Leadership Done Right

Brandon W. Jones

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Are You Out Of Balance?

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As a leader, you are constantly being pushed and pulled in different directions. You probably have many responsibilities and everyone wants to give you more because you are dependable. That falls in line with the age old saying, “If you really want to get something done, you will give it to someone that is really busy.” With all the responsibilities and/or requests, it can be very easy to become so busy that you get out of balance as a leader.

Are You Out Of Balance?

The Challenge of Maintaining Balance

Several years ago, I was studying to earn my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. I was very focused on two things at the time. I wanted to earn my engineering degree and I wanted to get as close to straight A’s as possible. I knew that this would take a lot of dedication to accomplish because it is not an easy task.

With those two goals in mind, I went from semester to semester through the program. Each semester got progressively harder and the classes became more and more time consuming outside of class. I was very dedicated to the point that I didn’t go out with friends on the weekends on many occasions.

I spent long weeks (70-80 hours) doing nothing but completing assignments, studying for my exams, and doing lab-work. In the process I neglected many of my friends and colleagues that would’ve helped me through the program. I got to the point that my life was out of balance. [Read more…] about Are You Out Of Balance?

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?

This Week’s Top 5 Leadership Posts – 6/13/2012

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The calling/responsibility of leadership is an important responsibility.  You must take it seriously because what you do as a leader each day has a major impact on where you end up long term.  The posts below are great posts because they help you to understand how to be a better leader.

Great Leaders Develops Both Themselves And Those They Lead By Beth Miller

Congratulations! You’ve worked hard to be a leader in your company. But don’t think you can sit back and relax from now on because great leaders understand that they must always be developing themselves and their employees.

Leaders lead others, but sometimes they don’t realize that the best leaders never stop improving themselves; they are passionate about learning and teaching, and their passion spreads to those who work around them.

It has been said that leaders are discovered, but really they are developed. Success is an ongoing process of improvement and adjustments.

Brandon’s Thoughts
As Beth pointed out, leaders must focus on their own improvement on a regular basis.  They must also focus on the development of those they lead.  As they train those they lead, they improve their team and the skills of their group.  The training helps their team be more successful because it will increase the overall skills.  Many leaders have a fear that training their followers is bad because it will make their followers replace them as the leader.  In reality, the opposite is more often the truth; the leaders that train their followers to be successful end up being more successful themselves.  By helping others succeed, they help themselves to move up the ladder because people see them as effective leaders. [Read more…] about This Week’s Top 5 Leadership Posts – 6/13/2012

How To Make It Through The Hard Times By Having A Vision

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Hitachi, the Japanese electronics giant, has been around for 102 years.  Recently they went through one of their worst periods in company history.  During the four year period from 2006 to 2010, Hitachi went through a company depression where the total losses equaled $12.4 billion.  The losses were the worst in company history.  The following two years they posted record profits.  In 2011 alone, they posted a net profit of $4.35 billion.

So why did they go from having record losses to record profits? What happened to make them profitable?  In April 2010, Hiroaki Nakanishi took over as the president of Hitachi.  When he took over, he had been in the company for many years which gave him a lot of experience, but he didn’t adopt the previous leadership culture that led to the problems.  With all his experience, he hadn’t allowed himself to grow into the same mold as all the past executives.  He had a completely different thought process than all the previous leaders.  The article Hitachi President Prods Turnaround in the Wall Street Journal by Daisuke Wakabayashi states:

Hitachi under Mr. Nakanishi has broken away from a plodding, risk-averse style of management, spinning off at breakneck pace its consumer-related operations in mobile phones, computer parts and flat-panel TVs to concentrate on selling big-ticket—and more profitable—power plants, rail lines and water treatment facilities.

While other Japanese electronics firms continue to suffer from losses in consumer products and the punishing impact of the strong yen, Hitachi—Japan’s largest electronics manufacturer—has posted a second year of record profits

[Read more…] about How To Make It Through The Hard Times By Having A Vision

This Week’s Leadership Fav Five!

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A great way to improve your leadership skills and abilities is to study and then practice leadership.  In the last few months, I have worked really hard to study and learn better leadership skills through reading leadership books and blogs.  From there, I have done all I could to practice what I learned.  This approach has helped me to improve my leadership abilities.This Week's Leadership Fav Five!

This week, the following blog posts were some of my favorites.

Four Strategies To Make Your Vision A Reality By Todd Nielsen

Vision, strategy, and goals are important …but they are not enough. One of the greatest challenges in business—and frankly, one of the greatest challenges in life—is doing the things necessary to make one’s vision a reality.

To ensure the realization of your vision, you need to set up structures and processes that act as guardrails to keep you from falling off the path.
1.  Get Organized
2.  Tracking And Measurement
3.  Accountability
4.  Rewards More…

Brandon’s Thought’s
This is a great post.  It goes hand-in-hand with a post that I did the other day about vision.  In leadership it is so important to have a vision!  Todd’s steps to make your vision a reality are great.  If you skip any one of the first three steps you will not reach your goals of obtaining your vision. [Read more…] about This Week’s Leadership Fav Five!