John's Blog

Indulge me for a moment… If success is a numbers game, many attempts will surely guarantee success at some stage? What do you think? In light of the Disney of Destiny article, I have decided to challenge myself to produce 100 posts in 100 days. My main topic is leadership, but I don't plan to stick to it, I plan to write.   I am not a professional writer, and decided to see if I could actually do this. The posts will have the hash tag #100posts100days.  Join me. Not just in reading the posts, but in producing your own for 100 days. Tag your posts in comments below or tweet them with the afore mentioned hash tag and let creativity rule! 1. Surprise Visit from my Heart 2. The Dragon Whisperer 3. Disney's of Destiny  4. Are you as good as you think you are? 

As every successful athlete knows, as every great salesman has experienced – there is a fine line between failure and success. The difference between a failure and a successful task balances uneasily on the golden pivot of timing! As in sports or in sales – when to lead is as important as how or where. Timing carries with it the potential of four possible outcomes:

It will come as no surprise to someone climbing the Leadership Ladder that leaders have to sacrifice in order to succeed! The glamorous image people have of leadership hides the fact that leaders are called to give up more than anyone else in order to stay up the ladder as a leader. The higher you climb as a leader, the greater the sacrifice you will be called to make. Leadership is marked by true living sacrifices. New and budding leaders often falter when they discover the types of sacrifices they need to make and their growth path changes from one of leadership to one of dictatorship. Here is a brief list of sacrifices a leader will be called to make on their path to success:

  It is safe to say that being busy does not mean you are productive. It must also be said that leaders never reach a point where they do not have to prioritise their activities. A diary full of activity doesn’t guarantee accomplishments. In fact, the higher you climb up the successful leader ladder, the more important successful prioritising becomes. Pareto’s 80/20 Principle suggests that 20% of your effort will produce 80% of your rewards. There is   a big “BUT” attached to that principle – but you must select worthwhile activities that will bring reward. So, how do you, as a leader, select the “better” activities to get more bangs for your sweat? By utilising the 3 R’s of Priority of course. The 3 R’s of Priority are three questions the leader can ask to determine if an activity is really worth the effort:

Like a strong man in a Truck Pulling Contest – Leadership is hard to get started! The strong man leans into the braces with his full weight, taking small, but strong steps to just get the truck rolling. Once it starts to move, keeping the truck rolling is a lot simpler. It the same way, starting your team off will take all the strength you have, but will get easier as you roll along.

<< Leadership Needy Leader – The Flip Side AVOID being a NEEDY Leader (part 2) The needy leader forms one leg of the Drama Triangle. What is the Drama Triangle? The needy leader creates drama by viewing all the people that surround him or her in one of two categories – Victim or Persecutor as discussed in Part 1. Below is a Drama Triangle Diagram:

<< Leadership AVOID being a NEEDY Leader! Leader is almost synonymous with Role Model. People look to Leaders to set an example, to lead the way. People draw strength and encouragement from leaders. So, the pressure is on the Leader to be reliable, consistent and to act with integrity.  Imagine the devastation and harm a needy leader could cause. When a leader decides that their own worth and value is based on the position they hold, they quickly descend into a dark place that makes leadership ugly. Manipulative, controlling and praise-seeking become hallmarks of a needy leader. Even good people walk on a slippery slope that could take them into the role of a needy leader. So, how does a well-meaning leader avoid becoming needy?

<< Leadership << 21 Laws to Leadership Principles of Buy-In Developing a following is not as simple as one may think. Having a cause, a concept or a project where you need the help of others will require them to “buy-in” to your vision. I have watched many leaders and entrepreneurs sweat to get jus a small handful of followers. This initial phase of little to no acceptance can cause leaders to doubt in themselves and/or the cause for which they stand, and becomes the turning point when they crack and slink into the “number 2 position,” wounded and humiliated. Don’t let your leadership capacity get whipped into believing you were meant to play second-in-command to someone else’s leadership. Neither you nor the world will benefit from this victim mentality. Stay strong and push until you get a break through. Listed below are a few useful principles that will help you remain strong and focused during times of little or no support:

<< Leadership << 21 Laws to Leadership Mirror, Mirror in the Boardroom ... Take a look at your team. No, really look at them. Did you notice that your team members are very similar to you? This is no accident. People like people that are like themselves. Leaders attract people that are like-minded, similar in beliefs and values, and often mirror strengths and weaknesses too. When called to assess the slump in any given company, I often arrive a little early for the first board meeting, to enter the building through the basement, kitchen or service area. Board members prepare themselves to dazzle consultants (and CEO) with their brilliance and knowledge and often regurgitate what they think I want to hear. This does not assist me to find the problem that required them to use my services in the first place. Masks and defence mechanism are the order of the day.

4 Processes Leaders must Master “Overnight Success Stories” are often filled with details of years of complex process requiring years of hard work, influence and painfully slow growth. Perhaps the story of leadership in your life follows a similar story line? Of one thing we can be certain, is that becoming a leader is marked by showing a working understanding of processes. 

8 Universal Life Skills (everyone should have) There is no doubt that the world we live and its inhabitants are changing. Professional communication, access to information, more contact with diverse groups of people; are just three ways over the last decade in which the demands on each person personally has changed. Adaptability was an ability that was favoured, but has become an essential life skill to ensure personal survival in this ever changing world.

https://www.facebook.com/anamcarraleadership/ << Leadership The Space in Leadership 3 Skills of Listening and Timing Music is not in the notes, but in the silence between. Wolfgang Mozart Music is in the space between the notes. Claude Debussy The attribute of Space in Leadership can be compared to the space between notes in music. Whatever you preference of style, it seems that music appeals to people from all walks of life. It is true that each of us has our own choice as to our favourite groups or even style of music. It is also true, you would have to agree, that music is made up of notes and timing.

<< Leadership Quantum Theory Leadership A Definition Quantum Mechanics is the science that studies the particles that make up every day objects including you and me. Experiments have discovered that these particles, viewed at a sub atomic level, behave very strangely indeed. Einstein called this science – Spooky! (Read the Quantum Theory Leadership - An Introduction - here) Reading material on Quantum Mechanics, I began to draw parallels to the area of Leadership. After a comment a reader made on the seemingly opposing attributes of leadership (some say lead from the front, some say lead from behind) on an article posted on this blog, I began wondering if there was a definitive description of leadership with a logical and measurable manner to offer training and development.

6 Steps to Engaged Leadership Whether you are arranging your own life for success, or rallying the energy and enthusiasm of a team, it is important that you and your team are fully engaged in the process.  According to Wikipedia, Engage means: 1. occupy or attract (someone's interest or attention).  2. Participate or become involved in and   3. (With reference to a part of a machine or engine) move into position so as to come into operation. As a leader focused on achievement of a vision, you will require yourself and your team members to be interested in the vision, you will require them to participate or be involved in the active achievement of the vision by moving into an operational position that will make them fruitful. Engaging people is no easy task as approximately 77% of people are disengaged from their own lives and careers. Getting people interested and involved is the single hardest task for a leader that never stops. The six steps to Engaged Lea...

Groups vs. Teams A leader will emerge as a team gathers to accomplish any sort of objective. A handful of key principles will assist a leader to lay a good foundation for his or her personal leadership style. The leader should also understand the phases of a developing team, understand what is required to keep the team on track. A working knowledge of the difference between a group and a team will help the leader identify where the team is in the development process.

5 Key Principles of Team Development In order to achieve something fantastic, you require a team to do what is needed for success. Before you have a high performance team, you need a group that shares a common cause. Before you have a group with a common cause, a leader is required. This leader will take his or her people from being a group into a high performance team that achieves outcomes smoothly and efficiently. Even though there are many kinds of teams, each accomplishing many types of objectives, all requiring vastly different skill sets, it is clear that the leaders of the unique and varying groups need to have an understanding of the basic concepts of leadership. Knowledge of just a handful of key principles will give the leader a clear understanding of his or her role in the success of any team.

5 Steps to turn your Group into a High Performance Team All teams are a group, but not all groups are teams. In order to understand this opening statement it is important to understand the dynamics and definition of a group, and of a team. A Group is a collection of people that have come together, joined by a common cause. A Team is a collection of people, already united by a common cause, and have a common objective or goal to achieve.

Which Comes first? The age old riddle of which comes first; “the chicken or the egg,” is a frustrating argument. Trying to determine which element is needed to fuel / develop / birth the next is turned into a circunever-ending debate by asking: which is needed first? Or, what is step one? When you are involved in the development of leaders, you will discover a similar dilemma - Which is needed first: Leadership or Purpose? The “chicken or the egg” riddle is not as simple as it may first seem. Which is required first? This seems like a logical question, however, it always ends in the repetitive circular argument that has made the riddle famous. There is another question which could be asked: Which one can survive on its own?

Authentic Culture Authentic Brand Those entrepreneurs that neglect company culture and company brand do so at their own peril. Culture and brand are two sides of the same coin. Culture is the attitudes, expectations expressed through policies and procedures that boil out into action through service. Brand is the culture of your organisation from the customers’ perspective. Brand is how your customers see and experience your company’s culture when they buy your products or use your services.

5 Tips for Leadership Development Evaluation In my quest to learn, grow and share leadership traits, techniques and tips, I recently attended a conference, my first in many years. Several speakers took to the stage, sharing their secrets of success. Each one had a turn on the stage whipping the crowd into frenzied excitement with dance moves, power chants and positive affirmations. I walked away disappointed that leadership development had been reduced to rah-rah tricks and shallow development tips. Understanding the need for enthusiasm at conferences and the hype needed to promote sales, my concern is that this circus has become the expectation for leadership development.