Posts Tagged ‘connecting’

The Foundation of Leadership

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

James Kouzes, co-author of “The Leadership Challenge” distills the foundation of successful leadership to credibility.

Credibility creates trust.  To be trusted, we must be trustworthy.  We may admire what others have; we may respect what they do.  However, we will not trust them until we feel we know who they are.

Credibility comes from what we do consistently – under pressure and over the long term.  Leaders remain consistent.  Leaders stay true to their values.

If you’ve been leading people for any length of time, they know what you value.  If it differs significantly from what you’ve been saying, you are killing your own credibility and eroding your own leadership foundation.

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Everyone’s Got a Story

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

I was at a Dale Carnegie Course graduation this week.

One of the graduates was talking about what he gained from his twelve weeks in the program.  His realization – everyone’s got a story.

We often (usually?) make judgements about others based solely upon what we see.  It’s like looking through a keyhole in the front door of a mansion and claiming to know where everything – rooms, paintings, tapestries, furniture, silverware, closets, beds, linen, etc. – is inside.  We can’t even see the entire front hallway.

Dale Carnegie said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested you.”  It’s amazing, when we strive to “Become genuinely interested in other people” (principle #4), they do become genuinely interesting to us.

The hard part is getting past our own initial judgement, so we can at least open the door and see the hallway.

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Manipulation -v- Motivation

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

In our management program, Leadership Training for Managers, we delve into the difference between manipulation and motivation.

One key difference – the results produced by engaging, long-term, in one behavior or the other.  Manipulation, over time, leads to resentment and compliance; motivation leads to cooperation.

The challenge is to determine which we engage in most often.  It’s made more difficult because the ultimate arbiter is the other person.  All we have to go on is our own perspective.

So, how do you determine if you’re manipulating?  Actually, it’s pretty simple.

If you think you’re manipulating, you are.

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End Construction

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Recently, I came to one of the many US highway areas “under construction.”

At 1:00 am, the maze of orange cones, orange barrels, flashing lights, concrete barriers and reflective tape was very noticeable in the pitch black.  What was not noticeable?  The entrance to the labyrinth.  I’m sure the traffic engineer who designed this knew exactly how traffic was supposed to navigate through it.  But, it’s not intuitively obvious at 75…. errrr at 65 miles per hour.

I slowed to a crawl, found the entrance, and breathed a sigh of relief when I finally saw the “end construction” sign several miles later.

What’s it like for your prospect navigating through your company’s sales process; or your customer navigating your customer service process; or maybe one of your employees navigating some new software or procedure?

Just because it’s obvious to you (the builder) doesn’t mean it’s obvious, friendly, or easy to anyone else.  While we can rush right through it, they need to slow down, get their bearings and at least see the entrance.

When your sales, customer service, and human resource professionals try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view, they’ll be more able to reassure, guide, and build trust with with your prospects, customers, and employees

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