What Sets Roger Federer Apart as a Sporting Leader

This is a very interesting article and well worth reading -

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/tennis/theres-only-one-roger-federer-20100129-n26k.html

What Sets Roger Federer Apart as a Sporting Leader

Leadership Award Announced by NFL

Perhaps this recent announcement will give some food for thought to those reponsible for high profile professional sports in the UK?

The NFL established the Coach Don Shula Award, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced in Miami yesterday. Shula, the former coach of the Miami Dolphins, won more games (347) than any head coach in NFL history, including Super Bowls VII and VIII, and is the only coach with a 17-0 season.

Goodell said the annual award will honour a football coach who displays the integrity, achievement and positive impact on others as Shula did with Baltimore (1963-69) and the Dolphins (1970-1995).

"I am honored that Commissioner Goodell has created this award to honour football coaches that live with integrity and have the right impact on other people," Shula said. "I always relished the teaching and mentoring aspect of being a coach as being the most important thing we did. I look forward to working with Commissioner Goodell and his team to recognise the positive impact that our game can have on our society."

Leadership Award Announced by NFL

More Evidence Showing the Importance of Leadership Development in 2010

Henley Business School has revealed that developing the leadership skills of middle managers and equipping them to manage change are among the top learning and development priorities for organisations in 2010, according to the Corporate Learning Priorities Survey 2010 carried out by Henley's Corporate Development team.

Respondents indicated a significant focus on leadership development in 2010, particularly at middle management level. They also anticipate focusing on high-potentials as they grow and develop to lead their businesses into an uncertain future.

The survey, amongst 2,500 HR and learning development professionals, was designed to provide an up-to-date perspective of the executive education and development landscape. Over 60% of those completing the survey were HR Directors, Vice-Presidents or Heads of HR or Learning & Development in some of the UK's largest employers.

Key findings of the Priorities Survey 2010 included all respondents stating that leadership development is the most important priority. The development of middle managers is also considered extremely important with 67% naming it as their first or second priority, compared to only 35% rating leadership development for senior managers in their top 5. The importance of succession planning and attracting new talent are key priorities for 2010, both rising in importance from 2009.
 
The survey results indicate that organisations are aligning their Learning and Development priorities with their business objectives more closely than they have ever done before.
 
For more, see - http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/henley-business-school-reveals-results-of-corporate-learning-priorities-survey-2010-134774.php

More Evidence Showing the Importance of Leadership Development in 2010

Increased Spending on Leadership Development Predicted in 2010

According to recent Deloitte research, 'economic optimism has reached its highest level among surveyed executives since January 2009'.

In particular, the research indicates that:

•More than four in 10 executives surveyed expect their companies to increase programmes aimed at developing high potential employees (47 percent) and cultivating corporate leaders (43 percent).

•Nearly three-quarters of surveyed executives believe that leadership development was either critically important (27 percent) or very important (45 percent) at their companies. And, an overwhelming eight out of 10 either agreed (55 percent) or strongly agreed (25 percent) that their companies have a clear leadership development strategy.

•Despite near universal agreement on the importance of leadership programmes, surveyed executives do not have a high sense of confidence about their efforts in this area. Only 10 percent of survey participants describe their leadership initiatives as "world-class across the board."
 
The implication of this type of research is that we expect executives to continue to shift their talent portfolios from 'defensive' measures, such as cutting headcount and focusing primarily on costs, to 'offensive' programmes, including retention of critical leaders and workers and increased spending on training and development with a focus on leadership.
 
For more, see - http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/additional-services/talent-human-capital-hr/article/cf6c9a4636566210VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm

Increased Spending on Leadership Development Predicted in 2010

Leadership Requires an Ability to Deal with Adversity

Dealing with adversity is one of the core challenges of the leader. Developing a coping strategy for yourself and your team is essential for success. The legends and myths of failure are right…they do provide critical learning opportunities and teachable moments. Nonetheless, the fact that you or your team members are benefitting from one of these “priceless” moments offers little help or comfort at the moment of failure.

Understanding how to leverage the emotions and the energy of the situations will help you create your own legends and examples. It will also reduce the unhealthy fear of failure that stifles so much creativity.

You don’t have to embrace or smile at failure. Instead, kick it in the teeth and use the emotional energy to propel you and your team forward.

Leadership Requires an Ability to Deal with Adversity