Exceptional Leadership Inspires the Best Effort in Others
There is a steady stream being written and taught about leadership these days. There are tips about leadership, courses about leadership, books, retreats, and continuing education ? all focused on leadership. While all of this material is useful and can certainly enhance one's leadership knowledge, for the most part it avoids asking and answering two questions:
1. Why does better leadership make a difference? , and
2. How does better leadership achieve those differences?
We all know we're "supposed" to work to be better leaders, but why does it matter, what impact does it have, and how does this all work?
Whenever I ask the "Why" question, the answers that come to the mind of most people are something like "better leadership creates more productivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty? you get the picture. But these responses bring us to the real question which is, "How does better leadership create those things? How does being a better leader lead to more productivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater job satisfaction, more loyalty?" It is the answers to these two questions which elevate us from simply learning and understanding better leadership principles to pursuing a course of action which transforms us and our leadership abilities into something that really makes a difference.
I often suggest that my clients use their own experience as their best example. Ask yourself when, during your career, you felt the most satisfied, most productive, proudest, most focused, and most committed. When we reflect back on those times, most of us would acknowledge that we didn't feel like we did because our "leader" had made a good decision, or that they had gone through "leadership training" (That term is in quotes because leaders need to be developed, not trained.), or that their leaders were efficient, met their goals, or had success in the past. No, typically we felt the way we did (satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and committed) because of what we did ? what we accomplished. It all comes back to us and how we felt. It's generally not about anything external ? it comes down to our emotions. The key to exceptional leadership, therefore, lies within our ability to relate effectively with people and their emotions.
Imagine if everyone at work felt satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and committed! What would the consequences be? The consequences would be that everyone would create greater productivity, higher profits, lower turnover, greater job satisfaction, and more loyalty! The key then, to better performance, is helping people feel more satisfied, productive, proud, focused, and committed. Notice the absence of any technical or intelligence issues? Notice that we've haven't brought up the idea of "motivating" people? We haven't touched on motivating people for one simple reason? people can't be motivated! Trying to motivate someone is analogous to physically trying to get them to do something they don't want to do. You won't succeed. What really works is when we're self-motivated ? when we do something because we want to. When we're inspired, we enjoy our work. We're productive and proud of our efforts. We remain focused and committed to the task at hand. In short, we put forth out best effort.
Exceptional leadership, therefore, is leadership that inspires people to give their best effort. Although, for a leader, being productive and having good time management skills are important and necessary, they are not sufficient. Having good judgment becomes increasingly important the higher in an organization we rise, however it too is insufficient for truly effective leadership. Exceptional leadership is about relating to people in such a way as to inspire them to give their best effort ? for themselves, their organization, their community, their family, and/or their world.
How is this accomplished? The foundation of exceptional leadership ? of inspiring others ? comprises thee areas - Effective Leadership Philosophies (for yourself and your organization), Effective Purpose, Mission and Values, and Effective People Skills.
* EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES
Leading by Example - Whether we acknowledge it or not, we always lead by example. In our words (what we say or don't say), in our actions (what we do or don't do), and in our expressions (what we show or don't show). The things we do and say, during moments of "apparent insignificance", make an impression on those around us.
Servant Leader Philosophies - In our leadership workshops, I'll ask participants who the most important person is to a company. The answer, of course, is the customer. The question that follows next is, "Who is the most important person in the company to that customer?" Most people get that the person most important to the customer is the one they come in contact with - the "frontline". The question that follows is the real key to a better understanding of servant leadership. This question is, "What, then, is the job of the manager of those frontline people?" The job of the managers of the frontline folks is to make their job as easy and as effective as possible so that the customer has the best experience possible! If this leadership philosophy is adopted throughout an organization, it ends up with an organizational chart that looks like an inverted pyramid. It is an organization that acknowledges the importance of the frontline and reflects the philosophy of service throughout.
* EFFECTIVE PURPOSE, MISSION AND VALUES
An organization which inspires the best effort in its people will attract the kind of employees it wants and needs, and will retain them. It has a Purpose, a Mission, and a set of Values that it lives by, it effectively communicates them, and it measures its actions and decisions against them.
- Purpose is the "WHY" of the equation. It defines why we do what we do. Each decision and policy should take the company closer to achieving its "WHY". When a company has a clearly defined purpose it begins to act as a magnet, attracting the kind of people who will further the purpose; people who are like-minded. Not only will having a purpose attract the right people, but it will also act to retain them.
- Mission is the "WHAT" of the equation. It defines what the company will be doing to achieve its Purpose. A mission can be fairly narrow or be somewhat broad. However, one that is too narrow can unduly restrict an organization from considering opportunities that would otherwise be an excellent fit and one that is too broad offers no guidance at all.
- Values are the "HOW" of the equation. Values define how the Mission will be carried out in an effort to achieve the Purpose. They define the "rules of the game". Some of them will come to mind quite easily, things like honesty, courtesy, kindness, and ethics. But some other important values will only surface when brainstorming takes place - when different perspectives and voices are heard.
* EFFECTIVE PEOPLE SKILLS
I'll often ask clients or workshop attendees for the traits of the best boss they ever had and the traits of the worst boss. Inevitably, I'll get answers like: (Best) respected my ideas, worked to develop me, challenged me, listened, empowered me and let me make my own mistakes,? and (Worst) micro-managed, was overly demanding, poor communicator, mistrustful, ? What's interesting is that in no case were the technical skills or the intelligence of a boss either praised or condemned. All the notable traits, both good and bad, had to do with people skills. The goal of effective people skills is good Relationship Management. Relationship Management encompasses the ability to develop others, inspire others, influence others, resolve conflict, and build teamwork and collaboration.
CONCLUSION
The essence of exceptional leadership is the ability to inspire the best effort in others. When people choose to give their best effort, satisfaction increases, pride develops, innovation is born, productivity improves, stability prevails, and profitability increases. The keys to a highly performing organization are creating an inspiring environment and personally becoming an effective leader. We can create an inspiring environment by adopting effective leadership philosophies and clarifying a Purpose, Mission and set of Values. We can personally become a more effective leader by honing and acquiring effective people skills. Become a leader who inspires the best effort in others.
Written by Michael Beck, President of Exceptional Leadership, Inc., a leadership development and executive coaching firm dedicated to creating exceptional leadership for higher profits and greater job satisfaction. Michael can be reached at 877-977-8956 or mbeck@XLeaders.com, and you can learn more about the company and these ideas at http://www.XLeaders.com.
 Google News Updated : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:13:38 GMT IAC Officially Breaks Up - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By DAVID BENOIT and KATHY SHWIFF IAC is left as a collection of more than 35 Internet companies -- including search engine Ask.com, dating site Match. IAC: And Then There Were Five Diller's IAC Split May Fail to Boost Investor Returns (Update2) Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:17:40 GMT Hillary Clinton's Staff Looking to Avoid Embarrassing Anti-Obama ... - FOXNews
FOXNews - Hillary Clinton's staff is trying to avoid an embarrassing anti-Obama demonstration by her supporters during the floor vote at next week's Democratic convention in Denver. Clinton Will Attend Fund-Raiser for Towns Clinton for VP? She Says Ask the Obama Campaign Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:15:16 GMT Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco - Sports Network
Sports Network - San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marlins reliever Kevin Gregg's wild pitch in bottom of the ninth inning scored Emmanuel Burriss to send San Francisco past Florida, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series. Giants walk off on Gregg's wild pitch Giants beat Marlins on wild pitch in 9th inning Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:33:45 GMT UPDATE 1-Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ad campaign--source - Reuters Reuters - By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in a $300 million marketing campaign for Microsoft Corp aimed at burnishing the image of its computer operating system, a person familiar with the effort said on Thursday ... Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates to star in anti-Apple ads Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:27:28 GMT My Super Sweet 16: The Miley Cyrus Edition - E! Online
E! Online - Miley Cyrus is about to show up all those spoiled brats on My Super Sweet 16 who think they're cool being flown to their party by helicopter or when they're carried in like a princess by a group of hot dudes. Miley Cyrus to Celebrate Turning 16 at Disneyland Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:21:48 GMT GM to Invest $500 Million To Build Chevy Cruze - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By KATHY SHWIFF General Motors Corp. will spend more than $500 million in the US to build the Chevrolet Cruze, a next-generation compact car. GM announces $500M investment for small car GM to invest $500 million in small car plant Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:12 GMT Microsoft's Photosynth wilts under pressure - Computerworld
Computerworld - By Gregg Keizer August 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Within hours of its launch, Microsoft Corp.'s new photo-stitching service went dark, overwhelmed by demand, the company said Thursday afternoon. New Microsoft photo site spends first day offline New Microsoft Tech Converts Photo Soup Into 3-D Image Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:28:59 GMT RSS For Web Pages |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... (Excerpted from the Jim Rohn Sampler single CD)My first mentor,... Read More In Part One, I described the importance of establishing deep,... Read More We pay a high price for perfectionism. "What perfectionism?" we... Read More As someone who teaches, manages, parents or influences you'll probably... Read More He grew up in Brooklyn, the son of an ex-con... Read More 10 Ways to Beef Up Your Leadership SkillsHave you ever... Read More The Lakota tribe of Native Americans has no word in... Read More Delegating is a commonly misunderstood concept. Delegating is not about... Read More Recently I attended Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience training. This... Read More Your word is your truth - Know that when you... Read More A willingness to change first is one of the major... Read More I just delivered a free speech. I am a great... Read More Master The Five Key Facets of High Performance LeadershipMany people... Read More J. Paul Getty planned to enter the U.S. Diplomatic Service,... Read More When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to... Read More When we perceive the simple center in the seemingly complex,... Read More Mentoring is one of the best ways to learn, to... Read More It's been said many times that true leadership is measured... Read More President Ike Eisenhower once demonstrated the difference between leadership and... Read More For many of us, asking for help is a difficult... Read More How do you measure the success of a training or... Read More "How you think determines how you act. How you... Read More How do you get your people on your side? And... Read More Those that have successfully made the transition from manager to... Read More No matter what role you play in your company, becoming... Read More
Adsense
websites
Mr. Shoaffs Simple Strategies to Success
The Defining Moment: The Straw That Stirs The Drink Of Motivational Leadership (Part Two)
Leadership Skills: Four Ways of Overcoming Perfectionism
Are You The Most Powerful Leader You Can Be?
Wisdom From The Rock
Leadership Skills - 10 Ways to Beef Up
Quality Leadership
Give Your Valentine A Very Special Gift - Empowerment
Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience
Are You a Good Manager or a Great Leader?
Leadership Training: The Bit They Didn?t Tell You About Changing!
The Happy Jar
Lead People...Manage Things
What We Can Learn From J. Paul Getty
Common Mistakes Extraordinary Leaders Dont Make
A Whack Up Long Side The Head Of Human Resources: The Leadership Imperative
Make the Most of Your Mentoring Relationships
Leadership - Connect to Engage!
Are You a Leader or a Manager?
Asking for Help
The Seven Mistakes to Avoid when Organising Your Student Leadership Program
People or Objects? - - You Decide
Getting Things Done, Without the Sweat!
8 Questions to Ask if You Want to be a Better Leader
Effective Listening Equals Effective Leadership: Learn How!
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
In Leadership, The Eight Ways Of Right Action (Part 2)
In Part 1, I said that leaders who can't have... Read More
8 Questions to Ask if You Want to be a Better Leader
Those that have successfully made the transition from manager to... Read More
Business Leadership: How Much is in Your Credibility Bank Account?
Business leaders have more than a title on their doors.... Read More
The Best Ways To Multiply The Extraordinary Leadership in Your Organization
Extraordinary Leaders are those who understand that in order for... Read More
To be, or Not to be (Average)?
When is hate OK? When it's the feeling you have... Read More
Character Traits of Extraordinary Leaders
When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to... Read More
Leadership
Webster's defines leadership as : "1. the office of position... Read More
5 Leadership Power Principles!
95% of Workers Fail Because of This...But They Can Fix... Read More
Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 1, General Strategies for Unproductive Behavior
It happens easily. You're conducting a meeting and suddenly a... Read More
The Seven Secrets to New Age Leadership
Did you ever notice that In our American culture, we... Read More
Building Future Leaders
As a whole we spend a lot of time filling... Read More
Ten Ways Women Can Visualize Themselves As Leaders
Women should not be afraid of or feel guilty about... Read More
3 Dynamic Techniques To Boost Your Executive Leadership!
Here's a really simple way to measure the strength of... Read More
Who Needs Heroes?
When we were talking the other day we started to... Read More
Leadership Activity: How Leadership Agenda, Strategy, and Behaviors Shape Your Success!
"Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether... Read More
What Does Exceptional Business Success Require of Us?
To excel in business we need conscious command of all... Read More
Transformational Leadership
"What is leadership?" When this question is asked most of... Read More
The Happy Jar
I just delivered a free speech. I am a great... Read More
Leaders ARE; Are you?
Identity CrisisIt's not only the knowledge you carry around in... Read More
Wisdom From The Rock
He grew up in Brooklyn, the son of an ex-con... Read More
Learn How to Lead People
"Who rules or guides or inspires others"Having excellent guide skills... Read More
Leadership Training Seminar - What Makes A Great Leader?
At one point or another, we have all been either... Read More
Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain!
As the 'Great And Powerful Oz' once said to Dorothy,... Read More
What Kind of Leader Are You?
There are literally millions of words written and spoken each... Read More
Abe Lincoln: An Extraordinary Leader
Perhaps noted as one of the greatest United States presidents... Read More
Leadership |