Several years ago there was a leader that could talk for hours on end about leadership. He was absolutely great at talking about leadership. Large groups would gather to hear him talk. Although he was great at talking, when it came to DOING it was a different story altogether.
He would hold long drawn-out meetings where nothing got accomplished. He treated people with disrespect by the little things he would say or his actions. He talked about creating realistic goals for everyone, but never set realistic goals for anyone. Additionally, he always talked about the importance of creating a vision, but never set a vision for the future. Ultimately, he had great knowledge of leadership principles, but did not have practical leadership skills to be a great leader.
Practical Leadership
As the story demonstrates, having an academic understanding what good leadership is and actually being a great leader are two separate things. You can know everything there is to know about leadership, but still not be a good leader. To be a good leader, you must know and effectively implement the skills of practical leadership.
Here at Leadership Done Right you will learn practical leadership skills you need to know to BE an effective leader. You will find valuable tips, tricks, and techniques to effectively connect with those you lead and make progress happen. You will learn about how to effectively communicate, increase efficiency, become more influential, manage change, etc. Additionally, you will see case studies and lessons learned from good and bad examples of other leaders that are in the news.
What is Practical Leadership
Practical leadership focuses on the actions you take to be successful in leading others. It is what great leaders DO to “rally the troops,” “bring home the win,” or achieve the big goal.
Here are some of the practical leadership topics that will be discussed here on Leadership Done Right.
Influence
Influence is your ability to impact the lives of others in a way that causes them to improve their actions. At Leadership Done Right, you will learn specific actions you can take to increase your ability to influence the lives of others.
Check out this link for steps you can start taking now to begin influencing the lives of others!
Change Management
Change happens constantly. It is such a constant part of life that you can’t avoid it. As a leader you need to embrace and effectively manage change. Many leaders get so excited about making changes to improve the world that they lose sight of the important steps they must take to create effective change. Here at Leadership Done Right, I will go through simple, yet essential, steps you must take to implement effective change. For starters, check out the following posts:
Click here for additional posts on change.
Vision
One of the most important skills of effective leaders is their ability to create a vision for others to follow. This is one of the most important practical leadership skills because when you can create a vision for yourself, your organization, and those you lead, everyone achieves greatness. Once you create the vision, you share it in such a way that it motivates everyone to achieve the vision.
Here are some posts to get you started thinking how you can create a vision for those around you and the impact that vision will have:
For additional posts about vision, click here!
Goals
Right after you create a vision, you must set effective and realistic goals so you can accomplish the vision. For many people, goal setting is something you do January 1st and forget about until December 31st.
When you are a leader with true practical leadership skills, goals are relevant and effective all the time. Goals are essential for success and they must be set and reviewed all the time.
Check out the following posts to learn how to set real world practical goals that you can complete.
- How To Set SMART Goals
- The Correlation Between Goals, Expectations, And Success
- Leaders, Why Aren’t You Having Success?
For more great posts on goals click here!
Effective Meetings
Because meetings are such a significant part of leadership, effective leaders must know how to run effective meetings and be effective meeting participants. In the business world, there are many people that don’t know how to run effective meetings and a lot of time and money is wasted in pointless meetings.
Here at Leadership Done Right, I have outlined 8 keys to run effective meetings and identified steps you can take to be an effective meeting participant. Additionally, I have identified common traits of failed meeting participants. Check them out here:
- Running Effective Meetings – 8 Keys to Run Effective Meetings
- Avoid Derailing The Meeting
- How To Make Your Meetings Fail
For more great posts on meetings click here!
Communication
There are many ways to communicate. Leaders communicate through email, letters, in person, on the phone, public speaking appearances, or other methods. Each communication method is effective at specific times while completely inappropriate as other times.
With the variety of communication methods, some leaders communicate very effectively while others really struggle to get their message across or communicate in a way that gets heard. Here at Leadership Done Right, you will learn specific tools to improve your communication skills. Here is a sample of some of the great posts about communication you will find at Leadership Done Right:
- Techniques to Effectively Communicate Your Message
- The Value of Effective Communication
- Effectively Communicate With Writing Skills
- Speak Up Leaders
For all the posts on communication click here.
Newsworthy Leadership
Good and bad leaders and leadership are in the news all the time. Each time leaders or leadership are in the news, there are lessons to learn. Here at Leadership Done Right, we will analyze newsworthy leadership and experiences leaders go through.
We will discuss what leaders did right and wrong and point out clear lessons you can use to change your improve your leadership. We will also identify leadership principles to consider when making decisions so you can be an effective leader. Here is a sample of some of the great posts about communication you will find at Leadership Done Right:
- The Risks Of Promoting Without Giving Raises
- Be Prepared For Your Moment
- Better Leadership Through Social Media
For all the posts on newsworthy leadership click here.
Conclusion
Without practical leadership, nothing would ever get done. Practical leadership is essential for success within any organization. You must know how to work with people and how to get things done. You must know what to DO and why to do it to make progress happen. That is where practical leadership comes in. Within the sections above, you will find steps you can take to become a better practical leader by improving your skills. Check them out, implement the techniques outlined, and be the leader you are meant to be!
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