Here is an interesting presentation highlighting Colin Powell’s leadership principles. It is based on the book, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell
, written by Mr. Oren Harari, a professor at the University of San Francisco. 
Monday, December 14, 2009
Colin Powell's Leadership Principles
Here is an interesting presentation highlighting Colin Powell’s leadership principles. It is based on the book, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell
, written by Mr. Oren Harari, a professor at the University of San Francisco.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Results Matter
'Q. What leadership lessons have you learned?
A. The first thing that I learned was results matter. At the end of the day, no matter how much somebody respects your intellect or your capabilities or how much they like you, in the end it is all about results in the business context. You have to be able to demonstrate that you have proven you can drive something forward. So when I talk to my team, I use a football metaphor — every day, we have to come in and advance the ball.
The second thing is that you have to have a direction for a business. How can you possibly motivate somebody to work hard and sacrifice time with their family, etc., if they don’t have an understanding of where you’re trying to go? So I believe very strongly in setting a direction for the business, creating the plan, and really allowing people the opportunity to get engaged around that.'
For more, see - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/13corner.html?ref=business
Success
Ralph Waldo Emerson
High Altitude Leadership
High Altitude Leadership: What the World's Most Forbidding Peaks Teach Us About Success
introduces a new approach to leadership, a concept called high altitude leadership. Written by experienced climber and entrepreneur Chris Warner and accomplished leadership consultant Don Schmincke, the book discusses the relationship between mountain climbing and leadership development.Warner and Schmincke describe the “high altitude leader” as a person who recognises and survives eight dangers that emerge when leading a team to high levels of performance. The eight dangers include fear, selfishness, tool seduction, arrogance, lone heroism, cowardice, comfort and gravity. Each fear is described through a mountaineering story, complete with life-or-death circumstances. Warner and Schmincke then compare these dangers to similar dangers that occur in the business world. The authors discuss that in leadership, as well as in climbing, the higher altitudes you reach the greater the challenges become.
High Altitude Leadership initially addresses the fear of death as a main danger in leadership. Warner and Schmincke agree that leadership responsibilities can be difficult and dangerous. In both the world of mountaineering and the business world, many people let fear control actions which ultimately leads to failure. According to the book, “acting decisively in the face of great fear triggers the actions needed for success.” High altitude leaders embrace the death of projects, goals, careers, teams and companies to become an effective leader and increase profit.
Sometimes selfishness also destroys the possibility of profits within companies. This danger can weaken the culture within an organisation. The authors advise leaders to overcome this selfishness through a “compelling saga”; actions that inspire passion for a strategic focus. At times, high altitude leaders must accomplish this “compelling saga” without the necessary tools. The section about tool seduction discusses the inevitable breaking or failing of tools that leaders often rely on. In other words, the authors state that people are “seduced” by these tools and often disappointed when they do not work. The authors agree tools can be useful at times, however, high altitude leaders should adapt the tools to the organisation rather than the other way around.
The authors provide a positive perspective about humility. Warner and Schmincke approach humility as a simple cure for arrogance within a business community. They believe humility strengthens a business and produces growth. However, high altitude leaders cannot allow this humility to cause ego-driven individuals or selfish heroism. To treat the effects of this lone heroism, the authors suggest creating partnerships to leverage the strengths of many. High altitude leaders must not allow partnerships to create cowardice, because it would show weakness in a team. The authors suggest using bravery as a tool to defeat cowardice; for example, always telling the truth and not feeling shameful.
People tend to commit to tasks when they feel comfortable, and according to Warner and Schmincke this comfort is not always a good thing. “Great achievements sometimes require enduring extreme discomfort.” High altitude leaders must persevere through difficult times, and remain alert for signs of too much comfort. Equally important is the ability for leaders to remain aware that failures can occur. “Gravity” emerges in business environments as an uncertain and often catastrophic event. A high altitude leader allows luck to take control of the situation and does not fear failure. The leader must remain open to new experiences and expect success in all cases.
Warner and Schmincke address the dangers of leadership and methods of defeat to provide a basis for leadership. According to the authors, “how you respond in the face of real dangers defines you as a leader.” Remaining alert of the danger that can occur and consistently challenging these dangers is what makes one a high altitude leader.
High altitude leadership focuses on the essential role of teams. It emphasises the fact that whether you are leading a team on a mountain or on a project, you are a part of something bigger than yourself. High altitude leadership proves that highly focused teams that are confidently rooted in one vision are able to defeat the inevitable eight dangers. This defeat ultimately leads to greater success. In addition, it recognises that leaders are made by the circumstances they encounter.
Not only does this leadership theory examine the dangers that are inevitable with leadership, it provides a basis of leadership that many organisations are following today. High altitude leadership focuses on the “compelling saga,” a focus that has driven success for many companies. For example, Wal-Mart used a strategic focus when they chose a specific mission for the company; giving “ordinary folks the chance to buy the same things as rich people.” In addition, Nike had a strategic focus to create a brand for every competitive athlete. These leaders aligned the company towards a higher cause, creating a high altitude organisation. Although these companies may not have used the title of a “compelling saga,” there was a saga component that separated these organisations from their competitors. The companies had a specific strategy for high-performance behaviour and succeeded with this approach.
This book is well worth reading!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
'Mr. Watson — Come here — I want to see you.'
What is the DNA of the Top Ranked Companies for Leadership Development?
Some FAQs about the methodology of the study:
1.What are the common factors amongst these top-ranked companies in the area of leadership development?
i. Building a brand for leadership - For leading companies, building an external reputation for attracting and developing strong leadership is vital to long-term success. They recognise that a strong leadership brand is a great competitive advantage – one that attracts strong leaders as well as retains the top talent. A core component of the leadership brand of top companies is corporate social responsibility. These companies have realised that CSR directly helps them attract and inspire leaders at a time when there is a great concern for social responsibility, ethics and integrity.
ii. Getting selection right - The top companies are more intentional in whom they hire as leaders. Almost 100% of winners have a specific selection strategy for hiring leaders from within as well as outside the organisation. As one of the top executive of a winning company said: “ The business imperative is to grow very fast, therefore we need to develop leadership capability at all levels and ensure that we have the right people for right roles.” 100% of top companies tie their leader assessment, selection and development strategies to business and leadership goals.
iii. Focusing on a pipeline of future leaders - Research shows that the top companies clearly define critical roles in the organisation and have a robust methodology of creating future leaders. All top companies report having sufficient talent pipeline for being successful in the future. The reasons cited by companies for not having sufficient talent pipeline are lack of required skills / experience in the existing employees and insufficient mentoring programmes.
iv. Meaningful development through experience and exposure - Many companies depend on informal or fragmented development efforts. Some others depend on “corporate driven” programmes with little thought to the role or the market. Research shows that the top companies do three specific things, which differentiate them :
- Provide individual focus for leadership development and cater to individual specific needs.
- They groom leaders at a much faster speed.
- They provide holistic development through action learning projects, job rotations, exposure to organisational role models and creating robust development programmes.
2.What are the key takeways from this survey?
i. Top companies create leaders at a fast pace, and are better geared for growth - The top companies for leaders are growing business faster than the rest. They are also growing leaders at a faster rate than the rest. They achieve this through identification of top talent early in their careers, provide them with robust development opportunities, re-evaluate their talent pipeline year on year. They also have unmitigated focus on holistic and structured development programmes.
ii. Top companies’ focus on creating a unique leadership brand - ethics, sustainability, values and CSR are increasingly becoming important for them in building a leadership brand. Leadership talent has started to give more weighting to these organisational attributes, and top companies are increasingly building these into their organisational DNA.
3 Are there any lessons from the current downturn in the economic activity that have impacted leadership thinking?
i. Top companies have continued to invest in their people, irrespective of the downturn. In fact, top companies have shown greater commitment towards development of their people in the last year.
ii.Top companies have focused on experiential learning, stretch assignments and customised development intervention to groom leaders when they knew they had to restrain their finances. Not surprisingly, their leadership pipeline is becoming their trump card in these challenging economic times.
4. Top companies realise that to survive in today’s hyper competitive world, one needs to have people who are professionally qualified and competent. The old mantra that leaders should be 'built' and not bought is increasingly being replaced with 'an effective leadership team needs some external gems'. This is because in companies where leaders were only grown internally, an inward orientation tends to set in. To keep leaders outwardly oriented and therefore always open to change, top companies create a well thought out mix of internally and externally hired talent even at the highest level.
5. One area where most organisations need to make a perception shift is with celebrating the charismatic individuals—companies need to move away from creating charismatic leadership in a few individuals, and need to move to creating a robust process of leadership development. Companies also need to move away from “corporate training programmes” to “role and market” focused leadership development process. The mindset has to change from training to holistic development.
6. Over the past years, the curvey results have shown that leadership development has become a strategic CEO agenda. CEOs are getting involved in assessment, selection and development of future leaders. More and more companies have taken to planning for leaders a lot more seriously. Companies are investing in customised development of people. Leaders are being groomed in various ways, for example, what was predominantly training driven learning is now becoming experiential learning. Leadership development has become a lot more scientific in terms of how it is practised over the years. Companies have elaborate processes, procedures and practices, which make leadership development more scientific.
7. Winning organisations see leadership development as a science. Their investments and efforts in managing their top performing employees, and enabling their career track for leadership roles has shown valuable results. Which explains why some of the top companies have leadership academies that are world renowned. Some top companies have iconic figures as leaders and believe in developing leaders through emulation and role modeling. There are inherent practices for constantly breaking the mould and rebuilding it from scratch, never allowing their future and existing leaders to slip into their comfort zones. Importantly, these companies with their aggressive growth plans, are feeding their business with high performing leadership talent—they focus on spotting talent early, grooming and moulding them to take on the roles.
The Use of Open-Ended Questions
Open-ended questions, such as those beginning with "What," "How," and "Why" elicit responses from employees that clarify their points of view—thoughts and feelings that may not be apparent to you.
Practice asking short and simple open-ended questions such as:
"Tell me more about how you see this situation?"
"In what way will this affect you?"
"How do you feel about this?"
"What are your thoughts on this issue?"
Pay attention to how your employees answer these questions, then follow up with closed questions that begin with words such as "So," "Do," "Which," and "Did" to summarise and confirm their (and your) understanding.
One of the best, and most difficult, times to use open questions is when you disagree with what someone has said. Instead of saying "I don't agree with you," try asking "What makes you think that?" or, "What led you to that conclusion?"
You may learn something, but more importantly, you won't have shut down the conversation and you have a better opportunity to reach a mutual understanding.
Friday, December 11, 2009
What Do You Do Under Pressure?
What Makes a Boss a Winner?
Regardless, it doesn't matter how good the chief executive is, he is never going to make a success out of a fundamentally bad company.
In recent history, Britain has been famously good at inventing and discovering things but not very good at commercial exploitation of them. But it would be wrong to attribute this to failure of leadership.
It's no accident that virtually all the truly memorable business leaders of the past century have been Americans. It is the sheer size of the market that matters, for therein lies the commercial opportunity that makes great companies. That's why we may soon be looking to China and India to produce the superstars of the business landscape.
One final tip not widely appreciated. Behind every outstanding business leader lies an outstanding PA. Without one, you won't so much as get past first base.
For more, see - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeremy-warner/6612263/What-makes-a-boss-a-winner.html
How To Build Consensus
First of all, it’s important to define what’s meant by “consensus”:
“Consensus is a decision that every member of the group has had input to, understands, and is willing to support.”
Note that consensus does not mean that everyone agrees with the decision 100%. It mean’s they’ve had their say – and have been listened to – and at the end of the day, are committed to supporting the decision. The final decision is owned by the group.
The leader also needs to decide on a “fallback” method in case the group cannot reach true consensus. Otherwise, in theory, if just one person is not willing to support the decision, the meeting can go on forever.
The two most common fallback options are:
1. The group votes, majority rules.
2. The leader decides.
The threat of a fallback is a deterrent – it rarely has to be used, however, having it will motivate a group to give and take in order to reach a consensus.
Here’s a general process to use when making a consensus decision. It’s a way to ensure everyone has a say, generates energy, and can quickly move a group to a decision they can all buy in to and support.
The leader should check for agreement at the beginning and end of each step. Consensus building is a series of small agreements as you scale the mountain – you don’t just leap to one big agreement at the end.
1. Frame the decision.
Agree on what is being decided. Test your decision statement to make sure it’s not too narrow in a way that limits your options. For example, instead of “choose between a Ford Focus or a Ford Explorer”, the decision might be “choose the best mode of family transportation”.
2. Generate alternatives.
This is the time to brainstorm. Follow the rules of brainstorming (anything goes, don’t evaluate, build on each others ideas, etc…) and write each idea on a flipchart of whiteboard (or a virtual whiteboard if using web conferencing).
3. Clarify alternatives.
Take some time to allow questions for clarification. This is not the time to evaluate an idea – or to agree or disagree – it’s strictly to make sure everyone understands each alternative.
4. Narrow down the choices.
Add up the total number of ideas and divide by 3. So if 30 ideas: 30/3=10. In this case, give each team member 10 sticker dots. Have the group place their stickers on the alternatives they like the most. Make sure you tell this group this IS NOT the decision making process – it is strictly an efficient way to “take the temperature” of the group to see which ideas rise to the top and sink to the bottom.
5. Keep and discard.
Start with the alternative with the most votes and ask: “It looks like this one got the most votes – how about if this one stays for now?” If everyone agrees, then circle it. The go to the alternative with no votes, or the least, and ask: “OK, this one didn’t get any votes – can we eliminate it?” If no one objects, draw a line through it. If someone strongly objects – ask why. Give them time to make their case, and then move on to the next.
Although this may sound like a long and tedious process, it actually can go pretty quickly. The group often just decides they’ll go with the alternative with the most votes. A leader can also suggest combining ideas, by asking “So what is it about option A that you like so much? Can we add something to option B to satisfy that need?”
There may be times when it’s appropriate to choose multiple alternatives. In fact, that’s often the case. For problem solving (i.e., “best ways to reduce expenses”, or “best ways to generate revenue”), it’s typical to leave with a list of alternatives.
6. Summarise the decision(s), and decide on who’s going to do what by when.
This is the test of true commitment. Usually when a group reaches a true consensus decision, the energy and commitment is so high people are clamoring to sign up for action items. If all of a sudden the room goes quiet and no one is making eye contact, chances are you missed a step in the consensus building process.
Consensus building is hard work for a leader – it takes a willingness to “roll the dice” and be open to any alternative. Big egos need to be set aside. However, the time and work invested will yield not only higher quality decisions, but implementation will be faster and smoother because everyone will be committed to the outcome.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Crisis = Danger + Opportunity
Renewing American Leadership
'To realise a better economic future, our country must change how we compete. In order to change, we must have: an understanding of what happened; a plan to win; and leaders who have the courage to change themselves and others.'
The full speech is well worth reading - http://files.gereports.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/90304-2-JRI-Speech-Reprint1-557.qxd_8.5x11.pdf
Here are the 5 leadership traits which GE is committed to improving:
- Leaders have to be better listeners.
- Leaders must become systems thinkers who are comfortable with ambiguity.
- Leaders must build competency and move with speed.
- Leaders must motivate with vision, but win through execution.
- Leaders must like and respect people.
John Wooden - The Values of a Great Leader
Leadership – What’s Love Got To Do With it?
John Wooden is a basketball coaching legend – in his 27 years at UCLA, his teams had a winning percentage of 81%, and they won a unfathomable 10 NCAA titles.
He was also a lifetime student of leadership and personal development, creating what he called the “Pyramid of Success“. He is now 99 years old – and in a recent ESPN interview he revealed what he considered to be the two most important elements of all his success:
Love and Balance.
To him, love is the “most powerful thing there is“. It was certainly powerful in his personal life – he had a strong bond with his father who taught him the value of loyalty, and was married to his high school sweetheart Nell for 53 years until her passing in 1985, with a deep and abiding love that is still burning brightly.
What’s more, the power of love carried over into his professional life, with the manner in which he coached and led his teams. Here is what he said back in 1996 about a leader’s responsibility:
“You must set an example. Your players must know that you care for them more than just as athletes. Certainly, they understand that they are there because of their athletic ability, speaking of college. That’s why they’re there. That’s paying their way. But when you have them under your supervision, it’s up to you to make sure that they understand that you care for them as individuals. As…Alonzo Stagg said, he never had one he didn’t love. A lot of them he didn’t like, couldn’t respect. But he loved them just the same.”
John Wooden knew that if he was to earn the trust of his players, and lead them to greatness, he had to love them. Then, and only then, he could apply the principles of his “Pyramid of Success“, which requires much focus, discipline and practice.
This is not a new concept when it comes to great leadership- after all, in one of the oldest leadership books out there, The Art of War (it goes back to the 6th Century BC), Sun Tzu said “He treats them as his own beloved sons and they will stand by him until death”.
However, it is not a concept well suited to the typically rough and tumble world of business. It’s a point of view that dares not speak its name in the halls and in the boardrooms. It seems too “soft” – too “wishy-washy“. As if speaking about loving our teammates would be the ultimate weakness, a major flaw that could be regularly exploited by the more ruthless, manipulative and cynical people in the workplace.
It is also seemingly incompatible with downsizing, and layoffs, and other actions that are taken “for the good of the business”.
What John Wooden has taught us is that love is NOT “soft” – it is NOT incompatible. It is essential. If every leader out there could practice what he has preached for so many years, imagine what a different (and better) world this would be.
Because after all, we’re talking about humans here- we all function better in environments where we know in our hearts that our caretakers, our mentors, and our leaders, really care about us, and are doing their best to guide and teach us.
That’s “the most powerful thing” at work – it binds, it inspires, and makes success possible beyond our wildest dreams.
Just ask John Wooden.
What’s love got to do with leadership?
Plenty.
Coach John Wooden - A True Leader
Rural America did not share in the prosperity enjoyed by large cities in the 1920s. In 1924, the Woodens, like many farm families, went bankrupt and lost their farm. The family moved to Martinsville, a small town which, like so many in Indiana, took great pride in the performance of its high school basketball teams. Wooden, who had shown a gift for the game from grade school days, soon became a star player on his high school team. The team went to the state championship three years running, and won it twice. While still in high school, John met Nellie Riley. By his own account, it was love at first sight, and the two teenagers decided to marry as soon as John finished college.
John Wooden entered Purdue University in Indiana to study civil engineering, but became an English major instead. In college basketball, he earned a reputation as a fearless player of dazzling speed. He made All-American three years running and won a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
After graduation in 1932, he was offered a spot on the Celtics professional basketball team, but passed it up to begin a teaching career and marry his beloved Nellie. His first post was in Dayton, Kentucky, where he not only taught high school English, but coached all of the school's athletic teams. The basketball team had a losing season, the only one in Wooden's entire career. The following year, John and Nellie settled in South Bend, Indiana, where he taught English and coached the basketball team of South Bend Central High School. In eleven years of coaching high school basketball Wooden's teams won 218 games, losing only 42.
The young coach served as a physical education instructor in the United States Navy during World War II. Appendicitis kept him from shipping off for the South Pacific. A Japanese kamikaze plane struck the ship Wooden was to travel on, killing the officer who had taken his place.
After military service, Wooden, like many other teachers he knew, was not re-hired at his old job. He quickly found work however, at Indiana State Teachers' College, later known as Indiana State University. He coached basketball at the school, resuming his string of winning seasons.
In 1948, Wooden accepted an offer to coach the UCLA Bruins. At the time, the team was considered the weakest in the Pacific conference. The University had not provided the team with the facilities usually considered essential; the Bruins lacked a home court to play in, and had to share practice facilities with the school's other teams.
Wooden's Bruins astonished the skeptics by winning 22 out of 29 games in his first season as coach. The following year, they took 24 out of 31 and won their conference championship. Under Wooden's tutelage, the Bruins maintained their high win-loss ratio, and won the Pacific conference titles again in 1952, 1956, 1962 and 1963.
In 1964, Wooden achieved a long sought-after goal. His team had a perfect season, and won the NCAA championship. The following year, they won the title again, losing only two games in a 30-game season. What they lacked in size, the 1964 and '65 Bruins made up for in speed, discipline and an extra-keen will to win that has been the hallmark of all of Wooden's teams. The break-up of this championship lineup may have cost the Bruins the championship in 1966, but they came back with a vengeance in 1967, and held the championship for the next seven years.
The seven-foot center Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) dominated the Bruins' game for the first three seasons of their seven-year streak. Bill Walton was the dominant star of the 1973 and '74 seasons, when UCLA set the all-time record for an unbroken winning streak: 88 consecutive games. In 1974, UCLA again won the Pacific conference title, but lost to North Carolina State in the NCAA semi-finals.
The Bruins bounced back in 1975, Coach Wooden's last year, winning 27 out of 30 games, turning around a losing semi-final against Louisville in the closing minute of the game. In the final game of the tournament, UCLA defeated the University of Kentucky, 92-85.
In all his years as coach, John Wooden prohibited his players from any use of profanity, and consistently avoided it himself. Still, in his first 12 years at UCLA, the coach developed a fearsome reputation among opposing teams for the fanciful harangues he directed at officials and opposing players from the bench. This habit is virtually the only aspect of his career for which the coach has expressed any regret. In the championship years, fans and players alike noticed a distinct mellowing of Wooden's behaviour on the bench.
One of Coach Wooden's proudest moments, he later recalled, came when he overheard one of his players, an African-American, reply to a reporter's question about racial tensions on the team: "You don't know our coach. He doesn't see colour. He just sees ballplayers."
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
US Leadership
Speaking at a dinner in Washington last night, US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton made some interesting remarks about the role of US leadership globally:
'We have been talking a lot in the last months that we need to be committed to using American leadership to build a new architecture of global cooperation. And fundamental to that idea is that the 21st century not only presents many shared challenges, but also demands shared responsibility. No nation can meet today’s challenges – or seize its opportunities – alone. Leadership in this era means stepping up to the plate and galvanizing others to do the same.
That is the approach we are taking in the Obama Administration. We are pursuing broader and, we hope, more effective diplomacy that reaches beyond government. And we are committed to development that is delivered, as the President has said, through partnership, not patronage, that achieves meaningful, measurable, sustainable outcomes.'
Maintaining a Positive Attidude in Difficult Times
Maintaining a positive attitude requires you to first believe in you, the most important person in the world. If you believe in you, you will also believe you are here for a reason and that there will be incidents of all sorts in your life. You also know that these incidents, many of which are not under your control, happen for a reason. That reason could be as simple as building character, or getting you back on track to where you belong.
Maintaining a positive attitude in down times, whether it be the loss of a loved one, a friend, relative, money or a job is crucial for survival and the realisation of your dreams and goals.
There are a lot of things in our life that are not under our control - weather, time, people, traffic, etc. If we cannot control them, we need to learn to accept them as they are. All we can do is take control of what is under our control - our attitude, our thoughts, our self-talk and the way we react to these situations.
What we think about, what we say to ourselves and the way we act it out is all part of the law of attraction, and is under our control. We can attract positive or negative outcomes. Which would you prefer?
Obviously you would prefer positive outcomes. Therefore you need to take control of your thoughts, self talk and reactions to maintain a positive upbeat attitude and positive outcomes. To maintain that positive attitude, you need to be very aware of what you are thinking, saying and doing. You need to catch yourself in the act of self pity, self criticism, jealousy, anger, etc. Then you need to X out that thought, saying or action and replace it with the opposite - a positive thought, saying or action. That is how you maintain a positive attitude, by taking control of the things that are under your control.
Keep in mind that maintaining positive attitude requires awareness at all times because only when you are in your conscious state can you accept or reject thoughts, self talk or actions. If you are not aware, and do not reject negative thoughts, they will end up in your subconscious mind. Once it hits your subconscious mind, you do not have the power to reject or accept. It has already been accepted and now goes to work with the laws of nature to attract those thoughts, self talk messages and results into your life.
By making awareness part of your daily discipline you will have the opportunity to take control of your life and attract the circumstances and outcomes you want, as opposed to the outcomes you do not want. So , take control and be aware!
Developing Young Leaders in the Military
The Naval Academy places practical and theoretical leadership training at the heart of their bachelor program in military science – preparing officers for operational leadership at sea.
A key challenge to this leadership development is a healthy balance between theory, coaching and practical training – in a realistic context out of the classrooms. HNoMS Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a 95 years old barque, with fifty sails, three masts, and a solid old fashioned rig – system meets this challenge. A three months cruise in the North sea and the Atlantic ocean in the storm – season marks a significant starting point for the cadet’s leadership training. The old lady does not carry advanced computer technology, electric engines or hydraulic systems that reduce the role of humans merely into computer operators. The sailing ship demands human cooperation at its best, to overcome and work with the rough weathers at sea. The ship and the nature immediately give feedback on poor leadership and cooperation.
Inspiring leadership is based on practical seamanship skills and tradition. At HNoMS Statsraad Lehmkuhl the cadets learn old-fashioned seamanship, knots, tackling, shanties, and maintenance in a way often ignored in modern navies. By this, they develop a sound respect for practical knowledge and traditions grown from thousands of years of accumulated experience. These skills also stimulate the cadet’s identity and pride as sailors. Military professionalism builds also on high academic standards. During the cruise professors are giving lectures in history, English, international affairs, leadership, psychology and ethics.
Leadership calls also for social skills, moral character and emotional intelligence. The cruise is a challenging kind of social training. Three months working and living together 24-7, sleeping in columns of hammocks with 20 cm “private” space on each side represents a good training ground for social interaction. The cadets are not allowed to bring computers, music, cell phones etc that can help them escape from boredom, homesickness, conflicts etc. They must develop their skills to communicate and face problems in a constructive manner. They learn to lean on their shipmates when facing hardship and difficulties. By this, comradeship, esprit de corps, and mutual trust may develop; for some, lasting the rest of their professional careers.
The cruise works. Research shows that the cruise influences the cadet’s leadership skills more than any other single activity at the academy. Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership changes significantly – in a positive way. The same goes for cohesion and ability to participate in - and build high performance groups. And last, but not least, the cruise leaves most cadets with a new confidence when it comes to both seeking leadership, and meeting the sea as sailors.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Leading Through Crises
"Being able to pull together the best people and have them work as a team; insisting on analytical rigor in evaluating the nature of the problem; making sure that dissenting voices are heard and that a range of options are explored; being willing to make a decision after having looked at all the options, and then insisting on good execution as well as timely feedback, so that [if] you have to correct the decision that you make, that you are able to do so in time; being able to stay calm and steady when the stakes are high. You know, all those things are, I think, principles I try to apply in any circumstance. I find them particularly useful when the decisions are tough and the consequences of action are most weighty."
The Six Factors That Drive Confidence in Leaders
First, the sectors where the confidence level in leaders are up in a statistically significant way over last year are the military, the executive branch and business. Those that showed a significant decline are medical, nonprofits and charity, state government, the news media and Wall Street.
Based on an index where 100 indicates a moderate amount of confidence the only three sectors that scored higher than that level were the military, medical and nonprofits and charity. Of those three, the military is the only sector to score well above 100 on the confidence index with a score of almost 120.
According to the study, there are six key factors that have the greatest impact on Americans’ confidence in their leaders. These factors are:
•Trust in what the leaders say
•Competence to do the job
•Working for the greater good of society
•Share my values
•Get good results
•In touch with people’s needs and concerns
Given what’s happened over the past year, it’s not surprising that the military and the nonprofit sector leaders were in the top three. Likewise, when you consider the past year and look at the six most important factors, it’s easy to understand why the two lowest ranked sectors were the news media and Wall Street.
Reading between the lines of the study, there is one other factor that’s not explicitly mentioned but probably comes into play. That factor is the perceived clarity and importance of the sector’s purpose and mission. Reading the study, it’s striking how much higher the leadership of the military and the nonprofit sectors are rated in all six key factors than are the leadership of other highlighted sectors.
“What do these two sectors have in common?”; clarity and importance of purpose is the answer.
To stand a chance of being effective, leaders must generate confidence in the people that depend on them.
For more, see - http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/images/CPLpdf/cpl_nli_2009.pdf
Sunday, December 06, 2009
4 Leadership Lessons From Carolina Coach Roy Williams
that can be used by all leaders to build and maintain an elite programme - in sport or in business:1. Character Counts
Coach Williams: When I decide that a kid has the talent I am looking for, then I try to find out about his character. I once had an elementary school principal in Wichita, Kansas tell me, "Coach, I wish you'd say academics is the second priority."
"No ma'am," I said. "because if he's a great player and a 4.0 student but he's going to be a pain in the rear end, I want it to be somebody else's rear end."
Too many coaches (and athletic directors) lower their programme's standards and take talented players (and coaches) with questionable or poor character. They knowingly accept talented people who have a history of not doing the right thing. It's a big gamble that sometimes pays off in the short-term, but usually has negative consequences in the long-term.
Just as Coach Williams heavily weighs character in the recruiting process, so too should you consider character when selecting your team. Having people of character makes it much easier to build and maintain a team that is focused on a common goal, not their own selfish desires. Coach Williams writes, "If you have one guy looking out for himself, you're in big trouble. If you have more than one, you have no chance."
2. Choose to work hard every day.
Coach Williams: I tell every prospect I recruit that I'm going to try to outwork every other coach... I like to ask prospects, "Who is recruiting you the hardest?" If they don't say me, I'm mad and I'll go back to my staff and tell them we've got to do more.
The more I learn from highly successful coaches and athletes, the more I am convinced that having a compelled work ethic is one of the biggest keys to success. Look at most anyone who is consistently at the top of their profession and you will see an individual and a team that is absolutely committed to being the best. They are highly passionate about what they do, invest themselves fully, and willingly put in the necessary hard work.
The great thing about hard work and commitment is that it is a choice. You get to choose at what level you bring it every day. The tough thing about hard work and commitment is that it is also a choice - you must consistently choose to bring it at a high level each and every day - despite distractions, disappointments, and human nature telling you to give up and give in.
3. Be a Fierce Competitor
Coach Williams: I love playing road games. I love that atmosphere. I encourage my players to treat games away from home as a wonderful challenge. I like to tell my team, "Let's go into their living room and steal their brownies." It's all about having the confidence and attitude that I can beat your butt anytime, anywhere, anyplace, anyhow... The bottom line is that I want my players to understand that at some point in every game, somebody's going to give in, and I don't ever want it to be us. We want to be the last team standing.
Underneath Coach Williams folksy and cordial outward demeanour beats the heart of a fierce competitor. He is driven to be the best and enjoys the continual challenge of taking every opponent's best shot - whether at home or on the road. He relates several stories in the book about how his competitiveness has been an edge throughout his career.
If you want to compete with the big boys and girls, you too are going to need to become a fierce competitor. More importantly, you will need to instill your own competitive will in your team as you develop them into competitors. Highly successful programmes look to dictate the tempo of the competition and impose their will on their opponents. They force opponents to react to them rather than the other way around. You too can get to this level. But you must remember that having a competitive team is a big key - and it begins with you modeling it, developing it, demanding it, and rewarding it as leader.
4. Win on and off the court.
Coach Williams: Winning still drives me. But I also enjoy putting a team together. Every year presents a different challenge for me. What I will miss the most is building relationships with players. Those bonds are always going to be there and they are personal. They are not based on wins and losses but on something you gave them, something you tried to do for them, something you tried to establish in those kids that would affect their lives.
Even though Coach Williams is highly committed to winning on the court, he also cares about his players' futures off the court. He is just as demanding of his guys when it comes to their performance in the classroom and in the community. He sees himself as a mentor who is privileged to prepare young men for the game of life - whether they are future NBA Superstars or productive members of society.
Hard Work Pays Off!
While he is at the top of his profession now, Williams began his coaching career posting a losing 2-19 record his first season as a high school coach. Along the way he has swept the floors, been a PE teacher, sold calendars across the state just to put food on the table, and made only $2,700 a year as Dean Smith's part-time assistant coach at UNC.
Coach Williams' new book is aptly titled Hard Work: My Life on and Off the Court
. He put in decades of hard work as an aspiring coach to reach the pinnacle of the coaching profession and continues to put in the hard work to maintain his programme's elite status by consistently out-recruiting and out-coaching many of his peers.Coach Williams says, "We put our hands in and chant something my teams have been saying since I was North Carolina's junior varsity coach: Hard work! It's something I've believed in since I was a kid shoveling snow off the basketball court so I could practice or selling calendars or going right back out on the recruiting trail after winning a national title. The phrase is a reminder that nobody is going to outwork us. I think it pulls our guys together and gives them strength. It is what the players chant when they huddle for any timeout or any deadball. It's a constant reminder: Hard work!"
Coach Williams and the Tar Heels success are due to some key things that anyone can use in building a successful programme - in sport or in business:
1. Coach Williams is a tireless worker on the recruiting trail.
2. He recruits great talent but also ensures that his guys are people of strong character.
3. Coach Williams is extremely competitive and instills his will in his players.
4. He cares about his players beyond the basketball court.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
What History Tells Us About Effective Leadership
First, are leaders born or made? The answer is both, but more made than born. Leadership is a complex and sophisticated social role. Although certain qualities do predispose some people to attain leadership positions and be better at leading, effective leaders actually hone their skills through experience, conscious self-development, education, and training.
Second, does leadership training work? Relatively recent analyses of over 100 years of leadership training and development efforts suggests that most programsme do indeed lead to some positive change. Is the change dramatic? Sometimes. Certain crucible, or trigger, events can lead to substantial improvement in leadership ability. For the most part, however, leadership development is a long-term and incremental process.
Third, are there certain elements that all (or most) great leaders share?
We are quite sure that the theory of transformational leadership represents the very best elements of leadership. Effective leaders tend to be inspirational, visionary, and serve as positive role models for their followers. But the very best leaders also care sincerely about their followers, their well-being and their personal development. Great leaders also empower followers and encourage them to be creative and to take initiative.
Fourth, is leadership situation specific? In other words, if you are a successful leader in one area, such as at work, will you also be a successful leader in the community, or in a different company? Although this question has not been thoroughly researched, it is likely that the same transformational qualities and skills will transfer to other settings. The limitation, of course, is that knowledge of the particular setting, and understanding of its “culture” is required. So, a period of adjustment and learning is needed to allow the leader to use transformational abilities in the new environment.
Finally, how early in life does leadership begin to develop? This is a fascinating question, and one that current research is exploring. There has been little longitudinal research on the early “roots” of leadership, but initial results suggest that the foundation of leadership begins at a very early age. Encouragement from parents and teachers likely plays a very important part, as well as early exposure to a variety of social situations, and novel experiences.
What are the implications for personal leadership development? Leadership is complex, but it can be developed. We know the building blocks of leadership success, and it is clear that devoting time and energy to your personal development pays off.
Success and Failure Begin and End in What the Mind Believes is Possible
For many years it was widely believed to be impossible for a human to run a mile (1609 meters) in under four minutes. In fact, for many years, it was believed that the four minute mile was a physical barrier that no man could break without causing significant damage to the runner's health. The achievement of a four minute mile seemed beyond human possibility, like climbing Mount Everest or walking on the moon.
It was a windy spring day, on the 6th of May 1954, during an athletic meeting between the British AAA and Oxford University, that Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, breaking through the “four munite mile” psychological barrier. John Landy, a great runner of that day, had never run faster than within 1.5 seconds of the four minute barrier. Then 56 days after Roger Bannister's breakthrough, John Landy ran the mile in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds in Finland. Later, Bannister and Landy raced in the 'Mile of the Century', where Bannister won in 3 minutes and 58.8 seconds.
The breaking of the four minute mile was so significant that is was named by Forbes as one of the greatest athletic achievements. What made this event so significant is that once the four minute barrier was broken by Roger Bannister, within three years, by the end of 1957, 16 other runners also cracked the four minute mile.
Describing the psychological impact of the four minute barrier in an interview with Forbes, Sir Roger Bannister, who was knighted in 1975, related that:
'The world record then was four minutes, 1.4 seconds, held by Sweden’s Gunder Haegg. It had been stuck there for nine years, since 1945. It didn’t seem logical to me, as a physiologist/doctor, that if you could run a mile in four minutes, one and a bit seconds, you couldn’t break four minutes. But it had become a psychological as well as a physical barrier. In fact the Australian, John Landy, having run four minutes, two seconds, three times, is reported to have commented, “It’s like a wall.” I couldn’t see the psychological side.'
So what happened to the physical barrier that prevented humans from running the four minute mile? Was there a sudden leap in human evolution? No. It was the change in thinking that made the difference, Bannister had shown that breaking the four minute mile was possible. Often the barriers we perceive are only barriers in our own minds. Previous runners had been held back by their beliefs and mindsets. When the barrier was broken, other runners saw that is was possible and then 16 runners went on to do the same.
Our beliefs and mindsets limit or expand our world. Beliefs have power over us because we treat them as though they’re true. Beliefs influence what you attempt or choose not to attempt in life. They determine what you pay attention to, how you react to difficult situations and ultimately your attitude. Success and failure begin and end in what the mind believes is possible.
The first step a leader can take in influencing the world around them is to change how they think about it. If Roger Bannister accepted that the four minute mile was a physical limitation, he would never have tried to break it. Just like the runners of time past, many of the barriers that hold us back today exist only in our minds.
What are the 'four minute miles' that are holding you back in your personal and professional life?
Are their any role models who are challenging existing limits that you can learn from?
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