Do you Lead or will you Get Out of the Way?

It's the last of our micro leadership course. So there is a bonus.  This time there are FOUR skills to focus on.

Your four leadership skills are:

Act – Talking and thinking won’t get the results that Action will. Leadership is not a theory, it is an action. So take action and be the leader you want to be.

Authenticity – Be yourself. Get inspiration and ideas from others but be yourself. Adapt the ideas and skills to your style. It will then be natural for you to lead.

Appreciate – Thank the people who support you and your team, regardless of how small their contribution. Words and gestures of appreciation make a far bigger difference that you can imagine.  Even if someone is doing what they are supposed to, showing appreciation makes a big difference.

Share – A leader takes a little more than their fair share of the blame and a little less than their fair share of the accolades. Have some humility.  It will make you more attractive as a leader and will create a massive sense of loyalty in those around you.

Don't forget to measure your progress.  Using the ten simple leadership skills you have received over the last three weeks will make a huge difference in what you can achieve as a team in your personal and professional life.

Go for it!

Are You a Leader?

It's the second part of our micro leadership course.

Last week I was at Band Camp improving my music skills (I got a Bass Guitar for Christmas!!). I was also working on my communication and leadership skills.  Even when jamming, a direction is needed, support of the others is invaluable, and as a bass player sometimes all I do is play a boring two notes over and over (and over and over...) but this lays the foundation for others to build on.

Your work is probably the same. For this week, your three leadership skills are:

Own it – With great responsibility comes great power.  Taking ownership of a situation gives you the power to improve it or get out of it. Sitting around acting helpless keeps you in it.

Listen – We have 2 ears and 1 mouth so use them in that ratio. So often we are busy telling others what we think that we miss out on their valuable input. We also leave them feeling unheard and demotivated.

Decide – Make decisions. Even the wrong decision is better than no decision. A decision leads to movement and action. This will lead to a result.  If it is not the right result, change your decision.

Enjoy

PS The Picture is from www.warwickbass.com  A German company that makes Bass Guitars with my name on them. How cool!

Do You Lead?

To kick of the year I wanted to give you a micro course in Leadership.  Some of you may think you do not have a leadership position, well you would be wrong! You are the leader of your own life.

So even if you work on your own, these points can help you in getting what you want out of life personally and professionally.

I don't overwhelm you with a massive to do list, especially since many of you will be just returning to work after the festive season break and your inbox and to do list is already bulging.  To make it easier to digest I have broken it into a three week course.  Each week you can focus on three things.  

Thinking about these items is not enough.  You need to put these three principles into action. 

For this week, your three skills are:

Focus – Where is your focus?  What you focus on will get achieved. So have some kind of reminder (a picture, statement or symbol) to help you and your team focus on what is really IMPORTANT and not just urgent.

Measure – What gets measured gets improved.  How will you measure your improvement or progress?  Is it numeric, do you need surveys, should you involve your customers?

Delegate – Get more done by doing less.  It is too easy to say "But I can do it quicker."  Work with your team to train them up to do what needs to be done. The effort will bring great returns.

How will you implement these three principles?

Enjoy!