Carnival of Leadership Development

One thing we try and do here is to help people think about their own development and the development of others. Today we look at articles that are centred around developing leadership. Enjoy!

Anna Farmery presents Magic Tricks for Great Leaders posted at The Engaging Brand.

Tupelo Kenyon presents Work– Just a Job or Visible Love? posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Do you love what you do and do what you love? Here's a step-by-step method on how to put your passions to work and start living the life you were born to live. "

Wanda Grindstaff presents Summer is Over, Is it Time to Focus on Success? posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

edithyeung presents Disempowering Phrases Successful People Never Say posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Ralph Jean-Paul presents Be Smarter in 30 Days posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, "Become a better leader by increasing your critical thinking skills and your ability to relate to others."

Ivan Rios presents Slow Down?Think?Act posted at artofleading.net.

Claudia Juarez presents What was the mission statement for? posted at A reality blog - Will I succeed?, saying, "When your business is not going as planned, it's time to review your mission statement"

Luke Houghton presents Does it pay to do the right thing? posted at Luke Houghton, saying, "It's important to do what's right. Read this to learn why."

Ariel Laurel Strong presents Instinct « The Cloud of Unknowing posted at The Cloud of Unknowing, saying, "Take the step beyond theory and training. Listening to the inner voice of intuition and instinct can make you a better leader, whether it is on an emergency scene or in a board room."

Jack Yoest presents Management Training Tip #2: Writing an employee evaluation? Try 101 helping sentences. posted at Yoest.com, saying, "Academia and the Army have one thing in common.Perhaps the only intersection is the willingness to share with with fellow servicemen or teachers various helps needed for the efficient and effective transference of knowledge."

Karl Goldfield presents Building a plan Part 4b: Get to know your superiors, reports, and peers (Just hired) posted at Coaching sales champions.

Tom Stanley presents Dream Your Own Dream posted at Tom's Franchise Information Blog, saying, "When you are considering owning your own business, a franchise may seem quite appealing. But instead of starting with someone else’s idea, why not start with your own?"

Jason Rakowski presents How to Deliver the Ultimate in Customer Service Delight posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "With the right approach you can add wow factor to your customer experiences and develop mutually beneficial long term relationships with them."

Chris Russell presents Office White Noise posted at Productivity Planner, saying, "The reason office white noise machines are being implemented in office environments is that they provide a calm and soothing working environment, which leads to better productivity."

Stacey Derbinshire presents Business Plans - An Outline for the New Entrepreneur posted at Starting a Small Home Business

wilson ng presents MultiTasking for Productivity posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife, saying, "Doing few important tasks well may be more crucial to your success than doing many tasks haphazardly."

Daylle Deanna Schwartz presents Making Your Mistakes Count posted at Lessons from a Recovering DoorMat.

Fred Black presents Why Does it Feel Wrong to Feel Right? posted at Fred Black: Internet Business Blog..

Christopher J. Brunner presents Leaders Can’t Do It Alone posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, "The term leader is defined as “a guiding or directing head,” which indicates that, as a leader, you must have people to guide and direct. Leaders can’t be leaders without followers."

Jason Jacobsohn presents Learn to be Patient or Else… posted at Networking Insight.

Charles H. Green presents Trusted Politicians posted at Trust Matters, saying, "Leasing as a politician is about moving to the majority - or in cases of real leaders - creating a majority. Politicians without a majority soon become ex-politicians."

SJ Yee presents Nick Vujicic, the man with no limbs, on Perspective, Vision and Choices posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart.

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.

Positive Thinking - You are in control

I love the work of the Pacific Insitute and Lou Tice is one of the most inspirational people you could ever meet. In his daily newsletter he tells this story

"One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

How often we are faced with a choice about how to react to each day's challenges. Do we rail at the outrageous winds of "fate" that pound us from time to time, falling into the pit of self-pity; or do we look upon these moments as opportunities to learn and grow, and broaden the humanity within us?

The good news is that we do have a choice. We can choose to feed the wolf of envy and resentment, or feed the wolf of humility, benevolence and compassion. We can choose to be happy or to be miserable. The choice we make colors our days, our work and our relationships to those around us.

Which wolf do you choose to feed today?"

10 Lessons from the Tibetan Monks

Leaders can learn a lot from the Tibetan monks ability to control their emotions. Here are 10 lessons

1. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
2. Follow the 3 R's: Respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all your actions.
3. Spend some time alone each day.
4. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
5. Love as if you've never been hurt.
6. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
7. Once a year, go somewhere that you've never been before.
8. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
9. Don't let a little dispute ruin a great friendship.
10. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values.

Wonderful lessons that we could all learn and develop from.....

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.

Making a difference

Here is a quote from George Bernard Shaw

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them"

This is a powerful quote - how often do we blame everything around us for not being "successful"?

I believe that we all make a difference, if we want to.....making it happen can be hard but that is what makes achievement feel so great. So if you are faced in your team with people who say "I can't because...." then ask them "How can we create the circumstances.... or What do we need to do to ensure success"

Napoleon's lesson for Managers

People need variety in their roles, just like in their life.

Napoleon a man known to have affairs was at a sermon at Notre Dame on marital fidelity. Afterwards he invited the Cardinal to the country for the weekend. He served him with pheasant for breakfast, lunch, tea and supper. The cardinal said "Pheasant is a truly magnificent dish - but always pheasant?" Napoleon looked and said "Always Josephine?"

Now I am not saying affairs are good ! I am saying that no matter how great the job is when you appoint someone to the role, unless you bring variety to it, they will get bored, stale and usually leave.

How do you add value to people's roles? How do you extend their learning's or do you just let them get sick of pheasant!

A great tip to help you empathise

An interesting point is that if you watch mothers with their babies, they cradle them to the left and in doing so use their right side of the brain. So if you struggle with your emotional intelligence a great tip is when you want to feel and show more emotion look to the left. This is a great way of developing your right brain....so think before you choose your seat in a meeting or in a coaching session.

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.

Mentoring and Building Credibility

Just because you are a parent, manager, leader does not mean that you are an ideal mentor. The title does not consititute the skill, and people are assessing you as a potential mentor they will ask 3 questions

1. Have you been successful at what I am trying to do or become?
2. If not, have you coached someone else succesfully to achieve the success?
3. If not, do you know what you are talking about i.e what is your knowledge like, do you keep yourself up to date technically and professionally?

These are great questions to ask yourself, and also to ensure that you are expanding your skills. It helps you understand what gaps you need to fill, and also a chance to celebrate your personal progress.

A new style of CV

We all need to learn from failures, failures are fantastic if you grow as a person so to ensure that you have developed

Create a CV which concentrates on your mistakes !

Put underneath each one write your development plan, how you have progressed and future action to be taken.

Clearly, you can keep this to yourself but it can help you focus on your growth.

How to manage homeworking

In a world that craves flexibility and individuality, there is a greater number of times when you manage people that are not necessarily working alongside you. So what are the 5 secrets of success

1. Trust - the number 1 item. You need to trust in your people, trust their integrity. Without trust their is no relationship.
2. Understand why they need to work from home and support them. Get to know them like you would your people at your place of work. Understand what they like about it, and what support they need from you.
3. Manage by output. Set clear objectives, and give regular feedback on their performance. Feedback on the output NOT a value judgement on whether they are working hard!
4. Invest in your communication skills...more than ever you need even stronger social skills when you cannot interact face to face regularly.
5. Find ways to give face to face. Online meetings, visits, gatherings anything to give that personal touch.

How to manage homeworking

In a world that craves flexibility and individuality, there is a greater number of times when you manage people that are not necessarily working alongside you. So what are the 5 secrets of success

1. Trust - the number 1 item. You need to trust in your people, trust their integrity. Without trust their is no relationship.
2. Understand why they need to work from home and support them. Get to know them like you would your people at your place of work. Understand what they like about it, and what support they need from you.
3. Manage by output. Set clear objectives, and give regular feedback on their performance. Feedback on the output NOT a value judgement on whether they are working hard!
4. Invest in your communication skills...more than ever you need even stronger social skills when you cannot interact face to face regularly.
5. Find ways to give face to face. Online meetings, visits, gatherings anything to give that personal touch.

Be the change you want to see in the world!

The heading of this post is a quote for Ghandi and is so true!

Social change starts with individuals - so if you want to reform your team, reform your culture, reform how people interact etc then start by reforming yourself. The change will impact others around you and even if others do not change then you have helped changed the world...by changing one person!

How to Lose Friends and Not Influence People

Dale Carnegie wrote a great book and yet people still struggle to influence people, here are my thoughts on why...

1) Say one thing do another

2) Say of course I won't tell anyone......

3) Manage up not manage down

4) Desire to be nice not constructively honest

5) Treat people how they want to be treated instead of how the individual wants to be treated

6) Stay in their office, rather than be visible

7) Respect their own views more than other views

8) Believe that once you have left college you have stopped learning

9) Settle for what they have rather than living their dream

10) Seek approval rather than the right answer

Dare to Dream

There was a post on The Engaging Brand about daring to dream....it reminded me of a story.

Over 15 years ago Guy de Laliberte was working the streets of Montreal as a fire eater and by night slept on the park benches. Today he is a multi-billionaire - his brainchild, Cirque Du Soleil

He dared to dream, he dared to take action to make his dream come true..... life is precious and short. Dream, and then work at turning that dream into reality.

Service that makes you smile

I love this story of an air steward on a flight from Denver to San Francisco, they said

"If you are having a hard time getting your ears to pop, I suggest you yawn widely. If you are having trouble yawning ask me about my love life"

Now tell me that wouldn't have made you smile.....connecting with customers is an important aspect of success. Giving a little of yourself and doing something out of the ordinary - a wow factor - can differentiate you from competitors. Normally, air stewards read from scripts and it is boring...I bet they don't get talked about on blogs!!!

Make someone smile today.....

Success comes with hard work

A story...

In the early 1950's Colin needed to earn some money and so volunteered for day jobs. He landed a spot on the soda delivery team, then cleaning up the soda syrup at the Pepsi plant. No one else volunteered for these kind of jobs...he did great work, had a grat attitude and was asked back the next summer. A story told in his autobiography....who, Colin Powell.

Sometimes when we see successful people we think - Oh, it alright for them...but we forget the work they put in, in their early careers. Success does not happen, you make it happen. Working hard, and practice are a huge part of most successful people's early life.

Remember the old golfing quote...The harder I practice, the luckier I get....

Dealing with Anxiety

Remember that anxiety that you have, is only an illusion. It is not reality. Anxiety is good, adrenalin is good in order to improve performance - just look at sports stars!

You can only live life forward, looking back afterwards and reviewing it is about learning, its about understanding.

If anxiety is about an illusion than create a postive look - see people smiling and clapping at a presentation that you are about to give. See a succesful conclusion with the task no matter what that looks like....

Make the illusion work for you, not against you. You don't know how it will be, so why worry about a negative outcome? Picture a success, picture a celebration, let the illusion work for you and that will control the anxiety.

Time Tips

Couple of tips today to help you manage your time. Time is precious, and a scarce resource so you need to protect your time well.

1. Build in interruptions to your day. We all know they will happen. Too many people book back to back meetings - don't plug in some time that acts as a buffer.
2. Why use 30 minutes chunk's? Use 20 minute slots....save 10 minutes. Helps people focus and no matter the time people will fill their slot.
3. When you have a to do list, write a time and date by the side of each item. By placing a time it helps focus the day and also gives it more importance.
4. Cancel any meetings that don't add value!