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Infographic Courtesy of EPOS Systems
Monthly Archives: May 2016
L2L Infographic: Millennials and Business Leadership
What They Really Think
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Leadership Rx: Spiritual Leaders Bring Healing to Others
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Nowadays we witness many individuals who find their working life does not bring them hope but oppression.
Workers are losing their rights in many industries; others are cast aside with ease to bring temporary profit to the greedy. Increasing numbers of workers do not find the dignity and fulfillment that work ought to contribute to their lives, families, and communities.
Leadership Rx
A hope-filled spiritual leader sees these new tasks for leaders in dealing with individuals and organizations as a major responsibility.
They know healing is needed when people:
- Focus exclusively on self-interest
- Exhibit excessive internal competition
- Constantly engage in comparisons with others
- Evidence mutual blame
- Lose vitality
- Compromise their integrity
- Deliberately do things they know are unethical
A leader also recognizes the need for healing when some in the organization are always marginalized; there are voiceless members, and widespread indifference to others’ needs.
Healing is clearly needed when administration restricts communication, misuses power, allows significant disparity in executives’ salaries, and governs autocratically.
Starting at the Top
When managers get in and get out of the organization with increased salaries and golden parachutes, having done nothing significant, then the organization and its board members need healing. When managers simply do not try to slow the erosion of values, then they also need healing.
Every organization has some individuals in pain, feeling loss, experiencing broken relationships at work and at home, suffering from a lack of meaning, and this sense of pain affects the quality of their work.
In fact, some within on organization need healing but do not know it.
Then again some sick individuals make everyone else sick without ever feeling anything themselves. A leader of hope has to heal the wounds caused by former bosses and also by coworkers. Some individuals adapt themselves to sick situations and then become as sick as everyone else.
No organization can function well amid unhealthy situations that sap vitality, creativity, and commitment. So, dealing with organizational dysfunctions is one of the challenges of a spiritual leader who wants to give hope to others.
A Leader of Hope
A leader of hope allows no one to feel inferior but raises them up to their just level of appreciation, showing empathy to all. Healing others is a major task of a leader of hope who thus enables others to become their complete selves.
This includes:
- Healing relationships within organizations
- Clarifying and refocusing roles
- Setting goals together
- Making sure channels of communication are open
- Reflecting on each others’ gifts
- Expressing recognition and appreciation of everyone’s contribution
The leader’s healing influence will vary for each member in need.
Some may feel they are taken for granted and a leader must give them visibility and prominence.
For others who have been the object of bogus empowerment by former failed leaders a leader of hope must give genuine, significant delegation. There are always members who feel used, often because they are, and a leader will need to heal by letting people feel at home in the organization and making them objects of sincere admiration and respect.
A Healthier Way to Lead
A good leader creates for those within an organization a healthy way of living together, and this implies risk taking. He or she will encourage others to get involved in the journey to wholeness, to share in common values, to become vulnerable as he or she manifests genuine emotions of heart and love.
Part of a healthy way of living together is to heal the loneliness of all around us, to awaken others to hope, to enable people to resolve conflicts constructively, to move them by making it clear that they are loved.
Leaders of hope restore others to healing through listening, empathy, and compassion, and even a sense of humor; healing broken relationships, restoring justice, and building a reconciling community.
A leader of hope will focus on values of colleagues, since a person without values causes problems for those around. Then the insidious destruction of the vision of hope causes everyone to live a reduced notion of what it means to be human.
Many so-called leaders do nothing about the hurt that surrounds them, but a spiritual leader seeks always to bring healing where it is needed.
So how are you doing at putting on your spiritual leader role and serving others with empathy, love and trust so that healing can be a natural part of your organization? If you need some improvement in this area, what steps can you take and what behavior can you emulate to become a healing leader? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™
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Dr. Leonard Doohan is an Author and Workshop Presenter
He focuses on issues of spiritual leadership
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog
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L2L Weekender: Tips for Small Business Online Leaders
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Many small business start-up leaders in the online sales space often do not know the best ways to insure that they have the right tools in their toolbox to insure a successful launch.
Without the right tools and procedures in place, money, opportunity and exposure can be left behind.
Today’s Tip: Your Online Store
Creating an Online Store
Do not waste any time. Create an online store to sell your products. You could be losing out. Start stocking your inventory online. It is a natural process. The setup does not require you to know HTML or technical codes.
Here are 4 aspects to help you set-up your online store:
Add-A-Store
Use a reputable e-commerce web design to assist you in setting up a store. You do not even have to start from scratch. You can turn your already existing blog into an online store. The plug-in works well with WordPress blogs. It is also compatible with Tumblr or Joomla. It allows you to sell up to 100 items.
The plug-in comes with a shopping cart feature that floats around allowing customers to add multiple products directly from your website. The built-in dashboard allows you to customize images, pricing options, and descriptions. Additionally, the checkout feature is secured with PCI.
Your Product Catalog
The online catalog allows you to display your products using multimedia images. You can feature up to 300,000 products varying in colors, shapes, and sizes. The number of photos for each product is unlimited. You will also get customizable templates.
The catalog also allows you to adjust bulk product pricing. You can use monograms to personalize products for each customer. Additionally, you can sell downloadable products such as software. You can control your inventory in real-time. Each time you make changes, it is automatically updated.
Your Storefront Design
You can create the front of your store to make it look appealing. The template has a checklist that shows you step-by-step how to set up the store. You can also make changes from any computer using the administrative tools as long as you have an internet connection. You do not have to download any plug-ins.
You will have access to editing tools such as DreamWeaver or FrontPage. They come with full CSS support. Various preformatted templates are available for use. You can modify the templates by changing colors, fonts, or the page layout. Do this from the admin panel. It also allows you to save multiple design themes.
You can also integrate codes into your HTML for your shopping cart in that you can organize how the information gets displayed to the customer. You can organize your own product display layout. Do so by inserting name, price, image, description, or whatever else needs to get added.
Your Marketing Tools
These tools for social media, comparison shopping, and SEO are built-in. You can check this article from Web 20 Ranker to learn how to run reports and see how well your site is performing with the SEO tool. Additionally, you can take help of services like MashOn to usher in more traffic to your website. Set up your post to automatically connect to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Your customers can also post your products on social media with the click of a button.
In conclusion, anyone can create an online store. The steps are relatively easy. All the tools that you need to get the store up and to run are readily available. Some of the tools that you will have include Add-A-Store, Online Product Catalog, Storefront design, and Marketing Tools.
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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™
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Equipping Leaders to Battle Fear with Accountability
Leading with Honor Video Coaching from Lee Ellis
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Six Leadership Obstacles to Team Success
As leaders, we want the positive elements of success—achievement, notoriety, money, and excellence for clients and customers.
But we’re unwilling to do the right things to get there. The missing cultural piece is courageous accountability.
What are the six obstacles that can get you off-course? Read Lee’s latest article below, and see where you’re vulnerable –
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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™
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Lee Ellis is Founder & President of Leadership Freedom LLC & FreedomStar Media.
He is a leadership consultant and expert in teambuilding, executive development & assessments
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog | Book | Facebook | Twitter
His latest book is called Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton.
L2L Book Review “Under New Management” by David Burkus
An Open Invitation To Join The Integrative Leader's Book Club
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David Burkus argues in his book Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual that the management practices that have evolved from the factory work economy just do not apply to today’s knowledge work economy.
Burkus walks the reader through compelling case studies of companies who have abandoned traditional management and leadership practices in favor of new ways to organize and lead.
His premise is this:
Burkus’s insights are convincing companies to leave behind decades-old management practices and to implement new ways to enhance productivity and morale. Fire all the managers, outlaw email, and make pay transparent.
Title: Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual
by David Burkus
Purpose:
The purpose of David Burkus’s new book Under New Management is to find answers to these questions and more:
- Do open-floor plans really work – or do they make employees miserable?
- Are there companies which really put their employees’ welfare first, and their clients second?
- Are annual performance reviews really necessary?
Premise:
Fire all the managers, outlaw email, and make pay transparent. These are all chapters in David Burkus’ new book “Under New Management”. David argues in this book that the management practices that have evolved from the factory work economy just do not apply to today’s knowledge work economy.
He walks the reader through compelling case studies of companies who have abandoned traditional management and leadership practices in favor of new ways to organize and lead.
A Reader’s Guide:
I found myself starting each chapter thinking that there would be no way that what I was about to read would work. But, by the end of most chapters, not only did I feel it was possible but optimal.
In my opinion, any book on leadership and management that gets me to pause and reflect is of great value. This book provides page after page of things to pause and contemplate.
New Book Club
The Integrative Leader’s Book Club
I was so energized after reading it, that I decided to feature it as this month’s selection in The Integrative Leader’s Book Club.
What is really exciting is, I was able to connect with David and he graciously agreed to join us for a live Q&A session.
Linked 2 Leadership is one of the best forums for leadership exploration. By nature, its readers are actively working to hone their craft. Therefore, I would like to personally invite you to join The Integrative Leader’s Book Club. Each month we pick a thought provoking book to read and discuss.
This club was created to help us lift our heads up from working in our business and allow us to spend a little time working on it. Leadership is a practice and the books read and the wisdom shared will help us all become better at our craft.
I would also invite you to register for the online Q&A session with David on Monday, May 23at 11am Pacific.
At the end of each month, I will post right here on Linked 2 Leadership a review of the book and some of the key learnings that our club gained and shared. Hopefully together, we can all become better leaders and develop future leaders that are well prepared to guide the organizations of the future.
I hope to see you in the club.
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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™
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Elliot Begoun is the Principal Consultant of The Intertwine Group, LLC.
He works with companies to Deliver Tools that Enable Growth
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | GROW | Website
Image Sources: Linked2Leadership.com
Mentoring in the Workplace: Spreading the Knowledge
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We often hear about the need for gaining and sharing organizational knowledge to further our careers, reach our goals (and create new ones), and make connections in various industries.
One of the best ways to share knowledge is also a vital part of the leadership toolkit – mentoring.
Mentoring in the Workplace
Mentoring is an essential leadership skill, and encompasses the professional development of others. Mentors show others the ropes, answer questions, and guide mentees in the direction they need to go.
When a new employee first meets with a mentor, the first question often is this:
What can you tell me about your experience at this organization?”
Mentees must get oriented to their working environment and learn how to handle the challenges it poses. The mentor serves as a guide through those challenges with advice and constructive criticism, while paving the way to the mentee’s next goal or challenge.
Throughout the process, mentors build on their acumen as leaders and information sharers.
Sharing Knowledge
Sharing organizational knowledge is an invaluable part of mentoring, as much as it is a way to keep an organization’s business practices. Mentoring to share knowledge is different from traditional mentoring, in that there is more emphasis on practical applications than on organizational culture or building networks.
The key is to combine both types of mentoring.
Sharing information about an organization and teaching about its culture, mentors offer mentees a richer experience and a more complete picture of the organization and its needs.
Types of Knowledge
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, distributing, and using knowledge, and considers an integrated approach to sharing the information assets of a given organization. These assets include policies, databases, documents, procedures, and the expertise and experiences of individual employees.
KM looks primarily at two types of knowledge, explicit and tacit, which are the primary types of knowledge imparted to employees, especially via mentoring; a third type, embedded knowledge, can be found in processes, organizational culture, and ethics.
- Explicit knowledge is codified, and can be found in documents and databases.
- Tacit knowledge is more intuitive and is rooted in experience, context, and practices.
Learning How to Teach
One way to look at mentoring is to imagine teaching someone how to ride a bike. The act of learning to ride the bike is the tacit knowledge, while a set of precise instructions on how to ride the bike is the explicit knowledge. And embedded knowledge is the “rules of the road” to keep in mind while riding the bike.
Establishing mentoring relationships are crucial to fostering leadership skills and professional development, both for mentors and mentees. Mentors ensure the transfer of organizational knowledge and offer guidance to those who may one day become leaders themselves; mentees benefit from learning about their roles and the organization.
So how are you doing at creating an atmosphere and workplace that actively relies upon sharing knowledge, experiences, and expertise? If you are not doing this, what steps can you take now to implement a process of systematic mentoring to help people learn, grow, and develop? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™
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Linda R. Ranieri is a Graduate Student in Communication
She works in the Medical Testing and Assessment Industry
Email | LinkedIn | Google+ | Web
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