Authentic Leadership: How You Can Take the Lead

Betsy Myers can tell you what being an authentic leader means to her. As a woman who has had careers in the private, corporate, and political arenas, Ms. Myers knows that being an authentic leader requires tremendous self-awareness and the right team of people who will act as your support group. 

Ms Myers served as a senior adviser to Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign. Prior to this appointment, Myers was the Executive Director of the Centre for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. 

Ms. Myers has drawn her inspiration to succeed and her support from a broad collection of people: her colleagues, public and political leaders, and close family and friends. She knows that leading an authentic life plays a critical role in the making of an authentic leader.

Authentic Leadership: How You Can Take the Lead

Positive Leadership: Truth

We’ve all heard the saying “the truth hurts.” But while lying to protect someone else’s feelings may seem easier, it can be very damaging in the long run. Let’s talk about truth in relationships.

Lying to someone you love can be devastating and can undermine their trust in you for a long, long time. How do you feel about lying? Would you prefer that those around you keep unpleasant truths from you? Or, would you prefer to know the truth, no matter what?

How would you like the truth told to you? Brutally, with no regard for your feelings? Or tactfully, with a gesture of affection and a few softening words, such as, “Remember, we said we’d be honest with each other, so here goes,” or “I’m no expert, but here’s what I think.”

The truth doesn’t have to hurt if it’s offered with a loving spirit. What hurts is feeling that we have to wear a mask over our true thoughts and emotions. If we want our relationships to last and grow, honesty and truth must be our inevitable goals.

Sure, we will fall from the truth from time to time. It’s only human. But we must put aside our ideas that deception of those close to us is something we do for their own, or our own, good. Hiding the truth leads to living a life of lies. Who needs it? 

It is lies, not the truth, that hurt and the truth that heals. 

Positive Leadership: Truth

Positive Leadership: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World

A former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, Stuart Diamond (Law/Univ. of Pennsylvania) debuts with a superb how-to based book - Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World - on his immensely popular Wharton course on negotiation. The author prepares for any negotiation by asking himself, "What are my goals? Who are 'they'? What will it take to persuade them?" Depending on the answers, he then draws selectively on bargaining tools and strategies described in this anecdote-rich book.

Others in his field assume that most people in a negotiation are rational. Not so, says Diamond. People in the real world—whether friends, store clerks or CEOs—tend to be emotional and irrational in their interactions. Since the 'people' involved make up 90 percent of a negotiation (substance accounts for only 10 percent), you must negotiate based on your understanding of "the pictures in the head of the other party"—a phrase Diamond frequently uses to underscore that psychology trumps the issues at the bargaining table.


Successful negotiators must prepare, learn what makes others tick (through research and small talk), take small steps, communicate clearly, turn problems into opportunities, avoid deceit and embrace differences. Above all, writes the author, they must stay focused on specific goals and connect with the other party. Many of Diamond's suggestions are counterintuitive...This immensely useful book will have wide appeal and leave many readers anxious to put their new skills to work.

Positive Leadership: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World

Positive Leadership: Build Collaboration

All successful influencers cultivate collaboration to form productive relationships. Effective influence results from two-way dialogue, not manipulation. 

Here are six questions to ask yourself when forming productive partnerships: 

• What do I want to achieve from this relationship?
• What does my potential colleague want to achieve?
• How can I weave these sets of wants together so we are both satisfied?
• What can I give up without undermining my overall goal?
• What can my counterpart bring to the table that might not be immediately obvious?
• What new solutions serve our common goal?

"The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other." - Thomas Stallkamp 

Positive Leadership: Build Collaboration

Positive Leadership: 7 Traits of a Courageous Leader

Here are 7 traits of a courageous leader:

- Does not bail on the team when things get difficult…

- Not afraid to make big requests of others…but willing to pull equal weight to accomplish them…

- Willing to take the first move into unchartered territory…pursuing the unproven by willingly taking risks…

- Moves forward with confidence…even when the outcome is unclear…

- Makes hard decisions regarding people…trusting responsibilities to others early and acknowledging when a team member is no longer a good fit for the team…

- Protects the vision in the midst of criticism, hard economic times, and setbacks…

- Implements needed changes even when they are uncomfortable or not immediately popular.

Positive Leadership: 7 Traits of a Courageous Leader

Positive Leadership: Which Countries Are Best for Women in Business?

JESS3 x Economist: Women's Economic Opportunity from JESS3 on Vimeo.

Positive Leadership: Which Countries Are Best for Women in Business?

Positive Leadership: Women & Relationships

According to Tom Peters: "Women look at relationships with more depth and complexity than men do." 

It's essential to understand this if you're working with women in leadership positions or if you're developing products for women.

Positive Leadership: Women & Relationships

Positive Leadership: What's Leadership Got To Do With It?

In December 2007, the Health Foundation commissioned an in-depth evaluation of its leadership programmes, including an exploration of the links between leadership and quality improvement (QI). 

The results have recently been published (http://www.health.org.uk/publications/what-s-leadership-got-to-do-with-it/ ).

The three core enquiry questions for the study were:

· What are the links between QI and leadership behaviour?

· Do different types of QI require different leadership behaviours?

· What are the lessons for leadership development generally and for the Health Foundation specifically?

The results of the study provide the Health Foundation with evidence to develop its leadership development work. The report contains insights into how leadership development can support Quality Improvement in the NHS.

Among the most interesting findings of the research is that it became increasingly clear throughout the study that the effectiveness of leadership development activities is more validly measured in real-time, prospectively, rather than merely in retrospect.

The study also highlighted that participants in existing Health Foundation leadership programmes believe that the top 10 leadership behaviours essential to all are:

1.            Identifies and nurtures talent to build capacity and capability.

2.            Capitalises on the range of skills and talents present in the organisation.

3.            Demonstrates honesty in interactions by matching deeds to words.

4.            Explains the need for change and inspires commitment to the process.

5.            Demonstrates commitment to innovation and to continuous improvement.

6.            Unites staff around an inspiring vision and aligns staff capacities with planned activities.

7.            Takes a ‘helicopter view’ of the system to oversee both short and longer-term issues.

8.            Helps others create their own solutions to facilitate ownership and commitment.

9.            Offers support, rewards achievements and celebrates success.

10.          Gives clear constructive feedback, timely praise and focused recognition.

Positive Leadership: What's Leadership Got To Do With It?

Positive Leadership: Our Priorities Reveal our Values

It has been said that values are the standards by which we set our priorities.  This means we can understand the values of a person or an organisation by examining their priorities.

Listening to a presentation given by top executives of a large firm recently, we heard them list the company’s priorities:

1.     Top line growth

2.     Enhance shareholder value

3.     Focus on global expansion

4.     Enhance customer satisfaction

5.     Our people.

From this listing, it seems they don’t really value their people. Or at least they don’t put their people before growth. Ironically, the best organisations we have seen, the ones that are actually more profitable for the long-term, all put people before growth on their list of priorities.

As Lou Gerstner, the man who reinvented IBM, said: "Culture is not an aspect of the game. Culture is the game."

So what of other priorities? 

If a company says shareholder value is their main priority how do they value customers? If an executive has their Blackberry at his child’s football match because work it still a priority, then how much does he value the fleeting time he has to watch his children grow up? If the urgent always takes priority over the important, then how much do we value the important over the urgent? If indeed we value things that we are not prioritising or prioritising things we do not value as much, then perhaps it is time to realign our priorities. If we value those kinds of things...

Positive Leadership: Our Priorities Reveal our Values

Positive Leadership: Barriers to Becoming a Leader

Anne Morriss, managing director of the Concire Leadership Institute, identifies the small but common barriers that stop people from becoming leaders.

Positive Leadership: Barriers to Becoming a Leader

Positive Leadership: Views from the Boardroom on Employee Engagement

A 2010 survey, “Re-engaging with engagement” by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found C-Suite executives consistently out of touch with what others in the firm experienced — biased in an overly positive direction:

‘The C-suite displays a consistently “rose-tinted” view of engagement that is not shared lower down the ranks. One important revelation from our survey is the huge disparity between the views of many in the C-suite and those of less senior directors, including just a single rung below board level. For example, 47% of C-suite executives believe that they themselves have determined levels of employee engagement, a view shared by only 16% of senior directors outside the C-suite. More than one in five in the C-suite believe that employees are “much more engaged” than those in rival firms, compared with only 7% of respondents outside the C-suite.’

For more, see: http://businessresearch.eiu.com/re-engaging-engagement.html

Positive Leadership: Views from the Boardroom on Employee Engagement

Positive Leadership: Helping Others Shine

Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT says, “Success has a much greater influence on the brain than failure.” 

Ned Hallowell comments in Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People: "While of course mistakes need to be acknowledged and, one hopes, learned from, it may be more likely, from a purely neurological point of view, that a person will learn more from a success than a failure.” The brain’s plasticity—its ability to grow and change throughout life—means that none of us are stuck with who we are. With the proper attention we can learn to perform better. “All people want to work hard and will work hard, given the right job and the right conditions, because it feels supremely good to excel.”

Hallowell points out that acknowledgment or recognition serves two important functions. Of course there is the familiar purpose of giving the recipient encouragement, motivation and greater confidence, but recognition also promotes moral behaviour through connection. Hallowell explains: “When a person feels recognised and connected to the larger group, she knows viscerally, not just intellectually, that she has made a contribution others value. Not only does this motivate her to do more and try harder, but it instills a desire to look out for the larger group…. It leads a person to do the right thing even when no one is looking.”

Showing appreciation and giving recognition is part of the Cycle of Excellence process he calls 'shine'. In our busy culture it is easy to overlook opportunities to acknowledge others. Noticing the positive is a daily challenge.

In Shine, Hallowell offers these ten tips for promoting shine with the people you influence:

• Recognise effort, not just results. Of course, you want the results, but if you recognise ongoing effort, results will more likely ensue. Cheerleading works.
• Notice details. Generic acknowledgment pales next to specific recognition.
• Try, as much as possible, to provide recognition in person. E-mail packs much less of a punch than human moments.
• In meetings—and everywhere—try to make others look good, not bad. Scoring points off the backs of others usually backfires.
• As a manager, you should know that the self-esteem of each employee is perhaps your most important asset. Recognition is a powerful tool to preserve self-esteem.
• Acknowledge people’s existence! Try always to say hello, give a nod of the head, a high five, a smile in passing. It’s withering to pass someone and feel as if that person didn’t even see you.
• Tap into the power of positive feedback. Remember that positive feedback often consolidates gains better than learning from mistakes.
• Monitor progress. Performance improves when a person’s progress toward a goal is monitored regularly.
• Remember, as a manager, the more you recognise others, the more you establish the habit of recognition of hard work and progress as part of the organizational culture.
• Bring in the marginalised people. In most organisations, about 15 percent of people feel unrecognised, misunderstood, devalued, and generally disconnected. Not only is recognition good for that 15 percent to help them feel valued, it is good for the other 85 percent as well, as it boots the positive energy across the organisation.

Hallowell reminds us that “recognition is so powerful because it answers a fundamental human need, the need to feel valued for what we do” and as leaders we are in a unique position to offer or withhold that recognition. 

Positive Leadership: Helping Others Shine

Positive Leadership: Are You Integrious?

Integrity does not have an officially recognised word to describe someone possessing this virtue.  

The Integrious Project is working to change that by re-introducing the word integrious into the English lexicon as the adjective of integrity. It’s time to start taking integrity personally. 

IN-TEG-RI-OUS: adj.: Having or characterised by integrity - as defined by The Integrious Project - http://www.integriousproject.com/

IN-TEG-RI-TY: noun: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values - as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Positive Leadership: Are You Integrious?

Positive Leadership: Signs of Failing Leadership

Leadership is a process of earning trust and gaining influence while making positive change. This takes time and along the journey, you cannot become too busy and fail to monitor these vital signs for your leadership effectiveness. What fuels the success of a great leader can also work in reverse if you are running on empty.

Here are ten vital signs of prospective failure which every leader should monitor:

1.            Authenticity. When the leader fails to be honest, they are hurting their credibility. When others do not believe you, then your influence is weak. Be real, be honest and see your influence rise.

2.            Vision. At the moment the path is unclear, the leader needs to step away, retreat, and regain a clear focus for the journey ahead. You cannot lead without clear vision.

3.            Passion. If you do not believe in the cause or purpose then why should anyone follow you? Your example of commitment will drive forward the vision.

4.            Stewardship. The job of a leader is to respect the resources entrusted to them and be a good caretaker. If you are wasteful and not maximising resources (time, people and money) you will soon be bankrupt in your leadership.

5.            Innovation. Leaders must be thinkers that ask: how can we be better? Running behind in making a good thing better leaves you playing catch-up and that could be too late.

6.            Communication. Are you keeping people in the dark? If someone is coming to you asking what’s going on, then you have a communication problem. Keep people informed so they can appropriately support the vision.

7.            Personal Development. How are you leading you? How’s the balance in your life? If the personal growth and personal leadership development is lacking then know your endurance tank is running low. You cannot give what you do not have.

8.            Role Models. If you think you have figured it all out, that should be your major warning sign of trouble ahead. Have people around you that you are accountable to and learn from their example.

9.            Discipline to focus. The greatest battle is to focus on what’s most important as a leader. If you fail to set the priorities for your organisation then you are driving in reverse.

10.          Appreciation. Stop caring and watch people start leaving. You know you are not appreciating others when you stop listening! If you fail to appreciate those on your team and those that support your cause, then you will quickly see your influence decrease.

Positive Leadership: Signs of Failing Leadership

Positive Leadership: Showing Leadership After a Loss

Coach Mike Tomlin had to have been crushed by falling short in Super Bowl XLV, but he showed his character and leadership abilities with one small act after the game.

He was the first to arrive at the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room. But, rather than going in, he stopped at the door and waited for each of his players to get there. He shook each of his player's hands looking them in the eye each time. This couldn't have been easy for him. With multiple on-lookers and long gaps between arriving groups of players. He was there a good eight minutes (or so) to make sure he didn't miss anyone.

It is no wonder that "unified" is the best way to describe the Steelers moribund locker room after the devastating loss to the Green Bay Packers. At least three different Steelers expressed their "love" for their teammates explaining they'd do anything for them. There was no 'finger-pointing' about the loss. This kind of well-built team only comes when you have a true leader at the helm.

Tomlin's small gesture speaks volumes as to his ability to build a cohesive and effective team.

Positive Leadership: Showing Leadership After a Loss

Positive Leadership: Green Bay Packers' Unique Team Leadership

Before the recent NFC Championship game, President Barack Obama said he would only attend the Super Bowl if his hometown Chicago Bears earned a trip. The Green Bay Packers ended all hope of that after defeating the Bears.

After that game, Packers cornerback Charles Woodson took the comment personally, saying he planned on seeing President Obama anyway.

First, Woodson took a page out of Obama’s “One America” campaign, telling the Packers to remain unified—”Let’s be one mind, let’s be one heartbeat, one goal, one more game. One.”

Then the cornerback called out the president to motivate his team.

After his teammates listened quietly to the beginning of his speech, Woodson changed the tone and pumped up the volume: “The president don’t wanna come watch us go to the Super Bowl? Guess what?” We’ll go see him!”

After winning the Super Bowl, the team is usually invited to the White House to meet the president. The Packers made it clear they intended receiving that invitation. Last Sunday they did!  Watch below.

(More generally, as to Charles Woodson’s leadership of the Packers, see: http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/post_leadership/2011/02/super-bowl-green-bay-packers-leadership.html?hpid=smartliving )

Positive Leadership: Green Bay Packers' Unique Team Leadership

Positive Leadership: Winning

‘Players have to have passion and emotion to succeed and achieve.  Winning and a belief in winning is emotional. It gets the adrenaline moving which sends you on a high when you win and makes you cry when you lose – because it matters. There must be passion to succeed; to achieve and to keep achieving; to raise horizons and expectations. Excellence is continuous; you’ve never done enough; you can never be satisfied, but as the team grows it achieves a special identity – no longer one person’s image – but a reflection of everyone’s interests, their abilities and their beliefs.' 

Sir Ian McGeechan, British & Irish Lions Rugby Coach 1989, 1993, 1997, 2009

Positive Leadership: Winning

Positive Leadership: MBA Oath Provides an Ethical Foundation for Business

This article from today's Financial Times was written by the Archbishop of the Church in Wales - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5c7b7592-307c-11e0-9de3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DIjtKlS9) . It bears scrutiny in today's world, where values are often mere words rather than actions.

The conclusion is a pertinent summary of the opportunity which adopting the Values of Positive Leadership™ affords businesses today:

'If adopted, an ethical perspective could become as second nature to executives as an economic outlook. That would make a radical difference to the way in which we conduct business because, in the end, conventional regulations cannot cure moral blindness or human greed.'

Positive Leadership: MBA Oath Provides an Ethical Foundation for Business

Positive Leadership: Coach K on Team Building

Says Duke University Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski (‘Coach K’): 

"In all forms of leadership, whether you are a coach, a CEO, or a parent, there are four words that, when said, can bring out the best in your team, your employees, and your family...I BELIEVE IN YOU. These four words can mean the difference between a fear of failure and the courage to try."

The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team is  Coach K's first-hand account of how he dealt with such stars as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and all the rest to buy into his "total team" play as members of the US Olympic basketball team. Half a book on basketball, half a book on management techniques, THE GOLD STANDARD captures Coach K's personal style and approach to getting different (and sometimes difficult) people to work hard and succeed in reaching a common goal.

(http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3887046)

Positive Leadership: Coach K on Team Building

Positive Leadership: Training Talent

NVIDIA Co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang believes it is essential to train talent to effectively control a different product line, a new geography, or even to take his place. Succession planning of a closed set of hand-picked individuals is a toxic process, says Huang. It's best to treat all employees as a next generation of leaders to build a better environment and long term stability.

Positive Leadership: Training Talent

Positive Leadership: GROW through Coaching

The acronym G-R-O-W to remind us of an effective strategy for one-on-one coaching.

'All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.' Bill McCartney

Goal – In one-on-one coaching ask the person you’re coaching, “What do you want?” and "How will you know when you’re there?" Try to limit the number of goals to no more than two per one-on-one session.

Reality – Examine the current reality.  It is the role of the coach to cut through the “fog” and help the person being coached to better define what is really going on.  Ask questions like:  “What are the numbers?  What are the facts?  What are you feeling?”

Options – Explore the options for achieving the goals.  Ask questions like:  "What have you tried in the past?  What worked?  What didn’t work?" Look at multiple options, and brainstorm together to find the best option.

Will - When you have chosen a path or an option, ask "When will you accomplish this goal?" Establish a deadline.  This may be the most difficult question to ask, but if you fail to ask “Specifically, when will you do this?” you have not done all you can to coach this person towards success. 

Positive Leadership: GROW through Coaching

Positive Leadership: Olympian Thinking

What—and how—you think determines your ability to reach your personal potential and the untapped potential of your organisation. 

Marilyn King is a two-time Olympian in the grueling five-event Pentathlon (Munich, 1972 & Montreal, 1976). An automobile accident in 1979 rendered her unable to train physically for her third Olympic Team. Using only mental training techniques she placed second at the US Olympic trials for the 1980 Moscow Games. 

For more, see: http://www.waybeyondsports.com/marilyn_king.html

Positive Leadership: Olympian Thinking

Positive Leadership: Lessons from an Olympic Athlete

Marilyn King was an American Pentathlete who competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Whilst she was preparing for the Moscow Olympics of 1980 she injured her back which put her in bed for four months. Marilyn was absolutely focused on being ready and prepared for the Olympics, despite the adversity of the back injury. So, she took the situation in which she found herself and instead of accepting it with a 'poor me' victim mentality, turned this around and looked for the opportunity in the adversity.

The Power of Visualization

Marilyn spent her bedridden time watching films of World Champion pentathletes, visualizing and feeling herself going through her event, using the technique we call mental rehearsal to run through her performance, over and over again. Although in 1970's they didn't have access to the type of advanced brain scanning technology that is available today, if we could have seen what was happening inside Marilyn’s head, we would have seen her literally exercising the parts of the brain responsible for her performance. She was keeping the neural wiring fresh and connected around her performance, using the images and feelings of excellence.

Although her preparation had been hampered by injury, (she had no opportunity to have a proper physical run through, all she had managed to do, was to walk the course, visualizing herself performing optimally) she placed second at the Olympic trial with no physical preparation.

Through visualizing, Marilyn used the pictures and feelings of performance to literally wire her performance into her brain. Installed in her subconscious mind it ran on automatic pilot, without her having to consciously think about it. (Recent research has shown that mental rehearsal and visualization actually cause physical changes in the brain.) 

From this experience, Marilyn became convinced as to the power of using the mind to enhance and control performance. She began to research visualization and mental rehearsal and found that it impacts every cell in the body. In her research she would bring together other Olympians to discuss what they thought were common to them, as Olympic achievers.

Marilyn herself didn't believe that she was exceptionally talented physically - above average was her description - so what was the difference?

The Olympic athletes identified four main areas: Mental, Physical, Emotional or (Spirit) and Other. (For many sports the 'Other' is strategy and tactics.)

The 'Mental' section was by far the biggest for the athletes. Her research showed that mental rehearsal and visualization did not in themselves bring about exceptional achievement. To achieve this result, she believes they need to be aligned with Vision, Passion and Action.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize. Marilyn's research with other Olympians identified this, you need a Crystal Clear Goal .... Kept uppermost in your mind. Trust.... that the brain will go to work and the steps to achieve your goal will appear. Passion..... Tap into your passion for your sport; keep coming back to your passion to recharge your focus, regardless of adversity. Know what you want and stay determined to get it. Repetition is the Mother of Learning. 

Physical was the smallest list for the athletes. What did stand out though was the physical act of doing something every day to actualise their goal.

Support was essential... whether it was from parents or from significant others. To surround yourself with people who would support and believe in you whilst you focused on your goal.

Passion is the energy source that drives the goal. Our passion is connected to our values. We all have the capacity to decide what is important to us and focus on it.

Aligning our Mind, Body and Spirit allows us to perform optimally on a regular basis.

Positive Leadership: Lessons from an Olympic Athlete

Positive Leadership: Defining Yourself as a Leader in Crisis Management

Taco Bell has been impressive in reacting to the recent claims against the quality of its product.  Watch  this interview with Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed on CNBC before watching Jack Welch’s response below.

Positive Leadership: Defining Yourself as a Leader in Crisis Management