1 Hour Leadership Development Program - 14 Leadership Tips

Leadership is the road map to success. It brings continuous excellence in human life.

Are there born leaders? Every man is a leader and leadership is evolved with in and it flourishes in every aspect of living; let it be business, your office, in sports, in politics, in society, family and in every corner of the world.

First we must understand that leadership is not just an outside process, we lead our self first and influence our self to establish the self-direction and self motivation to deliver the best.

Leadership begins within. The seeds are already embedded inside us. We need to care it, water it, nourish it and get the best out of it continuously. If you can develop your personal leadership skills i.e. once you learn to lead yourself, you can set examples of your selves and lead your people.

Leadership is a multidimensional activity. It seems to be very complex but its simple and within ourselves. We need to bring the leadership out, spread its rays and bring meaning to life. Leadership is both an inward and outward activity. Leadership starts with personal leadership and it spreads around taking shape of what I call people leadership. It is result oriented and relationship oriented. The CEO of a company and the sales executive both are leaders. A CEO leads the organization where as a sales executive uses his leadership skills to establish himself in the organization.

Effective Leadership Training Program in 1 hour time

Leadership Tips 1 of 14: Set the right attitude

Leadership Tips 2 of 14: Fine tuning 'the self'

Leadership Tips 3 of 14: Developing vision and conquer time

Leadership Tips 4 of 14: Knowledge building

Leadership Tips 5 of 14: Courage builder

Leadership Tips 6 of 14: Creativity - cultivate different seeds

Leadership Tips 7 of 14: Change adaptability

Leadership Tips 8 of 14: Setting the environment

Leadership Tips 9 of 14: Communication with understanding

Leadership Tips 10 of 14: Understand emotional needs

Leadership Tips 11 of 14: Art of positive motivation

Leadership Tips 12 of 14: Appreciate, recognize and reward

Leadership Tips 13 of 14: Breaking the shell

Leadership Tips 14 of 14: Transfer leadership

Leadership Tips 1 of 14: Set the right attitude

Attitude contributes a lot to success. A study in Harvard University figured out an interesting result that a person gets a job or promotion because of his attitude, contributing 85% and remaining 15% only to other factors.

Always be positive, optimistic. Stay away from negative areas. Never let negativity enter your mind. Take life with a smile. Inhale positive thoughts and spread positive energy. I have a friend she is a very positive person and when ever you say something she laughs loudly in a special way. This positive ness from her laugh generates lot of power and energy, in everyone around her. It's always great to have some natural positive power generators as friends.

If one believes he can win, he will win. We have to develop our positive believing attitude.

We may loose out or may not achieve perfection still we are winners because we are positive, we have the desire and commitment. Learn from other mistakes and avoid it happening to you. Success is routed through failures but the 'never say die' attitude leads to success.

Leadership Tips 2 of 14: Fine tuning 'the self'

Self discipline is the key in a leader's life. A system should be developed so that the maximum level of performance energy can be achieved. One has to manage oneself first. For this we need to fine tune ourselves both physically and mentally. Setting good habits are very important and it directly results in positive ness and optimistic vision.

The first and best victory is to conquer self.

- Plato, Greek Philosopher

Bring a system in your life

Wake up early

Most leaders wake up early. In doing so they have lot more time to organize and feed their mind & body with positive energy. Too much sleeping makes you dopey. It won't fresh you up, rather it tires you. So Sleep well and wake up naturally before the alarm rings.

Energize your mind & body

Get up early, devote some time for yourself, do some mind and body exercises. You will feel refreshed and calm for the whole day and also will boost your confidence level. This is so because human body generates lot of enzymes and fluids, if we exercise and these help in increasing the performance level of our body and mind.

Good Food habits

Food habits play an important role in your body and mind activities. You are what you eat or your thoughts are what you eat. So take a balanced diet.

Relax yourself, take a stroll, day dream

Releasing of stress is very important and our body and mind needs to relax. A break is always mandatory.

Leadership Tips 3 of 14: Developing vision and conquer time

Vision is your goals; it can be a combination of goals, your career goal, business goal, financial goal, family goal, etc. Goal is time bound. Your goal should be broken down into smaller goals; it should be clear and specific. You can also have short term goals running parallel to your long term goal. Goals cannot be vague and it should be realistic and balanced. It must be SMART.

S - specific (prioritize)

M - measurable

A - achievable

R - realistic

T - time bound

You have to balance the goal with environment - let it be your family, business, finance, health, society.

The most important is the plan. You should have a specific plan that helps you to achieve your goal in time. Goals are dynamic because of the changes that life brings. So it's important to adapt or foresee the change and update your goals.

Leadership Tips 4 of 14: Knowledge building

Feed you mind continuously with good thoughts and knowledge. In this competitive world it is important to gain external & internal knowledge. External knowledge is on the world around you; it may or may not affect you. It can be the market knowledge. Internal knowledge is directly related to your vision. It is a critical success factor for successful accomplishment of your vision.

Convert opportunity to success, for this you need to look for inputs always. Collect as many data as possible, eliminate junk and keep only the relevant ones. This Data is Information, listen to it carefully. Information is Knowledge, understand it well. Knowledge is Intelligence, its wisdom. Knowledge is potential power and Wisdom is power. Power is success.

'ACT' on the knowledge and wisdom attained. Just acquiring the knowledge will not lead to success; link it with your vision and ACT.

Leadership Tips 5 of 14: Courage builder

Courage is the strength and power of leadership. Most people don't like to take risk. They don't even initiate opportunities, because of fear of loosing or the change involved in it. People are afraid to take ownership of situation, either it be a good situation or bad situation. And, if it's a bad situation it's the blame game they play. Eliminate fear! The best way to control or win fear is to face it with mental strength and determination.

Leadership Tips 6 of 14: Creativity - cultivate different seeds

Creative ideas lead over experience and existing winners. It cuts every limit to success.

Stop doing the same thing over and over, stop imitating what others did. Most inventions or creative ideas evolve when men are alone, while day dreaming during their leisure time and when their mind is relaxed and full with positive energy.

Leadership Tips 7 of 14: Change adaptability

Learn to manage change. Life is full of choices and compromises. It's dynamic and changing. The environment around us is changing, society is changing, people are changing, technology is changing, and almost everything is changing. The best way to manage change is to embrace it. Anticipate it, monitor it, accept it, adapt to it & enjoy it. Make, 'change' part of your life, a leader is a continuous learner so he has to change continuously by enhancing skills and move forward.

Leadership Tips 8 of 14: Setting the environment

Set the office environment right, display or hang motivational posters, product banners, policy documents, incentive charts, mission statement etc around. Display employee performance chart and best performer awards and photos around. Establish a positive quality environment where the staffs are motivated to deliver their best.

Leadership Tips 9 of 14: Communication with understanding

The greatest road block in communication is our tendency to evaluate or make judgments once you hear or see something. This is our natural urge. We usually agree or disagree to a statement from our point of view. Suppose this statement on which you evaluate has greater emotions, feelings and a strong message then your reactions will be sensitive. Either you approve or disapprove the attitude expressed. This impulse to evaluate any emotionally meaningful statement from our point of view is what blocks interpersonal communication.

Leadership Tips 10 of 14: Understand emotional needs

Victory has an emotional attachment, a passion in achievement of vision. Every individual of the victorious team will have a winning purpose and will be emotionally attached to it. This emotional purpose is the driving force towards victory.

Leaders need to take care of their staff. Discover their emotional needs, then motivate and give every support needed to meet their emotional need.

A leader's greatest job is to bring out the value of his team members. Let them know their value. A leader should be compassionate at times, which will bring in an extra bonding and emotional attachment, developing into trust, understanding and value for each other. It develops unity. It is a great feeling when your team leader listens to you; value your points and helps in solving the problems, either official or personal. It reduces stress and alleviates their performance to achieve the vision.

Leadership Tips 11 of 14: Art of positive motivation

The best motivation comes from within. A good leader just has to ignite the belief system and fuel it; success will ensue. Motivate staff regularly, from your top performing executive to your office boy because I believe, if one person in your team is de-motivated it can ruin the entire team. If there is a problem of concern at office on any matter bring it out rather that encasing it.

Your internal motivation is your self drive (hunger to succeed) and attitude. Don't be complacent.

In a positive environment even an under performer is motivated and becomes a performer but in a negative environment a performer can fail miserably because he is not valued and is continuously de-motivated.

Listen to your staff, make sure their views and points are considered and appreciated. Further, keep promises, give respect and seek respect, be committed to the staff and be one among them. Let the team have a shared vision and it's not an individual, it's a team with passion, which succeeds.

Leadership Tips 12 of 14: Appreciate, recognize and reward

Appreciation, reorganization and reward, play magic on individuals or team. Employees who feel recognized deliver excellent results. Keep the team and the individual team member well informed on the company activities and their performance status. Update the sales score board daily. Trigger the competition among team members, competition among teams, and among different branches.

Appreciate, recognize and reward performance. A job well done pat on the shoulders, well done hand shake, a personalized appreciation email or letter can be very motivating and will help in steady growth in the performance of the team.

Recognize employee performance at the right time, delay can cause de-motivation. And, reward them at the right occasion. Results are best when you reward. But remember it's a regular process.

Increase reward program and minimize finger pointing. Praise the employees publicly and specifically for his work. Display testimonial letters on the board. Celebrate occasions and event like birthday, marriage anniversary, etc.

Leadership Tips 13 of 14: Breaking the shell

Life is a continuous learning process. Regularly update your skills and be hungry for new updates in different areas. Read and listen to motivational books, tapes and disks. Arrange presentation and learning session. Let every staff contribute to it.

The whole idea behind it is to develop a family environment, free of stress and fear. Employees can free themselves and display their strength in every area. They are encouraged to take risk and develop new ideas which will help to discover new processes and strategies. Employees never fear to bring new creative thoughts or ideas and experiment them. These ideas may be successful or it may fail, either ways it is recognized and rewarded. It's not suppressed, it is appreciated and encouraged. The basic idea is to energize, develop, equip and take new challenges & responsibility which will lead the company to greater vision and success. Work is delegated to those employees who tend to put extra effort. They are smart workers. They work more for the company; they spend more time on office work.

Leadership Tips 14 of 14: Transfer leadership

Be a transparent leader, be committed at all levels, keep even the small promises not just in you work place but in your life also. Be sincere and caring. Don't put off things, do it with out any delay. Stand by your employees; if some complaints arise from customer first investigate it and take corrective or preventive action. Never put an employee in state of fear of loosing the job. Advice him, and see that he and other staffs don't repeat the same mistake again.

Lead from front, be a role model. Show expertise and confidence. Leaders show the route to success and help their subordinates to become a leader. They spread the light of leadership and bring the subordinates to their level. They give the freedom to develop oneself and grow. Subordinates look up to the leader for guidance and direction. Leaders Leave Legacy!

For detailed training program on Effective Leadership or Leadership Development please visit the link in the author profile.

I am a Btech(Computing) Engineer from Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia, Canada.

I am still a learner and I try to avoid making mistakes myself by learning from other people's mistake.

I believe, the quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor!

I am on continous learning and research process in the following arears - People Management, Business Communication, Leadership, Financial Planning, Solution Selling and Philosophy.

My vision is to fine tune the human brain to get the best results in all areas.

Please visit my link for detailed wisdom on Leadership. http://www.squidoo.com/leadership-in-life

10 Tips for Creating a Public Sector Leadership Development Program

The most recent edition of Public Personnel Management, Winter 2004, focused solely on one of the hottest issues facing today's public sector human resource professionals: workforce and succession planning. During the 2004 IPMA-HR International Training Conference, numerous sessions focused on the growing need to implement workforce and succession planning systems in order to address the mass exodus of workers that is anticipated in the next five to ten years. In both Public Personnel Management and at the conference, the issue of leadership development was cited as a primary tool for preparing the workforce for the future.

Numerous agencies are incorporating leadership development as an element of their workforce planning efforts. Notable leadership development programs that have been documented include those implemented in San Diego County, CA; Henrico County, VA; Hennepin County, MN; City of Las Vegas, NV; City of Phoenix, AZ; and City of San Jose, CA. In my observation, many of the best practice elements in public sector leadership development are consistent between agencies. The purpose of this article is to share ten practices that appear to be common threads among agencies that are developing leaders internally to fill anticipated vacancies in the future.

The following tips are provided as guidance to public sector organizations that may be interested in developing their own leadership development programs.

Tip One: Base the program on a competency model.

Before any training or development activities can take place, it is critical to identify the skills and competencies that will be developed as a result of the effort. As discussed in the Public Personnel Journal, Winter 2004, Henrico County developed 20 core leadership competencies including communication, critical thinking and decision making, organizational astuteness, and personal integrity. These competencies provided the framework for their development efforts. Other agencies, including the County of San Diego base their leadership academy on the same model as the multi-rater, 360-feedback tool that is used in the program.

Whether your organization has an established competency model that is used throughout your human resource programming or not, it is critical to spend some time defining the skills that leadership program participants are expected to develop. For example, the City of San Jose conducted a survey of top managers, followed by round-table discussions to determine the competencies to be developed in their leadership program called The Art and Practice of Leadership.

Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.

Each agency must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide.

In my experience, the highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.

The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.

Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.

It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that without the full support and involvement from the executive leadership team, the program will fail. Top management must be involved in the development of the curriculum, the selection of the attendees, and in the presentation of the program. Their support is critical for the success and long-term viability of any leadership development program.

Likewise, many agencies are finding that involvement by an elected official can also supplement the curriculum of a public sector leadership development program. For example, the City of Las Vegas invited a councilmember and the City of San Jose invited the Mayor to address their recent leadership academy programs. The official in each case addressed the class of leaders for up to one hour. They were asked to give their expectations for public sector leaders, and program participants were allowed to ask questions. The dialogue created in these forums allowed the organization's future leaders to see the organization through the eyes of an elected official. A facilitated conversation that followed the presentation encouraged the participants to identify meaningful "take-aways" from the elected official's comments. Because program participants have not likely interfaced extensively with an elected official, but will likely be expected to as their leadership responsibilities increase, this has become a critical element in public sector leadership development programs.

Tip Four: Use 360-degree feedback, individual development planning, and coaching as the core around which other development opportunities revolve.

360-degree survey tools provide feedback enabling leaders to realize strengths and areas for development based on their own and other's perceptions. Typically such feedback comes from the participant's direct supervisor, direct reports, and peers. Today, such processes can easily be facilitated on-line and feedback reports are comprehensive and detailed. Numerous vendors can now customize survey tools to reflect your organization's competency model (see Tip One above).

The feedback process, however, is only the start of the development process. It is recommended that the feedback be delivered in conjunction with opportunities for one-on-one coaching, as many participants find the feedback difficult to translate into everyday behaviors. A trained coach can assist the participant in making sense of the data. In addition, the participant should be expected to develop their own individual development plan that addresses competencies that are highlights in the feedback report. The individual development plan, once endorsed by the participant's direct supervisor, should then become the blueprint for the participant's leadership development efforts.

Because the feedback process can be so powerful, it is recommended that any leadership development program begin with this element, as it will provide the direction that each participant will need as they pursue the program. With their feedback, the participant can customize their leadership development experiences to address the identified needs. Because of this flexibility, 360-feedback is a highly recommended and popular tool.

Tip Five: Implement action learning through project teams.

Another popular tool for enhancing the leadership skills within public organizations is the use of action learning. Action learning is a typical educational approach where participants learn by addressing issues that are unique to their own organization and/or community. The format involves a continuous process of learning and reflection, built around learning groups of colleagues, more often with the aim of getting work-related initiatives accomplished.

The City of San Jose is using action learning as part of their new leadership development effort. The program participants are divided into six, functionally-diverse teams. Each team is assigned one of the city's corporate priorities which include:

o Performance-driven government

o Support for effective council policy-making

o Effective use of technology

o Customer service

o City as an employer of choice

o Neighborhood-focused service delivery

Teams are guided by team sponsors, who are all members of the City's executive team. Over a period of six months each team is expected to identify a City issue or project that needs attention. The teams research the issue, benchmark approaches with other jurisdictions, propose solutions the City could consider, develop a formal written report, and make a formal presentation in the City Council chambers as part of their program conclusion. The City Manager and other top executives will receive their presentations and provide feedback to each team. Whenever possible, the team will be given the authority to implement or participate in the implementation of their recommendations which may have citywide or regional implications. As a result, the participants are able to practice their communication and team skills as part of the process, receive feedback on their report writing skills, and practice making presentations in a forum that is new to many of them. They also have the opportunity to showcase their skills related to issues that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to explore.

Tip Six: Use internal and external resources.

As mentioned in Tip Two above, it is important to make full use of your organization's executive leadership team sessions that directly relate to the organization's strategic plan, culture, and expectations. However, other concepts may be better presented by individuals outside of the organization, who provide an outside or neutral perspective. You may also find that your organization does not have the capacity or expertise to address all the competencies included in your model. A balance of internal and external presenters provides participants with the opportunity to compare and contrast the agency's approach with practices and methods used outside of the organization.

Tip Seven: Maximize internal publicity.

In every case, leadership development program participants dedicate a great amount of time and energy to these kinds of programs. Not only is it a commitment of the participant's time, it is a commitment of their manager and staff's time that cover for the participant when they are attending program activities. You can communicate the goals and outcomes of the program and recognize the importance of the effort by using internal communicating tools like email, newsletters and Intranet postings. Everyone who is touched by the program should understand its importance to the organization's goals.

Prior to the start of the program, formally introduce the participants to the organization and encourage each organizational member to support them. After the program, each graduate should be recognized using the same communication tools (email, newsletters, Intranet, etc.) and their managers and staffs should be thanked for supporting them. Internal publicity can help garner support and enthusiasm for the program and its goals.

Tip Eight: Continuously adjust.

The first version of any comprehensive program like this is rarely perfect. It is important to continually modify the program based on the feedback received not only from the participants, but from their managers as well. By continually improving the program, it will meet the needs of the organization, even as the organization changes. In every leadership development program I have developed and managed, the agenda and curriculum is modified during the program and after graduation to reflect the changing needs of the participants and the organization. It is critical to be flexible and to listen to the program participants and their managers in order to ensure the program continuously improves and maintains its credibility and relevance.

Tip Nine: Celebrate the achievement.

A learning opportunity such as a leadership academy or leadership development program requires a commitment of time and resources, not only on the part of the coordinators, but on the part of management and the participants. A graduation or other public celebration is critical to recognize the achievements of all the parties involved. The graduation does not need to be elaborate or lengthy. A brief lunch with informal presentations will do the trick. Nevertheless, finishing a program like this without some recognition is like going to a movie that doesn't include the credits at the end.

Tip Ten: Measure and track outcomes.

While each organization determines the level and extent to which the results of a leadership development program are measured, a variety of tools can be used to determine the impact of the program. Such measures include:

o Knowledge of leadership concepts as measured via a pre- and post-assessment tool

o Perceived change in selected leadership skills as measured by a multi-rater, 360-degree feedback tool

administered at the beginning of the effort and again one year later

o Number of participants retained over one, three, and five years

o Number of participants promoted over one, three, and five years

o Perception of participant's supervisor related to the participant's change in behavior after attending the leadership development program

o Reaction to the leadership development program curriculum as measured by end of session evaluations

However your organization decides to measure the outcomes of your development efforts, it is recommended that the measurements be established prior to the start of the program and that they be monitored closely. Such measures will allow you to make appropriate adjustments to future programs and will assist you in showing the impact of the effort on your organization's strategic objectives.

If your organization has not yet embarked on a leadership development effort, it is likely that you will in the near future. Changing demographics, an impending "brain drain," and a need to enhance retention levels are driving public organizations of all sizes to explore tools for ensuring the stability of their workforce. And, while many organizations are exploring these efforts, each must find a solution that works best for their organization's culture and goals. The elements presented in this article reflect the common practices in public sector leadership development efforts today.

Marnie E. Green is Principal Consultant of the Arizona-based Management Education Group, Inc. She is the author of Painless Performance Evaluations: A Practical Approach to Managing Day to Day Employee Performance (Pearson/Prentice Hall). Green is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps organizations develop leaders today for the workforce of tomorrow. Contact Green at http://www.managementeducationgroup.com

We offer this article on a nonexclusive basis. You may reprint or repost this material as long as Marnie Green's name and contact information are included Mgreen@managementeducationgroup.com, 480-705-9394, http://www.managementeducationgroup.com