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Career Advice for Business Leaders: Empowering Others
Many potential leaders in business sabotage themselves and their organizations out of fear of empowering others. In 21st Century Leadership: Dialogues with 100 Top Leaders, Lynne McFarland, Larry Senn and John Childress assert, "the empowerment leadership model shifts away from 'position power' where all people are given leadership roles so thy can contribute to their fullest capacity." John Maxwell confirms this in his work on leadership, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He states, "only empowered people can reach their potential," and that barriers within the organization are created when empowerment is not present. Maxwell observed that the most common barriers to a leader's empowerment of others are: 1. Desire for Job Security This is perhaps the leading enemy of empowerment. A person with this issue asks, "why should I help others beneath me when they'll just rise to take my place and ultimately displace me?" In fact, when one has the ability to lead others, and to make oneself "dispensable," then one truly becomes "indispensable" in the organization. Maxwell calls this the "Paradox of Empowerment." 2. Resistance to Change In these times, the hallmark of business and life is change. According to Maxwell, empowerment mandates that others grow and change. This is essential, and must be sought out and embraced instead of shunned and avoided. 3. Lack of Self-Worth Some people derive self-worth, esteem and viability from work or position. When either of these is threatened, then the worth or esteem is also subject to question. In reality, true leaders recognize the value of change and realize that inherent worth is not related to title or work. Maxwell further notes that two main attributes follow all great and true leaders. The first of these is the ability to lead by lifting up others. To do this effectively, one must not be overly concerned with who gets credit for accomplishments. The other attribute is the ability to gain authority by giving it away. This is another paradox of leadership by empowerment. Giving away leadership and authority necessitates choosing qualified people. This is a cultivated skill. Ask: where is empowerment missing? Look for opportunities to select quality individuals who can handle the gifts of authority and leadership. For any project, this is a path to success. Eric Johnson is a regular contributor to the Investor's Value View newsletter. To learn how to reach Mr. Johnson or to subscribe to Investor's Value View, visit http://www.valueview.net
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Coaching Teen View of Leadership From Around the World It has been stated that the world of tomorrow will be shaped by the leaders of today. This is certainly true when you stop to think that the great leaders of the past, Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, King, and Reagan did not get to see the lasting impact their leadership had on the future. Leadership Webster's defines leadership as : "1. the office of position of a leader, 2. capacity to lead, 3. the act of instance of leading, 4. LEADERS." Dale Carnegie, founder of the Dale Carnegie Institute and teacher of leadership skills, defines leadership as a mixture of traits and skills that can be learned and honed. John C. Maxwell, founder of INJOY and professional speaker on leadership, agrees with Carnegie, but further states that there are five levels of leadership with the highest level being attained by only a few people. Is Your Life Ready For Groundhog Day? In the hit comedic movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil Conners, is caught up in a time warp, doomed to live the same day over and over until he gets it right. Hilarious as the ensuing mayhem may be on the big screen, it is a poignant and not too thinly veiled metaphor for how most of us live our own lives - mindlessly occupied with our own issues and concerns, stumbling through life (often over the toes of others) with little if any conscious direction or critical thought. In the end, we keep on running into the same scenarios and problems over and over - not because we're caught in a time loop, but because we're caught in a life-loop. We haven't made the grade, so we can't graduate beyond our current situation. Transformational Leadership "What is leadership?" When this question is asked most of the people answer "leadership is the capacity or an ability of a person to lead". Earlier theories of leadership viz. trait, behaviour and contingency theories explain the meaning of leadership from different angles. But all these theories spring from the point of view of leaders i.e. "How to control the followers?" Now-a-days the most recent type of leadership is Transformational Leadership theory which also theorises from the point of view of leaders but it attempts to transform the followers or subordinates into leaders. The Leadership Strategy: An Unmined Comstock Lode of Results During the Second World War, Winston Churchill had a framed inscription on his desk that said, "It's not enough to say we are doing our best. We must succeed in doing what is necessary." The Greatest Leaders Are Often The Worst Leaders It's a common occurrence, a CEO leads a company to record earnings, retires and in months, those once high-flying earnings are dropping like shot ducks. Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience Recently I attended Cub Scout Leader Outdoor Experience training. This was a 24 hour course starting Friday evening. If you are a leader whose Council officers this kind of training, I would highly recommend it. In Leadership, Identifying Dreams That Lead To Great Results History teaches that when people needed to do great things, a leader first had to gather them together and speak from the heart. This heartfelt speech was often connected to defining and reinforcing a dream shared by both the leader and the people. Leadership and Change in a Holographic Universe Have you ever noticed that since the early part of the 20th century, nearly every new scientific theory manages to sound more and more like the same sort of metaphysical philosophies science once dismissed? Well, it's happening again and this time our views on the structure of the universe, the power of human consciousness and even the nature of reality itself are being challenged by a startling new finding: that many hard to explain events and scientific puzzles become suddenly clear and easily understood if we consider that everything we see and experience around us is not in fact a physical reality, but rather our own interpretation of an infinitely large, dynamic and multidimensional hologram, constructed by and interpreted through our own consciousness. Are You The Most Powerful Leader You Can Be? As someone who teaches, manages, parents or influences you'll probably already be aware that powerful leadership is not just about the boss, it's about the team, irrespective of whether that team is in the classroom, in the office or around your home. Dont Be a Complainer Complaining. There's room for legitimate complaining, but if you let this deadly disease of attitude - complaining loose, it will conquer you. Complaining can take over your life. Destroy you and leave you without anything. Leadership Success and its Greatest Barrier: the Law of Administrivia Years ago, a very wise, and often cynical boss of mine asked me for a definition of management. After reflecting on the question I proceeded to give him an intellectually careful and, I thought, accurate definition. He allowed me to complete the answer and then came back with his definition which was, "Management is just one darn thing after another." After having a good laugh, I thought about his remark and concluded that he had basically identified what makes life so challenging for those in leadership positions. The flow of "things to do" never seems to stop. Professional Organizations: Join or Fold? All of us join professional organizations for a reason--a friend belongs, we need to for credibility, etc. Many times we let years slide by and we don't stop and review those reasons. Unless something sets off a boundary--lack of funds, the organization runs itself into a ditch, or a leadership problem. Character Traits of Extraordinary Leaders When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to follow your leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: Your Character or your Skills. They want to know if you are the kind of person they want to follow and if you have the skills to take them further. Yes, there are other variables but these are the bulk of the matter. This week we focus on the kind of character that causes people to follow your leadership. Birth Order - Understand How It Affects Your Personality "Know thyself" is a powerful principle that leaders, managers and effective people intuitively know. Sometimes Leaders Need to Get the Boot Today I stood up to a guy right in front of his boss. I challenged him, the former leader, to change his position and give up his position of power. He had fallen from that position though no fault of his own, yet, he did not deserve the power that he desired. Using Your Intuition "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." -Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech, 1994 Being Other Focused In the Wall Street Journal, Franklin Lavin, U.S. Ambassabor to Singapore wrote the Manager's Journal column about some of the things he learned from the late President Reagan while working on his staff. Leadership: Wisdom of the Ages If you gather 100 experienced leaders together to share with you their most important secrets for success, you probably wouldn't hear a lot of academic theory or jargon. Instead, this is a good idea of what you'd hear: What We Can Learn From J. Paul Getty J. Paul Getty planned to enter the U.S. Diplomatic Service, but, when he got out of college, the Oklahoma oil boom caught his attention. Since his father had already prospered in the oil business, he was irresistibly attracted to the prospects of wildcatting, and he decided to postpone his diplomatic ambitions for two more years.
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