How To Be A Better Leader | Mark Denham Blog

The Art of War… and Leadership

January 30, 2013 By Mark Leave a Comment

The Art of War has been regarded as THE book on strategy of the last century. The U.S. Marine Corps actually recommends the small book as part of its Professional ReadingProgram for the rank of Captain and above. This book is also a must read for any decision maker in the business world. Forbes recently published an article with some of the top leadership lessons to take away from the book, here are some of my favorites.

Lesson #1 Don’t Underestimate Your Importance As A Leader

commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness. (Chapter I, 9)

You should feel the weight of the responsibility that comes with leadership. Every leader is responsible for setting the highest standards of which anyone on your team can aspire to live/work by.

The principle on which to manage an army is to set up a standard of courage which all must reach. (XI, 32)

Lesson #2 Know The Difference Between Authority and Power

The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger. (I, 5-6)

The need for power suggests that you’ve already lost your authority. Your team should follow you without needing fear as a motivator. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t respect the authority you do have.

Lesson #3 Pause, Think, Act Decisively

Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. (II)

The basic lesson is to not act without putting thought into your decision, but to not wait so long that you miss the opportunity. Your team is relying on you to make those decisions when they need to be made. Missed opportunities lead to a loss of faith in your ability to lead.

Lesson #4 Adapt

by attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds. (III, 14)

Don’t use the “Scratch it Till It Bleeds” technique. Adapt to your circumstances. This includes the environment, the people you’re working with and the final goal you hope to achieve. The methods to use to manage your sales team might not work for your marketing department.

Have you read The Art Of War? Leave your thoughts in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Business Leaders, Leadership, Leadership and Trust, Leadership Lessons, The Art of War Tagged With: how to be a better leader, leadership, leadership lessons, Leadership tips, sun tzu, the art of war

7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People [Infographic]

June 13, 2012 By Mark 1 Comment

This infographic is made especially for all the bosses out there. Nobody expects you to be perfect, but they do expect you to do your best. To honestly do that, you need to identify your weaknesses and do whatever you can to improve upon them. This infographic does a great job of pointing out some of the easiest errors to make as a leader, and it tells you how to stop making them.

Have you ever had a boss who had one or some of these habits? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Business Leaders, Business Tips, Infographics, Leadership, Leadership and Trust, Leadership Lessons Tagged With: bad leadership habits, how to be a better leader, how to be a better leader in business, how to break bad leadership habits, leadership infographics, Leadership tips

The Leadership Test

May 23, 2012 By Mark Leave a Comment

I just found this test on Forbes and worked my way through it. It was enlightening to say the least. There are several responsibilities that fall on a leader and it has to be near impossible to be great at all of them. That’s one of the reasons I found this test helpful. It helps to identify your strengths and also your weaknesses. That way you have a better idea of where to focus your time. The test is broken down into the categories below.

Section I: Character

Section II: Vision

Section III: Strategy

Section IV: Tactics

Section V: Focus

Section VI: Persuasiveness

Section VII: Likeability

Section VIII: Decisioning Ability

Section IX: Team Building

Section X: Results

Click Here to take the test

Click here to read my recent post on how the book “The Art of War” can positively influence your leadership.

Filed Under: Advice For Entrepreneurs, Leadership, Leadership and Trust, Leadership Lessons, Leadership Tests, Management Tagged With: am i a good leader, ergo office seating, how to be a better leader, leadership quiz, leadership tests, mark denham

The Secrets To Great Leadership

September 14, 2011 By Mark 1 Comment

Mark Beinioff is the CEO of Salesforce.com a company that is worth billions and taking the IT world by storm. To top off that impressive achievement, he is also an epic speaker. At his most recent conference “Dreamforce” he offered these 5 secrets of great leadership.

1. Be inclusive.

2. Be confrontational.

3. Be evolving.

4. Be imitating.

5. Be infectious.

Full Story Here.

Filed Under: How to be a better leader Tagged With: ceo ergo office seating, dreamforce, how to be a better leader, Leadership tips, mark beinioff, mark denham, office chair expert, office furniture expert, salesforce.com

The 3 Languages of Leadership

August 10, 2011 By Mark Leave a Comment

I found a great article on Harvard Business Review and really wanted to get it up here. The three languages of leadership consist of terms that you should already be familiar with; logos, ethos and pathos. The author of this article renames them in this article as agility, authenticity and empathy. Have an opinion? Share it with me on Facebook or Twitter. I love a good conversation.

Agility (or “Logos”). This language is about reading situations and getting things done. John is fluent in this language, but he needs to demonstrate that he is a learner. Words like this will work: “When we made this acquisition it seemed a good idea, but as I reflect on what has happened, three things are changing on us…”

Authenticity (or “Ethos”). Followers need to know that you have deep values and dreams, and they need to hear you speak about hope. They also want to know that you are animated by some big beliefs. Authentic language comes from the heart. An authentic statement would be something like: “When I was a kid, a bully beat me up. I believe that bullies don’t belong in our organization. Treating employees like ‘resources’ rather than people is a kind of bullying. Instead of laying people off, can’t we find a way to unlock their creativity right now?”

Empathy (or “Pathos”). Caring for people is a quality John seems to lack. Do you chat with people in the hallways and reveal your own weaknesses to them? Do you invite people lower in the org chart to have a cup of coffee with you? Do you listen carefully? Are you helpful?

Full Article Here