Positive Leadership: What Makes A Leader

'What Makes A Leader?' was the title of the 1998 article Daniel Goleman wrote in the Harvard Business Review that the review calls one of its ten “must-read” articles of all time. He wrote about three abilities that distinguish the best leaders from average: self-awareness, which both lets you know your strengths and limits, and strengthens your inner ethical radar; self-management, which lets you lead yourself effectively; and empathy, which lets you read other people accurately. You put all those together in every act of leadership.

For more, see: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/09/15/daniel-goleman-on-leadership-and-the-power-of-emotional-intelligence/

Positive Leadership: What Makes A Leader

Positive Leadership: The Importance of 'You'!

A "Crash Course" on LEADERSHIP

The 10 most important words:

“What can I do to help you be more successful?”

The 9 most important words:

“I need you to do this, and here’s why…”

The 8 most important words:

“That’s my mistake and I will fix it.”

The 7 most important words:

“My door is always open to you.”

The 6 most important words:

“Let’s focus on solving the problem.”

The 5 most important words:

“You did a great job!”

The 4 most important words:

“What do YOU think?”

The 3 most important words:

“Follow my lead.”

The 2 most important words:

“Thank You.”

The MOST important word:

“YOU”

Positive Leadership: The Importance of 'You'!

Positive Leadership: Inspirational leadership secures #WalkerCup

If north-east Scotland had not been buffeted by strong winds and rain squalls at the week-end, might the US have won the Walker Cup again? The question is relevant following Great Britain and Ireland’s narrow victory in a thrilling match at the stunning Royal Aberdeen golf club because winds gusting up to 30mph and intense rain squalls were certainly less familiar to the visitors than to the home team.

The answer to the question though is that Great Britain and Ireland confounded all known form, including the current world amateur golf rankings not to mention almost all the pre-match predictions and were so ably led by Nigel Edwards that they won this biennial contest for only the eighth time. They probably would have won under calmer conditions. But it is also true that luck favoured Edwards. Had the wind dropped on Sunday morning so that the second day could have been played in a calm, when the Americans improved, then matters might have been different. In fact, perhaps it was Edwards’s performance that tipped it for Britain and Ireland. The third Welshman to captain Great Britain and Ireland, Edwards, 43, became the second to win, after Clive Brown’s victorious captaincy at Royal Porthcawl in 1995.

Edwards stands comparison with Colin Montgomerie in last year’s Ryder Cup in the way he coaxed and cajoled his men to victory. Just as Montgomerie looked into every detail, even the smallest and least significant, so Edwards did much of the same. His self assurance, his eye for detail, his elaborate preparation and his knowledge of the competition as well as his passion for it, simply overwhelmed Jim Holtgrieve, the eminent American golfer. Holtgrieve is a sturdy man from the mid West, a superb and successful amateur and a less successful professional who returned to the amateur ranks. But he is 63 and his rather casual style of captaincy and the age gap between him and the rest of his team made him look out of touch at times. His captaincy also highlighted an obvious question: why is the United States Golf Association in the business of giving captaincy of this competition to former players as a reward?

The 43rd Walker Cup was rather like an old Ryder Cup. Holtgrieve gave the impression of leaving much of it to his players, believing he had the best amateurs in the world who were sufficiently experienced to be able to look after themselves. Edwards, by contrast, could not do enough for his men, from taking them twice to Aberdeen for practice week-ends, to showing motivational films and continually making sure that he was in the right place when he needed to be. Most of all, he was able to speak from the experience of winning and losing in Walker Cups because he had played in two winning teams as well as two that narrowly lost. In this he was rather reminiscent of Bernhard Langer at Oakland Hills in the 2004 Ryder Cup. While Hal Sutton progressed around while wearing a cowboy hat that, frankly, made him look rather silly, Langer concentrated on popping up on the tee of every short hole, always ready to give advice and pass on information.

Edwards looked as though he knew precisely what he was doing at all time; Holtgrieve didn’t. Edwards looked on top of his job; Holtgrieve didn’t. Edwards is certain to be asked to captain GB and I at the National Golf Links on Long Island, New York in two years. Holtgrieve probably will be asked because the convention among American teams is that captains are given a home and an away match, but he may not actually deserve it.

You make your own luck. “Prepare properly and you get your just rewards” Edwards said. He did and he and his team won. Holtgrieve didn’t and so he and his team lost.

Posted by John Hopkins

Positive Leadership: Inspirational leadership secures #WalkerCup

Positive Leadership: Crisis Leadership

On September 11, 2001 we witnessed both the destructive power of evil leadership and the resilient power of heroic leadership by FDNY, NYPD, and countless others.

One figure who stood tall as an example of effective leadership during the crisis is former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani.

Regardless of your political leanings, Guiliani's leadership during the 9/11 tragedy is something leaders from all walks of life can learn from.

In his book titled Leadership, Giuliani writes, "It is in times of crisis that good leaders emerge."

Giuliani demonstrated that during times of crisis, leaders must do four critical things: be highly visible, composed, vocal, and resilient.

1. BE VISIBLE

Giuliani writes, "While mayor, I made it my policy to see with my own eyes the scene of every crisis so I could evaluate it firsthand."

During a crisis, leaders must be out front rather than running or hiding from the ordeal. They must go to the scene of disaster and stand front and centre - to accurately assess the situation as well as show their concern, while also demonstrating confidence that the group will persevere.

Business author Tom Peters writes of Guiliani's courage to be visible: "Rudy 'showed up' - when it really mattered, on 9/11. As one wag put it, he went from being a lameduck, philandering husband to being Time magazine's 'Man of the Year' in 111 days. How? Not through any 'strategy,' well-thought-out or otherwise. But by showing his face. By standing as the embodiment of Manhattan's Indomitable Spirit."

As a leader, be sure you don't retreat when faced with a crisis. Rather than hide from the chaos and confusion, be sure to step in to sort things out and find a solution.

Again, political preferences aside, the importance of being visible during a crisis can also be learned from George W. Bush's presidency. Like Giuliani, Americans rallied around President Bush when he went to Ground Zero and grabbed a bullhorn amid the rubble to reassure the nation.

Contrast that with President Bush's lack of a timely response to Hurricane Katrina. Bush was noticeably absent during the first few days of the crisis and his poll numbers took a big hit.

Bottom Line: Step up during a crisis to survey the scene and be there for your people.

2. BE COMPOSED

Guiliani writes: "Leaders have to control their emotions under pressure. Much of your ability to get people to do what they have to do is going to depend on what they perceive when they look at you and listen to you. They need to see someone who is stronger than they are, but human, too."

No matter how difficult things may seem, you must maintain your poise under pressure. People will look at your face as well as tune into the tone of your voice to determine whether they should panic or remain calm; to give in or maintain hope.

As Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski reminds us in his book Leading with the Heart, "A leader must show the face his team needs to see."

Bottom Line: Be sure to show your team that you are calm and in control, even though you may not exactly feel that way at the time. Your calm demeanour will go a long way toward helping your team think clearly and react appropriately during the crisis.

3. BE VOCAL

Giuliani writes, "I had to communicate with the public, to do whatever I could to calm people down and contribute to a orderly and safe evacuation [of lower Manhattan.]"

In addition to being visible and composed, leaders must step up in an effort to calm people down and communicate with them.

Bottom Line: You must speak up and take charge of what people are thinking and feeling at the time. You must reassure them and give them a simple yet specific plan that will get people through the crisis. Outline important action steps that they can take immediately to help themselves and the team.

4. BE RESILIENT

As difficult as the crisis can seem, remind people that there is hope.

Giuliani writes: "I am an optimist by nature. I think things will get better, that the good people of America and New York City will overcome any challenge thrown our way. So in the face of this overwhelming disaster, standing amid sixteen acres of smouldering ruins, I felt a mixture of disbelief and confidence... that Americans would rise to this challenge."

While your athletic challenges pale in comparison to 9/11, they can still discourage, distract, and debilitate those on your team.

Bottom Line: Give your team a sense of hope. Let them know that they have the ability to make it through the crisis.

9/11 was undoubtedly a horrendous day in the USA’s history. Yet, in the course of this tragedy, countless leaders emerged to help the nation through.

Positive Leadership: Crisis Leadership

Positive Leadership: Talent is Not Everything

Do you know people who talk about children who can learn and ones who can’t? Or, children who can be helped and ones who can’t? Well, they are wrong, and we will tell you why.

Some 30-odd years ago, the great Japanese teacher, Dr. Suzuki, who taught over 20,000 children to understand and play the violin like virtuosi, had some words of wisdom to share with us. He said, “People today are like gardeners who look sadly at ruined saplings and shake their heads, saying the seeds must have been bad to start with – not realising that the seed was all right, and that it was their method of cultivation that was wrong. They go on their mistaken way, ruining plant after plant. It is imperative that the human race escape from this vicious circle.” These words have value even today.

You see, Dr. Suzuki did not believe that some children were gifted while others were not. He believed that every child could be superior, and that every child could be educated. Talent, he believed, was no accident of birth, but a purposeful effort, a powerful creation.

Let’s teach our children to understand that when they see someone of ability, they see a person who has been carefully taught, and who has worked hard to realise their unlimited potential. Let’s teach them that they have the same unlimited potential. And let’s teach them to believe in sustained effort, self-discipline and self-determination.

We have the opportunity and the ability to raise an entire generation of superstars every day. Why would we settle for less?

Positive Leadership: Talent is Not Everything

Positive Leadership: Helping Your Employees Find Their Voice

There is a difference between employees not speaking up at work because they don’t have anything to say about a specific issue and not speaking up because they fear the consequences of expressing their ideas. Managerial behaviour can signal employees that it is unwise to speak up. But even when managers hold positive beliefs about the value of employee voice that manifest in encouraging behaviour towards employees, some employees will still be reticent to share information they believe is risky.

The Academy of Management Journal recently published an extremely well done study by James Detert and Amy Edmondson (full citation below) that examined employee taken-for-granted beliefs about when and why speaking up at work is risky or inappropriate.  The authors found that “sometimes unwillingness to speak up is not experienced as intense, discrete fear but rather as a sense of inappropriateness; voice seems risky because it seems wrong or out of place.” (p. 481).

Through a series of four separate studies, they identified the following five beliefs employees can hold about authority figures that can cause them to exhibit self-protective silence:

1.     Negative career consequences of voice: e.g. if you want advancement opportunities in today’s world, you have to be careful about pointing out needs for improvement to those in charge.

2.     Don’t embarrass the boss in public: e.g. you should always pass your ideas for improvement by the boss in private first, before you speak up publicly at work.

3.     Don’t bypass the boss upward: e.g. loyalty to your boss means you don’t speak up about problems in front of his or her boss.

4.     Need solid data or solutions (to speak up): e.g. unless you have clear solutions, you shouldn’t speak up about problems.

5.     Presumed target identification: e.g. it is not good to question the way things are done because those who have developed the routines are likely to take it personally.

This research is important because it shows that the boss is not always to blame for organisational silence. Individuals arrive at work with a set of implicit theories about work and authority figures that they learned via past direct and vicarious experiences. The authors conclude “managers appear saddled not only by their own actual behaviours inhibiting voice but also by subordinate beliefs about managers.” (p. 484).

If you want employee voice to become an operational priority, you are going to have to make changes to your selection, training, evaluation, reward, and promotion systems. Our advice is to make employee voice an expected, measured, and rewarded behaviour. Hire employees that can demonstrate a proven record of coming forward with specific suggestions and solutions at their previous jobs. Never promote to a position of management an employee that in addition to mastering the performance expectations of their assigned job did not also attempt to partner with managers to improve that job.

If you discover you have a manager that stifles employee voice, help them with training but don’t promote them again until they demonstrate that they understand how to encourage employee voice. If you discover you’ve hired an employee with strong self-protective beliefs about the safety of silence, help them engage in behaviour at work that directly and specifically challenges those beliefs; otherwise, “it is unlikely that they will revise, set aside, or develop new implicit theories related to speaking up.” (p. 465).

Full citation: Detert, J.R. & Edmondson, A.C. (2011). Implicit Voice Theories: Taken-For-Granted Rules of Self-Censorship at Work. Academy of Management Journal, 54 (3): 461-488.

Positive Leadership: Helping Your Employees Find Their Voice

Positive Leadership: Making the Call

This New York Times interview with Enrique Salem, president and C.E.O. of Symantec, the computer security company is worth reading in full.

‘Q. What were some important leadership lessons for you?

A. I played high school football — I was a linebacker — and then I played at Dartmouth. When you play football, you really understand it is a team effort. When you play organizesd sports, especially team sports, it’s not about individuals. I think organised sports are a way to learn a lot about things that will be helpful in business.

Q. Other lessons you learned playing sports?

A. I was captain of the varsity football team my senior year of high school. We called the plays the coach would signal in to us from the sideline. I used to be very much a student of the game. I would watch the game films myself and get ideas of what we should do, what we should think about.

One time the coach called a defensive play and I changed it, and after having some success with that I said, “Oh, this isn’t so hard.” But then another player runs on the field and replaces me, and I run to the bench and the coach says, “When you want to call what I’m calling, you can go back in the game.” So I sat on the bench for a play or two and then went over and said: “O.K., Coach. I got it. I’m sorry.” And he put me back in the game. I really learned this notion that whoever’s making the calls, you’ve got to listen to that person. And he pulled me aside after the game and we talked about it, and he said: “I know you love the game. I know you study the game. But you’ve got to realise that when I make calls, I’m setting something up. I’m looking at something that’s happening, and you can’t be out there second-guessing me on this.” I still remember that story. In business, somebody has to make the call. I learned that pretty early on.

Q. And do you find yourself ever having to explain to somebody the point that the coach made to you?

A. Absolutely. You run into situations where there’s a bigger picture sometimes that an individual who’s working on a project may not be able to see, and can’t understand all the implications of any decision you make.’

For more, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/business/symantecs-enrique-salem-on-leadership-advice.html?_r=1

Positive Leadership: Making the Call

Positive Leadership: What is Your Leadership Mindset?

Everyone gets stuck in a rut. We might have days, weeks, or even months, where we feel like we’ve lost our focus, take longer than necessary to achieve goals, or simply become disconnected from our work.

It’s not a bad thing to admit you’re in a rut. However, it can become detrimental to your career if you don’t take action to dig yourself out of it, and make some sort of change.

So, how do you go about making such a change?  First off – strive to change your leadership mindset. Specifically, aim to adjust your mindset from a ‘fixed’ to ‘growth’ mindset, as presented by Stanford professor Carol Dweck in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

In the book, she discusses how those with a fixed theory of intelligence believe they are born with a certain set of skills and their success is based on innate abilities. Plainly speaking, those people believe they either have a particular talent or they don’t. In essence, if someone has a fixed mindset, they are not open to self-improvement. Instead of finding ways to keep learning and evolving as a leader, they simply remain the same. Anything new is avoided because it may show weakness, and they are apprehensive to failure because it will mean a negative statement on their abilities. As a result, these individuals don’t reach their full potential. When they get stuck in a rut, good luck to them because they will be there for a long time.

Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, those with a growth mindset view success as being based on hard work and learning. These individuals believe they can always get better at what they do and have untapped potential. They are willing to stretch their comfort zone, and look at criticism and failure as opportunities to grow.

Dweck actually argues a growth mindset allows one to live a more successful life. And for those with a fixed mindset you’re in luck because one’s mindset, of course, can be altered.

One definition of mindset is a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines one’s behaviour, outlook, and mental attitude.

Recognising that we can choose whether or not to engage in certain behaviours is the first step toward changing your leadership mindset.

The key to getting out of a rut is committing to a change in mindset. 

Positive Leadership: What is Your Leadership Mindset?

Positive Leadership: What is 'True Leadership'?

Rajeev Peshawaria is the CEO of the ICLIF Leadership & Governance Centre and the author of 'Too Many Bosses, Too Few Leaders'. He has previously served as chief learning officer at Morgan Stanley and Coca-Cola and is one of the founding members of the Pine Street Group leadership development programme at Goldman Sachs. In this article, he talks about why there is a lack of strong leadership and what can be done about it.

‘There is a ton of leadership advice out there, yet, as you point out in the book, on average people say they have worked for between zero and two good leaders. Why aren’t traditional techniques working?

First, we spend a huge amount of time and money trying to teach something that cannot be taught.  True leadership is about having the lasting energy to create a better future — that’s not something you can learn in a classroom or training module.

Further, not only are we trying to teach the unteachable, we are also using methods that don’t work. Let’s walk through a few of the most widely used techniques. First, most leadership training is based on competency models. These capture what made someone successful in the past, and argue that if one repeats those same behaviours, one will be successful in the future. But today, when the world is changing faster than ever before, past behaviour is no predictor of future success.

Another popular tool to teach leadership is psychometric testing — this is meant to determine if someone has a personality suited for leadership.  But a quick look at successful leadership through the ages will reveal that good leadership comes in all personality types and styles, and that here is no correlation whatsoever between a certain personality and effective leadership.

The third popular technique is one used by every business school — the case method. But if we could become great leaders by discussing cases with strangers in a classroom, we would all be leaders by now.

Then we have copycat role plays based on the notion of “best practice.” Leadership experts tell stories of great leaders (like Jack Welch) and translate their greatness into three-step formulas. The truth is that there is no such thing as a three-step formula to good leadership.  And last I checked the dictionary, copying someone else’s behaviour was an act of followership, not leadership.

Leadership is not about competency models, two-by-two matrices or best practice role plays.  Leadership is about finding and maintaining the energy to create a better future.  To become a leader, one must feel deeply about the inadequacies of current reality AND decide to do something about it — and these things come from within.

What does a good leader actually spend his or her time on?

The first step for any leader is to discover their personal source of energy. In order to do this, she must develop laser sharp clarity about two things — her purpose (the results she wants to create) and her values (the principles that will guide her when tested). Clarity of purpose and values are the only sources of long-lasting leadership energy.

After a leader has uncovered her own energy by clarifying her purpose and values, she must spend most of her time aligning the energy of others towards shared purpose.  There are three pillars that a leader must proactively shape to make this happen, particularly in large organisations: the brains, bones and nerves of the organisation.

The brain of an organisation is its vision and strategy. The bones are the organisational architecture, which means having the right people, processes and structure.  Finally, the nerves refer to the organisation’s culture. We have found that those leaders who proactively and regularly pay attention to these three pillars drive sustainable success.

You define a company’s culture as “what your people do when no one is looking.” What makes for a positive culture, and what is a leader’s role in bringing it about?

A leader must first define what the culture stands for in terms of clearly recognisable behaviours.  Unless there is a clear definition of expected behaviour, there is no common culture.  Once defined, the leader must socialies the culture by communicating expected behaviours regularly.  While verbal and written communication is good, the most powerful communication is walking the talk — a leader’s actions speak much louder than her words.

Finally, the leader must reinforce the culture by aligning reward and recognition systems to the desired cultural behaviours. When I was at American Express many years ago, 50% of my bonus depended on my leadership behaviours. I had no doubt in my mind that they were important.

Your book talks about the importance of communicating company goals and strategy. What can leaders, especially those who oversee large numbers of employees, do to make sure their communication efforts are successful?

The key is to make the communication both simple and powerful at the same time.  I have seen many brilliant minds fail because they could not communicate brilliant ideas simply enough.  And while making things simple, one must not make them simplistic. Vision and strategy must be communicated in a way that is simple to understand but powerful enough to motivate people to action.  If leaders can ensure everyone in their organisation has a common understanding of the vision and strategy, and are inspired by it, they will unleash the energy of a large number of people towards shared purpose.  This is easier said than done, and the only way to become good at it is to consciously try.’

Positive Leadership: What is 'True Leadership'?

Positive Leadership: What is Your Purpose?

How is your energy level? Do you sometimes wish you had more get-up-and-go? Today let’s look at how high-energy people get that way.

Why is it that some people seem to have a never-ending supply of energy? They get up feeling eager to get started and they radiate good spirits and high energy all day long. Did you ever stop by the vitamin counter at the chemist, wondering what you could take to get that kind of energy?

This is what we think. Assuming you are in good health, your strength and energy will come from having meaningful and clear lifetime goals. In other words, a purpose in life. You see, high-energy people know what they want and have an unshakable belief that what they want is possible. They have a purpose that they have chosen freely, and they set goals and develop action plans to help them achieve it.

What is your purpose? When it comes to energy, it doesn’t matter so much what you want, as long as you want something. You’d be surprised how energised you can become once you know the answer to this question. When you have chosen your purpose, and you have a clear idea fixed firmly in your mind of what it is you want to be and do, you will be surprised at how your energy level will grow to help you find ways to get there.

You will become very resourceful and creative, and you will discover that having a purpose is the best vitamin in the world! Again we ask you, what is your purpose in life?

Positive Leadership: What is Your Purpose?

Positive Leadership: Culture v Strategy

Building great corporate culture is more than just metaphors; it's what motivates a winning team. Most people at corporations in the US are unhappy, says Silicon Valley Bank CEO Ken Wilcox. But the organisation can craft a pleasant and productive environment by hiring diverse and intelligent people and keeping them on-board. Knowing how to work together under an organisation's guiding principles is critical. Past experience in commercial banking is not.

Positive Leadership: Culture v Strategy

Positive Leadership: Behaviour v Self-Worth

Whether you are raising children or trying to improve your own self-esteem, the relationship between who you are and what you do is important. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or simply trying to build your own self-esteem, it is important to realise that we need to separate our sense of self-worth from our behaviour.

Imagine this scene: A three-year-old asks repeatedly, “Mummy, do you love me?” Each time, Mum answers, “Of course I do.” Then the child takes her hand and leads her to a broken flowerpot or shattered toy and looks at her questioningly.

Here is a little child, on this earth only three short years, already asking one of the most profound psychological questions any of us can ask: “Is my ability to be loved tied to what I do? Am I the same as my behaviour?” The answer for all of us, no matter how old we are, should be the same, “No, indeed!”

The importance of this point can’t be overemphasised. To increase self-worth, it is vital that we respond to behaviour while remaining friendly and respectful toward the person. This means that when a child misbehaves, we don’t call him a “bad boy.” And when a child does what we want her to, we don’t say, “What a good girl!” Instead, we praise the behaviour and hug the child.

The same goes for how we treat ourselves. Remember that you are not simply what you do any more than you are what you wear.

Positive Leadership: Behaviour v Self-Worth

Positive Leadership: Failure of Leadership among UK Bosses

Most British bosses do not exhibit the key skills of good communication, integrity and the ability to motivate, a survey of just over 1,000 UK employees by executive recruitment business Korn/Ferry Whitehead Mann has found.

Being a good communicator was the quality most commonly associated with an effective leader among the survey sample, but just 21 per cent felt their boss had this skill. A mere 13 per cent felt their boss was a good motivator, although this was seen as the second most important attribute for effective management.

Only 14 per cent of those asked felt their company head had integrity and 9 per cent felt their boss was inspirational.

There was an acceptance that the portrayal of business leaders on television and in films did not help raise their image among staff with 29 per cent saying that the reputation of bosses was diminished by their media portrayal compared with just 10 per cent who said it enhances it.

Positive Leadership: Failure of Leadership among UK Bosses

Positive Leadership: Resolving Conflict

“The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.” - Joseph Joubert

Take a moment today to think about an argument or heated discussion that you have had recently.  It might have been a disagreement with a colleague or a conflict with a friend.  Whatever the case, think, not about the subject of the conversation, but about your underlying motivations.

How much of the conflict centred around your own ego?   If you are really honest with yourself, as the conversation progressed, wasn’t the disagreement less about the topic at hand and more about your need to be right?

As a leader, you must work on your ability to take others’ views and opinions into account.  If the topic involved was important enough to invest your energy in the argument, then what you really seek is resolution not revolution.

So, the next time you find yourself embroiled in an argument, stop and check your ego.  Before you vigorously defend your own position, take a moment to consider the opposing perspective.  After all, it’s not about being right, it’s about making progress!

Positive Leadership: Resolving Conflict

Positive Leadership: Talking Leadership

The Aspen Summer Celebration 2011 honoured Brent Scowcroft, co-chair of the Aspen Strategy Group and National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush and a public forum featuring Brent Scowcroft in conversation with Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Harvard Professor, moderated by Nicholas Burns, Aspen Strategy Group Director.

Positive Leadership: Talking Leadership

Positive Leadership: Building Trust

Here are seven steps people can take to trust more prudently:

Know yourself. Some people are overly trusting; others tend to assume the worst about others. Find out which category you fall into so you know what to work on.

Start small. Trust entails risk. There's no way to avoid that, but you'll minimise the risk if you begin a relationship by taking small risks. This lets you assess the other person's trustworthiness while sending signals that you are interested in a mutually trusting relationship.

Write an escape clause. If both you and the other party know that you have a backup plan, you'll be able to engage with more commitment, knowing that the system is set up to withstand the occasional, unavoidable mistakes that permeate any complex organisation or social system.

Send strong signals. If others see that you are diligent, it will deter potential predators, who are looking for easy victims.

Recognise the other person's dilemma. To build trust, you have to put yourself in the other party's shoes and reassure him that you are trustworthy. A lot of leaders don't realise that they should be doing more to communicate the importance of trust and the fact that they are trustworthy themselves.

Look at roles as well as people. Deep trust in a role can be a substitute for personal experience with an individual. We trust engineers, for example, because of their training.

Remain vigilant and always question. Questioning people we have already decided to trust is uncomfortable but essential in cases where the stakes are high.

Positive Leadership: Building Trust

Positive Leadership: The Importance of Core Values

Jeanne Bliss, Author of  I Love You More Than My Dog visited the Zappos headquarters to talk Customer Loyalty with ceo, Tony Hsieh. In this video, Tony talks about the importance of the 10 Zappos Core Values.

Positive Leadership: The Importance of Core Values

Positive Leadership: Purpose

Do you believe that having a purpose in life is important? We do, and our experience has taught us that having a purpose contributes a great deal to the quality of our lives. Not only that, having a purpose can actually prolong your life.

Several years ago, a study done by Harvard researchers followed two groups of patients in a convalescent home. Members of one group were asked to care for a potted plant during that time. Members of the other group had no such purpose. Those who were plant caretakers lived, on average, twice as long as the others did. You see, a sense of purpose fosters hope, self-motivation and positive feelings about oneself and others.

Viktor Frankl, in his book Man's Search For Meaning found this same result during his time in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. Purpose, or goals if you will, provided the will to live.

Now it is important to remember that, if it’s going to be truly meaningful, your life’s purpose must be something that is chosen freely by you, not something that is chosen for you. And it may have nothing whatever to do with what you do for a living, although, if it does that would be ideal.

Have you thought about what your purpose is? Have you tried to put it into words? If not, take the time to do so, and then use that purpose as a compass to guide your activities. You will be surprised at how much energy and clarity you’ll feel.

And by the way, age has nothing to do with finding purpose in your life. And if you are wondering when you can start – today will do!

Positive Leadership: Purpose

Positive Leadership: Power & Influence

Rod Kramer of the Stanford School of Business speaks to students about "Power and Influence: psychological perspectives on leadership."

Positive Leadership: Power & Influence

Positive Leadership: Pyramid of Values

The Values of Positive Leadership™ operate throughout the 5 levels of leadership depicted in Jim Collins' book Good to Great :

Positive Leadership: Pyramid of Values

Positive Leadership: 'Trying Too Hard'

Have you ever had anyone tell you that you were trying too hard to succeed? What is it about trying too hard that just doesn’t seem to work?

Now, don’t misunderstand what we are saying. We are not saying that it is a mistake to put your energy into something, or that you shouldn’t try at all. But we are saying that there’s a point at which we can try too hard, and when that happens we tend to get in our own way.

Why do you suppose that is? Here’s what we think. All of us have a self-concept or self-image – our idea of what we are like. And, we don’t have to think about behaving like the person we know ourselves to be. It is something we do easily and effortlessly.

For example, if you see yourself as an outgoing person, you don’t need to work at being outgoing, correct? It just happens naturally. And, if you see yourself as shy, you don’t have to be reminded to be shy when you are in a group.

But what happens when you try to behave in a way that contradicts your self-image? “That’s not like me,” you think, even if it’s a positive change. And, you go back to behaving like the “real” you as soon as possible.

Now, it’s a fact that all meaningful and lasting change starts on the inside and works its way out. So if you want to be different than the way you are now, first work on changing your self-concept. You can use affirmations and visualisations to help you do it, and once you change the inside, you don’t have to “try” to behave differently. It will happen naturally, all by itself.

Positive Leadership: 'Trying Too Hard'

Positive Leadership: Replacing Fear With Faith

David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. He is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.  He wrote this for CNN Opinion last week:

‘Before returning to the States this weekend, I and others in my family spent enthralled hours at the Churchill War Rooms in London, along with the new museum in his honour next door. Now, there was a leader! There was a man whose example shouts out to us now in our hour of trouble.

On both sides of the Atlantic, the turmoil of this past week has sparked cries for those in political power to step up and for God's sake, lead. Fears are spreading across Europe as well as the U.S. that not only are our economies teetering but our politicians are ineffectual.

In their summit a short while ago, leaders of European democracies promised they had fixed the problems of their weakest player, Greece. Instead, their solution was so timid that fears of default have spread to Italy and Spain, the third and fourth largest economies in the euro zone. In the U.S., President Obama and Congressional leaders assured us that their budget deal would put us on a safe path. Instead, markets plunged and Standard & Poors stripped our county of its AAA credit rating for the first time ever.

It's not that you don't have the economic capacity to pay your bills, said S&P; we're just not sure you have the political capacity to pay them. One can well object to the decision, as the White House has, but the damage is done in international eyes. Gloom is thick across the waters.

Winston Churchill would have rejected this pessimism in an instant. He was offered the prime ministership in May 1940 when Hitler had marched across much of Europe and chased British troops off the mainland. Many of Britain's older political leaders were so despondent they wanted to capitulate to Hitler and had signed a peace treaty.

Churchill rallied younger ministers, turned around the cabinet, and inspired his people to fight to the end. He had few weapons but, as it was said, he mobilised the English language and sent it into battle. What we would give for leaders today who are as defiant in the face of trouble.

Churchill also understood the importance of banishing fear and steadying a country. The war rooms are the fortification where he, his ministers, military advisers and secretaries worked below ground, as German bombs rained down on London streets. In taped interviews, those who had duties there spoke of cramped quarters, short rations, long hours and claustrophobia -- but to a person, they dismissed that as nothing. Churchill drove them hard and could be overbearing, but they loved him for his courage and resolve. (Stiff upper lips, chaps!)

On several walls hang posters from those days: "Keep Calm & Carry On." That is very much the spirit that leaders of today need to instil in peoples across the Atlantic. They must replace fear with faith in the future.

In Europe and especially in the U.S., the public is disgusted with politics because their leaders squabble like kids in a sandbox. Churchill lived in a day when there were bitter fights too. But upon taking the reins, he immediately formed a coalition government.

We must not let our arguments over the past dominate the present, Churchill said, or we will lose the future. There in the war cabinet room, one sees chairs reserved for Labour as well as Conservative ministers -- coming together, they could stop Hitler. Isn't that a lesson for us today, too?

Finally, Churchill understood the importance of a leader raising a banner, setting clear goals and marching out in front -- especially in a crisis. None of his advisers would have ever said he "leads from behind;" that was inconceivable. Nor would he, as the European Central Bank has just done, have ever said that his approach to a problem was one of "constructive ambiguity." Who can take confidence in that?

Churchill had his flaws -- he was human. But his leadership turned Britain's darkest hour into its finest hour. Can our American and European leaders please schedule their next meeting in his war rooms?’

Positive Leadership: Replacing Fear With Faith

Positive Leadership: Resilience

Spending most of his career out of the spotlight, Keegan Bradley won his first major championship on Sunday as a rookie on the PGA tour. At just 25 years old, Bradley wowed viewers with a resilience and grace under pressure that led him to the sweet victory everyone is buzzing about. With such a startling win after quite the nail-biter, people can’t help but ask: who is this chap?

Make people ask the same question about you as a new business leader.

It’s easy for a brand new business leader to fly under the radar instead of really being noticed. Avoid a run-of-the-mill reputation and wow people with your leadership.

What are some ways you can exceed your follower’s expectations?

How can you achieve your first victory as a new business leader?

Positive Leadership: Resilience

Positive Leadership: Immortal Advice

In his last interview, the legendary coach John Wooden gives former NBA basketball player Juaquin Hawkins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juaquin_Hawkins) some simple advice: open your heart.

http://www.nbc.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins/video/coach-wooden-immortal-advice/1244468/

Positive Leadership: Immortal Advice