake you can make in succession planning is to leave it too late. To take the Ohama Oracle Warren Buffet as a good example, in this case he has been planning his own succession for over a decade. In the case of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corp, a smooth succession will safeguard the $ billions of shareholder interest in the company. However, your succession doesn’t need to move markets for it to be important enough to plan early. Beginning to think about mentees as you give fixed notice to your employer is simply not sufficient, as you should always be evaluating employees from a potential leadership perspective on a continual basis. Steve Arnseson at examiner.com communicates this idea clearly as he repeats part of a briefing he receiving upon assuming a new post: “your role as the leader of this team is to train your replacement”.

Lead By Example With Your Company Finances

How to best control your company finance is often a hot topic of discussion, however there are many simple, yet effective ways of managing your cash that often go unnoticed. I will detail what I feel are the most important tips, to help you show leadership, by effectively managing your company finances.

Credit Cards

You can lead by example by using a business credit card. Business credit cards help build trust in a company by allowing your employees to use your credit card when purchasing supplies. The one problem that may arise here is if you are worried that an employee may misuse your card. Many business credit card providers appreciate this fact and they offer insurance that covers you against any exploitation of company finances.

Business credit cards also open doors to many supplier and purchase discounts, meaning they could help you to save a lot of money.  Using your business credit card helps build your business credit profile (different from your personal credit score) which in turn helps to build your company reputation and credibility.

Successful Planning – Monitoring Finances

Effective management of your company finances comes first from successful planning, which in turn leads to successful execution. You should always monitor your company finances to ensure you have an idea of what your income and expenditure should be for a given time. This way you are always aware of any changes in your finances, and for whatever the reason for the change you can then act on it.

If when monitoring your finances you realise you have spent too much in a given time period, then ask yourself why and come up with a solution. If you are finding this process hard, try and identify what the exact problem is and brainstorm a list of possible ideas that you feel may put an end to the problem.

If when monitoring your cash-flow you realise you have made more money than you expected to make, then that’s great; you can now identify why and reap the rewards, you should always try to build on the positives!

Budgeting

Your company should always have a budget, if you haven’t got one, then set one up. Work out your budget yearly (taking into account any dates where you will need to spend more than others) and divide by 12 to give you a monthly figure.

It is important when detailing your budget to be thorough and honest while noting down any expenditure you have. With regards to income, you can set up a forecast of what you feel your company will make in the next 12 months. Then divide this figure by 12 to give you a monthly average. Your forecast enables you to predict what you aim for your company to achieve based on previous years figures. You can then deduct your expenditure from your income and work out how much you have left for flexible cash.

You can then decide what you would like to do with the flexible amount of cash you have left. You could decide to keep all of the cash for use if and when you need it. Or you can decide to reinvest a portion of the money back into the company for any changes you need to make.

If when working out your budget you realise that you may struggle for the year ahead, then take action now. Identify where you can save money, whether it be through your utilities or supplies and save as much as you can to get your forecast looking healthy again.

Showing leadership with regards to your company finances helps build trust in the workplace, which makes for a better working relationship with your employees.

Article written by Andreas Nicolaides – a company finance expert for UK based MoneySupermarket.com.

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