When I was in the Army I learned that military life was long stretches of boredom interspersed with moments of trouble, tension and even terror. Interestingly enough, leadership follows a similar pattern. On most days leadership involves doing what is necessary to keep the ship floating and running properly. Decisions are usually straightforward and are […]
Are You A Compelling Communicator?
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” The Captain, Road Prison 36 from Cool Hand Luke Leadership communication is an interesting topic. We all know that the ability to communicate appropriately is an essential component for every effective leader. Ken Blanchard and Associates reports that 43% of survey respondents identified communication skills as […]
Are You A Leader Who Listens?
You don’t listen to me! Whether at home or the office, we have all heard this phrase in our lifetimes. We have probably even used it ourselves! As early as 50 A.D. the Apostle James wrote that the ability to listen is an important skill in life and relationships. He wrote, “Let every person be […]
Are You A Courageous Leader?
We all want to be courageous. We read of stories of heroes, men and women who do extraordinary acts. We want to be that person yet we wonder if we would be courageous if we faced that situation. We all like to think we have courage but sometimes we wonder if that is true. Over […]
Are You A Servant Leader? Count The Cost
Servant leadership. According to John Ballard, Ph.D. servant leadership was the second most searched leadership style on Google behind transformational leadership. Furthermore The Leadership Quarterly reports that empirical studies of leadership styles only focused n servant leadership 1% of the time. What this means is that people are interested in servant leadership, possibly in even […]
Are You An Optimistic Leader: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I. What is an optimistic leader? One of the best illustrations comes from Colin Powell. Powell says that great leaders know things will get better because they themselves will make them better. The following was drilled into Powell during his military training: “Lieutenant, you may be starving, but you must never show hunger. You may […]
Leadership Nugget #11: Are You A Humble Leader?
“Leaders who rated themselves on the low end of 360-degree surveys received higher leadership effectiveness scores from their employees and colleagues. Indeed, the more they underrated themselves, the more highly they were perceived as leaders We assume this is caused by a combination of humility, high personal standards, and a continual striving to be better. […]
Leadership Nugget #7: Are You A Creative Leader?
According to a new study at The University of Texas at San Antonio, the key to a successful, creative leader is confidence. Ineffective or abusive leaders create stressful situations for their employees by humiliating them in front of others, playing favorites or not giving their subordinates proper credit for their work.Confident leaders inspire others to […]