THE ABC's OF LEADERSHIP (DEF)
Delegation and Delivery. Delegation can be described as the assignment of a specific project or tasks to team members. Delegation does not imply that the leader assigns their undesirable tasks to the staff. It can include the assignment of tasks that may challenge staff, and possibly move the staff out of their comfort zone. Employees should be aware that delegation is not simply management pushing tasks top-down, rather, it can be an opportunity for staff to broaden their skill sets and scope of responsibilities.
Delivery refers to how a leader delivers messages. This includes everything from success stories to discipline of direct reports. The leader's delivery method and style leaves an impression on the staff. Staff members desire leaders with solid decision making and the ability to maintain their composure regardless of the situation. For example, if a leader has to terminate someone due to layoffs, the staff may create a mental note of the leader's behavior as this unfortunate situation unfolds. Regardless of the outcome, staff will recall how the leader delivered the news. This in turn impacts the staff's impression of the leader.
Exemplify excellence. Leaders have the opportunity to represent themselves in a positive light. Just as clinicians rely upon contemporary medical practices, leaders should strive to use modern leadership and management techniques, such as best practices, consensus building, and benchmarking. The ability of a leader to exemplify excellence can have a trickle-down effect. When staff observe leaders being innovative, meticulous, and in constant pursuit of optimal performance, staff may become motivated to pursue their own level of excellence.
Lead by example: Effective leaders not only have the ability to speak about the level of performance that they desire, their behavior endorses their philosophy. Presenting ideas and concepts to a team is great; however, following up on these theories and assisting with their development is even a greater contribution. This can also be viewed as the time when the "rubber meets the road." In essence, the leader presents the ideas and then supports the vision with action. This creates a positive energy for the leader and staff alike.
Focus. Leaders must develop a clear vision, mission and goals and frequently remind their followers of what these are. As leaders we are charged with helping others to clearly see the goal of our collective efforts.
Saturday 22 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
LEADERSHIP POWER-POINT 14
THE ABC's OF LEADERSHIP
For the next few weeks, i will try to articulate a comprehensive concept of leadership in alphabetical order. For this purpose, i have titled this piece "THE ABC's OF LEADERSHIP? I hope to serialize and present three of the alphabeth acronyms for leadership every day until we get to 'Z'. The leadership ideas presented are eclectically developed and i believe that you will find them thought provoking and useful. Happy reading
Attitude & accountability. Attitude is an important leadership characteristic. This does not mean that the leader needs a "holier than thou attitude", but rather that the leader posses the character, vision, and drive to be an effective leader. This is more along the lines of the "can do" attitude and the ability to successfully manage change. For example, if a project is terminated due to financial constraints, leaders will not take this personally. Nor will they "act out" as a result. Rather, leaders will recognize that not all projects will be completed and that a variety of factors, both within and outside of their control, may influence the project's success or demise.
Accountability. Leaders accept responsibility for their behaviors. They are also accountable for the outcomes of their teams. When there are successes, leaders share the success with the team. When things do not proceed as planned, leaders still support their teams as the group looks for solutions. Leaders are also integral players when exploring what can be done to make changes occur so that similar unsuccessful events do not repeat. Leaders recognize that errors will occur. How the leader reacts to the error can influence the team's next steps, as well as the team's perception of the leader.
Behavior & Best practice. Leaders display behaviors that instill confidence in their teams. This includes confident decision-making and the ability to accept or at least share responsibility for success and failures. For example, as a leader, it is crucial to be on time for meetings, to respect other's opinions, and to be able to maintain objectivity. A leader's ability to "act" as a leader does impact team members. Apathetic and non-committing leaders will not instill confidence in teams. How a leader reacts and responds to challenges often sets the precedence for team members. If they perceive that the leader is overwhelmed, stressed, or otherwise loosing effectiveness, team members may in turn become distracted.
Best practices. Leaders should constantly strive for the optimal performance. This includes the performance of themselves, the company's teams, and all staff. Best practices is frequently involved with this. While the details of best practices exceed the scope of this discussion, they can be summarized as applying practices that are external to your own organization. Depending on the organization, it may also include best practices from different departments located within your organization.
Collaboration. The ability of a leader to collaborate with internal and external colleagues is critical. This can also be referred to as the "politics" of healthcare. From an internal perspective, collaboration assists with creating and maintaining relationships within the organization. This is important on a variety of levels, including consensus-building, mentoring opportunities, and obtaining resources for projects. Externally the same principles apply: the ability to collaborate with external resources reflects on one's ability to work with a variety of individuals in a variety of scenarios.
For the next few weeks, i will try to articulate a comprehensive concept of leadership in alphabetical order. For this purpose, i have titled this piece "THE ABC's OF LEADERSHIP? I hope to serialize and present three of the alphabeth acronyms for leadership every day until we get to 'Z'. The leadership ideas presented are eclectically developed and i believe that you will find them thought provoking and useful. Happy reading
Attitude & accountability. Attitude is an important leadership characteristic. This does not mean that the leader needs a "holier than thou attitude", but rather that the leader posses the character, vision, and drive to be an effective leader. This is more along the lines of the "can do" attitude and the ability to successfully manage change. For example, if a project is terminated due to financial constraints, leaders will not take this personally. Nor will they "act out" as a result. Rather, leaders will recognize that not all projects will be completed and that a variety of factors, both within and outside of their control, may influence the project's success or demise.
Accountability. Leaders accept responsibility for their behaviors. They are also accountable for the outcomes of their teams. When there are successes, leaders share the success with the team. When things do not proceed as planned, leaders still support their teams as the group looks for solutions. Leaders are also integral players when exploring what can be done to make changes occur so that similar unsuccessful events do not repeat. Leaders recognize that errors will occur. How the leader reacts to the error can influence the team's next steps, as well as the team's perception of the leader.
Behavior & Best practice. Leaders display behaviors that instill confidence in their teams. This includes confident decision-making and the ability to accept or at least share responsibility for success and failures. For example, as a leader, it is crucial to be on time for meetings, to respect other's opinions, and to be able to maintain objectivity. A leader's ability to "act" as a leader does impact team members. Apathetic and non-committing leaders will not instill confidence in teams. How a leader reacts and responds to challenges often sets the precedence for team members. If they perceive that the leader is overwhelmed, stressed, or otherwise loosing effectiveness, team members may in turn become distracted.
Best practices. Leaders should constantly strive for the optimal performance. This includes the performance of themselves, the company's teams, and all staff. Best practices is frequently involved with this. While the details of best practices exceed the scope of this discussion, they can be summarized as applying practices that are external to your own organization. Depending on the organization, it may also include best practices from different departments located within your organization.
Collaboration. The ability of a leader to collaborate with internal and external colleagues is critical. This can also be referred to as the "politics" of healthcare. From an internal perspective, collaboration assists with creating and maintaining relationships within the organization. This is important on a variety of levels, including consensus-building, mentoring opportunities, and obtaining resources for projects. Externally the same principles apply: the ability to collaborate with external resources reflects on one's ability to work with a variety of individuals in a variety of scenarios.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
LIFE REFLECTION 8
THE BOOK OF LIFE:
Life is a book. Your past is a book that has been written, assessed and archived. Your present is a work in progress. It can be edited, reviewed, discarded and restarted afresh. Your future is unwritten. It as yet has no title. The pages are empty. The ink is full. The possibilities are endless as they are infinite. Your actions and inactions today will not only define your present they will more importantly determine your future - what fills the blank pages. Sorrow or success?
It is the foundations that you lay today that your future is built upon. A man who works hard today. Studies well today. Tills the soil and sows good seeds today. That man, without a doubt, has signed an irrevocable memorandum of understanding to appropriate a future replete with success, peace and happiness. Your commissions and omissions today are the currency with which you purchase the future you order.
What you pay for today will with absolute certainty be delivered to you tomorrow. Therefore, a man who flirts indiscriminately with laziness and procrastination today is unwittingly paying for the poverty virus which will virulently plague him tomorrow. In like manner, the man who prays, plans and plants today is simply making deposits in anticipation of a bountiful harvest which, as certain as there is life and death, will be delivered to his storeroom tomorrow.
So make a commitment to write a beautiful script for your life today. One good life script written today guarantess a box office life drama tomorrow. What to do? Quit the crippling character of excuses, complaints and self pity. Embrace life with hope, love, laughter, enthusiasm and optimism. Get off the paralyzing coach of complacency. Define and visualize what you want to be in the future. Then get up and take that proverbial first step towards actualizing your goal. The pen is in your hand. The blank pages lie before you. The choice is yours to fill it with life, success and joy or death, failure and sorrow. Remember, the world will always give right of passage to the man who knows where he is going and is determined to get there.
One good life script at a time and together we can secure a better world tomorrow. So, get up. Pick up your pen. Turn a new page. And begin to write your life story with such beautiful similes, powerful metaphors, positive symbols, colorful alliterations and inspirational chapters that add significant value to humanity and posterity.
Life is a book. Your past is a book that has been written, assessed and archived. Your present is a work in progress. It can be edited, reviewed, discarded and restarted afresh. Your future is unwritten. It as yet has no title. The pages are empty. The ink is full. The possibilities are endless as they are infinite. Your actions and inactions today will not only define your present they will more importantly determine your future - what fills the blank pages. Sorrow or success?
It is the foundations that you lay today that your future is built upon. A man who works hard today. Studies well today. Tills the soil and sows good seeds today. That man, without a doubt, has signed an irrevocable memorandum of understanding to appropriate a future replete with success, peace and happiness. Your commissions and omissions today are the currency with which you purchase the future you order.
What you pay for today will with absolute certainty be delivered to you tomorrow. Therefore, a man who flirts indiscriminately with laziness and procrastination today is unwittingly paying for the poverty virus which will virulently plague him tomorrow. In like manner, the man who prays, plans and plants today is simply making deposits in anticipation of a bountiful harvest which, as certain as there is life and death, will be delivered to his storeroom tomorrow.
So make a commitment to write a beautiful script for your life today. One good life script written today guarantess a box office life drama tomorrow. What to do? Quit the crippling character of excuses, complaints and self pity. Embrace life with hope, love, laughter, enthusiasm and optimism. Get off the paralyzing coach of complacency. Define and visualize what you want to be in the future. Then get up and take that proverbial first step towards actualizing your goal. The pen is in your hand. The blank pages lie before you. The choice is yours to fill it with life, success and joy or death, failure and sorrow. Remember, the world will always give right of passage to the man who knows where he is going and is determined to get there.
One good life script at a time and together we can secure a better world tomorrow. So, get up. Pick up your pen. Turn a new page. And begin to write your life story with such beautiful similes, powerful metaphors, positive symbols, colorful alliterations and inspirational chapters that add significant value to humanity and posterity.
LEADERSHIP POWER-POINT 13
THE POWER OF SILENCE
Ever condidered the beauty and therapeutic power of Silence. Serenity! A peaceful state of oneness with our thoughts, meditations and God. Alas! In this information over-loaded super-highway replete with internet-surfing, social networking, 24 hour satellite TV, mobile telephony and computer-gaming, we have lost the regenerative art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts, locked in a deep embrace with silence. Throughout the ages, great leaders have drank deeply from the fountains of silence. At various moments of silence in history poets have penned memorable stanzas that etched their names in the pages of time; singers have sang evergreen notes; scientists have received inspiration for one life-saving drug or treatment; inventors have appropriated ethereal ideas that engendered sublime inventions; men have been visited with profound visions that changed their life. Silence! A heightened spiritual state that empowers us to listen and hear what God is saying to us; to reflect deeply; to refresh our minds and restart anew. All truly great leaders have learnt the sublime secrets of silence, of being alone with nothing, with no one but themselves. Some of the greatest inspirations and ideas that will profoundly change your life will come to you in times of absolute silence and aloness. So learn today to slow down, to pause, every now and then and spend a little quality time alone with God in silence.
Ever condidered the beauty and therapeutic power of Silence. Serenity! A peaceful state of oneness with our thoughts, meditations and God. Alas! In this information over-loaded super-highway replete with internet-surfing, social networking, 24 hour satellite TV, mobile telephony and computer-gaming, we have lost the regenerative art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts, locked in a deep embrace with silence. Throughout the ages, great leaders have drank deeply from the fountains of silence. At various moments of silence in history poets have penned memorable stanzas that etched their names in the pages of time; singers have sang evergreen notes; scientists have received inspiration for one life-saving drug or treatment; inventors have appropriated ethereal ideas that engendered sublime inventions; men have been visited with profound visions that changed their life. Silence! A heightened spiritual state that empowers us to listen and hear what God is saying to us; to reflect deeply; to refresh our minds and restart anew. All truly great leaders have learnt the sublime secrets of silence, of being alone with nothing, with no one but themselves. Some of the greatest inspirations and ideas that will profoundly change your life will come to you in times of absolute silence and aloness. So learn today to slow down, to pause, every now and then and spend a little quality time alone with God in silence.
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