Leadership Done Right Blog

Becoming An HR Business Partner

By Brandon W. Jones on July 19, 2013 0

This is a guest post by Bert Somsinsawasdi. He is an HR Professional that currently manages the HR department for a fortune 50 company. He oversees six facilities with approximately 1,300 employees. His website is Understanding HR and his Twitter Handle is @BertSomsin

As revenues decrease and margins get tighter, focus is shifted towards increased efficiency and effectiveness. Many corporations are weary about making adjustments to revenue producing sectors of the business so the support functions have been targeted for change. One particular department undergoing dramatic changes across multiple industries is the human resources department.

When earnings were plentiful, Human Resources consisted of many different sub-divisions such as: employee relations, learning and development, workforce planning, health and wellness, safety, recruiting, and so on. Fast-forward to today when everyone is struggling to meet analyst expectations on Wall Street and you get a bandwagon movement towards a package deal approach. The separate divisions within HR have been dismantled and bundled up into one generalist model.

Large corporations like Amazon, Conoco Phillips, Northrop Grumman and Volvo, to name a few, have transformed to meet shareholder expectations by developing the position of HR business partner. This revolution is demanding HR professionals with a wider skill set and deeper understanding of the overall business. As the title implies, a business partner is involved in the execution of all initiatives. Gone are the days when technical knowledge was enough to move you forward in your career. In the present and future, corporate America wants more! [Read more…] about Becoming An HR Business Partner

Prevent Leadership from Becoming Micromanagement

By Brandon W. Jones on July 18, 2013 0

This is a guest post by Chloe Trogden. She is a seasoned financial aid writer who covers specific opportunities such as grants for college. Her leisure activities include camping, swimming and volunteer work.

Dangers of Micromanagement

Many good leaders let their dedication and attention to detail become too much of a good thing – to the point where they are double-checking every detail of their employees’ work or they can’t let their employees make any

independent decisions, crippling work flow and robbing employees of a needed sense of autonomy or pride in a job well done.

Here are a few tips for how to prevent your leadership from becoming micromanagement: Take an honest look at your own management style. Is it more like micromanagement than leadership? Is it flirting dangerously close to the edge? Learning how to control this impulse will help you to create a happier work force that is more invested in their work and produces better results.

Learn to Delegate

When you maintain control over every aspect of a project or the decision making, you are micromanaging. It is important that you learn to delegate so that your employees feel empowered to make decisions and can use their unique skills to make a project successful. Rob them of that ability to make decisions for themselves, and they won’t make any. [Read more…] about Prevent Leadership from Becoming Micromanagement

A Tribute To One Of My Heroes

By Brandon W. Jones on July 16, 2013 4

In life, there are some leaders that have such a great impact on you that it changes who you are. Their influence goes beyond a single moment and lasts days, weeks, or years into the future. People that have this impact are very special. When you find someone that has that effect on you, it would be wise to pay close attention to the lessons they teach you and to savor the time you spend with with them.

I had a person like that in my life for 31 years of my life. That was my grandma, Doris Jones. If you are a regular follower of my website, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted much for the past month. The reason was that my grandma took a dive for the worst with her health and passed away on June 12, 2013. It has been a challenging time for my family and me, but also a time filled with family, love, and the sharing of great memories. My grandma was a great lady and one of my biggest heroes. As a tribute to her, the rest of this post is her obituary.

A Tribute To My Hero

Doris Gwendolyn Logan Jones was born May 5, 1926, to Dr. William and Florence Logan in Billings and died of natural causes on June 12, 2013, surrounded by her loving family. She is survived by her loving husband, Edward Jones; her five children Mark (Cathy) of Anchorage, Alaska, Kent (Kimberly), Stan (Christine), Cliff (Diane), all of Billings and Konni Davis (Tim) of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Also surviving are her brothers, Kenneth Logan (Ruth) of Warner Robbins, Ga., John Logan (Gwen) of Dearborn, Mich.; 23 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and sister, Betty Hartman. [Read more…] about A Tribute To One Of My Heroes

Creative Rewards For Employees

By Brandon W. Jones on July 11, 2013 0

Dennis Phoenix is a human resource specialist and writer. He writes on topics including business relationships, productivity, employee satisfaction, and corporate awards. He spends his weekends mountain biking and photographing nature. His twitter handle is @DennisPhoenix1.

Managers are always on the lookout for new and creative ways to meet the objectives of their business. However, when it comes to rewarding employees for a job well done, they often opt for the default choice, increased compensation. While there is nothing wrong with this since we all need money to survive, creative leaders should look for other avenues to keep their employees engaged in the workplace.

Creative Rewards

An important consideration for any reward program is to ask if the rewards meet the objective goals of the organization. First, a leader must identify what behaviors contribute to the success of the company. Successful behaviors may include meeting sales quotas, improving managerial skills, or streamlining key processes. Whatever they are for an organization, the rewards should also include some form of recognition and appreciation, two important elements that are often overlooked. [Read more…] about Creative Rewards For Employees

Do You Take The Initiative?

By Brandon W. Jones on June 11, 2013 2

Have you ever been with a group of people where no one would make the first move or take the initiative? Were people in the group shy and didn’t want to stand out? Did they feel intimidated? Or, was there something else that caused them to not take the initiative? I have seen something very interesting happen in these group settings. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, one person inevitably takes the initiative to act. He/she takes the initiative and get up to start working. From there, many others begin to act and follow suit. The true leader is the first person to take the initiative.

So what does it mean to take the initiative?

On the website Then Life Happens, Darren Sproat explained initiative as, “In its simplest form, taking initiative is doing without being asked to do.” Taking the initiative means making the first move, being willing to do what others don’t want to do, or stepping up to make an introductory act or step leading to action. If you take the initiative, you are willing to be uncomfortable if it means the result is better than what you have to sacrifice or the discomfort you must go through when taking action. Leaders constantly take the initiative to get things done. They step up to make things happen. [Read more…] about Do You Take The Initiative?

Take Leadership Responsibilities Seriously

By Brandon W. Jones on June 6, 2013 0

As a leader, you have many leadership responsibilities. Those you lead also have many responsibilities. In many cases, however, their responsibilities are your leadership responsibilities delegated to them. As a leader, you need to own up to your leadership responsibilities.

Recently there was an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Scandals Prompt Doubt About Honesty” written by Patrick O’Connor and Rebecca Ballhaus. The article said, “Recent controversies surrounding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other government agencies have sown doubts about the honesty of the Obama administration, but most people don’t hold the president personally responsible for the agency actions, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.”

The article explained that the results of a recent poll showed that 55% of respondents felt that there was a significant lack of honesty in the IRS. Those polled, however, did not feel the president was responsible for the dishonestly. “Americans at this point don’t hold the president personally responsible for any of the three major controversies that have dominated Washington since early May, the Journal/NBC poll found.” [Read more…] about Take Leadership Responsibilities Seriously

Wait A minute, I’m Thinking!

By Brandon W. Jones on June 3, 2013 0

Guest post by Rt. Rev. Daniel T. Partiss. Rt. Rev. Daniel T. Partiss was ordained as a Minster and Missionary Evangelist in 1985 by The Right Reverend William H Jackson of the Church of Universal Brotherhood in Bristol, CT. Dan is pastor of the Spiritualist Church of love and Light. For over 25 years Rev. Dan has been a teacher of several topics in Prosperity. At this time Dan is teaching 2 courses a year. Due to the fact that he asks no salary from the church Dan finds other ways to gain the prosperity. In 1997 Dan graduated from Central Connecticut State University. He then worked with corporations and the City of New Rochelle, New York as a Consultant. Dan has been the CIO for 2 businesses, the Owner of an LLC and 2 other businesses, one he is currently developing. His Twitter ID is @revdanpartiss

Two Thinking Processes Essential to Successful Leaders

Critical vs. Strategic Thinking

Critical Thinking is a problem solving process used for issues that seem insurmountable at first glance. By taking facts and events, analyzing them using reason and evidence, and not your personal opinions or feelings. Critical thinking is an important leadership skill because it helps you come to a reasonable solution to a problem. Without critical thinking there would be no problem solving ability and without problem solving nothing would get done.

Strategic Thinking, however, is based on process analysis. It is used to assess a company program or corporate direction and see if it is maintaining its goals. If the company program or corporate direction is not maintaining goals, strategic thinking allows the leader to ask the correct questions to get back to those goals or if the goals need to be rethought. Strategic thinking is important to leaders because it is a skill based on process analysis. It is the ability to access a program and see how well it is maintaining its goals. If it s not maintaining it goals, it allows a person to ask the correct questions to get back to those goals.

Talk To Someone…

Critical Thinking works best using diverse groups when solving a problem (also called Masterminding). Getting several persons’ perspective can help you conceive of more creative answers. While In Strategic Thinking you try to get feedback from within your industry and not just from your internal sources. Things like market research and surveys can help Strategic Thinking match the vision for your company to all expectations. [Read more…] about Wait A minute, I’m Thinking!

Write A Guest Post On Leadership Done Right

By Brandon W. Jones on May 29, 2013 0

Since the start of this blog, many posts have been written on a variety of subjects related to leadership. The readership has continuously expanded to where there is now quite a following. In an effort to make this blog more interactive with additional points of view, everyone is invited to do a guest post within the guidelines shown below.

Guest Post Guidelines

In order to maintain the integrity of Leadership Done Right, the following guidelines must be adhered to for guest posts:

1. Length
When it comes to length, quality is far more important than quantity. However, it takes a minimum number of words to make a point. With that in mind, the guest post needs to be between 300 and 800 words.

2. Biography
Please provide a brief biography of 150 words or less (not to be counted as part of the 300 to 800 word post limitation) explaining your background and experience on the topic you are writing about. Your bio will be published at the beginning of your guest post. [Read more…] about Write A Guest Post On Leadership Done Right

Change in Leadership

By Brandon W. Jones on May 24, 2013 0

In the business world change is constant. The change that has the biggest effect on the employees is the change that involves management. Whether it is someone new to leadership or someone that has been in leadership for a long time, change is always a challenge within an organization. When a new leader comes into or is moved within an organization, they bring new rules, quirks, and viewpoints. Even though each leader has their own personality and leadership style, there are a few approaches that seem to be similar amongst many leaders. There are two approaches I have experienced in my career from many different leaders that seem to have a significant impact on the morale of the employees.

Micromanage the change

The first approach is that of the micromanager. The micromanagers have the tendency to jump into a new system and make it into their own without learning the existing system first. The National Federation of Independent Business explains a micromanager as, ” The micromanager is the manager who must personally make every decision, take a lead role in the performance of every significant task and, in extreme cases, dictate every small step the workers take.” They are change drivers. They take the approach that every system needs to be fixed, so they will fix it. These types of leaders have a hard time seeing the positive aspects of the existing system. From what I have seen, these leaders have a tendency to rub people wrong in the beginning. With time the subordinates get used to their new leader and their leadership style. Those who are under this type of leader, either learn to work with them or go on to different positions. [Read more…] about Change in Leadership

Leadership Qualities You Need to Develop

By Brandon W. Jones on May 22, 2013 1

This is a guest post by Paul Smith. He likes music and comedies. He knows perfectly what he wants to achieve in his life. He is fond of writing and you can evaluate his works at essay writing service uk.

Your life is dull and boring, the days are similar and nothing special happens. You have a hateful work, your colleagues don’t seem to be friendly and you don’t know what you want to achieve. You dream about the better future, however don’t do anything to come closer to it. The leader always executes the possible ideas and it is the main difference between him and the dreamer. Stop living in your dreams – develop your leadership and make your desires real.

What are the main leadership qualities? Here I want to present you a short list of the required qualities to develop if you want to change your life for better.

Good communication. Well-developed communicative skills are very important in business, especially when you are a director. If you have some great idea concerning some future project or whatever else and cannot state your thought clearly, you will never come to a united cooperation and will never arrive at a consensus. That is why it is important to work for the improvement of your communication. [Read more…] about Leadership Qualities You Need to Develop