10 Ways to Beef up Your Leadership Skills

Have you ever heard someone say, "Actually, I have to admit that I think I am really bad at managing other people. My staff all hate me and I'm incapable of doing my job".

The answer is no, of course. No one says this either because they don't believe it, or because they don't want to appear incompetent. Unfortunately research tells us that from the employees' perspective, there aren't that many terrific managers out there.

What should we take out of this dichotomy? Perhaps at the least, we could all admit to ourselves that there is room for some improvement in the way we lead others. After all, it's not the sort of skill that is easy to get 100% right all of the time. It might just be that we don't specifically know what improvements to make, so here's 10 ways to start:

1. Get a reality check.

Finding out what others think of our leadership style can be real eye-opener, and is often the most powerful driver for change. Using a 360 survey where you receive feedback from your staff, peers and manager, gives you some concrete information on a sometimes intangible subject. Use an existing tool (and there are some highly regarded ones out there) or else simply let your staff know that you are seeking feedback from them in order to improve your style. A word of caution though, your staff may not feel safe in giving feedback if they believe you are going to use it against them, or become defensive about what they say. It's up to you to create a safe environment so they feel comfortable in being open and honest with you.

2. Don't use the power of your position to get things done.
If people are questioning why certain things are done, or the logic of decisions, never pull rank in response. A critical component of effective leadership is getting the buy-in from your team and colleagues. You don't get buy-in by telling them that the decision is the right one because you are the boss and you made it. Your team may not always agree with what is being done, but they are more likely to respect you if you take the time to explain your rationale.

3. Don't think of employees as things that need to be controlled or managed.

Instead, give them the latitude to take actions and make decisions. Trust is a vital component of leadership. If you can't trust people to do their jobs well, then you either have the wrong people in the jobs, or you have the right people but you haven't trained them sufficiently. Let them do what they are there to do, without leaning over their shoulders all the time, or demand to know how they spend each minute of their time.

4. Listen, listen listen.

If there are unhappy or disgruntled people in your business, you can guarantee that at some stage they've tried to tell you what the problem is. It's likely you weren't listening (or didn't want to listen), or perhaps your initial reaction made the person think twice about bringing the problem to you. Truly listening is one of the greatest skills to develop, regardless of your role. Good listeners are genuinely interested, convey empathy, and want to find out what's behind the conversation. Great leaders are great listeners -without exception.

5. Stop providing solutions

Managers often achieve their positions after being technical specialists, and so will have an opinion or view on how to "fix" situations or problems. They believe that it's faster to tell someone what to do, or do it themselves, than give their employees an opportunity to figure it out. By always providing the answers, managers take away opportunity for their employees to learn and come up with alternative (and potentially better) ways of doing things.

6. Always be constructive - always.

Language and communication skills set great leaders apart from mediocre ones. Don't patronise or be critical of others - take complete responsibility for how you are heard. If you catch yourself about to make negative remarks, take a breath and rephrase your words to get your message across without the emotional attachment. Great leaders always find a way to say things calmly and constructively.

7. Judge your success by the success of your team.

The true success of a leader can be measured by the success of the people that work for them. As a manager of others, your prime responsibility is to ensure the success and development of your team. If they are successful, you will automatically be successful. Focus on building their skills and removing obstacles in their way. If you can achieve this, you will see the results in the productivity, motivation and satisfaction of your employees. This in turn filters through to bottom-line results.

8. Don't do things just because they will "look good".

Nothing is more transparent than managers who make decisions and behave in ways simply to look good to their superiors. If you want to improve as a leader, one of the qualities you need is integrity. The integrity to make decisions because they are right, and the integrity to stand up when you truly believe something is not in the best interests of the business. Whether or not it is in your personal best interests is much less of a consideration.

9. Include humour in your diet.

Nobody likes to work in an environment that is devoid of any fun. People are more productive when they are enjoying themselves. Creating a workplace where fun is permitted and encouraged can make a significant difference, and it's even more effective when the boss participates. It increases team spirit, and encourages people to see you as a person, not simply as the boss.

10. Let people get to know the real you.

Being open about yourself helps to break down the barriers that hierarchy puts in place. When your employees know the person behind the façade, that's when you start to build the foundations of good leadership - trust and respect. About the Author: Megan Tough is director of complete potential, a leadership and HR consultancy based in Sydney, Australia. At complete potential we understand people - what engages them, what encourages them to perform, and what drives them away. With over 20 years experience working on HR issues in business, our job is to help you make the most of your investment in people.

( Coutesy : Ismael D. Tabije : Best Management Articles)

Be Yourself : Success Factors

Personal Leadership:

What's Wrong with (Being) You? One of the great frustrations of my working life is the continuing interactions I have with people who will not be themselves. They somehow feel that it is better to be something or someone they are not.

Their reticence at being who they really are and saying what they really think stems, I have no doubt, from something to do with their psychological make up. Perhaps a lack of confidence, a fear of failure or a level of overemphasised respect for the individuals they interact with.

In corporate life, I find them in all kinds of situations.

A classic is in the interview for a job. A question I like to ask in an interview is "What are you passionate about?" Fifty percent of the time I either get a droll exposition about something to do with the job function or some or I get an treatise on leadership or people management delivered with all the passion of a cardboard cut out.

The reason I ask the question is twofold. The first is to find out what the person does actually get passionate about. Passion is a necessary behaviour to be successful in working and personal life. Also, the answers as they roll enthusiastically off the tongue say a lot about what people value.

The second reason is that those who give the pet, researched answer without passion gets marked off my list. Passion is easy to read. It's in the body language and the pace and tone of voice. When it is faked, the next question in my mind is, of course, what else have they faked? So why do people try to fake it in an interview?

Completing analysis and writing up a report about the conclusions is one example that hurts many organisations. Many consulting firms I have worked with have, as a first step in their analysis, a roughing out of the report. The theory is that this will make people think clearly about what needs to be considered. What I found though is that it became a means to find the data to support the conclusion we have come to before we even started.

Whilst consultants who allow a good technique morph into a very poor practice should be lambasted, they are not a patch on the "What do you think I should think, BOSS?" crowd. These are the people, usually senior in an organisation who in a variation of the illustration of poor consultant technique, think of what answer their masters are looking for and set out to find data to support what they think, not know, their boss wants.

In a previous corporate life, I was seconded to a team that needed to review the logistics operation in Europe. A team of ten people was put together to work on the project for three months. After one week it became apparent from the most cursory analysis of data that a major restructuring of the logistics chain was required. This was outside the scope of the study.

The study continued, however, as the leader of the study believed his boss would not like the answer. I left the study in disgust. The boss, to his credit when presented with a plan which was going to be ineffective as it did not conclude there was need for major restructuring, rejected the presentation after twenty minutes. It was too obvious that the data supported a major restructuring. Second guessing cost the organisation 30 man months of work and delayed turning around the organisation by over three months.

The demonstration of an inability to be oneself that frustrates me the most is when people make decisions based on what they think some one else might have done, rather than what they think is right.

This usually occurs when the boss is on leave but occasionally even when the boss is around. Confronted with a set of problems and data, individuals weigh the pros and cons of taking courses of action in their mind. They then inexplicably choose a course of action they don't believe in. They do so because they thought, "What would he/she do in this situation?" Of course it ends ingloriously when they find they don't have the contacts, skills, knowledge or personality to get away with their chosen line of action.

To be successful as a person we must make decisions based on our competence, our personality and our logic. We will make mistakes. At least they will be our mistakes and we will have the opportunity to learn from them. When we make other people's mistakes or second guess situations, nothing is learnt.

When we are not true to ourselves, we do not learn our limitations or our strengths. We are poorer for it and so are the organisations we work in.

(About the Author: Kevin Dwyer.
Kevin Dwyer is a Director of Change Factory.

Effective Quotation of Charles Darwin

Effective Quotations of Charles Darwin

1. Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system- with all these exalted powers- Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

2. The moral faculties are generally and justly esteemed as of higher value than the intellectual powers. But we should bear in mind that the activity of the mind in vividly recalling past impressions is one of the fundamental though secondary bases of conscience. This affords the strongest argument for educating and stimulating in all possible ways the intellectual faculties of every human being.

3. In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.

4. It is not the strongest of the species that survives… nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change

5. In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs.

Understanding the Understanding .

Understanding : Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana Meditation is a simple and practical method of mental purification, which makes it possible to face the tensions and turbulations of daily life in a calm and balanced way. This path of self-development through self-awareness is extraordinary in its simplicity, its Lack of dogma and, above all, its results.

What is Understanding?

The word “understand” is beautiful. When you are in meditation everything “stands under” you, you are far above it. That is the meaning of understanding. Everything is there far below, so you can see …..You have bird’s-eye view. You can see the whole from your altitude. Intellectual can not see it; it is on the same plane. Understanding happens only when the problem is on plane and you are on a higher plane. If you are functioning on the same plan as the problem, understanding is not possible. You will only misunderstand. ..Kindly visit it for this nice story with some understandable articles

“When one perceives the proper integration of physical sensory stimuli with the inner trees of life force and consciousness (in the astral and causal bodies), true knowledge of the phenomenal world is produced. A self realization , tuning in with the infinite , can see this mysterious tree of nervous , life forces and thoughts issue out of cosmic consciousness , he thus becomes omniscient –

A “ knower of the Vedas “ that is all knowledge” – Timeless wisdom from INDIA

Wipro chief’s 10-point recipe for Success.

Wipro chief’s 10-point recipe for success

No matter what we achieve, it is important to remember that we owe this success to many factors and people outside us. This will not only help us in keeping our sense of modesty and humility intact but also help us to retain our sense of proportion and balance.

1: Dare to dream

2: Define what you stand for

3: Never lose your zest and curiosity

4: Always strive for excellence

5: Build self-confidence

6: Learn to work in teams

7 Take care of yourself

8: Persevere

9: Have a broader social vision

10: Never let success go to your head

Compete with Yourself Daily and Grow.

1. What did I do right?
It's always best to build upon one's strengths. Know what your strengths are so you can leverage them into something even greater.

2. What could I have done differently?
In everything, there's always room for improvement. Look for the gaps between your vision and where you're at when you answer this question. Effective quality improvement balances the approach of living from our strengths along with the more critical perspective that includes looking for the improvement opportunities.

3. What lessons have I learned from this?
Asking this question on a routine basis is a key step towards taking responsibility for one's growth and development. In addition, answering this question forces you to put into words your learning experience and outcomes. Putting your learning into words creates clarity, commitment and a strong presence.

4. What would I do differently next time?
This question helps to strengthen one's strategizing muscle. Looking at situations from different perspectives is foundational for problem-solving, strategizing and quality improvement.

5. What do I want from this?
It's essential to know the outcomes you want. Knowing the outcomes you're striving for will guide you in your decision-making -- you'll know what you're willing to compromise on, and what you're not. You'll know your upper-most limits as well as your lowest.

6. What is my motivation?
Having self-understanding is key to knowledge and healthy/productive relationships. Having an understanding of yourself will help you to understand others, and in turn, will catapult outstanding results.

7. What do I have to gain?
Be careful about what you wish for! Don't give yourself to the pursuit of a goal for the sport of it; be absolutely sure of what you want and why you want it.

8. What is the cost?
All things have a cost. The best things have a cost. Know what they are.

9. Where does this fit into my life?
Answering this question leads to perspective. Paying attention to the whole of life, and not just our pursuits creates a balanced approach to living.

10. What personal value is being expressed?
Ultimately, we are at our best and are most fulfilled when we're expressing and living from our core values. Know what your core values are and let them guide your behavior for maximum fulfillment and success!

(written by Jan Gordon.)

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