Most would agree that FLL (front line leaders) just might be the most important leadership roles within the entire organization due to their immediate impact on productivity and culture.
Some of the skills which typically need development are listed here (developed by a group of leaders I recently was working with)....they are offered here for your thinking and consideration:
• Understanding and realizing LEADERSHIP QUALITIES and TRAITS, the role of a leader?
• TRUST…deeper understanding… building & breaking it…. the value of it?
• Understanding the Power of RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING?
• Going from PEER to LEADER?
• TEAM-BUILDING…how to?…tearing it down…building it…understanding the need.
• MOTIVATION, ATTITUDE and MORALE.
• HUMAN NATURE and HUMAN BEHAVIOR…. understanding people and culture.
• Interpersonal COMMUNICATION…skills and techniques, barriers, improving.
• COMMUNICATION Systems and Processes within the organization…how the Chain of Command works.
• CONFLICT, DISAGREEMENT and DIFFERENCES…. resolving and managing.
• Handling & accepting other's ideas, suggestions and input.
• LISTENING…a most powerful tool.
• BRAINSTORMING / TEAM PROB-SOLVING.
• CREDIT & PRAISE -RECOGNITION and REWARD.
• DISCIPLINE, COACHING and FEEDBACK.
• Handling negativism, COMPLAINTS
• Creating an Open and Trusting environment.
• LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT…. discovering ‘where you stand’…levels of leadership.
• Group Dynamics, the impact that we have on each other, CONSENSUS and BUY-IN.
• MENTORING, COUNSELING and developing people.
• Presentation and FACILITATION tips/techniques.
• CONTINUOUS LEARNING, IMPROVEMENT and SYSTEMS-thinking.
• Understanding the concept of CHANGE…selling, processing and utilizing.
• DELEGATION …skills and understanding (a great tool or a terrible one).
.............likely you can think of some others right now huh?????!
It is amazing though to look at all this ‘stuff’’ that leaders should know!!! How could organizations 'possibly assume' that anyone just possesses it all naturally? Oh well, it will be OK :)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Blessed life and Helping YOU
Today, church, the message and all made me think again how fortunate I am and how good life is. Nowhere near rich in terms of material stuff, but with family, friends, new relationships and new doors...it couldn't be better. I even managed to connect some people with each other this past week that will bless them both...
This is likely more for me than for you. Just sharing with YOU that life is good despite the challenges and obstacles. At any moment, it can all turn and I know this, we all do, huh? With all the good HE has given me, it could be all downhill from here and I would still be 'getting over' :)))
I am blessed at this moment in time, this season, etc, and I know precisely why it is so good. I am so focused on helping others; and there is no better time in our lives than when we can focus on THEM and not OURSELVES!
God is good, thank you Lord
Please let me know if I can help you in your world! Take care and have a great last week of April 2010.
This is likely more for me than for you. Just sharing with YOU that life is good despite the challenges and obstacles. At any moment, it can all turn and I know this, we all do, huh? With all the good HE has given me, it could be all downhill from here and I would still be 'getting over' :)))
I am blessed at this moment in time, this season, etc, and I know precisely why it is so good. I am so focused on helping others; and there is no better time in our lives than when we can focus on THEM and not OURSELVES!
God is good, thank you Lord
Please let me know if I can help you in your world! Take care and have a great last week of April 2010.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Managers 'bad people' ?!?...nahhhh
A recent group of leaders I was speaking to, reminded me of a dynamic that happens periodically. Sometimes people initially believe I am targeting or attacking managers. This could be no further from the truth. In my consulting, speaking coaching and teaching (as well as within my book series), people eventually realize that I actually sincerely love people! I find ALL OF US to be hugely amazing as well...
I have a lot of compassion for the challenges managers face and their nearly hopeless position - being placed in these leadership roles with little to no training or preparation. Good people doing their best to execute a critical skillset, especially to those they are attempting to lead huh?
However, I also have a lot of compassion and empathy for the zillions of people who have to be led by untrained and therefore ineffective leadership. To that end, the purpose and my passion in all I do is to challenge the current thinking of managers and create this awareness. This challenge is also for those responsible for developing leadership and essentially organizations as a whole.
Soooo, do you view managers in your life, or in your past to be a bad person?
If YOU are a manager, are you a bad person?...might some be viewing you this way?...
Could it just be managers are actually good people, practicing bad leadership???...
>>>HAVE AN AWESOME SATURDAY<<<
I have a lot of compassion for the challenges managers face and their nearly hopeless position - being placed in these leadership roles with little to no training or preparation. Good people doing their best to execute a critical skillset, especially to those they are attempting to lead huh?
However, I also have a lot of compassion and empathy for the zillions of people who have to be led by untrained and therefore ineffective leadership. To that end, the purpose and my passion in all I do is to challenge the current thinking of managers and create this awareness. This challenge is also for those responsible for developing leadership and essentially organizations as a whole.
Soooo, do you view managers in your life, or in your past to be a bad person?
If YOU are a manager, are you a bad person?...might some be viewing you this way?...
Could it just be managers are actually good people, practicing bad leadership???...
>>>HAVE AN AWESOME SATURDAY<<<
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A great friend just shared this . so now sharing video/music inspiration with you: http://ping.fm/fKMJQ
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Visioning or just Pointing
I spotted this, it's not mine. Don't know who gets the credit, but I like it:
"...the difference between a leader and a non-leader: The non-leader says look at that star in the sky / people, the team or the group look to the end of his/her pointing finger?!?...mmmmm...?
"...When the real leader points, people don't look at the end of the finger (or stop there), but they see the distant STAR. Even if they can not quite see it, they are still looking for IT..."
>>>Are you leading or are you just pointing?
>>>Are you 'seeing & focused on' a vision or stuck at the end of someone's finger?????
"...the difference between a leader and a non-leader: The non-leader says look at that star in the sky / people, the team or the group look to the end of his/her pointing finger?!?...mmmmm...?
"...When the real leader points, people don't look at the end of the finger (or stop there), but they see the distant STAR. Even if they can not quite see it, they are still looking for IT..."
>>>Are you leading or are you just pointing?
>>>Are you 'seeing & focused on' a vision or stuck at the end of someone's finger?????
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Blog title...
We ALL need help!…hard to argue with that, huh?
In conversations with a new business acquaintance recently, the thought (above) hit me pretty close to home and as I pondered it, of course I thought “aha, good material for the next Leadership Moment series!”. The objective with this message is really twofold (hopefully I can make two points in one page, we’ll see). First point:…that we all need input, assistance, mentors and coaches in our lives—ALL of us….and point # 2: to share with you some aspects regarding ‘first impressions’ that have become evident to me.
I have personally gone through many changes in my life recently and people have entered and left for a variety of reasons (no need for details at this time…however if you have a few hours to kill, I will be happy to share!). Because of these changes, I have been very conscious / concerned of a void that has resulted – not having people around to give me honest input, coaching and thoughts about ME. Now, because of the world of leadership and training that I live in, this need is something that I very strongly believe in and seek continuously. Quite by chance I stumbled into the path of someone who has taken up some of that slack and has helped fill that void for me. It took some boldness on their part, but I was being provided with some pretty good observations and critiquing of ME: my habits, behaviors, etc that I had developed and needed to address. Just so you don’t think this is just about me rambling on about my life, let me make point #1 clear right here. As I was receiving this input, I had a few choices to make…get mad at ‘these things’ I was hearing about ME; change the subject, forgive and forget; reject the input as though it wasn’t true; OR thank this person for their input. Consider what you typically observe when people receive feedback or ‘criticism’ (by the way, how do you respond?). I agree with what you are thinking, the receiver typically has just had their day ruined! Again, because of my work, which often focuses on helping leaders and managers in self-assessment; my response is pretty immediate and sincere in these situations. As Gomer Pyle used to say (and maybe still does?)… “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!” Why?…because this person has just HELPED me. The point is that these observations were right on – just a few little quirks that I had developed unconsciously that will be easily corrected. The only negative takeaway for me is thinking about how many people have written me off or thought less of me because of these quirks? Why didn’t they tell me right then and there? You and I know the answer: they didn’t feel comfortable enough, the relationship wasn’t strong enough or they didn’t want to hurt my feelings, right? The reality here takes us back to the original point: that we all need people in our lives that will do that for us (not to us, but for us). I will also acknowledge that the approach and tact of the person providing the input has something to do with our reception! This recent situation made me realize another angle of this…that these mentors don’t necessarily have to be someone extremely close to us. In fact, the person in question here is someone that I have only known a short while, but we have been able to honestly communicate on a professional level with each other that has hopefully been mutually beneficial. If you think this is nuts and it can’t really happen or work that way—you are the one that is nuts! Want to know how?…what the secret is? ANSWER: it is ALL about your attitude, security and beliefs about YOU! …Do you think you are a completed project? Do you think you cannot improve? Consider that you are as good as it gets? Do you really want to know your flaws?
I can see right now that my second point about first impressions is not going to get much attention with just a little bit of space remaining -- so just a couple of brief, hopefully connecting thoughts. Think about how you and I have made judgements about people in our past based on first impressions. Think about what may have made that impression negative and how maybe unfairly you ( and I) just wrote them off. Maybe you view somebody that talks funny, incorrectly or different from you negatively or maybe they just have some habit or trait that you don’t like. Possibly they don’t realize it and would love to have that pointed out to HELP them!?! That can be tricky obviously, but let me just pose a few questions to YOU: Are you presenting a good first impression to people? Do you know why or why not?….NOT UNLESS YOU ARE OPEN TO FINDING OUT AND ASKING FOR INPUT. Bottom line: Leaders help people and ask for help…AND…Leaders seek out mentors and mentor others themselves. My recent experience tells me that we had better have those who will point out what needs to be pointed out. Better just leave it at that for now….hope you have a great day…people are amazing!
Take care, Doug
In conversations with a new business acquaintance recently, the thought (above) hit me pretty close to home and as I pondered it, of course I thought “aha, good material for the next Leadership Moment series!”. The objective with this message is really twofold (hopefully I can make two points in one page, we’ll see). First point:…that we all need input, assistance, mentors and coaches in our lives—ALL of us….and point # 2: to share with you some aspects regarding ‘first impressions’ that have become evident to me.
I have personally gone through many changes in my life recently and people have entered and left for a variety of reasons (no need for details at this time…however if you have a few hours to kill, I will be happy to share!). Because of these changes, I have been very conscious / concerned of a void that has resulted – not having people around to give me honest input, coaching and thoughts about ME. Now, because of the world of leadership and training that I live in, this need is something that I very strongly believe in and seek continuously. Quite by chance I stumbled into the path of someone who has taken up some of that slack and has helped fill that void for me. It took some boldness on their part, but I was being provided with some pretty good observations and critiquing of ME: my habits, behaviors, etc that I had developed and needed to address. Just so you don’t think this is just about me rambling on about my life, let me make point #1 clear right here. As I was receiving this input, I had a few choices to make…get mad at ‘these things’ I was hearing about ME; change the subject, forgive and forget; reject the input as though it wasn’t true; OR thank this person for their input. Consider what you typically observe when people receive feedback or ‘criticism’ (by the way, how do you respond?). I agree with what you are thinking, the receiver typically has just had their day ruined! Again, because of my work, which often focuses on helping leaders and managers in self-assessment; my response is pretty immediate and sincere in these situations. As Gomer Pyle used to say (and maybe still does?)… “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!” Why?…because this person has just HELPED me. The point is that these observations were right on – just a few little quirks that I had developed unconsciously that will be easily corrected. The only negative takeaway for me is thinking about how many people have written me off or thought less of me because of these quirks? Why didn’t they tell me right then and there? You and I know the answer: they didn’t feel comfortable enough, the relationship wasn’t strong enough or they didn’t want to hurt my feelings, right? The reality here takes us back to the original point: that we all need people in our lives that will do that for us (not to us, but for us). I will also acknowledge that the approach and tact of the person providing the input has something to do with our reception! This recent situation made me realize another angle of this…that these mentors don’t necessarily have to be someone extremely close to us. In fact, the person in question here is someone that I have only known a short while, but we have been able to honestly communicate on a professional level with each other that has hopefully been mutually beneficial. If you think this is nuts and it can’t really happen or work that way—you are the one that is nuts! Want to know how?…what the secret is? ANSWER: it is ALL about your attitude, security and beliefs about YOU! …Do you think you are a completed project? Do you think you cannot improve? Consider that you are as good as it gets? Do you really want to know your flaws?
I can see right now that my second point about first impressions is not going to get much attention with just a little bit of space remaining -- so just a couple of brief, hopefully connecting thoughts. Think about how you and I have made judgements about people in our past based on first impressions. Think about what may have made that impression negative and how maybe unfairly you ( and I) just wrote them off. Maybe you view somebody that talks funny, incorrectly or different from you negatively or maybe they just have some habit or trait that you don’t like. Possibly they don’t realize it and would love to have that pointed out to HELP them!?! That can be tricky obviously, but let me just pose a few questions to YOU: Are you presenting a good first impression to people? Do you know why or why not?….NOT UNLESS YOU ARE OPEN TO FINDING OUT AND ASKING FOR INPUT. Bottom line: Leaders help people and ask for help…AND…Leaders seek out mentors and mentor others themselves. My recent experience tells me that we had better have those who will point out what needs to be pointed out. Better just leave it at that for now….hope you have a great day…people are amazing!
Take care, Doug
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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