Positive Leadership: Confidence and Winning
Friday, July 05, 2013
Thursday, July 04, 2013
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Positive Leadership: Firms of Endearment
In his book, “Firms of Endearment: How World-ClassCompanies Profit from Passion and Purpose”, Professor Raj Sisodia of Bentley University, compiled a list of companies that pay and treat employees
significantly above average; provide high value and service to customers; do
not squeeze suppliers for the lowest possible prices; invest significantly in
their local communities; minimise their environmental impact; and do not cite
as a primary goal “maximising shareholder returns.”
Over the 15 year period, 1996 to 2011, the “Firms of
Endearment” companies outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index by
10.5 to 1. They returned a cumulative 21%, while Jim Collins’s “Good to
Great” companies earned an annualised return of just 7% during the same
period, barely outpacing the broader market.
Here is the inescapable conclusion: When a company truly
seeks to take care of all its constituencies, it serves not just the collective
good, but also its own long-term best interest.
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Positive Leadership: Passion and Emotion
Passion and emotion are related but not the same.
Emotion alone can be detrimental to performance. Emotion that is the result of passion for a job well done is performance fuel. If you are playing with passion emotion will follow. Emotion without true passion is shallow.
Emotion alone can be detrimental to performance. Emotion that is the result of passion for a job well done is performance fuel. If you are playing with passion emotion will follow. Emotion without true passion is shallow.
Regardless of your specific form of performance (e.g.,
business, sport, art or life) do you have a team with the characteristics of an
Olympic champion? If not, create one!
Monday, July 01, 2013
Positive Leadership: Do One Thing Better Today
Many individuals, teams and organisations have tasted
excellence periodically. It goes down well on the palate, doesn't it? Like the
perfectly aged Bordeaux, the perfectly executed recipe, the perfect balance of
flavours in a great meal. But consistently delivering superior results over
time is another story. It requires process, discipline and focus. It requires
energy, effort and persistence. It requires daily attention.
A technique we have found helpful with performers to deliver
sustainable excellence is to focus on one thing every day to improve from the
day before. It could be personal, professional or relational. It doesn't have
to be monumental every day.
Why does this process work?
Confidence is the
result of an accumulation of success experiences. By doing one thing better
each day you consistently experience (and expect) success. Each day builds upon the last.
Improving every day creates focus. How many times have you
wound up at the end of a day wondering what you truly accomplished? By
committing to daily improvement you organise your thoughts, energy and effort.
Continuous
improvement becomes a habit, not a cliché.
When you commit to daily
improvement, development opportunities are expected and welcomed. You look
forward to development feedback rather than dreading it and reacting
defensively.
Sustainable excellence is not rocket science. It is the
result of establishing an effective system and having the discipline to follow
it. Getting better each day establishes the mindset. What are you going to
improve today?
Friday, June 28, 2013
Positive Leadership: The Difference between Success and Excellence
Most performers believe success and excellence are
interchangeable terms. After all, if I'm successful I'm excellent--right?
Wrong.
Success is an absolute term. If you are the highest
producing salesperson, win the game or beat the earnings forecast you are
successful. Success in the performance world is about achieving outcomes better
than others by comparison.
Excellence, on the other hand, is a relative term. It is
about maximising your personal and organisational potential. If you are the
highest producing salesperson but you can sell more, you have not fulfilled
your sales potential. If you win the game but could have scored more points,
you have not fulfilled your athletic potential. If you beat the earnings
forecast but leave some organisational profit on the table, you have not
fulfilled the potential of your company.
If you are excellent
you deliver the best performance you are capable of, regardless of the absolute
outcome.
If you are excellent,
you will be successful but you can be successful without being excellent.
Commit to excellence--it's more meaningful. And, by the way, it's also more
fun!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Positive Leadership: High Performance Cultures
High-performance cultures deliver sustainable excellence
over the long haul. They do not rely on
the latest fad, management trend or leadership gimmick to achieve short-term
results. Consistent, long-term performance is based on a set of core
values.
Performers in high-performance
cultures want to win just as much as their competitors. But they do so within
the confines of values that will not be compromised, regardless of the
short-term success that may result by looking the other way, rationalising
questionable behaviour or otherwise failing to evaluate the best course of
action through the lens of core values.
Many teams and organisations develop values. However, most
organisations do not consistently rely on their values to guide decision
making, business decisions and how people are treated. The creation of
corporate or team values becomes a “check the box” exercise. The organisation
pats itself on the back for creating values and proudly displays them on the
company website. Yet when you peel back the onion, you find many individuals
acting counter to the created values with no repercussions or adverse
consequences. That is, as long as they
deliver results.
True high-performance
cultures deliver results and treat people in a manner they can be proud of. In
fact, these cultures will not tolerate individuals who do not act from a set of
core values.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Positive Leadership: Learn How to Embrace Failure and Focus on Your Customers
Friday, June 21, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Positive Leadership: Presenting Effectively
Before you start creating slides for your next talk, plan
what you’re going to say. A storyboard — a visual outline of your presentation
¬— will save you more time than it takes to create it. First, draw small
representations of your ideas on sticky notes. The small space forces you to
use simple, clear words and pictures. Limit yourself to one idea per slide:
There’s no reason to crowd them. This sketching process will help you clarify
what you want to say and how you want to say it. As you storyboard, you’ll be
able to tell immediately which concepts are clunky or overly complex (you’ll
run out of space on your sticky notes). Eliminate them, and brainstorm new ways
to communicate those messages more clearly.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Positive Leadership: Syndicating the Work of Leadership
In this video, Professor Gary Hamel discusses why he
believes it is vital for companies to "syndicate the work of
leadership" across the organisation.
An edited transcript of his interview with McKinsey's Simon London can be found at: http://bit.ly/McKLeadersEverywhere
An edited transcript of his interview with McKinsey's Simon London can be found at: http://bit.ly/McKLeadersEverywhere
Monday, June 17, 2013
Positive Leadership: Being Extreme in Leadership
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Positive Leadership: Perspectives on Leadership
In his ‘View from the Top’ speech, Dean of the Graduate
School of Business at Stanford University, Robert Joss defines what it means to
lead: "It's any position where you take responsibility for a group with a
mission to fulfill." He told students that In order to have the organisation
you lead evolve, "you have to be the change you want to see in
others."
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Positive Leadership: Bad Leadership
Barbara Kellerman, the James
MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School,
discusses the theme of her latest work entitled "Bad Leadership."
Monday, June 10, 2013
Positive Leadership: Integrity
When you think about the people you know who have integrity,
do you count yourself among them? What does it mean to be a person of
integrity? Well, first and foremost, integrity is about truth. And truth is the
greatest force we have for personal and planetary well-being.
No bomb, no hatred, and no prejudice can match the strength
of truth. In troubled and uncertain times, truth is our most powerful friend.
When we stand for truth, we are confident, whole and energised.
Throughout history, every great philosopher and leader has
tried to teach us the same lesson - the principle that integrity, or wholeness,
is the natural order of things. In spite of the fact that we live in separate
bodies, houses, and nations, our essential nature is one of unity.
Any separation we think we see is an illusion that we have
mistakenly learned to believe in. As long as we feel separate and isolated, we
will behave in ways that result in damage to others and ourselves. Most
religious and scientific scholars agree that our entire universe is one huge
system - integrated and whole.
To behave accordingly, then, is to have integrity - to stand
up for the truth of our inter-connectedness and our need to care for each other
if we are to survive. You see, when we have integrity, we align ourselves with
the force of the entire universe. And when we live with integrity, we become
very powerful indeed.
Friday, June 07, 2013
Positive Leadership: How Best To Pitch Your Business Plan
Focus your business pitch on yourself, not on your plan!
Potential investors and partners are often more interested
in an entrepreneur as a person than in the business plan. That document is
important, but be sure to also show these three characteristics:
Passion and purpose. Investors want to know if you’re the
right person for this idea. Make your personal connection to the business
you’re launching clear.
Resilience. The road to building a business is full of speed
bumps. Share some failure stories to show you can bounce back from challenges.
Resource magnetism. Can you attract money, people, and other
resources? This is more important than charisma. Whether or not you have a
thousand-watt smile, you need to be able to persuade people to join your cause.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
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