the art of leading

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Last week , in Why the First 100 Days Could Make or Break Leaders, I mentioned the importance of “the First 100 Days” of a leader in a new position. In today’s post I’ll map out one possible course of action that someone might take in those first 100 days, to make the most out of them. The list was thought of in a step-by-step approach, but each item can be seen as a separate idea.

1. Ask for suggestions from present employees on what are the things that must be done. This doesn’t mean you’re going to do whatever they tell you, but it will be useful information to know what are the perceived top priorities.
2. Meet with your executives, 1 or 2 per day depending on the size of your organization. Get to know who you’ll be working with.
3. Prepare a report where you gather and analyze the information that has been gathered.
4. Take your people on a get-away to collaborate on the design of a new strategy, based on the information that has been gathered. Come away with new goals and a new strategy to achieve them.
5. Focus on communicating the new strategy to your organization.
6. Ask employees if they’re willing to work and collaborate with you in reaching new goals and following a new strategy. You need only the most willing people.
7. Re-assign or fire those who aren’t compatible with your vision.
8. Hire those who need to be hired. Use this opportunity, if given, to fill in the gaps. Do you lack sales and marketing skills? Then hire people who excel at sales and marketing.
9. Take the first step in your new strategy. You were brought here for a reason, so get to work on what you have achieved in these 100 days. You have just begun.

Whatever you do in your first 100 days, my suggestion to you is to focus on gathering information and developing a plan to synthesize and utilize that information. Whichever method you choose, that should be the most important goal.

Categories : Action, Communication, General Leadership, Goals, Relationships, Success // 4 Comments »

The “First 100 Days” . Every new president or executive has some variation of it. Those 100 days represent what may be instilled in the minds of many people for years to come. Those 100 days are the first impression.

When someone starts out, be it in the political or in any other arena, she’s generally given the benefit of the doubt. She hasn’t done anything wrong in the public eye (of course, she hasn’t done anything). Everyone is putting their hopes on the new leader. The new leader has a fresh canvas to draw a legacy on.

This is exactly what Cristina Fernandez, wife of Argentina’s actual President, has. She’s the President-elect of Argentina. Before this victory as her country’s first elected woman President, Fernandez had a respectable career in her own right, prominently holding a couple of public offices.

Of course, this doesn’t guarantee her a position of true leadership. Fernandez has the benefit of a great “first impression” among Argentinians. But now she has to earn and practice true leadership. This is where the “First 100 Days” come in handy. She can use that time to establish her independence of criteria and to cement her leadership style.

Most importantly, she can use it to DO things, which is what leaders are supposed to do anyway. In fact, it may be the single best time to do things, because of the carte blanche that is somewhat given to the newly elected. There may be considerably more leeway in this period than in others, where political mistakes may already have created too many enemies to get anything done.

So, Mrs. Fernandez, make Argentinians proud of their choice, and keep in mind the power of the “First 100 days”.

Categories : Action, Politics // Add Comment »

This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day. The purpose of this initiative is to get thousands of bloggers talking about one topic. This Blog Action Day’s topic is the environment.

The environmental issue is a leadership issue. It involves persuasion, negotiation, inspiration, motivation, and all those other “-asions” and “-ations” that leadership is supposed to address. Therefore, leadership should play a central role in this discussion.

These days, the environment is on everybody’s minds. Obviously, Al Gore has been partly responsible for such attention, with his Nobel Peace Prize and all. Scientist, politicians, economists argue over the actual existence of global warming, its cause, whether it is human-caused or natural, and so on. But hey, let all the science to, umm…the scientists. For the purposes of this article, I’ll take the sensible premise that global warming is a reality and that humans have a significant role in it.

So what role can, and should, leadership play?

It has been drilled into everybody’s mind that one of the most important functions of leaders is to persuade people to adopt a stance and take action. The discussion of environmental issues has a huge need of effective persuasion.

Granted, I don’t believe that it is still a great necessity to persuade people that global warming exists. Even severe critics of global warming discussions admit that it is a reality.

What is more important than that is to persuade people that they can do something to improve what the future holds for our planet. In other words, we need leaders to persuade people to practice what I call personal leadership.

Why?

Put simply, this cause is not one which will advance with a big social movement led by a central leader. It’s too big of a deal for a small group of people In my opinion, the mission of curbing global warming and environmental pollution will be achieved through micro-collaboration. People will have to contribute whatever initiative, however big or small, that is possible.

What kind of initiative?

A classic simple action that may contribute greatly, from lessening dependence on oil to helping the economy, is to use FC light bulbs instead of standard light bulbs. Or perhaps you can use the train instead of the car. In fact, you can use the train instead of the car just one day of the week, and still generate some impact. Using this personal leadership, you can serve as an example to whoever you may influence. You have to urge this micro-collaboration. That is leadership in practice. And that is what will be necessary to change the course of our planet.

And what about the bigger-than-life leaders who will single-handedly change the world?

Occasionally some great individual leader will emerge as a motivating presence. Al Gore has taken a role, regardless of what people think of him, of proactivity. Nevertheless, he nor any other individual will be a savior, regardless of how many awards he wins. In this age of tipping points, long tails, and wikinomics, social micro-collaboration will be the key to reversing the damage that humans have caused to the environment.

Explore Blog Action Day!

Categories : Action, Blog Action Day, Change, Environment, Persuasion, Proactivity // Add Comment »

Previously I wrote a post called Self Confidence to be a Leader. This article, Leadership by Hypothesis, by Pete Pande of Forbes.com, summarizes that importance of self confidence in a leader. Here is an excerpt:

“Why “leadership by hypothesis?” Two simple answers: 

–Every decision a leader makes–every goal set, target defined, strategy developed–is fundamentally a hypothesis, a more or less educated guess about the future and the correct path to success.

–The more conscious you are of your hypotheses, the better you can manage the inherent uncertainties and risks every leader and organization faces—and in many cases, use those uncertainties to your advantage.

The best leaders are comfortable with hypotheses.”     Keep reading!

Categories : Action, Confidence, Courage, General Leadership // Add Comment »

Let’s face it. Leadership is not an overnight thing. Very few of us are handed the power to influence large masses or even small corporate departments. But we can do small, simple things each day to put our leadership skills to practice, and develop those that we need to improve. Here are some of those things:

1. Persuade a friend to do the right thing.
2. Praise your kids for things well done.
3. Find support for that special project at work you’ve always thought about.
4. Join the Toastmasters, Rotary, Lions, etc.
5. Speak up at class, if you’re a student.
6. Start a non-profit in support of your cause.
7. Start a business.
8. Speak up on behalf of someone who can’t.
9. Recommend something to someone.
10. Give thanks to someone for something.
11. Volunteer to give a speech, and give.
12. Start a blog.
13. Send a letter to your newspaper.
14. Meet someone. new.
15. Learn something new about someone you already know.
16. Teach something you know to someone who doesn’t.
17. Volunteer to be the team leader at school or work, when asked.
18. Build something without following instructions.
19. Pick the restaurant for your date tonight.
20. Run for office in you community.
21. Turn off the TV, so you can read more.
22. Stand up straight.
23. Act confidence when you interact with others.
24. Offer to help around the house.
25. Help an old lady cross the street.

Categories : Action, Confidence, General Leadership, Personal Development // Add Comment »

Picture yourself five years ago. What are your dreams? What are your goals? What are your plans? Are you pretty sure that you’re gonna’ reach them? How confident are you? Do you have your next five years planned out to perfection?

Now come back to the present. Did you actually reach them? To what extent? Of course, everything didn’t go exactly as planned. Maybe you achieved all your goals. Or maybe you simply stalled. Or maybe you have been hit by the storms of everyday life, as is normal.

That happens too. We think we’re Supermen or Superwomen and suddenly something happens to change our course. [Read more →]

Categories : Action, Change, Failure, General Leadership, Goals, Personal Development // 2 Comments »

Brains, Guts, and the Capacity to Act

By Stephen H. Baum

author of What Made jack welch Jack Welch

What allows a leader to take the steps needed to solve a problem or master a
difficult situation? What keeps the desire to act from being impetuous and
uninformed, as in “ready, fire, aim” behavior? The answer is that the
capacity to act effectively and decisively is a complex mixture of brain and
gut, a combination I call threads in thinking. It includes these qualities:

* An ability to distill a situation to its simplest dynamics; to
understand the issues and the consequences of doing nothing; and to
formulate a specific plan.

* Being extro-spective: seeing the business in the larger context of
the industry and in the marketplace; seeing a situation from a high-altitude
view and making sense of it on the ground.

* For opportunities, an ability to see the true benefits and risks,
which are not always obvious.

* Possession of a mental library of truly relevant analogies and other
mental models that can be applied to characterize the situation in a way
helpful for making a choice.

* An ability to identify valuable sources of advice, experience, and
wisdom (inside the company and out); to elicit information and know when to
do so.

* An instinct for calibrating the value of and motive for facts and
information people are giving you, the subtext of real agendas.

* An ability to discern both financial and nonfinancial impacts and
include them in the calculus (company reputation, morale, future business
options), then weigh the risks.

* An ability to anticipate issues and define a point of view so you
don’t have to do it for the first time under crisis.

* Being able to think a couple of moves ahead, as in chess, or as
Steve Kaufman put it: “the ability to look around the corner and see what’s
coming.” This ability and most of the others can be tested and developed.

It’s a tall order, but remember that no one starts out with all of these
abilities. You develop these threads and judgment only with experience. This
is done mainly through on-the-job training. Just remember how many of the
leaders we’ve been discussing failed in school, how many were far from the
top of their class, how none were rocket scientists. Only by working through
major challenges in the first place do you develop and nurture these
abilities until they become part of you and part of your instinct.

In the Eye of the Storm

Deciding that you must act, and then acting, is not as straightforward as it
seems. Circumstances will often make your decision to take action in the
first place very challenging. Remember [Read more →]

Categories : Action, Communication, Confidence, General Leadership, Loyalty, Personal Development, Proactivity, Relationships, Responsibility // Add Comment »