5 Great Leadership Posts For The Week

This week there were many great leadership posts. It made it very difficult to decide which ones to highlight.  Because there were many great leadership posts, I selected leadership posts about different aspects of leadership.  I picked leadership posts about the people guided by a leader.  Some of the leadership posts discussed how leaders developed their followers to be the future leaders, while others focused on leaders asking their people the right questions.

5 Great Leadership Posts For The Week

8 Leadership Skills Essential for Success in the Future by Jesse Lyn Stoner

I don’t need a crystal ball to see what will be required of leaders in the future. All I need to do is look around.

Most of the companies I work with these days are multi-national – not because I am changing, but because companies are changing. They are expanding, becoming larger and more complex as they seek to establish a presence in new markets.

These changes require some new sets of leadership skills. I believe these skills will soon be required of leaders in all types of organizations. Driven by technology, our interconnection and inter-dependence as individuals, as companies, and as countries are expanding exponentially.

Brandon’s Thoughts
This leadership post focuses on what leaders must do to be successful in an expanding business world. As leaders help their companies grow to other countries, they must be sure to set up the organization so the company maintains consistency in changing environments.  They must set up a system to effectively disseminate all information to the various parts of the organization.  To do that, leaders should have highly qualified employees to maintain continuity throughout the company.

Manage Talent: Build Managers by Steve Roesler

Here’s a lead from a Management-Issues article that caught my attention:

“The focus of many American businesses on nurturing and grooming their top-level talent is masking a growing crisis further down the management scale – with more than half admitting they are suffering from a “critical” shortage of middle managers.”

Because quite a bit of our client work relates to developing talent, it really jumped off the page. I’m not surprised at the implied shock value because headlines are supposed to grab attention. And, the survey quoted was conducted by a reputable talent management firm whose purpose is to drill down and find out what is happening in their specialty area: talent management.

Brandon’s Thoughts
Now more than ever, it is very important to train your employee’s to be leaders so you can bridge the gap between top-level executives and new employees. By bridging this gap, you will begin to have more middle level managers.  With the economy where it is, it is a much more effective use of resources to train your existing employees to be leaders than to hire new people to be leaders from outside companies.  When bringing in leaders from outside companies, there is a significant learning curve.  You have to bring the new leader up to speed on your business practices and policies.  On the other hand, if you train existing employees to be leaders they will already understand the company background and be able to fall into their new role with relative ease.

7 Suggestions For Asking More Powerful Questions by Michael Hyatt

When I started out in my career, the key to success was having the right answers. If the boss had a question, he expected me to have the answer—or know where to get it. Those who advanced in their careers the quickest were seemingly the ones who had the most answers.

But as I began to ascend the corporate ladder, I discovered that the key to success began to shift. It became less and less about having the right answers and more and more about having the right questions.

Brandon’s Thoughts
Questions are a very important aspect of leadership. To be an effective leader, you must know how to ask good questions. This post explains how to effectively ask questions. As a leader, you must know how to ask the right questions to get solutions quickly.

Leadership In The Digital World by Lyn Boyer

This morning, I read with interest an article about social media and how we measure our “place” in it. The article reported the results of a study about the degree to which Klout and other social media measurement tools actually measure influence (Skelton, 2012). Through interviews, analysis of social media impact services, and review of brands that have social media influence programs, the researchers investigated the success of those programs and the degree to which services like Klout measure that success. “Understanding the potential of digital influence, the question is, do these new services that capture social media scores equate to influence? The answer is no. But that doesn’t mean they’re not useful.” They went on to discuss how they can be useful (Solis, 2012).

Brandon’s Thoughts
As leaders, you must know how to use your time effectively. In the world of social media, you can have a lot of influence as a leader. You must be very careful, however, to use social media effectively and not just as a time sink.  When participating in social media, identify your target audience and meet their needs.  By properly identifying your target audience, you don’t waste a lot of time on efforts that don’t help you obtain your desired outcome.

Leadership Lessons From The World’s Most Admired Companies by Dan McCarthy

Hay Group is often asked about what we’ve learned from the World’s Most Admired Companies. When it comes to fostering and developing leadership, my answer tends to be that it’s just a part of what WMACs do; it’s engrained in their DNA. That’s not to say that these companies are not conscious of leadership. In fact, I mean quite the opposite. WMACs are always conscious of and investing in the development and leadership of their people. Leadership is the “glue” that connects the WMACs’ business strategy, operations and program changes, and ultimately, their commitment to human capital.

Brandon’s Thoughts
The most effective companies in the world have programs to build up leaders within the organization.  This allows them to prepare the future leaders for the time when they will lead the organization.  These programs allow the current leaders to train the future leaders so the company can maintain its current goals and objectives.  The current leaders are able to maintain more influence over the long-term direction of the company.

Summary

Each of these leadership posts addresses a different aspect of leading your followers.  As you lead, focus on those you lead because they will follow your lead as you direct the company.  When your followers see that you have their interests at heart, they will help you to reach the organizational goals.  They will also be your biggest asset in the changing business environment of today’s world.

What are your thoughts on the leadership posts?  How do you try to succeed in your leadership?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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