Leadership is Discipline

Leaders must have discipline!  I am not talking punishment, but rather the body of knowledge.  Discipline is a key leadership trait.  Leaders who are not disciplined will not succeed.  Great leaders continually self-develop, adding to their discipline.  A strong knowledge base will provide leaders with the understanding to perform during critical situations.  For instance, leaders might rely on discipline for:

• Instilling team action;
• Inspiring others;
• Motivating team members;
• Commitment;
• Accountability; and
• Adaptation.

These are a few areas where leadership discipline will benefit leadership success.  Areas that leaders can extend their influential leadership discipline include:

• Formal education;
• Industry-recognized training;
• Reading leadership publications, and
• Practice.

Leaders who continually add knowledge to their discipline will continue to grow and identify new techniques to challenge teams to deliver in new and exciting ways.  Leadership is continuously growing, and leaders can stay abreast by consistently adding to their discipline.  Thanks.

Mike

#bleadersedge #leadershipdiscipline #self-develop #TEAM123 #leadership #discipline

Leadership is Character

Today, we will discuss character as it pertains to leadership

Leaders’ character may be considered one of the core foundations of influential leadership.  When we look at ourselves and develop our influential leadership character, we must understand our values first.  Our core values reflect directly on our character and our leadership character.  Do our values reflect in our leadership style?

We may also consider looking at our moral fortitude.  Do we have a strong character to leverage into influential leadership to guide others in a consistent, yet correct manner to deliver quality results that align to organizational goals?

Influential leadership character is critical during times of team adversity.  Why?  Well, trust and respect re-enter the picture based on how an influential leader responds to adverse times.  We want to deliver during adverse times as leaders.  This is when leaders shine, even though they may gain scars from tough decisions.  There are questions to consider when looking at your leadership character.  Some include:

• Is your character aligned properly to deliver results in a non-biased manner?  
• Are you organized?
• Are you ethical?
• Do you offer strong beliefs and values? 
• Are your skills fresh? 
• How about your emotional intelligence level during each decision? 

Are you looking at these areas consistently to strengthen and align your character to an influential leadership development vision and plan you should keep close as a leader?  Influential leadership character is a main area of focus that leaders should maintain a development plan to strengthen over time.  Thanks.

I am Mike with BLeadersEdge. Don’t forget to follow our page and share comments to further the leadership discipline discussion at bleadersedge.com.

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Leadership is Teamwork

Leadership teamwork starts with you and your self-awareness.  Why start with self-awareness?  Well, you have personal goals, right?  If you do not, then why are you doing what you do for work?  Well, those goals likely align with the team and organizational goals at this point.  You should be aware of the personal, team, and organizational goals. Why, well, teamwork, great teamwork that is, is built by aligning teams and people with the organization’s:

• Goals
• Mission
• Vision
• Values
• Ethics

Aligning with the organization will help teams deliver success.  This is the foundation for building strong leaders in the organization.  Teamwork aligns teams to deliver and achieve together.  Leaders will plan and define the necessary steps to deliver success.  Great leaders will also delegate, set expectations, establish accountability, and remove obstacles to help teams strive to achieve success.  Great leaders need strong teamwork.  It is one of the key foundations for delivering results. 

Great leaders will build strong teams by establishing:

• Trust
• Respect
• Loyalty
• Accountability
• Clarity

Sure, there are more leadership characteristics, but these will definitely be a solid start for leaders to help build strong teams.  Teamwork needs to be built on trust.  Leaders will allow teams to work towards objects with as little supervision as possible.  But they must first define boundaries, align expectations, define responsibilities, and remove obstacles to allow the teams room for success.  Great leaders will find that there are many ways to build teams and establish strong teamwork.  Each team is unique and trust me, I have had many teams in my career.  The important thing here is that great leaders will build the teams on a strong foundation while providing a clear framework to deliver results.  Thoughts?  Thanks.

I am Mike with BLeadersEdge, don’t forget to like our page and share comments to further the leadership discipline discussion.

#bleadersedge #leadershipteamwork #teamwork #self-awareness #greatleader #leadership #fyp #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoach #TEAM123Leadership

Leadership is Conflict Management

Leadership must manage conflict management!  Leaders will undoubtedly face team and organizational conflicts.  But leaders must approach each conflict as an opportunity and maintain respect and keep emotions in check through conflict management.  As people negotiate for organizational resources during execution activities, there will come times when conflicts arise over:

• Initiative/Project priorities;
• Key organizational resources;
• Budgets; and
• Time/Schedules.

These are just a few areas that will bring about change within organizations.  Leaders will need to address each conflict with sound resolve and steady emotional intelligence.  Leaders should address organizational conflict professionally and openly.  Leaders can address organizational conflict by:

• Negotiation;
• Active listening;
• Identify issues;
• Establish plan;
• Identify responsibilities;
• Create priorities; and
• Execute plan.

There is no doubt in my mind that leadership will face conflicts during organizational activities.  Leaders have differing agendas daily. There will be times of conflict that leadership will need to address.  The important lesson here is that leaders address conflict as an opportunity to grow, rather than retreating, which may lead to a toxic workplace environment.  Visit BLeadersEdge.com for more information on conflict management training and many other leadership topics. Thanks.

Mike

#bleadersedge #leadership #leaders #conflictmanagement #incrementalshift #kooleaderzvideoseries #TEAM123

Leadership is Trust

Today, we will discuss trust as it pertains to leadership.

Leadership trust is a critical characteristic that provides a foundation for influential leadership.  Why would team members work with any leader without trust?  Well, team members need to know they can trust their leaders to guide them towards success.  Leaders can start by establishing honesty and active listening.  Once leaders establish honesty with team members, they can rely on character and integrity, two characteristics mentioned in earlier blogs.  Other characteristics leaders can focus on include credibility, accountability, supportiveness, clarity, competence, and empathy. 

This is not by any means all-inclusive, but it does provide a very strong core set to focus on gaining, building, and maintaining trust with team members.  Leaders can serve to build relationships, helping to establish team member trust.  Why is serving important to building trust? It comes down to the leader’s intent.  If team members identify that the leader intends to establish a strong relationship, trust becomes an outcome.

I have found that daily communications with team members on topics they enjoy can also help establish trust.  How did I perform daily communications?  Primarily, I would opt for simple good morning visits and just ask about team members’ interests and what the plans were for the upcoming weekend.  I leveraged messenger tools and email as well.  I found that investing in their interests helped me as a leader establish a trust bond. 

Leaders will find that trust can be a two-way street as well when looking to deliver successful outcomes geared toward organizational vision.  Leaders will find various techniques when building trust with the characteristics to continually build up established trust, but they must first focus on establishing the foundation with team members. Thoughts?

Thanks.

I am Mike with BLeadersEdge. Don’t forget to follow our page at bleadersedge.com and share comments to further the leadership discipline discussion.

#bleadersedge #leadershipteamwork #trust #lessonslearned #self-awareness #greatleader #leadership #fyp #leadershipdevelopment #leadershipcoach #team @bleadersedge

Leadership is Appreciation

Leadership is appreciation as leaders share sincere gratitude for team accomplishments.  A leader that can say in an open manner, “I appreciate you and your efforts” to a team member can gain gratitude and a foundation that will lead to respect.  Leadership appreciation is a tough step to deliver for some leaders as pride may enter and these leaders may take recognition for the team’s accomplishments. 

Why is there a difference when a leader grants appreciation versus taking credit?  A great leader will ensure that team accomplishments are celebrated by those that delivered in today’s globally competitive times.  A great leader will show appreciation to those that go above and beyond to reach the organization’s vision. 

Should leaders focus on providing appreciation in a one-on-one situation? I like to show appreciation in team meetings consistently to gain traction and support from the team.  Teams find that appreciation in a public environment carries a different level of acknowledgement than a one-on-one.  Leaders that have the common “I appreciate you all” do not gain as much team synergy.  A leader that understands the moments that matter at various stages of execution will identify those that deserve appreciation when the challenges confront the team’s objectives.  Thoughts?  Thanks.

Mike

#leadershipappreciation #appreciation #teamaccomplishments #gratitude #bleadersedge #leadership #fyp #leadershipdevelopment #management

Leadership is Authenticity

Leadership authenticity starts with self-awareness.  Why start with self-awareness?  Well, let me share my experience.  As I experienced personal challenges when I shattered my spine, I focused on my inner being and self-developed my leadership skills.  A leader should look within to identify strengths and weaknesses and harness great passion to build the foundation for authenticity. 

What are other characteristics a leader might consider focusing on, such as authenticity?  Well, an authentic leader is selfless and focuses on the organization’s vision and goals.  An authentic leader must be able to inspire and motivate from within before inspiring and motivating others.  The leader should build the internal characteristics, such as honesty, integrity, and moral fortitude, to increase leadership authenticity. 

Once a leader hones these traits, as well as others, to become authentic, (s)he can move towards providing stronger leadership for others.  Being an authentic leader will help team members build trust and support to help deliver organizational success.  Thoughts?  Thanks.

Mike

#bleadersedge #leadershipauthenticity #self-develop #self-awareness #authenticleader #organizationalsuccess #authenticity

Leadership is Self-Assurance

Leadership is self-assurance in your abilities and character to lead others!  Self-assured leaders lead with integrity.  They choose to lead others in a manner that reflects a part of their leadership qualities.  Self-assured great leaders are those who:

• Exuberant confidence;
• Build trust;
• Reflect character;
• Are motivated, and
• Act through engagement.

Being a self-assured leader has many positives, but overconfidence in one’s abilities should not be one.  Having too much confidence can lead to:

• Inability;
• Ineffectiveness;
• Stunted leadership development;
• Misled judgment; and
• Lost respect.

Self-assured leaders can find many opportunities to lead others, but must ensure they remain humble.  Performing periodic checks of leadership development should include assessing one’s self-assurance.  Look at how others perceive your confidence in your abilities.  This will help to ensure optimal growth without becoming overconfident in your abilities to lead others! Find out more with our leadership training at bleadersedge.com. Thanks.

Mike

@bleadersedge #management #leadership #inspiration #selfassurance

Conviction

Influential leaders must have strong conviction.  Leaders face various challenges and make decisions that impact their leadership perception, team members’ leadership influence, and the organization’s alignment with the vision and mission.  Examples may include:

• Communicating;
• Deciding;
• Delegating;
• Embracing Failures; and
• Managing risks.

These are just a few examples, as there are many more that leaders will need to have strong conviction to overcome obstacles while also making strong, informed decisions.  Leaders can also consider various aspects of situations to identify when conviction must increase.  Some may include:

• Fear;
• Uncertainty;
• Lack of information;
• Risks;
• Time limitations; and
• Quality issues.

Influential leadership with strong conviction will identify these aspects in advance to not only address issues with strength but also persevere over time to gain leadership following.  Thanks.

Mike

#bleadersedge #influentialleadership #influentialleader #leadershipisconviction

Leadership is Vision

Leaders are challenged to influence team members in today’s complex organizations.  With excellent diversity creating communication challenges along with generational gaps, leaders are challenged to influence team members.  But what is the leader trying to accomplish?  Leaders should visit the corporate or organizational vision.  The vision is always the guiding force for any organizational change that involves team members from across the organization. 

Leaders should keep the vision close and align short and long-term goals with it to ensure that organizational change aligns with the vision.  By constantly sharing the organizational vision, following it, and aligning goals to it, leaders can help team members adjust and adapt to a common shared path.  When leaders can get team members aligned to the leadership vision, it can create a great synergy for positive success.

Leaders can consider the following as an option to help align teams to the vision:

Vision > Strategy > Objectives/Goals > Plan > Execution > Reflection/Lessons Learned.

Having a process in place helps leaders drive organizational change towards the vision.  This can be very critical to ensure change is aligned to vision.  This provides a strong foundation for leadership principles.  Thanks.

Mike

bleadersedge.com

#Leadershipvision #positivesuccess #influenceteam #organizationalvision