Leader

When I lived in Seattle, I’d occasionally run across someone who shared a common contact in our “six degrees” rundown of colleagues and mentors. “Bob Ratliffe?” my new acquaintance would say. “I know Bob. He’s one of my closest friends.”

Bob was my boss. At the time, he served as senior vice president of corporate communications for McCaw Cellular (the predecessor to AT&T Wireless). He also sat on several boards for economic development, education and philanthropy. It seemed as if Bob knew everyone, and everyone knew Bob. Many counted themselves among his closest friends.

Over a successful career, Bob’s generosity and love of people has helped him build a powerful network of friends. He’s always willing to help — even when it doesn’t benefit him in any obvious way. People genuinely like being with him and want to be around him.

Once, when my daughter was going through a difficult medical procedure, Bob called to see how I was doing. As he heard about the situation, he quickly said, “I’m going to get on a plane and come there right now. I’ll do anything you need me to do — shovel your driveway, go to the store — you name it.” I knew he meant it. Had I not told him to stay put, I knew he would have booked the ticket the minute we hung up.

Wharton professor Adam Grant has researched the power of givers and shares his findings in his book On average, Grant found, givers produce  more revenue than those who are less focused on helping others succeed.

Becoming a giver is one of the best things an entrepreneur can do to ensure his or her success. Here are five ways to jump-start your giving approach.

1. Employ the 5-minute favor.

Grant’s book cites internet entrepreneur Adam Rifkin and his “.” Any time Rifkin is asked to do something that will take him less than five minutes, he does it. He believes we all should be willing to commit this small amount of time to help someone else.

Research has shown that on emotional connection in any interaction. I’ve tried the approach myself, and it has blessed me immensely — in both professional and personal relationships.

2. Shine.

I now live in Salt Lake City. Between icy roads and a few reckless teenage drivers, I’ve had several opportunities to explore the many local options for car-body repair. Most are exactly the same. They’ll do the job in the general neighborhood of the time and the price they quote, and they leave you hoping you’re not being taken advantage of. 

Not at Shine Auto Body Repair (now known as Gerber Auto Body). Their people do some extra things that seem simple but actually are surprisingly wonderful. First, you get a loaner car to use while yours is being repaired — no questions asked. You’ll receive a daily text message with photos to describe the progress on your vehicle. Office staff even are available to help you work through that insurance paperwork you’re dreading. 

This company makes the ordinary extraordinary by giving more than is expected. I’ve gone back every time I’ve needed repair services. And I frequently tell others about how it truly “shines” when it comes to its business.

Related:

3. Say ‘thank you’ every day.

I mean this literally. The positive benefits of grateful living are , but it’s difficult to recognize its potential in a work environment until you try it for yourself.

A number of years ago, I was challenged to write a thank-you email, make a thank-you call or send a note to someone every business day for an entire year. I took the challenge. I didn’t hit every day, but I completed more than 90 percent of the days. I said thanks to coworkers, bosses, friends, acquaintances, family members and a whole lot more. It was one of the best experiences of my life because it resulted in many unexpected conversations and deepened my existing friendships. I ended up receiving far more than I gave.

Related: 

4. Try a ‘giver’ experiment.

There are  you can experiment with giving. Here’s one that’s worked for me: I invite the new, younger members of our team to a giving breakfast a few times a year. The breakfast is free, but I ask each guest to bring something — personal or professional — that he or she needs help with.

We start the meal by inviting attendees to share their needs and also offer to help others where they can. I’ve seen people receive and lend help in a variety of areas, including finding an apartment, managing money, dealing with tough clients, developing better eating habits, falling asleep and connecting again with their love of making music.

Related:

At this stage in my career, I’m convinced my personal network is my most most valuable asset. And there’s nothing that nurtures a friendship-based network more than being a giver. As Mark Twain said, there’s never a wrong time to do the right thing.

Giving is the right thing. Oh — and Bob Ratliffe? Yeah, I know the guy. He’s one of my closest friends.

The terms “thought leader” and “influencer” are amongst the biggest buzzwords in business these days. True thought leaders drive innovation, inspire positive change and share their expertise in an effort to make their industries better. So, if your goal is to become an influencer, how do you gain the credibility needed to build a following? After all, there’s no formal training on becoming a thought leader.

has a few ideas. The marketing strategist, consultant, author, and professional speaker counts Google, Morgan Stanley, and the World Bank among the clients she has helped make an impact. For her book , she spoke to 50 thought leaders from across vastly different fields. Clark outlines and analyzes the paths of experts like entrepreneur Seth Godin and productivity consultant David Allen to find out how they became a recognized authority in their field.

Clark spoke to The Venture to discuss the key elements of building a following, and offers advice on how you can best position yourself as a .

Create a constant flow of content

“ is the most important element,” Clark says. “If you don’t share your ideas, no one will know what they are. It’s essential to find a medium that suits you—whether it’s writing, videos, podcasting, etc.—and produce material regularly. Before long, if you’re hitting the mark, people will begin quoting you and sharing your work, allowing you to grow your following organically.”

The most important way to ensure that your voice doesn’t disappear is to insist on it being heard. As Clark says, producing regular content that will establish your voice as one that people can trust and to look to as an authority. If you’re more likely to be comfortable with a certain medium or workload—say, a weekly hour-long podcast rather than posting daily on a blog—choose the one that will keep you consistent. 

Find your niche topic of expertise

Making yourself an expert on cars will pit you against thousands of people speaking on the same topic. Choosing a niche within the auto industry, say , gives you the chance to delve into and, importantly become a part of a community. Instead of a broad, undefined audience, you would be marketing your message to a niche, but well-honed community of like-minded individuals. Discussing Apple’s rumored plans for an electric car hits a specifically defined demographic of people interested in the evolution of sustainable technology and automobiles, versus the small number you might reach starting a site dedicated solely to the auto industry.

Clark illustrates this point in her book Stand Out. “It is much easier to make a mark in a narrow, uncrowded space, as compared to a broad, well-covered area. Once you’ve established your expertise and built connections, you can expand your sphere of influence and the topics you focus on.”

Know how to showcase your specialties 

Clark uses the example of Coca-Cola as a company that can afford the resources necessary to occupy every social channel. As an individual or a small, burgeoning startup with other time commitments, being on every platform (and giving the necessary attention to each) would be overkill—and likely turn into a second job in itself. Clark recommends prioritizing one to three platforms as communities you want to invest and excel in.

“Once you’ve decided where to focus based on your own interests and where your customers are already spending their time, you can with influencers and potential clients, not to mention generally interesting people, on that channel,” Clark says. “That’s not necessarily scalable if you have a million followers, but it’s essential as you’re getting started.”

Seek out feedback from a trusted audience

So you have ideas you want to communicate, and a community to direct your message to. It may seem that the next step is simply to find a platform to begin growing your audience. Clark warns that there’s a crucial step prior to this that’s easy to forget: find a group of trusted friends and colleagues to bounce your ideas off. She puts it simply: “Having other smart people around you allows you to vet and refine your ideas before taking them public, and gives them a better chance of succeeding.”

First published by Chivas The Venture on .

The Venture is a global social enterprise initiative searching for extraordinary startups and new ideas that use business to create positive change. If you have a GCC-based social enterprise or an idea for a social enterprise, enter  #WinTheRightWay to potentially win your share of US$1 million. Entries close on 30^th November.

Effective leaders continually ask questions, probing all levels of the organization for information, testing their own perceptions, and rechecking the facts. They talk to their constituents. They want to know what is working and what is not. They keep an open mind for serendipity to bring them the knowledge they need to know what is true. An important source of information for this sort of leader is knowledge of the failures and mistakes that are being made in their organization. To survive in the twenty-first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders, ot managers.

The distinction is an important one. Leaders conquer the context, the turbulent, ambiguous surroundings that sometimes seem to conspire against us and will surely suffocate us if we let them while managers surrender to it. Leaders investigate reality, taking in the pertinent factors and analyzing them carefully. On this basis they produce visions, concepts, plans, and programs. Managers adopt the truth from others and implement it without probing for the facts that reveal reality. There is profound difference a chasm between leaders and managers. A good anager does things right.

A leader does the right things. Doing the right things implies a goal, a direction, an objective, a vision, a dream, a path, a reach. Lots of people spend their lives climbing a ladder and then they get to the top of the wrong wall. Most losing organizations are over-managed and under-led. Their managers accomplish the wrong things beautifully and efficiently. They climb the wrong wall. Managing is about efficiency. Leading is about effectiveness. Managing is about how. Leading is about what and why. Management is about systems, controls, procedures, olicies, and structure.

Leadership is about trust ” about people. Leadership is about innovating and initiating. Management is about copying, about managing the status quo. Leadership is creative, adaptive, and agile. Leadership looks at the horizon, not Just the bottom line. Leaders base their vision, their appeal to others, and their integrity on reality, on the facts, on a careful estimate of the forces at play, and on the trends and contradictions. They develop the means for changing the original balance of forces so that their vision can be realized.

A leader is someone who has the capacity to create a compelling vision that takes people to a new place, and to translate that vision into action. Leaders draw other people to them by enrolling them in their vision. What leaders do is inspire people, empower them. They pull rather than push. This “pull” style of leadership attracts and energizes people to enroll in a vision of the future. It motivates people by helping them identify with the task and the goal rather than by rewarding or punishing them. Managers difference may be summarized as activities of vision and Judgment ffectiveness versus activities of mastering routines efficiency

Introduction

Paying attention to our values helps us to: become self-aware, make ethical decisions, prioritize our tasks, develop credibility as a leader Reasons why values are important to managers:

1. Understanding one’s own core values is essential to becoming self-aware. And self-awareness helps us to understand how people perceive us; also it allows us to identify the personal qualities that we would like to change. Values influence our choices, but our choices also influence our values with time. If we don’t pay enough attention to examining the correspondence between our actions with our values, our actions may be guided by immediate concerns and instant gratification rather than our values. The process of changes in values takes a lot of time, but usually it begins with changes in behavior. Over time, we start to take for granted the choices that we repeatedly make even if they are initially inappropriate with our values, and our values begin to float as well. Clarification and requalification of our personal values can stop that float.
2. People who internalize and act on standards of justice and human rights achieve a high level of moral development, and they make ethical decisions. During our lifetimes, we pass through different stages of moral development. Small children, at the preconventional level of moral development, make choices on the basis of the immediate consequences of their decisions. People who have not developed further than the preconventional level of moral development, only choose an ethical alternative if it’s in their immediate personal interests. People who step forward to the conventional level of moral development make decisions on the basis of the formal rules and informal norms of their social context, and will choose ethical alternatives even at the cost of forgoing their self-interests. The small percentage of people who progress to the highest level of moral development, the postconventional stage, make decisions on the basis of human rights, fairness and justice. Such people are willing to close the eyes to their self-interests and may even break society’s rules and norms in order to act according to their principles. People who achieve the postconventional level of moral development are trustworthy; it’s difficult to bribe them and they are not pressured by peers.
3. An understanding of one’s personal values is useful for time management. The majority of us has the opportunity to do more things than we’ll ever have time to do. Consequently, we have to choose the tasks we will work on thoughtfully. An understandable picture of our personal values allows us to rank the tasks on our “to do” lists according to its importance for us.
4. Having a clear set of personal values helps us to build the reliability and trust that assists leadership. The most challenging times for leaders are times when they must lead others into something new. Transformational leaders are able to influence their followers to increase their faith and follow them into the unknown; they build trust. We are more tending to trust people when we understand their values, and see that their actions are harmonious with those values, because we can predict how they will act. Today, companies are confronted with different normative expectations from their environment and are expected to be socially responsible.

The discussion about responsible behaviour of companies is based on the increasing importance of values in business context. Important element of the choice of motives for human action is the set of values of the person involved in the action. In small and medium-sized enterprises which are human being-shaped more strongly than big companies, the question of values propagated and lived in the company refers directly to managers. There was one research conducted in co-operation between the International Graduate School Zittau (Germany) and the Technical University in Liberec (Czech Republic) in the period of March – September 2006.

It considers the question of what values are significant for small and medium-size companies’ managers and owners and how they manage to bring their personal moral values into harmony with the company’s interests. It focuses on personal values as broad concepts examining their importance in the context of the entrepreneurs’ or managers’ personal lives on one hand, and in process of making a decision and actions inside the company on the other hand.

Research Method and Context of Research

Small and medium-size companies were determined by the number of employees; companies were selected from the following business area: Industry, trade, service sector, public and state authorities, non-profit organizations counselor education. The statistics was collected by personal interviews using a standard approved questionnaire. The interviews were hold only with personnel responsible for decision-making: with the company’s owner, director or manager. The questionnaire covered a variety of areas of business ethics such as: ? perception and evaluation of the business ethics, ethical values, ethical/unethical behaviours, attitudes towards unethical behavior perception of unethical behaviour, role of success in unethical behavior In questions focusing on personal and company’s ethical values, categories defined in beforehand of 20 values were used to evaluate their importance in the process of decision-making. Connection between personal and company’s values was calculated by Likert scale[1]. As a point of departure for the analysis of categorical variables, percentage frequency tables were used to describe the importance of personal and company ethical values.

Results of Reserch

The significance of personal values Owners and managers are not just business people; they are also human beings. They have their deep personal values and that are unlikely to change in a short period of time. To investigate the owners’ and managers’ personal values importance, 20 values focused on the objective that one would like to achieve were selected from different areas of value system. Respondents were asked to tick five the most important and five the least important values.

According to survey: The majority of asked owners and managers consider health (86 percent) and family (76 percent) to be the most important personal values. Other personal values that have got comparatively high number of answers were reliability (51 percent), integrity, honesty (42 percent) and trust, reliance (40 percent). About one third of respondents stated responsibility (34 percent), money, financial success and prosperity (31 percent), and education (29 percent) to be one of very important values.

The least important values with the lowest frequency of answers (stated by less than 10 percent respondents) were commitment (2 percent), individualism (3 percent), discipline (6 percent), openness, frankness (9 percent), and credibility and trustworthiness (10 percent). Also survey showed that reliability was perceived to be more important personal value for companies operating in the industry, trade and service sector than to non-profit organizations, state and municipal authorities, education or consultancy companies. The significance of business values

Alike the personal value system, the importance of values in term of corporate management and culture was studied by the research. Respondents were asked to tick five values that in their opinion are the most important in their business activities and decision-making processes. Also, they were asked to mark five the least important values in managing their business. According to survey: [pic] Comparing to personal values, the importance of values in management is not so clear. The highest achieved number of answers (65 percent) was showed in professionalism and quality.

Just about 50 percent of respondents said that reliability (53 percent), and relationships, co-operation and team work (51 percent) are important values in their management. Roughly one third of respondents believe that integrity, honesty (36 percent), responsibility (35 percent), focus on success, profit, prosperity (32 percent) and flexibility (30 percent) to be very important values in business operations. The least important management values were individualism (2 percent), tolerance (3 percent), openness, frankness (5 percent), discipline (6 percent) and respect, acknowledgement, justice and fairness (7 percent).

Concurrence of personal and business values Growing competition and unstable business environment force managers to look for the highest possible return on each investment and develop strategies that can increase companies’ profits and success. This puts high pressure on companies’ owners and managers. In order to fulfill all requirements, owners and managers are often have to make decision and act at variance with their believes and personal values.

For this reason, the research examined how difficult it is for owners and managers of small and medium-size enterprises to bring their personal values in concurrence with their business values, and under what circumstances they would make a decision that would be against their personal moral values. Respondents were asked to mark if they agree or disagree, using Likert scale, with six statements that show complexity in keeping their business decisions and actions (business values) in concurrence with their personal values.

Over a half of respondents agreed that for owners and managers it is difficult to behave according to ethical norms and values either because: it is not possible to fulfill expectations of people (agreed 70 percent of respondents), conditions in the market are not adjusted for ethical behaviour (69 percent), there is danger that competition will be stronger (67 percent),  there are no ethical regulations in the company (50 percent). Also, about 57 percent of respondents agreed that it is not difficult to act according to personal ethical values but in order to achieve company’s objectives, it is inconvenient.

Roughly 49 percent of respondents agreed that it is not difficult to combine their personal and business values, even though it is uncomfortable for them. What’s more, the survey showed that about 3 percent of respondents would always and 31 percent maybe act against their personal values if they could increase success and profit of the company whereas, in case of the company bankruptcy more respondents would be certainly (about 25 percent) or very probably (47 percent) willing to step on their personal values.

Approximately 84 percent of owners would act against their personal values in order to save their company from bankruptcy, comparing to 72 percent of managers and 69 percent of directors. 4. My view on values in terms of management Value is a choice that you think is important in the present. Values are not something that can be seen. They can be recognized only by studying reactions and attitudes that motivate your behavior. Values and personal life positions are formed under the influence of experience on the stage of person and in the long term may be inappropriate or even destructive.

Children are closely watching their parents and see how they behave in times of black and white stripes of life. Bearing in mind and sensing behavior of parents in a calm and tense moments, the often begin to imitate their parents. Children also react to how they are treated, and are seeking ways to overcome the certain problems that arise. Child perceives, mimics, experimenting. Some things he drops and develops a certain way of behavior for himself. Heads of companies are not insulated from each other in their work.

They are influenced by the values existing in a particular social group, especially the views and personal outlook of the senior managers. Due to the need to remain to the style adopted by the corporation, individual managers have problems. The relation between personal and corporate attitudes may vary from support to dissent. Managers with blurry personal values are not tend to doubt their own values and also, in most cases, they tend to ignore data that disagree with their values. They have tendency to be inconsistence.

Often, can’t take a quick decision when it s needed and don’t want to take a key position in the dispute, or in making important decisions for the company. Thus, they are trying to shift responsibility to others and to avoid situations where they are expected to explain the decision they made. Managers with clear personal values, on the contrary, often doubt their own values; they are very serious about the role of values in decision making. They are able to change their values under the influence of perceived data and experience and are open to talk about it and discuss with colleagues.

They are always ready to take the responsibility for decisions made according to their personal values and enthusiastically accept views of colleagues that are different from their own. They are truly trying to understand others’ views. These managers are always reliable in making decisions. Both, in everyday life and at work, they always rely on their beliefs and act according to them. Usually, such managers become more effective leaders of organizations, employees tend to listen to them and appreciate them and trust their choice (decision).

Conclusion

It is hard to make a standard list of corporate values, because the organizational culture is almost always a mix of original values, attitudes, norms, customs, traditions, behaviors and rituals that are unique to this organization. The purpose of common values is to unite people in groups, to create a powerful force in achieving goals. This aspect of values is widely used in organizational culture because it allows people to achieve goals. As shown by different studies around the world, today’s qualified employee wants to receive from the organization more than just money.

The materialization and impact of a number of social factors led to the formation of a great class of today’s employees, the expectations are very different from those that dominated in the previous generation. Nowadays, workers are counting not only on financial success, but also tend to psychologically feel comfortable in the organization, and on cultural values which match their personal values. Each organization carries out its activities according to those values, which are essential for its employees.

While creating an organizational culture social ideals and cultural traditions of the country should be taken into account. Moreover, for an absolute understanding and assimilation of values in an organization, it is important that the corporate values vary within the organization. The gradual acceptance of these values will allow members of the organization to achieve stability and success in organizational development.

References

1. http://community. livejournal. com/marketing_club/14212. html
2. http://www. fin. ru/management/practice/man_today/lichn. shtml
3. http://www. summittraining. co. uk/news-detail. asp? fldNewsArticles_ID=126
4. http://www. ipsihologia. com/? p=206
5. http://quality. eup. ru/MATERIALY7/ckk. html

[1] A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly used in questionnaires, and is the most widely used scale in survey research. When responding to a Likert questionnaire item, respondents specify their level of agreement to a statement. (www. wikipedia. org)

1. 0 Introduction The Book that I had selected on business is “The Inspirational Leader” which written by John P G Tan. John P G Tan is one of the country’s highly sought after leadership trainer and speaker. The purpose of this book is to help bring about better management and leadership amongst the people of the country. His belief is that we can become leaders who can make the difference. John P G Tan trains for companies large and small and his training sessions have been consistently rated as excellent, exciting and enriching.

He runs his own training company, Professional Skills Trainers Sdn Bhd, and has developed “The Inspirational Leader” program, a program which made a difference to countless people. Besides that this book is to give us the skills that we need to turn from a scratcher to a soarer. (John (2002) said) This book will also point us in the direction of the areas that we will need further development on. We can become inspiring leaders, but we must know the skills and the reason for being inspirational rather than remaining mediocre of this great transformation process. John (2002) said) So it is with leadership. There are those who think that they are leaders when in reality the only thing that they are leading is themselves into delusion about their leadership abilities. On the other hand, there are those who lead their team to greater heights, whose goal in life is to add value to those for whom they are responsible. There are the ones who inspire us to go on. (John (2002) said) This book will help is discover just how to become an inspiring leader.

The book gives us, step-by-step, and in a very down-to-earth manner, the skills that we will need to, for examples, get your leadership paradigms right, overcome negative mindsets of leadership, think out of the box, acquire the essential skills that you will need to become an effective, inspiring leader. 2. 0 Climbing Up the Inspirational Leadership Rungs To become an effective leader, one has to climb the Five steps of Leadership. John believe that there are perhaps 6 Levels to the question of leadership. He call this the 6 Rungs of Inspirational Leadership. John (2002) said)

The reason is because RUNGS denote that we have some climbing to do, that effort is needed if we want to proceed and that the effort will require us feet as well as our hands. The journey is not an easy one but rewarding one nonetheless. The first Rung is that of YEARNING. At this level, we are not even a leader yet. We just eyeing the horizon, thinking about all the wonderful things that we would do if we were a leader. John’s experience is that most of the people here are around the 25-28 years of age bracket, educated and who have a desire to go forward.

For some, the way forward seems to be well prepared, but for most of us the way ahead can seem rather hazy. But we have that desire to progress and to that end our arm ourselves with the necessary qualifications and training to get to that next level. (John (2002) said) The second rung is that of BEING, being the manager or leader, that is, we get here by being technically competent. At this point people follow you because, quite frankly, they just don’t have a choice. You are their boss and whether they like it or not, they are going to have to take orders from you.

Not the prettiest of situations to be in, but a situation relished by some people nonetheless. But before you go off and think that this rung is therefore obsolete, think against. It is a position that you must have. But you must not stay put here. You must have the desire to keep on keeping on. (John (2002) said) The third rung is the rung of BEFRIENDING. Here, your subordinated actually quite enjoy being with you and will actually do things for you because they want to rather than feel that they have to.

At this level, to get people to turn towards loving you, you would have to practice a fair amount of human relations skills, as well as communication skills. The problem is that most of us progress upwards on technical competence. (John (2002) said) Rung four is the rung of PRODUCING. This is when people admire you because they see that your leadership brings about results. They come to you with a problem and you help them solve the problem, not refer them to some other department. They come to you with a crisis and you develop opportunities out of that crisis.

The level four person is one adroit in the skills of problem solving, creative thinking and communication. (John (2002) said) The fifth rung had to do with what you have done with your subordinates. The other levels were generally about you but a level five, the rung of REPLICATION, you are more concerned about your people’s development. At this level, the leader’s concern is about helping his people develop to their fullest potential. (John (2002) said) The last level, level 6 is about INSPIRING. Here, the people are loyal to you because you are loyal to them. Here, they are true followers because they see in you a true leader.

They are willing to walk two miles when you asked for an extra one because they saw the same trait in you. At this level, you are an inspiration to the people around you. (John (2002) said) 3. 0 The 3 Essential Skills A guy called Robert L Katz did some research and found that we all needed three essential skills. He called these skills technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills. (John (2002) said) Technical skills are essentially knowledge skills, the type of skills you acquire when you go to college and university for your studies. At the lower level management, technical skills are of great importance.

This simply means that if you are to begin progressing, you will need to be technically competent. (John (2002) said) Human skills are the skills required to work with human beings and since almost all work is centered around other human beings, we will be in great need of these skills. Executives in all levels of management require this skill be it lower, middle or top level management. People who have this skill are able to get the best out of their people towards greater heights of achievement and self-development. All of us believe that we are pretty good at handling people.

But the truth is that for most part there are more people who practice bad human relations skills than those who practice good ones. (John (2002) said) The third skill is that of conceptual skills, the ability to think and conceptualize, visualize and then help make things materialize as a result of the ability to look ahead. This skill becomes more and more important as you climb higher up to the 6-R. As you get to the level of Producing, you are going to need lots of this skill. Conceptual skill is like that, that is if we have it, and use it. We create value for others be they our internal customers or our external ones.

Conceptual skills help us to surpass the competition, position and reposition products and services so that we create value for those we serve. This in turns brings in a level of loyalty that we would not have otherwise achieved. (John (2002) said) 4. 0 Stop That Bad Trickle Down The problem with management and leadership is that they suffer from what is sometimes called the trickle down effect. What is the trickle down effect? Simply this. We get into the job market. We report to a boss who is less than inspiring. These not quite so professional bosses push down lousy management practices and principles on us.

By virtue of the fact that we are at the bottom of the totem people, we dare not challenge any of these bad bosses. The day arrives and we become bosses. Now is the time to let out some of our pent-up feelings. So we push down all the things that we didn’t like pushed at us to those below us. We trickle down bad management and leadership practices. The guys below us wait till it’s their turn to do more of the same. Well, it’s about time this is stopped. And it can stop with you. (John (2002) said) Take a little time off and ask yourself what are the good things that you have learned from your previous bosses.

List these things down. Basically, listing down the good things that you have seen in your bosses. Make sure that you trickle these down to your subordinates. Then ask yourself what are the not so nice things that you have had to lap up from those above you. List them and make sure that you do not perpetuate these practices. 5. 0 Treat People As People Let’s start with this major area of self-development- if you want to turn hate to love, for example, the area of Human Skills. One of the problems that we face today is that people don’t really care for one another. We are only nice to others when we need them to do something for us.

At other times, we are nice to them because we might need them to do something for us in the future. The rest of the time, we just can’t seem to be bothered. We have lost the sense of looking at people as people. We often mouth words like “people are our biggest assets” and then we go and treat them otherwise. Insincerity is rife in management today. We tend to look at people only as things to help us achieve our objectives. In many situations we call up others not to find out how they are, but to see if we could somehow solicit their help to achieve some goals that we have. (John (2002) said) Treat people as people.

If you like being treated as a thing, useable to others only when they need you, then do the same. Don’t bother to inquire after health and well being of your subordinates. Only call on them when you need things done. And when you don’t need them, cast them away. (John (2002) said) If you do that, then please remember, that’s what they will do to you too. Take a good look at yourself today and very sincerely ask yourself the following questions. Please be brutally sincere and honest with yourself. Am I a user? Do i really look after cares and concerns of my subordinates or do I just tend to look after my own cares and concerns?

Do I ooze charm only when I need the other person’s help? Or am I really concerned about the developmental welfare of my people? 6. 0 Watch The Words It is easier said than done. Criticizing, condemning and complaining are about the easiest things to do, almost second nature to most of us. A simple example will illustrate this point. (John (2002) said) When you are out driving your car and someone overtakes you rather recklessly what is your normal reaction? I would bet that the tough “crazy driver” would have gone through your mind more than once. Looks like we are about the only ones driving at the right speeds on the roads.

We have the habits, and it’s a bad habit, of looking at things, seeing the worst in them and then condemning the person or persons involved. (John (2002) said) Well it was simply this, that negative words can really kill a person’s initiative. And when we have done that, it can take ages to try and win that person’s confidence back against. Watch your words. Take a good look over your vocal thesaurus and see what kind of words, phrases and jargon you use. Learn to reduce the usage of words that criticize, condemn and complain. (John (2002) said) Remember, if you are a manager, your words hold weight. So what has this got to do with black dot?

Just this, address the black dots when you see them. But address them with words that build and develop, not words that destroy and demotivate. 7. 0 The Other Guy’s Got Right Too We are still looking at the rung of Befriending at rung three where you are trying to change the attitudes and mindset of the people whom you manage from one of “have to” to “want to”. This if you remember, is a prerequisite of changing from hate to love. (John (2002) said) At this point it might be a good idea to take a look at this principle, the principle that the other guy does have rights, the same kinds of rights that you have.

Perhaps a good place to start would be to look at what some of these rights are. People have the right to be respected and to be treated in a respectful manner. It matters not what his or her station in life is, the point is simple. If that person is a human being, then he or she deserves to be treated with some level of respect. (John (2002) said) The trouble is that most of us equate respect for the other person with his or her socio-economic status. Thus a doctor gets greater amount of respect than say a perhaps a construction worker.

The guy who comes around to sell lottery tickets, well, he is a nuisance anyway, disturbing our peace as we have dinner and so does not deserve that much respect. (John (2002) said) We do not actually list down who gets more respect, but we judge and we act accordingly very quickly. I believe that people have the right to disagree with us. Just try and remember this one, the other guy’s got rights too. 8. 0 The Wisdom Of The Open Mouth Well, the open mouth is basically about how we speak with people, what we do with our mouths. It’s about positive communication skills and therein lies the important words – positive.

There are many people who relay nothing but negatives when they open their mouth. Their talk is all about the bad side of people, situations, whatever. Would that they refrain from opening their mouths and fouling up the air. (John (2002) said) Yet there are others who, despite their problems, maintain a positive front and convey nothing but goodness from their mouths. But the Wisdom of the Open Mouth is not about not saying negative things. It’s about saying positive things, saying things in such as way as to edify, to build up the other person, to add value to what is being said and whom it is being said to.

At this point it may be good to remind ourselves that the wisdom of the open mouth lies not only in the mouth but in the heart and in the mind. The Wise Mouth knows that the brain and the heart must be engaged before words are spewed forth. (John (2002) said) The Wise Mouth thinks before speaking. The Wise Mouth has decided that the words that come from it will build human relation bridges rather than barriers. The Wise Mouth has decided that it will encourage rather than discourage, edify rather than vilify, mold rather than scold. John (2002) said) The Wise Mouth will seek out ways to say things in a positive, caring manner and in so doing add value to those around him or her.

The Wise Mouth will not allow foul words to contaminate it. Foul words do nothing but offer an illusion of comfort. Give yourself an oral check-up. Are you generally spreading the good news or the bad news? God knows that there is enough bad news in the world today – take a peek at your daily newspaper and you will get the drift. Kind words are often hard to come by, but when they do come by, they add such a dimension of real warmth and comfort to one’s soul. John (2002) said) 9. 0 TeamWork Truth be told, this word “TeamWork” or Teambuilding is overused and under-understood. Most of us think that teamwork is just about a bunch of people, wearing the same T-shirts, working together. But is that all there is to teamwork? Not by a mile it isn’t. (John (2002) said) The role of inspirational leader’s role in a team is to lead the team to higher grounds, setting down greater and greater challenges. Every team, in order to do well, must plan ahead. But planning ahead is not just about anticipating what actions the team will have to do first next and so on.

Planning requires us to also look at what we would like to be or like to achieve at the end of the activity period. (John (2002) said) It is easy to evaluate our team members on quantitative results but such results are not the be-all and end-all of team efforts. Perhaps leaders ought to be looking at things like value-inculcation of their team members as well. Inspirational Leaders do one thing much better than uninspiring ones – they encourage their people to talk, to participate, to give feedback – whether positive or negative feedback. John (2002) said) Inspirational leaders also tend to inspire their teams by allowing greater levels of participation in team activities and in team decision making. It is the leader’s duty to bring the best out of his or her people. Look at them and spot their strengths and then strengthen them even further. By sending them for further training and then allowing them to practice what they have learned during those training sessions. By writing up a three – year development plan for these folks. By not waiting for them to ask you to develop them, but to do so proactively. John (2002) said) Then you need to look at their faults and remedy them immediately.

Never allows a subordinate’s faults to become a habit for habits are hard to break. 10. 0 Motivating There are two kinds of motivation – one that is centered around motivating yourself and another that is centered around motivating others. At this juncture, I want to only address the one which is centered around motivating others. (John (2002) said) The first principle of motivating others I believe has to do with our own perception of people. This one is really quite self-evident; you treat people nice, they tend to treat you nice. John (2002) said) You treat them bad and you can bet your boots that they will treat you rotten. Somehow, unfortunately, most of us just don’t quite seem to get this into our heads. The second principle of motivating others has to do with giving them the recognition that they deserve for the work well done. A third principle in motivation is simply this – your integrity level. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Always keep to your word. As an inspirational manager your word and your integrity is more important than your signature. John (2002) said) Nothing destroys the confidence that your people have in you than a lack of integrity. Principle number four has to do with involving people. Getting your people involved in the work that you are doing, getting them involved in the decision making process, communicating with them your intentions and asking for their feedback tend to result in better all-round performance and productivity. (John (2002) said) Principle number five has to do with rewards. Make sure that you reward your people for work done. The problem is that too many of us take the easy way out when rewarding our people.

We bribe them with money, and only money. Think about how to reward people in different ways. (John (2002) said) 11. 0 The Inspirational Leader At Work The inspirational leader is one who keeps on keeping on; who keeps on reading and learning more and more about the business, the science and the art of leading, managing and inspiring his or her people. (John (2002) said) Most of us start the journey at a point, when we were formally appointed into some sort of managerial or leadership role. At that point in time, most of us only had our technical expertise to fall back on. John (2002) said)

We had little by way of awareness of the skills required to become better leaders. We were at the stage of Unconscious Incompetence. What this means is that we did not know that we lacked the skills of becoming a good leader. (John (2002) said) Then people complain about us or higher ups recognize our lack of ability and they point these shortcomings to us. At this point we move from Unconscious Incompetence to the stage of Conscious Incompetence. (John (2002) said) We now know that we don’t know. A big help this is – but it is nonetheless a good start.

We then embark on training programs and so on to enhance our leadership skills. (John (2002) said) We learn new things to practice. Some of the things in this book might be new to some of you – but to others, they might not. Whatever it is, you learn and begin to practice. You are now in the stage of Conscious Competence. (John (2002) said) What this means is that you have now decided to put into practical application what you have actually learned. Here’s something for those if you who have learned but refuse to translate that learning into practical application – you are still at Conscious Incompetence.

Progress is slow and sometimes mistakes are made. But that is really quite acceptable. This is the stage of Conscious Competence. (John (2002) said) You are able to do what is required of you – but you have to think through it before you can practicalize it. The last stage is that of Unconscious Competence. At this stage, you are able to unconsciously put into practice all the various principles that you have learned. All the stuff that has been written in the preceding chapters is no longer a problem for you. Because you have been practicing them, you have been incrementally improving on them. John (2002) said) 12. 0 Conclusion For as long as we retain our humanness, all of us are going to make mistakes. But then mistakes are simply opportunities to improve.

The inspirational leader knows how to take corrective steps when he or she makes mistakes – including apologizing for their mistakes. Then he or she picks up the pieces and gets on with it. As the leader keeps improving, he or she gets to level 6 of the 6-Rungs of Leadership. Here, he or she knows how to delegate, motivate, communication, reward inspire and lead his or her people through the synergistic practice if all the skills acquired.

Please don’t think that all there is to being inspirational is in this book. There are just so much more to know, to understand, to practice. The inspirational leader is a true professional who understands the needs to continue improving. He picks up extra skills, skills on assertiveness, strategic thinking and a whole range of other career-enhancing skills that will make him an asset to his company, his bosses, his peers and his subordinates. Some final words, is the journey worth it? Those who have travelled that road with me all agree that it is. Those who have travelled that road as my subordinates believe that it is.

LEADER.

From the root word itself, a leader is basically someone who leads or guides and is in charge or in command of others. (www. thefreedictionary. com, 2007) But not every one is a born leader. Leadership to some is innate and to others, a skill.. And certain leaders have different characteristics but same basic roles. In essence, there are nine roles for a leader. First, a leader must take the role of a sage. He constantly develops wisdom through continuous gain of knowledge about wide-range subjects and designs a strategy by being mindful of considerations and consequences.

He must also be open to find the best path for the organization. Second role that the leader must play is that of a visionary. A visionary-leader must know how to turn seemingly impossible dreams into reality by innovating powerful ideas and articulating it to the members so that the whole group would act. A leader should be a magician. Magician in a sense that he should be able to reform things without wasting too much effort and coordinates change by maintaining equilibrium among the structures, systems and procedures of the old system into a new one.

Also, he should be able to maintain calmness despite a transition’s instability. The fourth role is that of a globalist. The leader should promote the organization’s accomplishment in leveraging the diversity of its workforce to ensue its global activities. The leader should also be able find the common ground on which the workforce can productively function. Next role is being a mentor. The leader should be committed to personal and professional development and can help his workforce to advance their careers through several learning opportunities and is devoted to the individuality of each member of the group.

The leader should also serves as a motivator by generating an environment for people to find their inner drive. Then, the leader should also be an ally which builds partnerships to come up with an effective and mutually beneficial collaboration. The leader must also be a team player. He must also be willing to extend his trust to others. Then, the leader should also be sovereign. He should always be mindful in the use of power and is clever enough to take risks and face uncertainty. He should be responsible enough to take liabilities for the organization. He should be reliable in honoring obligations.

The leader must also be a guide. He must be a flexible organizer and focused. The leader makes the journey towards the goal worthwhile. He should be able to use his expertise to accomplish the work and support the efforts of others. The last role of a leader is being an artisan. The workforce should see the leader’s devotion to master his craft and is always pursuing excellence through balanced aesthetic with practical standards. The leader should also be able to sustain attention to detail and is always pushing the creative juices of every one. (theleadingedge. com, 2007)

Style is the method and approach of presenting direction, plan implementation and motivating people. (Clark, 2005) In the manner of leadership, there are basically three styles. First is the authoritarian or autocratic style. In this style, the leader has absolute power over the team. The workforce has little opportunity to make suggestions even though it is for the best interest of the organization. This style is best employed for routine or unskilled jobs. Second is the bureaucratic style wherein it works “by the books” to ensure that the work is done properly.

This is usually used in works involving serious safety risks or big corporate deals. The last is the democratic style. The leader is open to the suggestion of the members in the decision-making process but in the end, the final decision still relies on the leader. MANAGER. He is someone who manages or controls resources and expenditures. (eLook. org, 2007) Managers play a significant role in administering the performance of their organization. First, he is involved in the decision-making process of the organization.

This role involves planning out strategies to solve or improve the quality of the wok force and the product. The manager should also be concerned in setting, planning and organizing the goal of the organization. To achieve short and long term goals, the manager should communicate the vision of the organization to the whole members. As the manager, he should also be able to guide and give directions so that the group can efficiently perform. Also, he should also empower the team because the performance of the organization greatly depends on how you motivate them.

As a manager, you should also be able to effectively communicate with your subordinates to maintain the rapport in the organization. Another role is to evaluate and analyze a process that may give the best performance for the organization. Also, the manager should provide fulfillment amongst everyone. Lastly, the manager must be an excellent role model to the whole organization. The manager must always set a high standard not just for the group but for him as well and should be able to accomplish it. The manager must set as an example of being accountable for his and the group’s performance.

(about-personal-growth. com, 2007) There are two main styles of management. These are autocratic and permissive. In the autocratic style, the manager makes all the decision unilaterally while in the permissive style, the manager allows the subordinates in the decision-making and gives them a substantial degree of autonomy in the work activities. (www. rpi. edu, 2007) One example of a good leader is Margaret Thatcher. She was responsible for setting in motion a series of interrelated events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century.

She also helped the world mark the end of the millennium with hope and buoyancy. She became powerful person to many transformations that the world has seen. (Jonhson, 2003) On the other hand, there are many great managers that do not make it in print. But, there are ways to become a great manager. The best managers are those who have an enthusiasm for continuous learning and are willing to work for their self improvement. (Hill, August 2003) A good manager is also someone who is both a team player and is concerned for others. Leaders and managers are almost synonymous but we there are still some differences.

In a reality, the context of a leader is someone that is etched in our minds as someone heroes or patriotic. Whereas, we see managers as someone fitted in the corporate world. They are seldom associated with greatness or patriotism. In the corporate world, we also seldom hear about great managers a s great leaders. The difference between manager (or management) is that they are two sides of the same coin. In being one, they perceive each other whilst being diverse and different; they are parts of the whole with vital contrasts and in those very same contrasts, they make each other clear. (Garner, 2005)

In the book Leadership 101` by John C. Maxwell he delivered his point of views on how to develop the intellectual insight regarding and spiritual beliefs. Based on his achievements as a leader himself, Maxwell points out that it is important to express leadership through the application of public education the true meaning of faith in leadership. He further notes the procedures behind how to become a more enlightened leader, by having a common purpose and common vision. Through the said book, he discussed his hopes and dreams for himself as well as for the public education, for the different leaders and for the world.

His major goal is to build a strong public education that will help the children to easily enhance their skills, and to support the needs of the students primarily with regards the moral and spiritual values. Through public education, the different kinds of beliefs can easily be discussed in formal and legal ways, and public education is the best opportunity to build different essential concepts that will connect the people within the human society.

Another goal of Maxwell is to frequently develop the “Dimension of Leadership”; though leadership is a great privilege to a person who has the chance in having the skills needed for it, the authors define the exact value of what are the valuable insights that a perfect leader should have. Also the responsibilities of the leader, which should always be his major priority for the benefits of his community; this will lead to a wellness and successful organization in the society that he serves. Wise leadership in spiritual, moral, and educational program is one of the major keys in a certain country’s future success; it is the best way to create a fruitful result that can give hope to the citizens of a particular society.

Moreover, in order to build and have better leadership status in the future, the authors of book entitled “Spiritual Dimension of Leadership” provide some important guidelines that will fit to the prospective leaders. They offer the eight key principles that can lead to a prospective leader to become a valuable and enlightened leader, it is important to discussed this eight key principle in order to understand and enlightened the important point of views on how to become a better leader and spiritual adviser to the societies and communities. These are the following guidelines that a prospective leader should have to seriously apply and understand carefully in order to empower his leadership.

Intention- In leadership it is important to know what is the real intention of the leader in his activities and programs, because all the related activities that are usually directed by the leader and provided by the members will always reflect his physical and moral values.

• Attention – A true leader must always visualize the needs and benefits of his team; in order to develop a progressive idea the leader should always give his full attention to the programs and activities that are very beneficial to the community.
• Unique Gifts and Talents – Special skills and talents are God given gifts to every individual; it is also temporarily stored to human body, by building and developing a set of better programs and activities, leaders are extending their best to use their skills and intellectual thinking to provide a humanistic and unbiased leadership to his community.
• Gratitude – Leadership is not all about the giving of commands and duties, in order to achieve the main goal; an acting leader should have an interpersonal emotion, greater acceptance, and dipper appreciation for handling a serious obligation, also by receiving a lively sense of favors grateful acceptance is also required in order to have a better leadership practice application.
• Unique life lessons – Though leadership is always creating some comparisons, developing uniqueness is a big factor to create a better relationship towards other members, by using personal experience to provide a useful knowledge, “Unique life lessons” is a big contribution in having an enlightened leader.
• Holistic Perspective – This kind of principle is also required to inspire the members to also achieve their goals. By emphasizing the importance of the members in the society, through the implementations of the holistic perspective true leadership will be more effective.
• Openness – To achieve a wise leadership especially in education, openness is a big impact to create a better leadership. Leaders should always be open-minded in terms of the ideas and theories that are represented by the members of the public constituents. Any problems should seriously be discussed properly.
• Trust – The most important things that the leaders in spiritual and educational area should apply is trust, leaders should always create their different perspectives as well as the progressive idea on how to lead a certain group; however, trust is the major factor in continuously aiming and becoming a leader. However, trust remains to be the core reason needed for the leadership skill applications to be successful enough for the organizations being served.

If the insights written within the pages of the book being discussed in here will always prevail within the society’s leaders, it could be easily expected that better days are ready to come ahead as the future generation of human civilization sprouts out to serve the different countries around the globe. The book indeed provides the most necessary inspiration that leaders need to posses in leading the nation or any other social organization, trust and knowledge that would lead to a more successful future and a more effective leading procedure.

Several Important Ideas of the Reading:

Part I: The Development of a Leader

1. Why Should I Grow as a Leader? The McDonald brothers versus Ray Kroc in developing McDonalds.
2. How Can I Grow as a Leader? Teddy Roosevelt

Part II: The Traits of a Leader

1. How Can I Become Disciplined? Jerry Rice
2. How Should I Prioritize My Life? Paul Tsongas
3. How Do I Develop Trust? Billy Graham
4. How Can I Effectively Cast Vision? Walt Disney

Part III: The Impact of Leader

1. Why Is Influence Important? Princess Diana
2. How Does Influence Work? Robert Dilenschneider
3. How Can I Extend My Influence? His father
4. How Can I Make My Leadership Last? Roberto Goizueta

Within the entire context of the reading, Maxwell intended to help everyone see the importance of leadership both to one’s self and towards the others. This is a particular fact that needs to be considered well by every individual wanting to become a leader of others towards the betterment of the system of any organizations or groups that they intend to work for.

References

1. John Maxwell. (2002). Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. Thomas Nelson Press.