MAN VS. WOMAN

The male perspective seems to dominate the literature on leadership. However, female leaders hold an advantage over their male counterparts because they nurture and add humanity to the position, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said recently.  

Take a look at her 5 “C’s” as you reflect on YOUR leadership style….

·  Competency. Stand out from the pack and be a lifelong learner. Remain ahead and abreast in your field.

·  Courage and Confidence. Speak out.  Establish your knowledge base and be confident in it as a leader.

·  Communication. Over-invest in written and oral communication. Leaders constantly have to motivate the troops.

·  Consistency. Remaining steady, reliable, and determined allows for credibility and a baseline to measure your successes and failures.

·  Compass. Integrity is critical in this job.

Remember…leadership is a skill which we must constantly and consistently, refine while we purposefully reflect on our own leadership style.

Be good to yourself…

Success comes before work...

Recently I read the blog of a colleague who had the attached picture as a visual to his written word. The picture and his message gave me pause to ponder, which lead to me laughing at myself. As leaders it’s important to remind those around us that success does not come easily, that rarely, if ever, is it simply linear. We all have experienced taking two steps forward, a step back, and a step to the side as we try to navigate to our ultimate goal. 

As leaders, we also take on the roles of mentor and coach to those with whom we work. It’s important for them to realize, that although at times we “make it look easy” that we too struggle and that success takes hard work, diligence, determination, and a bit of luck along the way. 

As my dad would remind me…”Success comes before work…only in the dictionary.”

Be good to yourself!

​

Ron

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more; you are a leader. - John Quincy Adams

Am I listening or solving????

Early on as a young administrator a staff member came to me with a litany of complaints. Receiving complaints is something we’re all accustomed, but what made this an unusual occurrence was from the person complaining. She was one of my positive staff, typically with solutions rather than complaints.

As she spoke, I tried desperately to comfort her, to offer options, solutions, support. The more I tried to help the more agitated she became until she blurted out, “STOP IT! You’re just like every other administrator who thinks you have to solve EVERYTHING….I just need to VENT!”

I learned an invaluable lesson that day. Not EVERY problem needs a solution as sometimes the solution lies in listening rather than speaking…

Be good to yourself

Relationship Building

In their book, The Life Cycle of Leadership, authors Stephen Uebbing and Mike Ford explain that the only way systemic change can take place is through working collegially towards a common vision, steeped in trust. To build this type of atmosphere relies on 3 basic elements…relationships, Relationships, RELATIONSHIPS…

To that end, I’d have you to consider how it is YOU build relationships in your organization. Do you leave relationships to chance, or do you really THINK about building cohesive relationships? Al Ritter in his book, The 100/0 Principle suggests that you take full responsibility (100%) for the relationship, and expect nothing, nadda, zip, ZERO (0) in return! This is not a typical thought as most of us consider relationships as a mutual “give and take.” This notion of giving 100% and expecting nothing in return goes contrary to many of our beliefs. He suggests however, the following these 4 steps.

1.      Determine what it is to make the relationship work and then DO IT!

2.      Demonstrate kindness and respect to the other person whether deserving or not and expect NOTHING in return…NOTHING

3.      Do not allow yourself to listen to those around you who may call you insane or naïve.

4.       Be persistent with your graciousness and kindness…all too often, we give up too soon, especially to those who are reluctant to our kindnesses.

Now here’s the paradox. When YOU take full responsibility, more often than not the OTHER person chooses to do the same. Consequently the 100/0 relationship turns into a 100/100 relationship. When THAT occurs great things begin to happen in the organization…

So, again, I ask you…what is it you’re doing to build solid relationships? Think of those around you and those relationships which are poor…what do you have to lose? Give 100/0 a try, be committed to it working and be committed to BUILDING a relationship which is positive…as we ALL know; nothing good happens without a good relationship…

Be good to yourself…