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“We all need warm, deep, personal relationships to thrive, but modern life seems to place such a small value on them compared with the high value placed on money and prestige and pleasure. It is so easy to be distracted and to fritter our attention away in countless ways, until we find we have nothing left for family and friends. By simplifying our lives, dropping less important activities, we allow more time for what matters most. But it is also essential to slow down our pace of living, so that we can free ourselves from the grip of time-driven thinking and behavior.” — From Eknath Easwaran, “Words to Live By”

Technorati Tags: Relationships, Reflection, Quote, Focus, Personal Leadership

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz.

See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Philosophy, Snoopy, Influence, Peanuts

Author Unknown

Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson: We need to make sure honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

Technorati Tags: Motivation, Inspiration, Team Work, Collaboration, Leadership, Illustration, Analogy, Example

I stumbled across this interesting summary of Colin Powell’s leadership principles from the book, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell. The summary was written by Mr. Oren Harari, a professor at the University of San Francisco. Who is Collin Powell you may ask!

Colin Powell is the first black secretary of state in U.S. history. Powell was born in New York City to Jamaican immigrants and attended City College of New York as a cadet in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. He served two tours of duty successfully in the Vietnam War from 1962-63 and once again from 1968-69 and then held important military and civilian positions before becoming national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan in 1987. In 1989, Powell was promoted to the rank of four-star general and was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later that same year - the first black officer to hold the nation’s highest military post.

Colin Powell’s principles of leadership described in the book include the following:

1. Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
2. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
3. Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.
4. Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
5. Never neglect details. When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
6. You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.
7. Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so (just) because you might not like what you find.
8. Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fall because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.
9. Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.
10. Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.
11. Fit no stereotypes. Don’t chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team’s mission.
12. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
13. Powell’s Rules for Picking People: Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.
14. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.
15. Part I: Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Part II: “Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.
16. The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
17. Have fun in your command. Don’t always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you’ve earned it: Spend time with your families. Corollary: surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.
18. Command is lonely.

You can download the complete PowerPoint summary here.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Management, Book, Summary, Military, Lesson, PowerPoint

Leadership is leaders acting - as well as caring, inspiring and persuading others to act - for cetain shared goals that represent the values - the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations - of themselves and the people they represent. And the genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders care about, visualize, and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations. - James Macgregor Burns, Leadership

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Definition, Quote

Today is Madiba’s 88^th birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a great leader Nelson Mandela. Madiba your leadership has set our nation free, your tolerance, humility and the example you set is a daily inspiration to me. You have transformed our nation of South Africa, may your example be the one we aspire to, as we continue the journey of transformation that you started years ago… I wish you all the best, may God guide you and keep you in the years ahead.

Nelson Mandela with his grandson in 1996.

You can read all his birthday wishes from around the world here.

Technorati Tags: Leader, Madiba, Nelson Mandela, Birthday

One of the laws of physics states that “for every reaction there there is an equal and opposite reaction”. The same is true for leadership, “for every action a leader takes there is a corresponding reaction from followers”. This simple truth is often over-looked by leaders, as leaders we often under estimate the influence we have over followers. I’m often reminded of this in situations where people say to me, “remember when you said ….. to me a few years ago? Well, that caused me to change this in my life”. Usually I don’t remember the exact situation they’re referring to, but it always reminds me, that as leaders, we never know when and what impact we’re having on others. As leaders we often under-estimate our influence.

“A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not.” - Author Unknown

Usually, it’s the questions we ask, the stories we tell and the example we set, that influence those around us, shaping their thinking and actions. Reflecting on this, what example are we setting for those around us? Are we conscious about what we say and how we act, knowing that we are always influencing others? Are we conscious of the example we’re setting?

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Example, Role Model, Management, Influence, Persuasion, Follower

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