Goals

5 Of The Most Common Leadership Mistakes

By Brandon W. Jones on July 21, 2014 0

This is a guest post by Sophie Eagan. She is a leadership writer for 360 Degrees Feedback. Sophie has worked in HR since she was just 16 years old, she knows full well the common leadership mistakes that can be made by leaders. She has specific experience in leadership feedback and regularly emphasizes the importance of requesting feedback from within ones own company to identify problems before they arise.

A lot of people do say that it is better to make leadership mistakes as these provide the perfect learning curve, though it is much better to make these mistakes away from the field, or even making them in the first place! I am going to discuss the most common leadership mistakes and management errors, this should hopefully deter you from making the same mistakes, if you can learn about that here in this article, rather than through experience you will save yourself a lot of trouble.

1. The Absence Of Feedback

Let’s say, you have a fantastic sales representative, but they have a habit of answering the phone in an unprofessional manner. You do know about this but would much prefer to wait for the review to come up so you can bring it up. This is a big problem, until they have actually been told about the problem, they will continue to do the exact same thing, putting off potential customers. By not providing the correct feedback you are actually starving your staff of the opportunity to improve their performance.

2. Having No Time For The Team

Being a manager or a leader of a team, you can sometimes wrap yourself up so much in your own work that you do not have time for the team what so ever. Everyone has deadlines and projects they need to hand in on time, it is not just you! Without proper guidance and support, none of your team will actually know what to do and therefore won’t meet any of their objectives, which can put certain projects behind for weeks or even months! You can avoid this mistake by making blocks in your schedule solely for your team, you want your door to “always be open”. [Read more…] about 5 Of The Most Common Leadership Mistakes

New Strategic Approach For 2014

By Brandon W. Jones on January 6, 2014 0

With the New Year upon us, many have new goals and a renewed sense of purpose. Here at Leadership Done Right, I also have goals for the New Year. My main goal is to take a more strategic approach to bring higher consistent value to you, the readers.

In my post, Be Strategic in Your Posts, I explained three points for both why and how you should take a strategic approach to your website and/or business. One of the keys to following through on your strategic approach is to tell people about it. With that in mind, I am going to use this post to explain my strategic approach.

What is the new Strategic Approach?

1. Theme based strategic approach.

As I’ve posted on Leadership Done Right, I’ve written on a variety of topics related to leadership. Each post has covered a new topic and overall they have varied significantly from one week to the next.

Going forward, the posts will follow a theme-based approach focusing on the same topics for weeks at a time. This will enable me to expound more on the topics over a series of posts instead of just posting small bits of information at a time. [Read more…] about New Strategic Approach For 2014

Build Your Successful Team

By Brandon W. Jones on September 4, 2013 0

This is a guest post by Paul Smith. Paul Smith is an experienced writer. He is a versatile person who is keen on writing on topics of business, social media, personal development etc.

Being a real leader is not an easy task. But it’s your only way to real success as one person will never reach the heights which can be reached by the professional and well-organized team. Yes, you can be a good leader but who you are without a team? By the way, building a successful team that will perform all the given tasks – and even more, is not an easy task. But if you’re a real leader, you will cope with it, right? So, here are just some suggestions on how to create a team that exceeds your expectations:

Know your leadership style and keep to it. A leader who doesn’t know himself and the work methods needed at a particular time, will unlikely be able to build a strong team. Pick the leadership style according to the field of your business and your temperament.
Communicate. When you’re a boss, it’s not the cause for getting isolated from the people who work with you. Just the opposite – communicate even more to know their passions, strengths and weaknesses. When you know the strengths and preferences of each team member, you can give them the tasks they will perform best. And, in this case, in addition to developing their talents, you’ll get a bigger revenue.
Clarify the goals. Don’t just delegate tasks – set the goals so each employee will be oriented on the concrete result. The company’s goal should be understandable and inspiring for the people.
Distribute and interconnect the responsibilities. Working in a team means giving support and be depending on each other’s performance. That’s why if the team is well structured and motivated, the higher work quality of one employee improves the performance of the others.
Motivate people and acknowledge their high results. Everyone wants to be appraised for a good performance, and if one doesn’t get it, it leads to a hidden dissatisfaction. Yes, it’s very simple, but anyway, compliment your workers for a well-done job.
Control and direct your people. Even if you picked the best professionals, it doesn’t mean that they automatically make a good team. At the beginning it’s your task to give them different kinds of job to test them and redistribute the responsibilities if necessary. But don’t just fire those who are not very good at this particular position. Look closely at them, maybe, they will be brilliant at something other?
Support the team spirit by regular meetings and celebrating good results. But don’t let these actions be too formal. Let them be another chance to get to know people better and find the ways for achieving big goals.

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Characteristics Of Leadership Excellence

By Brandon W. Jones on April 24, 2013 6

Does “leadership excellence” have a specific meaning to you? What do you think of when you hear the phrase “leadership excellence?” When I hear the phrase “leadership excellence,” I think of leaders that have obtained the highest level of leadership in whatever they are doing. These leaders have strong values and characteristics that add value to their organization.

Characteristics of Leadership Excellence

Three characteristics found in leaders with leadership excellence are vision, charisma, and innovation.

Vision

Leaders that have obtained leadership excellence have a vision. Their vision is a clear image of the future they see for themselves and those they lead. They have a strong set of both short and long-term goals and their vision inspires those around them.

So how do you become a leader with a vision? Start by setting goals. Be sure that those around you know your goals. Make goals that require you to stretch beyond your comfort zone using SMART goals. As others begin to know of your goals they will be inspired to set their own goals. By having your own vision of the future, you allow others to have a vision. [Read more…] about Characteristics Of Leadership Excellence

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

Looking Beyond the Mark

By Brandon W. Jones on April 2, 2013 0

As a leader, are you looking beyond the mark? As leaders, we always try to be the best we can be. We strive to get more with less. As we focus on becoming better and doing more, it can be really easy to look for that which is bigger, faster, more efficient, etc. When constantly looking forward to plan the future, it can be really easy to stop seeing and acting in the present. If we look forward too much, it becomes very easy to look beyond the mark.

I define looking beyond the mark as the times when you get distracted by the unimportant. Those things can include your future that is out of your control, the accomplishments of others that don’t directly affect you, or any other aspect of life that distracts you from that which is most important to you. Looking beyond the mark can lead to trouble.

It is good to set goals and work to achieve them on a regular basis, but it is important to not look too far into the future that you are beyond the mark. I have seen many people get so far ahead of themselves that they stop preparing for that which they are currently working on. They are focused on tomorrow, next week, next year, but not on the present. They fail to be the best they can be in the moment.

Are you looking beyond the mark?

Looking beyond the mark can lead to serious trouble. There are no shortcuts to become great. You must work hard, be dedicated, and always do your very best. Too often people focus on things that are beyond the mark and lose sight of the steps they must take to reach their goal. [Read more…] about Looking Beyond the Mark