Leadership Qualities

Effectively Communicate With Writing Skills

By Brandon W. Jones on April 18, 2013 6

Several years ago, I wrote a paper for school where I was supposed to convey a message. I felt like this would be an easy assignment because I had great writing skills, or so I thought… I got done with the paper and felt like I had done a great job. My thoughts changed, however, once I received it back from my teacher. After writing the paper, I realized that I had a long ways to go to improve my writing skills. My teacher read my paper and marked up many places where I had made small grammatical errors or other mistakes. Luckily that was at the beginning of the semester and my writing skills improved by the end of the semester. During that semester, my teacher taught me a lesson about the importance of having great writing skills.

In leadership and business, writing skills are very important. When you have strong writing skills, you are able to effectively communicate your message to your intended audience whether that is the board of directors, stockholders, employees, or anyone else.

Two Steps To Improve Your Writing Skills

Writing skills are essential for communicating in a professional environment. There are two steps you can take to improve your writing skills with little effort. [Read more…] about Effectively Communicate With Writing Skills

4 Characteristics Of The Silent Leader

By Brandon W. Jones on April 16, 2013 4

Many of us have had a silent leader in our lives. The silent leader has a powerful impact on you because they don’t have to say much to be a great leader. They set a strong positive example for everyone to follow. Also, when they lead, others follow just because of who they are.

I will use the pronoun “he” throughout this post to mean both he and she rather than go back and forth between “he/she” and “him/her”. I do not intend offend anyone.

Four Characteristics of a Silent Leader

Each silent leader that I have met had some if not all of the following four characteristics.

Example

A silent leader understands that he sets the example for those he leads. He knows that he cannot expect his followers to do anything he is not willing to do, so he sets the best example he can for his followers. In addition, the silent leader realizes that everything that happens around him starts with what he does. If he sets a good example, people are more likely to do good while if he sets a bad example, others will be more likely to make poor choices as well. To set a good example, the silent leader takes the initiative and determines how he is going to act in any given situation before the situation arrives so that he can make good choices.

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Be In Network As The Leader

By Brandon W. Jones on April 15, 2013 2

When I was in the MBA program at the University of Nevada – Reno, I took a class called Changing Environments of Business. One of the main focuses of the class was how to be in network as the leader. The class was full of business leaders which gave each student a great opportunity to be in network with other business leaders. In addition, my teacher based each student’s grade on how well they got in network with other leaders in the class. Since the class was a Saturday class, he also required that students go to lunch together during the middle of the class to get to know each other. This reinforced the importance of being in network with other leaders.

My teacher was in his 80’s and had had many careers throughout his life in a variety of industries. In each industry he learned that it was essential to be in network if you wanted to succeed. He taught me that if you were in network, as a leader, you would always know what was going on within your organization. He taught that there are benefits from being in network.

Be In Network

In almost every, if not every, organization there are internal politics with an internal network, what I call “in network.” Within those networks, there are people that know exactly what is going on. At the same time, there are others that don’t have a clue. As a leader, it is important for you to be in network. When you are in network, you are able to find out what is going on in the company, who is getting promoted, who is favored amongst leadership, what strategic moves the company is going to make, etc. before it happens. [Read more…] about Be In Network As The Leader

The Leadership Benefits Of Daily Meditation

By Brandon W. Jones on April 12, 2013 4

Have you experienced the benefits of daily meditation? With all the stresses of leadership, daily meditation is very helpful! In leadership, there are many things that can stress you on a daily basis. The following questions can cause a lot of stress. “What are you doing to improve the bottom line? What are you going to do to change the culture of your organization? What are you doing to help improve your organization? What are you doing to improve yourself? Are you doing enough to change the existing systems to make them run more smoothly?” As a leader, you are probably confronted with each of these questions regularly, as well as many more.

So what can you do to get the answers? Although each answer comes in its own way, daily meditation can help you to clear your mind. Daily meditation can also help you to think through the solutions in your mind before you have to present them to others. After daily meditation, your head is clear and you can be more focused when you go back to identifying solutions to your problems. [Read more…] about The Leadership Benefits Of Daily Meditation

The Difference Between A Dream And A Goal

By Brandon W. Jones on April 11, 2013 1

In life there are goals and there are dreams. Do you have dreams? Do you have goals? What is the difference between a dream and a goal? This post will explain the difference between a dream and a goal.

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.
T. E. Lawrence

The quote above is very powerful. Have you ever sat back and thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if some day I could _______!” Or have you thought, “I hope that some day I can _________.” You can fill in the blank on whatever comes to your mind. Whenever you have these thoughts, you are probably dreaming about a future that is better that your current situation. [Read more…] about The Difference Between A Dream And A Goal

Take Control Of Your Life

By Brandon W. Jones on April 10, 2013 2

When you want to take control of your life, you must make your own choices. Those who take control are willing to own their choices. They know that each time they take control of their choices, they will learn something new whether it is good or bad. When you don’t take control of your life, you push your choices onto others and then blame them for the outcome when it is bad. If, however, the outcome is good, they are the ones that are quick to take all the credit for a good decision.

What happens when you take control?

I have another friend that has gone through a lot of hardships. He has lost his job multiple times due to layoffs, been rejected in relationships, and not been able to find a good job that met his qualifications. He has even struggled to make ends meet. Overall, he has many reasons to complain. He could blame his situation on everyone else for their behavior and what they have done to him, but he has a different approach. He is always positive and regularly looks inward to figure out what he needs to do differently. He constantly seeks opportunities to do more and be better. He has the attitude that he will not let himself settle for what he thinks he can earn by taking control of his life. With this attitude, he is gradually finding success, but it has come as a result of his hard work and dedication. He has taken control of his life.

What happens when you don’t take control?

I have a friend that is a chronic complainer. He has been blessed with many material possessions compared to most, but every chance he gets he complains about someone or something. “That person isn’t nice enough.” “I am underprivileged because I don’t have the nicest new thing.” “It’s not fair that I ONLY have this and everyone else has that, especially with the amount of work I put in. It’s not fair!” “It’s not my fault that this is happening to me, it is the boss’s fault.” “I would be more successful if that person didn’t put that road block in my way.” The list of his comments and negativity goes on and on. He never takes any of the blame for his situation because it is always the fault of something or someone else. He did not take control of his life because he has given his control to others. [Read more…] about Take Control Of Your Life