Author Archives: Pamela

Successful Leaders

Posted on by
2

I was looking for a free book on leadership and found this book by Steve Williams. See excerpt below:

the cover of a book called "The Successful Leader"

Steve Williams: Leadership: The Successful Leader – Maximize Your Potential and Lead Like You Were Born To!

Chapter 1 – What is Leadership?

“Many times we see people in a leadership position and it seems like they really have no idea what leadership is or how to be a truly successful leader. In this chapter, I want to quickly go over what leadership is and what a successful leader looks like.

Most people believe leadership is nothing more than the act of leading a group of people in some activity, but that could not be further from the truth. There are also those who lead from the sidelines, meaning they do not take part in the activity, but instead, tend to tell everyone else what to do.

The truth is, when you are a true leader, you will be involved in the activity, each person you are leading will be in the best position according to their skills and talents and you will not have to tell people what to do or micro-manage they will be following your lead.

After all, that is what it is all about. When you are a leader your job is to get people to follow your lead, not do what you say simply because you said for them to do it. Asking what leadership is may seem like a very simple question, but in fact, it is a very complex question and deserves a deeper look.

Leadership is going to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. In fact, if you asked 100 people what leadership means to them, chances are you are going to get 100 different answers. So, to define leadership, you need to ask yourself what leadership means to you.

Some people define leadership as the ability to move a group of people toward a specific goal, others define it as directing people through a specific activity, and still others feel that leadership is being able to direct the actions of people by serving the needs.

Personally, I feel that leadership is actually all three. When you are a true leader, you are able to move a group of people through direction through the activity that you want them to accomplish while focusing on the needs of the people”(25).

 

As for me, leadership is bringing people together and guiding them in a certain direction. Sometimes, you can lead even without saying a word; just by showing action. I am a leader both in my home with my children and at school and work. In my years of being a supervisor,  was my leadership style was never by dictatorship. I tried to show my staff that I valued their opinion and got them to trust me to make the best decision. Now as a full-time student, I take every opportunity to step up as a leader.

How about you? What’s your definition of leadership and how do you lead?

Next Friday’s blog: Self Evaluations – Know Thyself

Week 1: Introduction: The Softer Side

Week 2: What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Week 3: Five Key Principles of Successful Connection

Week 4: How to Develop Leadership Skills Starting With You

Week 5: K.I.S.S Keeping It Simple May Not Be So Simple

K.I.S.S. – Keeping It Simple May Not Be So Simple After All

Posted on by
Reply

This movie highlights the importance of good communication skills and what can happen when things are not clear. Good communication skills are key to connecting with other in life, work and relationships. Without effective communication, the true meaning of a message and can turn into error, misunderstanding, and lead to frustration. Good communication is when both parties understand the same message and meaning.

Making this short movie was fun yet challenging. But I wanted to show how important communication is and how easily there can be a misunderstanding.

Next week’s blog: Following the Examples of Successful Leaders

Week 1: Introduction: The Softer Side

Week 2: What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Week 3: Five Key Principles of Successful Connection

Week 4: How to Develop Leadership Skills Starting With You

 

 

Seizing Opportunities in Leadership

Posted on by
Reply

You might not be in a leadership position now but making the most of leadership opportunities is a must. In fact, whenever you have the chance to show your leadership ability, you should seize the opportunity. With drive and determination, everyone can become better leaders and perfect a valuable skill. Employers are really looking for people who can take initiative to lead without coming to ask them what they should do every step of the way. They want people who can think of what needs to be done and present them with the options. Then all they have to do is make an executive decision. In other words, if you demonstrate to others that you have real leadership potential, you vastly increase your job prospects.

But what can you do now to prepare for your future? Here are some leadership tips to consider from Leadership Freak:

  1. Release yourself for more by delegating easy tasks. Fools cling to familiarity and ease. What’s easy for you is challenging to others. Help others do what you do well. One way to develop yourself is to develop others.
  2. Explore the irritating behaviors of others. Irritations are often mirrors. How are you like the people you don’t like? Loud voices irritate me.
  3. Spend more time reflecting on your performance and less on others. When your performance improves, the people around you improve.
  4. Challenge yourself. You stop growing when you stop taking on new challenges.
  5. Evaluate your performance mercilessly. Nitpick little things. Chances are the little things are bigger than you believe.
  6. Make a difference right now. This whole “change the world thing,” often becomes an excuse to neglect small opportunities.
  7. Record daily insights and observations. Keep a notebook handy and write things down. When you hear something curious or surprising, explore it.
  8. Swim against the current. Doing what everyone else does obscures your potential.
  9. Think better not perfect. How might you be a better listener today, for example?
  10. Pursue relationships with people who are better than you.

Next week’s blog: Following the Examples of Successful Leaders

Week 1: Introduction: The Softer Side

Week 2: What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Week 3: Five Key Principles of Successful Connection

Week 4: How to Develop Leadership Skills Starting With You

 

How To Develop Leadership Skills Starting With You

Posted on by
Reply

The words "YOU MUST MANAGE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CAN LEAD SOMEONE ELSE" in white on black bacground

Image Credit

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell.

Have you ever thought about being a leader? To be an effective leader, you must have “soft skills”. That’s what will set you apart from other leaders. But maybe you feel you can’t develop your leadership skills because you are not in a position of leadership. So how you can improve without practice? Well, there are plenty of ways to practice leadership and it starts with you.

How can this be?” you may ask. It starts by you leading yourself. In fact, I am a believer that in order to be a good leader, you have to lead yourself first. A definition of a leader is someone with the ability to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well. But, how do you expect to inspire others if you can’t even control your own actions? Say you set goals and you know they are important to complete. Yet every attempt, you end up postponing them. If you can commit to doing something for yourself, how do you expect others to commit to you? Ask yourself, “What are the outcomes that I have set for myself?” Do you even know what they are? You see, leadership starts much earlier than when we get into a leadership position at work or school.

Light box Leadership has listed the following 7 simple yet powerful core principles to effective self-leadership:

  1. Know your personal mission, values and vision
  2. Be responsible and accountable for your actions and reactions
  3. Develop self-awareness in all areas of your life
  4. Cultivate EQ Emotional Intelligence
  5. Be financially responsible
  6. Be physically healthy
  7. Create goals, systems and habits to succeed

Practice responding to the following:

I intend to:

Because:

How will I do it?

How will I know it worked?

What will I do next?

Next week’s blog: The fact is that we all have opportunities to lead. Let’s discuss more about leadership skills. Seizeing Opportunities

Week 1: Introduction: The Softer Side

Week 2: What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Week 3: Five Key Principles of Successful Connection

 

 

Five Key Principles of Successful Connection

Posted on by
5

a skeleton key on top of a scrap of paper that says "COMMUNICATION"

                                Image Credit

“Any message you try to convey must contain a piece of you. You can’t just deliver words. You can’t merely convey information. You need to be more than just a messenger. You must be the message you want to deliver. Otherwise, you won’t have credibility and you won’t connect.”

John Maxwell

The first key principle is the spoken word.  I‘ve heard many people say that they’re an introvert and don’t like to talk much. While that may be true, if you want to get ahead and be influential as a leader, you will have to communicate with others. You don’t need to be a great communicator to be influential—just sincere and genuine. In fact, some of the most influential people are not good speakers, but they show that they really care.

The second key principle is giving your point of view. You have to believe what you are saying is important to be said. If you believe it, then others will also believe it. But you have to know what that is. Ask yourself, “What is it that I am saying and why am I saying it?” I had a professor who would always ask, “So what?” Only we can answer that question.

The third key principle is how you deliver your message. Communication goes beyond mere words. By this I mean your physical demeanor. This ranges from paying attention while communicating and eliminating distractions to wearing appropriate clothing and being well groomed. This may seem simple, but so many people, unintentionally, let these issues get in the way of their connection with others. Even your facial expressions matter.

The fourth key principle is to be authentic and have integrity. Don’t just say things because you want to appear in a certain likeness. People can often read though that and see when you are not being real. To make sincere connections, you have to be trustworthy because it not just what you say but it’s how you say it. If you speak with passion and energy, people will remember it.

The fifth key principle is to always find a connection with others. This is more of a learned skill and comes from your ability to find a way to connect with the subject. You don’t have to be a genius or have experience but just find common ground.

a cartoon of a green face talking to a blue face

Image Credit

Experiment and Practice:

A good idea is to videotape yourself having a conversation and play it back to see how you perform. It may seem strange but it can help to see how others see you.

Also it is important to observe others. Who do you feel has good communication skills and what do they do? Try to identify some of the things that they do and then try doing those things yourself.

Next Post: How you can be a leader

 

What are the Most Important Soft Skills?

Posted on by
6

“If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas: learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.” – Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States

“The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively.” – Harvard Business Review

“Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is the one thing above all others – the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.” – Jim Collins, author, Good to Great

Quote Credits

With so many soft skills, it’s hard to determine which one is the most important. But I think that communication skills is a good place to start. To employers, good communication is essential. When the lines are clear, it builds trust and can even increase productivity. We all know communication is a multi-way process taking place between two or more people and we communicate all the time. But how do we really know that communication has taken place? One of my biggest pet peeves is when people ask how are you but then don’t wait for an answer. I know we spend a lot of time rushing around, but by definition, that is non-communication. There is no real exchange of information.

A challenge of communication is how and when to share thoughts and concerns. I think it depends on the context of the situation. There are times when you should give your opinion and times when you should hold your peace. How do you determine when the time is right and how should you communicate? As the saying goes, “know your audience”. Good communication is never about us—it is always about those we are communicating with. So we should ask ourselves, “what will it take for me to clearly deliver my message?” Once we have the answer, communication becomes easier. Understand what you want to achieve through the communication. By making the right judgment we will know what to say and what not to say. Though it may not be an easy way for us to communicate, it will be easier for others to understand us.

.a drawing of signs that say"Why?"; "When?"; "What?"; "How?"; "Who?"; "Where?"

Image Credit

Finding a way to develop our communication skills is essential and the best way is to practice it daily. Whether it is oral or written, communication is about connecting and applying communication strategies will help us to overcome the barriers.

Practice:

Ask your friends, colleagues, professors, parents etc. for their honest feedback about your communication skills. Make a note of the positive and negative feedback to see what you need work on.

Introduction: The Softer Side

In my next blog, I will continue the discussion on communication with the five key principles of connection.

 

The Softer Side

Posted on by
11

a stock image of a fuzzy fabric laptop and a fuzzy cup of coffee

Image Credit

A recent study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities reported that long-term career success comes from demonstrated proficiency in skills and knowledge that cut across all majors. Yet one of the major complaints by employers is that graduates do not have the soft skills needed to keep the job. Employers also say the skills that are lacking are more important to an individual’s success at their company than his or her undergraduate major.  A Career Builder Survey supports the claim that companies are looking for employees with people-oriented soft skills and are becoming more and more concerned about the “skills gap” in today’s workplace.

The fact is, far too many graduates do not know what soft skills are. Although it’s a common term, very few students have heard of it. I am not saying that colleges don’t teach any soft skills but there seems to be a void (or rather, a disconnect) between academic performance and job performance. While it is important to have knowledge and skills for specific fields, skills in critical thinking, writing and communication, and analytical reasoning are just as, if not more, important. Think about it! The most crucial skills needed for success and most graduates have never heard of them. But how can students develop and practice something that they have not been taught?

Well there is good news and all is not lost. In fact, there is so much opportunity to gain the skills we need and it starts with us. Instead of waiting for someone else to teach us, we can teach ourselves. The best place to start is by reading and engaging in professional learning activities that will result in long-term benefits. Whether you like e-books or paper books, its usefulness cannot be understated and will allow us to internalize and practice what we learn and advance our knowledge and soft skills.

I know that many of you will not have time to read beyond the required reading for school and it can be quite overwhelming with so much to do. Also being “creatures of habit”, we are used to having someone teach us. But, if we start by taking responsibility to change the way we think, our actions will also change. That’s why I am writing this blog. This will be my way of bringing to you just some of what’s available out there to help you stand out from the crowd and give you the competitive advantage.softskillsImage Credit

What are the Most Important Soft Skills?