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.

Lessons from an Arts Festival

The largest arts festival in the world is the Edinburgh Fringe. However when it started it was not a major initiative it was a small gathering of 8 theatre companies. The festival has grown through word of mouth and year on year.....like many businesses.

There is a lesson here for leaders - as much as you want success today, big success now...it takes time. You cannot engage all your employees or potential customers in one fell swoop. It is about continuously doing the right thing, about getting key people to engage and let them "sell" the ideas to other people.

That is why web 2.0 is a fantastic tool to engage people. If you use them correctly, then you will build customer and employee evangelists who will market your ideas for you.

How to Keep Employees

Welcome to the July 26, 2007 edition of how to keep employees.

Cade Krueger presents 3 Questions To Make Your Business Enjoyable And Durable posted at Write To Right.

Jason Rakowski presents Humor in Customer Service and How It Can Help Your Business posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "Your job is to sell something, not put on a clown act. How does humor fit into customer service?"

Marc and Angel presents Corporate America Asks Questions Without Wanting True Answers | Marc and Angel posted at Marc and Angel, saying, "The situation I am referring to involves a professional environment where multiple individuals in a strict business relationship disregard the truth in favor of delivering the ideal lie."

Penelope Trunk presents Trying to keep young employees from quitting? It’s not about money. posted at Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk.

Ivan Rios presents Self-Confidence to Be a Leader posted at artofleading.net.

Ivan Rios presents The Art of Leading / 5 Steps to Successful Leading posted at artofleading.net.

Health Chaos presents Interview Questions posted at Health Chaos.

Warren Wong presents How Much Money Is Integrity Worth? posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "How much money is your integrity worth? Here's why integrity is your most valuable commodity."

Sue Massey presents Leadership - Managing Time For Maximum Profit posted at Business Management Life, saying, "In this article I'll tell you some ways to focus on what is important to maximize your profit in your business"

Chris Tackett presents Effective Direct Marketing posted at Direct Marketing News, saying, "I knew a guy that owned a vacant house once, and he always laughed at the amount of postcards he received every week. He said they all looked the same and he just threw them away."

Pawel Brodzinski presents How to Build a Team posted at Software Project Management.

Chris Russell presents Turning Coal into Diamonds: A Case Study on Customer Complaint Tracking posted at Productivity Planner, saying, "In order to reach the goal of fully utilizing customer feedback, a more comprehensive system for managing customer complaints is needed."

Tupelo Kenyon presents Communication – Friend or Foe posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Our communication skills can make or break us. This article includes some refreshing insights on communication from an unusual vantage point. Celebrate life with newfound attitudes about the art and science of communication.

Adam Pieniazek presents How Much Leadership Can $1 Buy? posted at Adam Pieniazek, saying, "Discussing the use of self-managed teams at Whole Foods, brought on by the visionary leadership of John Mackey."

Tupelo Kenyon presents Take Time for You posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Don't put yourself at the end of the list. You deserve to be first, at least some of the time. Don't let your entire life slip by with everything else (and everyone else) getting preferential treatment over your most important priorities. Their needs are important, but yours are important too. Celebrate life by taking time for YOU!

Ivan Rios presents 5 More Contradictions That Will Make You a Better Leader posted at artofleading.net.

Bhupendra Khanal presents Are you really paid enough? posted at Analytics Bhupe, saying, "Address the emotional issues of the employees first, then think of any secondary issues."

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

What will make the Disney Difference?

Disney are a wonderful example of how to create competitive advantage within your market place. Disney recognise that their parks need to be clean but that the sweepers - or cast members as they are called - are more than that, they are customer service people. Visitors to the park approach the sweepers for all kind of advice from where to buy something, to which rides have the longest queues. Disney recognise that after a certain point cleanliness of the park cannot be a differentiating factor - so they invest in customer service training for the sweepers. If they are to create "The happiest place in the world" then the sweepers have a key role to play.

Do you know how each person can contribute to your company vision? Do you know what will make the difference to the customer experience?
Do you measure the receptionist purely on calls taken or the service they give the customer?
Do you measure a credit controller purely on cash collection or how quickly they resolve customer queries or problems?

Understanding why the customer is right

One of my first bosses was wonderful with customers. He understood them, he understood that his role was to solve their problems. I worked at a printing firm and often the printers would be annoyed with last minute changes to the printing schedules because of customer requirements.

When this happened the next time the customer came in, he always took the buyer to the printer involved. The buyer thanked the printer for pulling out the stops and explained why there had been a last minute rush. The results were

1. The printer felt recognised, valued for their contribution.
2. They understood more about how the customers operated.
3. They felt a sense of pride that they had helped the customer out.
4. They formed a human to human relationship with the buyer.
5. They willingly made the changes next time a rush turnaround was needed.

Don't be afraid to make connections all the way around the business. The more buyers and employees talk, the stronger the relationship between the companies.

Networking across the levels

One of the best way to build your personal brand and also develop the talent within the organisation, is to spend time with the younger, newer members of the team. Taking them for a coffee, lunch or even just pulling a chair up at their desk will give them such a personal buzz. Do you remember when you were new, when you were at a junior level? The buzz that someone has taken time to get to know you is incredible. As you move up an organisation you can affect that your presence can have a huge motivational factor on those around you.

10 minutes of your time invested in the talent within the junior levels, will pay huge dividends both in your internal PR but also the engagement of your team.

Engaging People In the Company Vision

Words are powerful, incredibly emotive and can be used to really ignite the passion in people. Here are 3 great examples of ho

1. "It's the place people come for refuge - a 3rd place not home not work" Starbucks
2. "It is more than just a resort; it's a means of rediscovering oneself, of inventing an entirely new me" Club Med
3. "The experience enlivens the senses, instills well being and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our client" Ritz Carlton

Now look at your vision...does it stoke the same level of emotion, is it too general like surpassing customer expectations, being the best etc? Does it read like words put together at a "facilitated brainstorming session" or does it paint a powerful picture that people can see and engage with?

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.

Don't forget those loyal employees

A study done by Sirota Consulting showed that employee engagement declines after only 6 months of being employed. Although after 10 years service it recovers it never returns to the level it was....

Lesson for me is that we all rush to "engage" people when they join, but remember it is as important if not more important to "re-engage" your existing employees. Once you start taking them for granted you risk their loss, the loss of talent and also the loss of that invaluable experience.

So what are you doing to re-engage people on a regular basis? If you need help then visit our site

Quick Tip to help focus and goals

Why not use screen savers and mobile phone wall papers to publicise your vision. Get someone in your team to design one and make it relevant to your team. Or you could use general motivational statements like

"How will I make a difference today?"

or list the 3 key objectives. You could run a competition for the family member to come up with the best screen saver each month and give an iTunes voucher or Amazon voucher to the winning entry....

The only word of advice - forget corporate jargon or speak! Make it sound real and something people can engage with....

Loyalty vs Contribution

When you are reviewing your team - remember one thing. Loyalty is fantastic and should be treasured but and it is a big but - contribution is key.
Don't let loyalty mask your view of the contribution that the person is making. Your role is to ensure that the loyalty is turned into performance - for me that is engagement.
Check out The Engaging Brand podcast and their blog for help if you feel you need ideas of how to achieve Engagement - well worth checking out.