Leadership Done Right

Brandon W. Jones

Leadership Done Right Blog

Practice Makes Perfect, Or Does It?

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When I was in high school I had a great wrestling coach that coached a lot of champions.  He was an excellent coach because he knew how to bring the best out of people.  My coach had a long history of doing well as a coach.  The teams he coached placed in the top four in the state nearly every year.  When I started wrestling my freshman year, I was brand new to wrestling.  I didn’t have any experience as a wrestler and about half the other wrestlers didn’t have experience either.  We were completely new and fresh to wrestling.

Because we were all new to wrestling, my coach had to start out by teaching us the basics.  Once he taught us what to do, he made us practice it over and over again.  We did repetition after repetition until we were completely warn out.  With each repetition we did, our coach watched us very closely.  When he saw us do something wrong, he would tell us to do it over again and do it the right way.  As he corrected us each time, he taught us a valuable lesson.  There is an old saying that, “Practice makes perfect,” but that is false.  If you practice the wrong thing over and over again, you will still do it wrong.  When you practice something over and over again, you make it into a habit.  You cement it into how you do things and it becomes second nature for you to do it again.  [Read more…] about Practice Makes Perfect, Or Does It?

Leadership in a Changing World – Adaptability or Compromise?

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This is a guest post by Debbie Nicol. She is the Managing Director of ‘business en motion’ and the Creator and Author of ’embers of the world’ change concept.  She is a 25-year HR professional.  She has provided consulting services internationally since 2006 when she founded ‘business en motion’ in Dubai. She has many areas of expertise, some of which include organization development
, change management, strategy and implementation, strategic think tanks, and executive coaching.

Twitter: @leadershipember
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbienicol
Website:  http://embersoftheworld.com/

When contemplating what it takes to make sure leadership is truly done right the first exploratory question to be asked may be ‘right for what’?  The reply that automatically flows for me is: right for facilitating service to all equally in a changing world.

What Does the Changing World Really Want?

The changing world cherishes alignment and cohesiveness.  Just as a healthy backbone holds us up effortlessly, gifts us with free-flowing movement and allows us to hold ourselves high, so too does aligned activity to a purpose. When it is absolutely clear that a personal or business activity will contribute in a connected way, serving to add value to all, success will flow.

In a recent executive think-tank session with a group of government employees from Africa, I was asked this question: When does adaptability become compromise? I reflected for some time before I replied.  As my perspective took shape, through the lens of the ’embers’ model of leadership, my reply, as always, was another question:  When our actions result in a move away from purpose or a vision of greater good, what can happen?

[Read more…] about Leadership in a Changing World – Adaptability or Compromise?

Reflecting On Your Leadership Style – Corporate Embers Book Review

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Recently, I read a book called Corporate Embers by Debbie Nicol.  This book explains a variety of scenarios that happen in a corporate environment.  Each chapter of the book explained situations that occurred and then went on to ask a question or make a statement about a lesson that can be learned from the scenario.  In many of the scenarios mentioned, the book focused on the leader and how they responded or failed to respond.  By taking this approach, Debbie makes you think about how you act and respond as a leader.

Debbie discussed a variety of lessons that can be learned as you make leadership choices.  Through the scenarios she explained the importance of communication, the leader’s example, building a team work environment, engaging your employees, addressing your customers’ needs, having cultural sensitivity, and many other topics.  As I read her examples and the lessons learned, I could envision similar situations I’ve experienced as a follower and as a leader.

Corporate Embers provoked me to think about how I act as a leader.  As I read, I thought a lot about the following three questions.

[Read more…] about Reflecting On Your Leadership Style – Corporate Embers Book Review

This Week’s Top Five Leadership Posts – 10/3/2012

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Over the past few months I have not posted about my top five weekly leadership posts. I have missed writing these posts because I really enjoyed writing them and I think that my readers enjoyed them as well. This week the posts I selected covered a wide range of topics ranging from the importance of humor in the workplace to succession planning for the success of your organization. Each of the posts discusses a different aspect of leadership that must be considered as you lead.

Become The Best Leader By Being Funny And Being Humiliated by Bhavin Gandhi

Over the years, I have learned a lot about leadership and management. And when I was analyzing my knowledge, I realized that there are only two very important characteristics of a good leader, which separates him/her from the crowd. In this blog, I will focus on these two characteristics, which can make you the best leader.

Be funny: By being funny, I don’t mean that you need to be a superstar at the break room discussions. What I mean is……..you need to have a humorous side of you to laugh on your mistakes. More…

Rare Wisdom from Citrix CEO Mark Templeton about Hiearchy and Respect by Bob Sutton

I confess that as an avid reader of The New York Times, I have been disappointed in recent years because they devote too much space to interviews with CEOs and other bosses. Notably, it seems to me that they run the same column twice every Sunday: Adam Bryant’s “The Corner Office” and another interview column called “The Boss.” I do love many of these interviews anyway, as The Times gets interesting people and their editing makes things better. And I am a big fan of Adam Bryant’s book, The Corner Office, as it did a great job of transcending the column. What bugs me, however, is that The Times devotes so much of the paper to interviews now, I suspect, because it is simply cheaper than producing hard-hitting investigative journalism. They do an occasional amazing in-depth story, but there is too much fluff and not enough tough for my tastes.

[Read more…] about This Week’s Top Five Leadership Posts – 10/3/2012

Advance Your Qualifications To Become A Better Leader

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Within many industries there are different certifications, licenses or other qualifications that give you the right to practice or work within that profession. For most, if not all, of those qualifications there are exams you must take and pass. The exams are very difficult because they cover all materials within that specific discipline.

Professional Exams

In order to pass the exams, most people are required to study long hours to gain a full understanding of the material. Some of the disciplines that have these types of exams are engineering (Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam and Professional Engineering (PE) Exam), accounting (Certified Public Account (CPA) Exam), and finance (Certified Financial Adviser (CFA) Exam).  There are, however, many areas within these disciplines that people can work without passing the exam and getting the certification.

Within engineering there are many positions that you can hold without becoming a PE. The exams are so difficult that many engineers get into corporate America and don’t take the exams. They find a rewarding career without taking and passing the PE exam, but they may not meet their maximum personal potential. [Read more…] about Advance Your Qualifications To Become A Better Leader

Five Qualities To Help You Earn Respect As A Leader

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One challenge many leaders face is gaining the respect of those they lead.  This can be a challenge for leaders at all stages of their career whether they are brand new or seasoned leaders.  Respect is fundamental to being a good leader because it allows you to have influence.  When leaders cannot gain respect, it is very difficult for them to get people to do things. On the flip side, however, a leader that gains respect from those they lead, is able to build unity, trust, and camaraderie with those they lead.

So what qualities lead to respect?  What can you focus your improvement activities on so that you can gain the respect of those you lead.  Below you will find five qualities that you can focus on to improve respect that people have for you.

Obedience

In leadership, there area many rules and regulations that you must follow on a regular basis. The rules and regulations come from company policies and procedures; federal, state, and local laws; and industry standards and ethical codes. As a leader, it essential that you do all you can to follow all the rules and regulations that go along with your business or industry.  [Read more…] about Five Qualities To Help You Earn Respect As A Leader

What Would You Do As A New CEO?

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Over the last few months, I’ve followed Yahoo’s CEO situation. In January, Yahoo hired Scott Thompson. While he was the CEO, he made major spending cuts and laid of many people as an attempt to bring the company back from financial woes. His approach demotivated the company and created tension between him and the employees. It didn’t take long for his approach to get noticed by the board of directors. In May, Scott was terminated as the CEO as a result of his leadership style and some integrity issues that were brought to light.

What Would You Do As A New CEO?

Following Scott Thompson’s firing, Ross Levinsohn took over as the interim CEO. Ross Levinsohn continued some of the initiatives that Scott Thompson started. Since he was only the interim CEO, he was replaced by Marissa Mayer in the end of July. [Read more…] about What Would You Do As A New CEO?

How Do You Get Your News As The Leader? – Flipboard

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Have you heard of Flipboard before?  In today’s fast paced world, leadership is becoming more demanding than ever before. Leaders are expected to know what is going on all over the world across a wide variety of industries. They are also expected to be able to make quick decisions based on that knowledge to lead their organization into the right direction.

There are many ways that leaders can get this information. Some leaders have personal assistants that scour the news and then feed them the highlights while others have specific websites, blogs, news outlets, or smartphone apps they follow to get their insight into the world. With smartphones, as common as they are, there are more apps than ever for leaders to get the news. [Read more…] about How Do You Get Your News As The Leader? – Flipboard

How To Deal With An Office Conflict

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This guest post is by Sally B. Sally writes for Principal Corp a leader in the consumer electronics and managed services industry. Principal specializes in Office Systems and fax machines amongst other practical IT based solutions.

Working in an office environment can be a challenge for many people. While office life usually provides an individual with a healthy income, dealing with a large number of co-workers can be difficult. In many cases, office environments suffer from conflicts of interest. Fortunately, there are a number of ways one can avoid problems in a modern office. The following guide provides simple tips and tricks on how to deal with office conflict.

Typical Office Conflicts

Office conflicts are often the result of limited resources. For example, if employees doing the same work receive different levels of compensation, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy workplace. In some cases, unequal levels of pay can lead to dissent in a workforce.

In addition, many office workers experience conflict over budgets for different departments. Since everyone enjoys new computers, chairs and other office equipment, there will often be a lot of competition for these limited goods. [Read more…] about How To Deal With An Office Conflict

What Happens If You Scream As The Leader?

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In leadership, there are just as many methods of communication as there are leaders.  Have you ever worked for a boss that liked to scream at you or others that you worked with?  How did it make you feel?  Or, have you worked for a boss that spoke calmly, and/or softly with words penetrated your souls?  How did that leader make you feel? Each method of communication makes you feel a different way.

Today, I read the Wall Street Journal article titled, When The Boss Is A Screamer by Sue Shellenbarger.  The article explained that the leaders from the past yelled and screamed at their employees to get things done.  Yelling in the work place was a very common practice, but leadership is changing.  Today’s leader is much more calm cool and collective.

Why is today’s leader different?  In order to understand why today’s leader is different, you must understand the results from of being a screamer.  The article mentioned six things that happen to employees as a result of yelling.  Employees will:

  1. Have a decrease in their working memory which is your memory that allows you to store and use information from your memory.
  2. Bring less creativity to their jobs
  3. Become less competent in performing tasks
  4. Quit their jobs at higher rates
  5. Avoid resolving conflicts, allowing them to escalate
  6. Speed up their work on simple familiar tasks

If you have worked for a screamer before, you have probably experienced one of the feelings mentioned above.  I have worked for a screamer and each of the results holds true. [Read more…] about What Happens If You Scream As The Leader?