4 Things You Need to Know about Change

1. There is no “new normal.” Things don’t stay the same long enough to normalize. And once you start thinkingthings are normal, you quit paying attention and get blindsided by the next change, big or small.

2. Singular solutions don’t exist. You can’t focus just on customer service and build a world-class company. Operations, finance, sales and marketing are just a few of the other truly critical areas that require ongoing attention.

3. Mastery of change requires both ability and speed. Given enough time, almost anybody can change. The key is to change faster than your competition or the demands of the marketplace.

4. Nobody will do it for you. There are no magic bullets. Sure, lots of people will help, advise, counsel and encourage. You might even hire a terrific coach or consultant to help you in needed areas. But ultimately you do the work.

Read more; http://www.marksanborn.com/blog/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-change/?utm_content=buffer6e3d3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Managing to Lead

Last week I proposed just enough leadership, for the sake of enhancing communityship. This week I propose an end to the belief that leadership is separate from management, and superior to it. This is damaging management all right, but leadership more so.

The fashionable depiction sees managers as doing things right while leaders does the right thing.1 It sounds good, until you try to tell the difference when observing the work of someone who is successful. Here’s an example from my book Simply Managing2:

John Cleghorn, as CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada, developed a reputation in his company for calling the office on his way to the airport to report a broken ATM machine, and such things. This bank had thousands of such machines. Was John micromanaging? Maybe he was setting an example that others should follow: keep your eyes open for such problems.

Have you ever been managed by someone who didn’t lead? That must have been awfully discouraging. Well, how about being lead by someone who didn’t manage? That could have been much worse. How is such a “leader” to know what’s going on? As Jim March of the Stanford Business School put it: “Leadership involves plumbing as well as poetry.”3

So let’s get beneath the cloud of leadership theory, to the ground of management practice. Maybe then more so-called leaders will do the right thing, namely cease leading by remote control, disconnected from everything except the “big picture.” In fact, how are they to create even that? Big pictures have to be painted with the brushstrokes of grounded experience.

It has also become fashionable to complain that we are being over-managed and under-led. The opposite is now a greater problem: we have too much heroic leadership and not enough engaging management. We need to recognize that some of the best leadership is management practiced well, also that anyone with ideas and initiative can exercise leadership. Thus, to conclude, here is a comparison of engaging management with heroic leadership. Take your choice.

Two Ways to Manage

Heroic Leadership		Engaging Management
1.	Leaders are important people, quite apart from others who develop products and deliver services.	1.	Managers are important to the extent that they help other people to be important.
2.	The higher “up” these leaders go, the more important they become. At the “top” the CEO is the organization.	2.	An organization is an interacting network, not a vertical hierarchy. Effective managers work throughout; the don’t sit “on top”.
3.	Down the hierarchy comes the strategy—clear, deliberate, and bold—emanating from the chief who takes the dramatic acts. Everyone else “implements.”	3.	Out of the network emerge strategies, as engaged people solve little problems that can grow into big initiatives.
4.	To lead is to make decisions and allocate resources—including those human resources. Leadership thus means calculating, based on facts, from reports.	4.	To manage is to help bring out the energy that exists naturally within people. Managing thus means engaging, based on judgment, rooted in context.
5.	Leadership is thrust upon those who thrust their will on others.	5.	Leadership is a sacred trust earned from the respect of others.

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If you remain unconvinced, and are determined to be a heroic leader, please read the following box. (It is written for business, but those in government and NGOs will get the idea.)

RULES FOR BEING A HEROIC LEADER

• Change everything all the time. In particular, reorganize constantly, to keep everyone on their toes (rather than firmly planted on their feet). Do not change this behavior no matter what the consequences.
• Beware of insiders: anyone who knows the place is suspect. Bring in a whole new “top team.” And rely on consultants—they may not know the business, but they do appreciate heroic leaders.
• Focus on the present: Do that dramatic deal now! The past is dead, the future distant (and beyond bonuses). It’s best to ignore the existing business and especially its culture--anything established takes time to change. Instead merge like mad, with the devils you don’t know. This is sure to catch the attention of stock market analysts and day traders. (Ignore the risks: your golden parachute will save you.)
• Emphasize the numbers. That way you don’t have to manage performance so much as deem it. Likewise, arrange to be paid several hundred times as much as your mere employees, to announce how much more important you are. That’s leadership! Then, get that stock price up, cash in, and run. Heroes are in great demand.
  Read more; http://www.mintzberg.org/blog/to-lead

Six Questions To Improve The Power Of Your Message

Recently my son decided that he wanted to change a class in his junior high schedule. My wife and son went to pay a visit to the school counselor.

During the meeting, the counselor asked him why he wanted to change to a different science teacher.

He said, “Well most of the time I have a difficult time focusing which makes the teacher really hard to understand.”

To this the counselor replied, “What you really mean is your teacher is boring and you can’t stay awake. Is that right?”

He responded, “Well I didn’t say exactly that.” Unfortunately for him, she did not allow him to change teachers.

When my wife told me this story, I thought that perhaps we were doing something right, and I was impressed that he had enough presence of mind to think about how to frame a message in a way that was more respectful and that might lead to a positive outcome.

Consider the power of words in your message. Dr. Albert Mehrabian taught that when talking about your feelings or attitudes that only 7% of your message comes from the words that you use. He also proposed that your tone accounted for 38% and body language or nonverbal behavior accounted for the remaining 55% of meaning in your message.

However, it would be a broad generalization to assume that all messages would be attributable to the same percentages. Once someone asked me, “How do you know when your message was absolutely and perfectly clear?”

To which I responded, “When I am angry.”

My confidence in my response is based on the perfect alignment of my words, feelings, and actions. Unfortunately, we know that speaking to people in a state of high or hot emotion does not a rational conversation create, nor can we trust the accuracy of what the other person is hearing or what they will say. What we don’t often take into account when we are delivering our message is the context within which that message is being delivered.

Words when combined are powerful tools for inspiring, uplifting, enlightening, informing, motivating, and describing any number of situations. One of the most powerful functions of words is the picture or context that they create for the listener.

For example, if someone told you that a person was self-centered before you even met him, when you finally did meet, you would see everything that he or she did as evidence that they were self-centered. And unless you were consciously assessing your own interpretations or judgments of their behavior, you may never change your opinion of that particular character trait.

In fact a famous psychologist once told me that once President Clinton told the public that he “did not have sex with that woman,” that no matter what evidence was offered later, many people still refused to believe anything that ran contrary to what they initially thought.

If you want the message that you deliver to have a positive impact, consider the following questions you might ask yourself that will help you consider the context of the message and the person to whom you are speaking:

What is the topic to be discussed? Obviously the delivery of your message will be different based on the topic. Is this a search for understanding? Do you need to provide constructive or negative feedback? Are you simply looking for more information on an issue? Is this a very sensitive subject with legal ramifications that need to be discussed? You need to be clear about the topic and determine the best way to approach the message you want to deliver.

What is the purpose of the conversation? Specifically identifying your purpose allows you to determine what you would like the person to do. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, then you are almost assured of not achieving what you want. You have to know what you would like the end result to be if you expect to communicate clearly.

What is the current status of your relationship? You might even ask yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how much trust currently exists in your relationship with them. In situations where you have a strong or positive relationship, where the person really knows that you care about them both as a person and a professional, you can deliver a strong message, and they are less likely to take what you have to say personally. However, you must realize that many people take everything personally as a matter of their style. However, the strength of the relationship should be considered as you chose to deliver your message.

What judgments do you hold or assumptions are you making? Before holding any difficult conversation, it is important for you to surface and assess the judgments or assumptions that you hold about the person. For example, if you think that they are a “jerk,” the chances are great that you will treat them in such a way that your behavior will elicit their jerkiness. In essence we often influence people to show up in a certain way by the way that we treat them. You must identify any negative thinking and suspend it if your conversation is going to be successful.

What are the data in the current situation? Your thinking is based on the data, observation, or evidence that you have experienced. Once you have surfaced your thinking, you need to look for the evidence that substantiates your thinking. For example, if you repeatedly hear yourself accuse a person of being lazy, but you cannot identify any data that would logically lead you to that conclusion, then you need to seriously reflect on the conversation that you need to hold. After all, the data becomes the justification for what the person needs to change. If you can’t point to a specific behavior that you want them to improve, then they will not know what to change.

What is your plan for improving the situation? It is always best if the person comes up with their own plan for improving or changing the current situation. You would do this by asking them what they did, what they might do differently going forward, or where they are stuck in the process of trying to identify a viable solution. If they struggle to identify a plan, you want to be prepared by taking a moment prior to the conversation to identify a possible plan of attack. That way you can offer suggestions to help them create a plan that will work for them and you.

The questions above should help you to consider the words that you will use as you craft your message or prepare for the difficult conversation that you need to hold.

Obviously, not all conversations are difficult, but if the potential is there for the conversation to go awry, you need to slow down, reflect on the questions above, and identify the best way to deliver the message you really want to give.

Taking a moment to do so will improve the message that you deliver and the results you want to achieve.

Read more; http://leadchangegroup.com/six-questions-to-improve-the-power-of-your-message/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

100 Leadership Quotes I’m Memorizing by End of 2015

While some collect coins, spoons, stamps, I am an avid collector of quotes and books. Since I was 15, I have collected thousands of quotes. Two years ago, this avocation inspired me to create a quote book which I’m offering FREE to all my readers. As a student of leadership, I hope you will use these quotes as a resource for future blog posts, speeches, and books.

1. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. — Peter. F Drucker

2. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams

3. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what do do and let them surprise you with their results. — George S. Patton

4. Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

5. Great leadership is about human experiences. It’s not a formula or a program. It is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine — Lance Secretan

6. Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. — Stephen R. Covey

7. Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. — Norman Schwarzkopf

9. If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

10. Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

11. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — John C. Maxwell

12. A highly credible leader under-promises and over-delivers. — John C. Maxwell

13. Followers are the gem cutters of leadership coaxing out its full brilliance. — Ira Chaleff

14. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. — Rosalynn Carter

15. Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. — T.S. Eliot

16. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. — William Arthur Ward

17. Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. — Albert Schweitzer

18. In a battle between two ideas, the best one doesn’t necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it. — Seth Godin

19. Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. — Harry Truman

20. If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything. — Tom Rath

21. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. — Colin Powell

22. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality; the last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. — Max De Pree

23. If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants. — Isaac Newton

24. My own definition of leadership is this: the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. — General Montgomery

25. The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already. — John Buchan

26. Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them. — Stephen Covey

27. A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte

28. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

29. I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader

30. People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. — John C. Maxwell

31. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock — Thomas Jefferson

32. Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. — Brian Tracy

33. All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership. — John Kenneth Galbraith

34. The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. — Theodore Roosevelt

35. Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline. ― James C. Collins

36. The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. ― Ronald Reagan

37. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. ― Warren Bennis

38. The price of greatness is responsibility. ― Winston Churchill

39. I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. ― Albert Einstein

40. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ― Harold R. McAlindon

41. I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: Try to please everybody. ― Herbert Swope

42. You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things. ― Mother Teresa

43. People don’t buy what you do ; they buy why you do it – Simon Sinek

44. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. ― James. C. Collins

45. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. ― Theodore Roosevelt

46. A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example. ― John Wooden

47. Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. ― John C. Maxwell

48. Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard. ― Warren Bennis

49. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you, shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. ― Jesus of Nazareth

50. The spiritual leader should outpace the rest of the church, above all, in prayer. ― Oswald Sanders

51. Desiring to excel is not a sin. It is motivation that determines ambition’s character. Our Lord never taught against the urge to high achievement, but He did expose and condemn unworthy motivation. ― Oswald Sander

52. You can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close. ― Howard Hendricks

53. He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. ― Aristotle

54. My great concern for you in life is not that you will fail, but that you will succeed in doing the wrong things. ― Howard Hendricks

55. Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. ― Eleanor Roosevelt

56. It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. ― John Steinbeck

57. Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ― Mark Twain

58. We can do no great things – only small things with great love. ― Mother Teresa

59. Where there is no vision, the people perish. ― Proverbs 29:18

60. We must be the change we wish to see in the world. ― Mahatma Gandhi

61. Being in ministry requires a deep and intensive love for people. ― Dr. Aubrey Malphurs

61. Leaders aren’t born, they are made. ― Vince Lombardi

62. A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. Max Lucado

63. Whatever you are, be a good one. ― Abraham Lincoln

64. If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. ― Benjamin Franklin

65. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. ― John F. Kennedy

66. You manage things; you lead people. ― Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

67. Don’t quack like a duck; soar like an eagle. ― Ken Blanchard

68. Feedback is the breakfast of champions. ― Ken Blanchard

69. A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others see. – Leroy Eimes

70. To lead people, walk beside them. As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence … When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!'” – Lao Tsu

71. A big part of leadership is recognizing that your fruit often grows on other peoples trees. – Todd Adkins

72. Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will. -A.W. Tozer

73. My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.  – Lincoln

74. Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. – Proverbs 4:23

75. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. – President Abraham Lincoln

76. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle

77. No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it. —Andrew Carnegie

78. The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. — Harvey Firestone

79. It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. — Nelson Mandela

80. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. — Steve Jobs

81. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. — Steve Jobs

82. People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. — Theodore Roosevelt

83. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. — Thomas Paine

84. The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. — Henry A. Kissinger

85. Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing. — Tom Peters

86. Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best. — Chester W. Nimitz

87. Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. – Eleanor Roosevelt88. The more seriously you take your growth, the more seriously people will take you. – John C. Maxwell89. Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. – John C. Maxwell

90. As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot. – Ray Kroc

91. I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. – Bruce Lee

92. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. – Proverbs 16:3

93. Success is final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill

94. I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through – then follow through. – EV Rickenbacker

95. The best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present. – James Kouzes and Barry Posne

96. If you are not willing to risk the unusual you will have to settle for the ordinary. – John Rohn

97. Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “what’s in it for me.?” – Brian Tracy

98. If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself. – D.L Moody

99. It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. – St. Francis

100. You teach what you know; you reproduce what you are. – Leif Hetland

Read more; http://ht.ly/JksFp

How Human-Centered Leaders Follow Principles that Matter

Many think of leadership and power as a peanut butter and chocolate combination. They just go together. There is power in being a leader yet too often leaders put the objective of power above doing the right thing and engaging people in a respectful, thoughtful way. Self-interest overrides sound leadership principles.

When principle is placed first, however, our leadership changes dramatically. Leading on principle first solves many problems and produces clarity in how to build organizational cultures.

The Buffer Example

Several weeks ago I received an email from the team at Buffer. I am a customer. The email subject was “Introducing Transparent Pricing.” Here is an excerpt:

“Transparency has been a foundational principle of the way we do things here at Buffer. We share the details of our salaries, our revenue, our fundraising, and more. Today, I’m so excited to extend this transparency directly to you, our beloved Buffer customer!”

Leading on principle first solves many problems and produces clarity in how to build organizational cultures.

As I clicked through and read more, I was amazed. They highlighted where money was spent and identified monthly salaries of team members. Much more about the organization wasrevealed in their blog.

What was clear is that transparency was a galvanizing leadership principle. Everything done by the company is centered on being transparent. And transparency is expanding as the company grows, not the other way around (as would be expected).

I have never met Joel Gascoigne, CEO of Buffer, but I would like to. Joel represents someone who is challenging leaders to raise the standard in the way they lead. He is not the first, although he is likely among a minority of leaders who are leading on clear principles.

Why Leading on Principle Matters

People often talk about leadership principles. They have a list off six to eight principles they try to lead by. Those principles are likely in a handbook, pinned to a wall, or just part of a quarterly speech. A list of principles is just that: A list.

When a principle that matters is front-and-center and used in every important decision made, the principle is a leading one. The principle becomes the guiding light and the test to ensure the decisions square with the principle. The principle is activated within the leader. I may sound repetitive but this is important. Rather than being talked about, the principle is used often and others see the impact of the principle in how work is done and how everyone acts.

Let’s be specific. Highlighted below are three reasons why leading on principle matters.

1. Brings Clarity to Discussions and Decisions

When people are wrestling with important decisions, the test of whether or not the right decision is being made is how it stacks up against a key principle. In Buffer’s case, whether or not to withhold certain performance news would be a short conversation. Doing so would violate their principle of transparency.

Clarity brings speed to some decisions. Clarity will also bring meaningful conversations, ensuring the principle remains unvarnished and can thrive through various business and leadership challenges.

2. Creates and Sustains Organizational Culture

When starting a company, getting the initial hiring right is crucial. Hiring the right people delivers a foundation in which the company can continue to succeed in their mission. With a guiding principle, the right questions to ask an interviewee is easier. With a guiding principle, the screening process is easier. Self-screening may happen as well.

In the Buffer example, when a potential hire reads about their transparent culture and how salaries are known by the world, they may elect to not apply. This culture may not fit everyone and that is okay. In fact, it is better this way for many reasons. From costs of early departures to disruptive behaviors, avoiding these costs and hurdles means a lot to any organization – young or old.

Clarity will also bring meaningful conversations, ensuring the principle remains unvarnished and can thrive through various business and leadership challenges.

3. Serves as a Way to Galvanize Organizational Purpose

Uncertainty creates wasted energy. There is enough uncertainty in market conditions without adding to it with internal wishy-washiness. Let’s be real honest. Too many organizations seem flimsy in what their real purpose is. Instead of focusing on a higher mission or purpose, many competing individual desires take over. Uncertainty in purpose reigns and, worse, people get worn out and the organizational culture becomes disoriented.

When principles are present and demonstrated with consistent messages and actions, peoplefeel joy in their work. The joy in the work happens because purpose and principle usually go hand-in-hand. When strong principles guide leadership, purpose is present, too.

Abdicate Power, Elevate Principle

orePrinciples elevate leaders to act in an unselfish way and focus on a higher purpose of their organization. Purpose floods in every doorway and hallway, and you can see the determination and joy in each person. People want to do work where what they do matters and serves some greater good. Principles serve as the motivating core to make this happen.

The time is now to lead on principle, empowering a higher standard of leadership and engagement. The power of principle will inspire the sweet mix of purpose, profit, and people.

Read More; http://switchandshift.com/how-human-centered-leaders-follow-principles-that-matter?utm_content=bufferd8130&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Roselinde Torres: What it takes to be a great leader

Washington's Lessons: It’s Never too Early to Choose to Lead

GREAT LEADERSHIP doesn’t just happen. Great leaders are revealed in extraordinary circumstances, but they are made long before. A person’s quality of leadership radiates from their character. Consequently, it’s never too early to begin your leadership development. 

George Washington filled many roles in his lifetime: a surveyor, frontier explorer, businessman, land speculator, soldier, farmer and statesman. A couple of examples from Washington’s childhood help to explain his successes later in life. 

By age sixteen, Washington had copied out by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. They are based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. The first rule sets the tone of the others that follow: “Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.” There isn’t a leader that wouldn’t benefit from a daily reminder of this approach. Time and time again, these rules from his childhood played out in the conduct of his public life and defined his reputation. These rules and his concern for them integrated him as a leader and bonded him with those he led. 

George Washington’s father died when he was eleven leaving him to be raised by his older brother Lawrence. By age fifteen his formal schooling was over and he had achieved the equivalent of only a grade school education. But his education never stopped. Washington was an avid reader, soaking up the works of historians and thinkers. He was especially drawn to the essays of the Roman philosopher Seneca and Joseph Addison’s play Cato with its lesson in selfless leadership. He studied the ideas of his contemporaries in writings and conversation. He also spent a good deal of time writing which helped to solidify his thoughts. Learning is more than discovery. It helps us to make sense of things. It’s more than collecting information—it is applying it in a constructive way to some area of our life. 

It is the mindset of a leader to work on themselves harder than they work on others. A leader’s first responsibility is governing themselves. Historian Gordon Wood has written, “Washington became a great man and was acclaimed as a classical hero because of the way he conducted himself during times of temptation. It was his moral character that set him off from other men.” 

Leadership is embodied in the way you look at the world and respond to it. It’s never too early to choose to lead.

Read more; http://ht.ly/Ja7jX

The Secret Weapon of Great Leaders

Is Your Leadership Style Right for the Digital Age?

Advancement in digital technologies has disrupted everything, including leadership styles, according to Barry Libert, Jerry Wind and Megan Beck Fenley. Employees want more ownership rather than to follow instruction; customers want to participate in the marketing and development process; and leaders are finding that open and agile organizations are able to maneuver more effectively than organizations where “all insight and direction comes from the top. In short, the autocratic Commander, whether brilliant or misguided, just won’t cut it anymore,” they write in this opinion piece.

History is full of great Commanders. The stories of General Patton commanding his troops before D-Day, Steve Ballmer yelling at his employees to “get on their feet” at a Microsoft event, and Jack Welch berating his people as he barked his orders “straight from his gut” are all well documented. These leaders accomplished great things and relied heavily on a “Command and Control” style of leadership. However, leadership preferences are evolving in parallel with a number of market and cultural shifts. Their successors, General Colin Powell, Jeff Immelt (GE) and Satya Nadella (Microsoft), as well as a host of other executives like Tony Hseigh of Zappos or Marc Benioff of salesforce.com, more often take on the role of Collaborator or Co-Creator, rather than Commander. And for good reason: These less autocratic leadership styles resonate with today’s empowered, connected and skeptical customers and employees — often leading to increased innovation, loyalty, profit and growth. Twitter 

So what has changed in the last 20-30 years to require new ways of leading? Technological advancement has created a ripple effect that is transforming the market. Today’s digital technologies — social, cloud, big data analytics, mobile and the Internet of everything — have created new, intangible, sources of value, such as relationships and information that are delivered by new business models. Along with the new sources of value, customers and employees’ wants and needs have evolved as digital technologies have created new ways of interacting with businesses. Attracting, satisfying and retaining these connected and savvy stakeholders requires leaders to learn some new tricks — but there are rewards. Businesses and leaders that adapt to this new environment see economic payout with higher profit, growth and valuations, and more (see our earlier article in Knowledge@Wharton, Why Businesses Should Serve Consumers’ ‘Higher Needs’) 

New Leadership Styles 

So what is a leader to do given this new digitally enabled and hyper-connected environment? Employees and freelancers (such as Apple’s developer community) want ownership, impact and recognition, rather than to follow instruction. Customers want to participate in the marketing and development process (witness how consumer/business relationships have grown on social media and the rise of crowdsourcing businesses like Victors and Spoils), rather than be told what they want and why. Leaders are finding that open and agile organizations are able to respond faster and more effectively to these developments than organizations where all insight and direction comes from the top. In short, the autocratic Commander, whether brilliant or misguided, just won’t cut it anymore. Leaders need a broader range of style options to match the broader range of assets companies are creating today.

Figure 1: Disruption caused by new technology

In our business model research, based on financial data from the S&P 500 companies, we found that Network Orchestrators — companies that invest in intangible assets, like relationships with customers and suppliers (Facebook, LinkedIn, Airbnb, TripAdvisor) have the highest Multipliers (price to revenue ratios) at an average of 8x (more details here). These value premiums result from rapid growth and low scaling cost, as noted by Jeremy Rifkin in The Zero Marginal Cost Society. Further, we identified that the different leadership styles complement some business models and detract from others because each business model leverages different types of assets, which perform best under different leadership styles.

Since most companies are actually a composite of different asset classes and business types — for example, Nike manufactures shoes (physical), but also develops some software (intellectual) and is developing a network with Nike+ (network) — most leaders use several of the four leadership styles:

Figure 2: Relationship Between Business Model, Leadership Style and Value

The Commander sets the goal and tells others how to accomplish it. This works well with machinery, which happily does what it is told, and with direct subordinates who prefer to simply execute. It is less effective with employees and customers who want choice and participation. The result in today’s world is high marginal costs and little participation and buy-in. This style is most suited to the production of manufactured, commoditized goods as it is limited by the Commander’s vision and bandwidth.

The Communicator also sets a vision and a plan, but communicates it in order to inspire and create buy-in. This works better with employees and customers who want to at least understand where “the firm is headed.” It enables them to take action in line with the leader’s vision (it scales effectively), but it does not encourage innovation. This style is suited to services firms where all employees must work to fulfill the mission.

“Leaders need a broader range of style options to match the broader range of assets companies are creating today.”

The Collaborator works hand-in-hand with customers and employees (be they full time, part time or independent) to achieve the organization’s goals. As a result, it is empowering and enabling. This style taps into the innovation of people and drives the creation of new intellectual capital. Great examples are open innovators such as Victors and Spoils, a collaborative ad agency and Merck with its crowd-sourcing competitions.

The Co-Creator allows other stakeholders to pursue their individual goals in parallel with the goals of the organization. As a result, he or she drives both rapid scaling (due to the high level of participation) and innovation. This style is at the heart of network companies where value is shared by the company and the network participants, such as Airbnb, Uber and Innocentive.com.

Read more; http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-right-leadership-style-for-the-digital-age/