Management Information |
Leadership in Troubled Times
Leadership in Troubled Times The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive. - Joe Batten Leading an organization can be challenging, even when times are good. When times are troubled, it is even more important for leaders to come to the forefront and provide direction and inspiration. We face challenging times today with a weakened economy, layoffs, and intense scrutiny of a mistrustful public sector. As leaders, now is the time to stand up for our beliefs. I subscribe to a value based leadership theory that has as much if not more relevance in our troubled times today than it has in the past. Leadership is about hope, vision, inspiration, communication, and trust. As a leader, you have the opportunity to provide vision and hope to those around. You have the opportunity to instill belief and restore trust to those who look up to you. And you have the opportunity to build a bond with those around you that is forged under difficult circumstances and tempered with the steel of your own personal values and beliefs. I believe that this is true regardless of what level of leader you are. Whether you are a first line manager, or a CEO your people are looking up to you for direction and inspiration. And they are looking to you to provide them hope. Is that a tall order for a leader at any level? Yes. But this is what separates the true leaders from those people who are leaders only by title. I believe that Joe Batten is right when he states that the first task of the leader is to keep hope alive. I believe that the second task of a leader is to communicate that hope and vision to their employees and their superiors in a way that builds trust and respect. With a strong foundation of values, a leader can inspire their people to achieve great things, produce fantastic results, and succeed while others around them fail. Without a values based foundation a "leader" may produce short term results but will fail the test of time as employees, without any basis for trust and respect will look for any opportunity to better themselves and remove themselves from the realm of a valueless based leader. You do not lead by hitting people over the head -- that's assault, not leadership. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) - Thirty- fourth President of the USA Why is it that we hear about so many oppressive work environments, where the bosses belittle their employees, use the whip to produce results, and then discard anyone who questions their orders? When I read or hear about "leaders" telling their employees that they "are lucky to have jobs at all", I cringe. For in reality, those are not leaders. Those are just the caretakers of companies that do not truly value their most precious asset .... the employees. These "leaders" violate the principles of value-based leadership and will soon discover that their lack of true leadership, their lack of vision and hope, will result in their being abandoned when things improve. He who thinks he is leading, but has no one following is only taking a walk. - John Maxwell " 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" Employees are the backbone of any organization. They, not you, make things work. They, not you, find creative solutions to complex problems. And they, not you, ultimately hold the key to your own personal success. For ultimately you are judged by your ability to develop, lead, and maintain strong teams that put the goals of the company ahead of their personal goals. And that only happens to employees who are inspired by, and trust in their leader. If you want to know if you are truly a leader or not, look around at your team. Do they follow you because they want to? Because they are inspired by you? Because they believe in you? Or do they follow you because they have to. It is time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Are you providing hope and inspiration to those around you? If not, when will you start.David Meyer, owner of Coaching for Tomorrow, has more than 25 years of management and leadership experience, having worked for companies such as Nobil Shoes, McDonough, Allied Stores, MCI and Nextel Communications. His mantra, "You Win With People" is based on the deep-seated belief that hiring, developing, and promoting the right people can lead to organizational and financial success. As a management and leadership coach, David works to instill that same passion in his clients by helping them understand the importance of strong leadership, strong teamwork, and strong players. David has a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Elmhurst College and has been certified by both ACTION International as a Business Coach and the Coach Training Alliance. He also has received his CTM from Toastmasters. He is an Officer in the Denver Coach Federation and a facilitator/trainer for the Coach Training Alliance and ACTION International of Colorado. Married with two adult daughters, David is active in his local Kiwanis club and Crossroads Community Church. He enjoys reading, golf, scuba diving, and Civil War reenacting.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Middle-Aged Managers, the Forgotten Digital Divide The digital divide is defined by the role computers play within widening social gaps in our society, as the condition of one group having an advantage over another group in regard to computers, technology skills and Internet access.This is usually thought of as being a divide between the white middle class and minority communities; but there is another often overlooked class of nonusers, the middle-aged corporate manager. Dividing The Loot It is when the going gets better, that the going gets tough. This enigmatic sentence bears explanation: when a firm is in dire straits, in the throes of a crisis, or is a loss maker - conflicts between the shareholders (partners) are rare. The Role of the Machine Metaphor in Mixed-initiative Organizational Leadership "Can This Marriage be Saved?" So reads the title of the cover story in the August 15, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek (www.businessweek. Hidden Consultants Within Your Organization You've all heard the old joke about a consultant being someone who uses your watch to tell you the time, and then steals your watch. There's some truth to the story: consultant recommendations are often the same things that your employees or customers have been telling you all along. Hire Winners: Ask the Right Questions How do you as a manager, supervisor or team leader hire winners? One very successful interviewing technique is behavioral interviewing---selecting the right person for the right job using a job-related rather than a gut feel approach. A job-related approach is asking for a behavioral example of skills and traits that are required for a position. Shrinkage Control What has been your store's shrinkage experience for the last two years? What will it be this year? If it has not been as good as it should have been, now is the time to analyze the possible causes and take steps to keep shrinkage in line this year.WHAT IS SHRINKAGE?The difference between the perpetual book inventory and the physical inventory count is called shrinkage. People Literacy Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why one management approach that works beautifully with one employee is ineffective with another. That's because what we think would be motivating isn't always motivating to someone else. Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Begin With Goals Goals are critically important for the success of a meeting. You must know what you want so you can ask for it. Management Training: Are You Satisfied With The Results? If you're not satfied with the results of your management training programs, maybe it's because you handle training as a 'one shot' event rather than a process of developing your people to be better managers.One of the common misconceptions is that a manager can take a course and voila he is now skilled in communicating with others, or managing his time or delegating work. Managing People - No More Mr Tough Guy I believe the media and our culture sends the wrong messagesabout how to manage people and this makes it difficult forBusiness Owners and Managers.We've all heard the old cliché "nice guys don't finishfirst" and that has a huge impact on how managers deal withtheir people. How You Can Learn to be a Better Manager When you first take over a department, expectations are usually high but operations are sometimes in disarray. The staff is disorganized, goals aren't being met, and hours are spent on unproductive tasks. Downsizing in Organisations - The Real Truth I've met and worked with many people in all sectors of the business world and found that the majority of managers and team leaders are spending too much of their time on basic administrative tasks. Tasks for which they have had no training in. Saying "No" Gracefully to Customers and Colleagues Envision the scenario: You've just been asked at the last minute by Chris, the organizer of your local networking group, to replace the scheduled speaker at next month's meeting. You already have too many commitments on your plate. Rethinking Workplace Security: How the Rules Have Changed The workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Very early in mankind's history perils emanated from the place and type of work they performed. Managing YOUR Expectations I sit on the board of an organization and at the last meeting found myself speaking with another board member named Standolyn Robertson. Standolyn is also a business owner and our conversation was about managing expectations ? both ours and our clients. Innovation Management - changing the world! Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Managers' Biggest Blunders Nobody's perfect, including the boss. Managers, we polled recently, acknowledged making a number of mistakes, from not recognizing staff accomplishments to inadequate communication to poor hiring decisions. Auditing Improves Effective Planning Speak of operations assessment, and we'll hear its significant value. Speak of an audit, and we'll run for the nearest emergency exit. Creativity and Innovation Management - Money Doesnt Do It Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Dealing with Difficult People You know, this would be a great business if it weren't for having to deal with people all the time?OK, so maybe I've exaggerated things a bit, but we've all certainly heard that saying before. Why does that sentiment ring true for so many folks? Obviously it's because of all the people challenges we're presented with in our business. |
home | site map | contact us |