| |||
| Leadership Information |
|
|
Leadership - Push vs. Pull?
At your next staff meeting consider leading your team through the following discussion. This lesson is focused on getting people to think in terms of effective leadership. When helping a co-worker, or a customer, employees must understand their role as a leader. The exercise goes like this: Introduction of the Exercise: (feel free to create your own similar story to support the exercise) Like many who come from a small town, I was amazed at the number of transients who made the campus of the university I attended their local residence. At first, the idea of having to walk past many of these individuals was a bit scary. I was not accustomed to being solicited for money or "spare change". However, after a few weeks of walking to class and regularly being asked for "a quarter for a cup of coffee", the experience quickly became routine. In fact, after a while, if I didn't see one of the regular panhandlers for a period of time, I would wonder where he was keeping himself. Certainly, after a brief period, the transients became a small part of my environment, part of my daily experience of college life. Over time, I got to know some of them by name, and they became familiar with who I was. In any event, one of the most notable transients I became acquainted with was a man by the name of Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben could often be seen dragging a short rope behind him as he walked down the street. You would think, by watching Uncle Ben, that he was delusional and under the misguided assumption that he had a dog tied to the end of the rope. Uncle Ben would look back at the end of the rope as he walked, and say - "Come on now boy, keep up." Very often someone would witness this questionable behavior as Uncle Ben approached and they would ask simply, "Why are you pulling that rope?" (At this point, give each team member a short piece of string and ask them to experiment with the "rope". Pull it back and forth along the table. Then ask them to guess as to what Uncle Ben's response is going to be. Then continue the story.) Again, very often someone would witness the behavior as Uncle Ben approached, and they would ask simply, "Why are you pulling that rope?" Uncle Ben would quickly reply, "Well have you ever tried PUSHING a rope? It doesn't work very well!" This always made Uncle Ben holler in laughter as he kept walking past the person who fell victim to his humor. You have to give Uncle Ben credit. Indeed, you can't very well push a rope. In conclusion, make this strong point to your group: By "pulling" the rope, it will follow you anywhere. Try to "push" it, and the rope goes nowhere at all. The same can be said for the art of leadership. Leadership is the ability to make people want to follow you. They do that when they see that you are willing to work alongside them and take a vested interest in their success. People will follow you if they feel you know where you are taking them. If they feel you have integrity and truly care about their success. We must each pull our co-workers with us. We must pull our customers toward us. Otherwise, we run the risk of pushing them all away. Richard Gorham is the founder and President of Leadership-Tools, Inc. His web site, http://www.leadership-tools.com is dedicated to providing free tools and resources for today's aspiring leaders. Offering high-quality tools in the areas of Business Planning, Leadership Development, Customer Service, Sales Management and Team Building.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Develop a We Focus And Not a Me Focus ____________________________________________"There's only one thing more contagious than a good attitude - and that's a bad attitude?Most bad attitudes are the result of selfishness." -John Maxwell - The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork"A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle. BIG-3 Leadership! "Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends." - Walt DisneyWhat is your organization striving to achieve?- Big Profits? - Big Growth? - Big Stock Price? - Big Accolades/Recognition? - Some other Big Result?All of the above?Okay, just so we are clear - all of the above goals/outcomes are NOT bad things to experience. The Compassion Paradox Effective leaders are comfortable with paradox. They can call on skills and work in ways that seem to be contradictory. Dont Be a Complainer Complaining. There's room for legitimate complaining, but if you let this deadly disease of attitude - complaining - loose, it will conquer you. Mentor? Who Needs A Mentor? Who needs a mentor. . Top 25 Leadership Quotations Ponder what it takes to be a true leader with these practical quotes that will lead you to a more precise understanding of the secrets to successful leadership.. Get What You Want - Negotiating Skills for the Timid! OK, I know this title sounds self-serving and hard nosed, but the article isn't! Whether it's buying a car, asking for a pay rise, saying 'no' to a friend or renting an apartment - at some stage in our lives we all are going to need to know how to negotiate. Yet, so few of us know the basic skills before embarking on life changing purchases or decisions!This article is written for those TIMID folk who want to feel more confident in the basic skills of negotiating. Pure Discipline General George S. Patton was born on November 11, 1885 on his fathers ranch and vineyard in Los Angeles County over what is today the city of Pasadena and much of the UCLA campus. Dont be Afraid to Lead! In most aspects of human activity, the pendulum of fashion swings back and forth between extremes, passing briefly through the point of balance on every swing.For a while, we were told leadership was all about setting clear objectives and holding people accountable. Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 2, Multiple Conversations Side conversations ruin meetings by destroying focus and fragmenting participation.Approach 1: Ask for cooperationStart by asking everyone to cooperate. Leadership for the Successful Entrepreneur! Why talk about leadership?"Leadership is important whether you a leader of a team or are a sole proprietor with no one working for you. Effective leadership is actually a way of thinking, a way to get things done. Leadership and Change in a Holographic Universe Have you ever noticed that since the early part of the 20th century, nearly every new scientific theory manages to sound more and more like the same sort of metaphysical philosophies science once dismissed? Well, it's happening again and this time our views on the structure of the universe, the power of human consciousness and even the nature of reality itself are being challenged by a startling new finding: that many hard to explain events and scientific puzzles become suddenly clear and easily understood if we consider that everything we see and experience around us is not in fact a physical reality, but rather our own interpretation of an infinitely large, dynamic and multidimensional hologram, constructed by and interpreted through our own consciousness.Most people are familiar with the concept of a graphic hologram - an image imprinted on a special film that, when illuminated with a certain type of laser, projects a 3-dimensional picture that you can view from any angle. Transformational Leadership "What is leadership?" When this question is asked most of the people answer "leadership is the capacity or an ability of a person to lead". Earlier theories of leadership viz. Leadership Training: The Bit They Didn't Tell You About Changing! A willingness to change first is one of the major pre requisites for leaders!If the situation is deadlocked or blocked, they need to find the best opportunity, shift their personal perspective to accommodate it and take action from there. This is no matter how personally attached they are to their current position!Three sixty degree feedback is a great example. Leadership - Passion, Purpose, Profit - Its Not That Hard Go to any educational institution, look at airport bookshelves, shopping centres and open your eyes to the myriad of products available today and you could be forgiven to thinking that the art of leadership was beyond mere mortals.After many years in corporate life before starting my own business I finally got the chance to prove for myself what I had always beleived - leadership is simple, it is being a person who has passion, purpose and who uses that to bring others with them on the journey and reaps the rewards. Being Other Focused In the Wall Street Journal, Franklin Lavin, U.S. Unleash It! On airplanes, in restaurants, in the newspaper and on television, I often hear people saying their businesses are not growing to their satisfaction or that they are not reaching their objectives. The explanations that follow consist of reasons like: ? It's the economy? Our customers don't get it? I don't have the right people on the team I could go on, and so could you. 3 Es For Leaders - Engage, Empower, Encourage! "Enflamed with the study of learning and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave.. Premature Articulation Ask anyone about what makes a good leader and they are sure to put the ability to communicate high on the list of necessary skills. Yet all to often communication is simply seen as the ability to speak. All You Really Want Is Feeling Good If I asked you what your goal in life is, what would you answer? Well, the answer would be as diversified as people are.Many will answer that making money is the primary goal. |
|
Home | Blog | Improvement | Motivation | Health & Fitness | Relationships | Family | Parenting | Women Issues | Legal Matters Leadership Home | Site Map |
| Copywrite © 2006 www.SelfHelpInfoNow.com All rights reserved. |