| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
You Make The Difference
What do you think makes your company successful? Your newest hardware or software? The newest system you've put into place? The best location in town? Although these are important, they are not the key to success. Today it's not enough to produce a product and get the work done. There are big challenges in running a business. Competition isn't just local - it's coming from all over the world; there's always some new piece of equipment to buy; your customers have critical needs; systems can always be improved; employees have challenges you need to respond to and there are constant changes in technology. All of this means that being a good leader, manager or employee is a tall order. Being an effective communicator is just one way you can make a difference. Communication affects every part of our lives. Whether it's at work or in your family you are constantly interacting with others. Both areas involve the need for cooperation. Discussing ideas, solving problems, making plans for the future all require good interaction skills. For your interactions to be effective, you need to understand some basic needs and bring that understanding into your interactions. ? We all need to feel valued, respected, trusted and appreciated. ? We need to be listened to and have our thoughts and ideas heard. ? We like to collaborate on solving problems and get ideas and information before making decisions. Here are three suggestions on how you can make a difference. 1) How would you act differently if you really believed that all of your co-workers wanted to and were capable of being successful? Would it be possible to trust their intentions even though your styles or methods of accomplishing a task may be different? This attitude of positive regard for others increases their self esteem and is essential to good work relationships. Examples: "I'm really impressed Judy. This new system you came up with has all the information right where we need it. It's going to save the whole team a lot of time." "That's a great idea. I can see how that could reduce our costs and make a difference in our budget this next year." "Thanks for taking the time?." 2) Listening and responding with understanding is at the very core of open communication. This is very important when someone is expressing feelings, either positive or negative. Responding with understanding shows that you understand what someone is feeling and why. Reflecting negative feelings helps defuse those feelings before they cause problems that might otherwise have been avoided. Ignoring them, hoping they will go away or trying to argue them away usually makes the person more emotional. When we are not being heard, we will often "turn up the volume" in order to be heard. It's equally important to reflect positive feelings. It's a great way to acknowledge another for how they feel about getting a difficult job done. This reinforces their good work and helps the other person feel even more successful. Examples: "It's frustrating trying to please people who change their minds and you're getting mixed messages." "Being acknowledged like that at the meeting has to make you feel really good". "I understand how disappointing it can be to ??" 3) When you value someone's opinions and want their help in solving a problem, they are almost always willing to help. Two minds are usually more creative and lead to better solutions and decisions than if you try to do it alone. That might mean asking someone to get involved and work with you or it might mean asking someone to take responsibility for the task and take it through to completion. Involving others in developing ideas and carrying out the tasks builds their commitment to what you're trying to accomplish. Example: "You work with these forms a lot, Susan. What ideas do you have for how they could be redesigned to work better for us?" "In the meeting the other day you came up with some good ideas. Would you be willing to work with me on getting some of them implemented?" "How do you think we could handle that?" Opportunities to practice these skills happen frequently and sometimes unexpectedly. Even though the business challenges may not have changed you may be having a little more fun! At the end of the day, stop and think about how you might have made the difference. © 2004 Julane Borth Julane Borth is co-founder of EWF International®, an Oklahoma based firm providing personal advisory boards for women business owners and executives. EWF International also offers leadership training for women. EWF International franchises are available throughout Texas. http://www.ewfinternational.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Real Charisma, Clinton Style What exactly is Charisma? Most would agree that it is a magical, illusive, personal quality, divinely endowed on some people more than others. One thing is for certain, it is more easily identified than defined. Building Self Confidence As a hypnotherapist I specialise in helping people to develop confidence and self esteem.Perhaps surprisingly, the people who ask for my help are not shrinking violets and their reasons for wanting to develop enhanced self confidence are not wholly selfish. Who Needs Heroes? When we were talking the other day we started to think about our heroes when we were young. After we had discussed the usual film star and sports stars that we idolised I remembered Derek. E=MC - Is It In Me? How many times have you seen the E = MC2 formula andwondered what it might mean to you?Old Einstein had a lot more up his sleeve than fancyalgebraic equations. This particular "thought experiment"still inspires discoveries of various sorts throughout theworld today. Career Advice for Business Leaders: Empowering Others Many potential leaders in business sabotage themselves and their organizations out of fear of empowering others. In 21st Century Leadership: Dialogues with 100 Top Leaders, Lynne McFarland, Larry Senn and John Childress assert, "the empowerment leadership model shifts away from 'position power' where all people are given leadership roles so thy can contribute to their fullest capacity. Five Things Smart Leaders Do to Lower The Barriers To Change Smart leaders understand that they don't "make" a change happen. They recognize that the people in their organization do the work, change behaviors, and, ultimately, make the change happen. Wisdom From The Rock He grew up in Brooklyn, the son of an ex-con father and with a Mob-connected uncle who earned a living as a loan-shark. He credits his father continually saying, "Never lie, never steal," as an influence in his making a better career choice. 3 Dynamic Techniques To Boost Your Executive Leadership! Here's a really simple way to measure the strength ofyour executive leadership skills. Ask your people to name 3important reasons why they enjoy working with you. Value Driver Leadership CHAPTER 1************VALUEThose qualities regarded by a person or group as important and desirable of standards and principlesWhat is value driven leadership? Have you ever considered having a value driven leadership team? Or even a team driven by values and not a team having to be driven by the leader? That thought alone made me consider looking into the way I ran my teams and how I could do things better; this is the driving force behind writing this book. When you think about it, in everything we do as individuals or a team we should always be 'values driven' not impulse or need driven! If we are driven by values then we will always have a "why" in everything we do, and then we will do what we do with everything that is in us, come hell or high water (test, trials, pressure, set back or circumstances). Mr. Shoaffs Simple Strategies to Success (Excerpted from the Jim Rohn Sampler single CD)My first mentor, Mr. Shoaff, over a six-year period from the time I was 25 to age 31, taught me some extraordinarily simple things, before his untimely passing at age 49. People or Objects? - - You Decide "How you think determines how you act. How you act, in turn, determines how others react to you. Dont be Afraid to Lead! In most aspects of human activity, the pendulum of fashion swings back and forth between extremes, passing briefly through the point of balance on every swing.For a while, we were told leadership was all about setting clear objectives and holding people accountable. The Leader Within Each and every one of you has hidden deep inside a different person a person that is robust insightful originative, a person that you have forgotten that it ever existed. No matter what you believe that person lies within you, waiting for its awakening call. The Incandescence Of The Human Spirit There lives within every individual a power, an energy, an incandescence of spirit that is being constantly held in check, like a dimmer switch turned way down.A lifetime of being told: "we are nothing special; to stand out is egotistic and wrong; to conform is necessary; to be different is bad; the collective good must be served even to the determent of our own being; we must support; we must never defy; to question authority is inherently evil; the majority is always right; don't rock the boat;" -- creates an habitual thought pattern of lassitude, often leaving us without any sense of our ability to make a substantial difference and therefore with no real sense of urgency. Recommended Books on Leadership and Team Building The single most important thing a leader can do is lead by example, and if you want your team to be dynamic and learn more, you've got to continually innovate and find new ways to encourage, reward, and motivate YOURSELF! That's right, I said you've got to motivate YOU! If you lead by example, and you're motivated, soon your team will be too!That being said, here are my recommendations for a few good leadership and team building books. Enjoy!The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow them and People Will Follow You Failing ForwardJohn C. Ten Qualities Of A Great Leader - Plus 1 Great Leaders are optimists first and foremost. Their tendency is to interact according to Henry Ford's observation, "whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. How To Get To Know A Disabled Person When you first meet someone who is blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair, what is your initial reaction? Curiosity? Sympathy? Awkwardness? If you experience any of these emotions, you are not alone. Chances are you don't regularly associate with someone who is disabled, so these feelings are quite common. The Tao of Leadership There can be no doubt that the ancient author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu, was a man of unique wisdom whose writings continue to influence people of different backgrounds and faiths.Many leaders then and now get wrapped up in selfish ambition. To Be An Effective Leader, Do A Check-up From The Neck Up Before we can effectively lead anyone, we must take an introspective view of ourselves. We must do a check-up from the neck up. Birth Order - Understand How It Affects Your Personality "Know thyself" is a powerful principle that leaders, managers and effective people intuitively know.When you understand your own strengths and preferences you are in a position to maximise those strengths and compensate for any weaknesses either by working differently or surrounding yourself with people with different strengths.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
