4 Games That Leaders Play

March 3, 2013 by

4-Games-That-Leaders-Play-Dan-ForbesAre you a true leader, or are you a game player? Some leaders are examples to follow, others are examples to avoid. Bad leaders play games with their people.  Good leaders inspire and lead the way.

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” – The Apostle Paul

Four childhood games teach us valuable leadership lessons.

King of the Hill

I remember when a friend’s Dad dug a pond on his property and by doing so created a mountainous pile of dirt.  It was perfect for a game of King of the Hill.

We would race-climb up the hill, shoving and pushing other kids aside.  The first one to reach the top became King of the Hill. To maintain his position he would push and shove down any kid who tried to take his place.

King of the Hill is a nice kid’s game, but it’s a game leaders shouldn’t play. We all know the positional leader who shoved others aside to ascend to his position, and then protects his turf by pushing others down.

Bad leaders put others down. Good leaders pull others up.

Lesson: Leadership isn’t about pushing others down, it’s about pulling them up. (Tweet This)

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up” – Booker T. Washington

Follow the Leader

Another childhood game we played was Follow the Leader. One kid was the leader, the rest of us were the followers. The object of the game was for the leader to make following as difficult as possible.

The Leader would go under things, over things, through things, around things, making it hard to follow.  The followers would become exhausted, disoriented, and finally give up.

We all know leaders who are difficult to follow. Perhaps they lack integrity, empathy, people skills, or vision. We don’t want to follow them.

Bad leaders are hard to follow. Good leaders make following easy.

Lesson: Leadership isn’t about making following a chore, it’s about inspiring others to want to follow you. (Tweet This)

“Leaders know the way, go the way, and show the way” – John Maxwell

Hide and Seek

I can still remember leaning against a tree, counting out loud “one, two, three…one hundred,” as the other kids ran and hid.  It was a game of Hide and Seek.

The object of this game was to become the best one at hiding and the last one to be found. The last one found won the game.

Hide and Seek is a nice game for children, but when leaders play it, the organization suffers. We all know leaders who are not good at handling conflict or challenges. These are the leaders who rather than face a challenge head on, instead go into hiding.

That’s not good leadership. Bad leaders hide when the going gets tough.  Good leaders are accessible.

Lesson: Leadership isn’t about hiding during challenging times, it’s about leading from the front. (Tweet This)

“In business, as in war, the best leaders are those who lead from the front lines–who commit themselves fully to the mission…and…the common goal” – Justin Moore

Blind Man’s Bluff

We usually played this game in the big backyard of my Grandparent’s house. On kid was selected to be the “blind man.” We’d tie a bandana over his eyes so that he couldn’t see, spin him around a few times, and then, while hiding in plain sight, challenge him to catch us.

The object of the game was for the “blind man” to grope around trying to touch the other players. They would avoid the “blind man” while teasing him and tempting him to change direction.

We all know leaders who are like the blind leading the blind. Leaders without vision and without a clear direction. These leaders are constantly changing course.  They are weak and easily influenced by people and issues calling for their attention.

Bad leaders have no vision. Good leaders know where they are going and how to take their people there.

Lesson: Leadership isn’t simply activity and being busy, it’s having a clear vision which excites and compels others to follow.

 “Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs

There you have it.  Leadership is pulling people up, it’s inspiring others to want to follow you, it’s leading from the front, it’s having a vision that excites and compels others to follow. Good leaders don’t play games.

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Leading From The Heart

March 2, 2013 by

Leading-Heart-Susan-Bagyura“Leadership is not a formula or a program, it’s a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It’s an attitude, not a routine.” ~Lance Secretan

Even with leaders, loyalty and respect are earned, not given.  It’s the leader’s emotional intelligence skills determining their ability to influence and inspire others.

Here’s a perspective using the head and the heart.  Purpose and mission are important to both the head and heart leaders, but the day-to-day approach is stark in contrast.

When someone leads from the head, there’s an intellectual process that seems quite rational and reasonable.  As long as everything is running smoothly, this approach works well.

However, when there’s stress and tension, then the ego steps in looking for causes and someone to blame for the situation.  Voices and tensions are raised in reaction to the chaos. It’s like the lights were shut off as the darkness spreads throughout affecting anyone involved, even on the periphery.

Once the problem is resolved, outer appearances show that everything is back to normal.  However, a serious toll will have been taken, leaving anger and humiliation to fester in the wake. Things will have been said and done that many will carry as silent wounds.

When someone is allowing the head to rule during those stressful times, as things appear to be going desperately wrong, the ego is like a general involved in a bloody battle.  All civility is tossed aside in favor of getting the job done.  It’s a fear-based environment and everyone dreads being caught in the crossfire.

A heart-centered leader sees the people rather than the task as the number one priority.  This leader will be focused on bringing out the best in people in all circumstances.  Relationships are built based on respect, growth, cooperation and communication.

When leading from the heart, time is set aside to understand what’s important to each individual in terms of their:

  • Career/work
  • Growth
  • Family
  • Health
  • Finances
  • Future aspirations

The loyal union is predicated on helping each other get what they want.

Should a tense situation arise, rather than looking for a culprit, people will respond to the immediate needs while looking for the learning to be gained from the experience.  Instead of making accusations, ways to resolve the situation are found and changes are made to reduce the likelihood of a re-occurrence.

At the core of the heart-centered leadership is preservation of each individual’s value to the team, the organization.  When leaders take the time to view their staff from different perspectives, particularly personally, they will see strengths and commitment beyond their imaginings.

The proof of this is seen in each episode of Undercover Boss.  The CEO and their directors wonder how they can improve performance.  It’s decided the CEO will go undercover.

Always in disguise, the new worker experiences great difficulty doing any of the jobs they are given.  Suddenly at least 2 things become obvious to the boss:

  • The employees are working at maximum capacity
  • Most of the people, despite personal challenges, are performing amazingly well.

It’s only when these leaders have some heartfelt moments with some individuals that they recognize the extraordinary people working in their companies. Later the CEO institutes programs or assistance.

In each case, the CEO found the heart of their organization by engaging with each employee as a peer with something to learn from them.  Judgments were set aside in pursuit of understanding.

Although their individual contribution won’t show up on the spreadsheet, the personal pride of the workers performing to the best of their abilities shone through in the personal interactions with the undercover boss.

Each one ended up in tears when they were finally recognized and appreciated for their value to the organization.  Leading from the heart may take more time, but the outcomes are well worth the effort.

 Leading from the heart may take more time, but the outcomes are well worth the effort. ~Susan Bagyura Tweet this!

What other thoughts do you have about leading from the heart? Please share your thoughts below.

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Humility in Leadership: Myths, Fears, and Truths

March 2, 2013 by

Humility-leadership-kate-nassar Humility in leadership conjures vivid images in leaders’ minds. The images seem to fall into opposite camps: indecisive wimpiness or non-arrogant self-confidence.  It’s fair to say that if your image of humility in leadership is one of weakness… then you are not likely to strive for HUMILITY!

On the other hand if you see humility in leadership as the self-confident strength to lead others to shine, you are on your way or almost there.

What if you want to move from seeing humility in leadership as weakness to embracing its strength? Or perhaps you as a leader already embrace it but your leader doesn’t.

I’ve walked this journey with many leaders. So let’s walk it now.

Humility in Leadership: Steps to See Strength

Humility in Leadership: Myths, Fears, Truths (Image by: Dopamind via Flickr Creative Commons License.)

Humility in Leadership: Myths & Fears

Change involves owning your own fears for they can either create myths or extend themselves. What common fear-based myths, stop your growth to humility in leadership?

  • Fear of being a weak leader.

    New leaders, transitional leaders, and long time leaders all know they have strengths and weaknesses. Those who sense their own weaknesses more intensely than their strengths, often fear being seen as a weak leader. Will people see them as too nice to lead? From this fear comes the myth that humility in leadership is indecisive weakness.

  • Fear of being disrespected.

    Like dominoes, one fear based myth leads to another. Leaders who believe the myth that humility is indecisive weakness, fear being disrespected as a wimp. They then embrace the myth that being a strong non-humble leader builds respect. Certainly, there are many real problems that develop under weak leaders including bullying among teams, power struggles, culture of blame, finger pointing, low morale, and even chaos. Ironically, the same trouble can develop with non-humble leaders. I have seen both — over and over and over.

  • Fear of entanglement.

    This fear is often subconscious and hidden from leaders’ awareness. There are personality types as well as past experiences that drive leaders to avoid true connection with those they lead. They see connection as entanglement and loss of objectivity. They then attach this fear to humility in leadership, and form a false conclusion: Humble leaders lose their objectivity and can’t handle tough conversations with employees. Humility does not cause a loss of objectivity. In fact, it strengthens it. Humility keeps you in learning mode and objectivity comes through knowledge.

Myth: Humble leaders lose their objectivity and can’t handle tough conversations with employees.” ~Kate Nasser #leadership #peopleskills Tweet this!

Humility in Leadership: Truths

  • Humility elevates purpose above the personal.

    Leaders’ humility guides all toward the greater goals instead of personal whimsy. It balances the empathy to connect with the objectivity to achieve.

  • Humility celebrates all talents encouraging all to contribute for success.

    Leaders’ humility naturally inspires, for it highlights everyone’s abilities instead of just the leaders’ strengths.

  • Humility removes the veneer and shows leaders’ greatness.

    Humility is transparent. It shows who and what leaders are. Team members trust this authenticity and engage without the distraction of hidden agendas and politics.

  • Humility is stronger than any yell!

    Leaders who check their egos at the door have far greater influence. Humility keeps leaders listening. Humility replaces the ego — the target of conflict — with “we go“. This inspires contribution and models ideal teamwork behaviors. Conversely, it is always a problem when dominating solo type leaders demand teamwork.

  • Humility smooths resistance to change and growth.

    Humility fosters continuous learning. It allows and encourages everyone to learn from mistakes for the benefit of all. This is a prerequisite to change and growth — the secret to business success. In fact, companies fail when the market changes and they don’t. Humility in leadership feeds a culture of learning and flexibility. No one method, nor practice, nor view, nor person is cast as best. The goal is to listen, perform, learn, and succeed.

Humility in Leadership: What Ifs

What if you as a leader practice humility yet the leader you report to sees it as weakness?

  • Find out specifically what that leader sees as weak? Small changes in your behavior can close the gap between you and your leader without abandoning humility.
  • Consider what if any cultural and personality differences there are between you and your leader. These differences impact how people view behaviors and describe their impact.
What if you as a leader practice humility and the teams see you as weak?

  • Ask them where and when do they need more strength from you? Humility is not generally the culprit. Most likely there are stressful situations that you are not seeing. Remember humility is not abandonment. Assist where they need help.
  • Engage team members and discuss your leadership style. Leadership evolves and their expectations may be ahead of your evolution. Be open to learning from them.
What if you as a leader are being told to develop some humility?

  • Write down how this makes you feel before you respond else you might react defensively. Then ask for specific examples of where your behavior needs to change.
  • Review the fears and myths noted above to guide your journey of growth. Have you worked with strong humble leaders? What did you learn from them? Have a mentor or coach help you evolve and refine your leadership style.

Humility in leadership is not a label nor a fixed set of behaviors. It is a mindset of inclusion and a model of continuous learning for success. It honors and engages all. It builds tremendous trust and sustains all especially in tough times of change.

So we’ve come quite a distance. What other what ifs shall we discuss?

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Grateful Lead

March 1, 2013 by

grateful leadershipI know that throughout the International Leadership Blogathon this year there will be many excellent posts on leadership.  There will be some great thinking on how to lead, and how to follow, and how to manage.  I’m looking forward to reading them and gaining a loads of useful knowledge.

But for this first post, I want to take us on a different path.

— A path that we sometimes forget in our leadership.

— A path that we sometimes forsake in our organization.

— A path we sometimes neglect in our relationships.

Today let’s pause to think of all those meaningful moments,  profound people and  life lessons that have saved us and inspired us and empowered us, and let’s… be grateful.

— Think about that someone who helped you see that darkness is just the absence of light, and be grateful.

— Think about the difficult times when you were frightened, yet someone dared you to do it anyway, and be grateful.

— Think about the moments when you felt beaten down and then someone picked  you up, and be grateful.

— Think about the times you felt yourself become tense and someone helped you find your gentle side, and be grateful.

— Think about the times of when others failed you and someone was there with an extended hand, and be grateful.

— Think about the occasions when someone helped you feel your inner power, and be grateful.

— Think about the special times when you felt you were leading from love, and be grateful.

 Be the Leader who leads with gratitude” ~Lolly Daskal  (Tweet This!)

Thank those who have made a difference in your life: with a note, with a call, with an e-mail, with a text. If they’re out of reach, or if they were passing strangers and you don’t even know their name, thank them in your heart.

The grateful lead.

This is what it means to Lead From Within.

Be the kind of leader who embraces gratitude and extends appreciation to others. The grateful lead with heart.

Have you thanked anyone lately who had helped you in any possible way? Please share with us your thoughts on grateful leadership.

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , , , ,

The 2nd International Leadership Blogathon Preview

February 27, 2013 by

2nd-Annual-International-Leadership-Blogathon-Todd-NielsenOn March 1st, a large conglomerate of leadership experts, coaches, speakers, authors, and leaders will come together for the 2nd Annual International Leadership Blogathon on http://www.ToddNielsen.com. For 31 days we will read amazing stories, unparalleled experiences, and leadership wisdom oozing from every crevice of the Internet. There are a total of 41 writers for the blogathon, gathered from many countries.

Last year’s blogathon brought an amazing source of wisdom, much of which would be hard to come by collectively on any single blog or book. This year’s articles raise the bar so much higher.

Below are the 41 writers for the blogathon. I’d invite you to read more about them and make sure to sign-up for updates to receive the articles in your inbox every day. Plus there will be some prizes and contests, here and there, throughout the month to win books and some other leadership products.

DATE

AUTHOR

COUNTRY
March 1st Lolly Daskal USA
March 2nd Kate Nasser USA
March 2nd Susan Bagyura USA
March 3rd Dan Forbes USA
March 3rd Chris Lema USA
March 4th Brendan Howe Canada
March 5th Dave Bradley UK
March 6th Martina McGowan USA
March 7th Joan De Winne Belgium
March 8th Kai Roer Norway
March 9th Ali Paskun USA
March 9th Susan Thorn USA
March 10th Susan Mazza USA
March 10th Andy Phillips Colombia
March 11th Heidi Alexandra Pollard Australia
March 12th Lora Crestan Canada
March 13th Ogwo David Emenike Nigeria
March 14th Susan Bowen UK
March 15th John Thurlbeck UK
March 16th T. Hampton Hopkins USA
March 16th Barry Smith USA
March 17th Colleen Jolly USA/UK
March 17th Ray Attiyah USA
March 18th Janine Garner Australia
March 19th Alli Polin Australia
March 20th Frode Heimen Norway
March 21st Kimunya Mugo Kenya
March 22nd Karin Hurt UK
March 23rd Tanvi Bhatt India
March 23rd Henna Inam USA
March 24th Sean Glaze USA
March 24th Jonathan Creaghan Canada
March 25th Peter Sterlacci Japan
March 26th William Powell Finland
March 27th David Hain UK
March 28th Sandro De Silva Netherlands
March 29th Paul Jolicoeur Canada
March 30th Richard Andrews UK
March 30th Tom Shulte USA
March 31st Todd Nielsen USA

 

I can’t wait to take part with all of these great minds, as well as the thousands of readers to create a fantastic leadership event that helps enhance the world of leadership acumen, the world over.

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Desire Team Failure? Don’t Read This – It’s a Secret…

February 18, 2013 by

Team-Leadership-Teamwork-Team-LeadersIf we could amass the volumes of information written about team leadership, teamwork, leading teams, participating in teams,  we could probably fill a stadium full of paper. In my early years I honestly did not pay much attention to the dynamics that exist within teams. While the intricacies of making a successful team can compare in some ways to making an organization successful, they are two different beasts that usually require different leadership skill sets and behaviors. Try leading a team the same way as an organization and one is bound to experience a whole subset of unexpected problems.

When it comes to the dynamics of teams, I have two favorite books, one of which is the Secret of Teams by Mark Miller. The Secret of Teams is a delightful story of a struggling organization that finds that developing high performance teams is the burning imperative for fixing the company. In the story, the team responsible for figuring out how to fix the team problems, goes out and interviews experts in military, sports, healthcare, and other areas. Through these interviews they start formulating a framework to building a high performance team in their organization.

On top of this framework is an umbrella of leadership. It doesn’t matter how good team members are or what skills they bring to the table; if a team leader does a poor job leading, the results will be mediocre. Under this umbrella of leadership lie 3 vital ingredients to make a high performance team: Talent, Skills, and Community. They seem like 3 simple enough principles, but I was surprised by a few aspects of how these principles were described in the Secret of Teams.

Talent in High Performance Teams

A team leader needs to identify the talent needs of the team, both in the present AND the future. Understanding the talent needs and always being on the lookout for talent is important to create results.  It is important to not just look outside the organization for new talent, i.e. recruiting, but also trying to understand the talents of the existing team members, even those that might not be well-known or might not seem like they apply. Mark also teaches that in regard to talent development, a team leader should never compromise on character, competency, or chemistry.

Having the right talent starts with having the right leader.” ~Mark Miller Tweet This!

Skills in High Performance Teams

Similar to talent, a team leader needs to identify the skills needed for success, and understand any gaps that exist within individuals or the team as a whole. Learning should be a huge part of the culture of a team as they strive to learn new skills and close the skill gaps that exist. Team leaders should provide resources to help close skill gaps and help increase the chance of success for the team and each individual.

The real power will be unleashed when your #team members have individual skills and team skills.” ~Mark Miller Tweet This!

Community in High Performance Teams

I have personally seen the positive effects of community in teams, as well as the negative effects when it is missing. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mark include this as a critical ingredient of high-performance teams. This ingredient should be considered just as important as the other two ingredients.  Team leaders need to foster transparency and vulnerability. They need to ensure that the teams invests appropriate time on community– building activities and always look for ways to help the team “do life” together.

Great teams don’t just occur; they are created over time, through hard work and good leadership” ~Mark Miller Tweet This!

Many organizations are moving to a team type of infrastructure and even your organization is not, there are still teams, though you may not call them teams. I invite you to purchase Mark Millers book, The Secret of Teams: What Great Teams Know and Do, digest the information, then create a high performance team in your organization.

Please share your thoughts on leading teams and your experience with the ingredients from Mark;s book below.

Filed Under: Leadership in Teams Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Leadership & Management: What Behaviors Are Your Staff Copying from Your Example?

February 14, 2013 by

Leadership-Management-Behaviors-ExampleWhen the television show “Undercover Boss” made its premier a few years ago, much of America tuned in to watch the antics. What the show’s producers were probably looking for was a way to entertain the masses while they watched poor “unknowing” bosses do things like clean toilets and flip burgers. Of course in the end, there’s always that pivotal moment when the boss realizes the hard work his staff is doing behind the scenes. He learns to be more appreciative of them and looks at them a little differently than ever before.

What this show failed to capture though, is the importance of great leadership within an organization. Dwight Eisenhower gave a great definition to the word leadership when he said, “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” There is not better way to get people to do what you want, then to inspire them and be an example of the behaviors and actions you desire.

Like a young boy imitating his father, employees will also follow your example.  They want to follow your example, and they need you if they’re going to properly understand how the organization functions. Leaders have far more power within their organizations than most realize. If your staff see you cleaning toilets, they will see the importance of cleaning toilets. They might not enjoy it anymore than you do, but they’ll see the importance of it. If they see your actions align with your your words and instructions, they will understand the importance of that instruction. If they see your constant focus on improvement, they will understand the importance of it

Unfortunately the same is true on the flip-side of leadership.  Bad habits that are exemplified by leaders, will often be duplicated by staff. Do you ignore customers but expect your staff to treat them wonderfully? Do you talk about cutting expenses, but then fly first class everywhere?

Bad habits that are exemplified by leaders, will often be duplicated by staff.” Tweet This!

Sometimes it takes an outsider’s insight into your leadership style to find ways that you can improve.  A mentor or coach, can offer guidance with an outside perspective. Without a mentor, no business owner can be as successful as they want to be. I have seen leaders do horrible things, that they had no clue they did. An outside perspective can help you see what you don’t.

When is the last time you did the work of someone a couple levels under you? You should try it. You’ll get valuable insight into what your employees go through each day. Even more though, you’ll show them that you want to understand, and that what they do is important.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment below.

Filed Under: Leadership Example Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Molding Future Leaders: 4 Tips for Mentoring Young Professionals

February 11, 2013 by

Leadership-Mentoring-Young-Leaders Here on ToddNielsen.com, we often discuss how we can develop leadership qualities within ourselves and within organizations. Established leaders, also have an obligation to pass the baton and help develop leadership in others. This, more than anything, is the hallmark of good leadership. Just as John Quincy Adams once noted, “If your actions inspire others to learn more, dream more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” If you have young people in either your professional or personal life, lift them up and in so doing, inspire an entire generation of future leaders. Here’s how:

1. Impress upon your young charges the importance of constantly learning.

Perhaps the most important key to future success and personal fulfillment is developing a desire to constantly learn new things. If you are an employer and you supervise young people, give them tasks that require learning and applying new skills. Encourage them to learn outside of work, to learn for its own sake and enjoyment.

2. Put them in situations in which they have to make serious decisions.

Good decision-making skills are another important element in leadership. Of course, you can talk all day about the qualities inherent in strong leaders, but it’s important to put young people to the test so they can actually begin practicing leadership skills. If the young people in question are your employees, put them in a situation in which they make serious business decisions. Guide them through the process of decision-making, and show them how each decision requires compromise and give-and-take.

3. Emphasize loyalty and humility over personal gain.

If there’s one thing that many leaders in the financial industry learned, it’s that greed trumps responsibility to your clients and the common good. We often talk about ethics in leadership, but we all too often only pay it lip service. Talk to your young future leaders about the importance of loyalty and service. Financial greed never pays off, doing the right thing does.

4. Be the best example you can be. Actions speak louder than words.

Being a good example is the most effective way to mentor young professionals. That means always being aware that you are being watched by young people who look up to you. Never take shortcuts, own up to your mistakes and otherwise be the person you want others to see you as.

Inspiring leadership in younger people is by no means easy. But as a current leader, you must develop a vision for long-haul sustainability for your current enterprise and society as a whole. This can only be done by investing in young people. Soon enough, they’ll be running the world.

“Being a good example is the most effective way to mentor young professionals.” Tweet this!

Have you led young professionals? What tips do you have? Please share your thoughts and comments below.

Filed Under: Developing Leaders Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Personal Leadership: It’s All About the People, Stupid!

February 7, 2013 by

Personal-LeadershipIt’s been reported that Henry Ford once said, “Why is it that I always get the whole person, when what I really want is a pair of hands?” While Ford may have only wanted to hire sets of hands to run his assembly lines, the only way to do that was to hire the people attached to those hands: people with complex baggage, personalities, and expectations.

One of the important elements of personal leadership is to lead the people within your team. After all, if there are no people to lead, then there is no leader! I have worked with lots of leaders that absolutely HATE dealing with people. Many leaders just want to tell their people the goal, and then expect them to just go out and create amazing success without any guidance, coaching, managing, or …leading.

Part of being a great leader is to master the art of valuing the people you work with, while at the same time holding them accountable for the results. By creating a culture where people are valued, we can be more effective in achieving desired results. In other words, people are not just means to an end, but must be valued for their contributions and perspectives. This does not mean they need to be coddled or sheltered.

Personal leadership is all about relationships with those you lead. Simply learning the names of one’s team-members is not sufficient to building a strong team of committed workers, although it s start.  By learning their values, skills and dreams, you learn how they see themselves within the organizational structure.  Instead of simply evaluating their work, seek opportunities for them to provide feedback on the organization.  Take care to listen, and see if you can incorporate their ideas.

As you demonstrate that you value the contributions of your team-members, you will find that they are more likely to think outside of the box.  They may see things you may have missed, and you may discover a wealth of skills and abilities you have previously missed.  As morale improves, so will productivity and results. Creating a culture of creativity and excellence will require you to view people as ends, not simply as means to an end.

What ways have you found to lead the entire person, instead of just hiring a pair of hands?  What are some of the complexities of leading people with their personalities, perspectives, and personal baggage?  Please leave a comment below to continue the conversation.

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The 2nd Annual International Leadership Blogathon

January 27, 2013 by

International-Leadership-Blogathon-Todd-NielsenHold onto your seats, because this March is going to be a thrill ride through the world of leadership in the 2nd Annual International Leadership Blogathon. Last year I held this event and it was phenomenal. The nuggets of wisdom from all over the world were inspirational and enormously valuable for any leader. We had leadership experts from every corner of the globe take part; and the buzz on social networks still continues to this day for many of the articles.

This year is going to be better than last year’s event. My platform is triple the size of last year, so news of the blogathon and the articles will get out everywhere to help drive discussions. We are going to give away prizes this year, mostly leadership books, to help drive engagement and attract more readers, and my website is way cooler 🙂 than last year.

What Is The International Leadership Blogathon?

Ok, so imagine leadership writers and experts from all over the world gathered together to share their leadership wisdom with the world. The experience and lessons of working with different cultures and organizations helps to fuel an avalanche of knowledge that is not easy to come by.

So what I do is get around 30 experts from every possible country I can, and they each write an article between 400 to 1,200 words that explores some aspect of leadership. Last year we had many different topics and my heart lit up every time I read a new article. I mean, how often do you get to hear the inner thoughts on leadership from someone in Kenya, India, The Netherlands, New Zealand, the U.K., Japan and a bunch of other remote locations? It’s awesome! Subscribe now, and get ready for the flood of leadership wisdom to enter your inbox.

Awesome, the 2nd International Leadership Blogathon begins in March! ” Tweet This

Who Can Write For The International Leadership Blogathon & Why Should You?

Well, let me address the why first. Usually the best reason to write a guest post is to receive valuable backlinks to your own site from a reputable domain, to help grow your own platform, and get your knowledge in front of a bunch of people that might not know who you are. My site has an excellent Alexa rating, I get a lot of traffic, and I have a huge social network in which I will be broadcasting all of the articles – every single day. I’ll will also setup a private Facebook group for all the bloggers to collaborate, and I have a special surprise to rock your social world and help make sure all the articles are shared among all the blogger’s networks.

So who should write? Well anyone throughout the world that has leadership knowledge, that they want to share with the world. But there are some qualifications:

  1. You must be able to write in English
  2. You need to be able to write 400 to 1,200 words in good grammar and punctuation. We will help out as much as we can, but last year I spent way too much time re-writing articles that had great messages but were written poorly. So reach out to others that know English before submitting your article.
  3. You have to have a Twitter account and actively participate on social networks. You do not need to have a big following.
  4. You must be willing to commit to sharing all the articles on social networks and not just your article.
  5. You must be able to enter and edit an article in WordPress. My assistant will setup all the approved bloggers up on this site to submit their article.
  6. The post needs to be all original work from the author, and CANNOT be shared on another site. (Google does not like that)
  7. Your topic needs to be related to leadership or a leadership subtopic. Ask below in the comments section, or send me a message if you are unsure about your topic. It could also be about the intricacies of leadership in your country of residence.
  8. Your article needs to be in the system before March 1st, 2013.  We need to time to get everything setup and organized.
  9. You need to love leadership and want to engage with other writers by commenting on articles and helping to drive more discussion.

I am expecting a lot of interest this year. So if you are interested in writing, please fill out the form below and submit it ASAP. I look forward to a successful blogathon, I know my readers will love this content and it will be a hugely successful event.

[Form id=”10″]

Woohoo, I just signed-up to write for the 2nd International Leadership Blogathon” Tweet This

 

This is going to be an exciting event with wisdom oozing from all over the globe. Stay tuned for more information. Please share your thoughts below. Also what kind of articles are you hoping to see?

Filed Under: International Leadership Blogathon Tagged With: , , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»