|
"Great spirits who think differently have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
- Albert Einstein
Performance
Solutions for Organizational
and
Management Effectiveness
ExcelGroupWorks.com
"There's nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can't clearly articulate why we're doing what we're doing."
- James Kouzes and Barry
Posner
"Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to
steel"
- Napoleon Hill
"Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people."
- Brian Tracy
Some previous enotes
"Help
Coach-Managers Refuse the Monkey"
5
Steps to Leadership Renewal
Top
10 Tips for Managers to Coach Effectively
Click
here for New Announcements at Excel Group in Western Canada
|
|
|
Take
a close look at the most successful leaders of businesses,
organizations, families, etc. and you'll discover that there's a
common core of skills that they all share. They may not excel at
the same level at every skill, but they've mastered the basics of every skill set.
So
what are the skills that all great leaders have? Read on below to
see what a submitter, Jim has listed. Also, don't miss our next
Excel enote "The
7 Habits of Collaborative Coaches" by Chuck Reynolds, our
Chief Performance Officer
Best Regards,
Heidi - Excel Group Client Services
|
The
Top 10 Skills of Successful Leaders
1.
Critical Thinking
Successful leaders all
have powerful critical thinking skills. The ability to quickly
survey and analyze a situation, then identify the core issues that
need to be dealt with is key to business success, as is the
ability to understand new issues and factors that impact one's
goals and designs.
2.
Creative Thinking
These
leaders also have varying abilities to think, well, *differently*.
They have the ability to step out of rigid mindsets so that they
can explore potential new ideas that others may consider risky,
crazy, or silly.
3.
Listening
Great
leaders are great listeners, experienced at focusing their energy
to the task. This includes listening, so that when they listen,
they are very focused on hearing everything that's being said, so
that they can make well-informed decisions.
4.
Reading
The
ability to read is vital to lifelong personal and professional
success. Leaders in any industry or area all tend to be good
readers who are exposed to large amounts of information through
reports, newspapers, white papers, books, etc. While they may not
be speed readers, they are excellent at grasping the main ideas
and context of the material they do read.
5.
Writing
They may not
write often. And they may not write a lot. But when they do,
successful leaders are clear, concise, and to the point.
6.
Speaking
Perhaps
the most important language skill, the best leaders are also
good speakers. They are able to present their ideas verbally to
audiences of all types and sizes, as well as easily change their
presentation style so that they meet an audience's needs. While it
may not be a skill that a leader is ever completely comfortable
with, she understands that if she can't speak about the issues her
business faces, nobody can.
7.
Motivating
Skilled
leaders are superb motivators. They understand that each of us is
propelled by our own personal motivations. These leaders are
able to apply all of their language skills (listening, reading,
writing, and speaking) to create powerful group goals and visions
that spur people to give 110%.
8.
Networking
Successful
people have successful networks. They have contacts, associates,
and friends in a wide array of fields who they can call on for
ideas, input, and assistance. These leaders actively cultivate and
grow their networks all the time.
9.
Delegating
To
some, this may not seem like a leadership skill, but it is.
Leaders who excel are leaders who don't try to take everything on
themselves. Indeed, they understand that they *can't* do
everything. They easily delegate all but the most important of
tasks to their employees, assistants, and networks. They create
systems so that they are available to focus on the most important
issues at any moment.
10.
Evolving
In
evaluating successful leaders, I think this is the most powerful,
yet most difficult skill to master. Evolving is the ability to
adapt, quickly, to the newest technologies, styles, and modes of
thinking that create success. It is a skill requiring a supreme
sense of self-confidence coupled with extreme humility. For
leaders, it is a skill applied not just for personal success, but
also for the success of their business, their workers, and their
families. It provides those who can master it, the opportunity to
achieve life-long success in all areas of life.
About
the Submitter This
piece was submitted by Jim M. Allen, The Big Idea
Coach, who can be reached at http://www.BigIdeaCoach.com
 |
A question
for you: How is your energy level ? I don't know about you,
but after a sluggish winter hibernation, I find I've let my
workouts slip. The result? Lower energy level. In
management, it is easy to neglect our health/energy. The
result? Less than desired energy and - for some - greater
impatience, that at times can produce irritability. If
you are in any management / leadership / supervisory role in
your organization, I doubt that you are underworked. In the
current state of global competition, the mantra is "how
can you do more with less?" In terms of your own
performance though, in order to excel in busy demanding
times, you need more energy. How can you have more energy to
maintain your desired leadership impact? In all the
articles I've seen (see links below) there seem to be
3 common elements that you need to consider. On a scale of 1
to 5, how are you doing in these areas? 1)
Regular exercise (walk, swim, run, bike, etc.) 2)
Healthy Diet ("you become what you eat"), and 3)
Rest and Rejuvenation (Stephen Covey's Sharpening the Saw
concept). If you will commit to addressing these areas in the
next 21 days, you will be amazed at your increased energy
levels. I've recently started back to my running and
working out, and getting to bed earlier, and I'm committing to
more time off . What will you commit to doing to enhance
your energy level? Your team depends on it. Go for it.
email
me
In the
Spirit of Growth
...Chuck
Chuck Reynolds is a Principal and
Chief Performance Officer with Excel
Group Development a Performance Solutions firm that assists
organizations in enhancing management and team effectiveness. He can be reached
indirectly by emailing our
admin group. Insert 'ATTN Chuck' in the subject area. Visit them at www.ExcelGroupWorks.com
© Rights Reserved 2005
Excel Group Development Services Inc. Feel free to forward this article
in its entirety to any colleagues or associates as you wish. Any third party links from
our web
pages are not endorsed by Excel Group, and are simply provided for information and research
purposes.
|
|
. |