Kategori: Leadership development

Articles about development for leaders.

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Persuade People with These Three Tips

I got this hot tip in my mailbox, had to share it with you.

«Persuasion is the cornerstone of great execution,» says Tony Jeary, productivity coach and author of Strategic Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of Life. The most successful people effectively persuade others to take action on their behalf by using three principles, Jeary says.

  1. Communicate at the belief level. «Communicating at the level of belief involves a heavy dose of why constantly being explained. Why is communicated by explaining value and purpose of what you are presenting,» Jeary says. «If you believe in your vision, others will as well.»
  2. Set a powerful example by your own behavior. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, «What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say.» Only 7 percent of communication and persuasion is oral. The other 93 percent is the result of what people see and sense, based on tone and other nonverbal clues, Jeary says. «If you want to persuade others, exceed expectations yourself. Nothing persuades more effectively than a leader who sets the right example for his team, children and colleagues to follow.»
  3. Demonstrate confidence in what you say and do. «The ability to present yourself, your requests and your vision with confidence is another important nonverbal piece of the persuasion formula,» Jeary says. «Don’t be tempted to give a less assertive opinion for the purpose of not appearing arrogant. When you say things like, ‘You probably know more about this than I do,’ you are unwittingly sabotaging your own perceived confidence. Know what you want to say and how you want to say it.»
Have a happy monday…
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Getting things done

Every no and then I got across people who uses David Allen´s «Getting things done», so I would like to introduce him for my readers.

This is some of the reviews on Amazon.com.

David Allen, a management consultant and executive coach, provides insights into attaining maximum efficiency and at the same time relaxing whenever one needs or wants to. Readers learn that there is no single means for perfecting organizational efficiency or productivity; rather, the author offers tools to focus energies strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks. 

 As whole-life-organizing systems, David Allen’s is pretty good, even fun and therapeutic. It starts with the exhortation to take every unaccounted-for scrap of paper in your workstation that you can’t junk, The next step is to write down every unaccounted-for gotta-do cramming your head onto its own scrap of paper. Finally, throw the whole stew into a giant «in-basket»

That’s where the processing and prioritizing begin; in Allen’s system, it get a little convoluted at times, rife as it is with fancy terms, subterms, and sub-subterms for even the simplest concepts. Thank goodness the spine of his system is captured on a straightforward, one-page flowchart that you can pin over your desk and repeatedly consult without having to refer back to the book. That alone is worth the purchase price.

Start with ordering the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248197209&sr=8-1

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Just Do It!

Think now of one thing that will make you successful. Write it down and ask yourself what feelings it will allow you to achieve this (eg. To be promoted will make me proud, confident and happy).

Decide to feel the emotions instantly!

RIGHT NOW! JUST DO IT!

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Creating Your Character

Is it like an Artist Creating a Sculpture?

Jim Rohn means that and in his latest newsletter he write some about it. Here is what he said:

Could creating your character be likened to an artist creating a sculpture? In my opinion, I believe that character is not something that just happens by itself, any more than a chisel can create a work of art without the hand of an artist guiding it. In both instances, a conscious decision for a specific outcome has been made. A conscious process is at work. Character is the result of hundreds and hundreds of choices you make that gradually turn who you are, at any given moment, into who you want to be. If that decision-making process is not present, you will still be somebody. You will still be alive, but may have a personality rather than a character.

Character is not something you were born with and can’t change, like your fingerprints. In fact, because you weren’t born with it, it is something that you must take responsibility for creating. I don’t believe that adversity by itself builds character and I certainly don’t think that success erodes it. Character is built by how you respond to what happens in your life. Whether it’s winning every game or losing every game. Getting rich or dealing with hard times. You build character out of certain qualities that you must create and diligently nurture within yourself. Just like you would plant and water a seed or gather wood and build a campfire. You’ve got to look for those things in your heart and in your gut. You’ve got to chisel away in order to find them. Just like chiseling away the rock in order to create the sculpture that has previously existed only in your imagination.

But do you want to know the really amazing thing about character? If you are sincerely committed to making yourself into the person you want to be, you’ll not only create those qualities, but you’ll continually strengthen them. And you will recreate them in abundance even as you are drawing on them every day of your life. Just like the burning bush in the biblical book of Exodus, the bush burned but the flames did not consume it. Character sustains itself and nurtures itself even as it is being put to work, tested, and challenged. And once character is formed, it will serve as a solid, lasting foundation upon which to build the life you desire.

What is your opinion? How did you create your character?


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My three most important tips for a trainer

Many people come to me and says I get easily in touch with the attende on my trainings and not at least I get them to open up for me. Many of my trainings are quite personal and you make some «soulsourcing» and we get on a very personal level.

There may be things being said to me in confidence or in plenary. It should be noted that I have been participated in several trainings where the trainer don

´t get the same contact with the participants.

In one training the trainer was really focused on the training and he was not open for discussions in the  breaks. He was focusing on the trainings and if he should change something for the next session

He therefore had no contact with participants during the break. I believe that it´s in the breaks you can «pick up» new things or clarification etc.

So here are my three most important tips as a trainer:

1. Be Precense

2. Respect the person and what he is saying

3. Show that you care

What are your top three tips?

 

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An interview with a great young entrepreneur

I am doing a serie of interviews of entrepreneurs in Norway and I am especially looking for young entrepreneurs which are the up and coming leaders in Norway. Emil Lindegaard Carlsen (18) has a very interesting story and is a big success so far. I am looking forward to follow this guy in the future.

Emil started his first company, Garden Services, as a 13-year-old. When he was 16 he was managing director of a youth enterprice in school, and when he was 17 he started a «real» company with a colleague. Emma AS which has been on for 1.5 years selling patch of all kinds in grocery stores in Norway, a series of products for first aid.

Now they have hired two «adults», a general manager and a salesman. Emil takes even the role of Sales and Marketing. Now the High Schools senior students on their way to their vision to become a leading player in the Nordic market.

Emil is the entrepreneur of the month and you can read the whole interview in norwegian, at this link: http://norskgrunderforum.no/maanedens-grunder/juni-2011

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Difference between good and great trainers

There is a discussion going on, on www.linkedin.com about the difference between good and great trainers. What is your opinion about this?

Read more on http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=2011285&item=55444364&type
=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn

Avinash Naidu who started the discussion means that you have to combine passion, intelligence, commitment, and cutting edge skills to deliver programs of lasting value. I loved that.

What do you think is the difference between a good and a great trainer? And the next question will then be, how can YOU be a great trainer?

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What can be at the leaders to-do list?

John C. Maxwell says leadership is just as much about developing your team’s talents as it is about nurturing your own leadership skills. The best-selling author of Talent Is Never Enough reminds us that growth is modeled after and expected from leaders. As a successful leader, you must do eight things.

1. Find your own personal strength zone.
A successful leader is a person who knows what they do well and does it, but they also know what their people know well and help them practice it.

2. Help others find their strength zone.
What is their special ability? You can’t make others good at something you are bad at. You can only increase a person’s giftedness by helping them answer important questions of themselves. What is their temperament? What is their passion? What choices are they making in their life? Help them with these things and there’s no limit to how much someone can improve in these areas.

3. Help them define success.
Success is hugely subjective. Knowing your purpose in life, growing to your maximum potential or sowing seeds that benefit others are all great definitions of success.

4. Help them understand how to be successful.
The secret of our success is determined by our daily agenda. Decision-making is important and the management of the decision-making is even more important. Do the right thing today to be in a good place for tomorrow.

5. Teach and practice the four pillars of success.
• Relationships
• Attitude/Tenacity
• Leadership/Influencing people
• Equipping and developing other people

6. Teach your team the 20/80 principle, or the Pareto principle.
Within this, prioritize life. What is required of me? What gives the greatest return? What give me the greatest reward? When these three line up, then life becomes wonderful.

7. Provide resources for them.
There are only three times when people change. When they’ve heard enough that they have to change; they learn enough that they want to change; or receive enough that they are able to change. Put those resources of change in their hand.

8. Require them to reproduce themselves.
They have to teach someone else what they learn. Don’t spend valuable time with people who want to consume but not share. Share the knowledge. Share the wealth.

As I can see is number 1-6 about mentoring, either yourself or other. So I can say that Maxwell have 6 very good points on the leaders to-do list.

Do you have some other things on your to-do list?

 

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You have to have empathy

As a mentor you always have to be on top, and you can´t have a «bad» day. If you do, pretend you don´t. One of the best tools for a mentor is to show empathy with the mentee. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone, the gift of attention.

The more you care, the stronger you can be. Don’t operate on the heart with a hatchet. Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the mentee.

Be sensitive to the plight of others. You have to know about the tragedies as well as the triumphs, the failures as well as the success.

How do you build a bridge between age 12 and age 40? By remembering.

Some small techniques and  afterthought.

You have to have empathy…

 

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Leadership is an art

Leadership is an art form. To become a good leader, you have to begin working on improving yourself.
Filled with enlightening anecdotes that illustrate the qualities of the world’s greatest leaders, this must-read for any entrepreneur, manager, or executive will bring valuable lessons to push you in the right direction towards the fulfillment of your leadership roles.
And we are of course talking about John C. Maxwell and his «The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader». I will post them one by one here on my blog. He describes leadership as an art and I agree, we need more people who look at it that way.