Make Business Decisions Quickly

Now I am not saying that as a business leader you should be rash about decisions, however as Jason Jennings and Luarence Haughton say in the title of their book "It's not the BIG that eat the SMALL, its the FAST that eat the SLOW"

Leadership is about making decisions...understanding what are the decisions that need to be made, asking the right questions to find the best answer, understanding what decisions you need to make and what decisions your teams need to make..

Meetings can be such a blocker to speedy decision making, they also can harm the overall decision by diluting the answer to appease people. Successful companies find a way of making speedy decisions, well assessed yes, but knowing that there will always be an element of risk. If there is no risk then you are probably not leading you are following other leaders or companies.

As a modern leader, time is of the essence....as the authors continue

"The fast thinker has a good memory, learns from previous experiences and always learns from failure including the unexpected failures that occasionally take place"

A Thought on Leadership

I was at a conference last week and someone said

"Remember, well behaved people seldom make history"

It made me smile - I am not encouraging bad behaviour! - but I love the idea that conformity does not necessarily bring success. When you think of businesses, or successful leaders, they have that ability to play within boundaries however to think differently. To think how could we make this successful, what if we did this......etc and not find reasons or problems that would stop progression.

So today...see if you can make history..see if you can behave as someone who wants to make history!

A Thought on Arguments from De Bono

This year I was lucky enough to hear a speech from Edward De Bono. He talked about how argument is a primitive tool and asked us to think as business leaders of changing our thoughts during a discussion.

He talked about how in an argument we concentrate on the 5-10% that we disagree upon and not the 90-95% upon which we do agree....

If there is one thing that we could do as leaders is play angels advocate......instead of looking for what we disagree upon lets look at the shared agreements...a wonderful thought.

Crisis? What crisis?

I love the Chinese symbol for crisis - it combines the characters for danger and opportunity. For me that beautifully describes a crisis. The danger is that you treat it as a MASSIVE problem and worry about what is going to happen. The opportunity is that you see it as a MASSIVE chance to show your strengths as a leader and learn a huge amount about yourself and those around you.

So when faced with a crisis...ask how can you turn these events into an opportunity...

Carnival of Leadership Development

Welcome to the November 22, 2007 edition of carnival of leadership development.

Ivan Rios presents 9 Things To Do In The First 100 Days posted at artofleading.net.

Anna presents Behave Yes...Conform Never! posted at The Engaging Brand

Ivan Rios presents Why Leaders Break Rules That Need To Be Broken posted at artofleading.net.

Jeremy Neal presents Thoughts on Quotes: Leaders Make Leaders - Creative Thoughts - Famous Quotes posted at Thoughts on Quotes, saying, "The function of leadership is to produce more leaders. Leaders make leaders, otherwise they are just managing to get by."

David Kam presents Bad Chief Officers, The Downfall of Many Companies | Marketing and Business Strategy - MarketingDeviant.com posted at MarketingDeviant.com.

Michelle Cramer presents Learning From Experienced Entrepreneurs posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, "We all have regrets - it’s just a fact of life. But we learn from those experiences, much like the flourishing entrepreneurs interviewed in Entrepreneur.com’s article "If They Could Turn Back Time." Their feedback reveals important steps that everyone starting their own business should know."

The Career Counselor presents Four Ways to Recognize an Office Liar posted at ask the CareerCounselor, saying, "Tips and tricks to help managers and other leaders see through office fibs and lies."

Mike Buckley presents Motivation posted at Mine Your Own Business.

Sagar presents How to: ?Fire? Your Bad Clients, Make More Money and Restore Your Sanity posted at Bootstrapper.

Matthew Paulson presents Eight Tactics That Will Help You Win Any Negotiation posted at American Entrepreneurship.

Tupelo Kenyon presents Inspire Yourself on Purpose – Inspiration from Inside Out posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Here are twelve common sense reminders on how to inspire yourself. The word “inspire” derives from root words that mean “in spirit” or “spirit within.” Although there’s always another step to take, these points are a natural result of recognizing and identifying with this realization of who we really are. "
Jeremy Neal presents The Hard Work of Genius posted at Thoughts on Quotes, saying, "A strong work ethic combined with the ability to focus, and exhibit leadership courage, can make people of average intelligence appear to be geniuses."
Gavin Ingham presents What’s your Si (Sales Intensity) rating? posted at Gavin Ingham.

Carol Bentley presents Here’s 8 elements for a powerful sales letter. . . posted at Here’s 8 elements for a powerful sales letter. . ..

Alex Marlin presents Stress Is Rampant In Our Community posted at Life Improvement Tips For Thin and Small People, saying, "Very nice article that deals with stress related issues, like how to avoid stress and simple signs for spotting stress."
GreatManagement presents How To Be An Effective Public Speaker posted at The GreatManagement Blog.

Sagar presents Top 100 Entrepreneur Podcasts posted at Bootstrapper.

Edith presents How to Find Your Greatness (Inspired by Barbara DeAngelis) posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Alvaro Fernandez presents Emotional Intelligence and Faces posted at SharpBrains, saying, "What do our faces say?"

David B. Bohl presents Driven to Succeed, Prisoner of Success, Workaholic, or Someone Who Can?t Say ?No?? posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, "As you contemplate the number of hours you’ll be spending on your work in the months ahead, do you dread the thought? Will you have a mountain of work to do, yet still take on more with a smile (maybe forced) on your face? Will people be pulling you in every direction?"
Ralph Jean-Paul presents Meet 7 People in 7 Days posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, "Looking for new clients and business contacts? There are 6.7 trillion people in the world. How many of them do you know? Meet a new person for business or social advancement each day this week."

Michelle Cramer presents Communicating Competence posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, "Though your personality has a lot to do with it, people often judge by what they see first rather than what they hear. So it’s important that you portray competence in your business industry not only in your knowledge and performance, but also in how you convey yourself."

Marco Richter presents Be Flexible posted at Work From Home Concepts.

Jason Jacobsohn presents 15 Questions to Evaluate Your Networking Committment posted at Networking Insight.

Wanda Grindstaff presents Success Through Service, the Most Important Component! posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

GreatManagement presents Great Inspiration Articles 19 Nov 2007 posted at The GreatManagement Blog

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of leadership development using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Having a long term view

With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, you can lose focus on the long term aim of your work. Not just the financial targets but the real purpose behind your work.

Here is a story to inspire you to think about the long term.

1)Henry Ford's first company lasted only a year because the shareholders saw it as a money making concern.
2)Henry Ford left his second company after just 18 months because he believed that the board's desire for profit bred a fear of failure.
3) In the 3rd company Henry Ford sacked a backer to follow his dream democratising the motor car.
4) It took him 9 years to get the production cost down to $345 and saw sales of 730,000 a year.

The great leaders in history of all had a strong sense of purpose, a reason for being...not just the money. The money comes when you start producing against the vision. Think Google, think Microsoft...their dreams were higher than money...and yet 2 of the most profitable companies in modern history.

What is your purpose?

Creating a moral purpose

Sam Walton, founder of Wal Mart, didn't want to just create a pocket full of money, his mission was "giving customers a good deal". As a leader having a higher mission can help your personal success. Maybe "giving colleagues a great career" would be a fabulous place to start.

Look for beauty not faults

There is beauty all around us, and often we don't see it here is a chinese proverb

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

How much beauty do you create and not even know it?

Humility and Humour for Leadership Development

With all the stress and strain of everyday life, you can easily lose a sense of humour and a sense of reality. Well, remember Rule 6 as described by Omar Khan in Timeless Leadership.

Two world leaders were sitting in Conference. The host leader saw one of his staff fretting and fuming. He looked and said "Remember Rule 6". The staff member relaxed and moved on. The other world leader was intrigued. Then a few minutes later a Cabinet minister came in highly vexed, again the host said "Remember rule 6" the minister chucked and relaxed.

The other world leader then asked "What is this miracle rule?" The host said "DTYSBS - Don't take yourself so bloody seriously! The rule is to remind us that we are all human, what we're worrying about today we probably won't even remember in six months and the best way to engage our creativity to deal with the situation is to disengage our ego!"

The other leader said "And what are the other rules?" The host turned and said "Oh we haven't made those up yet!"

Emotional intelligence is a key part of management and leadership. Understanding the need for self control and also humility is a key part of being successful.

Carnival of Management Tips

Welcome to the January 4, 2007 edition of carnival of management tips.

Shamelle presents Who Borrowed Your Time Today? posted at Enhance Life.

Anna presents Compromise is not an Option posted at The Engaging Brand.

Phil B. presents Etiquette to Reading and Replying to Emails « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity.

David Maister presents Rights and Obligations posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Praveen presents Financial and Branding Lessons from Tyra Banks posted at My Simple Trading System.

Charles H. Green presents Trust on the Amtrak posted at Trust Matters,

Leon Gettler presents Coke and diversity: how to manage differences posted at Sox First,

Paul presents Increasing your hourly rate in order to get rich posted at Paul, saying, "When it comes to making more money, a lot of people think about working harder or working more. They equate the amount of money you get out with the amount of effort you put in. But this isn't really the case."

John E. West presents Leaders are made, not born posted at The Only Trait of a Leader.

Brandon Peele presents The Economics of Self-Awareness posted at GT.

David Maister presents We Succeed When We All Succeed posted at Passion, People and Principles,

Charles H. Green presents Tips, Tricks and Trust posted at Trust Matters,

Debra Moorhead presents How to Write Your New Year’s Resolutions posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

David Maister presents The Hardest Working Leader in Show Business? posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Vihar Sheth presents Responsible MBAs posted at Vihar Sheth.

Jack Yoest presents What Is The Best Predictor of Successful Leadership? posted at Reasoned Audacity,

Murad Ali presents Product’s Life Cycle: How Long You Have to Sell posted at The New Marketing World.

Murad Ali presents Theory of X and Y: Motivating your Employees. posted at The New Business World.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.