It may seem like a redundant question, but can you lead yourself or is that exclusively the privilege of another? Leadership tools are usually wielded on others but if you chose to use them on yourself which 3 would make the top of your list? Here are mine…
Category: Leadership Development
Make them eat Alfalfa
Good ranchers know that their livestock cannot survive on Hay alone and must eat other forms of nutrients like Alfalfa, to keep them healthy. Leadership is similar in that from time to time Leaders must bring their team to a particular field to grow.
I am afraid I will get lost.
Exploration and discovery are not an option when the traveler has concern about finding their way back home. Confidence and familiarity in my surroundings leads to the courage to risk and to discover.
When you lead, do people follow or obey?
The answer to this question is more telling about your leadership than you might suspect. Not only does the question separate inspiration from instruction but it equips the leader to see which form of leadership produces the best results.
NO! Leaders cannot be Magicians.
Magic is the craft of illusion made to look like reality. Sell illusion and there is no substance. Sell reality and it lacks the magic. So where does that leave us as leaders?
How to Lead when you are Empty.
Ever had it happen where you just plain ‘run out’? Oh it’s one thing to run out of ideas, but it is completely another when the faith, motivation or determination that brought you here in the first place, seems to be fading. Then what?
Expectations - the fertilizer for productivity.
Brad Anderson, recently retired President of Best Buy said: “My suspicion is that expectations have a huge impact on the kind of contribution people actually do make.” (http://www.marketnews.ca/LatestNewsHeadlines/BestBuyCEOtoRetire;BrianDunnNamedSuccessor.html)
Are you leading with Rules or Standards?
I attend a gym near my home and as a World Swimming record holder I am glad it has a swimming pool in it. Inside the men’s locker room is a suit dryer. This particular suit dryer at my gym is an exercise in Leadership just waiting to happen. It is a small 2X1X1ft box with a stainless steel drum in it that spins 80% of the water out of a swim suit. Simply drop the wet suit in the top, close the lid & press on it firmly for 5-8 seconds and release. The suit emerges much drier – it is a very handy tool.
What I expect seems to dictate my capacity.
Lately I have been exploring the relationship between expectation and capacity. Capacity to produce and capacity to receive. It seems one predestines the other.
Identity based Leadership. Who you are leads to what you do.
When people truly understand who they are, they will also uncover their talents, abilities and Strengths. By simply allowing who they are to assist in guiding what they accomplish, Leaders will enjoy a level of engagement and productivity from their people they have never seen before.
Research shows that when people are actively engaged with who they are and they incorporate those abilities in their everyday activity – productivity and contribution goes up 2 to 8 times. Not up by 25% or even 50%, but by 200% to 800%. That’s doing more with less.