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Forming Leadership Habits:
Leadership Tips and Techniques |
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There
are about as many views and definitions of what encompasses
"leadership" as there are experts in this field. There is one point
that most leadership researchers and developers agree on: leaders are
made, not born. Leaders are rarely naturals. But the ultimate level of
mastery is to make it look natural.
The
great Italian opera tenor, Luciano Pavarotti was an average singer in
the Boys' Choir in Italy when he was a teenager. The only reason they
let him in the choir was because his father ran it. He wanted to be
spoken of with the same reverence and respect as his fellow countryman,
Enrico Caruso. So he studied, and he practiced, and he trained, until
he slowly got there.
Not all learners are
leaders. But the research clearly shows that the strongest leaders are
continuous learners. They are self-made leaders.
Here are a few habit-forming tips and techniques for leadership or personal development:
- Spend
your time with optimistic and growing people. Unless you're trying to
help them, avoid people with stunted personal growth, the Victimitis
Virus, or the Pessimism Plague.
- Develop
or join a network of colleagues who are as interested in personal
learning and development as you are. This can be a powerful source of
learning from other people's experiences. It's also a great place for
you to reflect on your own experiences and articulate your improvement
plans.
- A
group that meets regularly is an excellent forum for making public
declarations or even "contracts" around your personal improvement
plans. This approach makes it much harder to back away from forming
tough, new habits.
- Use
Benjamin Franklin's "method for progressing." He identified thirteen
virtues he wanted to develop. Each week he worked on one of the virtues
for a total of "four courses (cycles) in a year." Each night before
retiring, Franklin reflected on and recorded his progress on that
week's virtue.
- If
we can't manage our time and discipline ourselves to invest time in
personal improvement, we won't grow into ever-stronger leaders. We
could easily become a victim of the changes swirling around us. We need
to get control of our time, priorities, and destiny. We need to do it
soon. Tomorrow is arriving much quicker than it used to.
For
many of the above reasons, I have evolved my leadership workshops into
a more intensive development process. Besides adding hundreds of
extensive new practical approaches from The Leader's Digest, I am now providing a longer term improvement process with a two-day workshop as the beginning. Learn all about my new Practical Leadership Strategies for Peak Performance here:
www.clemmer.net/events/pls/pls.shtml.
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| What's New? Who Cares? What Really Matters is What Works! |
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I
am often asked what's new in leadership or organization development.
But what's most important to improvement isn't what's new. It's what
works. Ultimately it's our improvement action that determines our
performance results. The effectiveness of that action hinges upon our follow through.
Our
learning and leadership or personal development is highly dependent on
our habits of performance review, assessment, and reflection. It's not
very trendy. It isn't the latest fad. But it works.
Periodically,
we need to get away from the daily flurry of activities, step back, and
look at the bigger picture. We need to reassess if we're on the right
track, or if we're making good time – in the wrong direction. We need
to look at our full improvement effort and discuss, debate, and decide
if it has the right focus, priorities, approaches, and the like. We
need to celebrate progress and reenergize everyone to push forward even
harder. And we need to set new plans and directions for the next stage
of our improvement process.
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The Great Debate:
Giving a Team Member an Attitude Adjustment |
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Last
month I reported on how a reader handled a situation with an
administrative support person who often brought down the mood of the
whole office. You can read/refresh the story here.
Shortly after the November Leader Letter
was e-mailed, I received the following response from another reader who
felt very strongly about how "Linda" handled the situation. "Susan"
raised a number of very good points:
I think Linda has made way too many assumptions.
First
off: the setting. She has taken an employee to lunch. Those in
management often feel that the employee should automatically see this
as a perk. Wake up! If the employee is unhappy, the last thing they
want to do is spend "their" time with anyone from the company! Lunch,
breaks, holidays, etc. are sacred time to most employees, and more so
for those that are unhappy. We, as management should recognize this.
So
now she has an employee "cornered" in a restaurant and begins asking
her personal questions. "Where are you going?" "What do you believe
in?" The employee has every right to feel pressured to reveal personal
information. Frankly, it is none of Linda's business what her
employee's personal goals are! If this were a friendly conversation
over a glass of wine, between two friends/associates, then the
information is voluntary. If Linda had positioned this
differently...i.e. was telling the employee what a good job she had
been doing... and that she (Linda) would like to help get to her next
career level...then Linda could ask if the employee would like to share
her personal goals. Linda has put this woman, who is already unhappy,
in an isolated location (a restaurant of Linda's choice and away from
the familiarity of the office and fellow workers) and is now demanding
information about her most private thoughts and aspirations.
When
the employee did open up about her feelings, Linda gave the employee's
comments absolutely no credence. She referred to it as "whining." Did
it ever occur to her that these comments might indeed hold some
validity? Linda's own arrogance could blind her from an opportunity to
fix a much bigger office problem. She pointed out that someone was
coming late and leaving early... getting all the overtime. Maybe this
employee has a right to feel overlooked or unappreciated. Perhaps
someone else was overstepping his or her position.
Then
the employee goes on to say that she is the only one to institute fun
into an office but didn't get any co-operation from fellow employees.
Linda talked circles around this employee until she outright told her
that...
- She (the employee) was responsible for the attitude of others in the office
- Quit feeling sorry for herself
- Support all staff unconditionally
Is
it any wonder this employee feels taken advantage of and under
appreciated? She is being held accountable for not only her own
attitude but everyone else's. "Make everyone else happy"..."support
them unconditionally"..."you don't have a right to your own feelings".
All of this to help the bigger picture...i.e. make Linda's job run more
smoothly. At no point were any of this employee's concerns addressed or
validated. At no point did anyone acknowledge the frustration she was
feeling.
I am trying to learn to be a good manager. So far the most beneficial "laws" I've learned are...
- If the situation doesn't make sense, you probably don't have all the facts
- There is a "truth" to be gleaned from every situation...take the time to listen (without talking)
Unlike
many technical issues, there are rarely any right answers for leading
people. I don't know Linda, her administrative support person, the
culture of their office, nor the other players involved. These are all
key factors.
Susan raises important
issues here. But has she overacted to Linda's approach? What's your
opinion? Please e-mail me your thoughts or experiences with similar
situations. My e-mail address is [email protected].
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| We Can't Separate Personal and Professional |
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On
the eve of his retirement from Industry Canada, Brian Johnstone sent me
a thoughtful and reflective e-mail. With his permission, I am sharing a
portion of it that draws the critical connection between personal and
professional success.
Jim,
your articles continue to provide focus and inspiration for me. I'm
preparing to retire and this gives me the opportunity to look back on a
34-year career in the Canadian Public Service. As I reflect on the
events of past years, I can see the linkages between how we live our
lives and how we run our businesses, something that escapes many
people. The lessons on visioning, planning, doing and evaluation are
applicable in both cases and contribute to our success or failure,
happiness or despair.
I refer to
your articles frequently in a column I write for an internal
newsletter. The recurring theme of taking charge, taking
responsibility, knowing what you want and planning how to get there
have a place in the corporate board room as well as the personal career
planning for each and every staff member. For some, this is a huge
cultural shift, for others, it's business as usual.
The
personal-professional connection is one that more people are making.
It's about time. We are whole beings. We need to bring our entire
selves to all parts of our lives. We lead from the inside out.
Leadership
workshop participants constantly tell me that one of the major benefits
they take away from our time together is how the timeless leadership
principles we cover overlap with both their personal and professional
lives. Trying to apply these principles in just one area of our life is
like trying to have a no peeing section in a swimming pool. We can't
separate what is invisible and interrelated.
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Thoughts that Make You Go Hmmm...
on Developing Leadership Habits |
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"Laugh
at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When
you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on
shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory."
- Alan Alda, actor and director
"After
ten years of exhaustive research, my colleagues and I learned that most
people have serious misconceptions about what leads to star
performance: 'Stars are smarter,' for instance, or 'Stars have certain
types of personalities.' We then tested all these beliefs to determine
which held up and which collapsed under hard scrutiny. The bottom line:
Stars are made, not born."
- Robert E. Kelley, How to be a Star at Work: 9 Breakthrough Strategies You Need to Succeed
"We all have ability. The difference is how we use it."
- Stevie Wonder, singer and songwriter
"A
study conducted at the Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western
Reserve University by Professor Jane Wheeler found that of people who
had developed learning agendas, those who tried out their new skills
with many different people and spheres of their lives - not just at
work, but also with family, church, and community groups, and so on -
improved the most. And those improvements were still apparent up to two
or more years later."
- Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
"In
the nightly choice between reading a good book and watching a sitcom on
television, we often choose the latter – although surveys show again
and again that the average mood while watching sitcoms on television is
mild depression. Habitually choosing the easy pleasures over the
gratifications may have untoward consequences."
- Martin Seligman, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
"Contrary
to the myth that only a lucky few can ever decipher the mystery of
leadership, our research has shown us that leadership is an observable,
learnable set of practices."
Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, The Leadership Challenge
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| Improvement Points Subscribers' Top Picks for November |
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Permission to Reprint: You may reprint any items from the Leader Letter in your own print publication or e-newsletter as long as you include this paragraph: | "Reprinted with permission from the Leader Letter,
Jim Clemmer's free e-newsletter. Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author
and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/ retreat
leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer
focus, culture, and personal growth. His web site is www.clemmer.net." | |
| Could Your Organization Be More Customer-Focused? |
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If
you have been striving to improve customer service levels in your
organization, but not quite pulling it together, you may want to attend
my two-day Leading a Customer-Centered Organization workshop in
Calgary, Alberta or Vancouver, British Columbia. This intensive session
contains 20 years of my research, experiences, best practices, and
leadership/personal development. Expect two full days of inspiration
and lots of practical applications. You'll leave with plenty of
insights, ideas, and plans. And you'll feel personally reenergized and
inspired to renew your leadership efforts.
The
Vancouver and Calgary seminars are the only public sessions I've
scheduled for this workshop -- if you don't live in Alberta or BC,
here's your chance to visit these great Canadian cities and boost your
leadership performance at the same time!
You can listen to a brief audio message from me about these practical workshops by clicking here:
http://PlayAudioMessage.com/play.asp?m=32925&f=OQJXMT&ps=13&p=1.
Full details on the workshop are available here:
www.clemmer.net/events/dcco/dcco.shtml.
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| Give the Gift of Leadership |
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We're
offering deep discounts on packages of my books, audio tapes, and CD
during the month of December. For less than the cost of a turkey, you
can give Clients, colleagues and family a gift that will feed their
minds and hearts for the rest of their lives!
Details are here: www.clemmer.net/books/special.shtml.
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I would love to hear from you on any of the discussions raised in this issue of the Leader Letter...or
any other matters concerning my work. Of course, I especially welcome
conversations exploring how I might help you or your team/organization
with a keynote presentation, management team retreat, or workshop.
Send me an e-mail at [email protected] or call me directly at (519) 748-5968.
I hope to connect with you again next month!
Best wishes for a happy holiday season, and a healthy and leaderful New Year!
Jim
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post or pass this newsletter on to colleagues, clients, or associates
you think might be interested. If you received this newsletter from
someone else, and would like to subscribe, click here: www.clemmer.net/subscribe.shtml Phone: (519) 748-1044 ~ Fax: (519) 748-5813 ~ E-mail: [email protected]
www.clemmer.net | | | | | |
| Copyright 2003, Jim Clemmer, The CLEMMER Group |
