Leadership Articles

Business » Leadership | By Steve Albright @ Monday, 3rd March 2008 @ 5:52 AM

Recent evidence has shown that there is a Personality Profile for someone who can be called a natural born leader. In this personality profile there are a set of innate characteristics that can be studied and learned by those who feel they are inadequate in a leader ship position. A natural born leader can effectively convey confidence, assertiveness, boldness, responsibility, and leadership. Time and time again great leaders will test high for these psychological traits; the results ar... more...

Business » Leadership | By Donald Mitchell @ Monday, 3rd March 2008 @ 4:26 AM

People who feel helpless often react that way because they cannot locate any acceptable alternatives in their own minds. A good way to circumvent that problem is to find others who have had similar problems, and ask them what they would do in your situation. Undoubtedly, you'll get some ideas, and then you can test the more plausible ones on a limited basis to find out which ones actually work. Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern report that the Japanese national railway company w... more...

Business » Leadership | By Donald Mitchell @ Sunday, 2nd March 2008 @ 7:05 PM

The Helplessness Stall often follows the Wishful Thinking Stall. Here's an example of how that can occur. Sales and earnings at a large retail chain had been declining for years. The chain's executives were continually forecasting a turnaround that never came -- that's the wishful thinking beginning of this painful example. After a decade of steadily sinking performance and continuing layoffs, the company's morale had reached the bargain-basement level. Optim... more...

Business » Leadership | By Perry Burns @ Sunday, 2nd March 2008 @ 6:48 PM

The big buzz in the Learning and Development community is about Leadership development. "If only we could train good leaders," goes the argument, "we could be beat the world" This belief is so well ingrained that hardly anyone stops to question it. But when you step back for a second, there are a number of huge questions. For example: 1. If leaders need training, who trained Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin? 2. If leaders can be easily trained, why are there any... more...

Business » Leadership | By Donald Mitchell @ Sunday, 2nd March 2008 @ 6:42 PM

That hot-footed cat is ready to jump as soon as its paws get too hot. You should be too. The best ways to be able to move away from a mistake about an irresistible force are to keep your commitments as low as possible for as long as possible and to have contingency plans in place. How can your commitment to pursuing benefits from the irresistible force be kept low, without harming your opportunities? Many people will dive headfirst into the opportunity, but you may be ab... more...

Business » Leadership | By Donald Mitchell @ Sunday, 2nd March 2008 @ 6:41 PM

"The only limit [to] our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." --Franklin Delano Roosevelt Being buffeted by strong and conflicting irresistible forces can be a little bit like being the proverbial little Dutch boy who notices that the dike is leaking. The child can staunch the leak or go for help. Which should be done first? In the story, he stops the leak with his finger and so must wait for someone to come by who can go for help. In reality, many bus... more...

Business » Leadership | By Marcia Granger @ Saturday, 1st March 2008 @ 4:32 PM

Leadership is process; it is continually in motion. Management is the product of that process, as well as its saviour. Left to itself, movement would travel on into infinity, there would be no boundary, no brakes. Structure provides movement with a framework within which to move without overreaching itself. Management grounds leadership by setting up and maintaining the systems which provide any organization with coherence, with continuity and sense, with the weight required to prevent it... more...

Business » Leadership | By Bill Loyd @ Friday, 29th February 2008 @ 2:23 PM

Some years ago, I was a general manager for a large restaurant chain. I and the other general mangers were in a restaurant that had just been newly remodeled. As we were getting ready for the meeting someone brought in a box of those powder-sugar covered donuts. The box was placed on a large round booth table and everyone began to take one. At that moment my boss asked me to speak to him for a moment and discuss a potential candidate for general manager out of the assistant managers available. ... more...

Business » Leadership | By Rick Hubbard @ Sunday, 10th February 2008 @ 6:25 PM

There are many terrific books that offer information on leadership as both an art and a science. They are books that every manager, in any capacity, should invest their money and time into studying and applying in their work situation. Reading such books to keep abreast of the times will help you launch a leadership revolution that will enable you to make your work environment run smoothly. Reading books that help you become a better manager is information that deserves deeper study tha... more...

Business » Leadership | By Paul Johnson @ Thursday, 24th January 2008 @ 10:14 AM

After taking my order, the young man behind the register announced, "That'll be $6.96." I handed him seven dollars and a penny. The puzzled look on his face made it clear he had no idea what to do with that penny. After what seemed like a long time, I explained, "I'd like a nickel back." He reached in the register with a doubtful look yet gave me the nickel I was expecting. The transaction was complete, but I couldn't stop thinking about what really happened. <... more...

Business » Leadership | By Adrian Adams @ Thursday, 3rd January 2008 @ 4:25 PM

Are you currently an organizational leader? Perhaps you are simply aspiring to be a leader or have suddenly been thrust into a new leadership position. In any case it is valuable to reflect for a few moments on the leadership style you currently practice or examine the possibilities available before you adopt a style that fits your personality as well as the group and tasks for which you have responsibility. First it is important to identify leadership styles. While there are a myriad ... more...

Business » Leadership | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 @ 11:22 PM

The Significance Of Leadership Commitment In A Business By leadership here we don't mean only the top rung people. Usually people have a misconception that a CEO or the president or the COO of the company needs to have a visionary leadership quality to take the company to the peak of the success. However it needs to be mentioned here that Leadership commitment is a trait that should be present in every leader whether they are team leaders or the CEO's or much-recognized informal... more...

Business » Leadership | By Rick Hubbard @ Tuesday, 1st January 2008 @ 4:21 PM

The leader is the broker of a message. The manager is a broker of information. And yet, managers can be leaders. It all depends on the significance of the message and what they do with it. Adept managers can take an old message and re-tool it and then leverage it into greater influence. That is what leaders do. They influence others. It may be formal influeence in their employment. It may be entrepreneurial as it is with the small business owner or network marketer. It may be per... more...

Business » Leadership | By Nick Angeli @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 7:44 PM

Though you may be getting into small business for the rewards of working for yourself, providing for your family, and being in control of your own destiny,there are lessons that can be learned from multi billion dollar companies, even if your aspirations are much lower. These companies, by and large, started off no bigger than yours did, and perhaps with no greater visions. But with the right business practices, powerful advertising, and a great product, these companies became American i... more...

Business » Leadership | By Richard Cox @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 8:47 AM

Perhaps the most fundamental characteristic of leadership, and therefore of transformational leaders, is personal leadership. The ability to define what you want out of life and how you are going to get there is the first step in developing leadership. With that being the starting point, it all seems pretty local, however there are other parts to the experience that are not always easy to access. As a transformational leader there are many uncertainties to navigate. There will be times ... more...

Business » Leadership | By Nick Angeli @ Wednesday, 26th December 2007 @ 5:34 PM

Over one third of all new business fail every year and most of them were doomed before they ever opened their doors. Before venturing into any business, of any type, you can help prevent the business from going belly-up from the start or determine you need a different type of business to deflect failure. The most basic question you have to ask is why customers need whatever it is you are selling. This is the most basic question of any business and if you can't answer it with a short,... more...

Business » Leadership | By silvana clark @ Wednesday, 26th December 2007 @ 4:12 PM

As the New Year begins, many supervisors look for ways to make 2008 more productive by motivating their entry level staff. After all, isn't it easy to get employees to perform at their highest capabilities? Simply offer lucrative stock options, three-day work weeks and generous salaries. Oprah Winfrey actually gives employees new cars and trips around the world. On the other hand, if you are like most businesses, it takes creativity to motivate employees when your budget is tight. M... more...

Business » Leadership | By Richard Cox @ Wednesday, 26th December 2007 @ 3:23 PM

Perhaps two of the most challenging areas a Transformational Leader will come across, aside from personal skill development and the ongoing challenges that a leadership role will inevitably bring, will be building trust, and managing power. The reason why these two areas are key, is because if ignored, they have a large influence on the success rate of a leader. Trust and power are linked directly to the individual leader themselves, and so it can be directly addressed, as the indivi... more...

Business » Leadership | By Rick Hubbard @ Tuesday, 25th December 2007 @ 3:03 PM

You're the leader next door and have heard over and over that you need to set goals and write them down. You sit down in front of the computer to make a list of what development you want to take place in your followers. Maybe you are a manager and they are your sales staff in an office. Your list includes all the things you want them to be aware of as well as all the things you want them to know and appreciate. One goal may look something like this: "The members of my team shall... more...

Business » Leadership | By Wayne Messick @ Tuesday, 25th December 2007 @ 2:34 PM

Leaders, in order to be effective, must inspire confidence in order to have followers.Unless leaders have followers they aren't leading anybody are they? Effective leaders are those who inspire confidence in their followers because they consistently lead them and the organization in the right direction. How do leaders know what the right decisions are, that will lead their people in the right direction? Are there leadership books to tell how to develop the judgment required to... more...