By its very definition, leadership requires followers. To become a good leader, it’s necessary to bring people along with you and to help build them into better people-often, to train them as leaders.

How is this done? First, it’s important to have a clear and worthwhile vision. Certainly this will help to attract devoted followers.

Integrity is also critical in building loyalty.

But becoming a builder of people requires more. It takes a genuine desire and commitment to call forth the best in others-to believe in them, even when they may doubt themselves.

People are Everything Too often, people are looked upon as being easily replaceable and yet, in every Read More→

In our intensely competitive global economy, be it pharmaceuticals, electronics, software or OTC products, the name of the game is innovation. The key to staying on top is getting to the next big idea and turning it into a marketable product or service”and doing it faster than the competition or the private label distributors. How can we lead with innovation as our goal? Everybody knows that the best ideas rarely come from the top; we also know that people usually do not come up with innovations while sitting at the computer checking e-mails, listening to voicemails or sitting in on the production forecast meeting.

The creativity that spawns innovation transcends the daily grind of the workplace and often shows up in unexpected areas. Great ideas come in dreams, from reading magazines you normally wouldn’t pick up, seeing a movie, meeting new people, eating at a new restaurant, traveling to a foreign land and scores of Read More→

Leading and managing a business is not a complex process. As practitioners of the art and science we choose to make them difficult. This gives us a reason to go to work each day – to sort difficult situations and solve impossible problems. It gives us bragging rights over a martini. Slaying corporate dragons and living with the resulting stress is a national pastime.

By making business procedures difficult we can hire experts to sort them out. This becomes a perfect default mechanism. You can always blame failure on the consultant’s bad advice.

Over years we built up layers of complexity about finances, planning, human resources requirements, and so on. As they get more unsolvable and complicated we have more reasons (read excuses) for not meeting performance requirements. The t-shirt should read, ‘Its not the economy – its your bad management – stupid’!

My favorite staff area to hammer is the finance department which in reality is the most simple of all business forms. Let me illustrate. You make a big pile of money. This needs to be done on a regular basis. It is called cash flow. During the year you take big chunks from the pile and give it to your suppliers and employee. That called operational expenses. At the end of the year you take another major portion of that and give to your government. That’s called taxes. When those piles are removed a small pile is left. That’s called profit for you and the shareholders. See how simple it becomes? For my finance friends reading this – don’t worry, I will equally insult other staff functions in other articles.

Now I am going to take a sword to the Gordian knot to the entire complicated practice of leading and managing a business. When you boil the essence of any business down to its purest form it means asking and answering six basic questions. I recommend you work with your management team to find the in-depth answers to these and subsequent questions.

1. Where am I going? This sets the direction of the company with all its variables. 2. Where am I now? This requires a cold hard look at your current performance levels. 3. How do I plan to get there? What are your strategic goals, smart objectives, and connecting strategies to move from the present to the future? 4. What will stop me? What are the show stoppers along the way? I don’t mean management lethargy, timid goal setting, and sluggish accountability. 5. How will I get buy-in from others? Okay, you have to sell it to the employees so it better be plausible. 6. How will I measure my progress? This is where everything breaks down. Do you have the courage to install a system that provides authority, permits responsibility, and demands resulting accountability?

In Summary

Approach your business training and development requirements with common sense. In the end that is the only business model that actually works.

Want to lead your company to the top of its field? First, you must foster a culture of innovation…and that begins at the top.

Naturally, you want your company to be a leader in the marketplace. How can you achieve this goal? Create and nurture a company culture based on innovation.

First, instill a mindset of continuous innovation at every level of your company. We have to debunk the myth that creativity is a trait a few select people are “born with”…that there are those with “creative personalities” Read More→

Organizations these days face a lot of changes, most of which are unlike those that they have encountered before. As organizations deal with changes and challenges, it is vital that they are led by people who have a clear idea of what leadership is and its role in the development of the organization. This trend has given rise to the concept of leadership development.

Most people think that leadership is merely being on top of the hierarchy. Being the first, the strongest, the most popular, and the biggest are oftentimes thought of as traits of a leader. In an organization, leadership takes a more profound description – leadership is the direction of efforts to a common goal and it influences people on many different aspects. In setting the direction and in guiding others to pursue such a direction, leaders must continually adapt to the different factors that affect the organization. Leaders must Read More→

These days, we are consistently challenged by rapid changes that most of the time bring in opportunities that are beyond compare. Oftentimes, advantageous and sustainable growth comes to those organizations whose leaders are able to see potentials way past their conventional stakeholders. Strategic thinking has become more popular more recently, as it has proven to be an effective approach in reaching the goals set by an organization.

Leaders nowadays try to learn how they can become effective strategic thinkers. In doing so, knowing the traits that can make you a successful strategic thinker can be to your advantage. Foremost is having a vision. Strategic thinkers must be able to see what lies ahead and must be able to identify their strategic Read More→

Leaders seem to abound the corporate world but with changes that happen in our times, what organizations really need are effective leaders. And just how does an organization address this? One way is through executive leadership trainings. However, another string of questions develop from this answer, like how does one know they are on the right track?

Before starting an executive leadership training program, it is imperative to establish where the leaders and the organization want to be at the end of the course. A clear vision of the goals of executive leadership training is crucial in taking the necessary steps to accomplish them. More often than not, an organization’s mission and vision serve as guides to the kind of leadership that must be present in the company, as these objectives and goals are meant to deliver benefits not only to the company but to its people, clients, and customers as well.

An organization’s vision and mission should be integrated into its executive leadership training program so that the latter can reinforce the goals and objectives of the company. In doing so, the vision and mission of the organization can support the training in embedding the core values to make the executives act in Read More→

Of the ever increasing number of neurological disorders, panic attacks are a bit of a mystery to medical specialists as the cause of the problem could be anything but the underlying reason stems from an anxiety about something. By recognizing the causes of panic attacks, it is the first step to controlling them as you learn that a particular trigger does not have to mean a panic attack.

The aim is to recognize that a trigger does not mean a panic attack and that no matter how strong the urge is to panic, it will no longer happen. This has to be something that the victim wants to cure for good as Read More→

Language is powerful. Although you may not be aware of it, your choice of words shows people how you view the world.

Experts believe that in addition using language to speak about the world they see, the words people use help to actually create the world they experience.

How so? Read More→

As far as leadership is concerned, there is a case to made for personal charisma or even the ability to inspire those around you, but true leadership, the kind that rallies nations, is a refined, learned skill. Military intuitions, like West Point, have long believed that leaders are trained, not born. Leading men and women Read More→