“You must elevate the growth and development of people from a ‘means’ to an ‘end’ goal of equal importance to the product or service mission of the organization. Servant leadership requires a level of intimacy with the needs and aspirations of the people being led that might be beyond the level of intimacy an ego-driven leader is willing to sustain.” - Ken Blanchard
Nothing is more important to the success of an organization than the quality or professionalism of its staff. All too often, organizations approach professional development from an issue based or single minded perspective rather than from a comprehensive perspective. Creating a professional staff requires more than just a hiring process, or more than just a training program, creating a professional staff requires a holistic or systems approach.
What are doing to insure that your staff is properly trained?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thought of the Week - 10/20/08
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Like all great Servant Leaders, King knew the value of the art of gentle persuasion. This concept sets servant leadership apart from past leadership styles in the fact that instead of dictating to staff members the decisions that are made, buy-in is obtained by the leader setting the stage simply through open communication. By creating awareness through gentle persuasion, listening and offering empathy, the most difficult situations can be eased.
What strategies or techniques do you use to help “mold” consensus within your organization?
Like all great Servant Leaders, King knew the value of the art of gentle persuasion. This concept sets servant leadership apart from past leadership styles in the fact that instead of dictating to staff members the decisions that are made, buy-in is obtained by the leader setting the stage simply through open communication. By creating awareness through gentle persuasion, listening and offering empathy, the most difficult situations can be eased.
What strategies or techniques do you use to help “mold” consensus within your organization?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Thought of the Week - 10/13/08
"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." - Theodore Roosevelt
How well do you know those you lead? You are probably surrounded with an abundance of talented individuals, unique to your workplace, whose expertise possibly has gone virtually untouched. According to the Rising Sun model, “Instilling Independence” is defined as: “Developing an atmosphere of hope, confidence and autonomy.” In other words, Instilling Independence is believing in people, believing that we hired them for the right reasons.
Instilling Independence is thinking and assuming the best in others. It is empowering your employees to do the job they were hired to do. No other single strategy of effective supervision is more powerful than allowing an employee to actually do the job they were hire for without having to micromanage how they do it.
Have you ever been micromanaged? How did it feel? Did you like it? Did you feel respected? Did you respect the person who micromanaged you? It is always interesting to us that no matter how many people we ask, almost all have been micromanaged, but no one likes it! So who is doing all the micromanaging and why?
How well do you know those you lead? You are probably surrounded with an abundance of talented individuals, unique to your workplace, whose expertise possibly has gone virtually untouched. According to the Rising Sun model, “Instilling Independence” is defined as: “Developing an atmosphere of hope, confidence and autonomy.” In other words, Instilling Independence is believing in people, believing that we hired them for the right reasons.
Instilling Independence is thinking and assuming the best in others. It is empowering your employees to do the job they were hired to do. No other single strategy of effective supervision is more powerful than allowing an employee to actually do the job they were hire for without having to micromanage how they do it.
Have you ever been micromanaged? How did it feel? Did you like it? Did you feel respected? Did you respect the person who micromanaged you? It is always interesting to us that no matter how many people we ask, almost all have been micromanaged, but no one likes it! So who is doing all the micromanaging and why?
Monday, October 6, 2008
Thought of the Week - 10/6/08
Hello Everyone ...
We apologize for length of time we have not been adding to this Blog ... but we are back.
Since we have been gone for a while, we thought it might be a good idea to repeat our original Thought of the Week ...
"Leaders are made, not born. You learn to become a leader by doing what other excellent leaders have done before you. You become proficient in your job or skill, and then you become proficient at understanding the motivations and behaviors of other people." - Brian Tracy
There is an old saying that suggests "when a mind opens, a teacher will appear." It is our hope and desire that this Blog can serve as a "teacher", a resource to all who wish to become better leaders - including ourselves.
While we have the luxury of spending our days studying and thinking about leadership, we are well aware that most leaders need to spend the majority of their time focusing on that which they are responsible for leading. Our goal is to share with you the best thinking in the field in a condensed and easily accessible format.
Please share with us your thoughts, comments and questions about leadership (or any other related topic) so that we can share with you what the "experts" are saying about he subject.
Enjoy the site and we look forward to hearing from you. -Rick & Jim-
We apologize for length of time we have not been adding to this Blog ... but we are back.
Since we have been gone for a while, we thought it might be a good idea to repeat our original Thought of the Week ...
"Leaders are made, not born. You learn to become a leader by doing what other excellent leaders have done before you. You become proficient in your job or skill, and then you become proficient at understanding the motivations and behaviors of other people." - Brian Tracy
There is an old saying that suggests "when a mind opens, a teacher will appear." It is our hope and desire that this Blog can serve as a "teacher", a resource to all who wish to become better leaders - including ourselves.
While we have the luxury of spending our days studying and thinking about leadership, we are well aware that most leaders need to spend the majority of their time focusing on that which they are responsible for leading. Our goal is to share with you the best thinking in the field in a condensed and easily accessible format.
Please share with us your thoughts, comments and questions about leadership (or any other related topic) so that we can share with you what the "experts" are saying about he subject.
Enjoy the site and we look forward to hearing from you. -Rick & Jim-
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