Leadership-Toolkit.Com Tutorials One - “Prepare Yourself for Leadership Training” Executive Summary: This tutorial contains 3 short articles highlighting the processes, resources and strategies you can use to increase the efficacy and impacts of your leadership developmental efforts. We have also provided some checklists, progress reviews and diagrams you should take advantage as you read, study and digest these or other training materials during your coursework. You should email us with some dates and times for your chat sessions. We may wish to phone you to confirm one or more those session times, so please provide us with your best phone contact information. You will want to use the printing feature of this document to take it with you as you travel through space-time or you may wish to place it in a binder and record your notes, questions and findings. Here is our email address – I strongly suggest you click on this link when reading these documents on your computer: editor@leadership-toolkit.com?Subject=LeaderTutorial 3 Aspects of Developing Your Leadership Skills Everyone knows that great leaders are made, not born. However good that statement sounds, we still want to know how we "make" or turn people effective leaders. And other questions need to be answered about the process of leadership development. So how DO you boost your leadership skills? If you want to improve your ability to lead, where should you focus your attention? Why are certain leadership talents more important than others? To Boost or not to - that's a good question Would you want to be a leader with more skills? Yes, especially when you consider the opportunities "more" skills offer you. You would want to effectively plan a strategy or generate purposeful agenda to meet the challenges of your daily situations. You could employ different skills to encourage your team to perform beyond their ordinary level, bridge the gaps causing low morale in your followers or coach and counsel people who face difficult circumstances. With more skills, you would be better prepared to take action with greater confidence, and you would act more decisively. Having more skills means you have: => More options, styles and capabilities to choose from, => More approaches to evaluating or solving your "problems", => More opportunities to innovate. In the world of leaders, you must agree that "more is definitely better!" Quo Vadis? Whither doth thou goest? Where should you focus your attention? Taking a journey involves having an intent and a destination in your mind. Your leadership training, development and educational efforts demand the same kind of purposeful mind-set. Your reasons for improving your leadership abilities will depend upon your working conditions, operating environment and other organizational factors. For instance, what types of situations do you face, how will your leadership skills be applied? - Will you lead a special or critical one-time project? - Will you lead others who directly report to you or are under your direct influence? - Will you lead people who are outside your sphere of control [such as, your clients, partners from other companies, or members of your community]? You must focus your attention on providing service through your leadership. To look at leadership in this light, you will need to know what types of leadership service are required: => Should your style be dictating or nurturing; => Should more of your time be spent listening and observing; => Should your behavior be motivating or modeling; => Should your role be instructing or supervising and so on. Leadership is not a "wondering-about" activity - when leaders are aimless. their followers are clueless, and everyone's efforts are worthless. Show and Tell or tell and show - it depends on your talents Because you do have strengths and weaknesses, you owe it to yourself to investigate your talents honestly and deeply. Are you a strong communicator, do you usually think about or see things in a positive light, can you easily adapt yourself to deal with changes, are you flexible? Your strengths will empower your effectiveness and your weaknesses will betray you and disgust, disappoint or discourage others. The trick you need to turn is found in using your strengths to analyze and overcome your weaknesses. Let me explain myself - I have a fairly strong ability to react to and perceive the subtleties of my surroundings - but there are times when I realize that my understanding of someone's behavior is wrong. When I'm incorrect in my assessment, it would be wise for me to acknowledge my error and apologize for being insensitive to that person's plight or burden. Another way to overcome your weakness is to delegate your authority to and share your power with someone who has a greater strength, more time or a stronger relationship than your do. But you should always be aware of your skills, knowledge and connections to others. In a word, you want to maintain a constant inventory of your attributes, tendencies and shortfalls. Your portfolio of strengths will affect your decisions to embark on prudent courses of action, with knowledge of your weaknesses you can defend the threats to your mission by developing alternative plans or assign tasks to other people. Once you have determined the state of your strengths, you can use your skills-inventory => To act in innovative or more creative ways; => To establish appropriate and effective patterns, structures or solutions; => To support and propel the momentum of your leadership power. So then the questions remain: will you step-up to the challenge, are you willing to awaken the great leader that slumbers inside you? If so, you can be "made" into a leader of great promise. There are leadership training courses, workshops and programs available to all sizes of budget and ambition. I believe you were born to bless the world with your God-given greatness. Please don't deny us the energy of your unique, meaningful and worthy contributions. Copyright © 2003-2005, Mustard Seed Investments, Inc., All rights reserved. 7 Excellent Ways to Improve your Leadership Skills! Did you know that there are 7 really effective yet powerful ways to improve your leadership learning opportunities? If you have ever looked at using a leadership skills training program, you probably have run smack into one or more of the following problems: - leadership training will usually cost you some serious money - in fact, some programs are outrageously expensive - leadership training programs last for a very short time - quite a few of them run for only one or two days - many leadership training programs fail to give you some way to support or help you meet your daily challenges - less than 1% of all leadership training programs couple coaching and mentoring follow-ups with classroom sessions - most leadership training programs like to do 'raw data dumps'- the vast majority of them do NOT give you chances to 'blend' your learning experiences with supervised practice This article will help you to find, use and take advantage of every leadership skills learning opportunity you encounter - you will be able to employ your leadership skills in highly effective, more creative and powerful ways. Power Strategy - 1 -- Make sure you get clearly defined and significant returns on your training investment! When you spend your money on training are you looking for entertainment, engagement or education? I don't know about your priorities but I know that I demand a ton of convincing to invest in training of any sort. I want to get much more from training than I put into it. Of course, your training program certainly needs to contain some entertaining and even engaging aspects to it. If you want the temporary benefits of watching an action adventure movie or taking a walk in the park then go for it - but if you need to see your career prospects blossom and vibrantly grow stronger, your training investment must deliver more than a mere 100% payback [I suggest you look for programs that guarantee you returns of at least 300%]. Power Strategy - 2 -- Spend your money to make more money Strategy 1 instructed you to seek guaranteed returns on your investment. Of course, that does mean that you do need to invest your money to get a return on it! What am I saying? I am not telling you to spend all of your money for leadership training, however I am advising you to make wise investments of your money. So what does that mean? Wisdom says you need to look at every training program as a continuing investment in both your current and future performance. So doesn't it make sense to you that you need to pay for training on a continuing basis? Leadership training prices should be reasonable and based on your desire to pay for those incremental benefits that you are likely to receive from your training program over a period of time. Power Strategy - 3 -- See the long view of your training needs We already discussed the continuing nature of training. Do you believe that learning is a lifelong exercise? If so, how do you expect to learn anything of lasting value in just 1 or 2 days? Many leadership training programs feature these short term exposures to the complex job of leading others and yourself. I wonder how you are supposed to master the diverse arts, practices and processes of leadership in less than 12 hours? In those kinds of workshops and seminars, you are told that you will come away from the classroom with an in-depth understanding of 15 or 20 topics - yeah, sure you will! By now, it should be obvious to you that the most effective leadership training requires LONG-TERM continuous, committed and caring support, follow-ups and assessments from your training provider. Power Strategy - 4 -- Get the most that you can from every training day! I can hear you talking to yourself - you're thinking that you only need to get the most out of everyday you participate in a training class, aren't you? Since you have spent your money on a training class, you would be foolish not to get the most from that investment. However, I would like you to consider the fact that everyday that you're alive is a day for learning, practicing and mastering new skills, knowledge and principles. If you maintain a daily diary or journal, you should strive to write down your learning-oriented accomplishments. You would enter the principle, skill, knowledge [applicable, relevant and practical information you found - not just mere facts and figures but useful, valuable and profit-producing know-how]. Power Strategy - 5 -- Be open to being helped Many times, people in leadership training hold the mistaken belief that only their teachers know how to help them learn leadership skills and principles. If someone wants to weave you an elaborate tale of how only other leaders can show you the 'ropes' or that only those buttoned-down, up-and-coming junior executive-types can show you how to charge into the fray and take no prisoners then you're in for a surprise. Not everyone who has gone before you knows how to lead or knows what they're doing in this new age of knowledge – so you can forget all those myths and nursery stories right now! When you break free from assumptions like those mentioned above, you will see how people operating in various walks of life and those working in different professions or sectors of the economy from yours can and will add rich, colorful textures to your tapestry of leadership. Helpers of all sorts can contribute to your understanding of their cultures, operational paradigms and traditional practices - these people can be found all around you. How can your peers, subordinates and non-leaders empower your leadership development? It's your task to learn how. Power Strategy - 6 -- Reach out and grab a bucketful of support The journey towards leadership maturity may begin with a single step but you'll need a thousand other things to carry you along your way. Your leadership adventure will have to be fueled by sustenance of many kinds: - A written record of your challenges and encounters will help you stay focused and encouraged - Interactions and exchanges with your fellow travelers will maintain your sanity and stability - Confessional and consultative sessions with your advisers will strengthen your resolve and faith - Daily inspirational readings and pep-talks will energize you and feed your soul - Meditations and prayers will uplift your spirit and enable your inner being to soar with wings of eagles Power Strategy - 7 -- Get your acting cues from the director In essence, a coach is similar to the director of a motion picture - coaches prompt, instruct, direct and intensely encourage us to move towards our goals. You have a better chance of becoming the leader you were destined to be with a coach working alongside of you. Of course you still need a structured course of learning and teachers who will help increase your knowledge and tutor you. A coach will instill a sense of accountability in you, your coach will keep the bar raised so that you become accustomed to striving for the highest possible performance. In your development as a leader, your coach will be instrumental in helping you examine yourself candidly and rigorously. After a time, you will come to see your coach as the person who showed you the meaning of reaching for the prize. ------------------------------------------------------------ Most successful leaders agree that these kinds of approaches to leadership development work precisely because they became world-class leaders through using techniques, tools and resources like the ones you just read about. Change management expert, Holger Nauheimer, explains how our dynamically-charged, ever-shifting, global-landscape, calls for a new spirit of development, "in which individuals, the members of organizations, experience self-determination and personal growth - and participate in creating a world around them to which they want to belong." Recently reported results in the Wharton School's Leadership Digest, of a comprehensive study of leadership failures, the following recommendations were given to help promising leaders avoid potential pitfalls: it suggested that, they - "should create development plans and opportunities for promising internal candidates; - should reflect carefully on their own experiences and, throughout the course of their careers, seek out opportunities to develop their context skills; - determine the level of support they'll need from their predecessor, and perform an intense self-assessment to determine what other organizational support they will need" - Experienced firefighter, Lynn Biddison, says the number one priority for new leaders is: "Establish a rigorous training plan for [yourself and] your people" The last but most important "Power Strategy" I will share with you is this - Be sure to increase the richness, texture, luster, power and scope, depth, capacity, value-added, quality and competencies of your leadership development experiences on a daily basis! Seek and find only those training programs that can help you fulfill the objectives of these Power Strategies and you will make laudable, noteworthy and legendary contributions to your community, organization and our world. By: Bill Thomas Mustard Seed Investments Inc. Copyright © 2004, All rights reserved. What's Wrong With Your Leadership Skills? I bet you can't tell me how many times have you wondered why and how come your ideas failed to influence, persuade or lead others. Sometimes, decisions can be risky propositions but you and your colleagues shouldn't have to bet the house on your leadership skills. If you pay attention to a few critical items, you can become a better, more effective and inspirational leader. The concepts outlined in this article will help you examine the key aspects of your leadership duties and show you how to improve yourself through a minimum of effort. STEP ONE: Use Your Situation To Identify Needs, Problems, Pay-offs and Opportunities. Those who do become effective leaders quickly learn the importance of perceiving, 'scanning' or reading the hidden realities formed by the landscapes, patterns or shapes of the situations facing them. Investing your attention, time and efforts into discovering potential outcomes for each situation will bring you highly lucrative returns. You must adopt a series of techniques that will enable you to test, investigate, evaluate and determine your choices. Your methods should strive to unlock the possibilities for growth, resourcefulness and productivity that the situation contains. The success of your solutions, decisions and alternatives will depend on your 'scanning' skills. STEP TWO: Empower Your Success With A Vital, Vivid, Vibrant Vision! Have you ever written a vision statement? Did your statement excite others, were they inspired by it, was it able to pass the 'test-of-time'? Your vision depends on your findings, conclusions and answers in step number one - your words and concepts will have to address those opportunities, solve those problems and satisfy those needs. Take note of Tom Peters' advice, "If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade." To communicate the true power of your vision be sure to open-up the curtains and reveal the blazing glory of your personal and organizational values, the sparkling wealth-potential of your resources and the glimmering time-horizon of your hopes. In short, you want your vision to imagine the physical, intellectual, spiritual and developmental attributes of your envisioned reality. What will your vision look like, what will we think of it, how would others be motivated by it and believe in its goodness, in what ways will we grow when it is fulfilled? Your visions will have much more impact when you remember to include those people who must make the vision come true. It's always a good idea to include your associates, partners, suppliers and customers in your vision-creation efforts. STEP THREE: Lead With A Robust Agenda Your agenda covers the key priorities that must be taken care of to transform your vision into a successful, prosperous and viable reality. Your agenda helps concentrate your team's attention on growth and shared beliefs as it also acts as a catalyst for: 1) Managing your vision, 2) Ordering your strategy, 3) Directing your work patterns, 4) Selecting your styles and 5) Performing your roles. In a way, your agenda assumes the function of a central nervous system because it should immediately inform you on the health and wellness of your entire venture. I strongly recommend that your leadership agenda be used to oversee, optimize and organize your enterprise - your agenda should encompass these 7 broad areas: Security, [Universe-oriented] Frontiering, Power, Guidance, Wisdom, Syntropy and Conceptualizing. STEP FOUR: Strategy Gives Your Venture Discipline and Will-Power Leaders use strategies to indicate approach, direction and intent. Your strategy must fulfill all three of those objectives to ensure the success of your vision. You may see your strategies as guideposts, navigation charts and maps for your journey towards the realization of your vision. While a strategy is not the actual terrain, a well-conceived strategy does provide disciplined support for executing on the important things. Strategic intents can serve as an inspiration to others and can transform them into leaders for your cause. In general terms, your strategy must help you: - Engender trust and positive self-regard - Define responsibility - Exercise control - Judge performance and progress - Guide the process of change STEP FIVE: Adapt Your Behaviors To Serve The Vision Leaders serve the needs of multiple constituents. Your leadership duties demand that you work with different environments, people, resources, plans, dynamics and many other entities. Your duties force you to be consistent, fair and honest in all that you do as the leader. However, there are essential attitudes, behaviors and focus you must incorporate into your activities. You may need to operate out of differing motives – for example, There are times when you will want to create or build something new - yet at other times, you will want to provide a service to others or be driven by the incessant constraints of time - the complete range of your motives will need to be exercised throughout your life as leader. You will want to ask yourself about your mental attitude - are you flexible, dynamic in nature or intensity, are you open to various points of view? The more positive your attitude the greater your capacity for seeing the potential, accepting change or being open to new ideas. ------------------------------------------------------------ You can spend thousands and devote weeks of precious time to formal classroom instruction. You could read hundreds of books on leadership related topics. You are welcome to try and learn from your mistakes and eventually you will master the art of leadership. I have found the steps outlined above to be extremely easy to remember and simple to understand in my own practice of leadership. In fact, I have applied them to my personal, business and community situations with great results. Gurus like Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Warren Bennis, Jack Welch have discussed these five principles at length in their work. Many great historical figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, John F. Kennedy and Marie Curie have demonstrated many of these skills in their leadership roles. Your leadership success depends on your agreement with Churchill's wise observation: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." These 5 steps provide you with ways to approach all your life adventures - will you walk with confident expectations for positive outcomes, will you commit your resources to growing stronger and will you use your own personal toolkit to hone your leadership skills? By: Bill Thomas Mustard Seed Investments Inc. Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved. C ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bill Thomas is publisher of leadership skills training materials. courses & programs. "Your Leadership-UltraNet!" is the Web's only ULTRA-Performance Empowerment System That Shows You How-To Think-like, Act-like, Behave-like, Believe-like and then Manage-like a Creative, Confident, Persuasive, Highly Effective Leader, Each & Every Day! http://www.leadership-toolkit.com/skills.html