Retail $32.95

(Oct. 1924 – Oct. 2024) 100th anniversary edition

Forewords by: Past International Presidents

Neil Wilkinson, DTM, PIP

Chris Ford, DTM, PIP (rip 2023)

Dedicated to my fellow Toastmasters’ leaders and colleagues around the globe. Toastmasters International ® celebrates its 100th year (1924-2024) of serving members in 148 countries. We decided to revamp and re-release an expanded In the Company of Leaders in support of this amazing organization and the ‘people’ who make it amazing reaching its 100th anniversary.

www.Toastmasters.org for more information on a club near you

Special dedication to my fellow Toastmasters Leaders, PIPs Chris Ford and John Noonan who we lost in 2023. Both men played a helpful role in my Toastmasters leadership journey. Dedicated to my good friend Neil Wilkinson, PIP, who kindly penned our foreword for this celebratory edition.

Dedicated to my fellow ‘student’ leaders around the globe who invest their time, skills, and, in some cases, their personal lives in the quest to equip those they lead to grow and to win. They may not realize it, but they do and will continue to

make a difference! Kudos to my fellow Accredited Speakers for their insights, friendship, and support over the years. They too have made a big difference in my life and even more so in our evolving Toastmasters organization.

Abbreviations and acronyms

PIP: Past International President

PID: Past International Director

PRA: Past Region Advisor
AS: Accredited Speaker
DTM: Distinguished Toastmaster
CSP: Certified Speaking Professional
CPAE: Council of Peers Award of Excellence
HoF: Hall of Fame

SoC: Spirit of CAPS recipient

DG/DD: District Governor/Director
GSF: Global Speakers Federation

A few that you might not have known.

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

Foreword

by Neil Wilkinson, DTM, PIP

Who should read this book?

In my view, here are the A,B,Cs to consider. 

A) Anyone who is currently in a leadership position. 

Why?

This book helped me with new ideas and inspiring quotations even though I have served as a leader for over fifty years.

Why?

For me and I hope for you: 

It will reinforce that some of the things you’re already doing are right, giving you further confidence to carry on with increased vigor. 

This excellent book provides you with new and unique approaches to the same ideas you may be implementing now. Employing a new twist can make your mission even more interesting and exciting, leading to a greater possibility of success for you and those you serve. 

I believe that you do not have to read very far into this book before you pick up some superb new ideas that are worth serious consideration to help you ramp up your productivity. 

B) You should read this book if you are not currently in a leadership position.

Why? 

You know the time is coming when you will gain a promotion, an appointment, or in some cases have no choice because it’s your turn, and your duty to step up. It could be very painful for you if you are not prepared. 

If you are currently actively seeking a leadership position.

Why?

You know you need to display the fact that you know what it takes and are already in some ways doing what it takes. It helps you tremendously if you are seen as already acting as a leader in waiting.

This book gives you great ideas and programs that you can implement now, making it easy for people to select you instead of someone else. 

C) You should read this book even if you never want to be a leader.       

Why?

We all have a boss or manager, who, from time to time, will need our support and understanding. Being a leader is not as easy as it looks. This book will give you some insights into what they’re trying to accomplish, why they are doing what they are doing, and how you might better assist them to achieve success to your credit.

Also, you will have a quiver full of better ideas and solutions, especially if you keep this book close at hand. You just need to make sure the timing is right. 

EXECUTION 

As outstanding as this book is as a leadership guide, it won’t help you at all if you are not a superb executioner. 

In this context, I chose the Oxford dictionary definition, which says “Carrying out or putting into effect a plan, order or course of action.” I would add, which results in your objectives being realized.

A business partner who was involved in many businesses during his career said he rarely saw a leader who was able to execute well. He went on to tell me that I was one of the best he had ever been in business with; he then asked me what my secret was to being a successful executioner. 

My answer was simply “perseverance.”

I learned this initially from my father who was involved in a study with Canadian General Electric to determine what was the number one characteristic of a successful salesman. The answer was (you guessed it)

…PERSEVERANCE. 

A recent Edmonton Oilers National Hockey League game that I was watching provided me with an example to share with you. An Oiler was streaking past the blue line with the puck where he ran into three opposition players who checked him high and low while trying to poke the puck off his stick. He fought them off and got through to the net to score a spectacular goal. The announcer explained that if you just keep your skates moving no matter what, good things can happen. It’s the importance of always making that second effort, he said.

The phrase “make that second effort” initially came from National Football League coach Vince Lombardi. You wouldn’t last long on his team if you did not persistently, make that second effort. It became such a powerful motivational tool that they made a movie starring Lombardi called Second Effort.

In the book Automatic Habits, James Clear wrote: “There will be days when you feel like quitting. When you start a business, there will be days when you don’t feel like showing up. When you are at the gym, there will be sets that you don’t feel like finishing. But stepping up when it’s annoying or painful or draining to do so, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an amateur. Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in their way.”

In the locker room of my high school football team at Lawrence Park Collegiate, there was a poster that said, “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.”

Dr. Ralph Smedley would not have founded Toastmasters one hundred years ago if he had not made the second, indeed, the third effort. The first 2 clubs he started failed. The last one started a movement that now sees supportive, energetic members and clubs in over one hundred and forty countries.

If he had not been persistent, Bob Hooey, myself, and millions of other people would not have had the opportunity to become better communicators and leaders, leading to a happier and more fulfilling life for themselves and those around them. Toastmasters gives you the confidence, courage, and skill to overcome any communication and leadership challenges and move forward with superior execution. It also teaches you when to change directions or even stop.

One of the harder aspects of leadership is knowing when to preserve, change direction, or even cut your losses.

You may now be asking: “How do I determine when it’s time to quit? Am I beating a dead horse?”

As Kenny Rogers sang in The Gambler, “You have got to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.”

Here are a few suggestions to help you to decide when to fold them.

When the absolutely ‘only’ option left to you is to break the law, or you are compelled to act without full integrity.

Physical safety is compromised.

You cannot speak the truth. People are losing trust in you.

If you find that you are trying to succeed in an endeavor where your natural skills and talents (what you are good at) don’t help you and you can’t find anyone to fill in your deficiency gap while always watching your back, then it’s time to fold them, in my opinion. This means the game is over.

However, science has confirmed that over the centuries, if your relatives have passed on characteristics, skills, and abilities that have already served you well; “It’s in my DNA,” we would say…

Then this book will confirm and add many helpful suggestions and advice for your continued leadership growth. It will help you persevere to a successful execution.

“In The Company of Leaders” which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Toastmasters International, will provide you with valuable and proven guidance for your own successful leadership adventure.

Proper execution with persistence will make it happen for you. In conclusion, if you are an experienced leader, a new one, or never want to be a leader, there is something of value in this book for you.

ENJOY 

Neil Wilkinson, DTM, PIP
Toastmasters International President 1993-1994

© 2024 Neil Wilkinson, DTM, Past International President, Toastmasters International.

Bob & Neil at Wildrose Toastmasters

Neil built his productive career as a successful salesperson, manager, and businessman (BARCOL Doors and Windows). He has leveraged his Toastmasters leadership experience to serve in leadership roles in a myriad of Alberta organizations over the years. He served as Board Chair for the Capital Health Authority 1996-2008. He was Officer of the Legislature for the Province of Alberta serving as Ethics Commissioner and Lobbyist registrar from 2008-2014. Neil served as board member for the Capital Care Foundation from 2017 to present – a wholly owned subsidiary of Alberta Health Services and one of the largest long-term care organizations in Canada. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 125th Anniversary Commemorative Medal from the Governor General of Canada in recognition of significant contribution to compatriots, community and to Canada. He was chosen as one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people in Alberta’s business community by Venture Magazine.

I first met Neil when he made an official visit to District 21(BC) early in my Toastmasters leadership journey. We got to know each other better when I moved to Alberta and joined Wild Rose Advanced Toastmasters Club. As I got to know him, my admiration grew. I have enjoyed his wisdom, insights and warm friendship over the years and consider it a privilege to have him pen this foreword. He is an inspirational leader for so many of us.

‘No matter what we do, if we are always guided by our shared values of respect,
integrity, service and excellence, we cannot go wrong.’

Chris Ford, DTM, PIP, BRIGADIER-GENERAL (Retired) (RIP 2023)

We lost Chris in 2023. In his memory, we decided to include this foreword he kindly wrote when we first created this work in 2008.

Leadership, leadership, leadership!

Foreword by Chris Ford, DTM

It seems that’s all we ever hear about these days, and all too frequently in the negative sense.

‘If only that company had some decent leadership’.

‘If only (some) politicians would take an active leadership role on this issue’.

‘Who’s going to take the lead on this project?’

These are questions we frequently hear, because, too often, there is a lack of leadership ‘out there’.

The world is crying out for competent leaders!

Whether you are talking about the world of industry and commerce, the world of government, the world of worship, or the world of family and community – the world is desperately short of leaders. And not just any kind of leader! This isn’t about leaders who are only it for the fame and glory of leadership.

On the contrary, the world needs leaders who will step up to the leadership plate because they genuinely want to serve others, they want to give back, and they want to shape the world they live and work and play in.

Where are you on your leadership journey?

Perhaps you’d like to get involved but aren’t sure where to start. Or maybe you have significant experience already as a leader and are looking for new ideas and insights or different angles on what you already know.

Two suggestions:

First, join Toastmasters, or if you’re already a member, make sure you get involved in our leadership track – learn some leadership theory, but more importantly put that theory into practice.

Second, read this book! Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey has brought together a great selection of leaders with diverse backgrounds, ideas, and insights. (Note: we’ve added some exciting new ones for this newest version)

Learn from the leaders who’ve ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt!’ Then get out there and lead!

Chris Ford, DTM, PIP (RIP 2023) Toastmasters International President 2007-2008

© 2008-2024 Chris Ford, All rights reserved. Included with permission of the author. Sadly, we lost Chris in 2023. He will be sorely missed for both his leadership and friendship.

Chris Ford, DTM, PIP, served in the Military Engineering branch of the Canadian Army for 35 years, retiring in 2001 as a brigadier general. After a few years of ‘semi-self-employment’ Chris returned to the Defense Department in 2006 and was the Director General of Alternative Dispute Resolution. After his 2nd retirement he ran his own communications and leadership consulting business called, most appropriately, ‘Generally Speaking’ until he retired for the last time.

Chris Ford’s ‘other day job’ was President (2007-08) of Toastmasters International, the world’s leading organization teaching communication and leadership skills. A dedicated Toastmaster for well over 27 years, his theme for his year as president was: ‘Toastmasters: Shaping Ourselves… Shaping Our World!’ He successfully completed his term of office in August 2008. He made a difference to Toastmasters across the world. He certainly did in mine. Sad, he didn’t live to see this 100th anniversary issue, but he was pleased we were doing it though.

Bob and Chris at SOS Toastmasters

Table of Contents

Foreword

by Neil Wilkinson

Leadership, leadership, leadership!

Foreword by Chris Ford

Table of Contents

As we begin

Creative Lead, Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

SPEAK

Charlotte Kemp

Leadership and Culture

Joe Calloway

15 Characteristics of Great Leadership

Michael A. Aun

Peter Kossowan, PD42G, DTM Leaving a true legacy of leadership

Mabuhay!

Lloyd A. Luna

Leadership in a Changing World

Paul Bridle

Unexpected leaders that leave a lasting impression - Guinness World Record holders do more than break records

Greg Gazin

The Tensions of Leadership

Patrick J. McKenna

Leadership That Lasts

Wayne Cordeiro

What is Leadership?

Andrew Bryant

WWII and the differences in ‘leadership’ (Sept 1, 1939 – Sept 2nd, 1945)

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

LEADERSHIP & AWARENESS

Brahm Memone

Leadership Lessons Learned from a Club Officer

Tom Hollinge

Staying Effective Amid Chaos

Rochelle Rice

A Leadership Question: What’s Happening to Kindness?

Lou Heckler

The Three Questions of Differentiation-Based Leadership

Michel Neray

Leaders are most powerful away from the spotlight

Marc Haine

The simple truth about effective business leadership...in just 3 minutes!

Donald Cooper

Ten Principles of Motivation

Nido Qubein

The Best Boss I Ever Had

Vilis Ozols

How to Become a Great Leader

Wayne Lee

Looking for Great Leadership: Look in your own back yard

John Reinhart

The Heart of a Leader

Sheryl Roush

Basic Leadership Tools

Dale Collie

Be More than a Manager: Learn to Lead

Mark Sanborn

Listen with your Heart

Anne Barab

My Leadership Journey

Marjorie Brody

Leadership Lessons I Have Learned... Or Wish I Had Learned Earlier!

Chris Ford

History tends to repeat itself

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

Presence and Leadership

Stephen McGhee

Ethiture® - Where Ethics and Culture Merge Ethical Standards and The Culture You Create

Stephanie Angelo

Reaching for a Lower Level of Leadership

John Blumberg

Self-Leadership Skills – The Base Required for Success

Jim Cathcart

Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback

Marshall Goldsmith

Leadership skills are changing; are yours?

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

Must Have Strategies for Influencing Others to Take Action

Stacey Hanke

Take The Lead In Work Life Balance Ease The Pressure – Lighten The Load

Patricia Katz

A Recipe for Excellent Leadership

Steven Iwersen

Everyday Leadership

Janet Lapp

Leaders Rock!

Mark LeBlanc

The Power of Vulnerable Leadership: Embracing Strength, Resilience, and Leading from Among, not from Above

Andy Lopata

When did we stop talking?

Linda Maul

Lessons for Leaders from the highest mountains

Eileen McDargh

Take it From the Top, When Targeting Prospective Corporate Clients

Nancy Michaels

I’m doing well… really

Dr. Larry Ohlhauser

They Shoot Managers Don’t They? Managing the Leadership Tensions

Terry Paulson

It’s the Culture! You Can Deliver Amazing Results

Randy G. Pennington

The WIIFM in (Leadership) Coaching

Sid Ridgley

Taking Personal Responsibility

Brian Tracy

A Common Leadership Challenge: Balancing Positional Power and Personal Power

Dilip Abayasekara

Focus on the Result, Not the Excuse

Steve Chandler

The Power of Clear Performance Standards

Paul Cherry

12 Key Strategies for ‘Bringing Out the Best in People

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

A Time for Inspiration

Patrick J. McKenna

Heroes Not Welcome

Joe Sherren

Value-added Leadership From Opinions to Results in Challenging Times

Cy Wakeman

Bad Boss: Learn How to Manage Your Manager

Jim Clemmer

Leadership for the 21st Century

Joyce L. Gioia

The new manager: surviving and thriving in a new position

Barbara Khozam

Using Change, Knowledge, and Communications to Maximize Organizational Capacity

David A. Larson, Sr.

Don’t Fire Yourself, Promote Yourself!

Jim Manton

Leadership: A powerful differentiator

Jack Trout

Do Leaders Think?

Phillip Van Hooser

CARE Packages for the Workplace - A Leadership Style that Promotes Productivity, Passion, and Peace

Barbara A. Glanz

A few words as we part

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

Credits and Dedication

Copyrights and legal notices

What they say about Creative Lead, Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

Engage Bob for your leaders and their teams

‘The final test of a leader is that they leave behind in others the conviction and the will to carry on. The genius of a good leader is to leave behind a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.’
Walter Lippmann

As we begin

Creative Lead, Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, DTM, PDG, PRA,

Accredited Speaker, 2011 Spirit of CAPS recipient

Welcome to the ‘never-ending’ journey and evolving career and focus on personal leadership development. Changes in global perspective have placed a new focus and an increased pressure on finding and applying more productive uses of our energies, assets, and updating our own and our employees’ and team’s skills to compete successfully. These pressures also impact on our volunteer teams as we work to achieve our common goals.

The world ‘still’ needs ‘courageous’ leaders who are willing to step up and take their place in tackling these pressures and challenges.

Whether your leadership path is personal, as a volunteer, serving as an elected official, or is organizational (positional) you do and will make a difference!

Taking personal leadership in your own growth and success in that leadership role is worth the investment. This is where you apply leverage to dynamically succeed! This lesson applied even more this year as we moved into 2024.

Personal leadership – ‘The Power of One!’ leads to engaging the passion of many and allows you to walk ‘In the Company of Leaders’.

Too many leaders remain blind or distracted and ‘miss’ the opportunities and responsibilities of creating and nurturing those who would follow them.

Too many miss the opportunity to play an ‘active’ part in the selection and growth of those who would succeed them.

“Leadership at its ‘best’

is about developing other strong leaders.”

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey © 2000

There is increased acceptance for using personal leadership and coaching in the workplace. In the past, coaching had been regulated or known as a ‘remedial’ method of helping employees improve a ‘sagging’ or ‘deficient’ performance. It still has a ‘valid’ use in these skills enhancing and supportive areas. Wise leaders know when to apply it for this purpose.

In recent history, workplace coaching has a new leadership focus. Leading edge employees, managers, volunteer leaders, and executives have been experiencing positive results from enlisting the help of a leadership coach to help them improve in specific areas or to achieve specific goals. People have been going ‘outside’ the corporate arena and enlisting or recruiting personal or leadership coaches. They want to change, to improve their performance, and to enhance their ability to win! Perhaps you are one of them? Hint: Select a coach/mentor who has actually been a successful leader!

Many world leaders, executives, and managers have also seen the wisdom and a positive return on their investment of time and resources in training and coaching their employees, teams, and future leaders for ‘optimal’ results. Things are changing in the boardrooms, on the sales floors of businesses, and in organizations around the world. Some, I have experienced firsthand.

Think of our collection of top leadership experts as your ‘personal team’ of leadership success coaches and advisors. Their combined wisdom provides ‘proven guidance’ for your leadership success journey.

‘Each’ is committed to helping you become a better equipped, inspired, and more powerful, impactful leader.

Our intention with this leadership enhancing publication is to provide a variety of perspectives, expertise, and experience in leadership that each of us can draw from (a well of wisdom, if you will) in our own quest to either, claim, enhance, or hone our respective leadership skills. These leadership skills will help in our Toastmasters Clubs and in corporations and professional associations around the globe.

Leadership success is an educational journey where you learn-on-the-grow. As someone once said, ‘For the leader, school is never out.’ Leadership is a learn-as-you-grow proposition. You garner first-hand knowledge from reading and interacting with other leaders. You anchor it and prove its value in the field, working with real people.

The ‘Legacy of Leadership’ you choose to ‘lead’ is founded on those lessons and the interaction you’ve had with the people you were leading, as well as those who have invested in your own leadership journey. Leaders help other leaders grow. ‘Leadership at its ‘best’ is about developing other leaders.’ This concept is what motivated me to enlist the help of these amazing authors and leadership experts to create ‘In the Company of Leaders’.

Our desire is to invest in your leadership growth and to help equip and inspire you to succeed in your leadership journey; to help your teams through your enhanced leadership skills. The world needs more committed and courageous leaders. Will you step up?

Apply this wisdom, insight, and knowledge as a resource guide for your own leadership growth. Apply it, as well, as a personal success guide to engage and equip other leaders who will take on increased personal leadership in their own lives.

People experience problems and challenges in their performance for four major reasons: Unfortunately, many of these reasons can be traced back to ‘poor’ or ‘uninspired’ leadership. Each can be overcome with your help!

Poor or inadequate training

Inadequate equipment or support services

Time constraints and poor time management

Motivation (or lack thereof)

‘Leadership is a choice, not a label.’
Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, Past Region Advisor

Many successful 21st Century leaders are moving into the coaching role as an effective leadership skill in helping their teams grow and succeed.

Leadership coaching in its essence will help you discover the area(s) which are acting as roadblocks for the person being coached.

Leadership coaching can help you turn roadblocks into stepping-stones for increased success, productivity, and a real sense of satisfaction on the job or in any group.

Leadership coaching can bring you a sense of satisfaction as the coach, too… in bringing out the ‘best’ and in seeing your people grow and win!

One of the most important aspects of your leadership growth and continued success is measured by the investment in your team and the results
of those efforts.

The wisdom of our leadership experts, when applied, will help your quest to equip and motivate your teams to grow and to succeed.

Enjoy this publication and apply its wisdom to your personal leadership journey. Let us know how you liked it and where you were able to apply it:
bhooey@mcsnet.ca

‘You win when your people win!’

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

‘Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times,
develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.’
Unknown

SPEAK

Charlotte Kemp, 2024 President, Global Speakers Federation

At the risk of introducing myself in a way that sounds too self-promoty, (I’ve been told that’s a real word), I am the current (2024) President of the Global Speakers Federation. In the professional speaking world, there are many awards and certifications that speakers can earn, but few people have had the privilege of holding this leadership position. 

Why do I tell you this? Because I want to demonstrate how Toastmasters was integral in helping me to achieve the standards of success I currently enjoy; and how you too can achieve your own version of success through this amazing program.  

When I was in high school and wondering what my future career might be, I somehow knew it would involve public speaking. So, I joined the debate team and entered an inter-school public speaking competition. I could share the whole sad story but as speakers I am sure you can fill in the blanks with your own experiences. It went bad, really bad, and then I fainted! And that was not the last time this now international speaking professional fainted in front of an audience. 

I have always enjoyed leadership roles; but at this stage of my life, looking back, I wonder how many times raising my hand to help didn’t actually harm the groups I was leading. I was not always a good leader. It is only by having that intentionally reflected to me that I have determined what kind of a leader I want to be: how I want to work with people in my team; how I consider advocacy for my group; and what my ethics are about both speaking and leading. 

Toastmasters played a crucial role in my development as a leader and as a speaker. I would not be enjoying certain successes now if I had not had the support and feedback from Toastmaster friends and if I had not considered the program and content path that I followed. 

Here are my few observations, summarized in a handy acronym of SPEAK.

Strategic Communication

The goal of both speaking and leading is to transfer a message. The message may be encouraging, supporting, or demanding urgent action. How we communicate that in a way that is memorable, and motivating requires some skill. Before we even work on delivery, we need to consider what the purpose is of that communication. We aren’t just making a speech or having a leadership meeting. There must be a strategy behind those actions to make them worthwhile. 

Positioning

It is a feature of how people think that we often ascribe an Authority Bias to the person who is standing and speaking. We think that they know more or have more experience than we, the audience, have. 

While we don’t want to abuse this power, it is the reason why good leaders should develop good speaking skills. We can connect better, communicate more effectively, and persuade authentically from a position of authority from the front of the room.  

Empathy

Whenever we engage with other people, and especially when we are speaking from the front of the room, a cognitive bond of empathy is created. Our cognitive processes begin to consider how the other person is speaking and what they are thinking. Our affective / emotional processes relate to how the other person is feeling and embraces body-language, non-verbal cues, emotional intelligence, and compassion. 

This is why in Toastmasters, when a new speaker stands up and has trouble saying their speech, there is no condemnation in that room. Speakers feel the compassion of the audience, and the emotional support and the patience for this person to take as long as they need to on this stage of their journey. 

That incredible empathy that flows both ways between Toastmaster speaker and Toastmaster audience, is also seen in other audiences. If we understand the extent to which our audiences automatically create an empathetic response to us, then we can use that to engage with them and bring them a message of deeper value. 

Audience

Arguably the most important part of a speech is the audience. Without anyone to hear and respond, we are simply talking to ourselves. When we stand up to speak, we are not just using one hour of our time to share. That hour is multiplied by the number of people in the audience.

And whether that means 10 hours of value or 100 hours of value, the fact that the audience has graced us with their time and attention is a gift of extraordinary value. In leading in speaking, and in life, let’s make sure we add value to other people’s time and not rob them of it. 

Key message

There is a purpose to communication and the clearer we are about that purpose the better we will be in transmitting that key message in a way that connects to the audience, means something to them and maybe the stimulus for action on their part. From laughter and joy to data and information, to motivation and hope, our key message should be clear in both our spoken message as well as our leadership style. 

None of these skills or insights come to us automatically. We need to make a few mistakes to understand that there is a better way to speak or to lead. We need to have had a little experience before we can appreciate the wisdom of people who have gone before us and left lessons in their wake. That is why I am forever grateful to Toastmasters and the many opportunities I was granted to do bad speeches, to make leadership mistakes and to communicate poorly. The safe space to make mistakes and then grow and develop is the reason I can lead with confidence today. I wish the same for you. 

© 2024 Charlotte Kemp, www.futuresalchemist.com 2024 President Global Speakers Federation. With the kind permission of my friend and fellow leader.

‘A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.’
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

‘Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leadership and Culture

Joe Calloway, CSP, CPAE, from The Leadership Mindset

It’s been said that a manager’s job is to be sure that the organization is functioning as it is designed to, and that a leader’s job is to remind everyone of who we are. Culture is who you are expressed through how you behave with each other and everyone else. Culture is your shared values. It’s both the foundation and set of guidelines for everything that you do. If you get your culture right, meaning that if everyone is in alignment and intentional about upholding your values, you significantly increase your odds of success. If you don’t get culture right, then it’s not going to work. Your culture can be your greatest competitive advantage, or it can be an obstacle that is always in your way.

You can’t not have a culture. The question is whether your culture is intentional and by design, or whether it simply emerged with no rhyme or reason, tends to be situational, and is purely defined by the behavior of strongest personalities in the organization. But, rest assured, you have a culture. Does it work to advance your strategy and your cause in the interest of your ultimate purpose, or does it get in your way?

Culture only works to your advantage if it is lived by everyone in the organization and made real by the leadership. Let’s look at some examples of effective cultures that are brought to life by effective leaders.

One of my clients was a bank that had a culture value that stated simply, ‘We are a team.’ I attended a reception the bank was hosting for its biggest commercial customers. Attending the reception from the bank were senior executives and a range of employees. I was with the CEO of the bank when he introduced one of the tellers to an executive from a customer company. The CEO didn’t say, ‘I’d like you to meet Linda, a teller at the bank.’ Instead, he said, ‘I’d like you to meet Linda, one of my colleagues at the bank.’  

‘One of my colleagues.’ By putting it that way the CEO expressed a level of respect for that employee as his fellow team member. That was who the CEO was. He felt that all of the bank’s employees were vitally important members of the team, and he treated them that way. Not surprisingly, that was the model of behavior that everyone followed. 

I was the main speaker at an annual leadership meeting for 500 store managers and assistant managers for a large midwestern grocery store chain. At one point in the meeting morning, I noticed about ten guys enter the meeting room with whom I guessed to be their wives. They stood at the back of the room, seemingly nervous and looking uncomfortable in their suits and ties. These were working guys, not executives. You could just tell.

Before the break for lunch, the CEO took the stage and said ‘And now we come to the most important part of this meeting. Could I have you gentlemen in the back come up on the stage and please have your wives come up, too.’ The vibe in the room got very serious as the group made their way up onto the stage. I could tell that something important was taking place, but at that point I didn’t know what.

The CEO continued by saying, ‘We all know that the number one value in our culture is that we care about people. We care about customers, we care about our communities, and we certainly care about each other. There is nothing more important than our people and their families. That’s why throughout the history of this company we have made safety our top priority. It’s more important than sales or profits or anything else. Today, as we do each year, we honor our truck drivers with the best safety records for upholding that value of people and safety. Nothing we do as a company means more than these men doing their jobs professionally and with utmost safety for themselves and others.’

As someone removed a cloth covering from a table of plaques and envelopes, the CEO went on. ‘It is my great honor to present each of you with our highest honor. This plaque honors your commitment to our value of safety and caring about people, and with it I also present each of you with a check in appreciation to you for who you are and what you do. You remind us daily of what matters most. We also are honored to have your wives here with you.

None of us can succeed without the support of others, and we recognize the important roles that you, the families of our best people, play in their success.’ With that, the CEO presented each truck driver with a plaque and a check, and congratulated the wives, as well. 

As this was happening, the 500 store managers and assistant managers stood together and gave those truck drivers one of the most enthusiastic, sustained, and sincere standing ovations I have ever seen.

This was a celebration and reinforcement of culture through ceremony, ritual, and recognition. Culture isn’t just an intellectual exercise. If I believe it and know it in my head, that’s one thing. But, if I believe it and know it in my heart, that’s quite another, and much more powerful. It’s a good and constructive thing to get emotional about what matters most. Great leaders know the cultural value of genuine goosebumps and even occasional tears.

I worked with the leadership team of a company that sold products direct to consumers via telephone and the internet. The company had about 20,000 employees, many of whom were involved in manufacturing and shipping. One of their culture values was: ‘Every job is mission critical.’

I accompanied the CEO on a ‘walking around’ tour of the company which was something that he did on a regular basis, when he stopped to speak with a woman whose job was quality control. She checked each order to be sure that it had been filled in correctly, and to check the products for any possible defects. This was the last step in the process before shipping.       

The CEO asked her how she felt about some recent changes that had been made in the vision and mission statements for the company. She said that they seemed fine to her, but that her job didn’t really have much connection to all of that.

The CEO seized on that opportunity to assure the woman that not only was her job connected to the company’s vision and mission, but that it was critically important to their success. ‘You are the last stop between our product and our customer. You are our brand. If the order is done right, then you’ve made the brand shine.

If it’s wrong, then that’s our brand to that customer. I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that our reputation depends on your job.’

The woman seemed to stand a little taller as she said, ‘Well, when you put it that way, I guess it is pretty important to the customer.’ The CEO responded by saying, ‘And it’s vitally important to us. Thanks for doing what you do and doing it so well.’

There are two contrasting lessons to be learned from that story. The good news is that the CEO took that obvious opportunity to engage with an employee and strengthen her connection with the company and its cultural value of ‘Every job is mission critical.’ The bad news is that the employee felt disconnected in the first place. What was going on with her supervisor? Why didn’t that supervisor create the connection, protect the culture, and keep it going every single day? 

Leaders too often mistakenly expect things to happen by memo, or meeting, or osmosis; instead of taking on the responsibility that things happen, good or bad, because of everyday, intentional leadership or the lack thereof. Lead is a verb.

At a meeting of five hundred sales reps for an airline, a series of executives spoke to the group about the state of the company, new initiatives, priorities for the coming year, etc. The last speaker of the morning was the national Vice President of Sales, and as he walked on stage, he received an enthusiastic standing ovation from his employees.

He told them to sit and said that they might want to take that ovation back in a few minutes. He had nothing but tough news for them. It was a classic case of ‘you’re going to have to do a lot more with fewer resources to work with.’ It was simply a hard time for the company and sales, in particular.

The VP didn’t pull any punches, didn’t try to sugarcoat anything, and he openly acknowledged the extreme difficulty of the challenge before them. He closed with words of encouragement and expressed his belief in them and his appreciation for all that they did. He left the stage with another, possibly even more enthusiastic, standing ovation.

It was a case of the obvious, but I had to ask. I talked with some of the sales reps as they left the auditorium on their way to lunch. I asked them why the VP got such an ovation after delivering nothing but really tough news. The answer was the same from everyone. They said that the VP unconditionally respected every one of his employees, and that he was always completely honest and transparent with them about what was going on. They always knew where they stood with him.

In return, they said that he expected them to be respectful of each other and everyone else in the company, and to treat customers and vendors with that same level of respect. He also expected complete and total honesty from them. They said that they could tell or ask him anything.

In this company, at least with the employees of this VP of Sales, culture was very real. It was how they lived and worked together day in and day out. Their culture of respect and honesty didn’t have to be looked up in the company handbook. Everyone could see it playing out right in front of their eyes. That’s leadership! 

The vitally important point that I want to make here is that I’ve seen too many companies in which ‘culture’ was a synonym for ‘poster on the wall.’ It was a list of qualities or attributes, or feel-good thoughts written so leadership could check it off of their list of things to do. Their attitude seemed to be, ‘Culture? Oh sure. We’ve got it written down and we pull the poster out at a meeting every now and then.’

Your culture is who you are. Your success or failure as an organization depends, in great part, on the strength of that culture. I go back to my original question, ‘Is your culture intentional and by design?’ 

© 2024 Joe Calloway, CSP, CPAE, Legends of Speaking Hall of Fame www.joecalloway.com All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend.

‘The house we hope to build is not for my generation, but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology.’

Ronald Reagan

15 Characteristics of Great Leadership

Michael A. Aun, FIC, LUTCF, CSP, CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame

Leadership goes beyond ‘just’ management.

Let’s look at some of the common characteristics that seem to underlie the common successes of great leaders.

Quite a few years back, while traveling in Europe, my wife and I found ourselves right in the middle of the conflict between the United States and Libya.

We had just entered West Germany, when a suspected Libyan terrorist blew up a pub, killing several Americans. Several days later, just as we were arriving in France, the United States responded by strategically bombing Libya.

While in France, I listened as 80% of the European world criticized (then) President Ronald Reagan for the retaliation. It occurred to me that the price of Mr. Reagan’s leadership must have truly been loneliness. (Editor’s note: Mr. Reagan passed away on June 5, 2004)

As we flew on to England, the criticism had grown, this time aimed at (then) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. According to the Gallup poll taken that day, 65% of her own people leveled some of the harshest criticism on her administration for allowing the American bombers to fly from England’s shores. The French, who refused our request for help, were praised for their so-called restraint. Mrs. Thatcher, that gutsy lady who made a courageous decision, was, instead, rebuffed by her own people. (Editor’s note: Mrs. Thatcher passed away on April 8th, 2013.)

In both cases, ‘responsible’ leaders made bold decisions in what they ‘perceived’ was the best interest of their people. Neither won the popularity contest; yet both, given the opportunity to decide again, would probably make the same decision today.

Some Common Misconceptions: There are two major misconceptions in North America today concerning leadership.

The first is that many people confuse leadership with management. They are not the same! Leadership is a deeply rooted philosophy. Management is the appropriation of certain skills to complete the tasks one faces.

The second misconception is that people are born with the skills necessary to succeed. They aren’t necessarily born with any skills. Skills are developed and learned. Leadership is all about developing those skills to their maximum level of efficiency in an organization.

As a ‘student’ who has researched habits of successful leaders, I have concluded that these people have several things in common. Whether by design or accident, it matters not. Successful leaders, both great and ruthless, have several identifiable characteristics. Here are just a few:

Great leaders gaze into life’s crystal ball

They have a vision for the future that is founded on a solid set of personal goals and business principles. They know where they’re headed in life. Often, that direction is clearly marked in a written format that includes several key ingredients.

First, they know how they want to feel after the game is over. They have the capacity to imagine themselves in ‘victory lane’.

Second, their objective is quite specifically defined. If they wish to lose weight, for example, they know specifically how much they want to knock off. If they wish wealth, they know exactly what it is that they desire to have.

Third, they place deadlines on themselves. In short, they make a contract with themselves, and they abide by cutoff dates.

Fourth, they clearly define the obstacles that stand in the way of the goal. Knowing what to overcome is half the battle.

Finally, they hop in, do it, adjust from failure, and do it again until they reach their objective - not by trial and error but rather by trial and success.

2. Great leaders are decisive

The old expression ‘ready-aim-fire’ might best describe the leadership philosophy among today’s current success stories in leadership. They make decisions and then live with the consequences. They’re risk takers who are determined to get the most from their company and their product. They know indecision is, in fact, decision. They don’t want critical decisions being left to fate, time, circumstances, or default. They want the right to decide, even if they fail.

3. Great leaders love to fail

They understand that failure is part of the ‘process’ by which we succeed. They know that a certain number of failures must accompany every success. The baseball hitter that’s hitting .333 is failing two out of every three times he travels to the plate. He earns over a million bucks a year. Yet the guy who’s hitting .250 only earns a fraction of that. Yet the difference between them is only one more hit in every twenty times at bat! As management guru Tom Peters puts it, people have got to learn to ‘fail faster’ to keep up in the changing business world.

4. Great leaders aren’t concerned about what others think about them

If leadership boiled down to someone taking a poll and deciding on what the majority thought at the very instant in time, then Mr. Gallup would be our president. Successful leaders don’t make decisions based on what’s going to make them popular. They analyze the situation and decide what’s in the best interest of the majority concerned. Many times, that decision is very lonely.

5. Great leaders subscribe to a set of standards on which they will not veer

One of the great hallmarks of Ronald Reagan’s Presidency was like him or not; you never had to question where he stood on an issue. For example, he never once vacillated on the issue of abortion. You knew right where he stood on taxation.

The lone wrinkle in the armor was his trying to bargain with the Iranians. Even that ‘high risk’ venture could have landed on its feet, as did the bombing of Libya, had all the pieces of the puzzle come together. He was within an ‘inch’ of being a hero.

This kind of hero/goat relationship is constructed on a foundation based solidly on a set of standards.

‘A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough.’
Ronald Reagan, December 5, 1990

6. Great leaders are honest

There used to be a time when the word ‘honest’ was considered sort of corny. Fairness and justice were never the issue - only profit.
Today’s great leaders have found it profitable to be honest. When some crazy sabotaged Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson didn’t say ‘It’s not our fault.’

Instead, they faced the issue head on, and this stands today as one of the great corporate leadership decisions of our time. Because they respected the rights of their customers so much, they were willing to take a short-term $100 million-plus loss for the benefit of staying atop the world’s corporate leadership. It was, in fact, the right thing to do for all the right reasons. Johnson & Johnson has rebounded nicely, proving again why it’s still one of the great corporations in the world today.

7. Great leaders expect a lot from their people

If you expect a lot, you’ll get a lot. Expect little and you may get even less. Coach Vince Lombardi had a tremendous capacity to get more out of his players than any coach in his time.

Ditto, Johnny Wooden, legendary Wizard of Westwood, who led UCLA to so many National Basketball Championships. Both these men knew how to get their people to be team players - a critical part of the formula or expecting more. Conversely, coaches like former Maryland mentor Lefty Drissel have been criticized for not getting enough, for never being able to win ‘the big one’. One ACC coach remarked about Lefty’s Maryland teams, ‘Never has so little been done with so much!’

8. Great leaders show what to do and how to get it done

They never expect their people to do something that they themselves would not do. If one’s philosophy is sound, then there’s never a question about the decision. That is best reflected in the attitude and actions of the leader.

9. Great leaders listen

When your people are crying out to be heard, they do so with huge billboards and almost literally flash certain signals to you. Both directly and indirectly they cry out ‘love me’. Show them some affection. They scream out ‘notice me’. Learn to pay attention. They say, ‘please recognize me’. Reward them for a job well done. Admonish them when their behavior warrants correction. Great leaders understand and accommodate the needs of their people.

10. Great leaders learn to love others

They sense the need to build others up, many times even at their own expense. They can fire you and make you feel good about the process.

The reason is they always deal with the performance and never the performer. Love the person, regardless of the person’s behavior. If their behavior is unsuitable, then speak to that, but never the performer.

11. Great leaders accept responsibility

They keenly seek the role of leadership because it carries with it the awesome burden of responsibility. They are not drawn to power, nor do they shrink from it. They see it as an incidental by-product of the leadership role. They always hold themselves accountable and never blame outside factors like interest rates or the stock market.

They understand that if you fail in school, it’s not the teachers who fail you; they just deliver the ‘bad’ news. If you fall behind in the marketplace, it’s not the market that failed you; it’s simply ‘reflecting’ your latest performance rating.

12. Great leaders are in a constant state of change

The trouble with the future is it ‘…ain’t what it used to be!’ Great leaders are in a constant state of innovation that forces them to look at old problems with new solutions. They view state of the art as a state of necessity. They spend thousands of dollars on training and working with their people. They adopt the philosophy that ‘You can’t have rabbit stew until you catch the rabbit.’ You can’t dispense information that you haven’t got. How would you like to be operated on by a surgeon who hasn’t been to school in ten years?

13. Great leaders are amazingly flexible

The October (2007) crash of the stock market brought the best out of many of yesterday’s great performers. Fate dealt them a severe blow. Many lost a fortune on Monday but began to ‘rebuild’ on Tuesday. They possessed flexibility and resiliency. They bend but never break. They give, but never completely. (Editor’s note: we’ve had several other examples since then.)

14. Great leaders have a charming sense of humor

They laugh at their failures and take their successes in stride. They take the light things seriously and the serious things lightly.

They constantly have fun, finding the genuine humor in the tragedy of the situation. They laugh at their shortcomings and accept them as part of the hand God dealt them. They possess an enthusiasm for life that transcends any problems they face.

15. Great leaders are committed

Quite simply, they persist in their cause with reckless abandon.

First, they believe in what they are doing.

Second, the word ‘quit’ simply doesn’t exist in their vocabulary.

Third, they have powerfully strong convictions about their cause and see their cause as a part of the bigger picture.

Fourth, they are self-disciplined beyond understanding.

Fifth, they are uncomplicated and hang tough through good and bad.

Sixth, they understand sacrifice.

Seventh, they enjoy the process of work.

Eighth, they have morals that they won’t compromise.

And finally, ninth, they subscribe to the theory, ‘If it is to be, it’s up to me.’ They know that the buck stops with them.

© 2008-2024 Michael Aun, CSP, CPAE, (www.aunline.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author and fellow Toastmaster.

‘Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.’ Jack Welch

I’ve recorded 80 plus leadership videos as well as other topics. Take a moment and follow this link to check them out and view.
https://www.youtube.com/@ideamanbob/playlists

www.SuccessPublications.ca to get your copy of Speaking for Success Expanded 10th edition

‘Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because
of their ability to empower others.’ John Maxwell

Peter Kossowan, PD42G, DTM
Leaving a true legacy of leadership

Picture courtesy Greg Gazin, DTM, PDG Taken on the presentation of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal to mark the 70the anniversary of her accession in 1952. Outstanding volunteers who made a positive impact on society were deemed eligible to receive the medals. We were proud of Peter’s well-deserved recognition.

My friend Peter Kossowan, DTM, PDG was featured on the cover with a story in the June 2016 issue of the Toastmasters Magazine for his amazing contribution to the lives of countless thousands of fellow Toastmasters, including myself.

At the time of the article, he had helped charter 164 clubs and shared some tips to follow in our own efforts. (Update 2024: Now over 172 clubs and at 93 he is still active in 3 of them as well as continuing to help others launch.) Inspirational!

I first met Peter when I moved to Alberta in the fall of 2000. I visited Wild Rose and immediately joined. Peter and I are still active in Wild Rose Advanced Toastmasters as well as the D99 Past District Governor/District Director council. He is a positive encourager and at 93, still extremely active as a leader and shining example of what a Toastmaster can be.

We call him ‘Mr. Toast!’ I’m privileged to call him my friend! We’ve traded advice, stories, speeches, coffees, and evaluations over the years. He has helped me both as a speaker, friend, and a leader!

We are fortunate to have a few former Toastmasters leaders in our Wild Rose Advanced Club who continue to serve and encourage us. People like my friend Neil Wilkinson, DTM, Past International President (recently honored for 50-yrs in leadership), Ken Tanner, DTM and Carol Blair, DTM, both Past International Directors. Leaders who freely give of themselves and lead a legacy of inspiration and encouragement.

Peter’s remarkable 54-year plus Toastmasters’ journey launched in 1970 and is a testament to his passion about community service and his commitment to our members. Over the years, he served in leadership roles in dozens of community groups in the greater Edmonton area, earning the respect of fellow leaders around the province. He is a wise man with a welcoming smile and a wealth of experience and connections to share. We are privileged to have him as an active member in our Wild Rose Advanced club.

As he said, He was invited to visit a Toastmasters club and saw the value in what Toastmasters could bring to improving his financial planning business by enhancing his listening skills and presentations.

Along the way he increased his sales-closing techniques… skills he certainly used to help charter the 172 clubs over the years. Wow, and I thought 15 was a lot. If you are ever a visitor in a Toastmasters Club and Peter is there, don’t be surprised if he invites you to join. 😊

When I decided to expand my Legacy of Leadership, I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to say thanks to my friend Peter who has been a shining example of leadership and service for so many of us in Toastmasters.’ I’ve added him to this 100th Anniversary one for the same reason. Thanks Peter!

© Excerpted from Legacy of Leadership by Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

If you want to enhance your ability to lead effectively as well as become a more impactful speaker, check out Toastmasters International® www.toastmasters.org

Steve Jobs

‘Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.’ Steve Jobs

Mabuhay!

Sgt. Lloyd A. Luna, Philippine Air Force Reserve

Leadership isn’t for everybody. So are the responsibilities that go with it.

We have heard way too much advice about leadership. I’ve heard and seen more than enough. I’ve seen leaders come and go because some make it and because some don’t. Leadership isn’t an exact science. There’s no timeline when you’ll get it right - or wrong. In other words, leadership, as in golf, is a lovely art of hit-and-miss. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. When you get it, people are happy. When you don’t, people are angry. Sounds fair? Definitely not!

What I can say is leadership isn’t a fair game. That’s why everybody isn’t cut to lead. Many can only follow because most people would rather choose to be safe than sorry. Leaders choose to be not safe and not sorry. They can apologize but they certainly don’t give up the fight. When things don’t go their way, they try to think of another way.

Leadership takes a leader in a lonely position. The reason is because not everybody is automatically on board when many things are not going well. It may be difficult to admit much less to imagine but leaders sometimes must be alone not because they deserve it but because leadership isn’t fair. Yes, it’s unfair.

Too many times, we see leaders projecting an image of joy and happiness. They do, and perhaps they must. That is regardless, if that is exactly what they feel or not. People can’t see leaders in their down moments. That’s why they choose to be alone. Concealing is one way to deal with it. And caving for a moment isn’t a bad thing at all.

We all get tired of something - or someone. When too many things have been said and done, we feel it’s better to just walk away and look at the other side because we can’t stand to see how ugly things have become between us and our people.

Trust me when I say, it feels good when you walk away. But that’s not without any promise of return.

Leaders walk away not because they deserve it - or because they are too selfish. Sometimes, people must lose sight of their leaders so they can be reminded of their leader’s value to them. Many times, overfamiliarity clouds the people’s judgment. That’s why we must distance ourselves every once in a while.

But not being at a certain place doesn’t mean one is gone forever. Leaders must learn to wait, too. People come to terms with reality differently. Some people take longer than others. In the end, they realize the value of someone who’s gone for a while.

I’m not someone who’s good at waiting. I hate to wait. I’m too afraid to see the end. So, I push. And then push some more. And push some more until I come to my breaking point. Worse, until I become broken myself. Sometimes, the damage is irreparable. Sometimes, it is fixable. But regardless of the outcome, wounds and scars can only hit closer to home.

But each waiting game is also an opportunity to heal and forgive oneself. That’s a good thing. We wait. We heal! We forgive - and hopefully forget with remorse, hatred, and resentment. Leaders make mistakes, but so do the people who follow them. To come to terms and mend the broken relationship is always possible.

What we say or do often reflects how we feel about ourselves more than how we feel about others. For someone who knows this can understand people who say and do things against other people. Perhaps that’s why being away can save the day.

At some point, we’ll go back and take the wheel again. Temporary stops are, well, temporary. And as I always say, ‘Just because someone stops doesn’t mean he quits forever.’ Pause is an important part of life. When someone pauses - either as a form of respect or something else - the person is only taking time. It’s not goodbye. And that person deserves appreciation for what it means to deal with pain in silence.

Leadership is a lonely thing. And it becomes even lonelier when you’ll have to deal with loneliness alone. But the upside is, one day you’ll see the light again. Hopefully, that’s the beginning of another life, try to make things right, and together take the same path. For an ending of a chapter is the start of another with the people you made promise you’ll wait until the bad days are over.

Waiting game is a difficult game. But can someone really win without being in the game? Your guess is just as good as mine.

© 2024 Sgt. Lloyd A. Luna, Philippine Air Force Reserve, Founder & Past President Philippines Association of Professional Speakers. Lloyd and I met originally when we were speaking for the French Speakers Association in Paris. That year I accepted his invitation to come and speak for PAPS in Manila.

‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.’ Lao Tzu

The names ‘Toastmasters International’®, ‘Toastmasters’ and the Toastmasters International emblem are ® trademarks protected in the United States, Canada and other countries where Toastmasters Clubs exist. They are used in this context, anywhere mentioned, for reference in this publication. Several authors, including its creative lead, who contributed to this publication, are proud and grateful members of Toastmasters International® Visit www.Toastmasters.org for information on this amazing organization and the communication and leadership programs available globally.

This publication was originally created as an e-book for launch and distribution following Bob’s leadership keynote at the 2008 TI international convention held in Calgary, Alberta. Bob Hooey, DTM, Accredited Speaker, Past Region Advisor has been an active TI leader for over 29 years. He served as District 21 Governor (1997-1998); served as D42 Executive leadership coach for 5 years; was appointed a Toastmasters International Brand Ambassador; and served as a TI Learning Master. He is a Past Region 4 Advisor (2018-2019). He credits Toastmasters with helping equip him for the leadership and speaking path he has followed to date.

Margaret Wheatly,

‘In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.’ Margaret Wheatly, Leadership and the New Science

Leadership in a Changing World

Paul Bridle,FIBC, FPSA, CSP

In years gone past the Matron ran the hospital in a near military style of ‘command and control’. These were the days when becoming a nurse or working in the hospital at any level was a ‘calling’ for most people who applied to work there. There was a passion, a dedication, and a commitment that made this more than a career. It ran deeper than just a job; it was something to be proud of. Being a nurse was a status within the community and the people who went to work in a hospital felt that they were making an active contribution to their community.

So, what has changed?

Over the years the world has changed significantly and many of the old values have shifted and even been forgotten. Nursing no longer has the same status in society and the systems and procedures have changed out of all recognition. One of the most ‘significant’ changes which created the single biggest impact on the service in terms of leadership style is probably the loss of the role of Matron!

‘But’ I hear many cry, ‘the Matron was a dictatorial and old-fashioned system of management that does not keep up with the modern world.’

This may be true. However, it is dangerous to dismiss the position without understanding the role of the Matron at ‘all’ levels. You see, the Matron may have run the hospital with an iron fist, and it was true that people at all levels would shake in their shoes at being caught out if the Matron arrived and things were not just right. After all, Matron had risen to the ranks and knew every angle and shortcut, every aspect of the job. She knew where the shortcuts could be taken, and it was not easy to ‘pull the wool over her eyes’.

Despite all this, and despite the appearance of being a formidable force, the Matron also did an amazing job of making people proud of the role they had and giving them a sense of worth and significance. It is this aspect of being a leader that was so important and got washed away with the proverbial bath water. The Matron understood that an important part of being a leader was the ability to get the best out of your people.

The Matron made sure that people understood that the position they held in the hospital was something to be proud of and to live up to. As strong as the Matron was at demanding standards, the Matron would also be the first to ‘defend’ her staff and ‘support’ them when needed.

Being a leader is about ‘gaining’ respect and integrity with your people. It is not about being liked and not about people agreeing with you. It is about people respecting you and your leadership ability. Matrons understood this and worked hard to make sure that people and society respected the role of the nurse or any other position in the hospital. Matron demanded that people have pride in themselves and the work they did.

In today’s world, who carries out that role? Many people working in hospitals have no idea who their leader is. Yes, they know who their ‘boss’ or ‘line manager’ is, but not who the leader is. Respect for the upper levels of Management tends to be relatively poor. The perception is that there are plenty of managers but not a lot of leaders.

So, what is entailed in being a leader?

One of the important aspects of being a leader is instilling a sense of pride in people about their job. Giving them a sense of significance, recognizing people’s strengths, and pushing them to be the best they can be, are ‘all’ a leader’s responsibility. Being a leader is about ‘creating a culture’ where people feel proud of their contribution and recognize the importance of their role.

What happens when ‘this’ leader does not exist?

In these circumstances people have a different attitude. They have a job and not a career. People go to work to make money and not to contribute to society or to fulfill a meaningful role. People don’t have a sense of responsibility but rather they have a sense of doing enough to get the job done.

When removing the Matron role from a hospital, the practical aspects of the job were distributed amongst managers but the role of being a leader was not clearly handed on. Hence nobody visibly pulls together a sense of purpose, sets the Standards and creates the sense of responsibility that is so necessary to get the best out of people. The role of the Matron as a leader seems to have vanished and was replaced by systems and processes handed down by faceless people who probably had no contact with patients or knew about the real issues within the health service.

There is another aspect of being a Leader that is little understood and rarely spoken about. A leader is good at ‘giving away’ leadership!

Being a Leader and giving away Leadership

The difference between these can be likened to the difference between being a friend and someone who is friendly. Being a friend is something you ‘are’ (not something you do when you have time). It is part of your being; it is about the way you are as a person in relation to the person who is your friend. Someone who is friendly is not necessarily your friend. They are friendly and you are friendly back, but that does not mean that you are automatically friends.

So, it is with being a ‘Leader’ and ‘Leadership’. Being a Leader is about you and the person you are. A leader sustains their ability to lead and works to maintain that relationship. Leadership is something you have based on your knowledge, skills, or ability.

For example, a team of people needs to go from point A to point B. The leader will appoint the navigator to guide the team. The navigator has the leadership role at this point. However, the team comes across a river and needs to get across. The leader will appoint the engineer to take the leadership role and the team will build a bridge under his or her leadership. Having crossed the river, the leadership will move to the person best fixed to give leadership to the team for the next section of the journey.

Throughout the journey the leader will remain the leader but will not necessarily have the lead role.

In some cases, the leader also has the technical ability as well as the position of being the leader. But even in these circumstances the leader will not necessarily have ‘all’ the technical abilities needed. Another example would be the surgeon in the operating theatre. The surgeon has the skills to do the job but needs the support of those around him or her. The surgeon cannot carry out all the functions in the theatre. So, the surgeon gives away the leadership to others while he or she remains the overall leader of the operation.

Real leaders are good at developing the leadership ability of others. They are constantly seeking to give people leadership when they are competent to take on the leadership role.

© 2008-2024 Paul Bridle, (www.paulbridle.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author. Voted Top 20 Most influential Leadership Gurus

Meet Irene Gaudet, my gracious editor and writing partner, also my amazing and supportive wife.

Irene spent most of her working life as a researcher and in part of that role writing and editing reports. She kindly started helping me with my books while we were dating and later when we got married.

I owe a good part of my success to her willingness to help and her skills in helping me craft and format my words for our readers. She is very much an active lead and partner in our publishing success.

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Margeret Mead

Unexpected leaders that leave a lasting impression -
Guinness World Record holders do more than break records

Greg Gazin, DTM, PD42G

What defines a great leader? Great leaders exhibit qualities such as passion, encouragement, motivation, inspiration, innovation, and unwavering commitment to their pursuits and when challenges arise, they overcome adversity, accomplishing incredible feats.’

When we think of great leaders, we often picture them behind oak desks in office towers or addressing large audiences. However, we don’t usually associate leaders with emerging from the pages of the Guinness World Records book. In fact, they may not even recognize their own leadership qualities. While their talents are undoubtedly impressive, it’s their demonstration of leadership that leaves a lasting impression on me and many others.

One such leader I had the opportunity to interview is Reverend Kevin Fast, a fifty-six-year-old resident of Cobourg, Ontario. He’s best described as a modern-day Popeye, holding a whopping 31 Guinness World Records, including his entry in the 2020 Edition for the heaviest aircraft pulled (male).

Fast admitted that his journey began as a curiosity. After watching a fire truck being pulled on TV, he called the fire department to request borrowing a fire truck for the same purpose. They agreed, and he pulled it 10 feet. This led the fire department to ask if he would do the same for fire prevention week. ‘We all have a fascination with strength,’ Fast reminisced.

While pulling that fire truck was pretty impressive, it was not a world record, so it set him on his quest to set one by pulling a plane.

He accomplished this feat on September 17, 2009, at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, in Ontario, Canada – but it wasn’t easy.

He recalled feeling ‘so afraid’ approaching the plane. To him, it was like a football field on wheels. Fast used up all his energy pulling the plane within the first 10 seconds. After nearly 45 seconds of extreme effort, it hadn’t budged.

At that point, doubts and fear of embarrassment crept into his mind. ‘People had flown in from around the world to see this.’ He was also concerned about what his wife might say. However, with his son and fans cheering him on, he decided not to give up.

He knew he had practiced enough and decided not to give up. Then, something happened. The plane started to move. ‘It finally cooperated,’ he said.

One minute and 16 seconds later he had pulled a CC-177 Globemaster III plane weighing 188.83 tonnes (416,299 pounds, more than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, 8.8 metres (28 feet 10.46-inches) for a new Guinness World Record.

Fast sees his accomplishment as a metaphor for life. Making an effort and using what he calls our ‘determination strength’, no matter how impossible the task may seem, might surprise us.

While Rev. Fast enjoys setting records – in fact he tries to set three every year, he has an ulterior motive: using this to raise money for charity.

Farthest Arrow Shot Using Feet While in a Handstand

The second person who has left a lasting impression on me is Brittany Walsh, also known as AcroBritt. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, she is a dancer, gymnast, former circus performer, and now a world record holder in acrobatic archery.

She’s featured in the Guinness Book of World Records 2020 for the farthest arrow shot using feet while in a handstand. She’s appeared on a segment of The Late Show with David Letterman – Stupid Human Tricks and has been immortalized with her own wax statue at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum.

AcroBritt describes the elegant process as balancing herself on two handstand canes, essentially two poles with wooden blocks on top.

‘I load my bow and my arrow in one foot, kick up into a handstand and draw my bow with my other foot, arch my legs over and aim at a target and shoot.’

Her accomplishment ‘started as a dare from a friend’ after he saw a picture in an old circus book. ‘I thought, he was totally joking,’ she laughed. But he wasn’t. He reminded her that she was a gymnast and told her, ‘You can probably do this.’

One day, bored, with nothing else to do they picked up a kid’s bow and arrow set from the local sporting goods store. After repeated attempts over a few weeks, Brittany began to grasp the trick. However, it took her two years to truly master the aim, progressing step by step.

That came, she said, from establishing a solid exercise routine, which consisted of warm-ups, balance and body awareness to control body flexibility and building up her body strength (especially in her toes).

‘You have to have a strong handstand and think about a million things while you’re doing it,’ she said, ‘including feeling the (heavy) bow in your toes while focusing on the target.’

During live shows she focuses on the task at hand and how she’s feeling, but also listens and connects with the audience.

‘It’s part of what I love and do, sharing my art and my passion with them.’

Preparing to set the world record helped her break out of her own shell. She was very quiet and shy growing up and never wanted to draw attention to herself and was always fearful of trying new and difficult things.

She now believes she is capable of more than she had imagined. ‘The worst thing you can do is not try and maybe have regrets in life.’

On March 31, 2018 at Creston School in Portland Oregon, Brittany shot her arrow 12.31 metres (40 feet 4.64 inches) for a new Guinness World Record.

Now sadly, in 2022 her record was surpassed, but her impression, just like Fast’s has stayed with me, nonetheless.

Valuable Leadership Lessons

Speaking with this amazing duo brought out three important leadership lessons:

When you feel the odds are against you or the task seems impossible – persevere.

Rev. Fast may have lost his energy when he started to pull the plane, but he committed to do it; Brittany took two years to perfect her shot, breaking it down into small steps, finding the energy within herself and harnessing the energy of those around her.

Be inspired to say YES to possibilities.

It’s so easy to be dismissive, to take the easy path and say no. Neither Fast nor Walsh had given up despite the odds against them. You’ll never know what you might be capable of if you never try.

As The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, once said, ‘You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.’ So, if you don’t give it a try, nothing’s going to happen, so at least give it a try.

Innovation and ideas can come from the strangest places.

Fast had his epiphany watching TV. For Walsh, it was from an antique book and a dare from a friend. For you, it could happen at work, at play, or even in your sleep. If you’re trying to reinvent yourself or revamp a product or service, don’t force it.

To be innovative, be open and aware of your surroundings. Be open to things that may be ridiculous or unachievable. Brainstorm, play games, even forget about it for a while. It may just come to you when you’re not looking for it. Remember the removable Post-It-Note came from the failure of a strong adhesive and the desire to bookmark tab in a hymn book.

If any of this resonated with you may find some inspiration in the Guinness Book of World Records. Additionally, you can listen to my podcast interviews (ToastCaster.com #122) with Rev. Fast and Walsh as well as Spencer Cammarano, from Brooklyn, New York, who has the most challenging, yet enjoyable task of being an Official Guinness Adjudicator. While she has not broken any records herself, her talent is indispensable for recording official records. You can hear about her experience and learn how records are set, as well as how the 4000 applications they receive per year are reviewed and judged.’

Since 2006 Greg has produced the award-winning Toast Caster Communication & Leadership Podcast (ToastCaster.com) and hosts and produces the Official Toastmasters International Podcast. (ToastmastersPodcast.com) Greg Gazin a.k.a, The Gadget Guy and Gadget Greg has been a serial entrepreneur; a syndicated Tech & Lifestyle Columnist, facilitator, speaker, blogger and author of Corey Outsmarts the Butterflies.

Copyright © 2024 Greg Gazin, DTM, PD42G. www.Gadgetguy.ca Included with the kind permission of my great friend and fellow leader.

‘Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. 'Here, open it, it's perfect. You'll love it.' Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They're risky. They challenge you.’

Susan Wojcicki (CEO, YouTube) 

‘Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather
by the presence of clear strengths.’ John Peter Zenger

The Tensions of Leadership

Patrick J. McKenna

The responsibility of being a leader should come labeled with a clear warning: This job could seriously change you and how you behave within your firm!

During the past couple of years, I have had the privilege, through my consulting, research, and interviews, to peek behind the veil surrounding the challenge of becoming a ‘new’ leader. From candid discussions about the stress involved in looking like you know what you are doing, and the huge time demands imposed by your colleagues’ requests, to feeling disorientated by the scale and scope of the leadership mandate, many quietly struggle with the various pressures that accompany their term in office. I discovered that the great majority of leaders, in any position of responsibility, are at their most vulnerable early in their tenure.

As a new leader you may be surprised to feel confused and indecisive just at the time you want to appear clear and strong-minded. You may feel overwhelmed and anxious just when you would far rather be seen as composed and dynamic. In fact, what I’ve discerned is that there are a number of what I’ll call ‘leadership tensions’ – the ongoing dynamics of the job that incumbents wrestle with, to effectively handle the job of being a leader. Among the many tensions, these are the top five:

Do I shake things up or do I preserve the status quo? (determining appetite for change)

Do I strengthen my bonds with people, or do I maintain distance? (developing working relationships)

Do I demonstrate that I know what to do or do I ask for help? (appearing knowledgeable)

Do I strongly influence the decision I want, or do I facilitate a consensus? (making decisions)

Do I focus on achieving results or do I accept a degree of uncertainty? (setting action priorities)

Each of us, when serving as a leader, has a natural predilection to favor one approach or the other; to gravitate to one extremity over the other.

Therefore, our preference as to whether to ‘shake things up’ or to ‘preserve the status quo’ is often ‘hard-wired’ into us, the result of experience gained before entering our current leadership position. What seasoned leaders come to learn is that the only way to navigate these tensions successfully is to try to manage both ends simultaneously.

Let’s look at each of these five tensions in turn.

DETERMINING APPETITE FOR CHANGE

Where do I shake things up and where do I preserve the status quo?

Your first area of tension as a leader is to obtain some sense of the direction your organization should pursue. That direction has a great deal to do with the performance you as the leader are charged with delivering. It also has a great deal to do with your people’s collective appetite for change. ‘Our dilemma,’ explained one new CEO, ‘is that we hate change and love it at the same time. What my colleagues want is for things to remain the same but get better.’

There are many questions that you could probably pose to your people to get a grip on the direction they want to go, but two are pivotal:

What are the critical things we need to change as an organization and why?

What are the most important things about our organization that we should be sure to preserve and why?

Some things to keep in mind:

As early as possible as a leader, you must get your people’s input into what they see as the preferable direction. Conduct one-on-one interview sessions – asking each of your managers the same questions to get their insights, solicit their advice, and see what themes emerge. Clarify what they want to see you ‘shake up’ and what they want to see you ‘preserve’.

It is wise to have your people see that you are genuinely engaged and willing to listen before you ever speak about where you think the firm needs to go.

Your interview goals:

Absorb information from your people

Define or confirm the firm’s key challenges

Establish credibility and win trust

Assess people’s appetite for change, and

Gather input for developing your strategic agenda for going forward.

Doing nothing but listening, for as long as you can stand it, is the most important thing you can do.

Ask yourself: How do I begin to make a difference? What do I want to make a difference about? Regrettably, some leaders accept unachievable missions and targets that are far too ambitious, while others become leaders and are told little about what is expected, other than ‘continue to make improvements. If you believe that the direction you are being asked to undertake is not achievable or able to be accomplished within the timeframe expected, make your feelings known as early as possible in your tenure.

DEVELOPING WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Where do I need to strengthen bonds with people and where do I need to maintain a distance?

In what circumstances will people follow you as a leader? Usually, for people to follow they need to have a strong relationship with you, they need to feel that they know you as a human being, and they need to feel a connection and sense of empathy for your beliefs, values, and stated priorities. Concurrently, these very same people need to feel that you have invested the time to really know and understand them and have a solid grasp on what they value and hold important.

Without a strong sense of relationship between you and your colleagues, great goals are impossible to set, performance cannot be sustained, major difficulties cannot be overcome, and new opportunities rarely get created.

Alternatively, there is also the danger that when a leader tends to lose their independence from their colleagues, they can tend to get identified with one cliché or coalition in the organization. At one firm recently we overheard one of the managers commenting that a particular proposition, while rather absurd, would likely get positive attention, only because the originator was a FOG. When we naively asked what a ‘FOG’ was, the individual responded, ‘Oh, that is an acronym for Friend Of Greg’ - the firm’s chairman.

The tension comes because if you emphasize keeping your distance from colleagues, you may create a sense of aloofness, potential mistrust, and encounter resistance when you try to get things accomplished. You may soon detect increased feelings of division within the firm.

Some things to keep in mind: Your colleagues are not interested in your title. They want to know if you care about them as a person; if you care about helping them solve their problems and enhancing their careers.

Consider building and maintaining relationships as a critical part of your leadership role. Remember that leading is always done with others, not to them.

Everyone wants a cheerleader; someone to believe in them, someone to help them maintain a can-do attitude. What can you do to let each of your people know that you believe they can become even more of a success?

As a leader, you will be under a microscope, you are being observed - your decisions, how you make them, whom you consult with, what you say, and the signals you send.) You will be barraged with phone calls and e-mails – with questions, requests, and advice. You may need some time to transform some relationships. Good leaders customize the relationship created to each individual.

APPEARING KNOWLEDGABLE

How do I maintain a balance between knowing what to do and asking for help?

When you are new to the function you are starting out with an enormous amount to learn. You soon find that the skills that made you highly successful in your former role are not necessarily the same skills that will now transform you into a successful leader.

If you come across as having all the answers, knowing what to do, and showing everyone how to succeed, you risk being seen as imposing your views, being uninterested in the opinions of others, and prone to antagonizing and irritating people.

Alternatively, if as a new leader, you are perceived to overdo ‘the seek help’ side of the spectrum, you may then risk being seen as lightweight and unsubstantial. Your peers may soon wonder if you are ever going to get around to adding any value.

So, the tension arises as you realize that you should not come across as a ‘know it all’. But, at the other end of this spectrum, your people will not be confident in the direction that the firm is taking unless you act as though you know precisely where the organization should be going, what it will encounter along the way, and what the destination will look like once it has been reached.

Some things to keep in mind: Heed the adage: He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, but he who doesn’t ask is a fool for the rest of his life.

Most people want the leader to succeed and will be willing to help you learn so that you can add value.

All learning challenges a person’s self-image. As a leader, you need to recognize that learning will mean that you will have to modify some of your viewpoints and certainties.

You will function more effectively when you have a confidant – someone that you can trust and confer with, who understands the joys and successes, the difficulties, and frustrations of leadership.

MAKING DECISIONS

When do I strongly influence a decision and when do I just facilitate a consensus?

Deciding who will make what decisions and how decisions will be reached is a fundamental leadership act. On the one hand, you know that your colleagues will likely take more responsibility for implementing decisions that they themselves have played a part in making. This argues for wider distribution and a consensus decision-making style.

On the other hand, you know that you must often reconcile the conflicting interests of appealing to those who don’t want to move too quickly with the market reality that opportunity windows don’t stay open forever. This argues for a quicker decision than obtaining full consensus might allow. Whether to influence or facilitate can be a function of organizational culture, leader personality, and situational dynamics. It shapes how your firm will operate.

Some things to keep in mind: Things can get very stuck with this tension. Of all the tensions noted, you may very well tend to identify most strongly with either influencing or facilitating as your preferred style. Research shows that what we are skilled at is what tends to get reinforced.

As a leader you will confront more complex situations than you may be used to and more complex than your habits are suited for. If you stick rigidly to only one (influence or facilitate) way of handling the situation you may become far less effective as a leader than someone who works at developing their skills in both decision-making formats. What is required, as with the other tensions, is an appropriate dosage of both influencing and facilitating.

SETTING ACTION PRIORITIES

How do I maintain focus on achieving results and remain accepting of uncertainty? As a leader, you are likely to want to achieve some impressive results during your tenure.

You will go to considerable lengths to achieve results since your sense of self-worth, personal reputation, and ultimately, your leadership legacy depends on producing measurable outcomes.

Your challenge is that you inhabit a world infused with uncertainty.

So simply being methodical and persevering will not necessarily guarantee that you get the results you want. As a leader, you need to have the ability to be comfortable with uncertainty, to live with it, and not to be fazed by it.

You don’t have to like living with a sense of uncertainty, but you must anticipate new developments, recognize trends, and understand change. As a leader, you must stay on top of information about the trends affecting your various business opportunities. Your future is directly linked to your ability to respond quickly and with flexibility.

Leadership is about credibility. Credibility requires confidence, certainty, and capability. Allowing others to see that you lack certainty can be dangerous in the real world. Once doubts about the leader’s certainty begin to form, they can be very difficult to repair. Every leader knows this and every leader fears it.

Some things to keep in mind: It is very human to stay with doing what is comfortable. Make a conscious effort to turn off the old tapes that are playing in your mind and be willing to let go of the past. The most effective way to minimize the intimidating effect of uncertainty is through planning. The more understanding you have of the likely-to-happen event, the less debilitating the change will be.

Knowing when to unlock from a declared position and advocate a new one calls for courage. Accept that you will not be 100 percent right in all of your judgment calls. And beware of the mindset imposed by your education and your ego’s need to be right. If any of your decisions turns out to be wrong, and they will, don’t confuse the business need to change direction with feeling that you are looking indecisive.

It is human to get discouraged at times. Sometimes your objectives may be criticized by others. Sometimes your goals may seem harder than you thought. There is always an element of personal sacrifice and a need to remain flexible. When unexpected events occur, the value of a leader with a high-faith factor cannot be underestimated. Expecting success to follow a period of change has a positive effect on the attitude of your people. It is a powerful motivator.

© 2009-2024 Patrick J. McKenna, www.patrickmckenna.com All rights reserved worldwide. Words of wisdom contributed by the author.

“There is no better classroom than to travel the world and talk to the people…”
Wayne Cordeiro

Leadership That Lasts

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

Senior Pastor, New Hope Christian Fellowship, Oahu

The differences between successful people and unsuccessful people are very small; but that which is very small, is very big!

Some lead in order to gain the position of leader. Others lead because they want to influence people for their good.

Some leaders love people, so they live to make their lives easier for them. Others love the potential that lies within people and agitate them in order to bring their potential to reality.

Some are satisfied when people recognize them as a ‘leader’. Others are satisfied when individuals begin to recognize the leadership within themselves.

The world is crying out for ‘authentic’ leaders who will not only lead by passion but who will lead by example. And this is where I want to stay for the rest of my brief time with you.

Recently, I was catching a flight from Delhi, India. It was a zoo getting through customs and getting a place in line to clear security was a feeding frenzy among famished lions. A 60-ish year-old American dressed in Monk clothes walked by pushing his luggage cart. His head was shaved and under each armpit was a crutch. He wasn’t using them mind you. He just carried them as he walked.

Behind him a young monk girl with enough piercing to convince anyone that she had barely survived a fight with a stapler, followed closely. He opted out of standing in line with the others and instead brashly pushed his cart, crutches, and girlfriend, to the head of the line. Just then, the man in front of me barked, ‘Hey, get in the back of the line.’

At that, the monk raised one of his crutches as if to remind us that he was entitled to cuts because he had a ‘handicap’ as part of his luggage. ‘I don’t care,’ the grumbler shot back. ‘Get in line!’

The Monk returned fire and exploded an expletive loud enough for all to hear … but one that I won’t repeat. (This is a ‘G’ rated chapter on leadership.) I laughed quietly under my breath thinking, ‘We live in such a dysfunctional world that inconsistency in leadership is normal.’

You can teach what you ‘know;’ but ultimately you will reproduce what you ‘are’.

That is the bottom line of leadership legacy. We determine the shelf life of our influence by the depth of how consistently we live out what we teach. Incongruent living is the curse of leadership in America. Inconsistent leadership may convince; it can even sway. It can persuade and even convert … but in the long run, it will not last.

We need leadership that lasts and that only comes with leaders who are genuine, clear to the bone.

Here are a few leadership essentials for those who will last:

Leaders who last live for a cause bigger than ‘leadership’.

By that I mean leadership is not an end in itself. It isn’t even the cause. Changed lives are! For me, as a pastor, it’s eternally changed lives! If being a ‘leader’ is your goal, you’ll cut to the front of the line, and you’ll use whatever crutch you can find to help you get there.

Leaders who last are those who can give credit to others.

Everybody needs encouragement and value, but when it is something, we crave, we will do anything to get it and whatever we get, we keep. That is the definition of greed; ‘Keeping everything you get.’ Learn to give credit away and include others in your journey.

Leaders who last live the same 5 to 8 as they do 8 to 5.

Who we really are is not found under the spotlight. It’s who we are in the shadows: who we are at home, at the grocery store, at the crowded airport. If you really want to know who I am, ‘ask’ my wife and children!

Leadership can become a fad for a decade, a buzzword for book sales, and a mantra among corporations. Or it can be a reality that we’ve come to that will transform our futures. Don’t settle for anything less or you might be found waving a crutch yelling, ‘#@*$% ! Can’t you see I’m a leader!?’ And no one does.

© 2008-2024 Wayne Cordeiro (www.mentoringleaders.com), All rights reserved. Included with the blessings of this generous leadership mentor and author.

As many of you know, Toastmasters has been going through some detours and struggles in the past few years and Covid didn’t do us any favors.

We are back on the grow and I for one am encouraged by the efforts of fellow leaders in Districts around the globe. More so the creativity I see online in promoting the achievements of our fellow members within our districts. Bravo.

Saw this sign in a window on my travels and got my wife to snap this picture so I could remember its wise advice.

We are going to continue to rise my Toastmasters friends and grow into our next century of taking care of our fellow members… so why not make the extra effort… and shine!

Make this your personal goal as you apply the lessons kindly provided by our leadership experts and authors.

Mahatma Gandhi

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today
it means getting along with people.” Mahatma Gandhi

What is Leadership?

Andrew Bryant, CSP from The New Leadership Playbook

There are almost as many definitions of leadership as the number of people who have attempted to define the concept. B M Bass

Before we explore the principles that will drive your behaviors to be a successful leader, I think it’s worth taking a moment to consider what leadership is, what counts as success, and whether there is anything NEW.

I often get asked who my favorite leader is, and my answer is always, ‘It depends.’ Leadership is always about context.

Genghis Khan (1158–1227 CE) united the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia and created the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. But historians describe his conquests as destruction on an unprecedented scale resulting in mass exterminations and famine. He was a successful leader, but would you have wanted to work for him?

Steve Jobs led Apple to massive success, but his management style was autocratic. He was notorious for his high expectations, impatience, and relentless passion for his company.

In the Macintosh Division, you had to prove yourself every day, or Jobs got rid of you. He demanded excellence and kept you at the top of your game. It wasn’t easy to work for him; it was sometimes unpleasant and always scary, but it drove many of us to do the finest work of our careers. (Kawasaki, 2019)

The leadership definition that I find most practical is ‘leadership is the process of influencing others in a manner that enhances their contribution to the realization of group goals.’ (Michael J. Platow, 2019)

With this definition, the measure of your success as a leader is not whether you unite tribes like Genghis Kahn or are a brilliant entrepreneur like Steve Jobs, but whether you influence people to enhance their contribution. Now, you see why I selected this definition because it’s about being human and delivering accelerated results.

I believe that the challenge for leadership in the ‘new normal’ environment is having respect and empathy for people while holding them accountable to realize their individual and group goals.

A growing number of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), including Jack Welch (GE), Jack Ma (Alibaba), Paul Polman (ex-Unilever), and most recently Marc Benioff (Salesforce), are going on record as saying that maximizing shareholder value is idiotic. We must move to maximize stakeholder value.

Benioff wrote in his 2004 book Compassionate Capitalism, ‘The competitive advantage you gain from being a caring and sharing company is significant; it instills in your people a higher integrity level. In turn, stakeholders want to be associated with a company that has heart.’

So, what’s new for leadership is a focus on shareholder value as said by the CEO’s above, and compassion. Or is that new?

Legendary Indian Emperor Ashoka (Aśoka 304–233 BCE) ruled humanely after his conversion to Buddhism. He issued edicts carved on stone pillars in the local language of each region that exhorted citizens to generosity, piety, justice, and mercy. Ashoka also adopted and promoted a policy of respect and tolerance for people of all faiths.

So, caring leadership is not new, and perhaps there is a cyclical nature to such things. But with the acceleration of digitization and automation, I hope leaders will focus on bringing out what is uniquely human. Research backs up my hope. Refer to the fifty-six elements identified by McKinsey that I shared in my opening, Why this Leadership book?

Leadership principles frame a leader’s behavior. Values also influence the leader’s behavior, so the terms values and principles could be used interchangeably, but to my mind, a principle is more concrete and gives a clearer indication of the required behavior.

My friend, Dr Fons Trompenaars, author of Riding the Waves of Culture (Trompenaars, 1996), describes the value of a value as its ability to reconcile a dilemma. I was interviewing Fons in 2019, and he shared with me the case of CDPQ, a large institutional investor that manages pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec, Canada. The company’s values were ambition, innovation, and collaboration, but during the 2008 global financial crisis, these values saw them lose nearly ten percent of their worth and nearly destroyed the company.

When they analyzed what happened, they realized, ‘We were very ambitious so, we took too many risks. We were innovative so we did it with innovative products, and because of collaboration we couldn’t name anybody to be accountable’.

Dr Trompenaars gave them some input, and they came up with:

Ambition through Prudence

Innovation through Discipline

Collaboration through Individual Accountability

Now they had six values, of which three are opposites. The company’s leaders asked themselves, ‘What does it mean to be ambitious with prudence?’ ‘What does it mean to collaborate with individual accountability?’ Since then, the recovery and growth of CDPQ is a testament to this approach.

Some years ago, I had a similar experience with Vopak, a Dutch independent multinational company that stores and handles products ranging from chemicals, oil, gases, and liquified natural gas (LNG) to biofuels and vegetable oils. They asked me to run a workshop to help them translate their values into behaviors in a Southeast Asian context. The value that stood out for me was ‘disciplined entrepreneurship’.

This is also a good example of how paired-opposite values can become guiding principles for behaviors. Entrepreneurship without discipline behaves like a start-up, and discipline without entrepreneurship leads to stagnation.

Dr Trompenaars calls this the sandbox paradigm. As a parent, you say to your children, ‘Listen, children, you can play inside the sandbox, but don’t go outside of it.’ This approach increases their freedom within the center. It creates a safe space to play.

Leadership books and memes on the Internet often talk about leadership as if there’s one right way to do it. ‘Telling is bad, listening is good,’ or ‘Focusing on profits is bad, focusing on compassion and community is good’. Such blanket statements about what constitutes good leadership ignore context.

Imagine you are on an airplane flying at 41,000 feet. You are watching an inflight movie when bang, there’s a loud noise, and the oxygen masks fall from overhead. Would you prefer the captain says over the intercom:

a) ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem, and I really value your feelings and ideas. What I’d like you to do is form focus groups of five to seven people and come up with ways I could handle this problem.’

or

b)  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem. I need you all to sit down and fasten your seat belts whilst I fly us out of it. It might be a bit uncomfortable for a short while, but I will get you to the ground safely.’

You chose b), right?

Successful leadership style is dependent on context and the motivation and capability of the people to contribute to the solution. Your opinion is not useful unless you have experience flying that kind of plane.

Path-Goal Theory, (House 1971)74), provides a model of the interaction between leadership style, environmental factors, and employee motivation.

Figure 1—Path-Goal Theory

Path-Goal Theory suggests a leader follows these three basic steps:

Determine the employee’s and environmental characteristics.

Select a leadership style.

Focus on motivational factors that will help the employee succeed.

Let’s focus on leadership style.

House and Mitchell (1974) defined four types of leadership behaviors or styles based on two factors: relationship (empathy) and task-orientation (accountability). They are:

Directive: The Directive Leader is task-oriented and typically tells followers what is expected of them, how to perform a task, and schedules and coordinates work. It is most effective when people are unsure about the task or when there is low structure or ambiguity within the environment.

Supportive: The Supportive Leader is relationship-oriented and aims to make work pleasant for the workers by showing concern for them and being friendly and approachable. It is most effective when tasks and relationships are physically or psychologically challenging.

Participative: The Participative Leader is also relationship-oriented and tends to consult with employees before making decisions. This style is most effective when subordinates are competent with high autonomy (control).

Achievement: The Achievement Leader sets challenging goals (task-oriented), expects workers to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation (relationship-oriented). This style is most effective in professional work environments (technical or scientific), or achievement environments (sales).

As a leader, you will have a default and a secondary leadership style, but since people and situations change, so must you adapt. There is some debate amongst leadership academics as to whether this is possible. Some say pick the leader for the situation (contingency theory) whilst others believe the leader can adjust their style (path-goal theory).

Without naming names, I know a leader who has the human touch, is a great listener and participative motivator; but when things got tough, even though she tried to be more directive, she failed to make the shift and was fired as CEO. I also know a very directive leader whose drive established his start-up as ready for acquisition; but when he received feedback in the early stages of the pandemic about being more human, his message was, ‘I hope you and your family are OK, but don’t miss a target.’

Not every manager wants to grow or sees leadership as a skill that needs to be constantly honed. One of my leadership principles is that leaders are learners, so it is written for people who have the courage and passion to be the best version of themselves.

People don’t leave good companies; they leave bad managers. This maxim has been quoted so often by so many people that it is taken as gospel, but there’s no conclusive evidence to back this assertion.

Culture Amp, an online engagement platform, reports combining available information with the data from 175 teams (greater than eight people) of the world’s fastest-growing companies. They were looking for what was driving employee retention at any given company.

They discovered:

1. People leave bad managers, but it is not the number one reason people leave a company.

2. In ‘good’ companies, managers make a difference.

3. In ‘bad’ companies, good or bad managers make little to no difference to a person’s decision to leave.

In my experience as a coach and leadership consultant, I am not surprised by these findings. If the culture of a company is toxic, or its systems are not human-centric, these plays will be as useful as lipstick on a pig.

Mariam is a senior vice president of product management. She came to me for coaching to develop her leadership skills. Whilst we made progress on her ability to manage herself and delegate effectively, her insight and ideas were falling on deaf ears at her previous company. Finally, she left and joined a new organization. I caught up with her recently, and she said, ‘I’m in a completely different situation (a good one) from where I was before. It made me realize that there is a dimension in leadership about one’s fit with the organization and how much that can play a role in career development and progression.’

So, assuming you are working for an organization that values leadership, what makes a good manager and what makes a bad one? It simply comes down to behaviors.

I do not yet know of a man who became a leader as a result of having undergone a leadership course. Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY)

So much for MBAs! And should I be out of a job? But wait, LKY had a point. Leadership frameworks are useful, but unless we practice and adjust our leadership behaviors in the real and changing world—we will likely be unsuccessful. One mindset will undermine everything I am sharing in this book, and that is the belief that great leaders are born, not made.

Consider some great leaders: Churchill, John F Kennedy (JFK), Gandhi, Mandela. These leaders have character traits such as initiative, courage, intelligence, and humor, which are likely to be innate, and so, therefore, leaders are born, not made! Or so the argument goes.

The problem is that this argument works backwards and assumes causation. It ignores situations and environments that stimulate individuals to develop leadership. This argument also perpetuates the bias that leadership traits are those closely associated with being male. Attributes such as empathy, understanding, and collaboration are largely ignored.

In addition, traits can only be inferred through behaviors, says my friend and colleague, Dr Paul Englert, an expert on psychometrics. Since behaviors are mostly learned, leaders are most definitely developed. So, keep reading, keep learning, and keep developing!

Much research has been done on leadership behaviors, including a progressive program at Google named Project Oxygen. This research identified a strong relationship between ten behaviors (figure 4) and managers being rated as effective by their employees.

DN Prasad, a former ‘Googler’ (Director, Google People Services, APAC), shared his experiences of Project Oxygen. ‘I was not part of the research that came out of Mountainview, California, but when the results came out in 2008, I was involved in the rollout.’

DN Prasad led teams at his previous company. He joined Google in India and then moved to Singapore as the chief of staff for the head of human resources for the region. I, therefore, inquired if the management behaviors need to be customized for the country or culture.’ It starts with the hiring. Google hires people who can perform their roles and move across regions, so there was no customization. Instead of one company you would have ten companies in ten countries. We always aimed to have a balance between respect for the local culture and what makes a Googler everywhere.’

Figure 2—Google Management Behaviors

Reflection:

Look at the list of behaviours below and give yourself a rating from 1 (low) to 7 (high) on how you rate each of your behaviours.

Your Current Rating

Is a good coach

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Empowers the team and does not micromanage

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Creates an inclusive team environment, showing concern for success and well-being

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Is productive and results-oriented

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Is a good communicator who listens and shares information

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Supports career development and discusses performance

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Has a clear vision/strategy for the team

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Has key technical skills to help advise the team

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Collaborates across the organization

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Is a strong decision maker

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Google’s rollout of Project Oxygen used a Four E approach: Education, Exposure, Experience, and Engagement. Once all the managers had attended workshops on the ten behaviors and a new manager onboarding process was in place, the company instituted upwards feedback, so managers would find out how they were doing. From 2016, this feedback against the framework became part of the performance review process. Of course, it was important to deliver on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), but how you managed to achieve these results mattered, too.

Not all organizations realize the importance of balancing the how and the what—the humanity with the results.

Unfortunately, they often learn too late that when good people leave such companies, they leave behind survivors swimming in a toxic culture. Google is a developmental culture informed by a growth mindset, so when someone scores low on a particular behavior, there is training or support to address this weakness.

DN Prasad was kind enough to share his story of falling short in the first year he received the feedback.

When at Infosys, and for my first two and half years at Google, I got a lot of accolades for my leadership and management; people from the USA, United Kingdom (UK), and India wanted to work on my team. I then had a period as an individual contributor, and then I was asked to set up a new function and had people from Ireland, Singapore, China, and Japan. It was a new function, so I needed to be very hands-on. When the feedback came in, I scored low on Empowers team and does not micromanage.

DN’s behavior is common for people moving from individual contributor to manager. They think they must do it all themselves.
The feedback gave him the awareness he needed, and for the next six months, he worked on his style, making sure people knew why they were being asked to do certain things and listening to their input.

The next time he received feedback, it was excellent, proving that leaders are learners, and can improve with a framework and plays.

When you read the plays in this book, you will notice that the skills identified by Google are all addressed, except for number eight (technical skills). As a manager, you will need key technical skills to advise your team; but as a leader, you will have people reporting to you who are far more knowledgeable than you in their domain. I’ll cover how to handle this with the Leadership Principle of Executive Presence.

The advantage of defining leadership by behaviors is they can be observed and measured in the workplace or an assessment or development center. When leaders develop and demonstrate these behaviors, they create a culture where staff can develop themselves to perform. All of which leads us to this idea:

The purpose of leadership is not to create more followers,
but to create more leaders.

© 2024 Excerpt from The New Leadership Playbook by Andrew Bryant, CSP used with kind permission of my friend and fellow leader. Andrew is Past President of APSS and PSA Spain. Andrew Bryant is the founder of Self-Leadership International www.selfleadership.com

Over the years I have filmed videos on leadership (80, so far), presentation power, listening skills, productivity, sales success and other topics.

Take a moment and follow this link to check them out and view.

https://www.youtube.com/@ideamanbob/playlists

‘Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.’ Peter Drucker

Editor’s note: Please help us get this 100th anniversary edition out to as many of our fellow Toastmasters as possible. Pass along the webpage and invite your friends to download their own personal copies. www.Ideaman.net/COL2024.html

‘More leaders have been made by accident, circumstance, sheer grit, or will than have been made by all the leadership courses out together.’ Warren Bennis

WWII and the differences in ‘leadership’
(Sept 1, 1939 – Sept 2nd, 1945)

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, Accredited Speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Emperor Hirohito and Hideki Tojo were the main nation state actors in this second global war.

Each of them played a significant role in either the Allies or the Axis camp. Leaders or dictators depending on how you look at their roles in this historical global war. Each left a distinct legacy, some positive and some destructive to their respective countries. For this chapter, I want to primarily focus on the actions of one of them.

The most influential leader (Allies) during the war was Sir Winston Churchill who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, succeeding Neville Chamberlin. His forceful rhetoric and leadership inspired the United Kingdom and its colonies to resist the tyranny of Adolf Hitler, when his armies had all but conquered Europe, leaving the UK to fight alone. He kept working to bring the US into this battle for freedom behind the scenes. They did after Japan’s attack.

Churchill’s first speech as PM on May 13th set the tone for his war time leadership.

‘I would say to the House... that I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. You ask, what is our policy?

I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: it is victory, victory at all costs, victory despite all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.’

Note: Lend-Lease agreements with the US gave Britain 50 American destroyers in exchange for free US base rights in various colonies. President Roosevelt also set up a new method of shipping necessities to Great Britain. In essence, Roosevelt persuaded Congress that ‘repayment’ for all of this would be in defending the US. The Lend Lease program was formerly enacted on March 11, 1941. It truly made a difference!

The June 4th Dunkirk evacuation saved the British Expeditionary Force after the fall of France. Churchill shared these inspiring words later that afternoon including a clear appeal to the United States.

‘We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.’

Essentially saying they would fight on until the United States woke up and joined the fight for freedom.

Additional history: Hitler attacked the Soviet Union on Sunday June 22nd, 1941, and another country was at war. Germany completed their conquest of France on June 25th, 1941. Italy entered the war on June 10th. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th, 1941, and the war exploded across the planet with the US finally entering the efforts for freedom across the globe.

Critical dates to remember: May 7th, 1945, Germany surrendered.

The Empire of Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945, finally bringing this world conflict to an end. Much has been written about WWII and its leaders. Perhaps it would benefit your leadership journey to research this history and the roles played by major actors on both sides of the conflict. Look at the actions of those on both sides of this conflict and learn accordingly.

My focus in briefly touching on some of this history was to outline how one person can become an influencer for good and lead the free world in defense of freedom. I call that, ‘The Power of One’ in one of my keynotes. Perhaps you can be that person in your area of influence!

© 2024 Excerpted from ‘Legacy of Leadership’ by Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey Used with permission of the author.

LEADERSHIP & AWARENESS

Brahm Memone, DTM
Leadership Architect Building Leaders. Transforming the World.

The mind cannot see beyond conflict. It is in constant conflict with nature, with resources, with neighbours and countries. But an unfettered mind, aware, is still, and at peace. Without conflict. It is interdependent connected, cooperative, and collaborative. In essence at a place of peace and love. Change your mind, change your life. Change your life, you change the world. Therefore, be the change you wish to see out in the world. Now is the opportunity to examine inwards and begin that mind full into mindfulness. (Editor’s note: great advice for any of us in leadership.)

Those who lead without titles are better leaders than those who seek titles and designations to lead!! To. Lead. Serve. Generate Value. Has nothing to do with status and everything to do with who you are being in serving others. You can ALWAYS be inspired to make a difference without aspiring to lead.

© 2024 Brahm Memone, DTM Included with the kind permission of the author (linkedin.com/in/brahmmemone)

Coco Chanel

‘It’s amazing how many cares disappear when you decide
not to be something, but to be someone.’ Coco Chanel

Leadership Lessons Learned from a Club Officer

Tom Hollinger, BBA, MBA, MOL

As leaders, two of our most important roles are developing others and improving our organizations. Since its inception in 1924, Toastmasters International® has earned an impressive reputation for training effective leaders who have taken those skills into their careers, companies, and communities. Toastmasters International®

Having held several Club Officer Positions, I have come to appreciate how those experiences can build a whole variety of leadership skills; skills and qualities that can be valuable at any time, in any setting, and in any organization.

Each of the qualities, skills, and traits identified below might properly be classified as sound leadership fundamentals. Individually, none of them would seem to be extremely complicated. However, the key to their successful implementation involves knowing when and how to use each one of them most effectively – which will be covered by other authors in this publication.

Apply some of what our leadership experts share.

Whether a leader is helping other club members develop their communication and leadership skills or leading any other worthwhile initiative, fundamental qualities and skills can facilitate the process.

The following paragraphs outline some of the valuable traits involved in any successful leadership effort.

Preparation

Preparation is always one of the key ingredients to success. Somehow leaders need to gain an understanding of the roles and expectations of their position. Simply put, they need to have some idea what they are getting themselves into.

To prepare for any leadership position, it helps to establish a bridge to the new responsibilities. Creating that bridge may involve climbing a ladder of progressive responsibilities.

It could also mean serving on a team or a committee to get some experience and valuable background information. It is best to understand the status quo before trying to shake it up!

Knowing the environment, the history of the organization, the status, and the people involved can be very helpful. It is also very important to know what expectations exist for the position.

Planning

Planning takes some of the guesswork out of where we are going. Someone once said, ‘No wind is the right wind, if we don’t know which port we are sailing for.’ Furthermore, it is important that everyone on the team is pulling in the same direction.

Part of the planning process is to inspire a common vision and to effectively communicate that vision. Until people understand – and buy into – the vision, it can be very hard to get them interested or motivated.

Packaging

Packaging the plan involves selling the vision in a way that constituents can relate to it. They want to know what is in it for them – or why it is worth their time and effort. Without a compelling reason to buy into the plan, participation may not exist, or it may be counterproductive.

Presentation

Presentation can make a huge difference in how our ideas are received! Using the right media and communication skills can help to make a compelling case, leave a very favorable impression, and touch both the minds and the hearts of the audience.

Personality

Personal traits of a leader can contribute to building the leader’s credibility – or they can tear away at the fabric of the leader’s relationships. Leaders need to be good role models; practicing what they preach and providing visible clues to the type of behavior that supports the organization.

Participation

Participation of major stakeholders can be critical. Leaders seldom ‘go it alone.’

Teams of interdependent, like-minded people are usually the best way to make significant progress. In conjunction with communicating vision (and inspiring people to get behind the vision), leaders need to find ways to get people engaged – and keep them engaged. Empowering and encouraging the participants will help!

Perspective

Perspective is another key requisite for leaders. The developmental role of a leader is inherently focused on the person or group to be developed. While there is always some balance required between getting things done and developing for the future, leaders need to be able to create that balance and place the focus of their developmental efforts squarely on those to be developed. At times, that can be very trying, as the leader’s needs and other organizational requirements compete for limited time and resources.

Passion

Passion is a quality that cannot easily be turned on and off like a light switch. Either we have it, or we don’t, so it is important (whenever we are given the choice) to choose initiatives that we are passionate about. It is much easier to maintain focus, enthusiasm, and a high energy level for things that we strongly believe in. Passion gets us personally engaged!

Process

Processes almost always facilitate the accomplishment of complex or complicated goals. Appropriate use of telecommunication and information technology can streamline processes and limit redundancy. Processes also help to maintain organization and establish better recordkeeping systems.

Pliability

Pliability is essential in uncertain and changing environments. As leaders, we need to be flexible, adaptive, open to change, and open to the recommendations of others. Because change is rampant, leaders need to constantly anticipate, adapt, and respond to change in a positive way.

Persistence

Persistence pays off where other leadership attributes often fail.

No matter how talented or knowledgeable we are, sometimes we just must ‘stick with it’ to get the desired results. True, there are times when we need to avoid marginal projects or cut our losses on initiatives that can’t be turned around; however, great leaders seldom give up on worthwhile efforts!

Patience

Patience is often required while waiting for the desired outcome. It may have been said too often, but ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.

Anything worthwhile should be worth the time it takes to accomplish it. Still, leaders can’t always accomplish everything they would like to accomplish during their tenure. The test for worthiness, however, shouldn’t be based on whether a given leader will see an effort come to fruition.

If we are truly trying to develop people and the organizations in which they participate, we sometimes must accept that we are simply laying the foundation for the future. With a patient, caring, and giving nature, great things can be accomplished!

Conclusion

Leadership and organizational development require a wide variety of skills and attributes.

While it is true that these skills and qualities can develop as a natural outcome of participating as a Club Officer, they can be developed in nearly any environment with reasonable effort.

It is also true that the leadership traits identified here translate across the boundaries of time, locations, and organizations – which means that they are worthy of consideration for any leader who is trying to improve. Integrating and optimizing the use of fundamental leadership concepts requires a synergistic blend of skills, attributes, timing, and delivery.

Besides, there may be some truth to the supposition that the integration of leadership fundamentals is best learned through the experience of each individual leader. After all, each leader and set of circumstances creates a somewhat unique environment, requiring leaders to be just that – leaders.

© 2008-2024 Thomas D. Hollinger, (www.leadershiplearninginitiatives.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my fellow Toastmaster and author.

‘The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.’ Jim Rohn

As a leader, I have found the ability to capture and arrange my thoughts helpful in conveying my ideas and building working relationships. One of the best places to hone your skills is www.Toastmasters.org Visit our website to find a club near you. Tell them Bob Hooey said hi!

‘A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where
they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.’ Rosalynn Carter

Staying Effective Amid Chaos

Rochelle Rice, CSP, Accredited Speaker

How do you stay centered in a rapidly changing world?

Centered can be defined as a state of emotional and spiritual equilibrium. You do not lose your temper. You do not fall apart. You do not have a pity party. Instead, as leaders, you confidently face the storm. You buckle up and rise to the occasion. You recognize this as an athletic feat that needs to be mastered. And you apply these skills to stay effective amid chaos.

Monitoring your central nervous system (CNS) optimizes your well-being as your body is continuously sending signals to the brain to let you know exactly what it needs. Yet all too often, we ignore the signals and find ourselves in constant stress with digestive disorders, poor sleep hygiene and erratic eating. Even exercise may sometimes be regarded as an afterthought.

A basic knowledge of anatomy and physiology gives you an awareness of the internal and external structures of the body and how the body works when you are healthy and when you are not. Mastering the nuances of your body’s responses to stress, chaos, and peaceful times will allow you to create a more targeted approach on how to keep your central nervous system regulated.

These techniques are designed to create a break for your physical body, allow you the opportunity to regulate your central nervous system, create a variety of skills for your use, and offer you the independence to choose according to your body’s needs in the moment.

As a leader, you want to have an effective holistic practice in place to supplement your motivation, communication, positivity, reliability, strategic thinking, empathy, team building and time management skills.

1 - Quiet Your Mind

On average the human brain is about the size of 10 tennis balls. It weighs approximately three pounds. And your brain needs recovery time! On the days when you feel like you are ‘losing your mind’ try these three strategies to stay centered.

● Take 5

Take a five-minute break from ALL screens. Let your eyes focus on the blue sky or any blue object.

Allow your breath to flow easily in through your nose and out through your mouth. Gazing at the color blue reduces stress and invokes feelings of serenity and peacefulness.

● Hold On

Place your right palm across your forehead and your left palm at the base of your skull. Breathe in and out slowly for five breaths. The touch helps manage emotional reactions by slowing down the thousands of thoughts that could be racing through your mind.

● Make Space

Stand and reach both arms all the way up to the sky. Breathe in and out slowly for five breaths. This action stimulates blood flow and invigorates your central nervous system. The stretch creates space for muscles to lengthen, lungs to breathe and your brain to work more efficiently.

When you move your body, you move your mind. Stretching releases the ‘happy hormones’ dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin. These powerful chemicals decrease anxiety, ward off depression, and motivate us. They allow us to work more efficiently.

If you have a project you are working on which requires your critical thinking skills, incorporate some of these techniques to be more effective. Free up your body, which will in turn free up your mind! You will feel more refreshed, alive, and creative.

2 - Expand Your Breath

On average, the lungs hold approximately six liters of air. 70% of your body’s waste is eliminated through your lungs just by breathing.

On the days when you feel like you ‘can’t catch a break’ try these three strategies to stay centered.

● Belly Breath

Place your right hand on your abdomen at your navel. Place your left hand on your chest. Inhale through your nose. Feel your abdomen rise. Exhale through your mouth. Pull your navel toward your spine. Repeat the entire sequence five times. Deep breathing reduces your blood pressure and heart rate.

● Long Exhale

Begin in a seated position with your feet flat on the floor, palms on your thighs. Inhale through your nose four counts. Exhale through your mouth six counts. Repeat the entire sequence stretching to a longer exhale each time. Slow exhaling shifts the nervous system towards a more restful state.

● Box Breath

Begin in a seated position with your feet flat on the floor, palms on your thighs. Inhale through the nose 4 counts. Hold 4 counts. Exhale through the mouth 4 counts. Hold 4 counts. Repeat the entire sequence 4 times. Box breathing helps you cope with panic and stress when you feel overwhelmed.

Move your body, move your mind. In this case, it’s about the breath. If you are super stressed, tapping into your breath can be stressful and triggering. However, understanding how your breath affects your CNS is extremely helpful.

If you have a conflict to manage, deep breathing can lower your cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. You are more balanced, and in turn, those in conflict may feel the calming effect in their own body, creating a potential positive outcome.

3 - Align Your Body

Your body consists of approximately 206 bones and 600 muscles. You also have 78 internal organs, five of which are vital for survival (brain, heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys). On the days when you are feeling ‘off balance,’ try these three strategies to stay centered.

● Get Your Head on Straight

On average, the head weighs 10 lbs. Staring at a computer screen for hours cranes the head forward. This creates tension in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Sit tall and draw your chin back horizontally – the feeling of a double chin. Breathe. You have literally ‘put your head on straight!’

● Plumb Alignment

Stand tall. Draw your chin back, pull your shoulders back, lift your abdominals. Stand right on top of your ankles. In profile, become aware of your earlobes over your shoulders, shoulders over the side of your hips, fingers reach down the sides of your legs toward your ankles. Now you can think straight!

● Respect

Your body is constantly sending you signals – tired, hungry, stressed, or well-rested, satiated and at ease of mind. Even geniuses override body signals to hit a deadline. Listening to the wisdom of your body will foster deep respect. Your health will be in full alignment, doing exactly what your body needs.

There are many benefits of body alignment and posture. It eases headaches, boosts energy, aids digestion, builds confidence, lowers stress, reduces neck pain, improves core strength, and respiratory efficiency.

If you are in the process of a reorganization, personally or professionally, pay careful attention to your personal posture. Posture is much like creating strategic alignment in an organization. Everyone in the organization is focused on achieving a shared organizational vision.

And how do you know if you are staying effective amid chaos?

Your mind is quiet.

Your breath is expansive.

Your posture is aligned.

You trust your body as a resource for information.

You are reliable, unshakable, and unworried.

You live with humility and continue to stand up for what’s right.

And you know to your very core, you will confidently stay effective amid chaos. This will enhance your ability to effectively lead your teams.

© 2024 Rochelle Rice, CSP, Accredited Speaker, www.RochelleRice.com Included with the kind permission of my friend and fellow Accredited Speaker

Note to District leaders about a valuable resource for your conferences and training.

“The Toastmasters International Accredited Speaker program is designed for professional speakers who combine expert knowledge in a particular subject with mastery of the spoken word, making them sought after experts in their respective fields.”

I’m pleased to feature my fellow Accredited Speakers here, ‘In The Company of Leaders’, each sharing their leadership wisdom. Each of us is available to travel to your conference or training events. Call us!

Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, Accredited Speaker

Sheryl Roush, Accredited Speaker

Rochelle Rice, Accredited Speaker

Anne Barab, Accredited Speaker

Barbara Khozam, Accredited Speaker

Stephanie Angelo, Accredited Speaker

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, Accredited Speaker

Follow this link for more details and contact information.
https://www.toastmasters.org/membership/accredited-speaker

“Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” Michelle Obama (Former First Lady of the United States)

A Leadership Question: What’s Happening to Kindness?

Lou Heckler, CSP, CPAE

That darned screened door.

I grew up next to my dad’s parents and my grandma’s back door was always open…always beckoning visitors to come in. The screened door would be closed, but never latched. Inside was the promise of Cheese Ritz crackers and real homogenized milk, not the skim milk I drank at home. If I was lucky, Grandma may have just made some of her famous mashed potato-dough doughnuts rolled in cane sugar.

If I could just get in and out with my Mom hearing me doing it, she’d never know I had snacked between meals. The door was my downfall. I’d been told dozens of times to close the door politely and quietly, but those good smells would overtake me and the door, forgotten, would slam. Busted!

Three easy lessons leaders can learn and apply to be more effective with teams.

Do the unexpected for your people.

Pass notes

Acknowledge everything

As I think back on those days, that door represents a good many lessons I took far too long to learn about kindness, but learn them I did and I am forever waving people out of side roads when I am backed up in traffic, holding the door for others to pass ahead of me, asking those with fewer items than I have to step ahead of me at the grocery store
or Target or Wal-Mart.

Is kindness gone now, or am I just getting old and cranky? Do me a favour: don’t answer that!

The best leaders I have worked for and with, in over 40 years in business, were at their core kind people. Here are three simple things I benefited from these wonderful people, lessons we all can easily replicate:

Do the unexpected for your people.

Our son is now grown and has a wonderful wife and daughter, but when he was little, he was essentially sick for the first seven years of his life.

It was a huge burden for my wife and me… kept us up many nights… and surely affected my performance at work. Instead of calling me in and telling me I better get my stuff together, I’ll never forget the day Jim called me and said, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ I told him I didn’t know of any plans we had. He asked me to come up to his office later that day and see his secretary, Eileen.

Here’s what they had done: They had arranged for us to go about three hours up into the mountains of the state where we lived and to use a two-bedroom condo for the weekend. Included in the package was a credit card we were to use for all meals and attractions.

‘Jim wants you to get away, catch your breath, have some fun,
and come back on Monday refreshed and feeling better,’ Eileen said.

I just about cried on the spot. Was I a hero when I got home that night? You bet. Was Jim a hero to all of us? For sure! And this was only one instance of his generosity and kindness that lifted me many times while I worked for him.

What I came to know was so key: he wasn’t doing this with an ‘I’ll scratch your back and then you can scratch mine’ attitude. Instead, he did it because he felt being kind was the right thing to do for his people. Was I the only beneficiary of these acts? Hardly.

Pass notes.

Remember your school days when teachers discouraged you from passing notes in class? Okay, put that aside now and start passing notes. Your note can be as simple as one of those sticky notes that you leave on an associate’s chair or a brief message on a memo you’ve received.

May I strongly ask one favour? Don’t do it using e-mail. There is something so strong – probably more so today than ever before – about seeing a person’s handwriting on a piece of paper.

Every time I get one of these, I think, ‘This is great. He/she actually took time to write a note.’

I can hear you saying, ‘Yeah, but I type so much now that my handwriting is terrible.’ So what? This isn’t a handwriting test. It is a display of kindness that will be long remembered.

I travel a good bit for work, and I find that airport and hotel gift shops often have some wonderful greeting cards. I stock up on those before I need them and keep stamps handy as well. I like picturing a housekeeper’s face at a Marriott when she opens an actual card thanking her for the job she did in my room. Don’t tell me it doesn’t make her day. Funny thing is, it makes mine, too.

Acknowledge everything.

I’m going to climb up on my soapbox just a bit on this one. My wife and I send tons of cards and gifts over the course of a year and only get a few of these acknowledged. We’ve taken to sending personal checks in many cases because at least the bank statement will let us know the gift was received!

How long does it take to respond to your people when they make a suggestion, ask you a question, or invite you to an event their department is having? Just like we discussed in the idea about written notes, people today are desperate for human contact of some sort. We live in a world of electronic commerce, electronic communication, electronic relationships.

Pick up the phone and let people know you got their message, even if you can’t give them a complete answer on the spot.

Once again, it’s an investment in a few moments that will build bridges that will stand for many years.

My dictionary defines kindness as ‘affection’ or ‘good will.’ I think we can all define it as a series of simple acts that show people how much you value them; how much their efforts are recognized and even how much you hope they’ll stay with you for a long time. A few moments of your time will bring you great returns.

Oh, and: don’t slam the screened door, okay?      

© 2006-2024 Lou Heckler, CSP, CPAE All rights reserved. www.louheckler.com Used with kind permission of the author and friend.

‘It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.’ Nelson Mandela

‘People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. . . The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.’ Theodore Roosevelt

The Three Questions of Differentiation-Based Leadership

Michel Neray, MBA

Value propositions. Brand promises. Strategic competitive advantages.

Each of these diverse marketing terms is grounded in the same fundamental principle of differentiation – what sets you or your company apart from your competitors?

1. What differentiates your company or organization?

A large part of successful leadership rests on your ability to articulate your company’s differentiation to its many stakeholders - your customers, your employees, your strategic partners, and your investors. But your company’s differentiation only describes the first question of Differentiation-Based Leadership. Ultimately, leadership is also about bringing out the best in your people to work together to achieve a common goal and vision.

2. What differentiates the individuals - what are the unique strengths of everyone in your organization?

As complex beings, we are wired with conflicting desires to both belong and stand out at the same time. That’s why, to work together at the highest level of productivity and efficiency, we must discover, acknowledge, and value what sets us apart. That’s why results aren’t achieved just because people believe in the product, process, or cause; results are achieved because people believe in themselves.

And that’s why Differentiation-Based Leadership asks a second question: What are the unique strengths of each of the individuals who make up your organization?

But it’s the third question of Differentiation-Based Leadership that provides the greatest support for the first two – and it may be the hardest to answer: What is your own differentiation as a leader?

3. What differentiates you as a leader?

As a leader, you have the biggest influence on the culture, the goals, the vision, and the process by which you go about fulfilling it. By discovering, acknowledging, and valuing what sets you apart from other leaders, you begin to go down a path of self-discovery that lies at the heart of Differentiation-Based Leadership.

At the most selfish level, knowing your own true differentiation simply makes you better equipped to articulate your personal strategic competitive advantage – it makes you more marketable as a leader.

More importantly, however, discovering your own true differentiation allows you to more genuinely value the unique strengths that the other people on your team bring to the organization. It helps you harness your center of authenticity – which makes you more powerful as a leader. It helps you encourage others through a similar process of self-discovery. And, quite simply, it allows you to lead by example.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as completing another self-assessment or just asking the question, ‘What makes me different?’ In the business of differentiation, just as in any brainstorming, I’ve seen even the best-intentioned people and teams often content themselves with the first ideas that come to mind.

That’s why there are ‘still’ some retail stores who believe that ‘Sales, Service, Selection’ is a unique tagline – and that’s why there continue to be many financial advisors who believe they are the only ones who ‘truly care about their clients’.

Often, heavy lifting involves sitting down with a coach, consultant, or otherwise trained, objective third-party who can help you get past the usual platitudes. One of the reasons why people can’t see their own differentiating strengths is that because those strengths feel so natural and require no effort, they simply don’t call attention to themselves. You don’t even realize you have them - it’s as if they are invisible.

In my practice, I have developed several exercises and processes that help people bypass these platitudes and make the invisible, visible. Two of these are ‘Primary Influences and Mentors’ and ‘What Drives You Crazy Makes You Great’.

If you’re up for it (and you’ve got a pen handy), let’s begin with what drives you crazy…

What Drives You Crazy Makes You Great

Instead of looking for core strengths and passions directly, this approach begins with asking participants to consider a situation where they notice the obvious mistakes that other people in their fields have made. Applied to leadership, imagine that you recently took over the management of a team or organization. One of the first things you’d likely do is analyze the current situation - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Then you’d look at the ‘decisions’ which have led the organization to this point.

If you’re like most people, there would be some decisions that would have you shaking your head in disbelief. Be honest with yourself - in the back of your mind, you might be saying to yourself, ‘I can’t believe they did this – if they had brought me in sooner, I could have averted the problems they have now and they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in today.’

It may be politically incorrect to criticize others openly, but what you consider to be fundamental errors in the judgments, actions, and decisions of your predecessors are the ‘clues’ to your natural talents and strengths.

When you look around and see how other people are doing it ‘all wrong’ and getting poor results, your subconscious mind says, ‘How can they be so stupid not to see what’s so obvious to me. They should be doing it this way’ – whatever ‘this’ way is for you. And that’s why it drives you crazy.

When you look at the mistakes and errors that other leaders have made, what drives you crazy?

Primary Influences and Mentors

Once you start on the journey to discover your own differentiation, you may build up enough courage to travel back in time to re-visit your early mentors and influencers. In my case, it took me many years to build up that courage and identify the connection to my parents.

With a degree in linguistics, my father had a facility with words and a gift for language. So, when he joined the French Foreign Legion during the Second World War, he was put in charge of translating messages for the French, British, and American troops - and sometimes delivering them in person under enemy fire. After the war, he became a professional translator and worked his way up to becoming head of the translation department at McGill University.

My mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. Deported on March 7, 1944, she spent almost a year at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the largest killing grounds of the Nazis. Surviving beatings, interrogations, and the selections by the ‘infamous’ Dr. Mengele, she was then forced on a three-day death march through the mountains in the bitter, bitter cold of January 1945.

From Wroclaw on the Polish-German border, she was transported to Ravensbruck and then to Neustadt. When the camp was liberated by the Russian army on May 3, 1945, she was taken for dead as she lay motionless on the ground, too weak to move. No one would be surprised at how an experience like that would shatter a person’s spirit and joy in life.

And yet, if you’d met my mother, you would have found someone in love with the world. She didn’t need a reason - or even music - to dance around my back yard.

1. What differentiates your company or organization?

2. What differentiates each of the individuals in your organization?

3. What differentiates you as a leader?

These are the three questions that form Differentiation-Based Leadership.

As an author, advertising copywriter, and speaker, I always knew where I got my facility with words and my gift for language. But I never fully understood how and why I inspire audiences until I saw that my mother’s ability to survive is also my ability to survive - and her passion for life is also my passion for life. That’s a key part of who I am and the value I bring to any organization I work with. It’s one of my unique differentiators as a speaker – and as a leader.

What’s yours?

© 2008-2024 Michel Neray, MBA (www.neray.com), All rights reserved. Included with the enthusiastic permission of my friend, fellow CAPS leader, and author.

‘Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.’

Joanne Ciulla (Author and Educator)

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder

Leaders are most powerful away from the spotlight.

Marc Haine, Customer and employee Experience Strategist

In the theatre of business, the most memorable performances are those where leaders step back, allowing their teams to shine.

Leadership, much like directing a play, demands humility; it’s about guiding from behind the curtain, not standing on the stage. True leadership is found in the quiet moments—listening, learning, and lifting others up.

Stay humble, stay kind, and keep the spotlight on where it truly belongs on your team.

© 2024 Marc Haine, www.MarcHaine.com Included with permission

Did something one of our authors wrote resonate with you? Did something they shared help you in your leadership journey? If so… Why not take a moment, visit their website and drop them a note to let them know how they impacted you! I’m sure they’d love to hear from you. And you can invest in one of their books too.

“Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” Sam Walton

The simple truth about effective business leadership

...in just 3 minutes!

Donald Cooper, MBA, CSP, HoF

Much of my work over the past few years has been in helping business owners and managers become much more effective leaders. Most of these folks spend 90% of their time working ‘IN’ their business and 10% or less of their time working ‘ON’ on the business. They are not proactively managing their business, leading their people, creating compelling customer value, managing their bottom line, and creating an extraordinary future… and it’s going to continue to cost them big time! 

Working ‘IN’ their business is easy; they’ve done it for years, so they retreat to the familiar. If you fall into this category, here’s the short version of what leadership is and how you can make it work for you.

1. As business owners, leaders or managers, our job is to create clarity about what we commit to deliver, what we commit to become, the bottom line we commit to generate and how we commit to behave along the way. By creating clear commitments, we ‘get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet,’ to quote my grandmother.

Many great ideas can come from the bottom up in an organization, but ‘clarity’ can only come from the top down.

Specifically, leaders must be clear about: 

a) The compelling value and experience that we commit to deliver to every customer, every day and what that value and experience must look like in 3 to 5 years to be both competitive and profitable. What value and experiences will ‘grab’ your target customers, clearly differentiate you from your competitors, make you ‘famous’, and grow your bottom line?

Then, you need to be clear about how you’ll communicate your compelling value and experiences to your target customers. There’s no point in being the best if you’re also the best kept secret.  

b) Then, we must be clear about what the business commits to become in 3 to 5 years, including:

how big you want it to become…and how big it must become to be a profitable and sustainable market leader.

the extraordinary bottom line that it will generate.

where it will do business, including where it will buy, sell, or produce.

the values it will live by.  Our ‘values’ are our fundamental commitments to ethics, excellence, life’s priorities, and the treatment of others.

the technology that will drive it.

what the organization will need to learn and the talent it will need to attract.

who its competitors are likely to be and what their compelling value will likely be.

what % of our growth will come from the organic growth of what we’re doing now and what % must come from new products or services, new locations, new markets, or acquisitions?

what the working capital requirements will be. How much of that will come from operations, how much from outside...and from where?

the processes, systems, and training that will be required to make all of this happen.

Our 2nd job as leaders is to create a business model, management structure, and staff team that will effectively deliver our commitments to customers, to each other, to our community and the planet, to the bottom line, and to our extraordinary future.

Leadership Job #3 is to effectively communicate and reinforce each of our commitments in everything we say, do, and decide, every day, clearly and passionately.

4.  Next, we must measure performance and constantly look for behavior to praise, celebrate, and reward.

5. Finally, look for behavior to correct. Failure to deal with non-performance is one of the biggest challenges facing many businesses today.

As leaders, how do we create accountability and deal with non-performance? It’s quite simple. First, we must create that clarity about what we commit to deliver, what we commit to become, and how we commit to behave along the way. That’s why creating ‘clarity’ is Leadership Job #1. Every time you assign a project or task, ask the magic 10-word question that changes everything, ‘By when can we agree that this will be completed?’ Negotiate a commitment and then follow up.

Then, when we see behavior or results that are not living up to some of our ‘commitments’, we sit down with the individual(s) responsible and ask them four straightforward questions.

Question #1: ’With regard to this specific performance shortfall, do you understand what we’re committed to in this business?’  The answer is either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.  If the answer is ‘Yes, I understand what we’re committed to with regard to that.’, move on to Question #2.  If they say that they did not understand the commitment, there are two possibilities.

The first possibility is that they truly did not understand the commitment, in which case you haven’t done your job as a leader and it’s up to you to fix that by creating and communicating clear commitments. The second possibility is that they understood perfectly what they were to do, how they were to do it and by when they were to do it, but they’re trying to ‘weasel out’ of taking responsibility.

In my experience, over many years in business, at least half the time that our people tell us that they didn’t understand what they were to do, how they were to do it or by when they were to do it, they’re just being ‘weasels’. They’re trying to put the blame back on you, the boss.  Get rid of ‘weasels’… they’re killing you.

Question #2: Next, ask them, ‘Do your embrace and support that commitment?’  The answer is either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If the answer is, ‘Yes, I embrace and support that commitment.’ move on to Question #3. If the answer is ‘No, I don’t.’ There are now three possibilities.

The first possibility is that they honestly believe that this commitment is unrealistic and out of touch with reality, in which case they have a responsibility to engage you in respectful debate to get you to change your mind about that commitment. A business that encourages ‘respectful debate’ is a healthy environment.

The second possibility is that they could change their mind and ‘get with the program’. 

The third possibility is that they could leave. There is no room in a business for people who do not fully support the fundamental commitments of the business.

Question #3: The third question is a call to action. It is, ‘Can you make it happen? Because the reason we’re having this conversation is that it isn’t happening right now, and that’s not acceptable.’  

There’s another important question to ask at this point which is, ‘Is anything preventing you from making it happen? Because I’m here to provide support and eliminate roadblocks. But, given all of that, can you make it happen or not?’ And the answer is either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

If the answer is, ‘Yes, I can make it happen.’ go to Question #4. If the answer is, ‘No, no matter how much help and support you give me, boss, I just can’t make it happen.’ It’s time for them to move on or be transferred to a job in the business that they can do wonderfully.

Question #4: The fourth and final question is, ‘When will we see it happen?’ Agree on a time by which the deficiency will be corrected and then follow up religiously. Without diligent follow-up, the entire process collapses. The world is run by those who follow up.

If the solution to the problem is longer term, you will want to alter the fourth question to, ‘When will I see a step-by-step Plan?’ and then you’ll monitor each step of the Plan to ensure that the project is on track.

So, to briefly recap, the four questions that create accountability and deal with non-performance in your business are:

Do you understand our commitments?

Do you embrace them? 

Can you make it happen? 

When will I see it happen? 

These four simple questions can transform your business. 

There you have it, some clear insights into effective business leadership in just three minutes. How will you use these insights to proactively manage your business, your team, your extraordinary future, and your bottom line?

© 2009-2024 Donald Cooper, MBA, CSP, HoF www.donaldcooper.com All rights reserved world-wide. Words of wisdom contributed by the author.

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
Warren Bennis

‘A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how

to do it for themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they

thought possible.’ Simon Sinek

Ten Principles of Motivation

Dr. Nido Qubein

One of the questions I hear most often from executives is, ‘How do I motivate my employees to do the things I want them to do?’

The answer is: ‘You don’t!’

We can’t motivate people. They are already motivated. But we can determine what motivates them and use this knowledge to channel their energies toward our company goals.

From my 20 years of helping executives solve their people’s challenges, I’ve learned a few basic principles about motivation. Let me share them with you:

ALL PEOPLE ARE MOTIVATED

Some people are like water in a faucet. They have the motivation; all you have to provide is the opportunity. The water is already motivated to flow. But it doesn’t have the opportunity until you turn on the tap.

Others are like mountain streams, which flow swiftly but follow their own channels. People, too, may move energetically, but toward their own goals. We in management should make it worth their while to channel their motivations toward the results management is seeking.

PEOPLE DO THINGS FOR THEIR REASONS;
NOT FOR YOURS OR MINE

We in management have to show employees what’s in it for them when they follow behaviors that benefit the company. We can show them by using rewards and recognition, appealing to their sense of pride and achievement.

PEOPLE CHANGE BECAUSE OF PAIN.

When the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing, people will change.

For example, Americans didn’t start buying smaller, fuel-efficient automobiles until the pain of high gasoline prices became greater than the pain of switching to less roomy and less powerful cars.

THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IS IDENTIFICATION.

When something becomes personal, it becomes important. When our clients or our employees begin to identify with who we are and what we are, good things begin to happen.

Large corporations have discovered that. Prudential, for example, knows that its customers want to buy security. So, it doesn’t just sell insurance; it markets peace of mind by inviting all of us to buy ‘a piece of the rock.’

AT&T doesn’t tell us to make long-distance calls. It asks us to ‘reach out and touch someone.’

In dealing with employees, it isn’t enough to appeal to them based on loyalty to the company. They need personal reasons for showing this loyalty. Whether we’re instituting a new educational program or undergoing a total restructuring, we can get our employees on board more readily if we show them how the change will affect them for the better.

When my company sets out to lead corporate teams in developing their human-relations skills, we don’t tell them what we’re going to do for the company. We talk about what we’re going to do for the individual. For example, in the introduction to one of our manuals, we tell supervisors:

We’ve designed this complete educational system to help YOU master the skills of supervisory management and enjoy the rewards of leadership and career enhancement.

From a management standpoint, the training was designed to increase the effectiveness of the organization. That’s what sold the company on the program. But from the employee’s standpoint, it was to upgrade the skills of the individual. That’s what sold the employees on the program.

THE BEST WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOU IS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THEM

That means listening to others and not just hearing them. Listening is active; hearing is passive. If you listen to individuals long enough, they’ll tell you what their concerns and problems are.

It’s very important that executives listen to their staff and associates. We need to take the time to get to know them, not just by name, but also by their interests and aspirations.

We should try not to come across as interrogators, but ask them friendly questions about how they are, what they did over the weekend, and what they’re doing on vacation. Then listen. It’s amazing what you’ll learn.

PRIDE IS A POWERFUL MOTIVATOR

Everybody is proud of something. If we find out what makes our people proud, we can use that insight to channel their motivation. Pride is tied closely to self-esteem. My friend, Robert W. Darvin, has founded several successful companies, including Scandinavian Design, Inc., and has often used our consulting services and invited me to speak to his people. His observations on self-esteem are worth repeating:

YOU CAN’T CHANGE PEOPLE; YOU CAN ONLY CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIORS

To change behavior, you must change feelings and beliefs. This requires more than training. It requires education. When you train people, you just try to teach them a task; when you educate people you deal with them at a deeper level relative to behavior, feelings and beliefs.

THE EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION BECOMES
THE EXECUTIVE’S REALITY

This is a very important point. When we speak to employees, they don’t respond to what we say; they respond to what they understand us to say. When employees observe our behavior, they respond to what they perceive us doing, and will try to emulate us.

Suppose you send an employee to a developmental workshop or seminar, and she comes back brimming with new ideas and information. But you haven’t been exposed to all this stimulating stuff, so your behavior doesn’t change. The employee realizes this and concludes that the behavior she observes in you is the behavior you want. This may not be the case at all.

You may want the employee to implement all these new ideas, but your employee’s perception is the reality you get.

YOU CONSISTENTLY GET THE BEHAVIORS YOU CONSISTENTLY EXPECT AND REINFORCE.

We should look for ways to reward employees for doing the things we want them to do. The reward may take the form of financial incentives, prizes, or simply public recognition of a job well done. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, as my Roundtable partner, Ken Blanchard, has taught us all. If employees learn that a certain type of behavior results in lower earnings, less favorable hours, or less desirable territories, they’ll adjust their behavioral patterns.

WE ALL JUDGE OURSELVES BY OUR MOTIVES;
BUT WE JUDGE OTHERS BY THEIR ACTIONS.

Put another way, we’re inclined to excuse in ourselves behavior that we find unacceptable in others. When our employees are late for work, it’s because they’re irresponsible and have no interest in their jobs. When we’re late for work, it’s because we were attending to necessary details that had to be taken care of.

When employees engage in undesirable behavior, we shouldn’t try to assess motives or change them. Just deal with the behavior. We can’t change the motives of our employees, but through positive or negative reinforcement you can affect their actions.

Follow these principles and you’ll find yourself surrounded by motivated employees who are channeling their energies toward your corporate goals -- goals in which they have personal stakes.

© 2006-2024 Dr. Nido Qubein, All rights reserved. www.nidoqubein.com President High Point University Used with permission of the author.

‘I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.’ Ralph Nader

Editor’s note: Please help us get this 100th anniversary edition out to as many of our fellow Toastmasters as possible. Pass along the webpage and invite your friends to download their own personal copies. www.Ideaman.net/COL2024.html

‘The quality of leadership, more than any other single factor,

determines the success or failure of an organization.’

Fred Fiedler & Martin Chemers Improving Leadership Effectiveness

The Best Boss I Ever Had

Vilis Ozols, BS, MBA, CSP

You are sitting in a training session, and you certainly don’t want to be there. You have a pile of paperwork still sitting on your desk back at the office, you don’t trust your employees to run the joint without you, and you can just picture your e-mail and voice mail filling up as you sit in the corporate classroom. You don’t even have a choice about being here because this is one of those mandatory leadership training classes you’ve learned to dread.

The trainer is a guy you haven’t seen before, who looks too young, appears too athletic, and is wearing too nice a suit to know anything about leadership. You prepare to tune out before he even says a word because, after all, what can you learn from this kid when you’ve ‘been there and done that’— and he obviously hasn’t?

Without much preamble The Kid at the front begins. ‘Today you will learn more about leadership from yourself, than you can ever learn from me!’

‘Ain’t that right!’ You say to yourself.

‘Rather than me telling you what I think leadership is all about,’ The Kid continues, ‘I’d like us to delve into our own versions of what leadership is about.’

‘Oh, no!’ You think in horror, ‘The dreaded ‘group exercise’ to start the day!’

‘And it won’t be in the dreaded ‘group exercise’ format either.’ Says the now-looking-slightly-more-mature-to-you kid, with a knowing grin.

You sit up a little to hear where he’s going with this as he gives you the instructions. ‘I’d like you to complete a sentence based upon your own experience and background. The sentence is simply this: The best boss I ever had was a person who ...’

You roll your eyes and look at your neighbor who mirrors your attitude exactly. You casually look around for more support but everyone else seems to be contemplating deep thoughts and some are already writing furiously.

You look back at your neighbor and you see that you’ve lost her, too, to the ‘complete the sentence’ exercise. Without much of an effort your thoughts drift back to the best boss you ever had, and, you too, start to formulate an ending to the sentence that best describes the character trait of your mentor from not so long ago.

You write quickly and even with your slow start you’re done before most of your coworkers. You start to look around at some of your neighbors’ answers to see what sort of descriptions they’ve put down on paper, knowing all the while that yours is the most valid.

‘I see that most of you are done,’ The Kid intones, ‘and I notice that more than a few of you are already looking at your neighbors’ responses to see what they’ve written.’

‘Boy this is starting to get scary,’ you think, and you look at The Kid and realize he’s not that young and, who knows, maybe this might be a worthwhile day after all.

‘If you’re so inclined, what I’ll ask us to do next is to just share with your neighbors sitting at the same table what it is that you wrote. If possible, enhance your written answer by giving a specific example of how that person from your past did what it is you described.’

You hear your coworkers, all with some of the same supervisory concerns as you; start to share vivid examples of thoughtful, capable, competent, nurturing, mentoring leadership prototypes and you start to feel something akin to envy.

‘Wouldn’t it be nice if those kinds of people were in leadership positions here in our organization?’ You think wistfully.

The kid calls the group back to order and very seriously intones ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if the kind of people you just described were in leadership positions here in this organization?’

You nod your head in affirmation along with the others in the group.

‘Well, today’s session is geared towards helping each of us to be just a little more like the person you just wrote about. Here’s what I’ll ask you to do. Everyone just re-read to yourself what you have just written down.’ Silence.

‘Now rate or measure yourself in terms of how your employees would rate or measure you in that character trait or leadership characteristic.’ More silence.

You start to feel, along with your coworkers, the self-evident truth of your leadership challenge. It seems as if for the first time in a while you have a much-defined leadership goal and perspective now.

This approach is effectively used time and again by many leadership trainers. The basic truths revealed by our own leadership examples from our own past are often the most powerful. Surprisingly enough, many of these leadership characteristics or attributes are common and are repeated by groups like this across the nation.

See if any of these character traits that follow apply to the best boss you ever had. Even more important, see if any of these traits apply to you, as rated by your employees as ‘the best boss I ever had’?

The best boss I ever had was a person who ...

Listened to me

This simple trait surfaces repeatedly. The basic reality is that employees are very judgmental about their leaders based solely upon the perception of their listening skills. How well do you tune in to your employees?

Cared about my success

This is an attitude rather than a leadership skill. Do you care about the success of your employees or are you somehow focused on trying to control them or get the most out of them in terms of productivity?

Let me do my job the way ‘I’ thought it needed to be done.

No one likes to be micro-managed. When a leader allows us the latitude to do a job ourselves, they gain productivity from us, their employees. The best bosses facilitate this by being very clear about what’s important and what are critical success components of a job or project. When the boundaries are clear, decision-making is easy.

Let me make mistakes

This is one of the traits of great leaders. They do allow their employees to make mistakes. Even more important, they treat those mistakes as learning opportunities not as chances to punish their employees. An effective approach that will change the way you deal with employee errors is to challenge yourself, before an employee encounter, with this standard: Am I being punitive or am I being developmental?

Saw potential in me

This is very similar to the earlier trait of ‘Cared about my success’. It is very much an attitude and a perspective of great leaders.
The secret, if there is one, is that great leaders are always looking for potential in subordinates, or similarly, for strengths or success attributes.

Many managers are so busy doing their jobs today that they would not recognize an employee’s strength or success attribute if it bit them on their budget report. Think of your employees as individuals and see if, for each of them, you can come up with a defining strength or success attribute. It is easy if you just set out to look for them.

Challenged me

‘Expectations breed results’ might be one of the most powerful leadership credos around. What do you ‘really’ expect from your employees? Bosses who ‘challenge’ their employees will get not only increased results but also get increased loyalty and commitment from their employees.

Taught me

The unfortunate reality of today’s ‘doing more with less’ work environment is that many bosses are too busy to take the time to teach employees the proper or most effective way to do their jobs. The even more unfortunate reality is that they are too busy to not take the time to teach employees properly. This is one of those leadership traits that too often we don’t recognize on our job description. Your job as a boss is to teach and train your employees to do the job the best that they can.

Had a sense of humor

Successful executives at all levels are learning that one of the most powerful survival skills for a leader is to have a sense of humor. How often have we been guilty of taking the job too seriously? In fact, an INC. Magazine survey of the INC. 500 executives rated a sense of humor as one of the most critical executive survival skills.

Shared information with me

Today’s frenetic management pace often relegates employees to the mushroom treatment: Feed them bits of manure and leave them in the dark. Poor communication is structurally inherent in most every organization. It is the job of a boss to continuously communicate pertinent information to their employees. Do you have a communication strategy for sharing pertinent information ... continuously?

Knew the job inside out

The reality of today’s employee is that they are too smart to respect a boss who believes: ‘Do as I say not as I do.’ Today’s employees are as good at recognizing competency as they are at recognizing incompetence.

The bottom line for any boss is the ‘Management by Walking Around’ approach: You need to be doing what it is your employees do at least 15 to 30 minutes a day. Yes, you are too busy to do this. And, yes again, you are too busy to not do this!

You leave the leadership seminar somewhat invigorated. You have your action plan of what you’re going to try to do differently, and it is not as if it will be that hard to do.

Most of it is common sense and stuff that you’ve been just too busy to do or notice. But you know from your own experience that it’s going to be the right way to approach things.

You think back on the trainer, ‘The Kid’ as you called him. Boy, he’s one smart dude, you think. You even copied down his phone number and e-mail, just in case you run into an issue that you might want his insight on.

Somehow you can’t help thinking that you didn’t really need a day with The Kid to straighten out your act. You knew most of this stuff already.

And then thinking back, you start to grin ear-to-ear as you recall how you had completed the sentence this morning: ‘The best boss I ever had was a person who helped me reach my full potential by pulling out the best in me even though I didn’t necessarily recognize I had it there in me.’

‘We need to have that kid back to do training more often!’ You think?

© 2008-2024 Vilis Ozols, BS, MBA, CSP (www.ozols.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.’

Robin S. Sharma

We’ve attempted to ensure all links are accurate. If you find one that is broken let us know. bhooey@mcsnet.ca

‘If leaders commit to something, they must keep their word. One of the quickest ways to lose respect of those you lead is by violating their trust.’ Dr. Patton

How to Become a Great Leader

Wayne Lee, CSP, HoF

‘Leadership is the challenge to be more than average.’

Jim Rohn

A while back, I had the pleasure of presenting to 500 students at a youth leadership conference. It struck me that each of the students before me had the potential to become the next generation of great leaders in their family, school, career, and community. I asked myself the question, ‘What will it take for these students to become great leaders?’

In response to that question, I have identified three essential qualities - The 3 V’s - that all leaders possess and that any individual can develop to help inspire and instruct others to become extraordinary leaders:

Vision – All great leaders have a sense of what they want and where they are going. In fact, the word lead means to go in a specific direction. By creating a vision of your life, you automatically start manifesting your future. Michael Gerber, who wrote The E-Myth Revisited, describes vision as seeing through feeling. In other words, what do you passionately see for yourself in the future? How do you want your life to look? A vision is an ideal that you strive for that pulls you into the future and motivates you to become great and excellent.

I have a simple vision: To teach people that Life is Magic. To help you create a clear vision for yourself, answer the following questions:

What are you passionate about?

What will your life look like in 5, 10, or 20 years?

At the end of your life, how do you want to be remembered?

If you could write a vision statement about your life, what would it be?

‘If you do not know where you are going,

every road will get you nowhere.’ Henry Kissinger

Values – Values are the qualities and things in your life that you think are important. Great leaders know what they stand for and what is important to them.

There are many distractions and temptations in life, and if you don’t base your decisions on your own solid values, then you may fall for the distractions. Some examples of values are honesty, balance, trust, determination, confidence, being healthy, contribution, family, wealth, etc.

In my experience, the leaders whom I respect the most are the leaders who are consistent in all areas of their life. A person who values his family, career, and health would balance their life by making time for their family, career, and health.

What are the five most important values in your life?

How are they incorporated into your life?

How can you incorporate your values into all areas of your life?

Do you let your values guide you in your decisions?

How can you teach other people to have a strong sense of values?

‘A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.’

Baltasar Gracian

Voice – Voice means speaking your truth. Many people want to avoid conflict or hide the way they feel instead of being honest. Great leaders are confident in themselves to voice their opinions. They are also confident enough to listen to the advice of others.

In fact, listening is an essential quality a leader must possess in order to understand the needs and wants of others. Having a voice also means making decisions with confidence even if they are wrong. All leaders make mistakes, yet they learn by their mistakes to move in the direction of success.

The last part of having a voice is ‘Walking your Talk.’ Essentially, being congruent in what you say and do. To me, this is characterized by integrity.

Consider the following questions to help you develop your voice:

Are there any areas of your life where you are avoiding conflict?

Why are you avoiding conflict in these areas?

Do you hesitate to share your opinions?

Does the fear of failure prevent you from moving forward?

Do your actions match your words?

Do you say what you mean and mean what you say? If not, how could you be more congruent?

‘As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.’ Bill Gates

In life we all can become great leaders who help LEAD (Learn, Experience, And Direct) others. By developing the 3 V’s - Vision, Values and Voice – you will not only be successful and fulfilled, but you will also help others become successful and fulfilled in their lives.

© 2006-2024 Wayne Lee, CSP, Hall of Fame All rights reserved. www.waynelee.com Used with permission of the author and friend.

‘The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.’ Jim Rohn

‘The very essence of leadership is its purpose. And the purpose of leadership is to accomplish a task. That is what leadership does - and what it does is more important than what it is or how it works.’ Colonel Dandridge M. Malone

Looking for Great Leadership: Look in your own back yard

John Reinhart

I would be surprised if you have heard of any of the leaders with whom I’ve had the privilege of working. None have ever been on the cover of Forbes or profiled in the New Yorker. A few have been successful in seeking public office, but not at the level that gets you invited to Sunday morning talk shows. The leaders I work with are, for the most part, unheralded.

Some may be well known within their own communities, but even that is not a given. Yet all these leaders have made an impact that rivals those of their more famous peers.

I often start my presentations by asking the audience to close their eyes and think about the place where they live, to think about their day-to-day lives and those of their families and friends. I then ask them to start:

To take away the local libraries and YMCA and YWCAs

To take away the Fourth of July and New Year’s celebrations

To take away the youth sports leagues and church festivals and local government and school boards

To take away all the parts of their communities that depend upon volunteer leadership to survive and to thrive

These are the leaders with whom I get to spend my time. These are the leaders that have ‘redefined’ what leadership is to me.

We all have a natural tendency to rely on great outcomes when we think of great leaders. Who won the battle? Who turned the company around?

If I asked you to name 10 great leaders, I might not be able to predict your entire list (although I’m pretty sure I could hit 3 or 4), but I’m confident that I can name the categories they would fall into.

There would likely be some political and military leaders

A couple of religious leaders

Some ‘movement’ leaders

Maybe a CEO

And usually a winning coach or two

Ghandi, King, Mother Theresa, Churchill, Lombardi, Lincoln - you get the general idea.

Some might include one historical villain to show understanding that great leadership doesn’t always mean noble results.

What most of you would not do is list any of the people whose leadership has directly touched your life. Yet, if I asked you to list the qualities of those ‘great’ leaders—for example, vision, compassion, the ability to communicate the vision—you would likely be able to identify many individuals in your life who share those qualities. And if I pushed a little harder, you would likely be able to see many of those qualities in yourself.

The standard question to people involved with leadership development is ‘Are leaders born or made?’ Given that our professional lives are devoted to helping people become more effective leaders, I always wonder if we’re expected to say, ‘All born, not a thing we can do to help.’

While some people are obviously given a genetic and environmental ‘step up’, based on my experience I strongly believe that almost everyone is born with the potential to be a great leader, but that somewhere along the way many lose the ability to ‘see’ that potential in themselves. We have less trouble recognizing the leadership abilities of others but have more difficulty seeing those same traits in ourselves.

Successful leadership development programs not only develop skills, but more importantly, bolster confidence and serve to inspire and motivate participants.

Over the past 50 plus years I have witnessed first-hand what can happen when ‘ordinary’ people begin to think of themselves as leaders. Literacy programs that have been created from scratch, statewide associations revitalized, entire rural communities wired for internet access, community theaters restored, and the list goes on and on. All these things were made possible because of individuals, mostly volunteers, who wanted to do more and came to believe they could make a difference.

Editor’s note: Amazing examples of ‘The Power of One!’

However, for me the best part about being involved with leadership development has not been seeing what my participants have gone on to accomplish, it has been watching them begin to realize their own potential.

I’ve seen a shy ‘individual’ who could not even make eye contact in a one-on-one conversation develop the necessary self-confidence and skills to successfully run for public office and grow into a very effective advocate for the public they serve. I’ve seen an ‘individual’ who always valued the expertise and insights of others learn to recognize, value, and make the most of their own attributes as well.

I’ve seen an ‘individual’ who was paralyzed just by the thought of public speaking become a competent, confident, and engaging presenter to large audiences. And I have seen them accomplish these things because others have helped them see ‘the leader within’ them.

Am I trying to downplay the accomplishments of famous leaders? Not for a second. There are excellent reasons why they make the magazine covers and get invited to the talk shows. What I am asking is that every now and then you take some time and think about the people in your life who go above and beyond to make the world a better place.

The school board member who gives up a lot of time without pay

The small businessperson who created a handful of jobs that would not exist without him or her

The sports coaches who teach their players more than how to play a game

And the next time someone asks you to name a ‘great’ leader, put some of them on the list. Look in your own backyard, you might just find the great leaders you are looking for… or look in your own mirror.

© 2008-2024 John Rinehart, All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of this author.

‘One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Dale Carnegie

‘Leadership is not so much about technique and methods, as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration—of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.’ Lance Secretan, Ph.D., Industry Week

The Heart of a Leader

Sheryl Roush, DTM, PDG, Accredited Speaker

Historically, leaders have demonstrated numerous different approaches and unique styles, yet there is one sincerest commonality – that of heart – passion, zeal, fervor!

Traits of effective leaders:

1) Know your values,

2) Be hopeful,

3) Be prepared,

4) Show courage,

5) Build great teams, and, above all,

6) Love people

The heart of a leader is one that constantly expands to encompass, embrace, and encourage. The actions of one who leads with ‘authenticity’ from their heart amazes even themselves at the capacity to exceed even their own expectations, limitations, and fortitude. They have core values, solid beliefs, and practiced principles by which they live. These then shape the personality, attitude, and style of their leadership. Learned or innate, this style becomes a consistent pattern of their behavior with key aspects of how one thinks, how one influences others, and how one implements day-to-day actions.

As a conference speaker and corporate trainer for the past 40 plus years, I have the privilege of getting to know organizations from the inside-out, discovering what makes them tick, and how to help people bring their heart and spirit to their work. To highly tailor every program, I ask a series of questions to enrich my understanding of that organization, its genuine needs, and then we establish a course of affirmative action.

My observations bring me to these general commonalties: people need to feel valued, appreciated, and treated with dignity and respect.

Employees and volunteers come to great organizations because of their reputation, affinity, and the opportunity to serve, with potential for advancement and challenge.

They embrace centered leadership, support a vision that has significance, and are driven when feeling personally fulfilled by the cause and their contribution to it. Unfortunately, good people leave not due to financial reward; but due to the lack of acknowledgement of their work - from their direct supervisor - their immediate ‘leader’.

Yesterday’s style of leadership of control, manipulation, and intimidation are old-school and ineffective. Today, people are being deemed as the most asset in any organization. This focus encourages leaders to celebrate the skills of individuals on their team and to learn how to harness intrinsic motivators to make their people shine. Human Resource departments are shifting their paradigms to ‘talent management’ to retain quality staff and those valued ‘human assets’.

New school leadership is one that welcomes input from the team through active listening, as exemplified on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. In a crisis, Captain Jean-Luc Picard summons the bridge crew for a briefing and opens the floor for options. Once he has heard suggested solutions and ideas, the decision is announced, and all crew members carry out that order in full support. This highly effective style is one of participation and ‘engagement’. The level of trust in command has been built on being able to speak one’s mind, offering input into the decision, then acting in full support of that leader’s final decision.

HR Expert Susan Heath writes, ‘Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs… it is a management and leadership philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their organization.’

Team members ask two consistent questions: ‘Where are we going?’ and ‘How am I doing?’ They are asking for the Mission, Vision, Direction, and Feedback on their personal performance. They seek leadership to offer them that assurance.

Once established, THEN they can step up as leaders in their own life and become truly ‘empowered’ to do their tasks well.

Of the things that people want in organizations is being assigned interesting and challenging work is at the top of the list. People do want to be delegated tasks, but not ‘dumped on’. It is HOW the work is assigned. They want to improve their skills and be empowered to think for themselves. People want to be heard, even if their ideas cannot be implemented.

Harvard University psychological theorist David C. McClelland, indicated that the three things that make a great place are:

1) you trust whom you work with,
2) you have pride in your work, and
3) you enjoy the people with whom you work.

My own research within organizations reveals that pride is never an issue – people have it. It’s the other two items that challenge teams. If trust - in any relationship - is destroyed, it is the hardest to rebuild.

Author Marsha Sinetar, writes ‘Trust is not a matter of technique, but of character; we are trusted because of our way of being, not because of our polished exteriors or our expertly crafted communications.’ During times of change in an organization trust can be built by frequent, concise, and accurate communication, reinforced by timely follow-through on promises made.

Our lives need to have meaning and significance today, more than ever. Warren Bennis, bestselling author of ‘Leaders’ and ‘On Becoming a Leader’, concludes that at least 15% of an organization’s success is due to leadership. Professor Bennis further believes ‘Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens, people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.’

Marcus Buckingham’s research through the Gallup Organization, published in ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’ and ‘Go Put Your Strengths to Work’, is streamlined information based on the premise ‘Great leaders discover what is universal and capitalize on it. Great managers, by contrast, perform their magic by discovering, developing and celebrating what is unique about each person who works for them.’ Buckingham suggests, ‘We need to know how to identify people who have it (leadership) or at least the potential for it. We need to know how to create an environment that nurtures it and celebrates it.’

Leadership, management, and mentorship are siblings in the same family. Our world will always need all three. What does it take to truly be a great leader today? As the song lyrics from Van Buren Benny suggest, ‘You ‘gotta have heart!’

© 2008-2024 Sheryl Roush, DTM, PDG, Accredited Speaker (www.SparklePresentations.com) All rights reserved. Included with the warm permission of my dear friend, mentor, fellow Accredited Speaker, and ‘Heart of a Toastmaster’ author.

‘Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’
Muriel Strode (Poet) 

Napoleon Hill

‘Most leaders begin as followers.’
Napoleon Hill

Basic Leadership Tools

Dale Collie

The cadre officer patiently told me to pull out my US Army Ranger Handbook and look up the checklist for ‘river crossings.’

"A good scare is worth more than good advice."

Anonymous

When I found the page, I could see that I’d done everything wrong in this practice river crossing. I’d slept through the classroom instruction and tried to bluff my way through the leadership problem when called upon to lead this platoon of ranger cadets across the wide river.

I was scared all right. I was afraid that I would fail the exercise immediately and have to recycle through the entire Ranger course-- a fate worse than going into combat because of the very tough physical and mental challenge of this elite Army school.

‘Take twenty minutes to revise your order and get your troops ready,’ advised the cadre officer. ‘And you’d better pray that they are willing to go through the entire operation again.’

My apology was accepted, and the group of young officers in training successfully crossed the river. A checklist of specific directions is amazingly valuable when you’re working in unfamiliar territory or in times of crisis and high stress.

A few months later, both lessons proved invaluable as I led troops in combat. We made several successful river crossings, and I used check lists for even the most routine of tasks. No matter how tired I was or how stressful the combat situation, the checklists gave us confidence that we covered the essentials.

In the corporate arena, risk takers and innovators sometimes rush through the routine and leave a trail of errors for others to clean up. Basics oriented leaders more often follow the tried-and-true check list and succeed at a slower pace.

Make sure you have checklists prepared for routine and special situations in your organization. And make sure everyone is referring to the basics as they work through each assignment,

You probably won’t be conducting a combat river crossing with elite soldiers, but people are depending on you to do the right thing, no matter how stressful things are or how fast the business is moving.

‘Working with organizations that want to build courageous leaders.

and businesses.’

© Copyright 2006-2024 Dale Collie All rights reserved. www.CourageBuilders.com Used with permission of the author.

Leadership is a choice not a label!

We just released our expanded 6th edition of Legacy of Leadership which is a nice companion to In the Company of Leaders.

You can get it on Amazon or Lightning Press

Visit: www.SuccessPublications.ca

PS: Please go to our authors’ websites and order some of their books for your leadership library.

S. L. A. Marshall –

‘The art of leading, in operations large or small, is the art of dealing with humanity, of working diligently on behalf of men, of being sympathetic with them, but equally, of insisting that they make a square facing toward their own problems.’
S. L. A. Marshall – Men Against Fire

Be More than a Manager: Learn to Lead

Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient

Leadership is a ‘buzzword’ in today’s culture and is applied to areas ranging from the corporate business world to sports teams to nonprofit organizations. Although leadership may currently be in the spotlight, it has always been a critical factor in the success of an organization. I don’t believe leadership makes a difference; I believe leadership makes ‘the’ difference in your work and life.

John Maxwell calls it ‘the law of the lid’; the effectiveness and ability of a leader determines how high people can rise and how good an organization can become. The better the leader, the greater the potential for the success of the team or organization.

What Makes a Leader?

We’ve all known or even worked for managers who seem to figure the title automatically made them leaders and that is a mistaken idea. In a rational organization a title confirms leadership ability, but it doesn’t bestow it. It takes more than just the title of manager to lead people in the right direction; in fact, sometimes the most effective leaders have no title at all.

Joe Klein in his book ‘Politics Lost’ defines a good political leader by asking three questions (paraphrased):

Is he or she strong?

Is he or she trustworthy?

Is he or she interested in people like me?

I believe the same three questions define leaders of every type.

The first question of strength is about competence and the ability to get the job done.

Nobody wants to follow an incompetent leader.

The second question deals with character. If you can’t trust a person in little things, how can you trust them in important things? This is an integrity question, and it is critical.

Leadership is about creating commitment and getting people to follow because they ‘want to’, not because they ‘have to’ follow. Commitment is always based on trust.

You can be a person of good character and competent skills, but the third question is, in my opinion, what really makes one a leader. It is a question of connection. People rarely change outside of their relationship. It is relationship that truly moves others. If you aren’t really interested in me and my hopes and dreams, why would I follow you?

Understanding Characteristics of a Leader

Leaders focus on solving problems and creating opportunities.

Every organization has its challenges. Leaders can respond appropriately to a challenge and teach employees problem solving and conflict-resolution by their own example.

Rather than the typical managerial method of making the problem go away, keeping others focused on the ultimate goals and mission of the organization are key for the leader. A leader embraces challenges and uses the issues as learning experiences to help them create better solutions.

Future-focused leaders naturally create a positive environment for their employees, which means there will be greater employee retention. Set goals with employees, both organizational goals and individual employee goals, to connect them with the mission. By doing this, leader-managers can better understand exactly how employees’ personal goals can merge with the organization’s goals.

But it isn’t enough to put out fires. Effective leadership is about helping people and companies achieve new goals and go to places they’ve not been before. Problem solving is necessary but certainly not the most exciting part of leadership.

Much has been said and written about the importance of vision in leadership. Vision is having a desirable goal for the future. As important as that may be, the more important skill is what I call ‘visioning’; getting people to help achieve that view. It isn’t enough to see what the future could be; a leader makes a compelling case and motivates others to join him or her in creating it.

Choosing to Impact Lives as a Leader

True leadership is several steps ‘beyond’ being a manager in that it reaches a deeper personal level. While a manager might simply go through the motions and check off duties and tasks, a leader is searching for deeper meaning through her company and individual management role. For a leader, the job is more than directing employees; it becomes a mission to influence people within an organization to surpass their own potential.

In other words, managers work with people where they are and often maintain the status quo, while leaders focus on taking people to the next level, improving the performance of the individual and in turn the company. It becomes exciting to go from being a manager to a leader, from doing what is necessary to striving for what is possible.

Making the Change from Manager to Leader

It may be easier than you think to leave the management hat behind and become a true leader. Perhaps as a manager the stress of having too much power and control over employees has become a burden. A move toward leadership means a shift in power—going from power ‘over’ employees to creating power ‘with’ employees. Releasing yourself from all that control and power can be a rejuvenating and encouraging experience.

Other areas to focus on as a leader include:

Maximizing your personal potential,

Learning to properly utilize resources,

Developing clear personal and organizational visions,

Valuing healthy communication,

Empowering yourself and others, and

Serving employees to retain and motivate them.

It is possible to become the type of leader-manager who is a driving force for change and growth within an organization. I believe that making such changes will bring a new joy and ambition to your career. Developing into a leader and going beyond a management role will require you to boost your creativity and career passion, while significantly improving the overall health of the organization.

© 2008-2024 Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient (www.marksanborn.com), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of this gracious friend, leader, and author.

‘Leadership is hard to define, and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.’ Indra Nooyi (Former CEO, PepsiCo)

‘I look through the eyes of the person before me, down into their heart to see their greatest need, and if it is within my power, I grant it.’ Mother Teresa

Listen with your Heart

Anne Barab, DTM, Accredited Speaker

The Resilience Expert

‘I know where you live, and I know where your children go to school. You’d better be careful, missy…’ the angry voice hissed in my ear. I hung up the phone shaking. What was I doing that could engender such anger?

It started out as a game – a lark – a supreme compliment. The previous year a group of citizens asked me to run for the local school board. I was flattered – a group of followers begging me to be their leader. How hard could the job be?

The campaign was spirited and expensive by district standards. We raised nearly $25,000 to elect me to a VOLUNTEER office. Best of all, I even had a position called ‘Campaign Wife’ filled by several people who cooked dinners for my family and carted the kids to activities while I was out meeting people and shaking hands. I puffed up with the hot air of hubris.

But after the election things weren’t so rosy. The campaign wives returned to their own families, and I began the arduous task of being a public servant.

Our school district faced some seemingly intractable problems. We had some over-crowded schools and some under-crowded schools, and we were trying to figure out how to balance enrollments. Sounds like a facilities utilization problem, right?

Wrong! Our community framed it around race, integration, and bussing because the crowded schools were full of minority, immigrant, economically disadvantaged, high needs kids living in multi-family dwellings. The empty schools contained mainly Caucasian children from single family homes. Get the picture?

Passions ran high. That’s when the calls started – hundreds of voice mail messages a day – and then the threats. Police protected me when I attended town hall meetings. I had never been so frightened in my life. I couldn’t even go to the grocery store without being cornered in fruits and vegetables by a red-faced constituent.

Some leader I was – cowering and afraid to leave my house. There’s truth to the saying that when you feel deflated you must have been puffed up. So, I reflected upon the reality of my leadership qualities. Was I strong or weak? Wise or shallow? Up to the task or just opportunistic? What does a real leader do when followers are angry and deeply divided?

Until now I had just been a positional leader, the boss at work, the titleholder who could wave the magic wand and say, ‘Do it this way because I’m the boss and I said so.’ Plus, in private industry the media doesn’t attend your meetings and then recount the happenings on the 10 o’clock news. I just hoped that my sound bites didn’t reveal me as a complete idiot.

That’s when it finally began to dawn on me – leadership is not about giving orders or having all the answers.

True leaders inspire followers to find the best solution.

About this time, I happened upon a biography of Mother Teresa and was deeply impressed by two facts.

As a young nun she vowed that no one would ever die alone if she could help it.

Over 10,000 people died in her arms.

Geez, that really put my paltry fears into perspective! Then I read her words that changed my life. She said, ‘I look through the eyes of the person before me, down into their heart to see their greatest need and if it is within my power, I grant it.’

This was simple wisdom from a true leader. I decided to give ‘Listen with Your Heart’ a try.

The next time an outraged citizen cornered me by the lettuce, I looked intently through their eyes down into their heart to see their greatest need.

And you know what I saw? Fear.

Fear that the quality of their child’s education might be compromised by ‘those kids’.

Fear of people who are different.

Fear that their community was changing.

Fear that they had somehow lost control.

Fear that ‘Big Brother’, the mindless government machine would damage their children, their property values, their lives.

And I didn’t flinch. I discovered listening with my heart gave me courage. I ‘listened’ to their rants with newly opened ears. I listened without feeling defensive or arguing. I listened to their perception that the proposed solution was ‘a done deal’. I listened to their insults about politicians being motivated by greed, stupidity, corruption, and self-interest. I listened to their powerless fear. I listened to their heart.

And then an amazing thing happened.

First, words of comfort spilled from my lips and relationships took hold. Then possible solutions washed through my addled brain. And then – miracle of miracles – I wasn’t afraid of the people or the problems anymore – because leading is mostly listening.

Leading is about listening – trusting that if you listen hard enough, stakeholders will propose viable and often superior solutions. If you listen long enough, you will see into the heart of the situation. If you listen wisely enough, you will build relationships that release people from their fear.

Time passed. The district leadership changed their decision processes to include more input from stakeholders. We listened better and responded to concerns. We became more inclusive. Passions died down as people began to trust that there was intelligent leadership at the helm of the ship.

In fact, four years later we were named one of the Top 100 school districts in the nation by ‘The Wall Street Journal’. Ten years later we’ve been recognized for three consecutive years as the highest performing diverse school district among the 1,040 school districts in our state.

It all seems so obvious now. Listening is the cornerstone of leading in every situation: in business, in public service, in families, in Toastmasters, or other volunteer groups.

But learning leadership lessons is an intensely personal journey. You must make your own mistakes and stumble over the same rocks in the leadership path that people have been tumbling over for centuries. For me, true leading began when I learned to listen with my heart.

© 2008-2024 Anne Barab, DTM, Accredited Speaker, (www.AnneBarab.com) Included with the kind permission of my fellow Accredited Speaker, leader, and author.

‘Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.’
Brian Tracy

‘In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock.’

Thomas Jefferson

My Leadership Journey

Marjorie Brody, CMC, PCC, CSP, CPAE

It was 1984. White water rafting in the Lehigh River. It was me, my significant other, Alan, and our combined four children, ages 7 to 12. I was in the front of the raft looking around; Alan was in the back paddling. The children were directing Alan toward the roughest rapids they could see.

Suddenly, we hit a rock. The raft flexed, throwing Alan into the white water. I knew that Alan would be fine. He was strong and a good swimmer. My fear was that I couldn’t get the children back to safety.

In what seemed like hours – and was only split seconds - Alan’s head popped out of the water. I leaned over and yelled. ‘Get back in this raft!’ He said, ‘I would if I could.’ At that point, I leaned over to the side, grabbed his arm, and flung all 200 pounds of him back to safety.

If anyone had asked me if I could have lifted Alan, I would have said NO way.

How often do we have strength and power that we don’t even know we have? So often, it goes untapped - unless there is an emergency, crisis, or if we’re asked. Instead of waiting for possible situations or outcomes to arise, why not tap into our own potential?

Ask yourself these three questions:

What would I do today if I were brave?

What would I do to connect to my potential?

What can I do to make a difference?

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? It ‘is’ simple, but not always easy to implement. I know this from a personal perspective. I was asked to speak about leadership for years.

Although I held leadership positions, I never felt qualified. My vision of a leader was someone larger than life.

Then I was asked to speak across the country at various regional women’s initiatives for a large pharmaceutical company. This time, before saying ‘no thanks,’ I discussed it with one of my daughters.

She said, ‘Mom, I’m confused. You’ve raised children and stepchildren; you’ve headed the speech department at a college when you were a professor; you’ve held leadership roles within organizations; and you’ve built a multimillion-dollar company. What is it about your ability to speak about leadership that you or I am missing?’

So, I ended up giving the pharmaceutical company presentations and began to believe in my own power and strength as a leader.

I continue to talk to women’s groups (men, too!), and urge them to operate from faith rather than fear – to have faith in themselves, because regardless of life’s ‘white water’, they have the internal compass and paddle to navigate themselves and others to safety - and success!

© 2008-2024 Marjorie Brody, CMC, PCC, CSP, CPAE (www.MarjorieBrody.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.’

Kenneth Blanchard

‘Ours is the only organization I know that is dedicated to the individual. We work together to bring out the ‘best’ in each of us, and then apply our skills to help others.’
Dr. Ralph Smedley, founder of Toastmasters International®

Leadership Lessons I Have Learned...
Or Wish I Had Learned Earlier!

Chris Ford, DTM, PIP, BRIGADIER-GENERAL (RETIRED) Toastmasters International® President 2007-2008 (RIP 2023)

After 35 years of service in the Canadian Army, three years at the executive level in the Public Service of Canada, 32 plus years in Toastmasters International, and many years as a volunteer leader in various charitable organizations, you’d think I would have learned a thing or two about leadership. The good news is… I think I have!

Lesson #1 – Authority: if you have it, use it sparingly. If you don’t, then earn it.

I’m going to make two seemingly contrasting statements right off the bat, and then show how they really amount to one and the same thing.

The first is the stereotypical image of the army officer is that he (or she) mostly gives the orders and the troops mostly obey.

The second is that in volunteer organizations like Toastmasters, leadership is a huge challenge because the leader has no authority to get things done.

Guess what? Neither statement is true. If I were to count the amount of time I spent giving orders or issuing formal direction during my career in uniform, I’d be very surprised if it would amount to more than a fraction of one per cent. And the myth that volunteer leaders have no authority is exactly that... a myth!

The point is that a military officer can only be effective over the long haul if he exercises ‘order giving authority’ only when necessary. On the other hand, the volunteer leader acquires ‘order giving authority’ by earning it from the team.

Para-phrased, what this really means is that one measure of the effectiveness of the formal leader is the extent to which he does not have to rely on the authority conferred upon him. The measure of the effectiveness of the volunteer leader is the extent to which team members respect him and confer authority upon him.

I want to connect this apparent dichotomy to the notion of ‘servant leadership’ we espouse in Toastmasters. The club president serves the members. The district director serves all clubs and members in the district. The international president.... well, we could just call him Chief Servant!

Focus on the member, we say. Make sure that he or she has the optimum experience in Toastmasters to learn and grow as a communicator and a leader. Is it any different in formal organizations such as the military or big business? I don’t think so. Whether your title is commander, vice-president operations, or project team leader, isn’t your primary job to ensure your team’s success?

In the early eighties, I had the privilege of commanding a combat engineer regiment, with about 300 men under my command. It soon struck me, after the initial euphoria of assuming command wore off, that this job as CO wasn’t about me at all. It was about them... 300 of them. My regiment wasn’t going to succeed in training or on the battlefield if I did not ensure the conditions for success of each soldier and officer in the unit were right. This meant determining, with my leadership team, what the essential ingredients of success for the regiment were and how we could do our level best to create those conditions.

Those ingredients ran the gamut from the right weapons and equipment, to training, to physical fitness, to supporting the morale and welfare of each soldier. It wasn’t easy and there were challenges along the way, but I would say we did our best to ensure the regiment became an efficient and effective unit, ready to conduct its operational mission whenever tasked.

This would not have been possible if my focus had been on me the Commanding Officer as the ‘Order Giver’ of the unit, rather than the ‘Chief Enabler’ of its success. Now there’s an idea - change the title from CO to CE!

Is this any different from the business world? I think not. The president or CEO of a big or small business better be thinking in terms of what it takes to create the conditions for success for its front-line employees, rather than focusing on the trappings of success and the perks that come with the corner office.

The focus needs to be on enabling the success of the employee who is making the widget or delivering the service to the customer. If the employee’s conditions for success are right, then the whole company succeeds. There’s another idea: change the meaning of CEO to Chief Enabling Officer!

Lesson #2 - People will always associate you with the office you hold.

When you’re the club president, you will always be perceived as the club president, no matter what you do or say. As the team leader at work, people will always see you as their team leader. Why is this important? Too many times I have heard leaders say, ‘Well, this is just my personal opinion,’ or ‘Just between you and me’. Or what about the leader who acts inappropriately when not ‘on duty’? You know: ‘what happens here stays here’!

The point is, once you’re in the public eye, your public will always have its eye on you. How do I know? Because I’ve been in informal or social settings where someone will say ‘Hey, the President’s here,’ or ‘Try this one, Mr. President’. Like it or not, you just must accept that when you’re in a leadership position, what you do and say will be associated with the office you hold.

The good news is your positive attitude and your commitment to the people you serve will reflect highly on the office you represent. Imagine yourself as the district governor at a social event during a district conference.

If you spend time with as many members and guests as you can, not just the ‘old guard’, if you truly listen to the concerns and ideas of your members, if you follow up when you say you will follow-up, just think how such behaviour will reinforce and enhance the image of not just your position, but also you personally. And little things can make such a big difference!

I was at a district conference in Australia (2008) and handed out some Toastmasters pins to people who had worked on the conference committee. One woman, not a member of the committee but who had helped in many ways, seemed a bit disappointed when she didn’t receive one. I promised her that if I saw her the next day, I would be sure to give her a pin. I did! A small gesture perhaps, but worth its weight in gold. Moral of the story: when you say you’re going to do something - just do it!

Lesson #3 – You don’t need to know everything, but you need to know who does.

One of the most liberating moments of my military career happened about 26 years ago when I was a lieutenant-colonel, and I was briefing my combined military and civilian team about some upcoming changes in our organization and its processes. Someone asked me a question for which I did not know the answer. In the past I’ve often succumbed to the temptation to answer the question, even if I did not know or was not sure of the answer.

This time, for some strange reason, I simply said, ‘I don’t know, but together we’re going to find the answer.’ I tell you, that was a breakthrough for me.

Up to that point, I had this mistaken belief that the leader had to ‘know’ everything. How foolish and even dangerous that attitude can be! Imagine presuming omnipotent knowledge in times of crisis and risking failure or worse simply because I was too proud to admit I didn’t know.

So, what’s important here?

Realize that there is no possible way you can know everything about your operation, your people, the environment in which you operate, or the external influences way beyond your control.

Understand that there are people way more qualified or competent than you are in various aspects of your business. Admit it and get over it. You are not paid to know everything, but you are paid to lead those who do.

Then make sure you know who does know what needs to be known or where to find the information. This may sound very basic, but basics are all too often ignored if we get carried away with a false sense of self-importance as leaders.

Some conclusions

There is so much to learn from every leadership experience that comes your way! From young troop commander to general officer, from club sergeant-at-arms to international president, I can honestly say that each step along the way has contributed to my development as a leader…. and I’m not done yet!

When someone hands you a leadership opportunity, take it! Be grateful for the confidence someone has shown in you to ask you to take on whatever the challenge may be, milk it for all its worth, care deeply about the people you serve, give it your very best shot. You’ll be in better shape for it and so will the world you serve!

© 2008-2024 Chris Ford, DTM, PIP All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of this international leader, friend, fellow Toastmaster, and author. Sadly, we lost Chris in 2023, he will be missed.

‘The world needs new leadership, but the new leadership is about working together.’ Jack Ma

Follow this link to access 80 videos I’ve done on leadership over the past few years… also on other topics.

https://www.youtube.com/@ideamanbob/playlists

‘If leaders commit to something, they must keep their word. One of the quickest ways to lose the respect of those you lead is by violating their trust.’ Dr. Patton

History tends to repeat itself

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, DTM, Past Region 4 Advisor

My wife, Irene, is of Ukrainian heritage, with her grandparents on both sides emigrating to Canada in search of a better life. So, we watched (Feb. 2022) with concern as Putin’s murderous forces un-righteously attacked schools, hospitals, and day care centers in an unsuccessful terror campaign to weaken the will of the Ukrainian people. His troops killed and wounded civilians without any regard. PS: He is losing! We watched with amazement when they were bogged down, ran out of gas, saw 1000’s of Russian conscripts deserting the battle and Ukraine more than holding her own and winning against a ‘superior’ foe.

Perhaps a bit of historical background will help frame this chapter on contemporary leadership.

A 1922 treaty between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Transcaucasia (modern Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Lenin took control of the government. At its height it comprised 15 republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Stalin rose to power in 1924 and ruled by terror, enacting brutal polices that would leave millions of citizens in the USSR dead. Stalin realized an opportunity toward the end of the 2nd World War and rapidly took control of a number of countries to expand the Soviet Union. He and his successors ruled with an iron fist and people learned to live under a dictatorship and with the threat of atomic war with the west.

In 1949, the US, Canada and its European Allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a political show of force against the USSR and its Eastern Bloc (Warsaw Pact) alliance.

An unsuccessful coup by hardliners in the Communist Party sealed the Soviet Union’s fate by diminishing Gorbachev’s power leading him to resign in August 1991.

Boris Yeltsin took power. At that time Ukraine severed its ties to the Soviet Union, providing a coup de grace. Ukraine was a cornerstone of the Soviet Union, home to the Black Sea Fleet and much of the Soviet Union’s agricultural production, military, and defense industries.

Since declaring its independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has sought to establish itself as a sovereign state while looking to more closely with Western institutions, including NATO and the European Union.

Pivotal note. December 1999 saw the resignation of Boris Yeltsin putting Valdimir Putin in place as Acting President of the Russian Federation. He has steadfastly schemed to remain in power and saw the Ukrainian direction as a direct threat. With the loss of other Soviet-bloc countries, he became focused on trying to rebuild the former Soviet Union in his own warped image. Still is as he was just re-elected.

Russia annexed Crimea (‘rescue’ operation) in 2014 and began arming and supporting Donbas separatists. The fight continued. In February 2022 Putin directed a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine set on toppling the Western-aligned government led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a former comedian, actor and politician who is serving as the 6th (current) President of Ukraine since 2019.

At times a leader is revealed during strife and chaos, and this is certainly the case in Ukraine and the inspirational journey he has led. His leadership journey is a lesson for all of us.

Ukraine has extended its ties with NATO and the European Union over the years leading up to the 2022 invasion and is seeking to eventually gain full EU and NATO membership. (2024, now a member of the EU) That, we think, drove Putin crazy and sparked, in part, his ill-advised, ill-planned and ill-equipped invasion of independent Ukraine.

The unprovoked, murderous invasion of Ukraine has left over 100,000 Ukrainians wounded or killed, many of them women and children. Even more than double that number of Russians have been killed or wounded. Over 8 million refugees left the country and millions more were displaced by the fighting. Russia’s missile and drone strikes continue to flatten cities and civilian infrastructure throughout the country. Putin’s strikes murder Ukrainian civilians at will! Yet, Russia’s so called overwhelming armed forces have been bogged down, and in many cases beaten/driven back by committed Ukrainians.

President Zelensky has risen to become the inspiration for millions in his country. His leadership success has led to a strengthening of NATO and new nations seeking membership. He has inspired nations around the world to lend their support to his band of patriots in their righteous fight to push back and defeat Russia. In essence, he has become the leader of the free world. With continued support and re-supply, they will eventually force Russia to retreat and leave Ukraine.

A few Zelensky quotes to support that:

‘Nobody is going to break us: we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians.’

‘Ukraine is the heart of Europe, and now I think Europe sees Ukraine is something special for this world. That’s why the world can’t lose this something special.’

‘We do not hold out, we fight, and our nation will fight to the end. This is our home, we are protecting our land, our homes. For the sake of our children’s future.’ (Sounds like Winston Churchill during the battle of Britain to me.)

‘To all the countries of the former Soviet Union – look at us, everything is possible.’

When he was offered a way out to safety, his response: ‘I need ammunition, not a ride.’

‘When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our faces.’

As I said, leaders can be revealed in the heat of battle and crisis. This is certainly the case in Ukraine. President Zelensky and his people serve as an inspiration to rest of the free world that good can triumph over evil.

Note: Things are still un-raveling in Russia. Tens of thousands have protested his illegal invasion, many of them being thrown in prison, and some giving their lives. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Mercenaries – led a 36-hr armed insurrection in June 2023. He captured the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and sent his men to within 200 km of Moscow before retreating to Belarus and was then later assassinated. He died mysteriously in a plane crash. Hmmm

Recently Moscow was the scene of major attacks by third parties.

We don’t know what will happen going forward, but we do know that Ukrainians, well supported and supplied with the tools and arms needed will continue to fight for their country and their freedom. We need to continue supporting them however we can ensure that result.

©2024 Excerpted from Legacy of Leadership (6th Edition)
by Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

‘Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.’ General George Patton

‘Outstanding leaders appeal to the hearts of their followers - not their minds.’

Unknown

Presence and Leadership

Stephen McGhee

The last few years had been by far the most powerful and insightful years of my life. My life had taken on a whole new quality of open-hearted communication and the results were clearly visible in my business. I was literally ecstatic about the future. It was graduation day! I completed a two-year master’s program in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica.

As the graduating class sat awaiting the ceremony, a tall handsome man was introduced as the Student of the Year for 2001. The room grew quiet as Steve Hardison took the stage. He stood on the platform and looked out at the class and their families. He had been asked to speak to us for five minutes. I found myself thinking how do five-minutes make a difference? Nothing can be said in five minutes.

How can a leader or a speaker say ‘anything’ in five-minutes that would meaningfully impact a class of graduates?

Steve came to the microphone and stood there soaking up the room. His presence was palpable. It was truly remarkable as his azure blue eyes glistened through his glasses at the audience. He stood silently looking out at all of us. While Steve was not looking directly at me, I could ‘really feel’ his presence, and something began to shift in my body as if my very Soul was opening. He was calm and powerful, relaxed, and nervous all in the same breath. How can that be? There was raw power there. He wasn’t saying a word. The room was hushed and grew increasingly quieter as we all waited for him to speak…a few people began to shift in their seats. It was apparent that many people were uncomfortable with the silence. What would he say? Would he ever speak at all? The clock ticked… 30 seconds.

He looked out at us again, this time more fully… he connected more deeply. It was as if he was going deeper into his own heart… his own Spirit and as he went deeper, I felt myself going deeper. This was so weird.

‘Say something’, I thought to myself. ‘I want you to speak. I want to hear what you have to say.’ His mouth finally opened, and the words tried to come out.

The first word was broken. He swallowed hard and began again. This time his heart connected with his mouth and every ounce of his being. His eyes filled with emotion and power filled integrity. He said, ‘My Name is Steve Hardison and I want all of you to know I LOVE YOU!’

The room grew quieter still as if they were in the calm before a hurricane. The hurricane did come immediately following that statement in the form of a thunderous round of applause which erupted as thousands of people gave a standing ovation for the powerful demonstration Steve had given us. He said very little and yet his five minutes spoke volumes to all of us.

That graduation event occurred in the fall of 2002. I have never forgotten the Herculean impact Steve had on thousands of people that day. The wisdom of both the silent preparation and the way he connected with the room before he truly spoke to us heart to heart. His impact did not come from some mental construct or well-formed speech. He didn’t sit down with a thesaurus to find the best words for us, although the words he spoke were demonstrative of divine perfection. What he offered to us came from the very core of his being. It came from years of living as a true leader. All those years of vigilant leadership came rushing forward and manifested in this beautiful moment of authentic ‘being’.

You see, I believe true Leadership is about ‘being’. It is about a presence that reeks of integrity and truth and has been tempered by life and business. That kind of presence cannot be faked. A leader has either lived his or her life that way or not. It is real and tangible. That is why people like Steve impact us in such powerful ways.

It is time for us as leaders of life and business to ‘get real’. It is time for us to change our way of ‘being’. In order to do this, we must go deep into our ‘being-ness’ and understand that we can literally create results with people by just ‘being’ a leader in any situation that presents itself to us.

Now don’t get me wrong…I am not talking about sitting on a mountaintop wishing for a change. I am talking about massive action in how you are being as a leader. This involves ‘minimizing the down time’ and creating powerful results in only a few moments of true presence with yourself and others. Can you imagine doing that? Can you imagine sitting in a board room at one of your boring meetings yet holding a space of leadership that will change the entire tone and flavor of that meeting?

Imagine what a difference will be made through your

powerful presence and you’re really listening.

If one person dares to demonstrate this form of leadership, imagine for a moment what kinds of miraculous possibilities will open before them. If you enter such a graceful state of being and carry it forth into your everyday routine, you will notice your world shifting immediately.

True Leadership begins by everyone shifting inwardly.

The old autocratic model of leadership is bankrupt, folks. Right now, each of us has a unique and powerful opportunity to rise into a brand-new way of being. It starts with each individual person. This is not touchy feely…this is as real as it gets. This is getting past all the old ways of being that are not authentic and no longer serve who we are or who we choose to be. These things in the past we’ve allowed to ‘be’ simply because we thought that was how it was ‘supposed’ to be. The old ways are disempowering and phony.

I have been thinking a lot about leadership lately.

As a professional Leadership Consultant and Coach, I have good reason to have the subject on my mind a great deal of the time. I don’t mind really, as I feel one of the most fascinating topics in our time is the impact of great influence on business and community. I work with every client on the deep levels of integrity, accountability, and self-awareness. In so doing, it is my genuine trust that every client walks away with a better understanding of the real power they can bring forth and offer as a gift to humanity.

For you, as a speaker, a leader of a business or community, imagine having huge impact by how you are being. Bring your highest level of presence to the next meeting. Many people say they don’t know how to do that. I think that’s just an excuse. You were born with a gift of presence. The key is to be aware of it. You may need to slow down to find it…and you have it.

My wish for everyone reading ‘In the Company of Leaders’, is for you to get your leadership presence ‘on’ at your next speech or meeting. Get comfortable with it and get used to it.

I encourage you to notice the difference your presence can make. Be aware of your thoughts, words, and actions, but also be mindful of your presence as an observer. Take heed of your ability to hold the presence of a leader in any situation - anytime. In thus doing, you can expect the miraculous to unfold right before your eyes. Be a leader of miracles. I dare you!

© 2008-2024 Stephen McGhee (www.mcgheeleadership.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will only be leaders. Sheryl Sandberg

This is certainly true in Toastmasters. Some of the most impactful leaders I’ve encountered in my 33yrs were female.

In fact, our top three international leaders (2024) happen to be female as we move into our 2nd century. Way to go Toastmasters.

‘The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.’
Dwight Eisenhower

Ethiture® - Where Ethics and Culture Merge
Ethical Standards and The Culture You Create

Stephanie Angelo, Accredited Speaker, SPHR, SCP, CVP

In 1987, I worked at a fixed based operation, or FBO, in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was one of the busiest municipal airports in the country, especially once a year when we had this ‘little’ golf game. You might have heard of it, the Phoenix Open! But the best thing about working there was our general manager, Jim.

Jim’s leadership style made the difference. Jim treated everybody who worked with him with respect, dignity, and trust. It was that element of trust, and dignity, that he built into a great culture. I took that example with me later when I worked in human resources at a hotel in Phoenix.

At that hotel, one of my jobs was to recruit. It was 1992, minimum wage was about $5 an hour. I was interviewing dishwashers, one day, and in walked Greg. Greg was wearing a hoodie over his head. His shoulders were rounded and his posture down. It was almost as if he wanted to be invisible.

I saw two things on his application I thought were diametrically opposed to one another. The first was that he had been incarcerated for six months for cocaine offenses. The second, prior to that, he’d been honorably discharged from the US Army after four years of service.

I asked, ‘Why are you applying for a dishwasher job?’ He said, ‘Well, you can see from my application, I’ve been in prison. I don’t think anybody’s gonna wanna hire me.’

‘I do see that, and I also see that you were in the Army for four years as an inventory control specialist. What is that?’ He answered, ‘Well, we would go in the warehouse with a clipboard and look at all the materials on the shelves and whatever was missing, we would write down and then just go into a computer and order it, so the army had everything it needed.’

My mind raced. We had something like that in the hotel and it’s not nearly as sophisticated or as important as the US Army. The mini bars in the guest rooms!

I said, ‘Wait a minute, Greg, I have an idea.’ I went to the banquet manager who was also in charge of the mini bar attendants. I said, ‘We have a guy who I think is overqualified for dishwasher. I can get another dishwasher.’ They spoke, and it was a great conversation. I checked Greg’s references, everything cleared, and we offered him a job. That meant that this guy who thought, maybe if he was lucky, would get a $5 an hour job, walked out with a $6 an hour job.

That was possible because the general manager, Bob, believed in upskilling people. It was one of his strongest values. He believed in utilizing their skills, knowledge, and abilities to make them better as people. In turn, the hotel, and the guests, benefited. That was the culture he established, and it created a great dynamic across all employees at the hotel.

That’s what I help my clients do. Your group chooses three to five values. You use the entertaining experience with my Company Culture Board Game – a Game of Workplace Traction not Transaction® to facilitate that. Building trust and creating transparent communication is the application of the Company Culture Game. When you choose three to five ethical values, you create policies and procedures based on them. More importantly, you collectively create goals for the organization and revisit them regularly to ensure they’re on track.

Then they become the standards of operation within the organization and become norms for everyday interaction. This also has value on the fiscal bottom line because it stands to reason if the company is financially healthy, then all of the employees benefit as well.

Ethical leaders recognize, respect and appreciate that their employees have different definitions of Ethics.

One’s personal definition comes from how they were raised, where they were raised, their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and many other factors. Ethical leaders understand that.

Ethical leaders demonstrate integrity, fairness, and moral principles in decision-making and behavior. They allow employees to express their personal values, and in all ways possible, make those values a part of the workplace structure. They are role models, inspiring trust and promoting the well-being of individuals and the entire organization culture.

When I started to think about ethics and culture, they were literally racing in my brain like two freight trains in a head-on collision, ‘Ethics, Culture, Ethics, Culture.’ And they collided together in the best of ways to create the word Ethiture®.

I invite you to use the word. Use Ethiture® in your workplace when you communicate with one another about merging ethics and culture and the benefits that it has for the people that work for you, how it makes them feel as valued individuals and how it benefits the financial bottom line. I invite you to share that in your daily conversations and implement that in your organization as a frequent element of your vernacular.

The first element in this process is ethics. And when you blend that together with culture, you get Ethiture® wonderful mix of those two elements.

The final, and most important, element is you. What will you do? Will you simply dip your toe in the water, or will you dive right in and immerse yourself in the meaning of Ethiture®?

Ethiture®, where Ethics and Culture merge to make ethical standards and the culture you create.

© Stephanie Angelo, Accredited Speaker, SPHR, SCP, CVP | 2024 – present| All Rights Reserved |www.StephanieAngelo.com

‘

‘There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one’s maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.’ Buck Rodgers

Reaching for a Lower Level of Leadership

John Blumberg, CPA

On the surface, reaching for a ‘lower level’ of leadership would sound like a bad idea. The problem is that leadership is not about the surface. It is about what is beneath the surface. It is about our depth. It is about what is truly happening at a deeper level within us. A lower level, you might say!

So often, when we think of becoming an effective leader, we think of the skills of leadership. And there is nothing wrong with that. Leadership often requires a variety of skills. But in the end, leadership is going to be about what you do … but first about who you are. The question is … are you willing to lead from the lower level within you?

As fast as we are moving today, we are in slow motion compared to where we are headed tomorrow. Technology and a global market will only require us to move faster in an ever-increasingly complex environment. While that is almost certain … the rest of the future is a mystery.

The Ride of Your Life

I love roller coasters. But I must admit the person at Disney that came up with the idea of Space Mountain was just a bit sick! Can you imagine the brainstorming session when they were trying to think of a new bold ride for their Disneyland Park in California? I can hear it now, ‘I got a great idea … let’s put a roller coaster in the dark!’ and so they did! Most roller coasters allow you to see what you are getting yourself into before you get on the ride. Not on Space Mountain. You have no idea!

In the end, maybe Disney built more than a roller coaster. Maybe they built the greatest monument to leadership. In leadership, just like on Space Mountain, you have no idea what is really going to happen.

In fact, often the circumstance in which we find ourselves in is often beyond our control. But the response we choose is not!

So, the question, as a leader, is how prepared we are to respond to the mystery of the future. It depends on how low you are willing to go … on how ‘deep’ you are willing to operate. In a world that is picking up speed at an exponential rate, all is likely to become a blur. That is, unless you are willing to FOCUS!

Just a matter of FOCUS

I want to share with you five simple ideas that are likely to take you to a lower level of leadership… to a deeper level of substance! None of these ideas will likely be new to you. Most leaders don’t fail because of what they don’t know. Most fail because of what they are not doing … about what they do know! So, ask yourself the question, ‘How am I doing?’ with each of these.

While not complex, these five ideas may still be hard to remember. To make it easy, we can attach each idea to each of the letters of the word FOCUS.

1. Determine your Foundation

There is a line I have seen used in some form or fashion from the lyrics of a song to the wisdom of a quote. It simply says, ‘If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for everything.’ It is so true. And at the speed the world is moving, it will become even truer. But what I often see is those who don’t stand for anything, and they are following for everything.

The key here is to determine your foundation - your core values. I used to assume that about 95% of adults in professional careers and top university students could take a blank sheet of paper and write down their core values … the very nucleus of themselves driving them each day. I could not have been more wrong! Very few could do it. I wasn’t the only one assuming it. I think they were too.

They considered themselves value-based people but had never gotten specific about the values. There have been many terrible leaders in the world that were values-based people. It’s just a matter of which values. What good does it do to consider yourself a values-based person if you can’t specify which values? Leaders of substance clearly understand the core values that drive them. And then they lead with perspective, decisions, relationships, and actions that reflect those values.

Determining your foundation is not just about learning about you. It is the very basis for making a meaningful connection with others. The more you understand your own values (and understand the value of values) the more likely you are to become interested in others and the values driving them. Not to judge them, but to better understand them.

It is then and only then that an organization has any chance of you knowing, understanding, and holding yourself and others accountable to the organization’s values. When we see organizational values through the lens of our own values, we are more likely to own them and to live them …and lead others to follow them.

As a leader, you need to ask the question, ‘Am I going to be interested or interesting?’ Leaders of substance are interested! And their interest begins by determining their own foundation!

Challenge #1: In the next 10 days take a blank sheet of paper and start to come to grips with your core values. Let the list evolve over a period and then put this list in a place where you can see it on a regular basis.

2. Develop your Outlook

Most people wouldn’t think about putting together a jigsaw puzzle without looking at the picture on the box. Would you? If you tried it, do you think it would take longer? Would it be more frustrating? Most say YES! But most would also go through life wondering why goals take longer to achieve or the road to achieve them is incredibly frustrating. Most often, it is because there is no outlook!

Developing your outlook is about developing the big picture of whom (not what) you want to be. Being deaf, mute and blind, Helen Keller was asked if there was anything worse than being blind. She nailed it when she responded, ‘Yes! Much worse than being blind is being able to see and having no vision!’ Have you really thought about WHO you want to be as a leader?

Think about the heroes in your life … the people you hold in high-esteem or consider to be a role model. Can you see something in them that reflects a glance of who you want to be? What is it about them?

Challenge #2: In the next 10 days think about numerous words that begin to draw a picture of WHO you want to be as a leader. Think about how you want to be seen in the eyes of others. Building from your foundation of core values, be specific so your outlook becomes continuously clearer in your mind.

3. Create a Concrete Plan

Leadership is beyond thinking and defining. It is about doing! Make a list of all the roles you currently play in life. Write a vision of ‘WHO’ you want to be in that role.

Then think about the actions that will move you in that direction. For each role, list 2 to 4 actions you can do monthly that will move you toward the vision you have created for yourself in that specific role. Be sure they are very measurable monthly. Just note 2 to 4 actions: not a laundry list!

Challenge #3: Develop your concrete plan … over a period. I recommend that you start in the first month by taking one professional role and one personal role. Write a vision of WHO you want to be in each of those two roles. Make a list of 2 to 4 specific actions, for each role, that are very measurable monthly. Take the first month to try it out. And then each month simply add just one more role. A year from now you will be amazed at how much more intentional you will be in living out the habits that move you toward who you want to be. Don’t do this exercise all at once. This is not about a personal revolution … but rather the evolution of you as a leader of substance.

Keep it simple. My business coach, Mark LeBlanc, has always told me that most people fail because they never master the complexity of simplicity.

Simple is hard to do on a consistent basis! Decide what your actions look like monthly … and then measure it monthly. Mark LeBlanc taught me another key here. Every month, all the counters go back to zero. No carryover (positive or negative!). Your measurement starts over each month. As you start a new month, you are neither ahead nor behind. You are just at the beginning of repeating the actions that you feel will help you evolve toward the vision of who you want to be in each specific role.

4. Understand your Undermines

There are two kinds of undermines - brick walls and glass walls. The brick walls are easy. You can see them. They are the ‘roadblocks’ that you know about. And because of your awareness of them, you can build a plan to go over them, under them, or around them to reach the destination to where you hope to travel. Not glass walls. Glass walls are not roadblocks that others put in our way. They are the things we put in the way of ourselves. They are things we don’t understand about ourselves or things we don’t want to admit to ourselves.

The best way to discover your glass walls is to find people who love you enough to tell you the truth … and people you love enough to accept what they tell you even when you don’t want to hear it! Most people keep warehouses of glass cleaner to keep shining their glass walls so they can continue to see right through them. Leaders of substance don’t see through them. They get others to help them see these invisible, yet real barriers. They are willing to be vulnerable to turn glass walls into brick walls.

Then leaders can let them go … so they can go over them, under them, or around them. The problem is that you can’t let go of something you don’t know you are holding onto!

Challenge #4: Determine the one or two people who love you enough to tell you the truth. In the next 10 days ask them to level with you on your glass walls. Think about what they tell you. Are you willing to accept it? If so, you have just turned a glass wall into a brick wall. Then think of a plan to let it go …going over, under, around, or through it!

5. Develop a True Spirit of Service

Service is usually taught as a series of steps and procedures. Some can master mechanics quite well. I call it ‘service-izing.’ We ‘service-ize’ others when we efficiently just go through the motions. A true spirit of service is a matter of the mind, heart, and soul. The question, as a leader of substance, is whether we truly have a desire to genuinely serve those around us… family, coworkers, bosses, customers, and followers?

Challenge #5: Become a student of those who deliver genuine service. Model yourself after them. Make a list of those whom you can serve. Rethink the possibilities of how you might serve them from a deeper level of substance.

Five simple ideas: Foundation, Outlook, Concrete plan, Undermines, and Service. I hope you will rise to the challenge to drop to a new low in leadership. I trust in doing so that you will find the substance within you …and within that substance, you will find meaningful success!

© 2008-2024 John Blumberg, CPA (www.blumbergroi.com ) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘A leader is best when people barely know they exist, when their work is done, their aim fulfilled, they will say: WE did it ourselves.’ Lao Tsu

‘The freedom to do your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best.’

General Colin Powell

Self-Leadership Skills – The Base Required for Success

Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient

If you can’t lead yourself then you aren’t ready to lead others. Stated more positively: ‘When you learn to lead yourself the world is yours!’

In 1977, I formed Cathcart Institute for the expressed purpose of ‘Helping People Grow’. Since then, I’ve worked with psychological researchers, organizational development specialists, managers, authors, poets, trainers, Olympic athletes, philosophers, historians, scientists, and motivators to determine how people can gain more control over their lives and more capacity for self-direction.

My assumption has been that by empowering others to lead themselves effectively, I will expand the contributions they make to the world and all of us will ultimately benefit. When I’m hired as a motivational speaker, my task is not to motivate others, but rather it is to ‘show them how to continually motivate themselves’. If I only motivate them from the outside, then they remain dependent on others to get them going. But by showing them how to sustain Self-leadership, they are free to grow on their own.

For Managers, the best thing they can do for their employees is to teach them to manage themselves. As each person becomes more self-managed, their supervisor is freed to apply energy to other opportunities. I have often informed my new employees that I expect them to continually learn and grow on their own; to become more valuable to my company and their career with each passing day.

Yes, I support their learning in some ways, but the responsibility to learn and improve is theirs, not mine. I let them know that just as they expect me to grow the company; I expect them to grow themselves. If either of us stops growing, then we should part company.

For Parents, the task of getting children to complete their homework is often a decade’s long assignment and an unpleasant one at that. But if they can cultivate in their children a love of learning, they may never have to worry about homework again. The kids don’t do homework on their own unless they feel a personal desire to do so. Outside pressure only creates a temporary stimulus. Show them the benefits and joys of learning.

Show your own love of learning through your actions and teach them techniques to make learning more enjoyable and easier, then you can stand back and watch them grow.

In Sales, the sales managers who teach their representatives to become their own sales managers are freed to focus on producing more and better sales. Those who do not are saddled with the eternal duty of keeping their team motivated. Share the information freely and hold people accountable for taking initiative. Keep the numbers of what is working and what is not obvious to everyone. Things that are measured tend to improve.

There is an underlying concept here: Responsible ‘TO’ vs. Responsible ‘FOR’.

If I’m responsible ‘FOR’ you then all things must begin with me. When I don’t act, then you don’t act, but you get to blame me for your inaction. On the other hand, when I’m responsible ‘TO’ you to provide direction, support, and encouragement, then if I don’t do my part, you are still in the driver’s seat. I’m just a resource. That is as it should be.

Examine your own patterns. Do you condition others into the posture of waiting for your lead or do you expect and allow them to take actions on their own? Often our own policies and practices can work to defeat our desired effects. For example: if people are instructed to not take any creative action without your prior approval, then creativity will not happen. But with the freedom to use their own best judgment, they can explore the best solutions. We only get new ideas when there is enough room to experiment.

Trust your people enough to give them some room. Allow them enough margin for error that they can take chances, but not so much that you put the entire enterprise at risk. Teach standards of performance, core values, best practices, and legal limits, but leave room for innovation. At least allow them to stumble and possibly fall as they progress toward your goals. Teach them how to Fall Forward when they experiment.

Don’t encourage them to be ‘Risk Takers’, instead teach them to be ‘Opportunity Seekers’. Show them how to explore within reasonable limits of risk.

For Self-Leadership to emerge there must be Trust, Support, Open Information Flow, Clear Guidelines, Resources, and Compelling Goals. People step up when they have a reason to do so (the root word in Motivation is ‘Motive’) and when they have permission to act on their own.

The Secret to your Success is Self-Leadership

Over the past year or so, open any newspaper or magazine and you will find a mention of ‘The Secret’ (the book & the DVD). This phenomenal product was created by Rhonda Byrne and includes some of my good friends: James Ray, Jack Canfield, Denis Waitley and others. They are speaking about the concept known as ‘The Law of Attraction’. Simply stated this law says, ‘What you focus your attention on tends to move toward you.’ This is even true on the simple physical level.

When riding a bike, if there is an obstacle in the road, by looking at it you are almost assured that you will collide with it. So, we are taught to look at the unobstructed path around the obstacle, not at the obstacle itself. Try it sometime, in a safe area, pick a point in the road ahead of you and look at it while intending to avoid it. You will ‘hit’ it instead. Then look just to the side of it and you’ll avoid it.

On the metaphysical level this means that what you think about will ‘come upon you’. If you think about success, you will more surely achieve it. If you constantly think about your fear of failing, failure will often be yours. It takes much training to get our thoughts and feelings under our guidance. They are used to following their own lead.

But the payoff for taking control of what you think about, how you think about it, and how you allow yourself to feel about it is huge! This is the most important work you can ever do because it will allow you to do everything else you ever decide to do.

I’ve proven it in my own life repeatedly and I’ve seen countless others learn to do it too. It comes down to ‘Self-Leadership’. You need to take charge of yourself. If you don’t take charge of you, others will. Everyone is led, but only the successful few are self-led. That’s because they have decided to and committed to doing so.

Start today to notice how you think and feel. Start keeping a journal or log of your thoughts and feelings each day. Study the patterns over several weeks and see the links between your thinking and your outcomes.

Read inspirational messages each day. Listen to podcasts and recordings that uplift you and show you how to own your life. Write out your primary goals and look at them every day, several times a day. Train your mind to focus on what you want, not what you fear. You can have the life you want, but first the Universe needs to know from your thoughts what it is specifically that you want.

Send the messages clearly and live as the person who is about to receive them. You deserve an abundant life and the rest of us need the contributions you can make as you become more successful.

Finally, …

The Ability to Actually LEAD is Lacking Among Leaders

As a member of various boards and committees in my community and industry I attend scores of meetings each year. I can count on one hand the number of those meetings that are well conducted!

Meeting chairs and organizational officers don’t control the meeting; they simply follow the strongest personality in the group. If someone persuasive wants to abuse the meeting’s time frame or get off track onto subjects not relevant to this meeting, they let them.

One of my colleagues said the other day, ‘Joe (not his real name) sure runs a long meeting. I don’t attend very often because so much of the time is wasted.’ Now notice that he didn’t say that to ‘Joe’, he said it to me, a fellow member. I wonder how many people are saying similar things about you and me.

A meeting represents a huge investment of time, attention, and talent. Every person in that room could be doing something else and probably earning money for it. All of them have other priorities in life. All of them have shown the leader the courtesy of showing up and doing nothing else during this time. The LEAST the leader could do is run a tight meeting!

Another area of leadership weakness is organizing projects. Plenty of people are willing to step up and get things started but not as many are skilled at making them happen. I remember when I was in the Jaycees many years ago, we were all required to learn a project planning process. We used a tool called ‘The Chairman’s Planning Guide’. It was a simple outline for organizing. It consisted of defining the primary purpose of the project, showing how it fits in with other priorities, setting specific goals, etc.

It was such a good tool that I had my son memorize it like a poem and recite it often. He was under ten years old at the time, but he still remembers the 7 Step Planning Process today, in his thirties. He has used it to accomplish goals.

These ‘steps’ are pretty much universal, and all planning processes cover them, but we need more people to know and use them... daily.

A third area of leadership lack is motivating volunteers. Anyone can motivate another person when the motive is a paycheck or avoiding pain; but not so many are good at getting people to voluntarily commit to a goal. This involves accessing the part of a person that is totally under their control, something known as ‘discretionary effort’. That is where the true value of one’s involvement shows most, when they are giving it their full commitment instead of mere token effort.

These skills for ‘Running Meetings’, ‘Organizing Projects’, and ‘Motivating Volunteers’ are not difficult to learn.

But to learn them, we must do two things: Teach them well and ‘require’ their use. We must require those who lead our meetings to get better at it. We must speak up and demand that projects be organized and followed through to closure. We must teach each other how to discern the truth about what works and what doesn’t in motivating us.

Only when MOST organizations start requiring their leaders to be effective at leading will we get better results and at the same time produce a new crop of good leaders each year.

Effective leadership is not about being in charge. It is about getting the job done well.

© 2008-2024 Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient (www.cathcart.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend, fellow leader, and author. Jim received our Toastmasters Golden Gavel in 2022 in Nashville.

‘A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.’

General Douglas MacArthur

George S. Patton

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do
and let them surprise you with their results.’ George S. Patton

Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith

Providing feedback has long been an essential skill for leaders. As they strive to achieve the goals of the organization, employees need to know how they are doing. They need to know if their performance is in line with what their leaders expect. They need to learn what they have done well and what they need to change.

Traditionally, this information has been communicated in the form of ‘downward feedback’ from leaders to their employees. Just as employees need feedback from leaders, leaders can benefit from feedback from their employees. Employees can provide useful input on the effectiveness of procedures and processes and as well as input to managers on their leadership effectiveness. This ‘upward feedback’ has become increasingly common with the advent of 360 multi-rater assessments.

But there is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred—not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.

Over the past several years, I have observed more than ten thousand leaders as they participated in a fascinating experiential exercise. In the exercise, participants are each asked to play two roles. In one role, they are asked provide feed forward — that is, to give someone else suggestions for the future and help as much as they can.

In the second role, they are asked to accept feedforward - that is, to listen to the suggestions for the future and learn as much as they can. The exercise typically lasts for 10 to 15 minutes, and the average participant has 6 to 7 dialogue sessions.

In the exercise participants are asked to:

Pick one behavior that they would like to change. Change in this behavior should make a significant, positive difference in their lives.

Describe this behavior to randomly selected fellow participants. This is done in one-on-one dialogues. It can be done quite simply, such as, ‘I want to be a better listener.’

Ask for feedforward—for two suggestions for the future that might help them achieve a positive change in their selected behavior. If participants have worked together in the past, they are not allowed to give ANY feedback about the past. They are only allowed to give ideas for the future.

Listen attentively to the suggestions and take notes. Participants are not allowed to comment on the suggestions in any way. They are not allowed to critique the suggestions or even to make positive judgmental statements, such as, ‘That’s a good idea.’

Thank the other participants for their suggestions.

Ask the other person what they would like to change.

Provide feedforward - two suggestions aimed at helping the other person change.

Say, ‘You are welcome,’ when thanked for the suggestions. The entire process of both giving and receiving feedforward usually takes about two minutes.

Find another participant and keep repeating the process until the exercise is stopped.

When the exercise is finished, I ask participants to provide one word that best describes their reaction to this experience. I ask them to complete the sentence, ‘This exercise was …’. The words provided are almost always extremely positive, such as ‘great’, ‘energizing’, ‘useful’, or ‘helpful’. The most common word mentioned is ‘fun’!

What is the ‘last’ word that most of us think about when we receive feedback, coaching and developmental ideas? Fun!

Reasons to Try Feedforward

Participants are then asked why this exercise is seen as fun and helpful as opposed to painful, embarrassing, or uncomfortable. Their answers provide a great explanation of why feedforward can often be more useful than feedback as a developmental tool.

We can change the future. We can’t change the past. Feedforward helps people envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past. Athletes are often trained using feedforward. Racecar drivers are taught to, ‘Look at the road ahead, not at the wall.’ Basketball players are taught to envision the ball going in the hoop and to imagine the perfect shot. By giving people ideas on how they can be even more successful, we can increase their chances of achieving this success in the future.

It can be more productive to help people be ‘right’, than prove they were ‘wrong’. Negative feedback often becomes an exercise in ‘let me prove you were wrong’. This tends to produce defensiveness on the part of the receiver and discomfort on the part of the sender. Even constructively delivered feedback is often seen as negative as it necessarily involves a discussion of mistakes, shortfalls, and problems. Feedforward, on the other hand, is almost always seen as positive because it focuses on solutions – not problems.

Feedforward is especially suited to successful people. Successful people like getting ideas that are aimed at helping them achieve their goals. They tend to resist negative judgment. We all tend to accept feedback that is consistent with the way we see ourselves. We also tend to reject or deny feedback that is inconsistent with the way we see ourselves. Successful people tend to have a very positive self-image. I have observed many successful executives respond to (and even enjoy) feedforward. I am not sure that these same people would have had such a positive reaction to feedback.

Feedforward can come from anyone who knows about the task. It does not require personal experience with the individual. One very common positive reaction to the previously described exercise is that participants are amazed by how much they can learn from people that they don’t know! For example, if you want to be a better listener, almost any fellow leader can give you ideas on how you can improve. They don’t have to know you. Feedback requires knowing about the person. Feedforward just requires having good ideas for achieving the task.

People do not take feedforward as personally as feedback. In theory, constructive feedback is supposed to ‘focus on the performance, not the person’. In practice, almost all feedback is taken personally (no matter how it is delivered). Successful people’s sense of identity is highly connected with their work. The more successful people are, the more this tends to be true. It is hard to give dedicated professional feedback that is not taken personally. Feedforward cannot involve a personal critique since it is discussing something that has not yet happened! Positive suggestions tend to be objective advice – personal critiques are often viewed as personal attacks.

Feedback can reinforce personal stereotyping and negative self-fulfilling prophecies. Feedforward can reinforce the possibility of change. Feedback can reinforce the feeling of failure.

How many of us have been ‘helped’ by a spouse, significant other or friend, who seems to have a near-photographic memory of our previous ‘sins’ that they share with us to point out the history of our shortcomings? Negative feedback can be used to reinforce the message, ‘this is just the way you are’. Feedforward assumes that the receiver of suggestions can make positive changes in the future.

Face it! Most of us hate getting negative feedback and we don’t like to give it. I have reviewed summary 360 feedback reports for over 50 companies. The items, ‘provides developmental feedback in a timely manner’ and ‘encourages and accepts constructive criticism’ almost always score near the bottom on co-worker satisfaction with leaders. Traditional training does not seem to make a great deal of difference. If leaders got better at providing feedback every time the performance appraisal forms were ‘improved’, most should be perfect by now! Leaders are not very good at giving or receiving negative feedback. It is unlikely that this will change soon.

Feedforward can cover almost all the same ‘material’ as feedback. Imagine that you have just made a terrible presentation in front of the executive committee. Your manager is in the room. Rather than make you ‘relive’ this humiliating experience, your manager might help you prepare for future presentations by giving you suggestions for the future. These suggestions can be very specific and still delivered in a positive way. In this way your manager can ‘cover the same points’ without feeling embarrassed and without making you feel even more humiliated.

Feedforward tends to be much faster and more efficient than feedback. An excellent technique for giving ideas to successful people is to say, ‘Here are four ideas for the future. Please accept these in the positive spirit that they are given. If you can only use two of the ideas, you are still two ahead. Just ignore what doesn’t make sense for you.’ With this approach almost no time gets wasted on judging the quality of the ideas or ‘proving that the ideas are wrong’.

This ‘debate’ time is usually negative; it can take up a lot of time and it is often not very productive. By eliminating judgment of the ideas, the process becomes much more positive for the sender, as well as the receiver. Successful people tend to have a high need for self-determination and will tend to accept ideas that they ‘buy’ while rejecting ideas that feel ‘forced’ upon them.

Feedforward can be a useful tool to apply with managers, peers and team members. Rightly or wrongly, feedback is associated with judgment. This can lead to very negative – or even career-limiting - unintended consequences when applied to managers or peers. Feedforward does not imply superiority of judgment. It is more focused on being a helpful ‘fellow traveler’ than an ‘expert’. As such it can be easier to hear from a person who is not in a position of power or authority. An excellent team building exercise is to have each team member ask, ‘How can I better help our team in the future?’ and listen to feedforward from fellow team members (in one-on-one dialogues.)

People tend to listen more attentively to feedback than feedback. One participant is the feedforward exercise noted, ‘I think that I listened more effectively in this exercise than I ever do at work!’ When asked why, he responded, ‘Normally, when others are speaking, I am so busy composing a reply that will make sure that I sound smart – that I am not fully listening to what the other person is saying.

In feedforward the only reply that I can make is ‘thank you’. Since I don’t have to worry about composing a clever reply – I can focus all of my energy on listening to the other person!’

In summary, the intent of this chapter is not to imply that leaders should never give feedback or that performance appraisals should be abandoned. The intent is to show how feedforward can often be preferable to feedback in day-to-day interactions.

Aside from its effectiveness and efficiency, feedforward can make life a lot more enjoyable. When managers are asked, ‘How did you feel the last time you received feedback?’ their most common responses are very negative. When managers are asked how they felt after receiving feedforward, they reply that feedforward was not only useful, but it was also fun!

Quality communication - between and among people at all levels and every department and division - is the glue that holds organizations together. By using feedforward - and by encouraging others to use it - leaders can dramatically improve the quality of communication in their organizations, ensuring that the right message is conveyed, and that those who receive it are receptive to its content. The result is a much more dynamic, much more open organization -one whose employees focus on the promise of the future rather than dwelling on the mistakes of the past.

© 2008-2024 Marshall Goldsmith (www.MarshallGoldsmith.com), All rights reserved. Included with the generous permission of this amazing leadership author. (Adapted by Dr. Goldsmith from an article he wrote for Leader to Leader, Summer 2002)

‘The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.’ Jim Rohn

Leadership skills are changing; are yours?

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, Past District 21 Governor

Leadership and working with teams can be fun. It can also be an exercise in futility and frustration, if done ineffectively.

Leading is an acquired skill in the art of working with people, helping them focus their efforts on a common goal or team objective.

If you seek to be an effective 21st century leader, a reflective look at this list of leadership styles, activities, or attributes might be in order. Ask yourself how many of these you exhibit as you seek to lead those men and women who have entrusted you with their concerns and trust.

What needs to change for you to become more effective in your leadership? Perhaps being more…

Responsible

Do you take full responsibility for your actions and decisions? Do you also take responsibility for their end results? Are you responsible, accountable, and available when decisions are made, and steps taken by your team? True leaders take 100% responsibility for their lives.

Growth focused

Are you an on-the-grow leader, who is committed to seeking out new ideas, new methods, and new alliances to help serve those you lead? Are you a leader who is also a reader, seeking knowledge to help you lead?

Exemplary

Do you walk your talk? Do your motives, actions, and attitudes reflect the person, the leader, you would honestly like to become?

Inspiring

Do you inspire confidence and trust in those who follow you? Can you call them to action, in solving your mutual challenges?

Efficient

Do you use your time as well as the time of those you serve wisely? Do they see you using your time in productive activities on their behalf? Do you have time to fully do your job? Do you make time to LEAD?

Caring

Do your people know from first-hand experience that you care about them? Do you model it as you move through your day?

Communicating

How are you at sharing your ideas, listening to the needs and concerns of your people, and making sure that you fully understand them? Do you make sure they are well informed about what the challenges and your proposed solutions to those changes entail?

Competent

This strikes at the heart of your ability to deliver the goods for your people. Are you competent to do the job and do it well?

Goal oriented

Are you a leader who is effective in setting realistic goals, communicating those goals, and gathering people to support the attainment of those common goals?

Are you a leader who achieves the worthwhile goals set for the common good?

Decisive

Can you make an informed decision and act on that decision quickly? Or do you study a challenge to death and continually put off making a decision while waiting for more information?

Unifying

Are you a leader who seeks to include everyone involved and works hard to make sure no one is excluded? Are you a leader who builds bonds between diverse groups with conflicting agendas and viewpoints? Are you a leader who can earn their trust and allow them to get past their divisiveness and get behind you in accomplishing something in everyone’s best interest? Are you a creative catalyst for commitment and concrete action?

Working

Are you a leader who is committed to working on behalf of those who trust you? A leader who is not afraid to get their hands dirty, dig in, and lead by example; to do what is needed to get the job done successfully? Are you a leader who sets an energetic pace and is fully engaged working out the solutions and engaging people in the partnership of performance in achieving common goals?

Tough list, isn’t it? Yes, it is!

If you would truly seek to be a 21st century leader these are the demonstrated skills that will assist you in successfully serving and leading your people.

Are you willing to take charge and lead change?

©2024 Excerpted from ‘Legacy of Leadership’ by Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

‘Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs

of those who would be affected by it.’ Marian Anderson

Must Have Strategies for Influencing Others to Take Action

Stacey Hanke, CPAE, Hall of Fame

When you speak, do people WANT to listen? Do you ever wonder why you struggle with getting your listeners to take action? Do you ramble and lose your focus? Whether you are facilitating a meeting, having a face-to-face conversation, or delivering a presentation, you need a strategy for preparing a message that influences action and gets results. Presentation power is one of the secrets of effective leadership.

You may be able to relate to one of the following challenges when you are trying to decide how to open a message. ‘I never know how to open and close.’ ‘I tend to ramble.’ ‘Once I get started, I’m OK.’

This last statement is frightening. It sounds like you are saying, ‘Don’t listen for the first two minutes. Wait until I get going. Then it really gets good.’ If you want to influence your listeners to take action, it is critical that your opening grabs the attention of your listener the second you begin and that your closing provides a summary along with a specific call to action.

Clarifying your objective is the first step to communicating a clear and concise message that gets to the point and influences your listeners to act. Avoid beginning your message with this overdone opening statement, ‘Hello my name is … Today I am going to talk to you about …’

The reality is your listener knows who you are and why they have been asked to meet with you. Instead of using an opening that does not have meaning, clearly communicate your objective in 45 seconds or less when you open.

To clarify your objective, first get clear about the following:

Who are my listeners?

What is my opinion?

What do I want my listeners to do?

What are the benefits of my message?

Once you have clarified your objective, you are ready to organize the opening and closing of your message.

Opinion

If your listeners think you do not believe in your topic, why should they? To influence your listeners, share with them how you feel about your topic. If you do not, your listener may be confused about what you want them to do. Stating your opinion adds trust and believability to your message.

Examples of opinion statements include:

Communication skills are critical to getting your message across.

Our current position with the ABC project makes or breaks our budget.

The launch of our new product is critical to the organization’s success.

State your opinion in the opening and closing of your message. This will increase the amount of information your listener retains and the likelihood they will act.

Action steps: general and specific

When you communicate directly to your listeners what you want them to do, you increase the likelihood that you will get the results you seek. Remember that this is the reason you are communicating the information in the first place. If you are struggling to identify what action you want your listeners to take, you may need to ask yourself, ‘Is there a better use of my time and theirs to convey the information?’

General action step

A general action step states what you want your listeners to do while they are physically present during your message. This action step will be part of your opening. For example:

Stay open to the skills and techniques we will be discussing

Consider applying these new strategies

Explore the opportunities

Specific action step

Identify a specific action that is measurable and quantifiable. A specific action step places commitment on your listeners. To generate action from your listeners, they need to walk away with a clear understanding of what you are asking them to do. You will state this action step in the closing of your talk.

For example:

Set a goal by the end of the day on Friday identifying how you will practice and get feedback on the skills and techniques we have discussed.

By the end of today, decide on the strategy you want to implement throughout your department.

Benefits

When you ask your listeners to act, they want to know, ‘What is in it for me?’ If you can show your listeners the benefits of acting, you increase the chances that they will comply.

Identify two or three benefits your listeners will receive because of performing the action you recommend.

For example:

When you set a goal by Friday stating how you will practice these new behaviors, you will increase your comfort level, enhance your credibility and boost your confidence.

When you identify the strategy, you want to put into place, you will begin improving performance.

You want to remind your listeners that your information is of value to them. The benefits may seem obvious to you, but your listeners need to hear and understand them. Benefits are the most persuasive elements of your talk.

We remember the first and last things we hear. Therefore, be sure your message includes a powerful, dynamic beginning and ending that includes your opinion, the action steps, and benefits for your listeners.

Eliminating non-words

It is one thing to choose and organize specifically what you want to say. ‘Writing this chapter using, um, non-words would be, like, extremely distracting for you to, uh, read, OK?’

Writing this chapter with non-words would be extremely distracting for you to read. We do not write with non-words; why do we speak with them?

Consider the perceptions your listeners have of you when you speak using non-words. They may see you as someone who is unable to perform their job or someone who lacks knowledge, confidence, and credibility. The most powerful skill you possess is the ability to pause and take a relaxing breath. When you replace non-words with a pause, you will speak in shorter sentences rather than run-ons and it will be easier for you to get to the point.

When should you pause?

When you lose your train of thought.

When you want to emphasize a key point or idea.

After you have asked your listeners a question.

At the end of a sentence or to express punctuation.

There are powerful benefits for you and your listeners when you pause.

It allows you to:

Think on your feet and gather your thoughts to avoid rambling.

Effectively manage impromptu conversations.

Have time to take a relaxing breath and gain control of your message.

Grab and keep your listeners’ attention, which increases the chances they will act.

Create excitement and heighten anticipation. This is accomplished by pausing before and after a specific point, fact, or idea you want your listeners to remember. Imagine the impact you will have when you describe the benefits of your products or services.

Gain control of your message and appear comfortable with your listeners. As a result, you will be able to communicate more information in less time because you are saying fewer words and giving yourself permission to think on your feet, which prevents you from rambling and wasting your listeners’ time.

Prioritize your thoughts so that your objective is clear, the message meets your listeners’ needs, and you avoid miscommunication.

When you pause, your listeners:

Have an opportunity to hear, understand, and absorb your message.

Are invited to share the conversation with you. When you create a two-way conversation with your listeners, you can hear their needs and expectations. As a result, you can adjust your message on the fly.

Silence is golden! Challenge yourself today and begin practicing eliminating non-words and incorporating pauses.

Ask your friends, family members, and peers to give your feedback when you use non-words. Their feedback will immediately increase your awareness of the non-words you use and will help you create a new habit of being ‘filler-word FREE’.

Write the word PAUSE on a Post-it® note and display it prominently. (e.g. on your phone, your computer, a mirror, etc.)

When you are using voicemail, replay your message before you press send so you can listen for pauses and non-words. Re-record your messages until you are satisfied with what you hear. Ask the person you are calling to let you know when you use non-words during your conversation.

Practice using pauses when you are passing out handouts or agendas in meetings, referring to your notes during a face-to-face conversation, or waiting for a response to your question.

Incorporate the pause when you are interacting with your visual aids. Avoid talking to the visual aid; talk instead to your listener’s eyes.

Before long, you will increase your awareness and begin saying less with greater impact. And isn’t that what communication is all about? Speaking so people want to listen. Successful leaders have mastered this skill.

‘The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.’ Lord Thomas Dewar

© 2008-2024 Stacey Hanke, CPAE, Hall of Fame (www.staceyhanke.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘It is best to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.’

Nelson Mandela

‘How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money.

Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.’ David Norris

Take The Lead In Work Life Balance

Ease The Pressure – Lighten The Load

Patricia Katz, MCE, CHRP, HoF

Partner massive workloads with high-speed expectations and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Remove any sense of control and toss a lack of appreciation on the pile, and the mix grows downright explosive. If you find yourself leading a group through high-pressure times, here are ten ways you can ease the pressure on yourself, your colleagues, and your employees.

Test The Truth

Start with yourself. Yes, you may love your work, the challenge, and the rewards. However, give your workstyle the two-point acid test. Have your physician and a fitness expert rate the state of your physical health. Ask those who matter in your personal life (close family and friends) how pleased they are about your availability and involvement in their lives. Listen with care and attention. Adjust accordingly.

Model The Way

Take care of yourself and be seen to be taking care of yourself. When you take a walk, a break, a breather, a vacation, you telegraph to others that it’s OK for them to do the same. Work flat out 24/7, send emails at 2:00 in the morning, and it won’t matter what you say to others. They’ll follow your lead and feel guilty if they don’t or can’t. Your lived example sets the tone and the pace.

Link To Purpose

You and I can often do more than we ever thought possible when fired by a compelling reason for tackling a job. Lift your eyes and encourage those around you to do the same. Meetings, paperwork, phone calls…they’re all just busywork unless they’re linked to a real and vital purpose. What are you really trying to accomplish? How are you serving your clients? Why does the work matter? Make this deeper, broader view part of your everyday conversation.

See The Whole Person

Take the time to keep in touch with those around you. Stay current with what is happening in their lives at work and beyond. How are their needs and interests changing? What other pressures are they facing that might affect their capacity now and in the future? Yes, I know you’re busy. You’ll be even busier if key people burn out or drop out and you didn’t see it coming.

Monitor The Workload

Each time you delegate major tasks to others and add to the workload, ask these questions: How does this affect the other tasks we have on the go? Do you need help reordering priorities? Do we need to juggle responsibilities or call on outside resources to handle the fallout from the changes we’re discussing? Help others draw the line between what’s essential and what can wait.

Lighten The Load

Protect your group from outrageous expectations imposed from elsewhere. Negotiate on their behalf for reasonable time frames, helpful technology, and appropriate resources. Identify processes that can be simplified. Stop providing some services and filling certain roles. Pinpoint tasks that could be done less often or less perfectly with minimal risk.

Make It Safe To Say

If you want solid and reliable information on the status of projects and workloads, you need to ask tough questions and be open to the truth. If you explode at news you didn’t want to hear, you’ll be served a milquetoast, censored version in the future. Being out of the loop will improve neither the quality of your decision making nor the quality of your relationships.

Curb The Whining

Letting off steam helps – to a point. Blowing steam repeatedly in the presence of someone who is not involved and can do nothing to resolve a situation is simply sidestepping responsibility. Curb the excuses, justifications, and blaming. Encourage the practice of speaking directly to someone who can do something about a problem. Ask, ‘What can we do to move this situation forward?’

Share The Appreciation

You couldn’t get the job done without the hard work and dedication of your colleagues. When you look at their contributions, does the effort required match the reward provided? We’re not just talking about money. Notice what people are doing. Actively appreciate their contributions in person, in writing or in kindness.

Be specific, be current, and be sincere. Words and actions of appreciation convey respect and honor the value of the individual. Co-workers matter. Do you let them know they matter?

Respect Time Off

Don’t burden colleagues with information and problems that they can do nothing about just before they head off for the weekend or start their vacation. Resist the urge to place weekend and evening calls unless they are true emergencies. Guard against artificial urgency – needlessly working everyone into a frenzy of immediacy. Watch for it in yourself and challenge it in others.

Bonus Tip: Value Reflection As Much As Action

Speed and action are only half of the recipe for success. Honor the importance of calm reflection – thinking with care about situations and opportunities. In the long run, an immediate response is not always as valuable as a considered response. Carve out space and time to harvest the learning after important events and milestones. Schedule opportunities to pause, plan, and ponder.

© 2008-2024 Patricia Katz, MCE, CHRP, HoF, (www.patkatz.com) All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of my gracious friend, fellow CAPS leader, and author.

‘Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.’
Alan Mulally

I’ve had this framed advertisement (torn from an old Saturday Evening Post) on a wall in my downstairs office for nearly 25 years. It still provides insights and inspiration as I strive to enhance what I bring to the world.

‘A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.’ Jim Rohn

A Recipe for Excellent Leadership

Steven Iwersen, CSP

My source of recharging after traveling around the country speaking is spending quality time with my wife and my BBQ grill. It may seem foolish, but unplugging from the world and preparing a feast over that open flame is exhilarating. One evening we invited some friends to our home, and I was creating a special sauce of secrets ingredients for the entree’. My friend asked if I’d share my secret. I smiled. Then he leaned back and asked a question. ‘Steven, if there was a recipe for excellent leadership what do you think it would include?’ I responded quickly with a formula off the top of my mind that has no research to support my conclusion; but came from years of studying and teaching leadership around the world.

I laughed and said somewhat sarcastically:

‘Leadership is…

1 Part Decision Making

8 Parts Trust Building

1 Part Sales’

The next day I started to sift that formula in my thoughts. Why did I make up that particular mix of ideas? Was there any truth to the proportions I had suggested? Just like any recipe you can adjust it to your liking. But I’ve concluded that these are generally true of the best leaders that I have encountered.

DECISION MAKING:

Leaders are expected to make decisions. If they don’t do it well, we question their ability to lead. It is a vital ingredient and influences the results we seek to achieve. If there is an absence of good decisions everyone notices. It’s like tasting bland food and saying, ‘This needs a little spice.’

Decision making is like salt & pepper. One affects those you lead, the other yourself. Brilliant leaders focus on one decision when it comes to those they lead and that would be: the direction. Everything else is helping others make decisions that move in that direction. On the other hand, self-leadership focuses on a more difficult choice - what to stop doing in order to lead the way to the desired outcomes.

The easy part of decision making is choosing what to do next. The hardest part is to personally stop doing the things that do not generate growth or income. I’ve found that the leaders who achieve their greatest influence have learned that their daily focus is less of a ‘to do’ list and more of a ‘let go’ list.

Quick Tip: Identify today what you need to stop doing. Focus on creating, not on maintaining.

TRUST

This is the most important ingredient in the leadership recipe. If you don’t have trust, you will not have substance. It would be like a BBQ without meat.

We’ve all met people who think that their leadership title entitles them to be served. They are demanding, high maintenance people. Leaders understand that trust is the measurement that followers use to determine their own involvement. Trust is established by the manner in which we serve others.

There are four criteria that followers examine as a means for measuring if we can be trusted: Character, Clarity, Community and Creation.

Character & Confidence (The Person)

A person can be knowledgeable, capable and even charismatic, but if they have questionable integrity, we shouldn’t follow them down the street. Your character, not your ego, is the priority for the people you lead. Delivering your competence in a confident manner is imperative. Remember that the leaders you do business with are expecting you to be a peer. Demonstrate self-confidence in your ability to do what needs to be done and deliver the results.

The message of what you proclaim will likely fade away; but who you are as a person lasts much longer in the memory of your people.

Quick Tip: Most people determine the quality of your leadership by how little you talk about yourself and how much you listen to them.

Clarity (The Purpose)

Leaders that can articulate the direction and stay focused on the priorities of the organization instill confidence in others. The ability to concisely express that vision also enhances trust. I worked with a leader recently that was experiencing the departure of his most talented employees. I asked him what his vision was for the future. He said, ‘We’ll see when we get there.’ Bam! That was the problem. He was simply maintaining the status quo and was not inspiring their potential. Their meetings were long and boring because he talked in circles. People want clarity of purpose, not clever public relations. Set the direction, be clear on where you’re going and get moving.

Quick Tip: Be clear on your strengths, message and results you provide. Be direct and to the point. Don’t want to waste time. Clarity lends itself to brevity. You will have greater impact when you can express your ideas in fewer words.

Cultivating Community (The Process)

Organizations that have fully engaged team members and are the most admired in the marketplace are those that have leaders who intentionally encourage a culture of community. Open communication. Collaborative meetings. Permission to innovate. All of those are the expectation. Most importantly, the leader is comfortable with others taking the lead and open to being taught.

One of my clients asked a fantastic question of his team at the conclusion of a meeting, ‘What do I need to understand?’ That was a pivotal moment for that team. He didn’t ask, ‘Do you understand?’ Instead, he opened the door for greater collaboration and raised the bar of expectations. That single question conveyed to his people that he was prepared to do whatever was needed to help them be successful.

In contrast, you will find groups that are dysfunctional and ineffective primarily because the leader has become the bottleneck in the process by being too controlling and obsessed with his/her own resume. Their very presence in a meeting causes people to withhold great ideas and begin to do only what they have to in order to get by.

Trust is accentuated when we entrust others with the process.

Quick Tip: Be the kind of person that lifts the mood when you walk into the room. Look for ways to be a resource. Get to know others’ needs so well that they begin to see you as one of the team.

Creating Results (The Product)

Showing promise as a leader is not enough. Delivering on your promise is what separates you from the crowd.

Here is the bottom line: business leaders produce results. They see a need, roll up their sleeves and do what needs to be done. They are asked to take on responsibility; and they prove they are responsible not only by completing the task, but by improving the process. Trust is given to those who do more than what was expected.

Quick Tip: Give just as much thought and effort to what you do after a goal or project is achieved. Acknowledging others and giving credit to where credit is due will build higher levels of trust.

Finally, we come to that last ingredient in the recipe. It is one thing that many leaders tell me makes them uncomfortable. But if we’ve done everything to establish trust, it should become easier.

SALES:

Zig Ziglar once said: ‘I have always said that everyone is in sales. Maybe you don’t hold the title of a salesperson, but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales.’

Leaders are salespeople.

It comes with the territory. You can convey to people a direction and communicate the potential results, hoping they will like what they hear and just follow. But that is not enough. Nothing will happen until those you lead are willing to pay the price for the desired outcomes of the objectives you have in mind. Therefore, you have to ask for their commitment.

Here are a few things that you will need to ask for:

• A commitment of time

• A commitment to change

• A commitment to collaborate

• A commitment to work through conflict

• A commitment to choose between old methods and new approaches

• A commitment to focus on higher priorities

• A commitment to follow through.

When you have demonstrated that you are a good decision maker and trustworthy — people will be expecting you to ask for their help. Don’t disappoint them; invite them to join you in the adventure of what is yet to come!

Quick Tip: Cast the vision (sell the benefits, not the features) and let your emerging leaders rise to the occasion.

Your recipe may look a little different than mine. But keep this in mind, you are a leader if you have anyone who is trusting in you. Embrace that leadership role confidently and go change the world!

© 2024 Steven Iwersen, CSP (www.steveniverson.com) All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of my friend, fellow NSA leader, and author. Steven and I served together on the NSA Chapter Leadership council.

‘Character cannot be developed in peace and quiet. Only through experience of trial

and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired,

and success achieved.’ Helen Keller

Everyday Leadership

Dr Janet Lapp, CSP, CPAE

It is an especially good time to call up the old Hopi expression, ‘Don’t look outside of yourself for the leader. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.’

Oh great, you say, more Accountability 101. Well, yes and no. It means that now, more than ever before, the opportunity to create radical organic change in your company, in your personal life, begins not with an HR initiative or the person sitting across from you at breakfast – but with who is sitting in your seat right now. And the leadership opportunity that you must create radical organic change is based on only three simple values that you must hold:

1. Be in right relation.

2. Create trust.

3. Be clear.

Be in Right Relation

Rose sells more Hash Browns than at any Tim Horton’s in Canada. Are Hash Browns an easy sell? Have you tried them? You eat the box and throw the hash browns out. So, I visited Tim Horton’s where Rose works to observe her in action. Rose is enthusiastic! She is gleeful! She grins ear-to-ear with joy when she declares: ‘You’ll need our New Homestyle Hash Brown made with real shredded potato, lightly seasoned, and oven baked to a golden-brown crispness! Yum!’

Sure enough, they fly out with almost every breakfast order. But what interested me most, was that after every 8th or so ‘pitch’, a line manager-type whispered to Rose: ‘Good job, that’s great, keep it up!’

Rose feels that she has found her purpose in life, mostly because she feels so darned good about herself when her manager is around. When he isn’t, she knows that when he comes back and sees her record, she’ll get that warm-all over feeling again. I guess it is called recognition and praise – Rose’s manager is in the right relation. Giving others a reason to feel great about themselves when they are with you is only a small part of being in right relation. Being in right relation means not allowing any anger, resentment, pettiness, or fear to block you from not only other humans, but from your own power.

Do you create energy and love in those around you? Or, as Randy Pausch of ‘The Last Lecture’ queried, ‘Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore?’

Do people feel good about themselves when they are around you? See, it’s not about you and how impressive you are as a leader or a parent. It is about how your team feels about themselves and what they have accomplished that matters. Do people do what you have taught them to do even though you are not with them? The true test of strong leadership is what they do when you’re not around.

Some parents get side-tracked in this area! They mean well and they have their teens’ best interest at heart. But when the question ‘Am I helping him/her feel good about him/herself today?’ comes up, a blank is drawn. Do that, everything else will follow. If your reinforcement has been powerful enough, the effect can and has lasted for centuries. So, go make some people feel good about themselves; you will end up feeling great about yourself.

2. Create Trust

If people trust you, they’ll jump backwards through a fire-hoop, blindfolded. If they don’t trust you, getting them to sharpen pencils will be a struggle. People will trust you when what they are told will happen, does. And if circumstances beyond your control make that impossible, you fess up and explain why it won’t happen, and manage the fallout with truth. Telling the truth has been a basic value throughout history and across cultures – all major religions hold the truth-telling quality as a basic tenet. And yet it is the least understood and most poorly practiced of the qualities throughout organizations that appear to be more fear-based than truth-based.

What do great leaders do to get people to trust them?

They:

Keep their word. If they say they’ll get back to you, they will. If they say they’ll do it, they do it.

Share as much information as possible. They know that close-to-the-chest was a very 50’s management style.

Choose a strategy and stick to it and if changes are needed, they explain why. They know that people can change overnight when they need to if they know the reason why they are changing and perceive some control over the change.

Set up a short set of clear values and spend time reinforcing them.

Let people make decisions in their own areas. Micro-management is out.

Explain why people need to do what they were doing.

Admit difficulties and even failures.

Risk telling the truth. If you begin with simply paying attention to doing what you say you will do, every time, your trust score will double. Trust me.

3. Be Clear

Thousands of years ago, orders were passed down in between one to three or four words, or a simple visual signal was given. Things got done fast. These days, it takes longer to read a memo describing what to do than it does to do the thing itself, so things don’t get done so fast. Most humans can ‘read’ all words, but studies show that they ‘process’ only simple, clear, colorful ones.

So, if you, as a leader are serious about getting people to listen to you, try throwing out your ‘ego’ and need to impress with your educated lingo and … yes, it’s true what they say … write as you would to an 8-year-old.

Here are four steps to take:

Write out what you want to say and read it as if you were receiving it. What possible meaning could this have for that person, i.e. who cares? Is it simple, clear, and interesting? Would you be grabbed within five seconds and want to read to the end? If not, repeat step one until all answers are ‘yes’.

Now take your communication and cut it in half, taking out all the fillers and fluff.

Now, highlight each word of four syllables or more. Find a shorter synonym (synonym = three syllables, right on the edge) for each of them.

Try it again. Now you’re ready.

Implement these at your earliest possible opportunity. I mean, try it.

Where there is great danger, there is great risk, but also great opportunity. Let’s not wait for anyone else to carry us through the path. We have the strength and the wisdom to carry the banner of leadership regardless of our appointed positions within our companies. Be in the right relation, be clear, and be trustworthy. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

© 2008-2019 Janet E. Lapp, Ph.D. (www.lapp.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of this gracious colleague and author.

‘Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led.’ Ross Perot

‘As we, the leaders, deal with tomorrow, our task is not to try to make perfect plans. Our task is to create organizations that are sufficiently flexible and versatile that they can take our imperfect plans and make them work in execution. That is the essential character of the learning organization.’ Gordon R. Sullivan & Michael V. Harper

Leaders Rock!

Mark LeBlanc, CSP, CPAE

It was July 2007 that I was inducted as the President of the National Speakers Association. This induction followed a two-year period of preparation as I served as the Vice President and then President-Elect. At the time of this original writing, I was preparing to hand the gavel over to our next President (August 2008 in NYC).

It seems that over the course of my life, I have ended up in the leader’s chair for just about every group I was a part of. Some by choice, others by default. It didn’t matter if it was in high school, my church, my community, jury duty, or my profession. For this chapter on leadership, I will focus on volunteer leadership.

Most people shun leadership positions; some people seek them out and hopefully for the right reasons. Of course, there are those who look for leadership positions for self-serving reasons. Hopefully, in those cases, a board of directors or advisors is strong enough to keep the organization on task and on track.

But wherever there are two or three people, you will have conflict. There will always be issues of control, ego, and power. Great leaders can rise above the differences of individual personalities and keep people moving in the path of an organizational vision. Even the most well-intentioned groups have conflicts at the leadership level.

Here are nine suggestions or insights that will serve you well as a thought leader. Possibly, we should change that term to thoughtful-leader and all leaders would have more impact and influence with those they serve best.

Know why you want to serve as a leader

You cannot please everyone

There is always someone coming behind you

Choose your teammates wisely

Learn to listen and then respond

Take care of yourself physically

Stand up for what you believe in

Never forget you are a role model

Enjoy the process and have fun with your role

Know why you want to serve as a leader

Having a real sense of clarity as to why you want to serve in this role is vital to your success. Your clarity will serve as your compass point and the reason or reasons you want to serve will guide you in your decision-making process.

You cannot please everyone

One of the lessons I learned in leadership is that it seems that I am either thanking someone or apologizing to someone. There is no end to some of the things that slip through the cracks and good leaders inspire others to follow them and serve the organization in large and small ways. Remember to say thank you at every opportunity.

There is always someone coming behind you

In a non-profit organization you are a ‘short term’ leader. Hopefully, your organization has a good succession plan in place and incoming leaders work well with the current leadership team. That is not always the case and a wise leader will look for ways to include and involve the next leadership team.

Choose your teammates wisely

There is no greater reward than to see one of your teammates do an exemplary job and take their role and responsibilities seriously. Some of my teammates had an ‘all-in’ attitude and their work was over-the-top.

I watched the enthusiasm of others fade in time and found myself making excuses for things that did not get done or were abandoned. Pay close attention to your gut when making decisions that will add or subtract from your leadership team.

Learn to listen and then respond

No matter what is happening around you, take the time to listen to your directors, staff members, regular members, and prospective members. You may not have the answers and you may not be able to make a change happen. But, listening well will truly make a difference to someone who needs to be heard. Listening is the most under-rated leadership skill and those who listen well will reap the rewards of organizational success.

Take care of yourself physically

The professional and personal demands of leadership will take their toll. Regular exercise, including walking, yoga, meditation, as well as other forms of exercise will keep you going when the mental demands have you down. One of my first mentors shared a pearl of wisdom that serves me to this day. When your body is weak, exercise your mind and when your mind is weak, exercise your body.

Stand up for what you believe in

No one will follow a wishy-washy leader. While in some cases a new perspective may change your mind, never allow your fundamental beliefs and values to be compromised. At the end of the day, you may lose the vote, but not the respect of those you lead.

Never forget you are a role model

Before you were a leader, it is likely you were not that well-known. Once you become a leader then everyone knows who you are. How you conduct yourself, how you appear in public, who you surround yourself with, and how you speak will be judged at face value. Whether you like it or not, you will be discussed and debated by those who support you and those who don’t. Be mindful to create an identity that serves you and your organization at the highest levels of integrity.

Enjoy the process and have fun with your role

While being a leader is a serious responsibility, taking yourself too seriously will undermine the confidence others have in you.

Being able to laugh at yourself and your misgivings will enure people to you and they will overlook a few flaws or mistakes. And you will make some mistakes. Having fun can make your term of service enjoyable and one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

Serving as the president of the National Speakers Association was the greatest year of my life for many reasons. The people I worked with and the team I assembled created an experience for our members I doubt they will ever forget. I made a few mistakes along the way and their lessons helped me shape this chapter. The best leaders learn from others and hopefully you learned something from me after reading my words.

© 2008-2024 Mark LeBlanc, CSP. CPAE (www.MarkLeBlanc.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend, fellow leader, and author.

What’s your anchor point?

Some years back I visited Copenhagen after a speaking event in Amsterdam and spoke there at a Toastmasters club. Heading back in September.

This ancient post is in the center of the city and is the center most point from which all distances within the city are measured. It is an anchor point or center point of historical reference.

What is ours was we measure our progress and development as leaders in helping our teams grow and achieve?

Take a moment to consider what you hold as your anchor or center point and use that as a point of reference in your life and leadership going forward.

Nate Miller

‘Inspirational leaders are humble and treat everyone with respect.’
Nate Miller

The Power of Vulnerable Leadership:
Embracing Strength, Resilience, and Leading from Among, not from Above

Andy Lopata, FPSA, PSAE Hall of Fame, FLPI

I remember the feeling clearly, with the same horror that I did in that moment in Vancouver in 2013. You know the feeling, I’m sure. That sensation of just wishing the ground would open beneath you and swallow you whole.

Without a doubt, I knew that I didn’t want to be there any longer. Not at that conference, not in Vancouver and no longer a part of the professional community I had been a part of for a decade and treasured so much.

I had been humiliated, everyone was laughing and pointing at me, and I knew I could never live this moment down.

The conference was the Global Speakers Summit. While I had been a member of the Professional Speaking Association in the UK and Ireland for ten years, and a Fellow of the Association for two, my network and reputation among colleagues internationally was still in its infancy. It was my first Global Speakers Summit and I networked hard to make new connections and friends.

Every such event in the speaking world, as in others, includes a charity auction to raise money to support speakers who have fallen on hard times. I was persuaded to offer some of my services as a lot in the auction. I knew that not many people there would know who I was or be able to value my offering but went ahead and offered an auction lot anyway.

When my lot came up, there was silence. Far from a rush of bidders, nobody seemed remotely interested. Then came a face-saving bid. It came from one of the best-known and loved speakers in the global industry and I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that he genuinely wanted or valued what I could offer him. But I thanked him silently for sparing my blushes.

Two hours later, the humiliation came. Proceedings were interrupted by an announcement from the stage. One of the auction lots had to be placed back on offer as a bid had been accepted in error. The bidder had not, in fact, been bidding. They had been deep in conversation and gesticulating wildly, not paying attention to what was going on around them.

Of course, it was my lot that was put back on offer. This time it attracted no bids at all. My humiliation was complete, and I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.

Self-Obsession

The following day saw the end of the conference. After the morning’s activities and the closing of the event, I walked down to the harbor to join good friends for lunch. I wasn’t aware until I got down there that they had been joined by one other person, the person who had inadvertently bid on my lot and then withdrawn his bid.

Of course, there was nobody I wanted to see less! But I was polite, and, over the course of lunch, the topic of the previous night’s auction came up. And the interesting thing was that nobody had paid the slightest attention to it. They were barely aware it had happened; their interest was on other things that evening.

Here’s what I failed to realize in my shame, nobody was laughing or pointing at me. In fact, no one had paid attention to what was going on or realized how humiliated I felt in that moment.

The shame and humiliation were self-imposed. Other people didn’t care. It wasn’t just this group. Ten years later I delivered a talk at another Global Speakers Summit, this time in Dublin, where I shared this story. Around half of the room had been at the conference in Vancouver and so many of them came up to me after my talk to tell me that they had not paid any attention to the withdrawn auction lot, let alone judged me for it. My talk that weekend was the first time they had even known about it.

So much of what other people think about us and how other people judge us is in our minds, rather than rooted in reality.

That self-obsession, this narrative that we create for ourselves, is dangerous because it drives how we interact with others and stops us from being truly authentic or vulnerable. We won’t share with others because of what we decide they will think of us; how we decide they will react.

What We Want from Our Leaders

Great leaders need to see past that damaging self-talk and recognize that we fail to be there for others if we close ourselves off because we are worried about how we will be seen. We need to remind ourselves who we are there to serve, and it isn’t our ego.

Unfortunately, traditional views of leadership, reinforced by popular culture, do not help us find our vulnerability. The way we perceive leaders is typically seen to be the antithesis of vulnerability.

We want our leaders to:

Be strong, and be seen to be strong;

Be resilient, and be seen to be resilient;

Take the lead and be seen to take the lead.

In the popular narrative, you can’t be vulnerable and strong, you can’t be vulnerable and resilient, and you can’t take the lead while displaying your vulnerability.

I beg to differ.

I believe that, far from being a polar opposite, vulnerability complements these traits and enhances them. I don’t have any issues with this traditional view of leadership, just how it is typically framed and perceived.

We have made great strides over recent years in how we understand vulnerability. High-profile individuals in the worlds of sport, entertainment, politics, royalty and business have shared their stories, their fears and doubts more openly and on a wider scale than we have ever seen before.

We feel more comfortable being vulnerable as a result and it is better accepted in society. But we’re not there yet. There are still plenty of people in business who sneer at the vulnerable, as one accountant did when he told me that the new generation are soft and just need to ‘man up’.

A change is under way and we’re not there yet. We also need to be clear that encouraging more vulnerability is not the same as telling people that every conversation should be a vulnerable one. There is a time to be vulnerable, there is a time to be directive.

Leaders Need to be Strong – and be seen to be Strong.

In my book Just Ask, Why Seeking Support is Your Greatest Strength¹, I shared a January 2019 research paper² published by Harvard Business School arguing how it benefits successful people to be open about their failures.

The research team conducted three online experiments and then tested their theory at an event where entrepreneurs competed for investment through pitches.

The premise of the study was that people would be more likely to engage positively with others when they shared their failures as well as successes. Participants scored their reactions to individuals in various scenarios and the team demonstrated that revealing successes and failures led to a decrease in ‘malicious envy’ (defined as when people wanted a perceived peer to fail) compared to just sharing successes.

I asked study author Professor Alison Wood Brooks and her doctoral advisee, Nicole Abi-Esber, how revealing your failures can change the way people perceive you. They told me, ‘Our pilot study showed that people tend to hide their failures from others as they’re happening and speak to very few people about them after they’ve happened. If we can get over the initial reluctance to reveal failures, there are surprising benefits.

‘Doing so decreases malicious envy, or others’ desires to see you fail. It increases benign envy: respect and admiration from others. It also motivates other people to do better themselves. We find suggestive evidence that revealing failures increases the perception of the person sharing as having authentic pride and confidence and decreases the perception that they are arrogant. So, although it’s uncomfortable, it has significant interpersonal benefits.’

Professor Brooks and her colleagues found that sharing failure is particularly relevant for managers and leaders, the more senior you are, the greater an impact it’s likely to have. They told me, ‘For both high-status and medium-status individuals, sharing failures decreased malicious envy and importantly, did not decrease the perceptions of that person’s status. So, it’s not just that we envy them less because we think they’re lower status and less enviable people, it’s that we envy them less specifically because they share failures.’

All of us in life are tempted to wear a mask to cover our insecurities – we are happy to share our successes and achievements but less so to admit that there have been challenges or disappointments along the way, let alone that we might be struggling in the moment.

The Harvard study demonstrates that an ability to open up and be more vulnerable actually makes you stronger as a leader. People are more likely to want to listen to you, engage with you and support you if they know that you’re not infallible.

That mask can act as a barrier; yes, it hides some of the bad things, but it also gets in the way of letting good things in. It’s a barrier to trust and authentic engagement and it’s a barrier to building deeper and more powerful relationships -with our teams, with our colleagues and with our customers.

Great leaders still wear masks some of the time, we just need to know that it’s OK to take them off as well. The key is to get the time and the place right. There will be times when you need to lead with positivity and optimism, others when letting the mask slip will have a much stronger impact.

The traditional view of the strong leader is of one who says, ‘Listen to me’ and everyone stops to listen. This ignores the reality that others have to want to listen to you if they are really going to engage with your message. If they feel connected to you, they are much more likely to want to hear what you are going to tell them.

Leaders Need to be Resilient – and be Seen to be Resilient

Paul McGee is a well-known and liked author, best recognized as ‘The Sumo Guy’, after his successful book ‘S.U.M.O. (Shut Up, Move On)’³. A few years ago, Paul went through a very challenging time personally. But he still needed to be resilient, to show up for his talks as a popular motivational speaker with the same high energy positivity he is renowned for.

Paul had been sharing his challenges with me, as well as with a few other trusted colleagues. When I was discussing my talk on ‘Vulnerable Leadership’ with him, he told me, ‘During that time, my biggest achievement was holding it together while, inside, I was falling apart’. It was the ability to open up to people he trusted, to share and to vent in a safe and trusted space, that allowed him the room to inhabit his S.U.M.O. persona in front of audiences.

It’s so easy to see resilience purely as a form of mental toughness, the ability to withstand the blows that life throws at you and achieve your goal. But that is far too simple a view and it’s one that naturally feels like the reverse side of vulnerability.

Yes, resilience is about withstanding adversity and succeeding despite the hurdles in your way. But how do we do that? Surely it is easier to achieve our goals with the help and support of other people, it’s much easier to succeed when you have supporters, mentors, and advocates to cheer you on, help you back onto your feet and guide you along your way.

Being vulnerable and being willing to ask for help makes you more resilient. Vulnerability is not the reverse of resilience; it is the pathway to it.

In the UK, as in many parts of the world, the last decade or more has been tough. We’ve gone through a tremendous recession (probably two by the time you read this), undergone the division and challenges of Brexit, navigated the first global pandemic in most of our lifetimes and seen global political events impact what remained of our economy. Our cost of living has shot up, our standard of living has slumped, and our public services have been hitting rock bottom.

With all of that happening, leaders become even more important. Your staff and your followers look to you for reassurance, inspiration, and confidence. But everything I’ve listed above has hit leaders as well. We need to be able to look after ourselves if we’re going to be able to look after everyone else.

Much of that can come from having the support network referenced above. Like Paul, make sure you are surrounded by people you trust, whether friends, family and colleagues or people in more formal support roles, such as mentors and mastermind groups. Know that you have that safe space to share and seek advice and support.

While much of this chapter has focused on being vulnerable and honest with other people, we need to be able to be vulnerable and honest with ourselves too. And never more so than when it comes to our capacity to cope. Dealing with all the factors and responsibility above is bound to have an impact on our physical and mental health. What are you doing to recognize when you need to take a pause?

Last year I wanted to interview a fellow speaker and author, Graeme Codrington, for an article I was writing for my Psychology Today blog⁴. Graeme suggested a 9am call the following week. I suggested an alternative time because I had set aside that week for lie-ins and later starts – I was too busy at the time to schedule some time off, but knew I needed some rest.

When Graeme and I spoke, I started by apologizing for not being available for the original date he suggested. Graeme stopped me immediately and told me off for apologizing! He said I should always listen to my body and never apologize for looking after myself.

Graeme was absolutely right, but how often do we push ourselves to the limit, and for how long has our culture celebrated ‘hard work’ at the expense of thoughtful work? Know your limits and deliver your best within those boundaries. And if you’re struggling with anything, don’t grin and bear it but address it – either personally or with the help of others.

We need to change our relationship with perceived weakness. If we can understand and embrace our limitations, we can succeed despite them. And by doing so, we encourage those we lead to be more vulnerable in turn, being more comfortable asking for help when they need it or admitting that they don’t have the right answer or need support.

In 2021, a British teenager, Amelie Osborn-Smith, was attacked by a crocodile and pulled underwater while on holiday in Zambia. Fortunately, she survived, but with long scars on her legs where the crocodile had caught hold of her.

Asked by a journalist if she would dress to cover up her scars, Amelie replied, ‘The scars don’t show weakness, it shows that you can get through anything. It doesn’t make you ugly, it just shows that you are strong⁵.’

Leaders Need to Take the Lead – and be Seen to Take the Lead

Hattie Webb has enjoyed a very successful career as a singer and musician. As well as her solo work and her Webb Sisters project with her sister Charlie, Hattie and Charlie spent many years touring the world and playing in front of huge audiences with legendary singers Leonard Cohen and then Tom Petty as their backing singers.

Two stories that Hattie shared with me when we spoke for Just Ask really stood out for me. She recounted similar backstage experiences that go to the heart of the disconnect between how we see leaders and who leaders really are.

Hattie’s first story recounted an experience when on the road with Leonard Cohen. She told me, ‘We were going on stage in Austin, Texas. Leonard was making coffee and, as he was pouring his coffee, I could see his hand shaking with nerves. He looked around to me with a smile and said, ‘I’ve been doing this for forty-five years and still…’

‘I smiled back, knowing that we are all vulnerable. When we toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, one night in Vancouver, Tom turned around to us on the way to the stage and said, ‘I’m so nervous.’ I felt more at ease with my nerves knowing Tom had them too.’

We love to put our leaders on pedestals, whether those leaders are the stars of business or politics, or from the entertainment world, be it music, sports, stage or screen. Simply put, we expect more of them and don’t expect them to have the same doubts, fears and insecurities as us mere mortals.

Yet, as Hattie illustrated, they are human too. If we allow our leaders to step down from the pedestals on which we have placed them, as the Harvard Business School study shared earlier tells us, we will allow them more freedom to truly connect with us and encourage greater understanding and compassion in the way we engage with each other. Through these authentic connections, leaders can inspire and motivate teams to reach new heights of innovation and collaboration.

I talked earlier about understanding who we serve and putting the needs of those around us above the needs and cravings of our ego. You might be hired for your expertise or experience, but that doesn’t make you the smartest person in the room on every topic. The idea that leaders should have all of the answers is naïve at best, instead, great leaders know how to ask great questions and curate the best responses.

Don’t take the full responsibility of finding the solution to every challenge yourself. Instead, be the person who weighs up the best ideas and sets course once you have all the information you need.

Our perceptions of what it takes to be a great leader are, in my opinion, fundamentally flawed. The flaw lies not in the traits we perceive leaders to need but in the relationship between those traits and vulnerable, authentic behaviour.

Vulnerability helps to ensure that leaders are strong and seen to be strong by ensuring that their message is heard and resonant and encouraging those leaders to drop their masks when it’s appropriate and let other people in.

Vulnerability helps to make sure that leaders are resilient and seen to be resilient, giving them the support and encouragement they need when they most need it and making it OK for them to understand their own capabilities and energy levels and work with them.

Vulnerability helps to make sure that leaders take the lead and are seen to take the lead, but doing so by being human, being connected and benefiting from the best of everyone around them.

By leveraging vulnerability as a leadership asset, leaders can create an environment of trust, empathy, and openness within their teams and organizations. This fosters a culture where individuals feel valued, heard, and empowered, thus nurturing an environment conducive to innovation, collaboration, and sustainable growth.

My experience in Vancouver was certainly a grounding one, even if my perception of its wider impact was somewhat flawed. As a speaker, I find myself on the stage regularly. People look up to me naturally when I’m there (which is unusual and a nice experience for me as I’m pretty short!). They literally put me on a pedestal, and I’m often treated with elevated respect as a result.

Andy Lopata is a globally renowned speaker, mentor and author on professional relationships. He is the author of six books, including Connected Leadership, Just Ask and The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring. He also hosts The Connected Leadership Podcast.

But I can’t let that go to my head. We don’t always serve people best by standing above them. Instead, we need to know when the time is right for us to step off of our pedestal and lead others from among, not from above.

© 2024 Andy Lopata, FPSA, PSAE Hall of Fame, FLPI www.lopata.co.uk With the kind permission of the author.

Bob’s note: I actually organized and hosted the GSS2013 auction. We never noticed his discomfort. Smile

‘What you always do before you make a decision is consult. The best public policy is made when you are listening to people who are going to be impacted. Then, once policy is determined, you call on them to help you sell it.’ Elizabeth Dole

When did we stop talking?

Linda Maul, CEC, PCC

We are constantly bombarded by information and communication in our workplaces, but we’re not talking. We’ve lost the art of conversation; the sharing of ideas and brainstorming of solutions. We’re moving so fast; many people feel they don’t know their co-workers at anything other than a very ‘superficial’ level.

When did we stop ‘talking’?

Our email boxes are jammed full and we’re probably all guilty of sending as many emails as we receive. How many times have you decided to finally pick up the phone on the third email conversation trying to set a date for a meeting or a luncheon appointment? Many of us are tied to our BlackBerry’s 24/7 – weekdays, weekends, and even holidays. We’re still communicating, but we’re not ‘talking’.

I personally think Otto Scharmer is right when he says: ‘The deeper dimensions of transformational leadership change represent a largely unexplored territory....not what leaders do and how they do it – but the who: who we are and the inner place or source from which we operate, both individually and collectively.’ (PRESENCE: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski and Flowers, 2004)

We are not equipped to lead our companies into the future without taping into this inner place or course; we can’t make this change without ‘talking’ to each other; sharing our stories, discussing our challenges, looking collectively at solutions. Technology has revved up the speed of communication, created a sense of urgency to respond, and connected us in a global network difficult to comprehend just a few years ago.

We have Facebook, Linked In, blogs, pods, mail messaging, VOIP, message boards, internal networks, and others. We’re not ‘talking’ about what matters most within organizations. We’re not debriefing after projects or coming together to discuss a process challenge.

We’re not talking about what we are all contributing to a system that may not be supporting us. We’re not suspending judgments of others and reflecting on our own contributions to what’s not working.

We’ve given away our time for reflection, given away our time to consider consequences of our decisions, time to plan for logical sequencing of projects, and insightful discussions that lead to problem resolution. For all the technology we have today, we are starved for conversation and for dialogue. The challenge therefore is just what to do about it. We all know it exists!

Here are six simple strategies to effectively get people in your organization ‘talking’.

Strategy #1: Develop a mentor-coach program within your organization to facilitate sharing of ideas from one generation to another.

As baby-boomers leave organizations today, we risk a knowledge-drain that could undermine sustainability. It’s time to intentionally put a program or steps in place to start facilitating this knowledge transfer to ensure your success. It represents growth for both the mentor and the protégé and therefore can be a successful retention strategy for your organization.

If your senior leaders are kept engaged and fulfilled, they are less likely to leave. They in turn will support growth and a sense of fulfillment for your younger protégés and ensure they also stay with the organization.

If you don’t have the capacity internally to support a mentor-coach program, there are external resources who can effectively make this happen for you. In a recent program we facilitated, the mentors spoke of their own ‘growth, time for reflection, and passion for their roles’. It was truly a win-win.

Strategy #2: Take a coach-approach to leadership; train all your leaders to do the same. The power of coaching is in the questions and questions lead to dialogue.

What if you garnered a reputation for ‘asking those zinger questions? Why is that important? The answers are in the questions. If we can suspend judgment and just be present in a discussion, we will know when to ask the tough questions and the right answers will surface.

Over the years some of us have become ‘tell’ leaders; it’s easier to tell someone the solution than to encourage them to find their own answer. However, the power is in the self-discovery process.

An employee is more likely to implement a solution or idea they thought of than implement your idea. It’s human nature. Are you asking the right questions to stimulate thinking and then taking the time to have the dialogue, to talk it through with your employees?

Strategy #3: Create leadership circles within; take individuals who are challenged or affected by the same issue and let them spend time together co-creating new solutions.

When we are training front-line supervisors, the comments we see most often on the evaluation feedback includes:

‘I enjoyed the sharing of information.’

‘It was comforting to know others had the same challenges and to hear what strategies worked for them.’

‘My biggest ‘aha’s’ were triggered by ideas others presented.’

There is magic in bringing people together who have a common purpose, a common challenge or problem, and creating the space for them to engage in dialogue to fix the issue. As a leader, you don’t need to manage the discussion or the results, your team is very capable of doing just that - if given the opportunity.

We bring leaders of very diverse backgrounds together monthly to share their story, to throw out their challenges for discussion, and to learn through dialogue. It is powerful, participatory, and proactive! - and cost effective. How can you start creating dialogue amongst your team, your colleagues, and your senior leaders?

Strategy #4: Encourage your senior leaders to share their story; the challenges along the way, the lessons learned, the fear, and the adrenalin rush.

We all remember stories; stories shared by our grandparents, by our parents, by our elders. Stories allow employees to see your leaders as human beings first and leaders second. They can learn from the mistakes made along the way, hear what has worked well, and catch the passion of your senior leaders. Story telling creates interesting and rich dialogue if you position it to encourage others to tell their story.

Strategy #5: Lead by example yourself; go back to ‘management by walking around’. Each day allow time to stop and talk to individuals you work with and be prepared to get to know them personally and professionally.

There was a time when organizations staunchly supported ‘management by walking around’ because it worked. An intentional stroll through an area would encourage dialogue and a sense of caring. A side advantage is that it can be a great time management tool as often it allows you to deal with questions or issues early in the day, that otherwise would be interruptions later in the day. We’ve forgotten the benefit of this simple step.

Strategy #6: Support lunchtime or social activities outside of office hours. Our team goes for lunch together every Friday at noon at their own expense. Why would they invest this time and money? It’s an opportunity to catch up with everyone and learn what’s happening in their role, in their life, with their families. It leads to higher productivity and better working relationships. How can you bring your team together differently?

In summary, technology has its place in workplace communication, but there is nothing that replaces face-to-face dialogue. It brings so much more to honour the communication process through body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, movement, laughter, and warmth. Intentionally increasing dialogue in your organization will result in increased productivity and efficiency.

Talking is a bottom-line strategy.

© 2008-2024 Linda Maul, CEC, PCC (www.creatingpeoplepower.ca), All rights reserved. Included with the warm permission of my dear friend, fellow leader, and author.

‘A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.’ Rosalynn Carter

Lessons for Leaders from the highest mountains

Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE

When I joined an expedition through two remote provinces of the Indian Himalayas, I was constantly overtaken by ah-hah moments that held lessons for leaders.

Here are six principles:

Watch for patterns - different trees grow at different elevations

The apple trees of the Kullu Valley could not survive at Rohtang Pass. Nature allows for adaptation, to a point. As leaders, we must know where we belong, what adaptations we can make, and how to help people find the best match for their growth and abilities.

As the journey became more difficult, our wise guide Ankit Sood voiced his concern in a way that enabled us to gracefully examine our skill levels. Four of our party ‘self-selected’ to not continue. That showed wisdom and courage, as they might have hurt themselves and the rest of the group. Ankit paved the way for that decision yet was prepared to take them to a lower elevation had they insisted on continuing.

A leader gives followers a chance to evaluate their own performance but is also prepared to transfer or terminate an employee who is not doing the job at hand, damaging the morale and performance of a team.

Expect the unexpected and deal with it

Change is one thing. The unexpected adversity or opportunity is something else. Great leaders live in the present moment and make decisions based upon what is before them. As we climbed higher into Spiti, the remote Himalayan cold semi-desert region, Ankit learned that the Dali Lama would be teaching at a monastery in the village of Nako.

To venture there meant changing plans on a dime, completing bureaucratic paperwork, and going through time-consuming checkpoints. However, the chance to see a world leader in a special setting was an opportunity not to be missed.

In business, had 3M ignored an engineer’s idea that a less-than-sticky glue could be useful, the world would never have known Post-It-Notes®. Had Larry Page and Sergey Brin ignored the unexpected response to their simple search engine methodology, the word Google® would not have become a common word in our vocabulary.

The more critical the effort, the more teamwork is required

The rivers of the western Himalayas cascade from melting glaciers. At night, when the glaciers freeze, the water level is reduced. The timing of a crossing is critical, as water rises along with the sun. Rocks and debris swirl into tumultuous rapids. Crossing alone can be suicidal. We created a human chain, grasping each other by wrists (not hands) and alternated smaller team members with larger ones. We succeeded, cold and battered, but safe. How often do we encounter the leaders who insist on ‘going it alone’ in a critical situation? To ask for help is perceived as a weakness. Yet, the strength of collective brains and brawn can produce a better result. There is strength in numbers and in knowing how to optimize the strengths of team members.

Action is the antidote for anxiety

We made it in time to cross the dangerous river that had claimed six lives. But other members of our expedition were not so lucky. Their pace had been slowed by rounding up pack horses. In horror we watched these men try three times to cross, spinning against rapids and almost drowning. They had to stay on the rocks and wait until morning.

I could see the anxiety in the eyes of our leader. While we hiked ahead to make camp, he devised a plan. With another team member, he filled a water-proof barrel with food, warmer clothes, and a small tent. He hurled a rope to the stranded crew and together they created a pulley system for retrieving the barrel.

While everyone was still concerned, acting provided some comfort. Handwringing accomplishes nothing. Action gives a level of control over what might seem uncontrollable. A leader helps people take that action.

Everyone deserves to be welcomed home

When the stranded crew appeared at daybreak, we cheered, sang, and welcomed them ‘home’. Their faces glowed with a sense that we weren’t just customers to serve, managers to follow, but individuals who cared for their well-being. They redoubled their efforts to work for us.

We all want to be welcomed and cheered on. Whether in the remote regions of India or in company meeting rooms, people deserve to feel that someone has seen their effort, hard work, and long hours. The degree of engagement and retention would increase exponentially if leaders welcomed people ‘home’.

Gratitude transcends latitudes

Regardless of nationality or geography, people respond to expressions of gratitude. And the more personal the expression, the deeper the connection. While it is customary to pool money and give a bonus to the crew, our expedition wanted to extend a more intimate thank-you.

After all, these men had put our well-being ahead of their own. They paid attention to our personal needs, even found a way to bake a cake at 15,000 feet when they discovered that two of us had birthdays.

Our solution was to gift them with personal items we knew they could use, including my new boots, thermal jacket, ski hat, and my husband’s favorite parka.

Our party left gloves, socks, medicines, thermals, and bags of trail mix and jerky. We also gave them money to have everything cleaned and restored.

When gratitude comes from the heart, is personal, unexpected, and out-of-the-ordinary, amazing linkages are created. The gifts showed that we had observed their life and their needs. Spontaneous appreciation that recognizes the uniqueness of an individual beats standard reward programs.

My expedition partners and I will continue our relationship. In effect, we have created a new company through collaboration, cooperation, and consideration. That’s the final lesson.

© 2008-2024 Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE (www.eileenmcdargh.com), All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of the author.

‘I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.’ Queen Elizabeth II

‘If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.’
Joseph Addison

Take it From the Top, When Targeting

Prospective Corporate Clients

Nancy Michaels

I work with small business owners by providing them with information designed to help them grow their business and with major corporations targeting the small business market who want to increase the lifetime value of their small business clientele. My market and the prospective corporations I’m targeting to work with share the same ideal customer profile. It’s that simple.

Editor’s note: Understanding how to approach leaders forms a foundation for many different applications. It also provides insight into the thinking of people on this level we can apply in our own leadership growth and journey. I asked my friend Nancy to share her expertise and wisdom in approaching and dealing with leaders for this section.

How do you identify the corporations that are targeting the same customer base that you address?

Here’s what I did and continue to do when creating my ‘dream’ list of prospective corporate clients. My assistant Brittany and I visited a super bookstore and perused the magazine section pulling every small business (general, women, minority-focused), magazine and journal. We sat down in the conference room of my office and each of us took a magazine and started writing down the names of the companies who were advertising and who specifically they were targeting (women, minority, or small business customers in general).

After reviewing these publications, we created a master list and Brittany got to work on Google to create a master list of companies that we believed were in alignment and targeting the same small business customer that I was used to working with as a consultant, coach, author, and professional speaker. We indicated what their primary market was (i.e. women business owners) and made a special note of it on the excel spreadsheet.

Brittany, then began making personal phone calls to confirm the CEO’s name, his or her assistant’s name (if possible), the correct mailing address (corporations often have mail drops, specific floors or buildings that correspondence should be sent to), and tried to crack the e-mail code (by asking for his or her assistant’s e-mail address so she could thank them for helping us create the list).

This became ‘THE database’ that we market in order to secure corporate sponsorship dollars. It is NOT about quantity – it’s all about QUALITY. You are only as good as the list of contacts you create and maintain contact within order to establish a relationship that equals the – know, like, and trust - formula for success. We all want to do business with people we know, like, and trust. You can create this feeling in the minds of your prospects when your list is well-crafted, and you identify and implement a plan to market and communicate with them in meaningful and memorable ways so that one day when they receive your information – they believe they discovered you – not the other way around.

Why start at the top of the organization with a CEO?

Why not? What do you think would be easier – to claw your way up the organization (not saying it can’t ever be done – as was the case with me in my early years?), or contact THE DECISION MAKER and be pushed down from the head of the organization? Take my advice on this and introduce this idea to the highest-level person within the corporation.

CEO’s rule in my book because they ultimately lead the company, and their referral internally has significant weight. An Executive Vice President does not ignore what their CEO asks of them. If you are referred internally by the CEO (and you will be if your markets are in alignment and you come up with a creative and memorable idea that will generate ROI – return on their investment) – they will refer you to someone within the organization who will Shepherd, you through the process.

Some other things you should know about CEOs:

They’re big picture thinkers and focused on the bottom-line, shareholder value, and what’s in the best interest of their company

All their mail is electronically logged by their assistant when it comes in – and is easy for them to pull up when you call

Befriend their assistant and request his/her e-mail address so you can re-send information in a timely way, if necessary.

Approach them as a consumer – they like hearing from their customer base on ways to improve their product or service.

If they are speaking in public, go see them and introduce yourself (CEO Clubs, articles in business publications, appearances in conferences or trade shows, etc.).

They put their pants on the same way you and I do. They have family members and friends and colleagues and spouses and children and grandchildren – much like we all do. They are human beings – even if they’re considered corporate rock stars. They have feelings too.

It’s OK to be pushed down the ranks. Oftentimes, I suggest in my initial correspondence that the most likely internal candidate to speak with me might be. I say something like, ‘Typically, I work in tandem with the Executive Vice President of Small Business Marketing and Initiatives and the Executive Vice President of E-Commerce.’ Make it easy for the CEO to identify your buyer and make the referral.

Make sure the contact you meet is the most appropriate decision-maker, someone who can get your idea put into action. If you feel like you haven’t been referred to the appropriate contact, loop back with the head honcho and thank him for the internal referral and suggest that the buyer you’ve identified might be a more relevant contact and give him or her three bullet points as to why.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by accessing the highest-level person possible within the corporation. The CEO is clearly the most desirable person to have seen your letter outlining what you bring to the table in terms of servicing their primary target market. Even if the CEO pushes you down the ranks, his or her request carries considerable weight.

After being referred to someone within the company, re-engage with the CEOs office to let him or her know that you contacted the person who was recommended to speak with you and what the next steps will be. Send the letter to the CEO, say nice things about the person you met with, and copy that person in the letter. This way, you’re sending a subtle message that you have followed through that your new internal contact person will be accountable for doing the same as well. You want to be complimentary to this person and let them know that the CEO knows they did their job. Everybody’s happy that way.

Become Knowledgeable about Your Prospect and Their Company

Homework was never fun, but it is necessary to retain greater knowledge and familiarity with a topic.

Another benefit of doing your homework is that it allows you to stand out among others who will initiate contact and not look nearly as professional as you do, because you’ve taken the time to look professional. Many people like to skip over this effort, however, don’t fall prey to cutting corners here.

There are several things you can do to become hip to the goals of your potential corporate sponsor.

Visit their company’s web site.

Google their CEO – read more than their corporate bio, but seek out articles that have been written, about them or by them, in trade or consumer media. That’s how I found out that Ken Chenault, CEO of American Express, attended the Waldorf School from K-12th grade – the same school my daughter, Chloe, has attended since kindergarten. He also is on an arts board in New Rochelle, NY, where he lives – coincidentally, my in-laws have lived there for 40+ years as well. All of this was casually mentioned when I spoke with his assistant, Alex, and I mentioned these pieces of trivia during our brief conversation.

Read their annual report (available via their web site)

Sign up for their on-line press release distribution under Media Relations or Press Relations on the website

Register to receive information from Investor Relations as well.

In making yourself aware of what the corporation stands for, what their special interests or concerns are, etc. you can customize your ‘pitch’ to mirror their message. In this way, your idea/concept is in alignment with what their vision is, and you stand out as a result as someone who has the company’s best interest at heart and is in alignment with your expertise and core competencies.

Brainstorm to create a great idea or recharge an existing one. Consider the market you’ve identified for your business message. Next, think about some unique ways you can deliver this message to your clients via a corporate sponsor. Newsletters, web sites, seminars, conferences, and advertisements tags are some venues for partnering with a sponsor.

When you identify the ideal potential corporate sponsor, the company’s corporate vision and goals should align with those of your business. Next, make sure your idea is geared toward helping the corporation realize its vision and achieve its goals. Your target markets should be identical.

I don’t want to be the one who’s trying to get sponsors – can’t I outsource this project?

Here’s the short answer. No! I feel your pain and often wish I could hand over this responsibility to an independent salesperson who could represent me as I would like to be represented; however, this person does not exist.

The truth is, you are the best representation of your product / service/ idea, and you need to be putting yourself forward to create the best and most memorable impression possible. This doesn’t mean you have to do every piece of the leg work, but you do have to do some – especially at the beginning and towards the end of this project.

You need to sit down and get a handle on who your potential corporate sponsors are and what market they are specifically trying to reach.

Chances are if they’re advertising in publications, sponsoring conferences, or hosting trade show booths, they’re investing in this market, and they automatically qualify as a good prospect for you – again assuming your market is the same as their market.

Try to meet with them face-to-face at these events and reference how you met them, discovered their interest in their market, etc. Make note of these specific points in your correspondence with the CEO – it shows you’ve done your homework, are knowledgeable and up-to-speed with their initiatives and client objectives.

If you have a cracker-jack administrative person who’s excellent at the details, he or she can create the master list or database of sponsors for you. If not, hire a virtual assistant who can manage the project and turn it around to you in a timely way. Go to www.virtual.com to find someone to ‘virtually’ help you.

I also outsource the administrative function to distribute the direct mail campaign to the CEO. It’s a series of three to four letters directed at the CEO, before I ever pick up the call to follow-up with them.

They take care of mail merging the letters with specific information, sending them out on time and with supporting documentation and materials and let you know when the last mailing has been distributed so you can follow up.

Follow-Up is Key

All the good work in the world will fall flat unless ‘you’ follow-up over the phone with the CEO’s assistant to determine who he or she has passed your information on to.

Then, ask to be referred to him or her and get his or her assistant’s name and direct line as well. If you’re not able to speak with them directly, leave a detailed voice mail message and let them know you will be sending a follow-up e-mail to them as well. This makes it easier for them to respond and get back to you and you’re showing that you respect their time and their schedule.

Create a Communication Plan to Continue the Dialogue

Generate a list of 10 ideas you could send your prospect, to continue to educate them about who you are and what you can offer their company.

Soon, with this kind of drip campaign, they will believe they have discovered you – not that you were marketing to them incessantly. The key to any relationship – personally or professionally – is good, clear (and concise when it comes to corporations) communications. This is a sure way to stay top of mind among key decision makers and to clearly establish the know, like, and trust factor among your prospects and clients.

© 2008-2024 Nancy Michaels (www.growyourbusinessnetwork.com), All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of the author.

‘If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.’ Maya Angelou

Master the power of pro-active leadership training – Invite Bob to inspire your teams grow and succeed!

Regaining your freedom (time) as a leader means passing along some of those non-vital things to others by effective delegation. Right now, I bet you can think of at least three activities you hate that you haven’t ‘had time’ to train someone else to do. Right?

Make the time! Until you do, you will never be free. Invest a day now to train and hand off at least one of these items. This will save you countless hours as you move forward and allow you to focus on your ‘vital few’ activities that move you forward. Effective leaders create time to train and delegate. This frees them up and it also lays a foundation for emerging leaders to grow! Visit www.ideaman.net for more information on what Bob brings to the table and how he can help you and your team succeed.

‘You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going

to that place and making a case.’ Ken Kesey

I’m doing well… really

Dr. Larry Ohlhauser

Frank missed the rear bumper of the car in front of him by inches. He now had coffee spilled down the front of his shirt and tie.

Seething, he grabbed for napkins and tried to blot the spill. The patterned tie would hide the stain well enough, but as for the shirt. He’d be stuck in his jacket all day. The light turned green. He accelerated and reached for the doughnut on the passenger seat beside him. He was still reeling from the argument he’d had that morning with Kate, his wife, half-dressed and half-awake in their walk-in closet. She was after him about making an appointment with their financial advisor, about the daughter’s recent odd behaviour, and about whose turn it was to drive their son to hockey practice the next morning.

So much for TGIF. It was budget crunch time at work and reports were due from all department heads that Monday. It was going to be another long day at the office. He was ticked at Kate for choosing what seemed to be the worst times to discuss these things. Although, what would be a good time? Neither of them seemed to be home long enough to eat or sleep, let alone have a civilized conversation.

After another ten minutes fighting through traffic, Frank pulled into his parking spot, and then began the elevator ride to the eighth floor. At ground level, Kresha from HR stepped on in her business suit and Nikes, gym bag in hand. She flashed Frank a bright (loathsome) smile. ‘How are you doing today, Frank?’ She asked, innocently. Frank felt indicted by the warm greeting. He was obviously feeling less than cheerful. But, he pasted on his well-rehearsed office smile and replied. I’m doing well, thanks.’ Doing well. ‘Big fat liar’, he thought and braced himself for the rest of the day.

How many of us are doing well… really? What does that mean anyway? Modern science, public policy, and economic growth have ushered in technologies, regulations, and investment opportunities all designed to help us live longer, stronger, better, and richer. But are we living well?

A recent Canadian research paper stated that we are living longer, but 80% of women will live the last eleven years of their life in ill health. 80% of men will live the last nine years of their life in ill health.

It often seems that we’re forced to choose where we’ll flourish, if at all, with wealth, health, love, and other ideals. We believe we must sacrifice one good thing to have another or live mediocre lives across the board.

But can we move these ideal notions into practical applications? What if wellness is a function of the interdependence of all these areas and not an exclusive choice of anyone? Intuitively, we know that our bodies, mind, and emotions are connected. Stress keeps us awake or gives us tension headaches. Sleep deprivation makes us irritable. And symptoms of illness whether physical or psychological show up at work and at home.

How can we create balance? It’s possible to live better, whether we need to make absolute changes to our lifestyle or just tweak the finer details. Here are some ideas to help you move toward greater overall wellness.

Take stock

Pay attention to what your body, emotions, and those around you are telling you. An honest practical self-assessment can be most enlightening. Examine your physical wellness habits: diet, exercise, sleep patterns, or substance use, for example. Are there overt signs of trouble, like chronic pain, sleep disturbances, racing heart rate, or over-weight? Investigate your emotional and relational health, too.

What is the current state of your relationships? How do you deal with conflict? Are there certain people or social situations you avoid routinely? What would those closest to you identify as your personal strengths and weakness? Get honest feedback from people you trust.

Take advice

Enlist professional help where it makes sense to do so. Your primary healthcare practitioner is an obvious first resource.

Take action

Goal-setting paradigms have been preached to executives for years. And they work, if they’re used. Identify specific physical or relational areas you might improve. It’s one step better to set strategic, realistic goals to help reach those objectives. But the best goals are useless unless they’re implemented.

Take it easy

This sounds like a contradiction to acting, but it’s not. Without proper rest, times of solitude and personal restoration, we run on fumes, not fuel. Energy is used and restored cyclically. We might be able to go hard for a while, but eventually we’ll burn out.

Take two (or three)

One of the best ways to turn plans into action is to enlist the support of others. The accountability and encouragement available when a friend or colleague buys into what you’re trying to do can make all the difference. You might find others who want to join you in some of your action steps – partnering together in a proven weight-loss program, starting an office lunch-hour walking group, or arranging an emotional intelligence workshop for your management team. Even having someone to report to or to help cheer you on can help keep you on track. You’re much more likely to give up if you’re the only one who will bear any consequences.

Take heart

Don’t be discouraged by setbacks, they are inevitable. Change of any kind, but especially personal lifestyle changes won’t be easy. Value perseverance over perfection.

Take charge

This is your life. Sometimes, the idea that we should be in charge creates an overwhelming sense of responsibility. It’s true; our choices define our successes or failures. Goal setting paradigms have been preached to executives for years, because they work.

Take pride

Celebrate even small victories, set benchmarks for your progress – thirty days cigarette free, ten pounds lost, six sessions of marriage counseling – and build in rewards to mark meeting them.

The rewards can be simple as a new purchase, a round of golf, or as elaborate as a European vacation. Choose rewards that will motivate you.

So how are you doing today? Are you well? Take every opportunity to live the best life possible, inside and out, at work or play.

© 2008-2024 Dr. Larry Ohlhauser (www.thehealthyceo.com), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my fellow CAPS leader and author.

“Leadership success is a step- by-step process to create the results you want in your life and career!”

This picture is me on the top of the 2nd tower I’d climbed on the Great Wall of China on a recent adventure. I often share it and ask my audiences to look for the abject pain and satisfaction on my face from my climb.

I had great hopes of conquering the Great Wall, but my knee didn’t agree with me, and I was forced to almost crawl up to make it to both towers.

At times, as leaders, we need to push through the pain to accomplish our goals and to lead by example. It hurts and it can have lasting consequences. But, it can be a pivot point in your leadership journey to be able to look back and say, ‘Despite the obstacles, I was able to climb that and make my goal a reality.”

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, as I did on the way back down. Don’t be afraid to push yourself way past your point of endurance if the goal you set for you and/or your team is a worthy one. Memories of great achievement can be a motivating force moving forward.

‘Leaders are the ones who keep faith with the past, keep step with the present,
and keep the promise to posterity.’ Harold J. Seymour

They Shoot Managers Don’t They?

Managing the Leadership Tensions

Terry Paulson, PhD, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient

At a screenwriting class in Los Angeles, Robert McKee told a struggling screenwriter to avoid taking a side job writing leadership training films. Without hesitation, McKee advised, ‘Don’t touch them! It will ruin your writing. Hollywood is into taking advantage of unresolved tension. Training films are into giving answers. There’s no tension; that’s why they’re so boring!’

Not all training articles or programs are boring; but the biggest danger of writing articles with ‘easy answers’ is that they don’t reflect the challenges leaders face in today’s changing world.

Being a leader working to invent your own future in uncertain and challenging economic times, you face both great opportunities and great challenges. You want answers, but what you may need is a way to thrive during sustained tensions. Sustaining excellence requires managing the tension between equal, seemingly conflicting leadership forces. The following dynamic tensions, once mastered, will give you a ‘leadership edge’ for years to come.

Celebrate progress AND build a dynasty of excellence.

Successful leaders never settle for a good year; they want to build a sustainable dynasty that keeps raising the bar on excellence and expands benefits for those they serve. Beat the need for closure by celebrating the milestones of progress every year while continuing to use that progress as a launching pad for continuing change in a never-ending journey.

Take the best from tradition AND change.

While it’s true that every improvement is the result of change, ‘not every change’ is an improvement.

Jim Collins, reflecting on his book ‘Built to Last’, said: ‘A visionary company doesn’t simply balance between preserving a tightly held core ideology and stimulating vigorous change and movement; it does both to the extreme.’ The past and tradition will always have value, but they shouldn’t have an ‘automatic’ veto. As a leader you need to take the best from tradition and the best from the future to keep inventing the ‘new good old days’ for your organization.

Encourage your change agents and your status-quo seekers to keep talking together to get the best out of both. Neither has a lock on truth!

Sell the need for change by using fear AND hope.

Thomas Gibson observed, ‘People only change when confronted with strong leadership, crisis, or both. Therefore, unless you are willing to be at the whim of crises, strong leadership is the only reliable change force you have.’

When you wait for a crisis to be your catalyst for change, you seldom have the resources or the time to do it well. Fear and hope are both good motivators. Courageous leaders ‘unfreeze’ the status quo before they sell any strategic change. Music in a movie creates anticipation. As a leader, you’re called to be the music for your people and your destination. Use both ‘possible threats and opportunities’ to sell the need for change.

Drive a compelling AND flexible vision.

Instead of waiting for a perfect vision, risk refining your vision as you move, but move! With input from your key stakeholders, forge, communicate, and drive a ‘fuzzy’ but strategic focus. An imperfect 15 degrees of focus is more important than waiting for the perfect plan that never comes. As you move, keep your eye on the changing horizon to communicate any course corrections as soon as possible. The biggest difference between a vision and a hallucination is the number of people who can see it. Keep selling your vision in every meeting and communication vehicle you have.

Value experience AND lifelong learning.

In a world of constant changes, there’s an unprecedented need for targeted, competency-based training that will enhance the competitive value of every member of the team. The age of lifelong employment and secure professions is over. Your job is to help those you serve to keep moving from obsolescence to relevance or your organization will cease to draw. Balance the need to value and honor your current ‘bests’ while challenging everyone to keep learning and reinventing their own future.

Value a commitment to quality AND strategic risk-taking.

A commitment to quality is ‘the entry ticket’ to being taken seriously as an organization. Unfortunately, the only places where perfect people exist are in educational movies. In the real world, while quality remains the goal, errors occur when you take quantum leaps into a future without any roadmaps.

Encourage quick action, early processing of errors, constant process improvement, and strategic risk taking to help turn errors into useful experience. Successful organizations build surprise, adventure, and flexibility into their culture. Take the trap out of excellence by making it safe to surface errors. Strive for quality without waiting for the perfect thought, the perfect action, or the perfect time to innovate.

Be tight AND loose.

Most companies are either tight or loose. When things are going well, they are loose with expenditures and when things get tight, they get tight all over! Excellent organizations are tight and loose. They are tight everywhere they can be tight and loose wherever they can add value to the members they serve. Good leaders prioritize and focus their resources and investments.

In short, the old message was ‘more with less’. Today, it is do ‘less with less’. Be focused, be flexible, and get everyone working smart on real priorities that are worth doing.

Value empowerment AND limits.

Without clear objectives and boundaries, empowerment can be an invitation to anarchy. One empowered employee or volunteer, without adequate limits and checks, can bring down your organization.

Manage the tension between encouraging involvement and establishing necessary limits. Be very, very clear about your strategic goals, your mission, and any limits that teams must be aware of. Then, step back to give your people the time and latitude to make change work where it counts. Structure your projects and task forces in a way for you to gain trust and for the people involved to gain confidence.

Care enough to confront AND support.

Effective leaders are problem solvers, not problem evaders. Well-handled conflict helps build clarity of vision and purpose. Learn to honor, support, and use disagreements when they occur. Keep everyone active in disagreeing without being disagreeable. Balance conflict by majoring in positive communication.

Give more credit and take more than your share of the blame. Take time to give timely, specific recognition and ask for assistance in the areas you respect and trust the skills of others. Listening is one of the most important skills effective executives possess. Imagine every member has on his chest a sign that reads, ‘Make me feel important!’ Major in being a supportive leader.

Take your job seriously AND yourself lightly.

Humor and laughter make great daily companions on your organization’s journey to excellence. Don’t go through life with your car or your face in park. In fact, use your sense of humor for fun and impact. Humor develops good feelings and rapport and develops a positive, lighter atmosphere. Why does it work? People like to do business with people who make them laugh.

One executive kept a sign on his desk that read, ‘Recognize that every ‘out front’ maneuver you make is going to be lonely. If you feel entirely comfortable, then you’re not far enough ahead to do any good. That warm sense of everything going well is usually the body temperature at the center of the herd.’

In this age of tension and constant change, never expect to be comfortable. Rest assured you will not be bored! With any luck, you won’t just be predicting the future; you’ll be inventing it and watching others try to catch up with you.

© 2008-2024 Terry Paulson, CSP, CPAE, Cavett recipient (www.terrypaulson.com) All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of a mentor, friend, fellow leader, and author.

‘An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.’
Stephen R. Covey, Principle-centered Leadership

‘Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.‘ David Rockefeller

It’s the Culture! You Can Deliver Amazing Results

Randy G. Pennington, CSP, CPAE

What separates the marketplace leaders and heroes from the has-beens and the wanna-bes?

It can’t be just products, services, or price. There is competition everywhere. And yet, there are businesses, government agencies, and non-profits that don’t just compete with the others, they blow them away in areas like product and service quality, innovation, execution, and most importantly, results.

Your competitors don’t hire all geniuses and leave you with the dunces. Their computer systems, compensation, and operational processes are not dramatically different from yours. When they discuss strategy, the words on their flip charts are not significantly more insightful than yours. The difference is, ultimately, intangible. It is a culture where every person at every level is focused on and committed to delivering meaningful results.

And that’s the leader’s job – to build a compelling culture that becomes the intangible that sets their organization apart.

Why Culture Matters More Than Ever

We have known about the importance of organizational culture for decades. Yet, the role your culture plays in success has never been more crucial.

Here’s why:

We live in a ‘me too’ world where products and services are interchangeable. You are destined for a life of mediocrity (or worse) unless your organization is capable of continuously adapting, growing, and improving. Marketplace heroes focus on building a dynasty not having a single great season.

Wanna-be organizations confuse tools and goals. It is the tendency to practice MBBS – Management by Best Seller – rather than do the hard work of executing day in and day out. Great cultures, on the other hand, have a disciplined commitment that sets them apart.

There is a danger of confusing participation and activity with accomplishment. The generation entering today’s workplace has a skill set and world view enabling them to achieve amazing things. But they have also been sheltered and made to feel special. Trophies and ribbons are awarded for everything to promote self-esteem. Organizations have a similar tendency. We reward for achieving performance measures with no connection to meaningful results.

Talented people have a choice. The companies that are consistently beating you in the marketplace are creating environments where talented people appreciate the opportunity to contribute and succeed. They take extra time to ‘hire-for-fit’. And they think in terms of talent development rather than performance management. You might score the occasional upset without a culture that attracts and nurtures talented people, but consistent excellence will be difficult.

What the Best Do Differently

The MSN Encarta Dictionary defines ‘culture’ as, ‘the patterns of behavior and thinking that people living in social groups learn, create, and share’. In short, culture is the habits your organization displays over time. Habits are built by repeated action. And actions are driven by the choices we make in every area of business.

Leaders who develop great cultures make different choices than their competitors in every area of the business. As a result, their organizations don’t simply compete – they dominate their markets.

Here are six choices that will enable you to develop a culture that shouts Results Rule!

Tell yourself the truth and value candor and honesty

Despite our belief that we embrace the cold, hard truth, many leaders are guilty of 3D Vision: Denial, Distortion, and Delusion. They deny reality, distort their performance, and delude themselves into blaming their lousy results on everyone but themselves. The cure for 3-D Vision is the continuous search for and acknowledgement of the truth. You don’t have to be brutal. You do have to be relentless and unwavering. Nothing ever changes until we tell ourselves the truth.

Pursue the best over the easiest in every situation

Carl Sewell, CEO of Sewell Motors, said that the choice to be the best was the most important decision his company ever made. Making this choice, according to Sewell, ‘made life simpler, more fun, and definitely more profitable.’

Considering that his auto dealerships are perennially ranked at or near the top compared with their peers in the United States, Sewell’s advice is worth taking to heart. Every decision, strategy, resource allocation, operational goals, product and service delivery, hiring, information systems, education, and training – should be made based on the pursuit of the best over the easiest.

Leverage the power of partnerships both internally and externally

Do your customers love you so much they sell for you? Do your employees volunteer their commitment to go beyond the minimum in product quality or service? If you answered no to either question, you are not leveraging the power of partnerships. Engaged employees do not automatically equate to loyal customers. Other factors such as price or convenience can have an impact. But all other factors being equal, your ability to build partnerships with employees affects your ability to grow customers who love you.

Focus the energy to make the main things the main thing

Processes, metrics, rewards, and performance expectations – these are all tools most organizations use to focus energy. The challenge is not knowing how to focus but rather knowing on what to focus and maintaining the discipline to stay at it. In today’s world, fundamentals are the minimum. Being distinctive is the difference. If you don’t deliver the customers fundamental expectations, it doesn’t matter how distinctive your product or service is. If you settle for only delivering the fundamentals, you provide no compelling reason to choose you.

Learn, grow, and improve every day

Tom Peters and Bob Waterman, Jr. changed the world of business books in 1982 with the publication of ‘In Search of Excellence’. They profiled 43 companies identified as excellent. Two years later, ‘Business Week’ magazine questioned the authors’ choices. It’s true.

Some of the excellent companies fell from grace very quickly. Others held on for a while before slipping into obscurity. And some, like Intel, Wal-Mart, and Marriott, continue to thrive.

The difference between consistent excellence and random brilliance is the ability to learn, grow, and adapt. Past success proves you were right once. Leaders that consistently deliver amazing results know that they are only as good as tomorrow’s performance.

Show the courage of accountability

There is a line from the often-quoted ‘Unknown’ that applies here, ‘If you really want to do something, you will find a way; if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.’ Top performers in every walk of life show the courage of accountability in their personal performance.

Top leaders show the courage to hold others accountable as well. Imagine the improvements that would occur in your business if everyone simply took responsibility for delivering results that everyone knows are important.

There is no six, ten, or even twelve step plan for building a culture that sets you apart in the marketplace. And these six choices are not revolutionary.

The difference between you and the competitor who is beating you is the discipline to make these choices more often and effectively on a regular basis. Delivering results is more about what you do than what you know.

So, what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you stopped standing in the way of your own success?

© 2008-2024 Randy Pennington, CSP, CPAE (www.penningtongroup.com), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend, fellow leader, and author.

‘The quality of the leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.’ Ray Kroc

‘A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them
with confidence in themselves.’ Anonymous

The WIIFM in (Leadership) Coaching

Sid Ridgley, MBA, CSP, Spirit of CAPS recipient

In today’s extremely demanding workplace, we need more coaches than ever before. If your goal (leadership) is to assist others improve their ability to accomplish a specific task, then your role is to coach.

Coaches will pass along knowledge, but that isn’t really the main thrust of a coach. The leader’s real mission is to help the person they are coaching become more talented at performing. In short, leaders (coaches) inspire people and teams to higher levels of excellence. They are great observers of behaviour and have gained knowledge and skill in a subject matter.

The WIIFM (What’s in It for Me) in (Leadership) Coaching.

Coaching is a time honoured and highly respected activity.

When coaching, the leader draws upon his/her own potential, experience, and knowledge. By doing so they gain additional insights.

Coaching is (typically) done during the activity, hence it is much like managing in real time.

Coaching builds confidence in the person being coached and in the leader.

Coaching activities set up an expectation of being successful.

Coaching helps people become competent at what they do. It is competence that leads to higher levels of performance.

Leaders and the people being coached establish very strong bonds.

Coaching transforms the way people think and work together.

Leaders earn a tremendous amount of personal pride when one of their people achieves great things.

You owe it to all the leaders and coaches in your life that helped you; now it is your turn.

There are also benefits for the organization.

First, there could be a reduction in turnover. When people are learning, growing, and being challenged, it is less likely that they will become dissatisfied and leave.

Second, effective coaching results in a more skilled and competent workforce.

One of my great coaches in life, Allan Hobson, used to tell me that to be successful in business you needed three things: money, ideas, and good people. Then he’d go on to say, ‘Actually you don’t need money, because if you have good ideas, you’ll get the money you need’. Then he’d say, ‘Frankly you don’t need good ideas either, because if you have good people, you get good ideas. So, it comes down to having good people’. Coaching then can help you develop good people, the essential ingredient to being successful.

Coaching is a personal leadership skill and a very powerful tool in developing people. Coaching is, however, a process that you need to learn and practice. Here are the essential steps in coaching:

Set goals and expectations. For you and the person you are coaching. It truly is powerful to all parties involved in a coaching situation to have a ‘picture of success’.

Contract for learning. Having a candid conversation between you, as the leader/coach, and the person involved is an important step in the process. This is the step that both of you come to terms with how you will work with one another.

Observe performance. Using your observational skills make notes as to the person’s knowledge and skill, including their willingness and confidence. Identify the barriers that may be limiting performance.

Constructive feedback. Feedback is both a process and an art. Great coaches focus their feedback on specific behaviours not on the personality of the individual.

Coaching. This is the telling, showing, and demonstrating part of the process. When coaching those who may be better than the leader at an activity, then this coaching step focuses on providing recommendations that move the person to higher levels of proficiency.

Measure and evaluate results. Verification and validation that the person is performing at a higher level is how coaches truly determine if they have been successful.

Reward and recognize. Rewarding and recognizing improvements should be occurring throughout the coaching process. None-the-less, rewarding and recognizing i.e., celebrating the success that has been achieved helps both parties ‘move on’ to the next challenge.

Do you really have a choice not to coach? If you want to be an effective leader, I don’t think so. The WIIFM is simple, higher skill and proficiency for you and higher skill, proficiency, and competence in those that you coach.

© 2008-2024 Sid Ridgley, MBA, CSP, Spirit of CAPS recipient (www.simultraining.com), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend, mentor, fellow CAPS leader, and author.

‘What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.’
Margaret Thatcher

‘It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.’

(Absurdum est ut alios regat, qui seipsum regere nescit.) Latin Proverb

Taking Personal Responsibility

Brian Tracy, CSP, CPAE

Did you ever stop to think that everything you are or ever will be is completely up to you? Just imagine! You are where you are because of who you are. Everything that exists in your life exists because of you, because of your behavior, words, and actions. Because you have freedom of choice and because you have chosen each circumstance of your life, you are completely responsible for all your success and failure, your happiness and

unhappiness, your present and future.

That thought is like a parachute jump: It’s scary and exhilarating at the same time. It’s one of the biggest and most important ideas that can ever occur to you or anyone else. The acceptance of personal responsibility is what separates the adult from the child. It’s the great leap forward into maturity. Responsibility is the hallmark of the fully integrated, fully functioning human being. Responsibility goes hand in hand with success, achievement, motivation, happiness, and self-actualization. It’s the absolute minimum requirement for the accomplishment of everything you could ever really want in life.

Accepting that you’re completely responsible for yourself and realizing that no one is coming to the rescue is the beginning of peak performance. There’s very little that you cannot do or have after you accept that ‘If it’s to be, it’s up to me!’

The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses and blaming people and things for what’s going on in your life. And since everything we do is a matter of habit, if people get into the habit of making excuses, they get into the habit of evading responsibility at the same time. If they set a goal or objective for themselves, they immediately create an excuse that they hold in reserve just in case the accomplishment of the goal is too difficult or requires more self-discipline and persistence than they had thought.

As soon as things start to go poorly, irresponsible people trot out their excuse and let themselves off the hook. But that won’t get them anywhere in the long run.

A basic law of human life was first espoused by Socrates more than 400 years before Christ. It’s called the ‘Law of Causality’. We call it the ‘Law of Cause and Effect’. It states that for every effect in your life, there’s a cause. If there’s any effect that you desire, or desire more of, you can trace it back to the cause, and by duplicating the cause, you can have the effect.

For example, everyone wants to be healthy. If you set a high level of physical health and energy as your goal, or the desired effect, you can have it simply by finding out the cause; by finding out what other healthy and energetic people do about diet, exercise, and rest and by doing the same thing. If you do, you’re likely to get the same result. This is no miracle. It sounds simple, but in many cases, it’s one of the hardest things in the world to do.

Unhappiness is an effect as well. If you wish to be happy, the first thing to do is to decide for yourself the kind of life situation in which you would feel wonderful. Think of the very best times of your life and think of what you were doing, where you were doing it, and the people you were with at the time. Then write out, in complete detail, a description of your ideal lifestyle. Now you have defined the effect that you desire.

Next, look at your current life and ask yourself, ‘What are all the things in my life that are inconsistent with the lifestyle that would make me happy?’ In other words, look at the causes of the effects that you don’t like. Then decide to begin alleviating or removing those causes, one by one, until what you have left is the kind of life you want to live.

Your thoughts are extremely powerful. They have the power to raise and lower your blood pressure, your pulse rate, and your respiratory rate. They can affect your digestion. And if your thoughts are strong enough, they can even make you sick or healthy.

Your thoughts tend to trigger images in your mind and the feelings in your body are consistent with them. If you think or read happy, healthy thoughts, you will have happy, healthy pictures and experience happy, healthy emotions.

As Deepak Chopra points out in his audio program ‘Magical Mind, Magical Body’, every part of your mind is connected to every single part of your body in a complex web of messages and impulses that affect everything you feel, say, and do.

Only you can think your thoughts, only you can decide what you’ll dwell upon, what you’ll read and listen to, who you’ll associate with, and the conversations you’ll engage in; therefore, you are totally responsible for all the consequences of all those behaviors. It’s unavoidable.

Perhaps the most important part of the subject of self-responsibility involves your happiness and your peace of mind. There seems to be a direct relationship between responsibility and happiness on the one hand, and irresponsibility and unhappiness on the other hand. Let me explain.

First, the key to happiness is having a sense of control over what’s going on in your life. The more you feel that you’re in control, the happier you’ll be. Men and women who have risen to the top of their organizations tend to be far happier than people further down. This is because they feel far more in control of their destinies, far more capable of making decisions and acting. The more responsibility you take on in your company, the more power, authority, and respect you’ll receive.

One of the smartest things you can do is to take responsibility for the most important concerns of your boss. The more you accept responsibility for getting results in the areas that your boss considers most important, the more valuable and indispensable you’ll become in your organization. People who want more money and more respect often think that they can get it simply by asking for it or by politicking.

The truth is that it will accrue to you rapidly as soon as you ‘step up to the plate’ and undertake responsibility for results in your organization. The most respected people in any company are those who are the most capable of getting the most important jobs done on schedule.

The more responsibility you take, the more in control you are. And the freer you are, especially in your own mind, to make decisions and to do the things you want to do.

So, there’s a direct relationship between responsibility, control, freedom, and happiness. The happiest people in the world are those who feel terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their lives.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is irresponsibility or the failure to accept responsibility. Each person is somewhere in between, moving toward a higher level of responsibility or irresponsibility with every word and every decision. In fact, a good definition of insanity is total irresponsibility, to the point of needing a straitjacket and a padded cell.

Thomas Szasz, the great psychoanalyst, once wrote, ‘There is no such thing as insanity. There are only varying levels of irresponsibility.’ A person who is completely irresponsible is subject to anger, hostility, fear, resentment, doubt - all sorts of negative emotions. And here’s why. All negative emotions tend to be associated with blame. Fully 99 percent of all our problems exist only because we’re able to blame someone or something for them. The instant we stop blaming, our negative emotions begin disappearing.

What’s the antidote to blaming? It’s simple! Since your mind can hold only one thought at a time, either positive or negative, you can override the tendency to blame and become angry simply by saying, firmly, ‘I am responsible!’ You can’t accept responsibility for a situation and be angry at the same time. You can’t accept responsibility and be unhappy or upset.

The acceptance of responsibility negates negative emotions and short-circuits any tendencies toward unhappiness.

The very act of accepting responsibility calms your mind and clarifies your vision. It soothes your emotions and enables you to think more positively and constructively. In fact, the acceptance of responsibility often gives you insights into what you should do to resolve the situation.

Here’s an exercise: Look at the most common problems and difficulties that people have in life. Apply this simple remedy of accepting responsibility to each one and see what happens.

People have problems with other people - their spouses, their children, their friends, their coworkers, and their bosses. Someone once said that almost all our problems in life have hair on top, come on two legs, and talk back. So, think of the people in your life who cause you any stress or anxiety and ask yourself who is responsible. Are they responsible for being in your life or are you responsible for having them in your life?

According to the ‘Law of Attraction’, you’re a living magnet in that you invariably attract people into your life who harmonize with your dominant thoughts and emotions. The people in your life are there because you’ve attracted them by the person you are, by the thoughts you hold, by the emotions you experience.

If you’re not happy with the people surrounding you, you’re responsible. You’re attracting them and you’re keeping them there.

Let me give you an example. I have four beautiful children. For a long time, when my children were behaving in ways that I felt were inappropriate, I tended to blame or criticize them. However, the more I studied child raising and learned about the subject, the more I found that children are almost totally reactive. Their behaviors are almost always responses to what is going on around them and to their relationships with their parents. So, I began asking the question, ‘What is it in me that ‘is’ causing my child to act this way?’ As soon as I turned the question around, and looked to myself for the reason… in effect, accepted complete responsibility for my children’s behavior… I was able to see what I might be doing or not doing, that my children were reacting to.

Perhaps I wasn’t spending enough one-on-one time with them. Perhaps I wasn’t listening to them when they wanted to talk. Perhaps I was too quick to question their report cards.

I began to apply that simple principle to every other part of my life as well. I began asking, ‘What is it in me that ‘is’ causing this external situation?’

If the ‘Law of Correspondence’ is true (and it is) and everything that is happening to you on the outside is due to something that is happening to you on the inside, then the first place to look is within.

As soon as you do that, you begin to see things that you had completely missed when you were busy blaming others and making excuses. You begin to see that you’re responsible in large measure for the things that are happening to you.

If you’re in a bad relationship, who got you there? You likely weren’t marched into the relationship and kept there at gunpoint. So, it’s largely a matter of free will and free choice on your part. If you’re not happy, it’s up to you to do something about it. As Henry Ford II once said, ‘Never complain, never explain.’ If you’re not happy with the situation, do something about it. If you’re not willing to do something about it, then don’t complain.

I recall the story of the construction worker who opens his lunch box at noon break and unwraps his sandwich to find that it contains sardines. He gets really upset and complains loudly to everyone around him about how much he hates sardines. The next day, the same thing happened, a sardine sandwich. Again, the construction worker shouts and complains about how much he hates sardines for lunch. The third day it happens again. By this time, his fellow workers are getting fed up with his loud complaining. One of them leans over and says to him, ‘If you hate sardines so much, why don’t you tell your wife to make you some other kind of sandwich?’ The construction worker turns to the fellow and says, ‘Oh, I’m not married. I make my own lunches!’

Many of us get into the same situation as the construction workers and complain about circumstances that are almost entirely of our own making. Is this true for you? Look over your relationships and ask where this might be true in your life.

Are you happy with your job? Are you happy with the amount of money you’re earning? Are you happy with your level of responsibility and your activities each day? If you’re not, you need to accept that you’re completely responsible for every aspect of your job and your career. Why? Because you chose it freely. You took the job, you assumed the responsibilities, and you accepted the wage.

If you’re not happy with any of them, for any reason, then it’s up to you to do something different.

You’re earning today exactly what you’re worth - not a penny more, not a penny less. In life, we tend to get exactly what we deserve. If you’re not satisfied with the amount you’re getting, look around you, at people who are doing the kind of work you would like to do and earning the kind of money you would like to earn. Ask them what they’re doing differently from what you’re doing. What are the causes of the effects they’re getting? Once you know what they are, accept complete responsibility for your situation, apply your wonderful mind and abilities, back them with willpower and self-discipline, and get busy making the changes you need to make to enjoy the life you want to enjoy.

Your great aim in life is to develop character. Character is composed of self-esteem, self-discipline, the ability to delay gratification, and the willingness to accept full responsibility for your life and everything in it. The more you say to yourself, ‘I am responsible,’ the stronger, better and finer a person and leader you become. And every part of your life will improve at the same time.

© 2008-2024 Brian Tracy, CSP, CPAE (www.briantracy.com), All rights reserved. Included with kind permission of my generous friend and encourager, fellow leader, and author.

‘It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.’

Nelson Mandela

‘Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character,

give him power.’ Abraham Lincoln

A Common Leadership Challenge: Balancing Positional Power and Personal Power

Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, PhD, DTM, PIP, Accredited Speaker

Let’s assume that ‘Marilyn’, a member of your team, is doing something that you disapprove of. You’ve observed this behavior before from Marilyn when others were in charge. Because others had a position of authority, you didn’t say or do anything. But now you are the person who has the ‘positional’ authority. Your perception of Marilyn’s motivation and behavior causes you to feel angry with Marilyn. You decide to put a stop to her actions, using your positional authority. You could do this in several ways. You choose to telephone Marilyn’s supervisor and tell him to tell Marilyn to cease that behavior forthwith. No explanations, no fact-finding, no listening. You just shut her down. End of story!

That is an example of misusing positional power.

The problem is that the result of such actions is not the end of the story but strained or broken human relations, further misunderstanding, and resentment on the part of Marilyn and possibly her supervisor; resentment that can grow or fester like an infected wound.

How could this situation have been better handled with personal power?

Imagine this scenario. You are concerned with Marilyn’s behavior. You think you know what is motivating her actions. However, you don’t want to shut her down in case you have misread the situation. So, you call her supervisor, explain your concern, and ask him for an explanation. If the situation demands it, you meet with both the supervisor and Marilyn. Each person has an opportunity to communicate. Now you make a decision that takes the facts and feelings of the players into account but does not bend your principles or the policies of your organization.

That is an example of using personal power.

Positional power is the authority you receive from the office or position to which you are appointed or elected. Personal power is the authority you command because of who you are as a person. The interesting thing here is that when personal power is used wisely, it increases your positional power. When positional power is used wisely, it increases your personal power. However, when either one of them is used improperly, it reduces both your personal authority and positional authority.

Is positional power never to be used? Of course not! There are occasions when positional power should be used. Ceremonial occasions almost always call on the use of positional power.

Examples: The opening of the parliament, the seating protocol at a conference or convention, and the chairing of certain committees by people who are appointed or elected to office. There are other occasions when positional power should be used.

Examples: When you are chairing a meeting, ruling someone out of order at a meeting when that person is out of order; making decisions that you need to make because of your position and not passing the buck; taking the initiative to consult with other leaders to fashion a compelling vision for your organization and its members and selling that vision with all your heart and soul. These are all wise uses of positional power. But positional power has its limits. This is especially true when you lead volunteers.

Leadership is defined by followership

If no one wants to follow you, you don’t have anyone to lead. If you don’t have anyone to lead, you are only a potential leader, not a practicing leader.

Volunteers, unlike paid employees, have the luxury of deciding whether to follow you or not. They are far more influenced by your personal power than by your positional power. However, even in paid situations, if you abuse the positional power, you have been given, those who are supposed to follow you will vote with their feet and leave your organization.

A question that we all must grapple with is, ‘How do I know when to use positional power and when to use personal power?’ There are some black and white areas and there are some gray areas.

Black and white or clear-cut areas are occasions where it is obvious that due to your position, you need to assert the power of your position. I have cited some occasions above. Grey areas are those murky situations where you could go either way. In such situations, there is no sure-fire formula to follow. Great leaders seem to listen to their inner voice or ‘better judgment’ before they call the shots.

Here is an observation I have made about leaders

The balance of positional power and personal power a leader exerts depends on a complex mix of his or her self-esteem, confidence, values, assessment of the respect received by others, the situation and people involved, and preferred behavioral style.

One of my favorite stories about Abraham Lincoln centers around his humility and his ability to make these ‘better judgment’ calls. During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his Secretary of State needed to consult with a general. They walked to his house at night only to find that the general was not expected for a little while longer. They decided to wait. An hour or so later, a servant came to them with a message from the general. The message was that the general was too weary for a meeting, that he had retired for the night, and that he would meet with President Lincoln another time.

Lincoln’s Secretary of State was livid upon hearing this lack of respect for the President. President Lincoln thought for a moment, decided that they should leave the general alone, and left the premises without once raising his voice.

Keep in mind that this is the same President who did not refrain from using his positional authority to remove ineffective generals from leadership of the Union Army.

Leadership is a learned art

One of the best ways to learn this art is to study the lives of great leaders. Observe them. Talk with them. Read about them.

Then ‘inculcate’ (implant) the skills of decision making that your role models exemplify. With experience and reflection, we can all improve our judicious use of positional and personal power. Not only will we gain greater satisfaction, but those we lead will also benefit from the results of better leadership and job satisfaction.

© 2008-2024 Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, PhD, DTM, PIP, Accredited Speaker All rights reserved. (DAbayasekara@susumc.org) Included with gracious permission of my friend, fellow TI leader, Accredited Speaker, and author.

Bob ‘ Idea Man’ Hooey has authored: ‘Legacy of Leadership’; ‘Power of One!’; ‘The Courage to Lead’; ‘Creating Time to Sell, Lead, or Manage”; Speaking for Success; and Created ‘In the Company of Leaders’ They are available on Amazon and Lightning Press/Ingram Spark

Warren Bennis

‘A leader has to be able to change an organization that is dreamless, soulless and visionless… someone’s got to make a wakeup call.’ Warren Bennis

Focus on the Result, Not the Excuse

Steve Chandler

If you are a sales manager, you probably run into the same frustrations that Frank did when he talked to us (Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson) from San Francisco, California.

‘I believe I need advice on how to deliver the ‘Just Do It’ message to my people,’ Frank said. ‘I’ve said it every way I can, and I think I’m starting to sound like a broken record. I don’t know why I called you. I thought maybe you were advising your clients to pick up some new book to read, or that you might have some general words of wisdom.’

We asked him, ‘What, specifically, is your problem?’

‘Half of the people on the team I manage are total non-producers!’ he said. ‘And I keep telling them… it’s not magical... it’s getting the leads… and getting it done....’

I’ve said, ‘Just get off your butt and go get referrals, make 60 to 75 phone calls, visit with eight to ten potential buyers each week and watch how successful you’ll be.’

‘What’s really missing here?’ we asked him. ‘What’s wrong with your picture? Why aren’t they out there doing what would lead to sales?’

‘That’s why I called you. If I knew what was missing, I wouldn’t have called you.

‘Because it isn’t ‘just doing it’ that is missing from the non-producers’ equation. Although we always think it is. What’s really missing runs deeper than that. What’s really missing is the ‘just wanting it’.

‘Oh, I know they all say they want it. They want the commissions, and they want the success.’

Our response, ‘They don’t want it, or they would have it.’

‘Oh, so you think people get everything they want?’

‘Actually, yes they do,’ we replied.

‘Really? I don’t see that.’

We explained, ‘That’s what we humans are all about. We know how to get what we want. We are biological systems designed to do that.’

We talked longer. There was something we wanted Frank to see:

Frank’s non-producers are under producing because they do not ‘want’ to produce.

If you are a manager, you must understand that. If you are a non-producer, you must understand that.

Non-producers are not in sales to focus all their attention on succeeding at selling. If they were, they would be producers. Even if they say they are focused on results, they’re not. They are in sales because of other reasons… they believe they need the money, maybe, and therefore think they ‘should be’ there.

But they can’t get any intellectual or motivational leverage from ‘should’. ‘Should’ sets them up for failure; because it implies that they are still a child and that they are trying to live up to other people’s expectations. There’s no power in that. No focus. No leverage.

Salespeople who do what they think they ‘should do’ all day convert their managers into their parents. Then they age-regress into childhood and whine and complain.

Even when you try to micromanage their activities, even when you are eloquent in showing them that Activity A leads to Result B (always) and Result B leads to Result C (always) they still do it halfheartedly and search in vain for a new ‘how to’ from other mentors and producers.

Frank begins to see this form of dysfunction quite clearly, but he still doesn’t know what to do about it.

What Frank needs to manage is the ‘want to’ not the ‘how to’. Frank needs a quick course in outcome management because, like most people, he is stuck in the world of process management. The real joy of leadership can only come when you’re getting results.

‘Tell me what I as a manager ought to do,’ he said, after he realized that he already understood this whole idea.

‘Once you get the non-producer’s sales goal (plan, quota, numbers) in front of you for mutual discussion,’ we said, ‘you need to draw out and cultivate the ‘why’.

‘Why do you want this? What will it do for you? What else will it do for you? What’s one thing more it will do for you? If we were to tell you that there were activities that would absolutely get you to this number, would you do these activities? If not, why not? Would you promise me and yourself that you would do these activities until you hit the number? Why not?’

If you’re a leader or manager like Frank, please keep in mind that you have people who don’t really want what they are telling you they want and even they don’t realize that. You know that if they truly wanted to be producers, nothing in the world could stop them.

‘Intention Deficit Disorder’ is what we have named the dysfunction that is always at the core of non-production. It is not a deficit in technique or know-how. Technique and know-how are hungrily acquired by the person who has an absolute and focused intention to succeed.

The real long-term trick to good management is to hire people who want success. Once you have mastered that tricky art form, you will always succeed. But we get lazy in the hiring process and look for and listen for all the wrong things.

Why do we do this? Why do we miss this crucial lack of desire in the hiring process? Therefore: the person we hire really has a big ‘want to’ when it comes to getting the job. They really want the job. However, this is distinctly different than wanting to succeed at the job. These are two completely different goals. So, we are hazy in the interviewing process, only half-listening to them, and we mistake their burning desire to get ‘the job’ with a burning desire to succeed. It is a completely different and separate thing.

The best managers we have ever trained always took more time and trouble in the hiring process than any of their competitors did. Then, once they had hired ambitious people, they based their management on the management of those people’s personal goals. When sales managers learned to link the activity of cold-calling to the salesperson’s most specific personal goals, cold-calling became something much more meaningful.

These managers were spending their days managing results, not activities. Their positive reinforcement was always for results, not for activities.

Be the Cause, Not the Effect

‘Shallow people believe in luck. Wise and strong people believe in cause and effect.’

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A masterful motivator of others asks, ‘What do we want to cause to happen today? What do we want to produce?’

Those are the best management questions of all. People who have a hard time managing people simply have a hard time asking themselves those two questions, because they’re always thinking about what’s happening to them instead of what they’re going to cause to happen.

When your people see you as a ‘cause’ instead of an effect, it won’t be hard to teach them to think the same way. Soon, you will be causing them to play far beyond their own self-concepts.

You, as a leader, can cause that to happen.

© 2008-2024 Steve Chandler (www.stevechandler.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.’

Eleanor Roosevelt

‘The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it.’ Thucydides

The Power of Clear Performance Standards

Paul Cherry

It had been one year to the day since my friend Jake had relocated to Florida to beef up profits at a medical equipment company. Since I was in Jake’s area on business myself, we agreed to meet after work for drinks to celebrate. Jake had every reason to think he’d get a glowing evaluation on his performance review. But when he trudged into the bar at my hotel, Jake looked like he was down in the dumps, not on top of the world.

‘They gave me the sack! Can you believe it?’ As he knocked back his drink, Jake was so angry I half-expected him to swallow his swizzle stick along with his Mojito. ‘I relocated for them. I worked nights and weekends; I even broke dates. I did everything right and then some. And what does my boss tell me? ‘You did a pretty good job, but you could’ve done more.’’

I shook my head. ‘It’s outrageous, Jake. I’ve seen for myself what a great manager you are, and I’d bet the ranch you followed the company’s performance standards to the letter.’

‘I would have, if they’d ever bothered to outline their standards for me.’ Jake took another swig. ‘I tried to get specifics, but my boss was the kind of guy who acts on gut instinct. How am I supposed to measure my performance using somebody else’s gut feelings?’ In his frustration, Jake bit his swizzle stick in half. Lucky for him, it was one of those sugar canes sticks, so Jake didn’t have to see a dentist on his way to the unemployment office.

Good managers create performance standards for their people that are as clear as Jake’s sugar swizzle stick, but far more substantial. How can you, as a manager, expect your team to meet your expectations unless you provide concise, concrete standards from square one? Jake is hardly the first employee to be stymied by unclear performance standards.

My associate Patrick once worked with a celebrated 4-star hotel. The hotel’s Human Resources Manager met with him after one of the department heads had been let go. The reason? ‘He didn’t meet the hotel standards.’

That indicated to Patrick that this hotel had specific, measurable standards for their staff. He was impressed, until he asked, ‘Which standards did he fall short on?’ ‘The hotel standards,’ the HR Manager repeated.

He never actually got around to explaining exactly what the hotel’s standards were. Perhaps he wasn’t sure what they were, either. When pressed to elaborate, all he could do was describe a vague feeling or two about the former department head’s performance.

As the late economist Peter Drucker said, ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.’

How can any workplace talk standards when they haven’t established measurable standards for their team to follow? As you can see from Jake’s and Patrick’s experiences, someone can be fired for not adhering to standards, without being told what those standards are! When managers set impossible goals, it only leads to frustration. When managers are frustrated, the inevitable trickle-down effect results in frustrated team members, too. For the sake of your team’s productivity and self-esteem, it’s crucial to set achievable standards for reasonable goals within your team’s grasp, and to deal with them based on specific, measurable standards leading to measurable results.

For instance, Patrick had a different experience when he worked with IBM. A manager friend of his, George, had been doing well there, so when Patrick met with IBM’s Vice-President, he asked how George was doing. With regret, the VP explained that George was no longer with the company. ‘He broke a cardinal rule; he lied to one of our customers.’ Now that’s a specific standard — far more understandable, valuable, and enforceable than a vague feeling.

As Stephen Covey said, ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ Make sure you don’t just do things mindlessly; always stop to consider WHY you’re doing it. There must be a result in mind.

By the same token, you must make sure your employees understand that they do each of their assigned tasks for a reason; it’s not just ‘busy work’. Help your team members to go beyond saying, ‘What do you want me to do?’ Rather, get them to think in a results-oriented way before they act, so they consider the end results you want them to achieve on the team’s behalf.

Recently, my wife and I had dinner at a popular upscale restaurant in our area. The grounds surrounding the restaurant had a beautiful garden on a lush green lawn. As we enjoyed our meal and each other’s company, we heard the pitter-patter of little raindrops against the windows. By the time we were ready to pay our check, those little raindrops had joined forces to become a big downpour. The monsoon continued as we stood inside the restaurant doorway, waiting for the valet to bring our car around.

Looking around idly, I couldn’t help noticing the lawn’s sprinklers were on at full blast - while the rain kept pounding down! I asked the young assistant manager on duty at the time why the sprinklers were on.

‘It’s Tuesday, sir,’ he said brightly. ‘We always turn on the lawn sprinklers on Tuesday.’

‘Oh, so it’s an automated sprinkler system set up to run every Tuesday?’

‘No, sir, I turn the sprinkler on and off myself,’ the assistant manager said. ‘It’s one of my duties.’

Puzzled, I gestured at the windows. ‘But it’s already raining - pouring, in fact. Isn’t it overkill to have the sprinklers running while it’s raining?’

‘Well…’ The assistant manager’s smile faltered; suddenly he was at a loss for words. His smile crept back, but not quite as bright as before. ‘That’s what we do here on Tuesdays, sir. I’m just doing what my boss told me to do.’

The lesson here: performance standards must be results-oriented, not task-oriented. If you want to get your boss in trouble, do exactly, literally, what he tells you to do.

This young man was just following the rulebook, doing what he’d been told had to be done on a typical Tuesday.

He hadn’t stopped to think ‘why’ he was putting on the sprinklers in the rain; he’d simply figured he had to follow his superior’s instructions to the letter, without considering extenuating circumstances like downpours, otherwise he’d risk being in hot water with his boss.

Like the song says, ‘It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.’ It’s up to you, as a manager, to set clear, concise, unmistakable performance standards for yourself and your employees. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do things at work and when you and your team know your office’s performance standards inside and out, everybody benefits.

© 2008-2024 Paul Cherry (www.pbresults.com) All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

Many years ago, I went on an adventure on the north side of Oahu, Hawaii where I joined a pilot as he took us to the air for aerobatics in a sail plane.

My excitement fought my stomach as he took us through barrel roles and loops in our ride. Wow! I remember him showing me how to read the sky, the thermals and updrafts which he said would allow us to remain airborne for hours. I was amazed at his expertise and his willingness to share it with me.

I think back and wonder how we, as leaders, can apply these lessons in reading the environment, the economy and the world affairs to gently direct our efforts to keep moving, to keep buoyant and to keep succeeding. Hmmm!

‘Leadership at its ‘best’ is developing other strong leaders.’

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, DTM, PRA

12 Key Strategies for ‘Bringing Out the Best in People’

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, Accredited Speaker, Spirit of CAPS recipient

Alan Loy McGinnis wrote a book (12 Rules) in the last century about bringing out the best in people. It was well-received and gained exposure and wide-spread acceptance among wise leaders at that time.

Over the years, I’ve had the chance to reflect on what Alan outlined. In fact, I had his ‘12 Rules’ sitting on my wall above my desk as I wrote this chapter. They served as a ‘visual’ reminder of their importance in leading and coaching people, like yourself, with whom I have the privilege of sharing insights and working with across the globe.

If you are ‘committed’ to be an effective leader, perhaps they should be sitting somewhere close, so they are not far from your mind’s eye. I include them, along with my own reflective thoughts, for your inspiration and illumination.

Expect the ‘best’ from the people you lead

See them performing at their best. People will often rise or fall to the level of our expectations. See them as they could be, not as they are! Don’t limit them by expecting or accepting less than their best. You owe it to them to set realistic, but challenging expectations. Your leadership and encouragement may be the spark that ignites their success.

This can be a large challenge when you are a leader working with what seems to be a dysfunctional or fractious team. Keeping your eye and those you lead on the ultimate or shared goal can be your saving grace. It will help you keep your sanity too.

General Eisenhower had the challenging role of being the supreme commander in leading a multi-national army in the liberation of Europe during the Second World War. He faced an enemy who was well equipped and desperately motivated to win. He also faced the challenge of leading and working with ‘warring’ factions within the Allied ranks.

Make a thorough study of the other person’s needs

Each person on your team is an individual with specific skills, talents, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and dreams. Investing time to ‘know’ them makes it easier to lead and direct them for mutual success. Investing time in understanding and getting to know them also builds strategic bonds which can build strong bridges to their success and performance and that of your team.

Weak leaders lead from the surface. Strong leaders dig deep to learn what motivates those they lead. They discover where to best challenge and direct their skills for success. This allows them to best direct and use the talents and skills of their entire team.

Establish high standards for excellence

Leaders ultimately fail when they accept mediocre results or neglect to set challenging standards. As mentioned earlier, don’t fail your team by allowing them to be ‘just’ ok in their roles. People will amaze you when you set the bar higher and lead by example.

There are, of course, valid examples where good enough was appropriate. However, we often settle for second best when we could have reached higher, dug deeper, and been more successful. Be realistic but be ready to push past the comfort zone into the winner’s zone. The example and standards you set and accept as a leader will determine the growth and ultimate success of your team.

Create an environment where failure is not fatal

Mistakes are a natural part of life and taking risks means occasionally you fail. If your team feels supported and encouraged, they will begin to take risks and move past their comfort zone into the winners’ zone.

Help them learn from the lessons of any mistakes and move ahead with energy to face the next challenge. Help them stretch and grow, knowing that they will make mistakes in their journey, as you did!

If they are going anywhere near where you want to go, climb on other people’s bandwagons

A wise leader is open to letting their team set the pace and direction, provided it takes them along the path towards the eventual goal set by the leader. In this case, you as the leader can become the cheerleader and coach in helping them move along more successfully.

Sometimes, however, you need to be honest and realize that people are not always going the same direction or share the same values as you. In that case, let them go and stay on your own course. Be courageous enough to realize that you can follow your own path. Others who share your values will follow.

Employ strategic models to encourage success

This goes to the ‘heart’ of leadership by example. Make sure this leadership activity is modeled in your own life and in the lives of those you promote and delegate to succeed. When your team sees it working in your life and actions, they will be more open to allowing change in their own lives and performance.

Recognize and applaud achievement

People do not work ‘simply’ for money. In fact, most of the lists compiled show money lower on the chart of motivators. Each employee or team member has his or her own needs, desires, and drives. Two of those needs, deep inside each of us, are the need to feel appreciated and important and the need to feel included in the process.

As a leader, the most effective thing we can do is to recognize achievement and effort from those we lead and to share and applaud their achievements. Often small, genuine recognition activities will be more effective than fancy reward programs. The point is to make sure you see what they are doing and let them know you appreciate it.

Employ a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement

We understand it is a good thing to provide praise and positive reinforcement in our team members’ efforts. This affirms their actions and encourages them to move ahead.

It is also necessary, at times, to apply the opposite tactic when one of them is doing something detrimental or self-defeating in the fulfillment or follow-through of their role. Letting them know what is ‘not’ acceptable is part of a leader’s role. We can do it nicely, but do it we must, if they are to grow and maximize their potential.

Appeal ‘sparingly’ to the competitive urge

Each of us has a natural competitive edge. If used wisely, competition for personal growth and success can be a great tool to higher achievement. However, it has its ‘dark’ side in allowing divisive actions and negative attitudes to creep into a team environment. Focus on the ‘team accomplishment’, ‘team effectiveness’, and a mutual win.

Encourage each team member to compete for higher standards and personal skill development.

Place a premium on collaboration

This is where team ‘works’ and where effective leaders learn to pull people from diverse backgrounds, agendas, and experiences into an effective unit.

Brainstorming is one way of effective collaboration and team building, allowing each team member to build and draw on the brainpower of another. What you are looking for is adding value vs. tearing down or unproductive criticism and negativity.

Build into the group an allowance for storms

It is not always smooth sailing as a leader. Storms, difficulties, challenges, detours, and disasters can strike when you least expect them.

When we were sailing to Japan from Hawaii (July-Aug1988), we encountered what the Japanese later told us was a ‘baby’ typhoon. Our captain was an experienced sailor and former US Coast Guard Captain. The other two crew members had deep water experience and had each encountered storms (although not typhoons). I was the rookie on the crew.

Captain John’s commanding leadership, along with the hands-on experience of Phil and Dave, helped us survive this life-threatening super-natural phenomenon.

We fought the storm, (lashed down and bailing water), including ‘broaching’ and nearly ‘turtling’ the ship, for over thirteen hours before reaching a place of safer sailing. We did not expect it, but dealt with it, as needed, to survive and return to our original course and destination, Kobe, Japan. (That of course, is another story altogether…)

As a leader, you need to build in allowances for these speed bumps in your team’s progress and have plans in place to cover each potential challenge. Sometimes you need to step in and help them regain their focus and weather the storm.

Understand and learn to apply these rules of the leadership road to smooth out your path and make it easier for those who follow you to successfully walk in your footsteps.

As leaders we often create a path for our teams to follow; often where there was no path previously.

Take steps to keep your own motivation high

You are ‘ON’ as a leader all the time. This means people will be looking at you and taking their cue from you. It also means you need to keep your personal motivation high and maintain a positive outward attitude. This means you may need to find a trusted advisor or coach with whom you can discuss your challenges in private.

Letting your negative feelings show can be devastating to your team. They look to you as being confident, clear in focus, and consistent in action and follow through. Don’t disappoint them.

‘Never, never, never, never, give up’ was the sage advice of Winston Churchill in response to the question of how he successfully led the British people to withstand the might of the Nazi war machine.

When faced with a leadership challenge, remember his words and dig in… amazingly enough when you do, so will your team!

© 2008-2024 Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey (www.ideaman.net) All rights reserved. Included with permission of the author. Adapted from the ‘Legacy of Leadership’ 6th Edition

‘The future is taking shape now in our own beliefs and in the courage of our leaders. Ideas and leadership… not natural or social ‘forces’ … are the prime movers in human affairs.’ George Roche, A World Without Heroes

A Time for Inspiration

Patrick J. McKenna

One need only look through the business shelves at your favorite bookstore to realize that there are now countless texts about leadership, covering everything from how everyone can be a leader, to the immutable laws of leadership. While these various texts may have something to offer, your real challenge is that so many people today are cynical, savvy, and selective. So, you have been ‘anointed’ to become our new leader. I could care less! You’ve got three minutes to impress me, to connect with me, to make me feel like you have something of value to offer. So, what have you got to offer?

A common misunderstanding has been the confusion between motivation and inspiration, a largely uncharted distinction in the minds of many leaders.

Motivation is something we do to others in order to get them to do the things that we wish them to do. Motivation therefore has selfish roots. Motivation can be the exploitation, manipulation, and control of others for our own needs. We do this by rewarding the behavior in others we are trying to encourage and punishing the behavior we are trying to discourage or change.

Inspiration on the other hand is not derived from selfish motives but from caring. Those who inspire do so because they wish to serve others. Inspiration is something that comes from within, and the leader’s job is to create the environment in which we can invite inspiration - from within. Our responsibility as leaders generally is to inspire each other in everything we do, even when the task to be performed is sad or unpleasant.

Here are a few illustrative points for you to contemplate:

Do you show a genuine interest in what each of your people want to achieve with their careers?

Think about each member of your group. Have any valued members left recently or announced that they are about to? Are some individuals, with a lot of talent and potential, performing at a level far below where you think they should?

If the answer to either of these questions is affirmative, then the chances are that you have failed to pay attention to something these individuals want or need to jump-start their careers.

Some years back I was working with a group within an East coast organization. I had just commenced working with this group for what was to be about a six-month engagement. On my very first morning as I walked into the leader’s office, we learned that one of the valued younger members had just announced that he was leaving. This individual was one of the brighter stars on the team and in the eight years he had been with this firm had been responsible for bringing in four significant clients. The leader was shocked: ‘I had no idea Alan was unhappy or looking at other opportunities.’

Following our meeting we got together to debrief on the session. I noticed that this leader was still stunned by the loss. One of the other team members came in to join us. As she was sitting down, the leader looked at her and said, ‘Did you have any idea Alan was unhappy or wanted to leave?’

She took a deep breath and said, ‘Geez Mike, I thought you knew. He’s been wanting to pursue developing a more international presence for our group for at least the past ten months that I know of and just wasn’t feeling like he was getting the kind of support he needed for what he wanted to do.’

Alan ended up not only walking away from this firm with a few more clients than he had brought in, but he also took a couple of the more valuable juniors with him. It took this group some time to bounce back from the loss of clients and to replace the talent who had left. Paying close attention to what professionals want and need in developing their careers is a critical part of any leader’s role. Unfortunately, too few bother in this area.

Do you show an interest in the things that mean the most to your people in their personal lives?

All the people in your group have personal lives that are very important to them. Even though I have been working with groups for many years, I am still struck by what little interest many leaders display in their personal lives - especially the passions of their own team members.

Consider: how much do you really know about the family members of those professionals working in your group? What do you know about their leisure-time interests? Do you explore with them what they are keenly passionate about in their lives? Do you ask questions that get them talking about their personal interests?

And when they do start talking about personal issues, do you show anything more than a perfunctory interest in what they have to say? Now you may be saying to yourself, ‘Well, this is very personal. I’m not sure I agree that people who have a professional working relationship really need to talk to each other about this kind of stuff.’

What is unsettling to me is that the qualities it takes to develop and nurture a successful marriage are the exact same as required to develop and nurture a successful partnership. We may need to reflect upon whom we spend more time with during the average working week, our spouses or our office colleagues.

Are you there for your colleagues in their times of personal or professional crisis?

From time to time, all of us confront crises and make important transitions in our lives. A family member goes into the hospital, or a child is having a particularly difficult time at school; a marital relationship is faltering, or a spouse has just been offered an important career move that could necessitate the relocation of the family to a new city. These various personal issues can very naturally manifest themselves in professional behavior that suggests a sudden disinterest in the work and dispassion about their careers to, at the other extreme, people who are burying their personal issues in workaholic traits, burning the proverbial candle at both ends.

Right now, as you read this, it is very likely that some member of your team is facing some significant crisis or transition. If you are even aware of it, what kind of support are you offering?

Maybe you’re an exception, but if you’re like many of the professionals I’ve worked with over the years, you probably weren’t there for them when they needed you.

Take the case of one professional I know of, John Blackburn, at a London firm that we worked with, who almost single-handedly built an entertainment practice that spun off enough work to keep about five juniors fully productive. As the practice grew and became mature, it was organized into a more formal group involving about a dozen professionals. It soon became clear that while John was the leading ‘luminary’ in the field and the major business-developer for the group, by his own admission he was not the best choice, nor did he have the time to adequately lead and provide coaching assistance to other members of this group.

The Executive decided, in consultation with John, that he should retain the ‘title’ of Team Leader; but that another professional better suited for the leadership role should be assigned as the group’s co-chair to assume the responsibilities for organizing the group meetings and working with the various members one-on-one. Adam Heath a new individual in the group was chosen as the co-chair.

John knew that this was the right decision. But it didn’t take but a few weeks before he was second-guessing all of Adam’s decisions. If Adam was taking a route he didn’t like, John would walk around telling any members of the group who cared to listen to him, about the ‘big mistake’ Adam was about to make.

Adam was clearly frustrated and in discussions with the Executive, was asking of them (and us), ‘Can’t you see how John is fouling things up by offering his unwanted advice and complaining when we don’t do things his way?’ From Adam’s point of view, he had a reasonable concern.

It was only when Adam was encouraged to see how John, in surrendering the helm of the group he had built, was going through a terribly difficult transition, that Adam understood, sympathized, and was able to find the means of more effectively dealing with John.

Do you informally ‘check-in’ with each of your colleagues every so often?

Then there are the day-to-day situations that we all face when work commitments get over-powering, when the organization’s internal systems seem to make it harder rather than easier to get anything done, or when a technology glitch makes us wish we could retreat to far simpler times.

When these things happen, they don’t have a devastating effect, but they do preoccupy us. One of the things that helps immeasurably is having someone notice and say, ‘You look a little distracted. What’s going on?’

If a leader just takes a few minutes to listen, something special can happen. We have a chance to ‘vent’; to get whatever is bugging us off our chests. It may not solve the problem at hand, but we usually feel better. Our burden has been lifted a little.

This is the kind of thing real team players do for each other. If you’re the person doing it, it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort. But for the individual who is the fortunate recipient, it’s special. It seems like you’ve been given a battery recharge just when you needed it the most.

Do you notice when members of your team are preoccupied, frustrated, or distracted and take the time to check in with them? I’ll bet that most leaders don’t do this anywhere near as often as they should.

Do you offer to help when some member of your group clearly needs it?

If your team is at all typical of the ones I work with, you and the other members are very busy people. Maybe there are a few individuals who don’t always pull their weight. But for the most part, you all work hard and sometimes can find you’re stretched to the limits of your capabilities.

One of your team has just landed some monster project with a deadline coming at him like a high-speed train.

Meanwhile, two serious glitches have just cropped up that could never have been anticipated. At times like these someone on your team is liable to need a helping hand.

The question is, ‘Are you going to make some time available to help?’ And by help, I don’t just mean a few minutes of being sympathetic, empathetic, compassionate, and a good listener for your teammate. I mean you offer to pitch in and lighten the load. As busy as you are, are you willing to take on some of your colleague’s headaches to help him or her through a rough period?

Once again, if you are likely a lot of supposed leaders I see, the answer is probably, ‘No’. You don’t have the time. You don’t offer to help. And at best you might be counted upon to arm-twist some other member to pitch in.

If you truly seek to lead people, I believe it all starts with determining whether you are prepared to spend time building and nurturing a relationship, above and beyond other urgencies. One of the things that I have clearly observed is that those who often lead groups don’t always pay attention to the tremendously important role that their relationships play in inspiring the success and satisfaction of those individuals in their groups.

Leaders are responsible for creating an inheritance, a legacy, which passes into the custody of the next generation. We are all leaders, but our purpose is to inspire others.

© 2008-2024 Patrick J. McKenna (www.patrickmckenna.com), All rights reserved. Included with kind permission of fellow Edmontonian and author.

‘Most of the ladies and gentlemen who mourn the passing of the nation’s leaders wouldn’t know a ‘leader’ if they saw one. If they had the bad luck to come across a leader, they would find out that ‘they’ might demand something from them, and this impertinence would put an abrupt and indignant end to their wish for ‘their’ return.’ Lewis H. Lapham

Heroes Not Welcome

Joe Sherren, CSP, HoF (RIP)      

There is a ‘factory system’ of management currently operating in most North American organizations. It is also referred to as the ‘Hero Management Style’.

It goes like this: The Manager is the one who sets direction, answers questions, makes the tough decisions, and shoulders most of the responsibility. In short, the manager rides in on a white horse and acts like a hero to save the day.

The word factory is derived from an East Indian word factor, meaning ‘agents from another land’. It developed during a time when the British ruled India and had the masses working under oppressive conditions. This system was highly efficient and regarded as the finest example of bureaucracy. Now this model of leadership is conditioned deeply into our culture and psyche. Even when well-meaning employees say, ‘I will never be like my manager,’ often they end up behaving the same way.

Using this model, executives operate under the following assumptions:

The manager’s opinion is always right

Managers must have their people ‘under control’

Mangers must know what is going on all the time

Managers should have the technical expertise of those they lead

Managers are responsible for solving all problems

Managers are fully responsible for results

Many managers have a misguided belief that employees will be motivated by the ethic set by the boss.

This role of ‘Hero’ often motivates new managers to higher levels of activity because of the recognition they receive. However, it has just the opposite effect on their staff.

When managers monopolize decision making and assume complete responsibility, their employees will often sit back and quietly smile while the boss unknowingly heads down the path of metabolic burn-out. Many managers have a ‘misguided’ belief that employees will be motivated by the work ethic set by the boss.

Because managers assume total responsibility for the success of their function, employees feel they have no control over the outcome of their efforts. This results in employees developing a nine-to-five attitude. In the auto industry, this is commonly stated as ‘do your eight and hit the gate’.

This passive (or sometimes aggressive) employee attitude then becomes a frequent complaint of managers, who have unwittingly caused it in the first place with their micro-management style.

Unfortunately, I see a perpetuation
of this culture in most organizations because aspiring leaders see these managers as their role models for success. What happens is organizations choose new managers based on their ability to conform to the corporate culture of the ‘Hero Management Style’. These new leaders further reinforce the factorial management pattern.

To attract the ‘high-neurial-minded’, independent-thinking, team-focused, employees needed today; all organizations must embrace promoting leaders who are comfortable
with truly empowering their staff.

To achieve this, corporations must transform their culture to one which does not reward individual heroism. They must promote and encourage managers who will supervise each staff member according to the level of competency the employee has reached. Competency level is based on the employee’s ability to do the job and their eagerness to take on higher levels of independence.

Organizations that do not recognize the new reality will end up paying higher wages, experience lower levels of productivity, and ultimately end up losing their best and most promising talent. People today want to work for leaders who inspire them, not bosses who control them!

© 2008-2024 Joe Sherren, CSP, HoF (RIP), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of my friend, fellow CAPS and GSF leader, and author. I still miss Joe’s wisdom and support.

‘Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.’
John C. Maxwell

‘Good leaders must first become good servants.’ Robert Greenleaf

Value-added Leadership:

From Opinions to Results in Challenging Times

Cy Wakeman, MS (Healthcare Admin)

In challenging times, it is more important than ever that leaders work diligently to ensure that they are conserving organizational energy and focusing the scarce resources under their direction on actions that will provide the greatest amount of return on their investment.

Unfortunately, a common mistake made by leaders in challenging times is that they work to provide input or opinions into the process when it is alignment and action that will add the most value.

A key leadership competency for those who would like to successfully deliver results time after time is the ability to resist editorializing and to move instead to lead in the execution of imperfect plans with excellence. The most valuable leaders today can provide input into decisions when needed but spend most of their efforts leading their teams to ‘make it work’ regardless of the amount of input they were able to provide into the actual plan or decision. In a nutshell, leaders add the most value when they can engage and align their teams to deliver great results, post-decision without detracting from the ROI by allowing energy to be spent editorializing on decisions made.

Why the shift from engagement and involvement of many team-members pre-decision to engagement and alignment post-decision? Ideally, all involved in a decision would be asked for input and a decision made based upon the greatest amount of information. In the world of escalating constraints, the ideal decision-making strategy moves from one of optimization (collecting as much information as possible up front, prior to the actual decision) to that of satisfying (where the decision maker chooses the first option that seems to meet the pre-chosen criteria). When using a process of optimization, the decision maker works to account for each risk, cost, and benefit that may arise with each option.

When using the decision-making strategy of satisfying, the decision maker works to identify the key issues involved with the option and depends upon the talent in the organization to identify and address the risks that appear while working to derive the most value possible during the process.

By using optimization as a strategy, the decision maker can capitalize on the opportunity inherent in the change by responding with agility, speed to market, and responsiveness to customers. The value of talent in the organization increases and becomes a key competitive advantage as they use their expertise to make the decision work without resistance while providing feedback on continuous improvements. This change in decision making strategy places a higher value on talent and calls for a change in leadership strategy from input to action.

Leaders that have not adjusted their leadership strategies to align with changing decision-making strategies begin to ‘fail’ their teams. These leaders truly believe that it is their opinions or ideas that add value. They continue to mistake their most valuable role as one of assisting in the making of key decisions and therefore spend most of their time playing outside their ‘lanes’ or assigned roles, providing their opinions to anyone that will listen, uninvited, and usually not directly to the actual decision maker. Or post-decision, they use their energy to critique what was decided, editorializing the decision, and confusing resistance with feedback.

These leaders continue to believe that the best value they can add to a situation is their thinking in the form or an opinion about what ‘should be’, ‘should have been’, ‘should have been done’, or ‘should be done about a situation’. To make matters worse, leaders who are in the process of making decisions spend a great deal of time soliciting the input or opinions of others, seeking to create an inclusive work environment.

We have led many employees to believe that not only should their opinions count but that they should be surveyed on most decisions. In fact, prominent research groups have even concluded that whether one feels that their opinion counts is a key factor in employee engagement. But as changing times call for a change in decision making strategies, we disengage our employees rather than enhance engagement as we have failed to manage their expectations and have not directed them to where they can add the most value – another key factor of engagement.

In the realm of leadership most of us are facing circumstances unlike those we have ever seen before. Because we have little experience with times such as these, we are not able to make perfect or even right decisions. There is no longer a ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ decision but instead a ‘good’ decision. A ‘good’ decision is one in which we have been able to identify the key risks inherent in the decision and use the team to not only identify the additional, probable risks and their impact, but also ways to mitigate the risks on the fly with their knowledge, commitment, and expertise.

Leaders engaged in ‘Value-added Leadership’ are clear about the difference between resistance and feedback. Resistance is when a leader of members of the team uses their energy to critique the decision and works to stop or delay the action by focusing on why it won’t work rather than on how to make it work. Feedback is the great and useful information provided by ‘credible witnesses’ - the leader or team that just delivered on the decision and has some ideas on ways to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the idea.

‘But shouldn’t my opinion count?’ ask the many leaders struggling with this concept. The answer is, ‘That depends.’ Your opinion should count; at times it stands a chance of adding value. Otherwise, it expends resources without a chance of return on investment. To add the most value, learn to identify when it is both the appropriate time and within your role to provide input and when your talent is best used to lead the team in aligned implementation.

Prior to a decision being made, your opinion may in fact not only count, but add great value depending upon your role.

Prior to a decision being made, there exists three roles in the decision-making process. There is the role of the actual decision maker. This is the leader that has the authority to make the actual decision. The decision maker is the person who can commission resources on behalf of the organization in proportion to the cost of the decision. This is the person who can say ‘yes’ and can say ‘no’ to a certain course of action.

Many people falsely believe that they can self-appoint themselves as the decision maker when in fact they have simply elected to have ‘veto power’ – they can say ‘no’ but do not have the ability to say ‘yes’. Many times, leaders spread ‘veto power’ throughout the organization as they confuse decision making with consensus building. They lead others to believe that buy in is optional and reward resistance by ‘stopping the action’ when met with any nay saying from the most conservative on the team.

The second role is that of a consultant - one who is appointed formally or informally by the decision maker, not to tell the decision maker which course of action is the ‘best decision’ but to help identify the key risks associated with each course of action along with risk mitigation strategies for each option. An effective ‘consultant’ internally or externally is one that does not ‘tell’ the decision maker what to do but instead offers consultation regarding the potential risks at hand so that a great decision can be made, one for which the risks have been identified and appropriate risk mitigation strategies put in place.

For most of us, our role in the decision-making process is simply to be ‘informed’. We need to be ready, able and willing to use our expertise, post decision, to make it work. The decision that is an 80% solution with some known issues is more likely to be able to create a competitive advantage for the organization.

A quickly made plan that allows the organization to quickly capitalize on the opportunities inherent in the change process adds great value to the organization if and only if there exists a ready, able group of talent that uses their expertise – the last 20 % of the solution - to execute with excellence. They are there not to critique the plan but to use their expertise to make it work. This is the new arena for leaders to truly create and add value to an organization in changing times.

In challenging times, become competent in Value-added Leadership. To add the greatest value, ask yourself, ‘Has the decision been made?’ If the decision has not been made, clarify your role, ‘Am I the decision maker, a consultant, or one to be informed?’ Play your role to the best of your ability.

If the decision has already been made, resist the urge to editorialize on the decision, work instead to inspire confidence in your team, and lead them to use their expertise to make it work.

Engage your team by showing them that when their opinion may not count due to the decision-making strategy chosen, their talent does count – by delivering great results, despite challenging circumstances, time after time.

Lead on my friend.

© 2008-2024 Cy Wakeman (www.cywakeman.com), All rights reserved. Included with the gracious permission of my Iowa friend and fellow author.

‘If I didn’t fill my schedule with things I felt were important, other people would fill it with things they felt were important.” Melinda Gates

Lead by example!

This picture is me on the top of a 40-foot pole at our District 42 training program in Red Deer. I was the D42 Executive Leadership coach for the 5 years following my move to Alberta from British Columbia.

Each of our leaders climbed the pole, supported only by two fellow Toastmasters on a support line. Me, being me, was cheering everyone on… Until I heard… “Ok, Bob, your turn!” And I was forced to do this challenge, despite a severe fear of heights. Gulp! Once up on top, each of us needed to reach out and attempt to hit the duck as we stepped off the pole, trusting our fellow Toastmasters to slowly bring us down to earth.

We, as leaders, need to reach out and trust those who support us and in doing so we encourage each other to take that step.

‘Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time in leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with authority over you and 15% leading your peers.’ Dee Hock Founder and CEO Emeritus, Visa

Bad Boss: Learn How to Manage Your Manager

Jim Clemmer, CSP

If you think you’re working for a bad boss, you have plenty of company. Of 1,118 people who completed a survey at the Badbossology.com web site (2007), ‘48 percent said they would fire their boss if they could, 29 percent would have their boss assessed by a workplace psychologist and 23 percent would send their boss for management training’.

No doubt those who would surf a site by that name are feeling more than a little disgruntled with a manager. But bad feelings about bad bosses abound.

Many people lose the boss lottery and, through no fault of their own, end up reporting to an ineffectual manager. You may not have chosen your boss, but you don’t have to be a victim of his or her weaknesses.

Understand ‘why’ your boss is bad

Some bad bosses are bad people. Their personal relationships are a disaster, they’re miserably unhappy, and their values are evil. They want to dominate and bully the people under them.

But worst bosses don’t mean it. They are good people doing a bad job. Many are blithely unaware of the dead, wounded, or stressed-out bodies they leave in their wake. They even think they’re good examples of leadership. Understanding how your well-intentioned boss has gone off track can help you choose the best strategy for managing him or her.

Here are some reasons bosses go bad

Confusing information with communication: BlackBerrys, cell phones, text messaging, blogs, and e-mails are creating workplaces too full of information and too devoid of communication.

When many bosses hear of the need for increased communication, they fire off more e-mails or beef up intranet sites. But electronic communication is becoming a huge barrier to conversation and understanding. The more electronically connected bad bosses become, the more humanly disconnected their teams are.

Micro-management: Bad bosses are often micro-managers intruding into details of every decision and facet of the business. This may be because their own bosses expect them to be on top of things. But bad bosses often get activities and results confused. They may also have been embarrassed by someone’s past poor performance or another major mistake and take the wrong measures to make sure it never happens again.

It’s all they know: Many bad bosses have had no other role model than another bad boss. Maybe they watched a superior yell his or her way to the top. Maybe they saw micro-management result in a promotion. Or maybe they’re even now working for a bad boss and ‘mimicking’ their behavior. Sometimes bad bosses promote in their own image. They create a clone of their own ineffectiveness that you now work for.

Promoted for all the wrong reasons: Most organizations ‘talk’ about the importance of leadership, valuing staff, and other warmed-over motherhood statements. But promotion decisions are often based not on good management measures; but for other reasons: strong technical skills, a feeling of comfort with someone just like a superior, or an individual’s ability to get the job done regardless of the collateral damage in the workplace.

Overworked and under-trained: Too many managers aren’t coping well with today’s relentless pressure to do more with less. They feel they need to push harder to get more from everyone in their organization. They, too, have bosses to answer to. At the same time, too few have been given the analytical training on management methods to work smarter, not harder, or the people leadership skills to effectively coordinate and coach. Many bosses reflect their organization’s mindset that training is a luxury or a sign of weakness.

Feeble feedback: Many bad bosses don’t know what they don’t know because nobody tells them.

At the same time, they don’t really want to know their flaws from the people they lead. Ironically, bad bosses often rate their own leadership performance very highly. Tragically, they choke off communication channels and misread the lack of feedback as a sign they are doing well, because no one is telling them otherwise.

Boss management strategies

If your bad boss is basically a good person who’s performing badly, here are some strategies for you to exercise the leadership skills he or she is lacking:

See and work the big picture: Do you know what keeps those above you in the organization awake at night? What are their key goals and priorities are? Don’t wait to be told — find out.

Learn how your organizational game is played. Politics involves relationships, trust, power, persuasion, and influence. Build networks and coalitions, especially if you’re trying to influence significant change.

Don’t fixate on the fence sitters, naysayers, or resistors. Work with people who are ready to move forward and build momentum. Involve your boss where appropriate.

Don’t wait, initiate: Set your top three to five goals. Get your boss’s input and adjust accordingly. Meet regularly to review progress and reset priorities.

Set priorities: If you’re feeling overwhelmed, draw up a list of what you’re working on, with time frames or the estimated effort and resources required, and set the priorities as you see them. Review and adjust this list with your boss. Be especially sure to get agreement on priority order.

When the boss comes to you with urgent new priorities, pull out your list and ask where those fit in and what should be moved down or off your list. Focus most of your energy on those things within your control.

Carefully pick areas or changes you would like to influence. Figure out how to let go of those things or circumstances over which you have no control. Don’t ‘awfulize’ them. Doing this just increases everyone’s misery and creates paralysis.

Support your boss: Don’t badmouth or put down your boss to co-workers. If you need to get input from others on dealing with your boss, focus on the behavior, issues, or problems, not the person.

Ensure your boss gets lots of credit for successes. Look for opportunities to recognize or reinforce his or her strengths and the kind of leadership behavior you’d like to see more of. Make a list of your boss’s greatest strengths and biggest weaknesses and see if there are ways you can build upon the strengths and reduce the weaknesses.

Pick your timing: You may need to wait for the right opportunity to approach your boss.

Is he or she more receptive at times of the day, in meetings or one-on-one, by conversation or with a carefully crafted proposal?

Are you approaching your boss in your own preferred style or your boss’s?

If your boss is analytical, do you lead with facts and analysis? If he or she is results-focused, do you focus first on results?

If your boss is strong on relationships and people connections, do you focus on the human touch?

What could you learn by watching others who have a stronger relationship with your boss?

Use technology wisely: If your boss manages by e-mail, respond in kind for most routine matters.

However, if he or she sends you a critical e-mail or gets into sensitive people issues by e-mail, never respond in kind. Phone or pay a visit to avoid misunderstandings and escalate emotions. You may need to follow up a phone conversation with an e-mail, documenting what you discussed.

Strengthen your credibility: Make sure you are acting as you say, demonstrating the leadership behavior you’d like to see from your boss. The single biggest source of your personal credibility with your boss is meeting your commitments. Make sure you do what you say you’re going to do and never over-promise and under-deliver.

Don’t be a victim: If you work for a truly evil boss, managing him or her is likely impossible. Your best strategy may be to minimize contact, build support networks within your organization, develop strong relationships with your boss’ peers or managers, or get out of that reporting relationship.

© 2008-2024 Jim Clemmer, CSP (www.clemmer.net), All rights reserved. Included with express permission of the author and fellow CAPS member. Adapted from The Leader Letter, Jim Clemmer’s free e-newsletter.

‘Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.’
Sam Walton

Follow this link to access 80 videos I’ve done on leadership over the past few years… also on other topics.

https://www.youtube.com/@ideamanbob/playlists

‘Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.’

Admiral Arleigh A. Burke

Leadership for the 21st Century

Joyce L. Gioia, MBA, CMC, CSP

As we move further into the 21st Century, leaders will be challenged. They will face one unprecedented situation after another. Familiarity with the past will form only a basis for examination, not a pattern of solutions. The solutions of the future will be highly creative, responding to unique circumstances that leaders simply will not expect.

Tomorrow’s leaders will engage a much more diverse workforce. Even more languages will be spoken in many companies and schools, with cultural diversity adding an exciting and stimulating richness to the quality of life. The increasing ‘cosmopolitanization’ of the cities will become a magnet for people seeking more globally sensitive communities. The shifting values will create interesting new circumstances for leaders throughout the world.

Velocity of Change

The speed of change will increase in all sectors. Leaders will learn new ways to work with change. Realizing that change will not be managed, savvy leaders will engage in change. With change as a friend, leaders will be receptive to… even eager for… new approaches, new ways to work together, and new ideas to develop.

In many environments, change will be welcomed. People will be excited about exploring these new alternatives, technologies, and opportunities. Research will gain even more viability. Leaders will scramble to keep up and keep ahead. To take advantage of the unique opportunity, leaders of all sorts of organizations will need to intensify their communication. Some leaders will have considerable difficulty coping with the rapid change.

Top leaders will find ways to reach out to help them, or risk losing valuable leadership talent. Leaders will need others, many playing the roles of counselor and coach.

Corporation of the Future

The structure of corporations will evolve to something much different, during the first and second decades of the 21st Century.

The insular hierarchical designs, and their supportive cultures, will shift to more open frameworks. Companies will become more flexible, nimble, and responsive to needs from customers, suppliers, investors, and employees. Enlightened leaders of this metamorphosis will concentrate on helping their people and their systems to be highly adaptable.

As employers focus even more on their core business, they will seek opportunities to outsource and in-source as many tasks as possible. Leadership will be expected to build core competency strength and leave all non-core activities to other organizations. As more firms are formed to serve these needs, new leaders will emerge.

Some of them will be quite aggressive, not just participating in new relationships, but driving them.

Strategic alliances and partnerships will form, creating even more opportunities for leaders to create innovative ways for their organizations to relate to each other. There is a potential for ground-breaking, creative approaches to be developed. As they open their minds to new possibilities, corporate leaders will set the pace for the rest of the country.

Tomorrow’s leaders will exhibit a pioneering spirit in their companies, educational institutions, governments, and not-for-profit organizations.

The foundation is already in place but will be expanded as today’s leaders realize the critical importance of identifying potential leadership talent and preparing those people for exciting roles in the relatively short-term future.

Collaborative and Coordinative Skills

New skills will be needed by tomorrow’s leaders. The skills of building more collaborative communities will be in high demand and will be taught aggressively to young leaders by mentors, coaches, and university professors. Graduates of liberal arts colleges will become even more attractive to employers because of their ability to engage in multi-functional thinking, discussion, and problem-solving.

Negotiation and persuasion skills will be valuable, as will abilities to coordinate, network, and connect. Most managers do not have these skills yet. Savvy leaders will acquire these competencies and learn to apply them inside and outside their organizations.

These skills will be critical in managing relationships with leaders of outsourcing firms, alliance representatives, and contingent workers and their representatives.

Some managers will resist learning and using such skills, preferring to adhere to the more traditional directive model. These managers will become ‘relics’ of a bygone age as the years pass.

Customer-Driven Leadership

Tomorrow’s leaders will be even closer to customers than they are today. Their relationships will resemble partnerships even more than today’s customer-supplier affiliations. Successful leaders will communicate frankly and openly with each other through the supply chain, building interconnected systems for sharing of information, measurement, accounting, and just-in-time everything.

Substantially stronger communication means higher uses of technology.

The savvy leaders of the 21st Century will be quite comfortable with computers, computer-driven communication and systems management, satellite support, global positioning, and cellular telephony that exceed anything available today. The capacity to truly operate 24/7 on a global basis will transform how business is conducted.

As leaders strive to build and maintain workforce stability, employees will be regarded as ‘internal customers. Life balance will be important to tomorrow’s employees and leaders will be expected to serve as role models. Quality of life issues will be essential and driven by leaders within the work organization.

The workforce relationships that have brought fame, and a highly talented workforce, to business and industry will become the model for successful companies throughout the United States and around the world.

Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders

Where will tomorrow’s leaders come from? Some are already in place or are being prepared in their companies today. Others currently in the workplace have yet to be identified and moved onto a growth track to build leadership skills.

A substantial number of tomorrow’s leaders are still in school, in high school or in colleges and universities. Many of those in higher education will stay in their areas, particularly if the communities work to assure welcome environments for young, upwardly mobile professionals.

As the 21st Century continues, educators will prepare the leaders who will be needed. Leadership in that environment will, in large part, influence the nation’s future. To produce desired results, today’s leaders from all sectors must involve themselves cooperatively with educators to craft a set of competencies for tomorrow’s leaders.

Then, collaboratively, educators, businesses, and government must create opportunities for leadership development.

As those opportunities are developed and made available, participation must not be limited to young students. People of all ages and backgrounds, including the senior citizens of today and tomorrow, will constitute the country’s 21st Century leadership.

Leadership for the 21st Century will not automatically appear like a superhero from the colorful pages of comic books. This need is real . . . and real efforts must be made today by today’s leaders to consciously prepare for tomorrow.

The time to begin is now!

© 2008-2024 Joyce L. Gioia, MBA, CMC, CSP & The Herman Group (www.hermangroup.com), All rights reserved. First Serial Rights to In the Company of Leaders. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.’ Stephen Covey

‘Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves.
Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals’ Unknown

The new manager:
surviving and thriving in a new position

Barbara Khozam, Accredited Speaker, CSP, CPXP

It’s an exciting day! You’ve just earned a promotion as the manager of your department after dedicating over seven years of hard work. The recognition and pay raise are well-deserved rewards. With most of your coworkers being friends and your in-depth knowledge of the job, it seems like a smooth ride ahead, doesn’t it?

This scenario is all too familiar—a skilled employee climbs the ranks to a leadership role, receives no training, and is suddenly expected to excel. Unfortunately, this frequently leads to new leaders feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and contemplating resignation.

But fear not! This chapter is here to guide you with five quick and practical steps that you can implement right away to navigate this new managerial terrain successfully.

Five Common new manager missteps and strategies that turn them around

1. FAILURE TO SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

A prominent challenge faced by many new managers lies in the failure to establish clear expectations from the outset. Frequently, assumptions are made that all team members comprehend their roles, responsibilities, performance standards, job duties, codes of conduct, and communication norms. However, the reality often diverges significantly. Past managerial practices may have overlooked tardiness or extended breaks, tolerated late and incomplete reports, or exhibited inconsistencies in customer interactions. The absence of explicit guidelines leads to a spectrum of behaviors within the team, fostering discontent and becoming the primary source of complaints.

Real World Story:

A new boss told me that her workplace didn’t have clear job descriptions or rules, even about being on time. When she talked to employees about being late, they would say things like, ‘I came in at this time last month, and no one said anything,’ or ‘Mike came in at this time yesterday, and nothing happened.’

Because there were no clear rules, employees could use past times as excuses. This absence of established guidelines created a scenario where employees could cite prior occurrences as a defense, underscoring the need for clear and standardized expectations in the workplace.

Strategy to turn it around:

Initiate Early Communication: In your initial month as a manager, conduct a comprehensive meeting with your team to delve into their respective roles, responsibilities, and performance standards. Foster an environment that encourages open and meaningful discussions, promoting a collective understanding.

Consensus and Commitment: Seek consensus on the aspects during the discussions and obtain signatures from all team members. This collective commitment establishes a shared understanding and agreement, laying the groundwork for a cohesive and accountable team.

Documentation for Accountability: Formalize the agreed-upon expectations by placing a copy in the personnel records of each team member. This documentation serves as a tangible reference point for accountability and provides a structured framework for addressing performance issues.

2. FAILURE TO CULTIVATE / BUILD NEW RELATIONSHIPS

Establishing clear boundaries and cultivating professional relationships with your team is essential, regardless of any pre-existing personal connections. Failure to define these boundaries from the outset can lead to potential challenges.

For new leaders, the transition from colleague to manager requires a careful balance in cultivating professional relationships, especially when pre-existing personal connections exist within the team. Setting clear boundaries from the outset is crucial to delineate roles and expectations. Failure to do so may lead to challenges such as perceived favoritism or a lack of clarity in leadership expectations. Navigating these dynamics involves transparent communication of expectations and the consistent application of fair and impartial decision-making. By proactively managing these relationships, leaders can foster a work environment that prioritizes professionalism, transparency, and the overall success of the team.

Real World Story:

One of my clients became the manager for a team of 15 new employees. When he started, he set up regular one-on-one meetings with each team member twice a month. At first, the employees weren’t thrilled about it. They complained, saying, ‘Now that you’re the boss, we have to have these stupid meetings.’ But he didn’t give up. He continued with the meetings. When I checked in with him six months later, he shared something truly remarkable.

First, the meetings had been streamlined from approximately 30 minutes to just 15 minutes. Second there was a noticeable boost in the team’s morale and productivity.

His success hinged on transforming his connection with the team in these meetings. It went beyond discussing work performance; he inquired about their job satisfaction and delved into personal matters that might impact their focus at work. He identified effective communication methods for each individual, ultimately demonstrating genuine care. Consequently, employees felt valued, fostering trust in their new leader.

Strategy that turns it around:

Demonstrate Respect: Exhibit respectful conduct in all interactions, recognizing the importance of courtesy and professionalism, even if personal liking varies.

Conduct Regular One-on-One Meetings: Consistently allocate time, whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly, to purposefully foster positive connections with team members. This intentional commitment enables you to deeply grasp their strengths, challenges, and career aspirations, fostering trust and building meaningful connections.

Implement Regular Communication Sessions: Hold daily huddles and/or weekly meetings to ensure employees feel informed and involved, addressing a top motivator for most individuals in the workplace.

Encourage Open Communication: Engage in monthly check-ins with team members, dedicating an average of 5 minutes to inquire about their needs, challenges, and noteworthy accomplishments. Demonstrate active listening to understand their responses and address the concerns they raise, maintaining a practical approach to resolving issues. Foster a workplace culture that encourages team members to openly express their ideas and concerns. This not only promotes collaboration but also ensures that everyone feels valued and heard.

DELEGATING TO YOUR ‘FAVORITE’

When collaborating with organizational leaders and their teams, I often conduct anonymous surveys to gather insights on how employees and managers perceive each other. One revealing question centers around favoritism, where approximately 88% of employees acknowledge that their manager plays favorites. Interestingly, when managers are asked directly if they play favorites, the response is typically a resounding ‘no.’ This discrepancy highlights the challenge, as many new leaders may be unaware of unintentional favoritism in their actions.

Real World Stories:

Examples of favoritism:

1. Having regular lunch outings with a specific employee friend

Solution: if you go to lunch with one employee, you should make an effort to have lunch with all employees.

2. A colleague of mine, who recently became a manager, went on vacation and brought back souvenirs for only some of her team members, stating that she believed others wouldn’t be interested or like them.

Solution: When bringing souvenirs, it’s advisable to either bring one for everyone or none at all.

3. At a waste management facility, a manager assigns more tasks to the top performers. This approach poses two issues. Firstly, the high performers may feel overwhelmed and face burnout. Secondly, it leaves the underperformers feeling excluded, and the lowest performers are inadvertently rewarded with lighter workloads.

Solution: Opt for even delegation. If there’s hesitation about someone handling an entire project, break it into smaller tasks with frequent check-ins. Alternatively, involve the employee in breaking down the project and let them decide on check-in intervals. This approach not only ensures fair delegation but also demonstrates trust in the team’s capabilities.

Strategy to turn it around:

1. Stay mindful of your behavior and decisions.

2. Distribute tasks equitably among team members.

3. Assign responsibilities considering the strengths and development objectives of each team member.

4. Empower your team by granting autonomy and entrusting them with meaningful responsibilities.

4. FAILURE TO GIVE FEEDBACK – GOOD OR BAD

All employees crave feedback, be it positive or constructive. According to a recent Gallup organization study, a significant 67% of employees identify recognition as their primary performance motivator. Interestingly, 80% of managers believe they excel at providing recognition; however, a mere 12% of employees feel genuinely appreciated for their contributions, irrespective of their experience level. Evidently, there exists a noticeable knowledge-action gap.

While some managers may argue that a paycheck is sufficient acknowledgment for completing tasks, consistent research highlights that employees actively seek recognition on a weekly basis. This doesn’t imply the need for daily celebrations, but it does underscore the crucial importance of paying attention and acknowledging commendable actions. As the saying aptly puts it, ‘Behavior that is rewarded is repeated.’

Offering constructive feedback is equally crucial. It should be delivered promptly, be concise, and focus on specific activities or behaviors that can be improved, without criticizing the individual. In cases of consistent underperformance, a progressive discipline approach is necessary.

Real World Story:

In the leadership landscape, there’s a TV program named ‘Undercover Boss.’ In this show, company leaders go incognito for a week to observe their employees at work. At the week’s end, there’s a meeting where the leader reveals their identity and shares feedback.

In almost every episode, there’s a touching moment. After getting positive feedback, an employee might tear up, saying something like, ‘I’ve never been recognized before.’ Despite their outstanding work, these individuals often operate in the shadows, their outstanding contributions overlooked. This simple act of recognition sparks a renewed enthusiasm in these employees, motivating them to continue excelling.

Strategy to turn it around:

Establish an individual performance log for each team member to track their achievements and areas for improvement systematically. Record noteworthy events, both positive and negative, along with dates and your corresponding actions, fostering a comprehensive understanding of their performance journey.

Provide feedback, whether positive or negative, within a 24-hour timeframe. This not only ensures swift acknowledgment but also promotes a culture of continual improvement.

Integrate positive feedback moments into your daily routine by scheduling them every day. Witness the transformative impact on attitudes as consistent recognition becomes a natural and uplifting part of the team’s daily experience.

FORGETTING TO ‘LEAD BY EXAMPLE’

As a leader, your every move is under observation. Your team pays attention as you step out of your car in the morning and observes your entrance into a room. They keenly observe your approach to handling performance issues, taking cues from your actions. The behaviors you exhibit are mirrored and matched by your team, influencing the overall atmosphere and dynamics within the workplace.

Real world story

During a 6-hour leadership workshop I was facilitating, there was a participant who consistently arrived late, not only for the overall session but also after every break. This individual, who exhibited a persistently negative demeanor, challenged many points I presented. Following the workshop, he approached me, expressing his frustration, ‘Barbara, I’m at a loss. My employees are consistently late, and their attitudes are overwhelmingly negative.’ It became evident that, occasionally, when faced with widespread issues within your team, it’s crucial to introspect and evaluate your own behavior and attitude.

Strategy to turn it around:

Demonstrate Mindful Behavior and a Positive Attitude: Lead with awareness and maintain a positive demeanor, leaving negativity outside the workplace.

Practice Honest and Transparent Communication: Embrace honesty within the bounds of confidentiality, admit mistakes, and encourage open communication within the team.

Embrace a Strong Work Ethic: Set a high standard for productivity, adhere to deadlines, and showcase commitment to your responsibilities, fostering a culture of hard work.

Show Empathy and Prioritize Well-being: Display empathy, understand team members’ challenges, and prioritize a healthy work-life balance. Encourage breaks and self-care practices to promote well-being within the team.

Utilize this chapter as a roadmap to develop impactful leadership skills, foster a positive team culture, and achieve success in your managerial position. Periodically revisit and contemplate these key points to facilitate ongoing enhancement in your leadership strategy. Congratulations on your new role – you’ve got this!

© 2024 Barbara Khozam, Accredited Speaker, CSP, CPXP www.barbarakhozam.com Included with the kind permission of my fellow Accredited Speaker and friend.

‘Men and women make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.’
Harry S. Truman

‘We must become the change we want to see.’
Mahatma Gandhi

Using Change, Knowledge, and Communications to Maximize Organizational Capacity

David A. Larson, Sr., Cmdr. USN (Retired), CEC

Multiple theories provide a basis for building organizational capacity. Some include Bolman and Deal’s (2003) approach. It includes understanding organizational climate, maintaining the correct corporate structure, focusing human resources in the correct direction, directing the political environment, maximizing organizational symbols, and the need for dynamic leadership.

Prosci® (2007), in analyzing over 1300 international companies, would argue that leaders must maintain a properly integrated balance between change management and project management to ensure organizational capacity. These and other models provide intellectual stimulation for managers to understand the systems within their organization. This article explores the need for organizations to use change management, knowledge management, and communications to maximize capacity.

Organizational Culture

Understanding an organization’s culture and structure, and the separate cultures within each system of an establishment, is the first step toward gaining organizational capacity. Haines (1998) in discussing systems states that a system is ‘a set of components that work together for the good of the whole’ Leadership must understand the internal nature of each part of an organization, department-by-department, as well as the entity.

In the US Navy, submariners use an internal navigation system computer, like today’s Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems used in automobiles, to navigate.

While underwater, the submarine system tracks the speed, course, and turns a submarine takes, resulting in the commanding officer having the approximate location of the submarine.

Both systems initially receive an input from a satellite to establish its location. The submarine and GPS systems need this information before they can start functioning as designed. The submarine system receives this input, and then, when submerged, uses the computer to track its approximate location.

The reason the location is approximate is the possibility of continuing error, over time, expands the probability of inaccuracy. Therefore, the submarine commander frequently goes to periscope depth to receive an update from the satellite to mark the exact location. Not doing this increases the chances the commanding officer could cause the ship to go off course with disastrous results.

The more recent application of automobile GPS system must also have satellite information before it can navigate its user to a desired location. The difference between the automobile and submarine system is automobile systems continually receive inputs. When constantly receiving satellite data, the GPS can provide the user with updated information about upcoming exits and turns for guidance to the final location. It also provides the user with an immediately recalculated route if the driver needs to take a different road than the system expected.

Part of having a working understanding of an organization’s culture is the leaders desire to be more like the automobile GPS system versus the submarine system. Direction, culture, and change are a continual part of an organization life cycle. Having constant input and an understanding of the environment, versus the occasional ‘catch up’ seminar, is vital.

Strategy

Some organizations focus on strategy prior to making any policy or business rules. Although it is a good practice, it has disadvantages because it can lead to execution prior to understanding the corporate culture.

Deal and Peterson (1999), discussing leadership and vision, state, ‘Through a careful probe of past and present, they need to identify a clear sense of what…can become a picture of a positive future’

Leadership obtains a clear understanding of the past and present of an organization when they define and understand its culture. After understanding the culture of an organization, leadership can develop strategies that takes advantage of the strengths identified. It can also develop and train its managers and the workforce to overcome the weaknesses identified.

Change Management

Change is constant. The most difficult part of change in organizations is how innovation or an alteration to a process should start. It may appear the process will be easy, but until leaders understand culture and various organizational elements, start sharing knowledge, and establish communication, substantial change is difficult.

Hiatt’s (2006) hypothesis for change is the Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR) model. He believes these elements, when correctly instituted and associated with various factors, create successful change. The ADKAR model includes a relationship between each of the fundamentals with various change management techniques required to influence the ADKAR steps.

These techniques are communication, sponsorship, coaching, resistance management, and training. Hiatt indicates communication is crucial to awareness; sponsorship primarily supports awareness, desire, and reinforcement; coaching is associated with each ADKAR step; resistance management supports desire; and training relates to knowledge and ability.

An understanding of change principles, knowledge management, and how to incorporate them, associated with grasping the culture of an organization, is paramount in obtaining organizational capacity.

Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management (KM) has been taking place for centuries. The process did not have a label applied until recently. People have turned to various sources to obtain information about past theories and hypothesis to understand an issue or help formulate an idea. The concept of using knowledge is not new.

A formal structure to assist corporations in organizational learning and having a ‘smarter’ workforce is new.

Most would agree that change has both pleasant and objectionable facets. It depends on whether the individual desires the change, anticipates the value of the alteration, or believes something has thrust the variation upon him or her without input or comment. In knowledge management execution, similar outlooks reside within the individual. It is management’s responsibility to recognize the hurdles, plan for them, and create an encouraging environment where the workforce overcomes the challenge. Much like a coach who trains the athlete for the competition, leadership has the responsibility to train employees for the contest.

Effron (2004) states, ‘The truth is the sheer concept of knowledge management is fundamentally flawed – it involves neither knowledge nor management and therefore cannot be expected to succeed’. This presents a dilemma for an organization that wants to have a ‘learning’ environment.

Organizational Learning (OL) requires the sharing of information, which results in obtaining knowledge that ultimately assists individuals in supporting an organization.

Argyris and Schön (1978) describe OL as ‘the detection and correction of error’. This involves making improvements in an organization based on individuals having a system whereby they can easily access information, process that information into usable knowledge and understanding, share the information, and thereby make better decisions.

Knowledge is categorized into two areas. They are explicit and tacit. Easterby-Smith and Lyles (2005) explain that explicit knowledge is that which is easily recordable and retrievable. Tacit knowledge, on the other hand, is that which individuals hold in their minds based on a unique mixture of experience, learning, and education. It is neither easily recordable nor retrievable.

Easterby-Smith and Lyles state that ‘…knowledge creation through transformations of tacit and explicit knowledge; the importance of national culture and philosophy to understanding the construction and communication of knowledge; the interrelationship between the policy domain and operational levels in the creation of knowledge…’ is difficult because of the nature of coordinating the two across cultural boundaries.

Durham (2004), in discussing senior management KM initiatives, states that ‘…far and away most important is to recognize the need for and value of the KM initiative’. Managers often forget the leadership approach needed in their positions. This approach calls for them to provide vision, strategy, clearly communicated goals, build teams, cause collaboration, energize, give responsibility with commensurate authority, and satisfy corporate and individual needs.

Any KM program must include the entire organization working toward common goals, with management visibly involved. This attention must be at all levels within management. Although senior executives (i.e. CEO) must be involved and provide support, middle management and front-line supervisors are the most important asset in incorporating a KM program. These managers are the ones that have day-to-day influence and control over the workforce. They are the individuals; employees observe the most. Senior leadership must have a coaching influence on these mid-level managers.

Executive level management must help them see the vision of KM, train them to understand the value of KM, and continue to work with them in sustaining KM. A middle manager must understand that his or her department’s acceptance and working within the knowledge organization goes beyond assisting their functional area.

It must have value for the individual, the department, and the organization. This is the operational approach needed to have a valuable KM program. It eventually provides ‘buy-in’ at all levels.

Communication      

Effective communication is complicated by having your message surrounded by change, discord, conflicting schedules, urgent timelines, office politics, hundreds of emails in the ‘in box’ and any number of other distractions one can consider. No wonder there are always some who never get the message, others who deliberately ignore the message, and often those who have not had time to receive and digest the message. George Bernard Shaw summarized this dilemma when he said, ‘The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.’

Most textbooks on communications would agree on the process involved in providing effective communications. The parts include a sender, the message itself (which includes the content, or what is stated, and the process, or how to deliver the message), the receiver, and the response (or feedback) the recipient gives the originator. It is important to note that ‘noise’ affects the communication process.

The sender must decide the content – the specific message. In making this determination the sender must consider if the message is general or specific and the details needed to support that message. In determining content, managers must consider the background of the audience. That includes, but is certainly not limited to the age, status, education level, feelings, cultural setting, and what the message will mean to the recipients.

The delivery method, or process, requires thought. Usually the methods are verbal, written, visual, or a mix of these. According to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee paper ‘Principles of Communication’ people remember, ‘10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 40% of what they hear and see’.

While it is important to communicate policy and guidance to all members of any entity, the methods need evaluation. It is best to deliver some messages via ‘mass media’ within the organization. An example is announcing good news to employees, an improvement in benefits, increased sales, or other positive events. However, other information may require a communication process that is more structured and personal.

A written message is one of the communication processes. This requires careful planning, excellent word choice, formal or informal determination, and needs to be well organized and precise. Written language is beneficial because it provides a vehicle for the reader to review the material as often as needed.

Visual communication is effective in that the receiver normally has an image to assist in recall. Visual messages include video, live feed, illustrations, cartoons, posters, and flyers. It is especially helpful when coupled with written or verbal messages.

Noise is both a literal and figurative environment that prevents productive communications. Noise provides many enemies to the sender and receiver and includes decoding and encoding. If a sender cannot encode a message for correct decoding by the receiver, the content is lost. Some of the barriers that cause noise, which reduces the likelihood of successful interaction, are culture, defensiveness, self-fulfilling assumptions, bias, change, as well as body language when using face-to-face verbal exchange.

Feedback is important for effective communications and helps determine how much ‘noise’ prevented effective message transmission. Response verifies receipt and understanding of your message. Feedback also allows the manager to know if his or her message needs modification or re-emphasis.

Like Murphy’s Law, is one of Osmo Wiio’s Laws, which states, ‘If communication can fail, it will.’ If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in the way that does the most harm. Some people ‘always’ know better than you do by what you meant by your message. The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.

Although these are humorous quips, they have some degree of truth imbedded in their banter. Communication is often misinterpreted due to poor preparation, the wrong delivery method, failure to remove emotion, and not willing to take the time to consider how the receiver will respond to a message.

Communications can be looked at like the construction of a ship. The keel on a ship anchors the struts and frames (ribs). These, in turn, support the network of decks, bulkheads, and overheads that make up the various compartments. This interlinking of components, with the keel as the foundation, makes the ship seaworthy.

Communications is the backbone for the organizational capacity components, related change management, and knowledge management techniques to work. They cannot interrelate to build a productive change management approach without consistent and effective communications. Prosci® (2007) reports the two biggest issues in communications are senior leadership being able to effectively, ‘communicate with direct reports about the change,’ and middle management and direct supervisors ‘not effectively communicating with their employees’.

Summary

Effron (2004) relates that organizational culture prevents sharing of information because of the lack of communities to share knowledge, and gathering isolated knowledge requires major changes in company philosophy. Non-threatening communication, across boundaries, within cross-functional teams, and eliminating the ‘shoot the messenger’ mentality is the focus needed to adopt a new atmosphere in an organization. It is also important for management to sell KM and not revert to old ways of doing business.

The old culture has a tremendous draw. If not recognized, it is easy to slide into the past because it is convenient, tranquil, and easier than change. Leaders involved in ‘cultural’ change must challenge those ideas and comfort zones.      

In the battle of Leyte Gulf, communication failure almost cost the US forces a victory. Admiral ‘Bull’ Halsey was in command of the Third Fleet. Several messages sent out by General Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the campaign, and Admiral ‘Bull’ Halsey were ‘misunderstood’.

Because Admiral Halsey was not ‘directed’ by General MacArthur to take a specific action, ‘Bull’ chased after a decoy force of enemy ships. Not understanding the culture of the organization in place for this battle, rapid change of plans, ineffective knowledge sharing, and a lack of clear communications decreased organizational capacity and almost caused a US defeat.

The same is true for any organization. It must understand its culture, recognize the need to change, share knowledge, and communicate to improve or maintain organizational capacity.       

© 2008-2024 David Larson, Sr., Cmdr. USN (Retired), CEC

(www.dalconsulting.us), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission of the author.

‘All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.’ John Kenneth Galbraith

Don’t Fire Yourself, Promote Yourself!

Jim Manton

For years now we’ve placed a lot of attention on the importance of leaders improving their listening skills, but why bother if no one is willing to talk about the things that are personally significant?

A massive study by Harris Interactive and Franklin Covey seems to indicate that a huge number of people in the workplace have checked out. Maybe it is because no one was listening, but I have a hunch that many people allowed themselves to be victimized by the circumstances rather than taking matters into their own hands.

In the Harris study it was discovered that less than 10% of the people interviewed said they were totally energized and committed to company goals. Even more frustrating for many people was the time they spent on urgent but irrelevant tasks. Their work held little or no significance for them. Eventually most people will leave and those that stay will plateau or backslide to lower levels of performance.

That’s the situation Robert was in when he called and asked for an appointment with me. He had been referred by a former client who knew I was open to meeting and helping people in transition. Like many people at the beginning of a transition, Robert was confused.

He thought he was looking for a new job.

But that’s not what he needed…at least not right then. Not only was Robert confused about what he is looking for, he was also about to make a dumb career move. He was about to leave his current employer because he was unable to see any of the real possibilities that existed for him right there.

After I asked him what he saw as his next opportunity, he said, ‘Well, right now I don’t know for sure, at least not specifically. Are you asking me what I’m passionate about? A good friend told me it was time to discover my passion and just go do it. But I’m not passionate about anything, you know what I mean?’

I think I did understand what he meant. He was more committed to a safe and easy landing than taking the time and effort to create a career that would satisfy and fulfill him. That’s why I said he’s confused. Robert is not looking for a job. He’s looking for himself - who he is and what he stands for.

Robert is 44 years old, in good health, and has a life expectancy of at least 40 more years. Forty more years! He has enough time to fully enjoy one or two more careers. Now is not the time to settle. Now is the time to be accountable for what he wants. No one else can or should tell him what that ‘is’.

It only took a few questions to free his thinking. What do you enjoy doing? What is the most significant contribution to another person or organization you’ve made? What other accomplishments are you most proud of? What do you do well…maybe as good as or even better than anyone else?

After another five questions or so, Robert got it. He saw that he was willing to fire himself (leave his job) because he thought no one in management cared about him. What suddenly became apparent to Robert was that he had not cared about himself.

It wasn’t his boss or management that created the problem. He had not been accountable for his gifts. He had not acknowledged his accomplishments, and he had failed to see how helping other people solve technical problems energized and fulfilled him. There was a huge opportunity for him to contribute to his current role waiting to be fulfilled. He just hadn’t asked. It wasn’t in his job description. He had been waiting for permission and directions.

I often ask my clients when they are frustrated to look at the problem as if they were the cause of it. While it’s not necessarily true that they are the problem, taking that position often opens some very powerful insights. Being accountable and responsible for a problem creates more personal power and resolve than does blame. So, think about it, is it you or the job?

Don’t get me wrong. Management must do a better job of engaging people. More than 15 years ago the Gallup organization identified a crucial link between employee retention and their boss: people leave their managers, not their companies. Gallup also identified the factors that engaged people and good managers focused on those factors for their people. They were basic things like having clear expectations; having the right resources and equipment; an opportunity to use one’s strengths, skills, and talents every day; working for a boss who cares; and having one’s opinions count.

But before you blame your boss, try finding how you might be the cause before you leave the company.

Here are some questions to explore: How many requests have you made to have whatever is missing be supplied? How many people have you asked? Are they the right people? Are you waiting to be discovered? Or are you actively promoting your skills and proposing how you can make a difference. Again, how often and to whom? Do you have some shortcomings that you either haven’t acknowledged or are denying? Do you actively seek feedback and look for ways to improve?

In most cases, the unfortunate 90% who say they are not totally committed to their work have probably given up on making a difference and seeking feedback for improving long ago. More than likely, they are so victimized by their situation that they can only see the shortcomings in their employer, and not their own. Like Robert, it’s not long before these disengaged people start to sabotage their own careers.

In my book, ‘The Secret of Transitions’, I wrote about a client who couldn’t figure out why a talented young manager, Jerry, was no longer dependable. Jerry had made several bad decisions and had dropped the ball more than once on an important project.

When confronted, his response was defensive, and he had a long list of excuses blaming others for his shortfall.

It’s instructive to watch people who are trying to covertly fire themselves. This is a negative, subconscious form of transitioning! In a marriage relationship or in a business relationship, it’s all the same. They want to bring the issue of their sense of disconnect to a head, but they want someone else to do it for them. They want someone else to be the one to bring them to a crossroads.

They aren’t willing to truthfully communicate about whether they really want to be doing this work any longer. They want someone else to tell them ‘You should probably leave’ and so they covertly generate the conflict that forces the issue.

Jerry did that. Believing he was being stretched beyond his capability, he created an unnecessary conflict with the CEO. It gave him the escape route he was looking for. If fired, he could justify it because of how intolerable his relationship with the CEO had become. Anyone could see that, right?

A lot of research has been done into why good executives suddenly leave companies. Most often cited are things like not enough challenge or opportunity for growth or sometimes it’s a lack of appreciation, trust, or cultural fit. But I must wonder if those are the real causes. If an executive is truly ‘good’, then it seems like a lack of challenge or growth could be easily resolved.

What’s missing here? Could it be as simple as an open and honest conversation? Could it be true that what separates the most successful people from others is the number of requests that successful people make during their lifetime? Do you have the courage to find out? If you do, then here are a few secrets from ‘The Secret of Transitions’.

Secret Number 1

‘He who knows others is learned. He who knows himself is wise.’ Lao Tse

The great Chinese philosopher, Lao Tse, points the way to the first secret of professional growth. ‘Know yourself!’ You’d think by now it wouldn’t be a secret, but it still is for many of us. We could save a lot of time and energy if we would only listen to lessons learned by others, especially those discovered thousands of years ago.

To transition you must know your gifts, talents, passion, interests, personal mission, and ethical boundaries and how you want to put those to work. And not only how to put them to work, but also where.

That is best determined by finding an existing need that pays what you are worth. Look for that need in your ideal industry, organizational size, environment, culture, product, services, and customers. It’s your life and your career. It’s up to you to create your future and be able to tell a powerful story about how you can serve.

Why is it so rare for someone in transition to take a bold stand? My guess it’s what stops almost any great endeavor – fear. Personally, I’ve found that lurking behind my greatest aspirations, there is resistance - usually in the form of fear and uncertainty. The bigger the dream, the greater the resistance.

It’s only natural. To transition, we must leave the safe and familiar behind. Fitting into a new culture, learning new skills, or changing ineffective behaviors can be frustrating and awkward. Conscious incompetence is humbling. And that stops many people. So how do you discover yourself? That’s the second secret. Please read on.

Secret Number 2

Chip Away at Frozen Thinking Patterns

It is our beliefs about other people that limit our relationships and careers the most. If we can learn to challenge those beliefs at every step of the way, our lives and careers take on a fresh vitality. And it’s from these beliefs about others that we can gain enormous insight into ourselves.

The mind can function like a brilliant prosecuting attorney, creating an airtight case out of the flimsiest evidence. It is especially masterful in collecting evidence about other people.

In ‘The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome’ by Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux we learn that the manager’s perceptions of a new employee are strongly influenced by early mishaps, a former boss’s evaluation, and style differences. The manager then categorizes the employee as either ‘in’ or ‘out’. It is the category that then determines what performance evidence the manager will see in the future.

Those who are ‘in’ get autonomy, positive feedback, and strong votes of confidence. Not surprisingly, the ‘outs’ get micromanaged and closely controlled. Losing confidence, they lose initiative and react mechanically to being controlled, providing even more evidence of their ineptness. It happens in the office, at home, and in schools.

Think of the last ten times you were most upset, angry, or disappointed with someone – at work, at home, or with a friend. Write down what happened and then see if you can find a pattern or a theme. Most of us have a sensitivity toward certain negative behaviors. For some people it’s lying, incomplete work, missed deadlines, or evasiveness. What upsets you?

Who have you judged as incompetent and incapable? Do they ever get better? Or do they seem to go from bad to worse? Notice that if you truly believe they are beyond redemption, you never see the slightest degree of improvement in them.

Whatever that is, there may be a surprise in store for you. But first do this simple exercise. Choose the incident that most upsets you and, if possible, the one that stills triggers the most negative emotions. What do you believe about that person?

Please go to the link below and download the One Belief at a Time Worksheet. It is an amazingly simple, yet powerful tool developed by Byron Katie for self discovery. https://thework.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/obaat_en_mod_6feb2019-r.pdf

What did you discover? Were you surprised to learn where your reservoir of judgments and evaluations come from?

What did you learn about yourself in the turnarounds?

Now use that same worksheet as you think about the transition you are considering; this will be especially helpful if you are experiencing any resistance or fear.

Secret Number 3

Neutralize the Fear

Many times, the only thing stopping a successful transition to the next level of mastery is the habit of believing every negative thought cluster that gathers. Like looking at a cloudy sky and thinking it is a permanent characteristic of the sky.

It’s not the most quoted part of his inaugural address, but one I admire greatly, when young President John Kennedy said, ‘So let us begin anew – remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.’

One of coaching’s first responsibilities is to help remove fear from any new situation the client is entering. When facing a seemingly difficult transition, fear can hold you hostage and that’s why exploring worst-case scenarios can be very liberating.

First identify the worst that could happen. Write it down. Fully explore it by asking, ‘And then what?’ until you can go no further. For example, the worst that could happen might be something like ‘I could lose my job and run out of money.’ And then what?

‘Well, I wouldn’t be able to pay my mortgage.’ And then what?

‘I would lose my home, and my family would be on the street, living out of my car.’ And then what?

‘I’d get a job. Any job. Even three or four jobs. I would do anything to move ahead. Even beg.’ And then what?

‘I would rebuild and reclaim myself and my future. I don’t think being homeless would really stop me.’

And finally, ‘Couldn’t I live with that? Couldn’t I even find a way to benefit from that scenario? Who would I be if I came back from the worst case? What could I do for others with that insight? And who would I be if I failed to come back? I’d still be the same person who gave all I had to give.’

Find the end of your story about a dreaded future. All stories ultimately end the same way – the fear ends, and a new story begins.

Once you determine the so-called ‘worst’ that could happen, mentally prepare by making contingency plans and focus on creating the best possible outcome for everyone involved.

The Final Secret

That restlessness, dissatisfaction, boredom, or sense of being trapped is a call. It’s an invitation to experience a more fulfilling life, but it is all too easy to ignore or postpone. Remember, you have the right to declare your ideal future and create it. You don’t have to wait for someone or something to change. Take matters into your own hands and begin your transition today.

© 2008-2024 Jim Manton, (www.mantonadvisory.com) All rights reserved. Included with kind permission of the author.

‘Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.’ Vince Lombardi

Editor’s note: Vince must have been talking about Toastmasters International®

Visit: www.toastmasters.org for more information and to find a club near you. Or, if there isn’t one, how to start one and apply your leadership firsthand.

‘Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’ Harold R. McAlindon

Leadership: A powerful differentiator

Jack Trout

What most bewilders me in the marketing world are companies that don’t exploit their leadership. Instead of ‘I’m lovin’ it’, McDonald’s could be, ‘The world’s favorite place to eat’. Instead of ‘Connecting people’, Nokia could be ‘The world’s No. 1 cell phone.’

Leadership is the most powerful way to differentiate a brand.

The reason is that it’s the most direct way to establish the credentials of a brand. And credentials are the collateral you put up to guarantee the performance of your brand.

Also, when you have leadership credentials, your prospect is likely to believe almost anything you say about your brand. (Because you’re the leader!) Humans tend to equate ‘bigness’ with success, status, and leadership. We give respect and admiration to the biggest. Powerful leaders can take ownership of the word that stands for the category. You can test the validity of a leadership claim by a word association test.

If the given words are computer, copier, chocolate bar, and cola, the four most associated words are IBM, Xerox, Hershey’s, and Coke. An astute leader will go one step further to solidify his position. Heinz owns the word ketchup. But Heinz went on to isolate the most important ketchup attribute. ‘Slowest ketchup in the West’ is how the company is preempting the thickness attribute. Owning the word slow helps Heinz maintain a 50 percent market share.

Despite all the foregoing points about the power of being the perceived leader, we continue to come across leaders who don’t want to talk about their leadership. Their response about avoiding that claim to what is rightfully theirs is often the same: We don’t want to brag.

Well, a leader who doesn’t ‘brag’ is the best thing that can happen to its competition. When you’ve clawed your way to the top of the mountain, you had better plant your flag and take some pictures. And besides, you can often find a nice way to express your leadership.

One of our favorite leadership slogans does just that: ‘Fidelity Investments. Where 12 million investors put their trust.’ Another is Titleist, ‘The No. 1 ball in golf.’ If you don’t take credit for your achievement, the one right behind you will find a way to claim what is rightfully yours.

If you doubt this, consider the following saga.

For years, the two big beers in Brazil were Antarctica and Brahma. Antarctica was number one and Brahma was close-behind number two. Then Brahma started an advertising campaign claiming leadership (‘Ceruveza number one’). They added point-of-sale hands with the index finger symbolizing number one. But here’s the surprise. When they started this, Antarctica was still the leader, but no one knew it because they had not planted their flag of leadership.

When the dust settled, guess who moved into first place? You’re right. Brahma is now number one. The reason: When people thought that they weren’t drinking the leading beer, they quickly shifted to Brahma and what started out as an untruth became the truth.

The moral: While people love underdogs, they buy the overdogs.

But there is a happy ending to this story, as Antarctica and Brahma have now merged with their companies. They can now say they both are number one. Leadership comes in many flavors, any of which can be an effective way to differentiate yourself.

Here’s a quick sampling of different ways to leadership:

Sales leadership. The most often used strategy by leaders is pronouncing how well they sell. Toyota still has the best-selling car in America. But others can claim their own sales leadership by carefully counting in different ways. Chrysler’s Dodge Caravan was the top-selling minivan. The Ford Explorer was the top sport utility vehicle. Chevrolet is the leading American car company. This approach works because people tend to buy what others buy.

Technology leadership. Some companies with long histories of technological breakthroughs can use this form of leadership as a differentiator. In Austria, a rayon fiber manufacturer called Lenzing isn’t the sales leader, but they are the ‘world’s leader in viscose fiber technology.’ They pioneered many of the industry breakthroughs in new and improved rayon. In Corning, New York a company called ‘Corning’ is the world’s leader in the science of glass.

Performance leadership. Companies have products that aren’t big sellers but are big performers. This can also be used to separate yourself from your lesser performing competition. The famous Porsche 911 is such a car. When one rumbles by, you know it can outperform anything on the road.

Leadership is a wonderful platform from which to tell the story of how you got to be number one. As we said earlier, people will believe whatever you say if they perceive you as a leader. They figure they know more.

What makes a company strong is not the product or the service.
It’s the position it owns in the mind.

The strength of Hertz was in its leadership position, not the quality of its rent-a-car service. It’s easier to stay on top than to get there.

Can you name a company that has overturned an industry leader?

Crest did it in toothpaste, thanks to the American Dental Association’s seal of approval. Ironically, Colgate has regained the lead with its germ-killing Total toothpaste, though recently they were neck and neck.

Duracell did it in batteries, thanks to ‘alkaline’. Budweiser did it in beer and Marlboro did it in cigarettes. But it rarely happens. A survey of twenty-five leading brands from the year 1923 proves this point. Today, (2008) twenty-one of those brands are still in first place. Three are in second place, and one is in fifth place.

Even changes in rank don’t happen very often. If marketing were a horse race, it would be a deadly dull affair. In the fifty-six years since World War II, there has been only one change in position in the top three U.S. automobile companies. In 1950, Ford Motor Company moved past Chrysler Corporation into second place among U.S. automakers.

Since then, the order has been General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler all the way. Monotonous, isn’t it? (That is until Toyota barged into the game.)

The ‘stickiness’ of a marketing race, the tendency for companies or brands to remain in the same position year after year, also underscores the importance of securing a good position in the first place.

Improving your position might be difficult, but once you do, it becomes relatively easy to maintain that new position.

When you do get on top, make sure the marketplace knows it. Too many companies take their leadership for granted and never exploit it. All this does is keep the door open for competition. If you get the chance, slam the door in your competition’s face.

© 2008-2024 Jack Trout (www.troutandpartners.com), All rights reserved. Included with the expressed permission of the author. (Editor’s note: While some of these corporate positions may have changed, the idea Jack shared still has merit.)

‘Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.’
Tom Peters

‘Let him who would be moved to convince others,

be first moved to convince himself.’ Thomas Carlyle

Do Leaders Think?

Phillip Van Hooser, MBA, CSP, CPAE

During one of his very forgettable movie roles, the late comic actor, John Candy, stared from the movie screen and spoke words I have never forgotten. ‘I am so highly educated I don’t even have to think before I speak.’ Without question, he was trying to make us laugh. Unfortunately, all too often leaders speak and make critical decisions without thinking and that’s anything but funny!

Why don’t we think? I believe it’s because we’re too busy responding. Responding to the situations and scenarios that leaders face every day.

Responding is not always bad, but it is always reactive.

Conscious thought and planning, on the other hand, are always proactive.

I would like to introduce some proactive thought processes, accompanied by some practical questions that should be helpful to all leaders.

Explorative Thought - Why?

By way of this thought form, we are attempting to understand and create an acceptable order to the environment and universe around us. The more inexperienced a leader is, the more beneficial this method of thinking should be. Taking the time to ask ‘why’ regularly can unlock treasure chests of previously undiscovered potential for each of us.

Comparative Thought - Why Not?

With this approach, leaders take the ‘why’ question to an even higher level.

We take what we have already come to know and understand, then consciously choose to meld it with still other realities that have been made known to us. It’s the same thought process that served candy makers well several years ago when they brought individual snack favorites, chocolate and peanut butter, together in a new form known as Reese’s Cups. The result? A runaway candy best seller!

A ‘why not’ attitude can serve leaders as the springboard for continuous personal and professional improvement.

Creative Thought - What If?

This thought process simply allows us to stretch the boundaries of our own imaginations to explore new possibilities. For example, what if we moved our cost accountant into inventory control? What if we changed the design of our marketing materials? What if we extended our office hours until noon on Saturday? Once we’ve immersed ourselves in ‘what if’ questions, the following method becomes very important.

Deliberative Thought - How?

Here beats the heart of rational thought and deliberation. Let’s face it. Not every ‘what if’ question would lead us to prudent business decisions. Therefore, the ‘how’ becomes very important. The ‘how’ allows us to create a defined order to our world. Even the most creative, flamboyant thinkers/leaders should never abandon this common sense, foundational thought process.

Interactive Thought - What Do You Think?

The most successful leaders know the value of this question. Few classic ‘managers’ do. Taking the time to ask followers what they think can serve to engage both individuals and groups mentally and emotionally. Once the question is asked, we must also be prepared to shut up and listen.

When the information gained from this process is managed properly, it can energize and propel even ordinary groups toward extraordinary accomplishments.

Now there’s something to think about!

© 2008-2024 Phillip Van Hooser, MBA, CSP, CPAE (www.vanhooser.com), All rights reserved. Included with the kind permission my friend, fellow leader, and author.

I can’t remember who shared this poem with me. I have shared it and/or included it in numerous articles and leadership publications. ‘In the Company of Leaders’ would seem naked without it.

“You are never too small to make a difference.”
Greta Thunberg (Environmental Activist)

CARE Packages for the Workplace - A Leadership Style that Promotes Productivity, Passion, and Peace

Barbara A. Glanz, CSP, CPAE Hall of Fame

In fast-growing companies, it is essential to have an innovative, motivated, productive workforce. A recent Roper poll found that employee morale and job satisfaction in US companies are at their lowest level since Roper began doing polls decades ago. USA Today reported that 42 percent of American workers felt ‘used up.’

Overwhelming change, stress, and communication issues are taking their toll in many organizations today, but in fast growing companies, workplace dissatisfaction can be fatal. That’s why leaders need to focus at least as much on human beings and values as they do on systems and processes. You can keep employee spirit high by showing that you CARE:

C: Creative Communication

For many organizations, communication has become a deep rut full of dreary memos, dismal and unending meetings, and negative feedback. In fast growing companies, good communication is vital, and to be impactful, communication must be creative. Studies show that the average adult must hear something at least six times before it is internalized. Fast-growing companies do not have this luxury, so they must communicate in a way that gets employees’ attention immediately. For example, one manager staples a Kleenex to any memo he thinks his staff is not going to like to get their attention and take some of the sting away!

One-way leaders can implement better internal communication is to increase employee involvement and buy-in by getting their input before decisions are made so that they feel a part of the changes in the organization. Hold ‘grapevine’ meetings spontaneously whenever the rumor mill is in high gear and let employees ask questions that are on their minds.

Then give honest answers. Many studies have shown that employees want to be told the truth. They can handle it, and honesty from the top will build a level of trust throughout the organization. For example, many fast-growing companies are using Open Book management, allowing all employees to know the exact financial state of the organization.

A: Atmosphere and Appreciation for All

Leaders in fast growing companies need to create an atmosphere conducive to innovation, freedom, and fun in the workplace, an atmosphere that is full of vitality and makes people feel good about coming to work. For example, hold a poster party and invite employees to draw favorite inspirational quotations. Then display the posters in the office, hallway, or break area.

Encourage workplace joy by being willing to poke fun at yourself. How about placing a dart board in the break room with a different senior manager’s picture on it each week!

Appreciation goes much farther than monetary rewards, and a handshake, pat on the back or personal note from a senior manager will excite and motivate employees for weeks at a time. Become a grateful company. Model this commitment by learning employees’ names and thanking at least five people every day. One senior manager gives each of his direct reports five paper silhouettes of his hand at the beginning of each year as a special thank you for work well done.

Each paper hand represents one hour of his time which the employee can use for anything from answering telephones, sorting mail, mowing their lawn, or walking their dog. Many delightful hours of teasing are spent on just how the coupons will be used, and above all, the employees feel important and valued!

R: Respect and Reason for Being

Employees in today’s world are starving for respect. John Naisbitt in Megatrends said, ‘The higher technology around us, the more the need for human touch.’ One company decided to meet this challenge by throwing away its time clocks. This management trusted its employees to work appropriate hours to get the job done without having to endure what they referred to as ‘the humiliation of punching in clocks.’

Leaders in fast-growing companies must show their commitment in visible, creative ways, by being involved with employees and not sitting in their offices with doors shut. Spend at least one hour every day out on the frontlines and ask employees how you can help them. Southwest Airlines has a mandate that every manager must spend 33 1/3% or his or her time directly out with customers and employees. Once a month reward employee with spontaneous treats--rent an ice cream truck, a popcorn machine, or deliver a ‘Payday’ bar with their paychecks. They will love it! Involve employees’ families whenever possible and be compassionate towards family needs.

In nearly every current business publication, articles and stories abound on the struggle to find meaning in one’s work. Build your organization on a set of core values and then model these values in your own behavior. Encourage employees to add a personal signature to their work. Write your personal mission statement--who you are and what your work is--and share it with employees. Then encourage them to write their own. When hospital employees did this, a person on the tray-line wrote:

E: Empathy and Enthusiasm

Demonstrating concern and understanding does wonders for employees’ morale. For example, one manager bought popsicles for everyone after the air-conditioning went out.

Kind words, helping hands, caring heart, striving to meet the needs of those in my care (my fellow employees, the patients, and their families). A true devotion to work that I have been doing.

Valuing diversity and creating a social consciousness will raise the level of existence for employees. Involvement in a community project such as helping build housing for the homeless or a playground for inner city children allows them a chance to give back to the world.

Encourage employees who want to share extra vacation time with co-workers in crisis. Give employees the gift of understanding that the job is not their whole life.

Rather than the homogeneity desired in the past, fast growing companies celebrate differences and realize the strength of many individuals making up a team. Successful leaders let people be who they are, and they, too, are authentic and real. Share your personal vision and dreams with your employees, and they will respond-in-kind. As Francis Likert said many years ago, ‘If a high level of performance is to be achieved, it appears necessary for a manager to have high performance goals and a contagious enthusiasm as to the importance of these goals.’

Are you a contagiously enthusiastic leader?

Celebrate everything! When employees love their work and feel valued, they will give their all. Emphasize the positives. One organization holds a voluntary ‘Good News’ hour once a week for 30 minutes before starting time in the lobby of the building.

Not only is there almost 100% attendance, but employees are so enthusiastic about this special time together that they even come in when they are on vacation just to hear how everyone is doing!

Kenneth Kovach in Employment Relations Today Vol.22, No.2 discusses a study conducted in 1946, 1981, and1995, in which employees were asked to list ten common workplace rewards in order of their motivational impact. Every year the results have been the same. The top three things employees want are:

Interesting work

Full appreciation for the work they’ve done and

A feeling of being ‘in’ on things

In fast growing companies it becomes essential that employees are innovative, committed, and willing to stretch to meet new demands, and this will only happen when leaders meet their needs for finding trust, value, and a sense of meaning in their work. Let the CARE acronym for a spirited workplace underlie all your decisions as a leader. When employees talk energetically about their company using words like ‘we’ and ‘they’ instead of ‘them’ and ‘us,’ then you will know you have succeeded!

© 2006-2024 Barbara Glanz, CSP, CPAE, All rights reserved. www.barbaraglanz.com Used with the kind permission of the author and friend.

Erich Fromm

‘There is no meaning in life except the meaning man (or woman) gives their life by the unfolding of their powers. To ‘maximize our potential’, we must take advantage of the resources available designed to increase our understanding of ourselves, the people around us, and the life we are now involved in. We become what we indulge ourselves in. The opportunities life offers help us tap our (leadership) potential and can be explored when we are equipped with the right tools.’ Erich Fromm

A few words as we part

The world needs more effective leaders! Communities, corporations, as well as volunteer organizations, like Toastmasters International, around the world, cry out for courageous leaders. People, like you and me, who are willing to take increased personal leadership. Leaders who are committed to equipping and motivating those who would follow them to grow, to become more productive, and to succeed. In short, we need you!

It is my quest to provide, in this publication, tools, tips, and techniques garnered from these top leaders and generous experts which will assist you in your own leadership journey. I trust you will apply what we’ve shared in your own quest to better serve and equip your teams.

I invite you to share your own lessons and challenges in your own leadership journey. I have long believed we ‘each’ leave a legacy behind – we can choose to leave a positive, productive one which made a difference in the lives of our staff, our communities, and our clients. I continue to live and act from this premise. I hope you do too!

‘What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.’ Pericles

Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, PDG, DTM, Accredited Speaker, Spirit of CAPS recipient

Creative Lead, In the Company of Leaders, author of ‘Legacy of Leadership’ www.SuccessPublications.ca

www.ideaman.net bhooey@mcsnet.ca or bob@ideaman.net

‘There is one who scatters - yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But, it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.’ Proverbs 11:24, 25

Credits and Dedication

Having an idea is easy – acting on that idea can challenge and stretch you. Recruiting a team of top leadership experts to create ‘In the Company of Leaders’ did exactly that; and I have grown in the process. A project like this finds success when others catch the passion and vision. ‘The Power of One!’ engages the passion of many and allows us to walk ‘In the Company of Leaders’. This is especially true with this leadership writing project. I am grateful to each person who has helped make it a reality.

Special thanks to our amazing team of contributing co-authors (both from 2008 and again this year, 2024) who demonstrated their generosity in giving of themselves and their wisdom for this work. This publication was originally released as an e-book in 2008 when I keynoted the Toastmasters International Convention in Calgary, Alberta. It was updated for print (2013 & 2014 & 2019) and again in 2024 in support of 100 years of leadership service and training by Toastmasters International®. This is our 100th anniversary edition.

Thanks to all my friends and colleagues in Toastmasters International®, the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, the National Speakers Association, and the Global Speakers Federation for their investment and continuing encouragement in my life and our shared leadership journey.

In support of Toastmasters International®. 100th Anniversary

As with each of my publications, a special dedication to my folks, Ron and Marge Hooey who taught me the value of giving and serving. A special thanks to my wife, Irene Gaudet, Editor & Publications Coach who went out of her way, again, to assist me in the success in updating this publication for you.

Published by: SuccessPublications.ca
- division of Creativity Corner Inc.

Legacy of Leadership series

Publisher Contact: Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

(780) 736-0009 bhooey@mcsnet.ca

Creative Lead: Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

Photos of Bob: Dov Friedmann, www.photographybydov.com

Print editing, layout, and e-pub creation: Irene Gaudet

‘Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.’

Steve Jobs

Copyrights and legal notices

‘This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered, as of the date of publication. It is sold and/or distributed with the understanding that the publisher and/or each contributing author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.’ From a ‘Declaration of Principles’ jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations. Pictures used in this publication are royalty free, under license, or from the authors and/or their respective materials for reference use.

In the Company of Leaders – 100th anniversary edition

ISBN: 978-1-998014-27-9 (updated, expanded, and revised for 2024)

Copyright © 2008-2024 Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, and/or each contributing author, as indicated. All rights reserved worldwide.
Each contributing author retains full copyright to their respective submission and has given permission for their work to be included in this publication. Some segments have been updated, edited, or expanded for inclusion in this work. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the prior written permission of the publisher and/or the contributing author. Exceptions are made for ‘brief’ excerpts used in published reviews.

Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, (if you purchased the e-pub version) you are authorized to download, and/or store, and/or print one, single copy for your personal use only. If you would like to share this work with your friends, please direct them to our www.SuccessPublications.ca, Amazon or Lightning Press/Ingram Spark websites to purchase their own personal copy.

Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this volume. The publisher will gladly receive information that will allow him to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions. bhooey@mcsnet.ca

Published by Success Publications

-division of Creativity Corner Inc.

Box 10, Egremont, AB T0A0Z0

www.SuccessPublications.ca

Author’s index

Once again, I’d like to express my gratitude for the wisdom shared by my amazing colleagues and friends.

Bridle, Paul

Bryant, Andrew

Ford, Chris

Gazin, Greg

Hooey, Bob

Kemp, Charlotte

Luna, Lloyd A.

Reinhart, John

Wilkinson, Neil

Abayasekara Dr. Dillip

Angelo, Stephanie

Aun, Michael A.

Barab, Anne

Brody, Marjorie

Calloway, Joe

Chandler, Steve

Cherry, Paul

Clemmer, Jim

Collie, Dale

Cooper, Donald

Cordeiro, Wayne

Ford, Chris

Gioia, Joyce L.

Glanz, Barbara A.

Goldsmith, Marshall

Haine, Marc

Hanke, Stacey

Heckler, Lou

Hollinger, Tom

Hooey, Bob
, Hooey, Bob
, Hooey, Bob
, Hooey, Bob

Iwersen, Steven

Katz, Patricia

Khozam, Barbara

Lapp, Janet

Larson, Sr., David A.
, Larson, Sr., David A.

LeBlanc, Mark

Lee, Wayne

Lopata, Andy

Manton, Jim

Maul, Linda

McDargh, Eileen

McGhee, Stephen

McKenna, Patrick J.
, McKenna, Patrick J.

Memone, Brahm

Michaels, Nancy

Neray, Michel

Ohlhauser, Larry

Ozols, Vilis

Paulson, Terry

Pennington, Randy G.

Qubein, Nido

Rice, Rochelle

Ridgley, Sid

Roush, Sheryl

Sanborn, Mark

Sherren, Joe

Tracy, Brian

Trout, Jack

Van Hooser, Phillip

Wakeman, Cy

What they say about Creative Lead, Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

As I travel across North America, and more recently around the globe, sharing my Ideas At Work! I am fortunate to get feedback and comments from my audiences and colleagues. These comments come from people who have been touched, challenged, or simply enjoyed themselves in one of my sessions or one of our publications. I’d love to come and share some ideas with your District or organization.

‘I’ve known Bob for several years and follow his activities in business with interest. I originally met Bob when he spoke for a Rotary Leadership Institute and got to know him better when he came to Vladivostok, Russia to speak to our leadership. When you spoke, I thought you were one of us because you talked about our challenges just like yours. You could understand the others, which makes you a great speaker!’

Andrey Konyushok, Rotary International District 2225 Governor 2012-2013, far eastern Russia

‘I still get comments from people about your presentation. Only a few speakers have left an impression that lasts that long. You hit a spot with the tourism people.’

Janet Bell, Yukon Economic Forums

‘Thank you, Bob; it is always a pleasure to see a true professional at work. You have made the name ‘Speaker’ stand out as a truism - someone who encourages people to examine their lives and make adjustments. The personal stories you shared with your audience made such a great impression on everyone. The comments indicated you hit people right where it is important - in their hearts. Each of those in your audience took away a new feeling of personal success and encouragement.’

Sherry Knight, Dimension Eleven Human Resources and Communications

‘I had the pleasure of hearing and watching Bob Hooey deliver a keynote speech several years ago when he gave a presentation at a Toastmasters International® Convention. Bob impressed me greatly with his professionalism, energy, and ability to connect with his audience while giving them value. I heartily recommend this talented speaker and ‘Idea Man’ to all who want to move to the next level.’

Dr. Dilip Abayasekara, DTM, Accredited Speaker, Past President, Toastmasters International®

‘Congratulations on the Spirit of CAPS Award. You have worked long and hard on behalf of CAPS …helped many speakers including me and richly deserve this award. Well done my friend.’

Peter Legge, CSP, Hof, CPAE

Engage Bob for your leaders and their teams

‘I have been so excited working with Bob Hooey, as he has given inspiration and motivation to our leadership team members. Both at the Brick Warehouse – Alberta and at Art Van Furniture – Michigan; with his years of experience in working with business executives and his humorous and delightful packaging of his material, he makes learning with Bob a real joy. But most importantly, anyone who encounters his material is the better for it.’

Kim Yost, former CEO Art Van Furniture & CEO The Brick (retired)

Motivate your teams, your employees, and your leaders to ‘productively’ grow and ‘profitably’ succeed!

Protect your conference investment - leverage your training dollars.

Enhance your professional career and sell more products and services.

Equip and motivate your leaders and their teams to grow and succeed, ‘even’ in tough times!

Leverage your time to enhance your skills, equip your teams, and better serve your clients.

Leverage your leadership and investment of time to leave a significant legacy!

Call today to engage author, award winning, inspirational leadership keynote speaker, leadership success coach, and employee development trainer, Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey and his innovative, audience based, results-focused, Ideas At Work! for your next company, convention, leadership, staff, training, or association event. You’ll be glad you did!

Bob had the privilege of creating the concept and drawing together 40 top leadership experts to contribute their wisdom in the creation of ‘In the Company of Leaders’. He would love to work with your team in creating a winning concept within your organization.

Call 1-780-736-0009 to connect with Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey today! Learn more about Bob at: www.ideaman.net

‘There is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.’ George Shin This is where the time you invest working with your individual team members pays amazing dividends.

Bob loves to travel…. Pictured here in Ephesus, Turkey

Connect with Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bob.hooey

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/canadianideamanbobhooey

YouTube: www.youtube.com/ideamanbob

Email: bhhooey@mcsnet.ca or bob@ideaman.net

Creative Office: 780-736-0009

Snail mail: PO Box 10, Egremont, AB T0A0Z0

Editor’s note: I have shared this poem with thousands of aspiring, emerging, and established leaders around the globe. I trust you will see and apply its wisdom as you continue to walk ‘In the Company of Leaders’.

We want to thank our guest experts for sharing their wisdom and leadership lessons.

Please share our download page with your fellow Toastmasters and help us get this 100th anniversary edition around the globe. Please share it with anyone you feel might benefit from being involved in Toastmasters.

www.Ideaman.net/COL2024.html

Notes

[←1]

Lopata, Andy. Just Ask, Why Seeking Support is Your Greatest Strength, Panoma Press (2020)

[←2]

‘Mitigating Malicious Envy: Why Successful Individuals Should Reveal Their Failures’, Brooks, A.W., Huang, K., Abi-Esber, N., Hall, B., Buell, R., & Huang, L., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2019

[←3]

McGee, Paul. S.U.M.O. (Shut Up, Move On), Capstone 10th Anniversary Edition (2015)

[←4]

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/andy-lopata

[←5]

Cohen, Claire. “I was Attacked by a 10ft Crocodile on my Gap Year – This is How I Survived”, The Telegraph, 23rd April 2022.