Carnival of Leadership Development

To succeed in business management we need to have a constant learning mentality. So each fortnight, I bring together articles to help with your leadership development - hope they help to inspire your mind.

Anna presents Do you see your business as human at The Engaging Brand

Ed Rivis presents Powerful Marketing Tactic. posted at Ed Rivis.

Jay M presents Role of entrepreneurship in conceptual economy posted at 4 entrepreneur, saying, "What is the role of entrepreneurship in conceptual economy?"

James D. Brausch presents Turn Off The Tube & Turn On Your Business posted at Internet Business Blog.

Cindy King presents Consistency For International Business Success posted at Get International Clients.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Fitness/ Training Newsletter: January Wrap-Up posted at SharpBrains, saying, "How can we Maintain our Brains in top shape? Here goes a selection of articles on cognitive and emotional training."

TherapyDoc presents What Faking it Til You Make It Really Means posted at Everyone Needs Therapy, saying, "You can't be a leader unless you can bring out that hero."

Adam Pieniazek presents Ray Anderson: Personal, Corporate, Societal Leader | Adam Pieniazek posted at Adam Pieniazek.

CMOE presents Executive Leadership Development: Choosing the Right Leader posted at Teamwork, saying, "This is a great article that talks about how to chose the right leaders."

Amy S Quinn presents 17 Ways to Stop Being a Perfectionist and Get More Done posted at Bootstrapper.

Karl Goldfield presents Coaching sales champions: Building a plan part 6c – Execution - Prospects – Climbing the mountain posted at Coaching sales champions.

Mark Riffey presents Righting a wrong: How business owners show they give a rip. posted at Business is Personal.

Galba Bright presents Tune up your EQ : The Most Important Thing Productivity Experts Don’t Teach You About Success posted at Tune Up Your EQ.

Sagar presents The HR Bible: 100 Articles Every Human Resources Pro Should Read posted at Bootstrapper.

GreatManagement presents As A New Manager, Don’t Spend 57% of your Time Dealing With Difficult Staff posted at The GreatManagement Blog, saying, "The majority of new managers waste around 57% of their time dealing with difficult staff? Why?"

James Feudo presents Leadership – How to get experience posted at Overnight Sensation, saying, "Getting leadership experience when you're not in a formal role at your current job can be difficult. Here are some tips for geting this experience outside of work."

Bruce Kuykendall presents The Leadership Compass posted at brucisms.com.

Derrick Markotter presents Time For A Change posted at Online Business Blog.

Wally Bock presents What do you do with the rest of your leaders? posted at Three Star Leadership Blog, saying, "There are lots of leaders who are important to your business but who aren't "high potential." How you develop and support them has a lot to do with your long term profitability and competitive advantage."

Warren Wong presents What Commiting To Something Means And Why You Should Do It posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "Here are good reasons why you shouldn't be afraid of commitment."

Rich Vosler presents How to get more belief in yourself posted at Sales Training Tips.

Raj Sheelvant presents Managing Complexity due to Globalization posted at IT Strategy, saying, "Leadership challenge to manage complexity due to globalization"

Dan McCarthy presents New Leader Integration Process posted at Great Leadership.

American Entrepreneur presents The Benefits of Management By Walking Around (MBWO) posted at American Small Business News.

John W. Furst presents Can One Share Overmuch? posted at E-Biz Booster Blog, saying, "Ever being ripped off? You had the idea, but someone else stole it! What's the right balance between sharing and keeping your secrets in today's attention age. Information age was yesterday, but that is a different story."

CMOE presents “Whack -a -Mole” Management posted at Teamwork, saying, "This is a great story about different manager styles. It gives a few great tips on how to be a good leader."

Leon Gettler presents New global management rules posted at Sox First, saying, "Why is it that certain methods like pay for performance fail to catch on in all countries? Why is that cross-border mergers, like the DaimlerChrysler "marriage of equals" , fall in a screaming heap? The global economy is challenging claims of business schools that there is only one way to manage."
Al presents How to Make People Follow You posted at 7P Productions, saying, "You want people to follow you? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way anymore. Instead, do you want to share a new dream, a new vision of a better world for others to pursue with you? OK, now you’re talking."
Jim Logan presents The importance of customer loyalty and its three element foundation posted at Accelerate Business Group, saying, "It's hard to disagree customer loyalty isn't a strategic success factor for most businesses. So, what makes a customer loyal?"
Joe Hungler presents Orientation-Start with the End in Mind posted at Uncle Joe's Leadership Blog, saying, "We spend a lot of time recruiting the right staff people-but not enough time making sure that they get off to a good start. How can we best position our new hires to succeed and hit the ground running?"
Mindful One presents Why Goal Setting Really Works posted at Mindful Source.

Adrian presents 5 Easy Ways to Fake Your Personality posted at Path to Your Destiny, saying, "Sometimes when we need to lead a group of people, we feel as if we don't have the greatest personality to be most effective. This post goes into five ways to fake your personality and make you more charismatic and likable, for those times when you don't feel quite that way. Enjoy!"

Louise Manning presents The mandate for leadership posted at The Human Imprint.

Alan K Rudi presents Dealing with Difficult People Tactfully | Successful Business Leadership posted at Successful Business Leadership, saying, "Communicating, especially with "difficult" people, is crucial to developing leadership skills."

Joe Hungler presents Employee Engagement and Retention posted at Uncle Joe's Leadership Blog, saying, "A major part of leading is listening. We can't lead our employees until they are engaged. Check out the survey that we use to measure retention and other indicators."

DotLobby presents Neurolinguistic Programming 101 - Rediscover Yourself! posted at DotNLP, saying, "Neuro, meaning mind, and linguistic, meaning language, combine to make NLP one of the most powerful techniques to change the way you see yourself and your world..."

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.

Carnival of Leadership Development

Welcome to the December 3, 2007 edition of carnival of leadership development.

Anna presents 10 Inspiring Thoughts on Leadership posted at The Engaging Brand

Stanimir Sotirov presents Motivation:Become a Leader posted at All About Your Body And Spirit, saying, "Learn how to become a leader the right way,not being the boss that everyone hates!"

Louise Manning presents Two visionary men posted at The Human Imprint.

Warren Wong presents How To Win Someone?s Heart posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "Do you want to win someone's heart and gain their trust and loyalty? Here are some tips on how to go about doing it."

gamy presents Self Improvement Starts With Making Decisions posted at Mind Think Success, saying, "To have a positive change in your life, you have to decide you want a positive change, and this in itself is making a decision."

Terry Dean presents 80/20 Rule In Time Management posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

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

Miami Phillips presents How Often Do You Change? posted at Miami Phillips - About Happiness.

Lodewijk van den Broek presents Does your (personal) leadership suck? | How to be an Original posted at How to be an Original.

GreatManagement presents The Rest Of The Company Does What? posted at The GreatManagement Blog, saying, "If you were to join the James Dyson Company, within your first week, if not first day, you will build a vacuum cleaner. This is whether you are an accountant, call centre operator and or any other job at Dyson’s."

Gavin Meikle presents It’s The Audience Stupid! | Reluctant Presenter's Guide posted at The Reluctant Presenters Guide, saying, "An interesting article on preparing for successful presentations and speeches"

David Kam presents Psychological Effect of 99-Cent posted at MarketingDeviant.com.

Matthew Spears presents Breaking through the chains of identity posted at Loving Awareness, saying, "Having a strong identity is greatly emphasized in this culture. We have expectation upon expectation placed upon us. This article explores what identities are, how they're limiting, and gives an exercise on how to move beyond some limitations."

Thomas D. Brownsword presents Where I Am, Where I Am Going, And How I Will Get There posted at Business Action Steps.

Dan McCarthy presents The Worst Leaders Of All Time posted at Great Leadership.

David B. Bohl presents Is it Time to Turn up the Heat in Your Life? posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, "The inspirational message contained in the clip is that one extra degree of effort, in business and life, can separate the good from the great. The premise is a great one."

Andrew presents How to Become Great in any Field - Success Secrets Revealed posted at Personal Hack

Ivan Rios presents How to Win Negotiations By Seeking Differences posted at artofleading.net.

Raj Sheelvant presents Bottom up Management posted at IT Strategy, saying, "HCL Technologies, an Indian Info tech company is taking a unique approach to hold its management accountable."

Jay Gordon Cone presents Why Meet? posted at Interaction Associates - Thought leadership and practical tools for collaboration., saying, "According to Workforce.com, about 50% of leaders say the meetings they attend are not productive. What's a leader to do?"

Yazan Manasrah presents Uncluttering your mind posted at The Blasted Crossing, saying, "Want to find out how to gain the focus and mental energy to accomplish the daily tasks you must do?"

Dominic Tay presents Adopt a New Job: Entrepreneur for People posted at Personal Development Blog for Winners, saying, "Winners in life basically understand how critical it is to pursue personal development and become an entrepreneur for people. This entrepreneur is someone who knows how to take in control of his personality, knows his limitations and weaknesses."

Jeremy Neal presents You Are a History Maker posted at Thoughts on Quotes, saying, "There are many things for a which a generation of people may be known a hundred or thousand years from now, and you may be one of the few whose names are carried through to the future."

Moneywalks presents Road to Success: Setting your Goals posted at moneywalks.

The Career Counselor presents Seven Strategies for Coping with Personal Problems While at Work posted at ask the CareerCounselor

GreatManagement presents Successful Managers Share Information! posted at The GreatManagement Blog, saying, "We can share lots of different things with others, such as material things, money and time, but one of the easiest and most useful things we can share are thoughts and ideas."

Alvaro Fernandez presents Robert Emmons on the Positive Psychology of Gratitude posted at SharpBrains, saying, "can we enhance our happiness and health by nurturing gratitude?"

Michelle Cramer presents How Accessible are You? posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, "Customer service is a key element in the success of your business. That’s not news to anyone. But a crucial element of customer service, that business owners often overlook, is being readily accessible to your clientèle."

Alvaro Fernandez presents Cognitive Fitness, The Future of Work, and Concept Maps posted at SharpBrains, saying, "What the future may bring to enhance our productivity."

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.

What is Your Nascar?

When IDEO wanted to redesign an operating room, it found insights from the NASCAR team. The way that the team worked together safely and quickly, despite the time constraints.

Too often managers think that they have to come up with the solution...not so, what you have to do is recognise the problem, or even better the potential problem, and search for a solution. That search should not be limited to you, to your team. Look outside to other departments within your firm and also other firms that face similar issues...what is your NASCAR?

Carnival of Leadership Development

Here is this weekends carnival of leadership development - I hope you find it inspires you to reach that potential that is inside of you.

John Wesley presents 8 Moves to Make When the Chips Are Down posted at Pick the Brain.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Training Games and "Games" posted at SharpBrains, saying, "Explaining how to navigate through the growing number of "brain training" claims."

Phil B. presents 13 Steps to be Productive « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "Ever wonder why some people are so productive all of the time while other people never accomplish anything?"

Charles H. Green presents The Dark Side of Trust? Not! posted at Trust Matters, saying, "Harvard claims the key to trust is micromanagement, but real leaders know the key to trusting relationships is letting go enough to let trust flourish."

Jason Rakowski presents Building Relationships In Business - Why It?s So Important posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "There are several different types of relationships that a business owner should be trying to obtain. This article will take a look at three of them that I feel are a must have!"

Chris Russell presents Employee Retention Through Talent Management - What Does It Take To Retain Employees? posted at Productivity Planner, saying, "Companies with high employee turnover rates are losing valuable resources in addition to money. It costs a good bit of money to advertise to fill positions; interview potential employees; and train new employees. This can be particularly expensive if the high turnover rate is for middle or high level positions. Many companies and organizations are embracing HR talent management programs that evaluate the issues of employee retention."

Dr Martin W. Russell presents The Key Life Principle? posted at Dr Martin W. Russell.

Ralph Jean-Paul presents Be A Presence In Any Room posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, "All leaders are confident and the great ones have a presence. Learn how to walk into any room and project the qualities of a great leader."

Kevin Bedell presents What's the best question to ask? posted at 21st Century Citizen.

Phil B. presents The Right and Wrong Ways to Boost Morale « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "I think morale has reached an all time low where I currently work, and I would guess that the same is true where you work too."

Nithya Powlin presents How to Get Your Stuck Projects Unstuck posted at Never Another Job.

Charles H. Green presents It's a Dog Eat Dog World, Isn't It? posted at Trust Matters, saying, "In an emerging business world that throws everyone together in constantly permutating ways, that old competitive nature we prized decades ago is becoming a bit of a millstone."

Karl Goldfield presents Building a plan Part 3: Hunters, Gatherers, Communicators, and Collaborators posted at Coaching sales champions.

Rolf F. Katzenberger presents Successful meetings, or: The Great Commandment of Communication posted at Evomend | Timeless resources for personal organization., saying, "You've completed the room reservation in time. You've arranged for coffee and beverages. You've set up the agenda and mailed it in advance to all participants. All feedback has been incorporated, of course. All flip chart supports are loaded with fresh pads of paper. Then the meeting begins. Discussion starts. After a while, you feel like you'd rather be amidst a bunch of howler monkeys during their mating season. Why isn't anybody listening?"

Ben Yoskovitz presents The 4 Immutable Laws of Giving Great Proposals posted at Instigator Blog.

Warren Wong presents Be A Good Manager By Letting People Learn And Grow posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "Information on the common mistakes an new manager makes and tips on how to be a good manager."

Tupelo Kenyon presents Integrity Through Self-Reliance posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "When you live your life as if the whisperings from your soul really matter, you are living life in your own way, on your own terms, based on your own realizations on what is right . . . what is good . . . and what is true for you. You are tuned into your own station. The signal you are receiving and the message you are broadcasting with the story of your life are both on the same frequency. You are joyfully and gratefully choosing your favorites from the buffet of life. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)"

Laura presents Top 20 Facebook Apps for Entrepreneurs posted at Online University Lowdown.

Luke Houghton presents 5 ways to think strategically posted at Luke Houghton, saying, "Being a leader means being able to see the bigger picture view of what's happening. This article outlines 5 creative ways to see the bigger picture."

Ant presents 5 Ways To Not Get Your Point Across posted at The Beef Jerky Blog.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Fitness Program 2.0, MindFit, and much more on Brain Training posted at SharpBrains, saying, "Review and commentary on several New York Times articles related to "brain training""

Samir Bharadwaj presents 5+1 Simple Ideas For Brainstorming With A Dictionary posted at SamirBharadwaj.com, saying, "The currency of entrepreneurship is ideas. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you don't always have the luxury of brainstorming for new ideas in a group. So, here are some tips for coming up with ideas all by your lonesome, with a little help from your humble dictionary."

David B. Bohl presents Fulfillment and Leadership : Slow Down Fast Today! posted at Slow Down Fast Today!.

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.

Speed - What pace is your business?

Pace is important and it is a balance...too slow and your talent gets frustrated as do your customers...too quick and it can confuse.

I would say it is a safe bet that you work in a company that could increase it's pace...you do that through focusing on the 3 core ideas of the company. No other distractions. Focus on the 3 goals, translate for each team and individual and then work together to make it happen.

A little tale to finish
"A snail was once crossing a road for seven years. Just as the snail got across the road a tree fell and missed the small snail by about an inch or two. "Just think", said the snail, "If I had been where I was six months before, the tree would have killed me. See how it pays to be fast!"

Are you kidding yourself in your team? Nothing will ever be perfect...try it, get it out there and then tweak...learn from the beta idea of software companies and take that into your workplace.

Management by Michaelangelo

There are many people who enter management thinking great, the end of doing all the boring, mundane jobs. Then they realise how hard management is, and they wonder why they ever aspired to being a manager. Well Michaelangelo has the answer...

When asked by a young boy why he was hitting a large piece of rock with his hammer and chisel replied, " Because there's an angel inside and I'm helping him to escape"

When you are next faced with the round of weekly coaching sessions, performance appraisals, recruitment...just remember what a creative, inspiring role you have...you are allowing the angel inside to escape....

Podcasts to Inspire the Mind

Podcasting is a fantastic tool and one which I had known about earlier. I have learned so much from listening to some of the great shows out there. Here is my pick of podcasts but feel free to add more

The Engaging Brand (affiliate to me, but still think it is a great listen)

Manager Tools

Harvard Business Review

Daily Thoughts on Business

Motivation on the Run

The great thing is that these are "free resources". Why not look through these as part of your development ideas for your talented team?

When you are confused...

Remember when you are confused don't get frustrated, after all it is a positive! If you are confused then you should see it as a chance to learn, a chance to expand your knowledge.

By staying in this positive mindset will mean that you will learn quicker, and then pat yourself on the back at once again facing a potential problem and overcoming it.

This is also important with people in your team. Don't get frustrated if they learn slowly, check how they learn. Do they like you to explain, read how to do it or try/practice? If they are confused then use a different technique....and remind them that this is a positive as well, a chance to learn something new!

A new year, a new start

A new year brings a chance to set yourself some stretching personal targets. Here are some thoughts to help you achieve a life/work balance

N= No one can achieve balance with a high degree of honesty..be honest to yourself about how you need to develop and change.
E= Explore what you need to continue to do, build on your strengths.
W= Write down what you need to stop doing, stop avoiding ...be honest and take action.

Y= You will have development needs so what do you need to START doing?
E= Explore how you can save time by increasing your knowledge on technology. Automate what you can, use technology to do routine tasks.
A= Action is required to achieve life/work balance. What are 3 actions that you will take, and commit to?
R = Review the above each month, update as necessary, celebrate your progress and be honest about what you still need to address.

A new year resolution for you

Promises are special, they are have great value to people. So one thing to consider for a New Years resolution is this

"Make few promises but keep them all"

Imagine the power of this statement, imagine if every one of us did this.....imagine the impact on your team, family and friends. Successful people live by this, honest when they can't do something, but deliver what they promise - what that brings is trust and respect, 2 values that leaders need in abundance.

The Difference between Management and Leadership

A question that I often get asked, and I do feel people do mix up the terms. For instance you often get Team Leaders being managed by a manager!

Here is what my old boss explained it to me about 20 years ago, and I think it still makes sense to me

"Manage today, lead tomorrow"

Or as I sometimes say.....Management is motivating people to get the work done today, leadership is about inspiring people to create the future.

Promoting your personal brand

People often talk about building your own personal brand, and what a great way then getting your own business card. One that you can give at networking events, and one that markets your blogs, podcasts etc

I love Hugh Macleod at Gaping Void - often near the knuckle but with his cartoons he hits the mark. He offers his cartoons as business cards and I have ordered mine - not to promote a business but to promote the skills that I have outside of work. Great point to remember is that these cards with your own mobile or home telephone number means that if you move companies...people can still find you!

Bad bosses are great motivators!

Sound a little strange? Well, I firmly believe that I have learned a huge amount from bad bosses, and they have helped me develop my skills. If you are working for a "bad boss" then instead of being demotivated see it as a huge learning curve. I have learned the following

1. What demotivates people.
2. How to not value people.
3. How not to communicate.
4. How not to deal with a problem.
5. How the behaviour of your boss affects your motivation.
6. How to remove clarity from people's work
7. How to ruin work/life balance.
8. How changing priorities on a daily, weekly basis causes confusion.

Now that is great learning. What I did was take time to review how he did it, and how I felt. I then promised myself that when I had the chance to lead I would NEVER do the same things.

You can survive a bad boss in the short term, by using them as a living learning example.

Reactive vs Proactive

I listen to the Motivation on the Run podcast and love it - Larry's style is well...engaging. He talked in one of his shows about reactive vs proactive and this is absolutely true in terms of managing people. Some questions to consider

• Do you talk to people about what they want to achieve more than what they haven't?
• Do you talk to people of how they have incorporated learnings vs what courses they should be going on?
• Do you talk about how they are going to achieve their objectives or how they haven't ?
• Do you talk about their strengths more than their gaps?
• Do you talk to them about their personal visions or their past history?

Are you a proactive or reactive manager?

Recruitment Techniques

One thing I really hate...yes, I know hate is a strong word! ...... is recruiting for a role rather than a person. Here are my ways of changing your mindset.

Change what role do I want to fill to what skills do I need to take the team forward?

Change what is the cost of recruiting to what is the benefit from bringing talent into the business?

Change how can I get others to do the work in the interim to how can I use this opportunity to develop others in the team?

Change I need to loads of people to apply, to how do I get the right people to apply?

The Engaging Brand has 2 great shows on this - Show 35 and 36 the former with Seth Godin on how to create an employment brand that stands out from the crowd and the latter with a recruitment expert on tips of the trade.

Grab that Brain!

As the famous saying goes - you hire a person, hire the hands and forget to engage the brain.

So many people forget to engage the brain, so what questions can you ask to "grab that brain as well"

• What are your career goals and how can I help you achieve them?
• What are your passions and how can we develop your role to engage those passions?
• What do you want from me as your mentor?
• How can I get the best from you?
• What values are important to you?

This is in no way a full list but a start....the main point is to follow up on what you find out, and to review regularly.

Quality of Life

Studies show that the quality of life depends on 2 things

• How we experience work
• Relations with other people

Both of these need work and attention. As a manager we can be a catalyst for both of these and therefore just think of the power that you have in your hands. When you are sat thinking that you cannot change anything...remember this blog post. You have the power to help others enjoy a better quality of life...wow, now that is the ultimate power. Ask people how you can improve these 2 things at work....help build quality of life for people.

Developing Talent

How many times have you thought "I might as well do it myself!" and then gone away and done it.

In the short term that may well be the quickest way but it doesn't develop your people, takes your precious time, creates frustration and when the problem comes up next time....you won't be any better off - indeed you will probably have to do it yourself again!

So next time, try saying to yourself "I owe it to the person and myself to take the time and help develop their skills. I want them to be successful in the future and my experience can help them"

Time invested now, will pay HUGE dividends later...not to mention both of you feeling more positive in the short term.

How to bring values alive

Values are important to any work environment. I give A4 page with each value listed down the left hand side, a column saying how my direct report should be showing those values, a column with any development and then a column to show progress.

At each fortnightly meeting we have a quick review and they discuss how they have illustrated those values.

It shows my commitment and it also keeps the values at the forefront of the teams minds.

At the team meeting we then celebrate any great ideas or accomplishments.

Trust is the Key to Relationships

Trust is a key part of life - think of how important it is in your relationship, and how difficult it is to rebuild if ever doubted.

If you went to your Doctor with a sore throat and he made a mistake on the prescription giving you laxatives would you trust that Doctor in the future? You may, but more likely you would try and see another Doctor.

That is similar to work. As a manager you promise things, promise to take action to remove roadblocks, deliver development, develop talent, communicate well etc If you don't deliver or you don't explain why.....then trust disappears. People will feel that you are not the manager that they want to work for....

So build trust..under promise and over deliver!