| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
Lessons In Leadership: What Not To Do... From A Canoe!
When it comes to fishing, my husband takes the lead. But his lack of leadership ability in a recent canoe trip on the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota offered wonderful lessons on how leaders can unknowingly screw up. (1) Assign responsibility without authority. Bill insisted that in order to cast his fishing line, he needed to be in the back of the canoe. I was to paddle as he cast and trolled his lure. The only challenge is that the ability to steer a two-person canoe is handled by the person in the back. He'd shout directions to me but I had little authority over the craft. Frustrated, I wanted to turn around and whack him with the paddle. LESSON: If you assign someone a task, put them where they have full control to do what is required rather than hamstring them with your positional authority. (2) Hire a skill set but don't let the employee use it. The Boundary Waters are comprised of many lakes connected with islands and it is frequently necessary to portage the canoe to the next lake. I have a good eye for reading navigational maps. I would identify the portage spot as we approached. On more than one occasion, Bill would insist I was wrong and we'd spend time "looking", only to return to the site I had identified. I felt like throwing the backpacks up the trail. LESSON: If you hire someone with a skill you don't have let them take the lead. (3) Never believe someone closest to the problem. We were fishing along a rock ledge jutting out from one of the islands. Bill was a distance from me when I suddenly yelled for help. "I have a fish and I can't tighten the reel." "No," replied Bill, "You don't have a fish." "Yes, I do. Please help me." He slowly made his way over and took the rod from my hand. A deft fisherman, he fixed the problem and to his amazement, pulled out a fish. I wanted to hit him with it. LESSON: Pay attention to people down line. A removed view might very well be wrong. (4) Practice unclear communication. From my weak directional paddling position Bill would also holler out a specific direction. "Head toward that tree", he'd call. Now remember he is sitting behind me. The island is covered with trees. Just what is that tree? "The GREEN one," he'd say. " Sorry, Bill. They are ALL green!" Since the eyes in the back of my head were shut I couldn't see where his finger pointed. I wanted to bite that finger. LESSON: Clairvoyance is not a skill set you can hire. Describe specifically what you want, andwhat you see. Bring people along into your vision. (5) Make others bail you out of the trouble you cause. As we circled the various islands, Bill would cast toward the shore. He has a good eye for distance but on occasion his line would snag the low lying bushes and I'd have to climb out and untangle the mess. One foot almost landed on the back of a monstrous rock that moved: a moss covered snapping turtle with a shell the size of a toilet seat and jaws that could break my ankle. I screamed. LESSON: You can be bailed out once. But for repeated errors, get out and do it yourself. P.S. Concerned about workplace violence? Look at my response to a person I deeply love. Consider these lessons VERY carefully. (c) 2004, McDargh Communications. All rights in all media reserved. Reprints must include byline, contact information and copyright. About The Author Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE is head of McDargh Communications, a training and consulting practice founded in 1980. She's also an award-winning author, radio commentator, and on the Board of the National Speakers Association. Eileen can be reached at http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Evil, Hostile Grumpy Listeners? Think Again I hated Kyle Sisk*. A notorious bully, Kyle punctuated my grade school years with misery. BIG-3 Leadership! "Do what you do so well that they will want to see it againand bring their friends."- Walt DisneyWhat is your organization striving to achieve?- Big Profits? - Big Growth? - Big Stock Price? - Big Accolades/Recognition? - Some other Big Result?All of the above?Okay, just so we are clear - all of the above goals/outcomes are NOT bad things to experience. The Ten Commandments of Leadership A poem hangs on the wall at Mother Theresa's orphanage in India. For all who are called to lead, it is a great reminder of what we should do:1. Why the Squirrel Kept Winning! I had the good fortune (or misfortune depending on your climate perspective) of living in Minnesota for ten years. The Summers were beautiful, Fall was spectacular with the changing colors of the leaves on trees and winter was,?well, damn cold. Leadership Challenges: The Walls In Our Lives We have all experienced walls or challenges in our work lives. How you handle the walls may be a defining point in your leadership and your career. A Winning Choice for Leadership! "The only way to enjoy anything in this life, is to earn it first."-Ginger RodgersOne bad apple can spoil the bunch! As a leader, we cannot allow "bad apples" to interrupt our efforts toward achieving our goals. Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain! As the 'Great And Powerful Oz' once said to Dorothy, "Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain!" and as you know, appearances can be deceiving they are also one of the first things people judge others by. For instance, you recall the old saying 'Never Judge A Book By Its Cover?' well guess what - we still do!I know that might not sound too politically correct, but deep down we make snap judgements using exterior appearances and then spend our time trying to rationalize our 'gut instinct. Leadership: 9 Universal Laws 1. The Law of Authoritarian StyleAuthoritarian leaders lead by control and fear. Wanted: A Dictionary-Perfect Leader Answers are often before our very eyes or in front of our noses - particularly if we read the American Heritage Dictionary!Explore with me how some of the multitude of definitions for the word "leader" actually serve as a performance standard for leadership.Leaving behind the standard definition of "one who leads or guides", consider the second definition: "one who has power or influence". Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 6, Deadlocked Discussions Although a meeting is a vehicle for resolving differences, it can break down when the participants become mired in a disagreement.Approach 1: Form a subcommitteeAsk for volunteers from the opposing viewpoints to form a subcommittee to resolve the issue. The Leadership Vacuum In today's fast moving, ever changing, and highly competitive world there is a vacuum of leadership. More than ever our government, businesses, religious organizations, and our educational institutions need leaders. Steps to Becoming a Good Leader STEPS TO BECOMING A GOOD LEADER: 1. Develop a master plan. Weakness, Struggle, Fear, Knowledge, Growth, Courage, Leader Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most remarkable men in the history of the world. As a boy he wanted the boldness of his father. Leadership In The Zone! "You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do. Beyond Authority: Debunking the Top 3 Leadership Myths Have you noticed that across the business world people are recognizing that we are fast outgrowing the thinking and language of hierarchy, but we're also struggling to create a new, more collaborative future? The challenge for all is to figure out how to operate in this emerging paradigm-the one that our own efforts are helping to shape.As I work with top leaders in organizations and then, independently, the staff they lead, I'm frequently struck by the gulf that occurs between the two in the early stages of change. It Begins Like This Jonathan was drunk multiple times before ever completing elementary school; his father fed him bourbon so Jonathan would resist less while being sexually molested. On the night his mother was released from jail, Jonathan rode eagerly by his father's side to pick her up. Develop a We Focus And Not a Me Focus ____________________________________________"There's only one thing more contagious than a good attitude - and that's a bad attitude?Most bad attitudes are the result of selfishness." -John Maxwell - The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle. Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience Recently I attended Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience training. This was a 24 hour course starting Friday evening. In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action (Part 1) The ancient Greeks had a saying: "When Aschines speaks, the people say, 'How well he speaks,' but when Demosthenes speaks, the people say, 'Let's march against Philip!'".To get the best results as a leader, the people you lead should be saying in one way or the other after you speak, "Let's march!"When you speak to people as a leader, it's not what you say that's really important, what's important is the action people take after you have had your say. Choose Your Best Life: Where Are Your Choices Leading You? According to the dictionary choice means "to select freely after consideration, to have a preference for, to take an alternative and of high caliber." Based on this definition, I believe choice is the act of careful selection, identifying preferences and exploring quality alternatives that lead to freedom.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
