| |
| |
|
Leadership Information |
|
|
|
Four Obstacles to Exceptional Leadership--Part 1
"Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." -- Orison Swett Marden Every day leaders are faced with challenges to expand their thinking, overcome obstacles and embrace potential growth. It is my belief that leadership hinges upon the potential of success, not the possibilities of failure. Great leaders expand their horizons, challenge and invest in themselves and those who choose to follow them. As a coach, I am often asked "how can I become a more successful leader? There are four obstacles which prevent leaders from being effective. In this four part article series, we will begin to explore each of the four obstacles: 1. Guilt in Delegation 2. Failure to Lead from Your Impact Zone 3. Reluctance to Invest in Personal or Professional Development 4. "I Can Do It on My Own" Syndrome Each obstacle presents a different challenge to today's leader and offers a variety of opportunities for success and failure. Developing a better understanding of these obstacles and how to overcome them will better equip you for the fast changing world of today. The first obstacle we will explore is: Guilt in Delegation Delegation is a key ingredient in leadership and is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. Delegation is necessary for your success as a leader and is equally important to the development of those that chose to follow you. Why do leaders fail to delegate? Simply, many leaders do not play to their strengths because they feel guilty delegating. They spend too much time on tasks that would better serve the organization if they were delegated. As a result, they short change the areas where they can make the most impact. When you fail to delegate a task that you could and should, you find yourself in a situation that does effectively utilize the skills that you bring as a leader. You are too busy doing other things. In order to develop into an accomplished leader, you must delegate. Remember that: ? Each person is different. There may be individuals in your organization that would jump at the opportunity to do the tasks that you are reluctant to delegate. ? Everyone in your organization benefits when you delegate responsibilities that fall outside your core competencies. Thoughtful delegation will allow others in your organization to shine and allow yourself the opportunity to focus on your areas of strength. Often times it is both natural and necessary for young leaders to try to prove their worth by doing too much themselves. They want to set the pace, be a team player, and show that they can contribute in many areas. While it is true that they can show leadership by performing tasks that are outside their position, they are not truly impacting the organization in the best and most productive way. Delegation is a learned skill. What can you do to master this skill? Evaluate yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? In what areas can you operate that will make the most impact? Next, evaluate others. Take time to get to know them and find out what they enjoy doing the most. What are their strengths? What are the areas in which they could compliment you and through delegation would allow you to excel in leadership? Finally, how can you effectively utilize them? What can I delegate that will enable some else's strength? With this new knowledge, you can better embrace delegation. What and when should you delegate? First, create a time journal for yourself. This journal will provide a clearer picture of where you are spending your time. Once you have the journal, ask yourself these questions. 1. What am I doing that does not really need to be done? 2. What am I doing that could be done by someone else? 3. What am I doing that could be done more efficiently? 4. What do I do that wastes time? Second, delegation is a responsibility. As a leader it is your role to develop and empower others. Delegation: 1. Helps other grow 2. Establishes accountability & responsibility 3. Generates greater results 4. Creates pride and confidence for yourself and those that follow you Next, challenge your followers. 1. People rise to the challenge; let them 2. Be clear in communication. Delegate tasks in writing whenever possible and always include a deadline date 3. Give objectives, not procedures 4. Explain the relative importance of the task(s) Finally, stay the course. Certainly, there are times when it might appear easier and less time consuming to do something yourself; however, over the long term, taking the time to delegate, train or enable someone else is one of the most beneficial investments you can make for yourself and others. Ultimately, the strength of a leader is empowering others to obtain greater results. Anthony Mullins - Elite Coaching Alliance 2005 Anthony Mullins is the President and Coach for The Elite Coaching Alliance. He specializes in leadership development, business coaching, strategic planning, 1-on-1 coaching, facilitation, inspirational speaking and Christian based coaching. He is the author of the upcoming book "Leadership Links." Anthony can be reached by e-mail: anthony@elitecoachingalliance.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Two Vital Abilities Any Leader Must Have As a business owner, you are a leader whether you like it or not. Whether you like it or not you have to guide your group in order to expand your organization. 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. 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. In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action (Part 2) In Part 1, I said that leaders who can't have people take right action are ineffective, and I listed four of the eight ways of right action. In Part 2, I'll describe the remaining four ways. Leadership Success and its Greatest Barrier: the Law of Administrivia Years ago, a very wise, and often cynical boss of mine asked me for a definition of management. After reflecting on the question I proceeded to give him an intellectually careful and, I thought, accurate definition. Leadership Training Seminar - What Makes A Great Leader? At one point or another, we have all been either a leader or a follower. While both roles are equally important, a leader plays an instrumental role in providing direction for his/her followers. Leadership Styles and What We Need For the Future: By definition a leaders leads a team to take action in favor of the vision.The most well know methods for assessing leadership styles, such as DISC, have outlived their usefulness! Are leadership styles really captured in a neat questionnaire like DISC that measures Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness? Can we predict the leaders from the profile that DISC generates? Can we test great leaders and say people with the same profile will have similar success?It seems the answer is less obvious. 5 Steps on How to Set and Achieve Your Goals Which one is a goal? I will lose 15 pounds I want to run a marathon Quit smoking All of the above None of the above The correct answer is (5) - none of the above. The first three are wishes, not goals. 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. 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. Two Leadership Traps: How To Avoid Them and How To Get Out Of Them (Part 2) Here's how to get out of, or avoid, the "I need .. 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. 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. 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. Helping Others Develop Their Potential Most of us find ourselves in a position to help others achieve more of their potential than we realize. Sure, as leaders, supervisors, and parents we can see ourselves in that position; but the fact is that all of us are uniquely qualified to help at least one other person in our lives reach their potential. Blowing Your Own Leadership Horn There are two streams of competitiveness running through every organization. The first goes outward: It's the organization's competitive activities toward its competitors. Visions of Leadership Right about now, you've made the discovery that if you intend to push your company beyond its current plateau, you will have to change the way you relate to your work. You have doubtlessly concluded this next level mandates you to let go of things like hiring, product design, perhaps even day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past - and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What Kind of Leader Are You? You are a leader if someone is following you. This could be as simple as one person watching you and following your example and encouragement, to being a leader in your home, your community, your workplace or even your nation. The Death of Potential While reading my latest book on politics and economics, I came across a reference to a bible story called "Parable of the Talents'. In this story three servants are each give 'talents' (a monetary denomination used by the Greeks). Act on Some of the Facts Making any decision without having all of the information and facts beforehand can be very tough. I spoke with a young man recently and he told me that some of his professors had changed the rules on him in the administration of his classes.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2007 |
