Positive Leadership: Attributes of a Great Team Member

Here are 5 characteristics of an excellent team member:

1. Needs very little direction – Catches on quickly, learning the leader’s expectations, having confidence in his or her ability, and knowing the vision of the organisation well enough to make routine decisions with little or no input from the leader.

2. Asks specific questions when unclear of an assignment - He or she doesn’t ask general questions, that require full explanations, but rather attempts to think through the issue on his or her own enough to ask specific questions. This saves everyone time and speeds progress.

3. Needs very little supervision – An excellent team member follows through on what he or she committed to do with limited oversight.

4. Recognises results as part of the reward – While fair compensation is necessary for the health of any team and most leaders can improve on giving praise, the excellent team player does the work to see the results of a project done well, not exclusively for recognition.

5. Considers the interests of the entire team - Excellent team members look out for good of the whole team…the entire organisation. He or she wants what is best for everyone, even if that means they have to personally sacrifice for the win of the team.

Positive Leadership: Attributes of a Great Team Member

Positive Leadership: Initiative

If you’re stuck at the starting line, you don’t need more time or permission. You don’t need to wait for a boss’s okay or to be told to push the button; you just need to poke.

Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking – in your job or in your life. Godin knows that one of our scarcest resources is the spark of initiative in most organisations (and most careers) – the person with the guts to say, “I want to start stuff.”

Poke the Box just may be the kick in the pants you need to shake up your life.

Exclusive interview with Seth Godin from GiANT Impact on Vimeo.

Positive Leadership: Initiative

Positive Leadership: Building Consensus and a Way Forward

One of the greatest challenges today is how to engage multiple stakeholders and/or large numbers of stakeholders in collectively crafting a way forward. How do you allow each person to be heard and yet craft a strategy to move forward in a reasonably timely fashion?

Traditional engagement methods fall short, but there is a process, which Positive Leadership often uses, that allows every voice to be heard and that enables groups of tens, hundreds or even thousands of people to swiftly tap their collective wisdom and collective find a way forward. This process is the World Café (http://www.theworldcafe.com/).

L180-100406-What is the World Cafe? from Ravi Tangri on Vimeo.

Positive Leadership: Building Consensus and a Way Forward

An Introduction to Positive Leadership Limited

An Introduction to Positive Leadership Limited

Positive Leadership: Values-based Decision Making

Just as organisations need to identify their purpose and values in order to meet their marketplace needs and be competitive and successful, individuals also need to understand and identify their values. 

This clarification of values by the individual allows them to base their decisions on those values. It allows a framework from which to reference and a select options. Wisdom literature states that a house divided cannot stand. An individual who consistently makes decisions on shifty or inconsistent values often finds themselves in frustrating situations. 

Persons who have clearly identified their values are able to base their decisions with laser like focus on desired outcomes.

Values-based decision-making is a very holistic approach to life and leadership. We must have one level of ethics or values that we use for all of our decisions. We cannot say that we have one set of values for the workplace, another set of values for our home, and another set of values for our place of worship. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, our values can be judged by the lowest common denominator. This discussion of one’s personal values may appear to have little to do with one’s workplace environment. However, it has everything to do with one’s happiness in the workplace, for this is the point of values congruence.

A person cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way they see themselves. Eventually your values will find you. Time and truth go hand-in-hand.

When was the last time you sat down, clearly identified your values, and possibly incorporated them into your purpose statement? It has been said that if you aim at nothing you would hit it every time. What targeted values do you have in your sights?

Positive Leadership: Values-based Decision Making

Positive Leadership: What it Takes to be an Extraordinary Leader

After writing more than 50 books on topics ranging from Buddha to getting a good night's rest, Deepak Chopra recently turned his attention to leadership and entrepreneurs in The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness. While there's no shortage of spirituality in this book, readers -- Chopra hopes -- will get a healthy tutorial on how to practically start and build organisations and companies that thrive and possibly even inspire.

Here are his answers two important questions:

What are the keys to successful leadership?

'Any leader has one main goal: How to envision that future and how to create that future. So in order to be really effective, the leader needs to harness the intelligence, creativity, emotional engagement and also the emotional connection with the people that are part of his or her team in order to manifest that vision.'

Can leadership be learned?

'Leaders are not born that way. Circumstance, context, history, culture and precise timing bring out the leader. It's said the civil rights movement was born when Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat. When asked why she did that, she said she was tired. It is really a mysterious phenomenon, but I believe that in any moment of crisis, there's a moment for leaders to emerge, and they usually do. Among the many, there are always one or two people who realise the opportunity and their potential. We all have the potential. We all may not have the desire. If you don't have the desire, then you're not a born leader. Inherent in the desire is the potential for leadership.'

Positive Leadership: What it Takes to be an Extraordinary Leader

Positive Leadership: Leadership Lessons from Walmart

Walmart CEO Mike Duke leads the world's biggest retailer, which has 2.1 million employees and serves 200 million customers each week. Here are excerpts from a recent interview Duke did with The Associated Press:

‘Q. What ideals from Sam Walton do you embrace?

A. Leadership is about showing respect to every individual, about humility over arrogance, about listening and getting feedback from a broad array of constituents. It's about a passion for customers and knowing customers first-hand, not theoretical, not through some data, but by having personal, passionate communication with customers.

And leadership is about striving for excellence. It's about setting aggressive goals and not being afraid to go after very aggressive goals and targets. I think it's even better for a leader to set an aggressive goal and come up a little short than it would be to set a soft goal and to exceed it.

Q. What should a leader value most?

A. Integrity and trust. If a leader doesn't have the trust of associates, of customers, of shareholders, then all the other things, the ability to speak eloquently and to sing and dance and entertain, (don't) mean a thing if a leader is not trusted.’

Positive Leadership: Leadership Lessons from Walmart

Positive Leadership: What The Top Performers Do Right

A survey conducted by Six Disciplines reveals what top-performing organisations do differently, and provides insights for business leaders who want to know where they should focus their efforts going forward.

The original survey, conducted several years ago with over 300 C-level executives from small and mid-sized US businesses, has now been re-published by Six Disciplines, in an effort to share the insightful results, and to validate the original research findings.

Based on the research, the top performers are very good at the following set of 10 best-practices. The numbers behind each best-practice are the average scores for the top quartile of top-performing businesses, on a scale of 1-to-5, with 5 being the highest score.

1. Expect/Demand Quality 4.78
2. Technology Is Seen As An Investment Not Expense 4.62
3. Leaders Are Involved In Strategic Change 4.57
4. A Teamwork Approach To Challenges 4.51
5. Employees Are Engaged and Fulfilled 4.44
6. People Help One Another Succeed 4.40
7. Leaders Set Clear Vision 4.39
8. Technology Is A Competitive Advantage 4.32
9. Technology and Training Are Up-To-Date 4.32
10. Seek/Listen To Advice 4.29 

Click here to read the entire press release about this research study. 

Positive Leadership: What The Top Performers Do Right

Positive Leadership: Why Leaders Must Think Systemically

Vision, purpose and hard work (three of the Values of Positive Leadership™), although excellent in and off themselves, are not complete without a holistic view of an organisation’s leadership system.

Within such a system, a leader must be a continual learner, placing all of the Values of Positive Leadership™ into his arsenal of leadership tools. He must learn and understand the implications of each Value individually, but through his systemic mindset, he realises that the true magnifying power occurs only when the Values are viewed as a total system.

Leaders learn; leaders do; leaders teach - an unbeatable cycle when adopted by all leaders within an organisation. Leaders communicate the leadership strategy and how it aligns and interacts with the business strategy to deliver results, while identifying the systemic causes hindering the achievement of desired results.

Therefore, if a potential leader cannot think in a systemic fashion, he literally is unqualified for top leadership positions in today’s interconnected world.

For more on how Positive Leadership can help leaders throughout your organisation think systemically, please contact: graham.watson@positiveleadership.co.uk

Positive Leadership: Why Leaders Must Think Systemically

Positive Leadership: England Rugby and Arsenal FC

Some excellent comments here from England Rugby Coach, Martin Johnston, interviewed by Oliver Brown of The Daily Telegraph:

‘It would be a brave man who bracketed Martin Johnson and Arsène Wenger, but the iron-fisted totem of England rugby appears firmly in the professor’s debt. Johnson is talking, as he is so often prone to do, about “the group” at his disposal in this auspicious World Cup year. But when it comes to selecting his players for such a group, he reaches for some intriguing inspiration.

“I heard Wenger speaking last autumn and he was talking about the type of characters he wanted to play at Arsenal,” says Johnson…….“He was saying the guys who were winners were never happy with their performance. They always want to improve, to get better. You should never get to the stage of patting yourselves on the back.”…………

In his blinkered focus, Johnson invites accusations of acting as a disciplinarian. Does he, I wonder, allow his players to breathe as part of their ferocious training regime. “Breathing’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he grins, before recalling an innovation by his celebrated predecessor, Sir Clive Woodward, known as the 'Lombardi rule’.

Loosely, this refers to the principle devised by legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who would call team meetings for 9am and then start them at 8.30. Johnson plainly endorses the philosophy. “Clive was a real stickler for punctuality. But it’s not simply about rules, it’s about embracing the right type of behaviour. If you can’t trust guys to be on time for a meeting, how can you trust them to do something that’s difficult? It’s about behaviour." ......'

For more, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/8367427/Martin-Johnson-Not-every-England-player-is-like-me.-Thats-what-I-need-to-understand.html

Positive Leadership: England Rugby and Arsenal FC

Positive Leadership: Leadership & Capability

Former HP ceo, Carly Fiorina explains that leadership is about three things: capability, collaboration and character. 

She stresses the importance of capability, which is about asking questions and listening to answers. It is also about celebrating new ideas and taking initiative to try new things. She insists that a continuous learning process is important to strengthen an entrepreneur's capability

Positive Leadership: Leadership & Capability

Positive Leadership: Neuroscience and Leadership

Emerging findings in neuroscience research suggest why inspiring and supportive relationships are important — they help activate openness to new ideas and a more social orientation to others. 

If you believe that leadership involves inspiring others and motivating them to be their best and develop, learn, adapt and innovate, then activating the parts of their brain that will help requires that we: (1) be social; and (2) engage the person in positive, hopeful contemplation of a desired future. The latter might also be stimulated when discussing core values and the purpose of the organisation or project.

All too often, people in leadership positions begin conversations about the financials or metrics and dashboard measures of the desired performance. While important, this sequence confuses people and may result in them closing down cognitively, emotionally and perceptually.

If you want them to open their minds, you need to discuss the purpose of the activity (not merely the goals) and the vision of the organisation or clients if a desired future were to occur. THEN, you can lead a discussion about the financials, metrics and measures. But you have made it clear that the measures follow the purpose, they have not become the purpose.

Insights such as these may move the primacy of a leader’s actions away from the often proselytised “results-orientation” toward a relationship orientation.

Learn about this and other important findings in neuroscience that have the potential to tell us what we need to know to be good, even great leaders - http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/neuroscience-and-leadership-the-promise-of-insights

Positive Leadership: Neuroscience and Leadership

Positive Leadership: Creating the High Trust Organisation

This is the conclusion of a truly inspirational essay by the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey. 

The essay is to be commended - http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/creating-high-trust-organization

‘We have the opportunity to create more conscious and higher trust organisations in the 21st century. To do so will require three major changes.

First the organisation must become conscious of what its higher purposes are. Without consciousness of higher purposes, organisations will not reach their fullest potential because the creative energy within the organisation will not be fully expressed.

Secondly, we’ll need our leaders to evolve to higher levels of consciousness and trust themselves. We will not be able to create high trust organisations without more conscious and high trust leaders. Less conscious leaders will tend to hold their organisations back.

Thirdly, we will need to evolve the cultures of our organisation in ways that create processes, strategies, and structures that encourage higher levels of trust. These will necessarily include the important ideals of teams, empowerment, transparency, authentic communication, fairness, love and care.’

Positive Leadership: Creating the High Trust Organisation

Positive Leadership: Gender Bias in Leader Selection

According to the glass cliff phenomenon, companies in trouble often turn to female leaders in an attempt to break the status quo of male mismanagement, because feminine attributes are associated more with cooperation and other interpersonal skills needed to rescue a firm from crisis.

For more, see: http://www.strategy-business.com/article/re00125?gko=01ae0

Positive Leadership: Gender Bias in Leader Selection

Positive Leadership: How Young CEO's See The World

The 50 and under set of chief executives are looking for highly skilled workers around the planet to tackle complex tasks:

Positive Leadership: How Young CEO's See The World

Positive Leadership: Managing Yourself: Zoom In, Zoom Out

Zoom buttons on digital devices let us examine images from many viewpoints. They also provide an apt metaphor for modes of strategic thinking. Some people prefer to see things up close, others from afar. Both perspectives have virtues. But they should not be fixed positions, says Harvard Business School’s Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. To get a complete picture, leaders need to zoom in and zoom out.

A close-in perspective is often found in relationship-intensive settings. It brings details into sharp focus and makes opportunities look large and compelling. But it can have significant downsides. Leaders who prefer to zoom in tend to create policies and systems that depend too much on politics and favours. They can focus too closely on personal status and on turf protection. And they often miss the big picture. When leaders zoom out, they can see events in context and as examples of general trends. They are able to make decisions based on principles. Yet a far-out perspective also has traps. Leaders can be so high above the fray that they don’t recognise emerging threats. Having zoomed out to examine all possible routes, they may fail to notice when the moment is right for action on one path. They may also seem too remote and aloof to their staffs.

The best leaders can zoom in to examine problems and then zoom out to look for patterns and causes. They don’t divide the world into extremes—idiosyncratic or structural, situational or strategic, emotional or contextual. The point is not to choose one over the other but to learn to move across a continuum of perspectives. 

For more, see: http://ht.ly/46yCH

Positive Leadership: Managing Yourself: Zoom In, Zoom Out

Positive Leadership: The New Business Elite

Here are the top companies in the Fortune Magazine listing of the World's Most Admired Companies 2011, ranked by attribute, as reflected in the last survey before the recession (2007) and in this year’s survey.

(The top ranked British company is British American Tobacco, albeit it does not feature in the World's Top 50.):

Attribute	Pre-recession champ	New champ
Ability to attract, develop, and keep talented people	General Electric	Goldman Sachs
Effectiveness in conducting its business globally	Nestlé	McDonald’s
Innovativeness	Apple	Apple
Quality of management	Procter & Gamble	McDonald’s
Quality of products and services	Anheuser-Busch	Amazon.com
Responsibility to the community and environment	UPS	Statoil
Soundness of financial position	Exxon Mobil	Google
Value as a long-term investment	Berkshire Hathaway	Google
Wise use of corporate assets	Exxon Mobil	McDonald’s

For more, see http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/02/news/companies/most_admired_intro.fortune

Positive Leadership: The New Business Elite

Positive Leadership: The Benefits of Being Positive

Over the years there has been much research on the positive effects of being positive and the negative effects of being negative. The research is clear. It really does pay to be positive and the benefits include enhanced health and longevity, happiness, career advancement, athletic performance, team building and financial success. Being positive is not just a nice way to live. It’s the way to live. In this spirit here are 11 benefits of being positive.

1. Positive People Live Longer - In a study of nuns, those that regularly expressed positive emotions lived on average 10 years longer. (The Nun Study)

2. Positive work environments outperform negative work environments. (Daniel Goleman)

3. Positive, optimistic sales people sell more than pessimistic sales people. (Martin Seligman)

4. Positive leaders are able to make better decisions under pressure. (Heartmath.org)

5. Marriages are much more likely to succeed when the couple experiences a 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative interactions whereas when the ratio approaches 1 to 1, marriages are more likely to end in divorce. (John Gottman)

6. Positive people who regularly express positive emotions are more resilient when facing stress, challenges and adversity. (Several Studies)

7. Positive people are able to maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture which helps them identify solutions whereas negative people maintain a narrower perspective and tend to focus on problems. (Barbara Fredrickson)

8. Positive thoughts and emotions counter the negative effects of stress. For example, you can't be thankful and stressed at the same time. (Several Studies)

9. Positive emotions such as gratitude and appreciation help athletes perform at a higher level. (Heartmath.org)

10. Positive people have more friends which is a key factor of happiness and longevity. (Robert D. Putnam)

11. Positive and popular leaders are more likely to garner the support of others and receive pay raises and promotions and achieve greater success in the workplace. (Several Studies)

Positive Leadership: The Benefits of Being Positive

Positive Leadership: Reflections on Leadership from Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United

Here are some reflections from one of the UK’s most successful football managers ever, Sir Alex Ferguson, on successful leadership:

He believes he was born with a few leadership traits but the rest he learned.

He was born with high energy levels and a natural ability to take decisions. He takes quick decisions and never goes to sleep at night with a decision not made or doubt about one he has made. The rest he has learned. He built the foundations at an early stage:

•             he was a player and so he understood the game

•             he committed to personal training and development e.g. by doing all his coaching awards.

On leadership:

•             He decided on the pursuit of a clear goal at each stage in his career (e.g. he left East Stirlingshire because he knew he couldn't go for the European Cup there!).

•             He believes and invests in young talent and has always recruited good people around him. (All his key staff have now been with him for over 20 years.)

•             He admits that he learns from his mistakes.

•             He accepts that when you are the leader there are many myths that will surround you and untruths that will be said about you but you have to learn to live with that.

•             He leads with a set of values - commitment to the organisation; a belief that his team can be the best; keeping his feet on the ground and leading with humility.

•             He doesn't filter bad news, believing people should know where they stand.

•             He believes no individual is bigger than the organisation and would not hesitate to remove someone (best player or not) if they started to behave like they thought they were.

•             He believes there is now a clear "Spirit of Man U" that will go on beyond him, built by players like Scholes, Beckham and Giggs.

•             And finally, when he was at Aberdeen, with a terrifically supportive Chairman in Dick Donald, their AGM record was 7 minutes! Not a bad goal for any business in itself!

Positive Leadership: Reflections on Leadership from Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United

Positive Leadership: Improving the Returns on Leadership Development

In a recent study by the Corporate Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board, many organisations indicated that they were moving to increase their investment in leadership development. However, less than 20% of study respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that their "Programmes have delivered the Leader Capabilities Needed by the Organisation."

According to the CLC research, the root causes for the historic poor returns on leadership development investments are attributable to three things:

1. Disconnected Strategy: Leadership Strategy is not integrated with business strategy.

2. Misaligned Outcomes: Leadership outcomes and metrics are not connected with business outcomes.

3. Uncoordinated HR Activities: Leadership activities are not integrated with other HR activities.

The Positive Leadership approach which states that desired outcomes are only realised when the Values of Positive Leadership™ are aligned with business strategy is one response to the raising the returns on leadership development.

For more information on the Positive Leadership approach, please contact: graham.watson@positiveleadership.co.uk

Positive Leadership: Improving the Returns on Leadership Development

Positive Leadership: Hard Work Matters

Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Angela studies non-IQ competencies that predict success both academically and professionally. Her research populations have included West Point cadets, National Spelling Bee finalists, novice teachers, salespeople, and students. Her research validates what we all know to be true: hard work matters!

Positive Leadership: Hard Work Matters

Positive Leadership: Use What You've Got

Marilyn Tam is the executive director and co-founder of the Us Foundation (http://www.usfoundation.org). She has had an extraordinarily diverse life, from her beginnings in a traditional Chinese family in Hong Kong to her meteoric rise in the international business. Her long, distinguished background includes prominent executive roles at numerous world-class companies, including CEO of Aveda, President of Reebok Apparel & Retail Group and Vice President of Nike.

Whatever qualities you have, no matter how limited or broad that they may be in your own mind, Marilyn Tam has set out to show people how to use what they’ve got to achieve their dreams.

Positive Leadership: Use What You've Got

Positive Leadership: Creating a Culture of Accountability

How do successful organisations enable their people to take ownership for delivering on their intended results? Staying competitive usually means finding practical answers to that question. 

From our perspective, creating higher levels of ownership often drives better results and increases the value and growth of the company. To be truly effective in today’s corporate environment, leaders must be able to help find ways to create higher levels of ownership and joint accountability for achieving key results. 

In this video John Spence shares some of his best ideas on how to successfully meet this challenge.

Creating a Culture of High Accountability from John Spence on Vimeo.

Positive Leadership: Creating a Culture of Accountability

Positive Leadership: Building Your Leadership Presence

Here are some thoughts on how you can build your leadership presence:

How You Feel

Be yourself. You need to feel comfortable and confident. The best way to do that consistently is to be who you really are. Putting on an executive-like facade does not work nearly as well as simply being comfortable in your own skin and projecting confidence.

Confidence. You don’t need to have a big, showy personality to have executive presence. Having a strong presence is about confidence, not personality. Even if you are a quiet, humble person it’s about putting your best self out there consistently, not changing your personality.

Fearlessness. 

If you can’t be confident, be fearless. Don’t back off when you are not confident. You’ll come off much worse if you are tentative and worried about what you are presenting. 

Practice and prepare. If you are not comfortable in the moment, then prepare. Don't feel bad about practicing ahead of time. Script what you will say and rehearse it. You will be more confident in the moment, and you will get more confident over time, with practice.

Never mind the details. Don't wait until you feel like know everything. Disconnect "knowing everything" from having executive presence. If you spend all your time learning the details, you will not gain executive presence. You won't be stepping up and putting yourself out there, and to make matters worse, people will always see you in the weeds.

How You Look

Quality matters. It's not about fashion; it's about looking like you care. No one ever felt more confident by wearing a cheap suit. Put some effort in.

Remove distractions. Make sure nothing about your appearance distracts from your competence. Take stock, get feedback. Make changes.

How You Behave

Lead the room. Don't just be in room. Lead the room.

Be fast on your feet. Part of executive presence is being able to actively listen and respond, and not become defensive under attack. You also have more presence if you can be flexible and don't always need to stick to the script.

Be Present! Part of executive presence, is “presence”. You need to put yourself out there. Don’t stay in the shadows. Speak up. Have something to contribute. Be personable. Be the one to ask key questions or put forth recommendations. Don't talk just to talk, but don't be silent just to avoid risk. Step up.

Fit in Socially. You need to be able to fit in to higher level networks. Get over being awe-struck, and find a way to personally connect with people as higher levels. If you can't fit in socially, you will appear junior. You need to make others comfortable that you belong there.

Never Appear Overwhelmed

Ease and grace. Although this is part of how you behave, it’s worth emphasising because appearing overwhelmed is inversely proportional to executive presence. You need to find a way to deal with 'overwhelm' privately, and have others see you as calm and in control. If you appear overwhelmed, no one will see you as ready for more.

Positive Leadership: Building Your Leadership Presence