Leadership Development

He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool.
Shun him.

He who knows not, and knows that he knows not is simple.
Teach him.

He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep.
Waken him.

He who knows, and knows that he knows is wise.
Follow him.

Arabian Proverb

At the ground level leadership is all about relationships - growing connections among and between individuals that permit collective, collaborative thinking and action.

A leader motivates and joins forces of personnel to articulate a common vision and set goals using material assets in support to conceive and implement plans of action.

Effective leaders create environments where people want to share their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. Effective leaders nurture new ideas to flourish from a foundation of tradition in learning and teaching through success and also in failure and all for the common good.

Sometimes leaders can be very uncomfortable to be around because they force us to examine our underlying assumptions about who we are, individually and collectively.

At the same time, as we meet head-on the increasingly complex challenges of 21st century life and business, effective leaders and the people they draw strength from through collaboration are the cornerstones of innovation and progress.

Recently wrote an article on Motivating Employees. Here are some highlights.

Most people think motivating employees is largely about pay. This is a simplistic view, which isn’t particularly helpful for team leaders and managers who are trying to get the most out of their people in challenging times.

Consider this list of motivators:

1. Give employees authority along with responsibility. It is easy to tell an employee they are responsible for accomplishing a particular task or goal. It is easy to say they will be held accountable if they don’t succeed. The hard part is, giving up a measure of control so that the employee has a certain degree of authority.
2. People want and need to be recognized. It is no different than when you were in third grade and you received a gold star or had your name prominently listed for some classroom accomplishment. It felt great then, and it feels just as good now. Sometimes managers fail to understand the need to recognize accomplishments (no matter how small they seem to be) of team members.
3. Keep employees in the information loop. Make sure you let your people know about critical organizational accomplishments, challenges or opportunities. Being informed gives employees a feeling of ownership. All too often, managers let their people know when it is too late. This causes people to feel more like victims than participants.
4. Provide direct, personal feedback to employees as quickly as possible — preferably within 24 hours. Most people really want to know what their manager thinks of their work. Additionally, the more detailed the constructive feedback is, the better employees will respond to it. Handwritten comments signed by the manager are usually best, but providing email communications works effectively as well.
5. Other motivators include celebrating employee birthdays, anniversaries and work-related milestones. In addition, social and recreational activities, including employee softball or bowling leagues, creates a sense of togetherness and team spirit.
6. Saying “thank you” on a consistent basis really motivates people. It doesn’t cost anything, takes little or no time, and leaves a lasting impression.

You may have heard the idea that 80% of sales are generated by 20% of the salespeople. Or the idea that 80% of a project is easily completed and 20% consumes most of development time.

In general, this is the rule of diminishing returns.

The idea is far more important than the actual percentages, and greatly applies to the art & science of management.

What would happen if you were to spend 100% of your management time on the greatest 80% of payoffs?

What would happen if you ignored the other 20% which could be grouped together at management distractions?

With few exceptions, this “real world” business rule applies to any profession, be it business, law, medicine, and even in the military theater of operations.

Looking at the business of sales, interesting enough this is where “virtual business” turns this rule on end. The problem with doing real world business you need “someone” working on every lead, potential customer, and customer.

In the virtual world the process is reversed - create once use on many. People self-assess and base their buying habits on evidence on trust, credibility, and company focus.

The more you provide “succinctly” the better the return. While in appearance there is much upfront work from the vantage-point of the “first sale” its merits are found in self-replication - do it once and capture the 80%, with 20% effort keeping working at it and the 20% will materialize, and without additional salespeople.

There are generally 11 principles of leadership which allows people to set a standard of excellence for other to follow:

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement. In order to know yourself, you have to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Self-improvement means to continually strengthening your weaknesses.
2. Be technically proficient. As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees’ jobs.
3. Set the standard. Be a role model for other to follow. They must not only hear you, they must see and do as you.
4. Know your people as you know yourself and look out for their well being. Know human nature and the importance of genuine caring for those you lead.
5. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished.
6. Develop your people. Continuously assist to raise their levels of personal and professional achievement.
7. Train as a team. Seek out the teams weaknesses and build upon these.
8. Use the team to its fullest capacity. Develop team spirit, and ensure team successes are honored as team achievements - not simply the leader’s achievement.
9. Keep your people informed. Communication makes or (lack there of) breaks an organization.
10. Make sound and timely decisions. Problem-solving is about decisive decision-making and always turning disadvantage to advantage.
11. Seek responsibility and be accountable for your actions. Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. In times of unexpected outcomes, step up, analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.