Nothing inspires people more than a leader who is full of zeal. Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious and gets results. When we are excited about what we do, others want to follow. A positive mindset does wonders in any workplace.
Warren Bennis, pioneer of modern leadership studies, said that "Managers do things right. Leaders do the right things." Both are very necessary qualities in today's workplace.
Have you ever had a boss or teacher who believed that you could do well - if so, then you probably responded to that belief by doing your very best - better than you might have for the boss or teacher who didn't think much of your abilities.
I've recently returned from an amazing trip to Africa, and while in Uganda had the opportunity to facilitate workshops for the 20 or so managers of Kampala Children's Centre and then for 91 of their staff. The result was that the various work groups came away buzzing with ideas of how to improve their planning, processes and outcomes.
We are used to seeing vision statements for organisations - they articulate where the business wants to be in its marketplace or service sector. Clear vision statements help everyone in the organisation understand how their job contributes to the overall goals.
U is for what? Yes, upskilling really is a word - it's in the dictionary, so it must be! It means 'to teach employees additional skills' and it makes all the sense in the world.
I don't know if you've been following the current 'Apprentice' series, but it's getting to the stage where, to quote one jaded competitor, "It's dog eat dog".
Which leadership or management style should you use?
Following on from my last post, Q is for Question Everything, once we've found the solution to a problem and implemented it we should always review what happened and reflect on what we've learned from the process; not to assign blame, but to do better next time.
Albert Einstein said; “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the answer, I would spend the first 55 minutes figuring out the proper questions to ask. For if I knew the proper questions, I could solve the problem in less than 5 minutes. Question everything”
