Archive for June, 2010

Read one of the many excellent leadership books and you might think that it is a breeze. The reality is quite different.

So what are some common leadership myths that you need to avoid?

Myth 1: Leaders are born

Truth is we are all born and I am not aware of any distinction being made at birth so don’t buy into this way of thinking. If you do, you are sunk before you get started.

Myth 2: There is a right or wrong style

We all have our natural preferences or what I call ‘default style’. At the same time, the type of leadership style that you adopt depends on the circumstances you face. Be willing to adapt your style to fit the circumstances.

Myth 3: You need to be charismatic and an extrovert

Being a bit of an extrovert might help but people are generally good at looking below the surface. Truth is some of the most successful leaders in some of the biggest organisations are introverts. Again, don’t buy into the mindset trap.

Myth 4: You need to be smart

Yes, you need a certain level of intelligence but that in itself is not enough. What you do need to be smart about is how you invest your time and energies and to know the impact you have on others. Build all of your competencies, not just your IQ.

Myth 5: You need to be the fountain of all knowledge

Gone are the days when, as the leader, you know everything in detail. After all, that’s not what you are employed to do. What’s important is to recognise where you are weaker and then build a team around you with complementary skills.

The Bottom Line

If you want to prosper as a leader, make sure you don’t limit yourself by buying into some of the common myths.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Success as a leader can be challenging to achieve. While skills, experience and knowledge all help, qualities are important too.

So what five qualities are essential to succeeding as a leader?

1. A genuine interest in others.
2. Self awareness and a clear understanding of your own strengths and limitations.
3. A commitment to developing the leaders of the future.
4. Drive and persistence to keep going even when the going gets tough.
5. Set and adopt personally high standards.

What else would you add to the list?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Circumstances always exist; it’s a fact of life.

What I have noticed is that managers sometimes fall into the trap of complaining about the circumstances.

While it might be tempting and make you feel good in the short term, does it really achieve anything long term?

As a manager, you are employed to deliver results. Achieving results requires you to take decisions and then act on those decisions.

So where are you focusing your attention as a manager? On complaining about the circumstances or on taking actions to achieve results?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

1. Make it specific rather than general and vague.
2. Focus on giving balanced feedback which highlights both the positives and opportunities for improvement.
3. Don’t make it personal.
4. Make it useable by giving some specific things the person can do to improve.

I wonder what else you would add to the list?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

We all like to achieve things individually but, in the organisational context, we all know that much more can be achieved from teams.

So what are the key differences a team can make?

Breadth

A team brings a much greater range of skills, experience, knowledge and attributes than any one individual could ever bring alone.

Support

Being part of a team offers support which can keep the momentum going through the more difficult and challenging times.

Diversity

Few of us look at problems or challenges in exactly the same way. This diversity of ideas can really help broaden thinking and developing solutions that deliver great results.

Growth and development

Being part of a team such as a project team can provide individuals with low cost ways of having access to personal growth and development.

The Bottom Line

The truth is teams can really make a difference to personal and organisational success. What else would you add to the list?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

1. Focus on listening rather than multitasking.
2. Don’t jump to snap judgements.
3. Clarify understanding by summarising periodically.
4. Pay attention to body language as it may give clues to disconnects between what is being said and what should be being said.
5. Acknowledge the other person’s feelings, especially when handling difficult staff.
6. Don’t let your own need to be right or have the last word get in the way of listening.

What else from your experience would you add to the list?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

You want to be a successful leader or manager, right?

Of course you do but, despite this, it is surprising just how many people stop themselves from being successful.

So how can you start achieving more success?

Start taking DECISIONS (the ‘D’ in DAR)

We all have lots of choices available to us. Choices are great but it is decisions that get things moving. So if you want to get more success, start taking DECISIONS.

ACT on decisions

Decisions are great and can be hugely invigorating and motivating but the key thing you must do is take ACTION. It is the actions which move you forward, provide the channel for feedback on what is and what is not working. Make a habit of taking ACTION on DECISIONS if you want more success.

REMEMBER: DECISIONS + ACTIONS = RESULTS

RESULTS don’t happen by chance. They are a direct consequence of the decisions and actions you take. If you don’t stop using temporary staff for example, your outlay on salary costs is never going to change. Similarly, if you have a great idea for a product but never take it to the launch stage, you are never going to generate revenues.

The Bottom Line

If you are struggling to deliver as a leader or manager, take time out to review whether you are really taking decisions and then acting on decisions. You might be surprised what a difference simple changes can make.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

When it comes to career, you obviously want to try and get as much clarity as possible about where you are heading.

At the same time, before you can start to make progress, you need to be clear about where you are starting from.

So how can you find out where you are starting from?

1. Review your career to date.
2. Identify what experience you have got so far and what’s missing.
3. Look at the feedback that you have received from appraisals or performance review meetings.
4. Think about the type of work that you are usually seen as the go to person for. This is an indication of an area of real strength.
5. Ask for some feedback from those you work with now or have worked with in the past.
6. Do some form of self-assessment.

The Bottom Line

If you are going to get choices in your career, you need to get clear on the start point.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Sitting at a recent dinner with fellow business owners, I noticed just how much labelling was going on.

What the heck do I mean by labelling?

Basically, I mean wanting to put a label or title on something that would be crystal clear if people just said it in straightforward terms.

If you are a leader and using any of the following, maybe it is time to stop labelling and start saying what you really mean (and I have provided a few examples).

“Employee Engagement”

Basically what you might be seeking is to get people’s ideas, views or contributions to problems or challenges.

“Re-engineering”

Or more simply, changing the way we do things.

“Customer experience”

What we want our interaction with clients to be like.

“Efficiency”

Getting rid of the layers of process that are not contributing to the end result.

“Quality”

Just define what quality means in your product or service offer.

The truth is labelling can just make the simple complex. So what other favourites do you have in terms of labels that make the simple complex?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

1. Be clear about what you are trying to achieve and the outcomes that you want.
2. Step into the shoes of the other party and think about their position.
3. Be clear on what is negotiable and is not negotiable to minimise the amount of thinking on your feet that you have to do.
4. Be ready and able to flex your style to accommodate different situations rather than expecting one style to always work.
5. Make time to reflect and learn from both successful and unsuccessful influencing situations.

What else would you add to the list?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here