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Showing posts from August, 2011

Starting from the beginning

Starting from the beginning isn’t as bad as many may think. Starting from the beginning may provide a lot of insight to a person’s role in an organization. When one starts from the beginning, there are several advantages and disadvantages attached to doing it. The advantages include reconnection with the purpose of the organization; shaping and molding the future of the company, and leaving a personal mark on the organization. On the other hand, some disadvantages of starting from the beginning is the amount of work needed to involve everyone in the process, a necessary period of perceived unproductive work to reacquaint others with the vision, mission and goals of the organization; and potential resistance from those who don’t understand the broad approach of the process. The advantages of starting from the beginning include reconnecting with the purpose of the organization, shaping and molding the future of the company, and leaving a personal mark on the organization. Reconnectin

Leadership: Being an agent of change.

Leadership means being who you are regardless of outside beliefs. Sometimes others may feel that they have the answer to every problem, which turns into another problem,. Individuals rarely provide solutions that brings more good than bad. This is common within small towns and cities that refuses to grow because of unforeseen and unequivocal reasoning. So how does a leader sharpen their skills within such an environment? Simply, change the way that one think and others will inevitably follow. It may take time for others to understand the things that a person is doing, but as long as a leader believe in the change that is needed, the change will happen, eventually. Of course, there is a moral aspect of the decision to engage in change, providing that the need is positive and ethical. The challenges that leaders face while engaging in a positive and ethical change are dormant mindsets, behavioral and cognitive support, a belief for change and the procedure to change. Dormant mindsets

Leadership: Integrity and purpose

In leadership, one can view two characteristics of a person to make a safe assumption of the type of leader they will be: integrity and purpose. Addressing these components of a person character will allow for others, leaders and followers, to develop an effective and successful organization, regardless of the industry. This post will seek to identify and develop these characteristics of the leader. In regards to integrity, it may be hard for one to judge one’s personality off appearance alone. However, a person can discover the leader’s integrity by observing the fruits bore within the leader’s life. Leaders have a tendency to breed success and high levels of productivity in almost every area of their life. For example, a small business owner develops their customers, business partners and competitors by leading with high integrity. The owner develops the customers by providing the best service and/or product with given resources to ensure that the customer has a pleasant experienc

Being a leader means knowing and following your passions

Leadership means following your predestined passion. Whether it is leading a non-profit organization or running a Fortune 500 company, follow your passion . When life gets closer to the end, you might find yourself asking the question, “why am I on this earth?” Answering this question may take a systematic approach of self-leadership behaviors. During a recent doctoral assignment, I was asked to speak on the topic of interviewing Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, and Lee Iacocca. This was a complex assignment because no one thinks about interviewing such high profile individuals within a doctorate program. However, it got me thinking, what would I ask? My current program of research popped in my mind: self-leadership. Address the issues of self-leadership? Many consider Trump, Buffett, and Iacocca as great leaders. However, few think of them in terms of improving oneself as leader. For some reason, many associate business and money as being an effective leader. One can have both, but lean

Strength-based Leadership

Anyone who has served in a leadership role knows serving in it means being strong mentally, physically and emotionally. Basically, being an effective leader means being tough. Being a leader means being strong in more ways than physically as well. One has to be welling to withstand adverse situations and changes within the organizations. One could study organization development and leadership for years while remaining ill prepared as a leader. Leaders have to withstand bad forms of communications. Being a strong leader means being able to hold one’s vision, goals, and objectives when others (followers and colleagues) may want to give up on the idea. It is essential for leaders to have enough strength to see the future of themselves and the organization when others may be in doubt. Also, it is advantageous for one to have the strength to act from a high level of integrity and character. Many of the world’s greatest leaders have dealt with turmoil and negative statements made by other