Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Vision alone is not enough.
Much like a football team that is playing in the Super Bowl, having a game plan and the desire to win is important. Unfortunately, my Steelers will not have a chance to repeat this year. However, winning depends on execution. One of your primary roles as a leader is that of a coach. Coaches reinforce the results they believe people are capable of achieving.
One way to develop a winning team is to surround yourself with extraordinary people. Another is to surround yourself with ordinary people who through your leadership and coaching achieve extraordinary results. As Sam Walton once said “ … there’s absolutely no limit to what plain, ordinary working people can do if they’re given the opportunity and the encouragement and the incentive to be their best.” As a coach, your role is helping people develop winning attitudes and improve their skills. A coach helps people see beyond the problems, the limitations, and the “known” to focus on solutions and opportunities which are sometimes found by venturing into the “unknown.” If you are to create a winning team, you must be good at coaching. You must be able to inspire extraordinary performance from ordinary people. Coaching is seeing new possibilities and providing the support and guidance to help people and organizations to achieve new heights.
Coaching, though highly individual, has three basic functions. The first function of a coach is getting to know every person as an individual. If you are to coach them to higher levels of performance, you need to know what their skills are, what their level of knowledge is, what their goals are, and what you can do to help them reach their goals.
The second function of a coach is developing people and challenging them towards higher levels of achievement. Create a detailed development plan for and with each individual with whom you are directly working. Set goals, both short and long-term. Develop action steps and target dates along the way. Focus on those critical few action steps that are essential for personal and organizational goal achievement.
The third function of a coach is creating an environment for motivation. A motivating environment helps people become excited about setting and reaching goals. Figure out what inspires people and use this knowledge to create an atmosphere that stimulates high levels of productivity and effective decision making. Get to know what issues are important to each individual, Encourage people to talk openly and discuss problems as well as opportunities. Challenge them to go beyond their comfort zone. Help them to have the confidence to stretch themselves.
Your goal as a coach is to make the most of your most valuable resource, your people, and to maximize the skills, abilities, and knowledge of each person in the organization. Inspiring people to higher levels of performance has a lot to do with spirit, creating excitement, commitment, and desire. It is coaching ordinary men and woman to extraordinary achievements.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com/ or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Throughout the years, volumes have been written which list and elaborate upon the characteristics of leaders. You need only check the literature on the subject to discover that there are many characteristics and combinations of characteristics as there are leaders. With all of their differences, however, leaders do have some fundamental similarities.
- Successful leaders have mastered the art of self leadership and authenticity. Authenticity implies genuineness, reliability, and trustworthiness.
- Successful leaders have taken time to crystallize a personal vision of the future which will become the foundation or cornerstone for a shared vision. They are able to attract as well as inspire commitment among the people whose collective effort will make this vision a reality.
- Successful leaders understand how to align and maximize resources to realize a vision. The leader’s role is to create alignment between vision, strategy, structure, processes, and people with focus on attracting and maintaining a loyal customer base.
As a leader, you must be many things to many people. First, you must have the capacity to create a compelling vision. If your vision is to excite people, it must take them to new levels of achievement. Then, you must be able to develop and implement the strategies that will guide people toward the vision, analyze the alternatives and possibilities, and set goals that will drive the organization to sustained success. To do this will require that you are able to function successfully in several areas. The first is your role as a visionary.
Leaders who are able to involve people in realizing a compelling vision provide a beacon for the future and a standard of excellence. Vision plays an important role in developing a winning organization. A compelling vision can play an important role in developing a winning organization. A compelling vision can motivate and empower everyone in an organization to seek higher levels of performance and achievement. People want to do a good job because realizing the vision is important to them. A compelling vision is inspiring and it is energizing. It provides an image of a better future that causes people to drive themselves to higher levels of achievement.
In the final analysis, you can’t really force people to be motivated. You can only create an environment in which people are motivated. A vision will release creative energies to successfully attain the desired results. It provides a reason for change and exploring possible uncharted waters with enthusiasm. It gives meaning to work and it encourages innovation. Individuals recognize the importance of their personal contribution to the overall whole. Vision helps everyone realize that their best interests are served by the success of the entire organization.
Vision alone is not enough. Look for future posts on the leader as a coach.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit http://www.resourceassociatescorp.com/ or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Authenticity, Coach, Compelling, Leaders, Leadership, Vision
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Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Successful leaders are individuals with high levels of personal power. Understanding the difference between personal power and granted authority is a significant distinction. Many people have the tendency to use the words authority and power interchangeably; however, these terms refer to two very different aspects of leadership.
Authority is the right granted from a person or organization to another to represent or to act in a specified way. For example, a CEO of a company is given the authority by the Board of Directors to run the company. In turn, the CEO places managers in positions of authority over the various divisions, business units, or departments of the organization.
Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others. Former United States President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, captured the essence of this definition when he said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Everyone possesses the potential to be powerful. Power is a personal talent that you can develop and use to achieve worthwhile goals. It does not depend upon title, rank, position, or authority. It’s simply the ability to motivate others to take specific actions.
Authority is granted but always has defined limits. Power is earned and can be limitless. Authority is derived through the position. Power is derived from an individual’s personal influence, which increases effectiveness. Two leaders in exactly the same position of authority can and will have different amounts of power. A person can possess a great deal of power and absolutely no authority. Conversely, someone can have authority and absolutely no power. Leaders who have not earned sufficient power sometimes make the mistake of trying to influence others by overexerting their authority. But excessive use of authority can cause employees to rebel in much the same way that children rebel against restrictive parents.
Effective leaders recognize authority as a valuable and necessary tool when used judiciously, and they invoke their authority extremely sparingly. Instead, they use the power they have earned to create a climate of trust, cooperation, and accomplishment in which people are positively motivated to pursue their own goals and the goals of the organization. In fact, the amount of responsibility you take on is directly linked to the amount of power and influence you possess. One way to further increase your personal power is to seek additional responsibility.
To be a successful leader, you must always be yourself. Be intentional about shaping your life according to your values and priorities. Trust yourself, believe in yourself, and be honest with yourself. Others will then trust, believe, and be honest with you. It is this foundation which enhances personal power. Excellent team leaders establish healthy open relationships with others. They foster mutual commitment in the pursuit of shared goals. Effective leadership is founded on cooperation never coercion.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching, and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Tags: Authority, Eisenhauer, Leadership, management, power
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