The Art of War… and Leadership

January 30, 2013 By 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: , , , , ,

7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People [Infographic]

June 13, 2012 By 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: , , , , ,

10 Things Terrible Leaders Do

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won’t get much sleep.”
- Woody Allen

Every relationship is built on trust but that is especially true when you’re in a leadership position. People can’t follow you if they don’t trust you so it’s your job to make sure you’re doing everything you can to build and maintain trust with everyone in your organization. Chances are you know what you should do, but you might not know what you shouldn’t do. Here’s a list of those trust-busting leadership taboos.

1. You don’t do what you said you would do.

2. You’re unpredictable when it comes to just about everything.

3. You seem to be working on your own agenda.

4. You agree with people just to avoid conflict.

5. You never really listen.

6. You change your plans and your mind and you never let anyone know why.

7. You never admit when you’re wrong.

8. You always come across as indifferent on any subject.

9. You see other people’s success as a threat to yourself.

10. You never share anything personal about yourself.

Whether you’re guilty or not, the goal is to be more vigilant about these behaviors in the future. No one is perfect so don’t be too hard on yourself if you catch yourself breaking some of the rules. Read more.

What leadership rules do you have?  Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Breaking Trust, Building Trust, Leadership, Leadership and Trust, Leadership Lessons, Management Tagged With: , , , ,

Leadership Lessons From Captain James T. Kirk

March 6, 2012 By 1 Comment

In case you’re not familiar with the world of Star Trek, James T. Kirk was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise and led his crew through some of the most difficult and trying situations anyone could imagine. In his 5-year term on the Enterprise he managed to save the Earth several times negotiate peace between alien nations and even fought some Nazis. Needless to say his leadership skills are hard to match. That’s why I loved the recent post from Forbes on the leadership lessons we can all learn from Captain Kirk. Here are some of my favorites.

Lesson #1: Never Stop Learning

“You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown– only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”  Leaders are always seeking out new informations and answers to questions that haven’t been asked yet. There is no shortage of information in the world and a true leader can never get enough.

Lesson #2: Get Advice From Different Places

“One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.” You shouldn’t make all of your decisions without council and you shouldn’t base all your decisions on advice from just one person. Captain Kirk’s two most trusted advisors thought completely different and he used input from each of them to find the best decision.

Lesson #3: Put Yourself In Harms Way

“Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.” Captain Kirk was always the first to volunteer for the dangerous missions, because he knew that you learn the most from experience. He was also able to make better decisions because he had first hand information instead of taking someone else’s word for it.

Learn more from Captain Kirk Here. 

What leadership advice have you picked up from any legendary or fictional characters? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.


 

 

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How To Reward Your Employees Without Going Broke

February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I would love to give all of my employees HUGE bonuses every time they do something great, unfortunately there’s not a business on Earth that can afford to do that. The good news is that your employees aren’t necessarily looking for a monetary reward. Here are a few ways to give your employees positive reinforcement without cutting a big check.

1. Ask For Their Ideas- Your employees want to feel valued more than anything else. When you show them that you are interested in their input, they will work harder to give you the best ideas they can come up with, and they will be happy about it!

2. Ask For Help – Remember when you were younger and you felt special if you got to help your parents with something special or even help the teacher with something new? That need/want doesn’t go away with age, it just redirects towards the new authority figures. Feeling like you helped someone who you respect is a huge reward for most people. It also validates them by showing that you recognize their skill and ability.

3. Put Them In A Leadership Role – Even if it’s just for one project, it shows that you trust them enough to lead others. This will give your employee a big boost in self-esteem and also raise their perception of the amount of responsibility required for their job. One project like this can help them work more efficiently and effectively in everything else they do, all because they take more pride in their work because they know that you do too.

Read More Here. 

What ways has your boss rewarded you without handing out cash? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

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Why Can’t Marketing And Sales Just Get Along?

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Is your sales team plotting ways to take out your marketing team?

Don’t worry, it’s a classic battle and you might be surprised to hear that your sales people are probably on the right track. That being said, it’s your job to make sure they are getting along. The fate of your business depends on it. Here are a few instigators of this time old battle. Once you identify them, you can solve the problem and prevent any further friction between the two departments.

1. Marketitus Superioritus – Marketers tend to feel and act superior to the sales team. This usually comes down to education. Most marketers have gone through business school and most sales people haven’t. What the marketers don’t know is that you don’t learn how to successfully sell in school, you learn through experience. An easy fix for this problem is to make sure every marketer you hire has experience in sales.

2. Marketers Tend To Deem The Sales Force Unnecessary – They’ve learned that “great marketing” should sell the product for you. What they don’t know is that even “perfect marketing” doesn’t always push the customer to make the final purchasing decision. The quick fix is to let the marketers know that they are there to support the sales team, not replace it.

3. “Selling Can’t Be That Hard” – On the contrary, selling is one of the most valuable skills a person can have in business and one of the hardest to gain. Keep in mind, customers can easily ignore your marketing efforts but it’s incredibly difficult to ignore direct sales.  Fix the problem by challenging your marketers to make some sales calls.

Find more problems and solutions for making you marketing and sales team work together here.

How do you get your marketing and sales teams to work together? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Business, How to be a better leader, How To Keep Your Employees, Management, Managing, Sales, Sales vs Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

3 Easy And Cheap Ways To Motivate Your Team

November 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you able to truly motivate your employees? Great leaders can and good leaders wish they could better than they have been. One thing I have learned from running a company or two is that money isn’t always the answer when it comes to motivation. Sometimes your employees need something else. Yes, i basically just told you that you can boost morale and motivation without emptying your wallet. Good news right?  Here are a few cheap tricks that will help your employees to actually want to work.

1. Be generous with your praise – Go beyond the “good job” and pat on the back. Explain what they did right and how truly valuable it is to the company. Always let them know that their work matters to the big picture and not just to you.

2. Eliminate the “project managers” – You don’t need to put one person in charge to make sure things get done. Empower the entire group and encourage them to work together. You will see people caring more about the finished product instead of just getting it done.

3. Ask for their opinion – Instead of telling your employees how something needs to be done, ask them how they think it should be done. Ask them what they think about how you think it should be done and always ask for ideas to improve the process. This simple gesture lets your employee know that their opinion is valued and that they aren’t just worker drones, they can actually think.

Get more motivation tips here.

Do you have any tricks of the trade that boost morale and motivation at your organization? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.


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11 Tips On Managing… Yourself

September 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being a good manager is just as much about what you do as it is about what the people you are supervising do. You can’t expect people to follow your lead if you aren’t getting anything done.  I found these tips extremely useful and I hope that you will too. (Read More)

If you have any tips I left out share them for everyone in the comment box below.  For more conversation connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

1. Be accessible. Don’t hole up in your office all day — come out and visit with your employees. Let them know that they can always come to you with problems and concerns.

2. Be open to constructive criticism. It may not always be what you want to hear, but listening to constructive criticism gives you the chance to learn and grow from your mistakes.

3. Accept responsibility. Part of being the boss is accepting responsibility for the mistakes of all that you manage, not just your own.

4. Know there’s always room for improvement. No matter how good you think you are, your job can always be done better. Always be willing to learn.

5. Improve your skills. Learning is a lifelong process. You’re never too old to take a class or ask a co-worker to help you improve your knowledge.

6. Explain things simply. Don’t use big words or technical jargon just to sound smart and impress others. Your employees will understand and perform better if you explain simply and clearly what you need.

7. Instruct rather than order. You may be the boss, but you don’t have to be bossy. You’ll have more success if your requests are more tactfully delivered.

8. Include your staff in your plans. Don’t make your work top secret; let your employees know what’s going on and how they are expected to contribute.

9. Know your subordinates’ jobs. You don’t want to be caught with inferior job knowledge.

10. Be flexible. It’s fine to be firm in what you expect, but allow for flexibility in how it gets done.

11. Get regular feedback. Your employees and superiors can give you valuable feedback on how to improve your performance. Use this to your advantage.

12. Know your limitations. You can’t be everywhere doing everything all at once. Know the limits of your time and abilities and say no to things you know you can’t do.

Filed Under: Managing yourself Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Secrets To Great Leadership

September 14, 2011 By 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: , , , , , , , ,

Social Intelligence and Leadership

September 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By this point in life I have learned that there are several different kinds of “smart”, none of which are better than any other.  I have also had many conversations about which intelligence is better in different situations and when it comes down to it nothing beats social intelligence when it comes to leadership.  Check out this video from Harvard Business Review to learn more about it.

What do you think is the most important area of expertise for a leader?  Share your thoughts in the comment box below and connect with me on Facebook and Twitter for more discussion.

Filed Under: Social Intelligence Tagged With: , , , , ,
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