Are You Equipped for 21st Century Leadership?

There has been a study released conducted by the well respected Center for Creative Leadership, where this question was posed, “Do the leaders within your organization have the skills they need to be successful in the future?”  Several thousand leaders participated in the study, the results of which produced a list of key skills necessary for leadership success.

Here they are:

1. Leading people: directing and motivating people.
2. Strategic planning: translating vision into realistic business strategies, including long-term objectives.
3. Managing change: using effective strategies to facilitate organizational change.
4. Inspiring commitment: recognizing and rewarding employees’ achievements.
5. Resourcefulness: working effectively with top management.
6. Doing whatever it takes: persevering under adverse conditions.
7. Being a quick learner: quickly learning new technical or business knowledge

I would say no matter what level of leadership and management you hold, the ability to do these things well will make a difference in your leadership success.

This is pretty cut and dry and I wanted to post the list for your self assessment and reference.  YET, the other critical and essential question that must be asked in conjunction to this question is this: “Do your leaders have the qualities (different than skills) to effectively lead your organization now and into the future?”

Revealed in the study referenced above are answers to this question, though the question was not posed in my way.  What was recorded were other qualities leaders felt that they had that were valuable, but  considered not as important though necessary.

• building and mending relationships,
• compassion and sensitivity,
• cultural adaptability,
• respecting individual differences,
• composure,
• and self-awareness.

WHAT!…not as important…ghez!  This study again reveals the great disconnect between qualities, functional skill and effective leadership.  In fact the very qualities listed about are EXACTLY what is needed to execute the original list with some measure of success.

We’ve got to begin to see that business IS behavior and the qualities that drive it.  To expand on this, please download my expanded article The Behavior of Business. For those who do get it, you will set yourself apart and help lead your company to greater profitability no matter what role you have!

This source of this blog post can be found here.

Time Management Tip – #3

Here’s a great time management tip or time management activity that can really save you time!

Overwhelmed by a large project? Having a hard time getting motivated? Finding yourself procrastinating?

Ever heard the expression or question, “how do you eat an elephant? “ The answer? – one bite at a time.  Well that same principle applies when you’re feeling overwhelmed by a project, procrastinating, or having a hard time getting motivated.  You’ve got to break it down into small manageable action steps.

Usually looking at, focusing on one step and one step only allows emotional space for you to become motivated and see the light of getting something done. Once you write out actionable, reasonable steps your emotions become diffused and your brain begins saying…”hey, I can do that.”

In fact something additionally I employ is something called, “the one minute challenge.”  I challenge myself to work on one little thing, task, etc. for only one minute.  I even use a kitchen timer.

The result?…I get focused on the “thing” enough to generate motivation to keep going.  If it’s not enough, I say, “ok…just one more minute.”  It’s like tricking yourself into gaining motivation in a fun way!

Coaching Tip: Break it down, focus on the first small step and give yourself the one minute challenge!

If you need a time management seminar or training brought to your organization – learn more here

Or …ever considered “time management coaching” – to learn more about coaching, click here.

The Human Side of Project Management

Whether you use this phrase or not, we are all managing projects on some level….we are all a project manager. This is a key attitude to professional success.

There are 3 core components of managing a project: the process, the tools we use, and how we manage the human side of it.

What’s the human side?….how you manage yourself and the team members you’re working with.  As I said in a previous post, professional success is all about effectively managing the critical components of any endeavor…we are all managers.  Here’s the link if you’ve not read that post: post title – A New Way of Looking at Management.

I ran across a post on a project management blog entitled Integrity in Project Management.  I found this so curious.  The post addressed how one relates to those involved in the project with a spirit of integrity in the following 3 ways:

Be Impartial, Be Thorough, Be Focused on the End Business Results.

I would like to suggest an additional component to this list and that is… in managing the human side of project management and what should be included in every project management training is understanding and the honoring the work style of each team member.

The reality is each team member will have a different relationship to how they work with people, information, technology, and tasks.  Some will work with each of these with much more ease than another. If you want to build and maintain an effective rapport with each member, knowing and honoring their natural work style is critical!

Also included in the natural work style and an essential element to know is the natural decision making style. There are 4 common styles: decisive, methodical, spontaneous, inclusive.  How each team members works with information, works towards deadlines, their style of collaboration is influenced by their natural decision making orientation.

So here’s your coaching tip: Take the time to observe the behavior and assess your team members work styles and ask yourself these questions:

– What’s their natural orientation in relation to working with people, tasks, information, and technology?

– What do you observe about their decision making style

–Make a plan on how to incorporate this knowledge to increase your effectiveness.

If you need any advice or help, don’t hesitate to contact me.  You can go to my Management Life Line and get free advice there.