Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on January 27, 2010 under General Leadership, Leadership Development | 
It is, often, very hard for us to stay positive. This is especially true during times of challenge and difficulty. For some of us, periodic challenge and difficulty can be exciting. For most of us, however, challenge and difficulty, especially prolonged challenge and difficulty, can be exhausting. Positive thinking and action can not only help us get through the challenges and difficulties of leadership, but also can help us embrace challenges in life, which may lead us to totally shift our perspective. I cannot stress enough the importance of positive thinking and action as an antidote to challenge, and as a prescription for long-term success.
The modern concept of positive thinking roots in the study of the human mind. However, as it applies for our discussion in the context of leadership, positive thinking roots in the study of Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). Some of the bright minds of field include Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, Robert E. Quinn, Robert A. Emmons, and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe to name a few. One of my favorite compilations in the field of POS comes from Robert A. Emmons on “Acts of Gratitude in Organizations.” Emmons concluded that the use of gratitude, a moral and positive emotion, leads to positive outcomes in the workplace. If I were a betting man, and sometimes I am, I would say that the use of gratitude leads to positive outcomes in most other situations too!
Kim Cameron’s work on “Positive Leadership” sheds light on the importance of fostering a positive climate, developing positive meaning, establishing positive relationships, and executing positive communication. According to Cameron, through implementing these four strategies a leader can transition into a positive leader. From my perspective, however, these strategies go beyond the scope of leadership to apply to each and every one of us and our every day lives. I cannot think of any situation where fostering a positive climate, developing positive meaning, establishing positive relationships, and executing positive communication would result in negative consequences.
However, let us not be fooled: positive thinking and action requires a lot of work. One exercise that I enjoy (brought to my attention by a university professor) is to challenge myself to think positively for as long as possible. Everytime I think negatively, I put a quarter into a jar. By the end of the week, how many quarters do you think I have saved in the jar? I suggest that everyone try that exercise because it forces you to be conscious of your thoughts and your actions. My only hope for this post would be that it leaves you with a positive attitude and inspires you to be, act, and live positively. It makes a difference.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on January 11, 2010 under General Leadership |
Having an effective leadership style is crucial for individuals holding positions of power within organizations. Knowing your personal goals and having motivational skills simply isn’t enough in today’s competitive environment. Instead, leaders need a clear-cut strategy for obtaining organizational goals and objectives, as well as the lower-level deparmental goals that they’ve established. Learning to develop and implement an effective leadership strategy is one of the most important steps in learning to lead a successful team.
First, it’s important that a leader clearly define a cause or purpose. This could be developed in terms of a mission and vision statment if you’re an organizational leader, or a more comprehensive business plan if you’re an entrepreneuer. As a corporate manager, however, setting sales goals and developmental milestones would also be a requirement. It’s important to note that leaders will develop goals that are difficult, but not impossible to obtain. Leaders must constantly challenge their employees to be bigger and better.
The second piece of an effective leadership strategy is the development of clearly defined goals. These goals are, in effect, the steps needed to be successful in the ‘mission’ and ‘vision’ discussed above. True leaders will clearly define primary and secondary goals and set milestones for employees to reach.
Third, it is important to have a way to measure success. Leaders realize the importance of positive feedback, and implement a plan whereby success can be easily measured and recognized. Leaders always remember that it is their primary goal to make sure that their ‘mission’ and ‘vision’ is attained and that employees are successful and properly recognized.
Finally, a good leadership strategy will include access to the tools and education needed to be successful. Leaders recognize the importance that proper knowledge and tools can have on the outcome of their project. Hence, the ideal strategy will include both the time and the money to educate employees as necessary and to upgrade software and other tools to ensure success.
In summary, effective leaders work diligently on developing a leadership strategy for their project or organization. By carefully reviewing the strengths and weakness of team members and setting obtainable goals, leaders can easily become the driving force for success. Being a leader is about much more than charisma and charm; it is the diligent application of strategies and careful review of that strategy that will make or break a leader.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on November 27, 2009 under Leadership Quotes |
Sun Tzu is thought to have been a general and/or military strategist in the Wu region of China in the 6th century BC. He is most notable for his prized work on military strategy called The Art of War. Within that text, Sun Tzu attempts to explain to readers much of what it takes to be an effective and successful leader in war. I’ve pulled the following quote from his chapter on variation in tactics:
“There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: 1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction; 2) Cowardice, which leads to capture; 3) A hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; 4) A delicacy of honor, which is sensitive to shame; 5) Over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble. These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.”
Although Sun Tzu’s philosophies on leadership are military focused, those philosophies can be interpreted in a more business sense. I would highly suggest reading this book if you haven’t done so already. If you have, I’d suggest reading it once more.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on November 15, 2009 under General Leadership |
As we have stated many time here at The Prime Leader, there is more than one way to effectively lead people. In fact, there are several commonly recognized leadership styles that can have a positive impact on a leader’s effectiveness. Learning the difference between the styles and determining which is best suited for you, and which is best suited for the situation that you face, is the first step towards becoming an effective leader.
First, it is critical that a leader carefully review their strengths and weaknesses. Leadership traits like communication, vision, strategy and the ability to motivate should all be carefully considered. Once a leader has a clear view of their abilities, determining the most effective leadership style is easy.
- Laissez Faire Leadership: This leadership style is defined by the ‘hands off’ approach. Leaders who utilize this style typically have a team of highly trained and effective employees who do not need to be micromanaged.
- Autocratic Leadership: Once popular, the autocratic leadership style has begun to experience a fall in popularity. This style advocates ‘laying down the law‘ and is sometimes likened to Medieval Europe and the feudal lords who ruled the land. Although this leadership style is often viewed as negative, it can be effective in certain situations.
- Participative Leadership: Participative Leadership is quickly becoming the most popular leadership style. This style blends the ‘hands off’ approach with a degree of micromanaging, and when done correctly offers the best of both worlds. Employees realize that they must self-motivate and complete assigned projects and tasks on their own, but know their manager or ‘leader’ will be available to assist them with direction as needed.
It is interesting to note that some (maybe even most) people will not accept a new manager as a ‘leader’ until they have earned that title; therefore, effective leaders need to take steps toward modifying, and integrating, their leadership style appropriately into the various organizations that they operate (we’ll take a closer look at emergent leadership in a few weeks).
Great leaders take the best of various leadership styles and mold them to fit their particular needs and position. They also, some would argue, need to rigidly adhere to the style they have chosen (hopefully a blended style), allowing their employees to experience a level of certainty and reliability from their managers. In other words, if an employee took the same action twice he shouldn’t receive two different responses from his manager.
Leadership style is as much dependent on personality as it is theory. Carefully determining what style works best for you in a given situation is an important step toward becoming an effective leader.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on November 5, 2009 under General Leadership, Leadership Development |
It is a misnomer to believe that people are entirely ‘born’ to lead. Leaders typically work to develop traits that allow them to effectively lead those around them. Like any skill, these traits must be learned and practiced. While it is true that some have a better aptitude for learning these qualities, anybody can develop there the ability to lead.
- The ability to make decisions – The best leaders have the ability to make decisions, even difficult ones. They can assess the situation and process the effect each of the possibilities will have. A good leader understands that failing to make decisions will negatively impact the effectiveness of their organization.
- Risk Taking – true leaders are unafraid to take calculated risks. They realize that true success can only be obtained by taking chances. They also have the ability to determine the amount of risk involved in any given situation and the wisdom to know when a particular risk is too great.
- Communication – All great leaders have highly developed communication skills. They are easily able to communicate their wishes and desires to others in an effective way. Through both spoken and written words, leaders are always clear and concise.
- Integrity – True leaders live by the motto “integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. They are inherently trustworthy and strive to be open and honest in all of their dealings.
- Education – Realizing the importance of continuing education is crucial for effective leadership. By remaining open to new ideas and concepts and by continually improving themselves, they will continue to develop, adapt and grow as the environment around them does.
- Vision – Leaders always strive to look at the big picture. While closely watching the details and keeping their eye on the ‘prize’ leaders have the ability to continually move forward.
- Motivation – Perhaps the most important quality of leaders is their ability to motivate those around them. They are able to impart their vision in such a way that their ideas become exciting and possible. This motivation serves to promote both their business interest and the personal goals of the organization. Charisma plays a large role in motivation.
- Self-Awareness – The ability to look at themselves and clearly recognize their strengths and weakness sets leaders apart from those around them. They are able to take criticism of their faults well and constructively address them.
- Team Building – Leaders can easily recognize the strengths of their employees and effectively divide them into teams that are more successful than individuals. Team building strategies are a proven way of increasing the productivity of an organization.
- Strategy – The best leaders always have a clear plan of action and follow it to achieve their goals. In addition, the can recognize when a particular strategy is not working and will work to tweak their plan for maximum effectiveness.
True leaders utilize these qualities to help themselves and their employees to strive for the best and often to accomplish the impossible. Diligently working on these qualities is the first step towards becoming an effective leader. What are your top leadership qualities?
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on October 19, 2009 under General Leadership |
I’ve always been fascinated by discussions that I’ve had with my colleagues regarding the link between “higher education” and “success” (success defined economically). To my surprise, more often than not I end up disagreeing with my colleagues about the importance of higher education. I thought that this was a pretty cut-and-dry topic, but I’m finding out that it is not as clear-cut as I thought it would be.
For the most part, I am very pro-education. I see the advantages of education not only from the context of knowledge attainment, but also practical application. I see higher-education as a method of personal and intellectual growth that often (but not always) encourages greater intellectual maturity and a more strongly developed level of self-awareness. I also see higher education as a way to differentiate those willing to work hard and take-on responsibility from those who are not. However, I want to note that this discussion should be framed in the context of “all else being equal.” I realize that some people may not have the opportunity or ability to go to college, for a variety of reasons, and that there are tons of educated people out there not working hard and often making dumb decisions (including myself in the “making dumb decisions” category). There are also very hard working and successful non-educated individuals and I do not, by any means, want, or intend, to discount their intelligence or work ethic. Education is not for everyone – the context is “all else equal.”
My opponents, who are highly against education (not against education from the standpoint of it being completely worthless but from a cost-benefit standpoint), are usually educated people themselves. I’ve noticed that more and more of my colleagues are siding with the anti-education movement. Generally speaking they believe that the costs of higher education significantly out-way benefits that they could receive in the workplace over their lifetime. They claim that the payback for higher education is often times too long down the road and that money toward education could be better spent opening up a small business or investing in the marketplace. To tell you the truth, I don’t think my opponents are all that misguided.
For example, let’s look at higher education in the context of the current business environment. How many college educated kids are moving back in with their parents because they cannot find a job or support themselves? How many degree holders are finding their benefits, salaries, or even their jobs cut? How many educated people, who have spent years and years working for an organization, making it profitable, have been eliminated from their organizations just before retirement? Many of these people have been successful and many have not. What would have happened to these individuals if they would have taken their initial investment in education and put it toward a local, national, or international small business? What position would they be in today? Better-off? Worse-off? The same? What if the market rebounded? Would they be in a better position (compared to those without higher education)? What other advantages, other than economical, does education bring?
There have been studies that have shown that higher education usually correlates to greater economic success (on average). There have also been studies that have shown success tied more toward an individual’s personality and leadership characteristics than their level of education. Regardless, it is clear that both sides of the coin have logical, and fairly strong, arguments in support of their positions. I prefer to fall on the side of education because of the advantages that I’ve been able to attain from it (or at least I perceive it that way). However, are these advantages tied to my education or to my unique personal traits and leadership capacity? Where would I be today if I didn’t go to college? If I used those funds to invest in a small business? I often wonder.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on October 16, 2009 under Leadership Quotes |
After a couple of hours of reading this evening, I came across an interesting quote. I know that this quote isn’t directly in the context of leadership, but I ask that you use your imagination. Think about the various kinds of friendships that exist in life. And, think about friendship in the context of organizations. How would you interpret this quote as it may apply to leadership? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
“Complete friendship is the friendship of good people similar in virtue; for they wish goods in the same way to each other insofar as they are good, and they are good in their own right.” Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics)
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on August 4, 2009 under General Leadership |
Have you ever wondered about the effectiveness of pay for performance programs? Maybe you’ve thought about implementing pay for performance programs at your organization, but don’t know where, or how, to start? In the most recent Academy of Management Annals a nicely-written empirical research article, titled Pay and Performance: Individuals, Groups, and Executives, was published that attempted to clarify this topic. Simply put, the authors attempted to understand three specific items related to pay for performance: the conceptual mechanisms by which pay for performance programs influence performance, specific programs used and whether or not they are effective, and the pitfalls of such programs upon implementation (Gerhart, B., Rynes, S., & Fulmer, I., 2009, p. 251).
To summarize, the research article, published in June of 2009, suggests that “the use and intensity of pay for performance programs is typically associated with better individual, group, and organization performance” (Gerhart et al., 2009, p. 298). However, the authors accurately advise that care and consideration must be taken when considering whether or not to implement such programs. The reason for their caution is in the limitation that one could confidently question whether the relationship between pay for performance programs and actual performance is concrete or rather just casual. The evidence seems to point in the former direction, but, according to the authors, there is a multitude of other research that supports the latter.
Regardless, before implementing any program within your organization, especially incentive programs, you must analyze whether or not that specific program is correct for your specific organization at that specific time (and, of course, long-term). The key is to understand your strategy and how the considered program fits within it. If you don’t have a strategy, then it’s going to be difficult to gauge whether or not that program is correct for you. At that point, you are simply a blind leader of the blind and we all know the result of that scenario (search my previous posts on “leadership quotes”).
I know many of you are probably sick and tired of hearing about “strategic plans” and “strategy,” but I can’t emphasize enough how important they are. Yet again we can see that without a strategic plan, it’s extremely difficult (almost impossible) to logically guide your organization. You can’t even properly implement incentive programs because you don’t have a long-term, high-level, strategy for how you want to handle human resources. Are you simply hiring to hire? Or, are people your most valued asset? If they are your most valued asset, how can you utilize them to become more profitable? The lesson here is that pay for performance programs can be effective. The question is whether or not you are truly prepared to consider implementing one.
References:
Gerhart, B., Rynes, S., & Fulmer, I. (2009). Pay for Performance: Individuals, Groups, and Executives’. The Academy of Management Annals, 3(1), pp. 251 – 315.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on July 26, 2009 under General Leadership |
The study of leadership dates back thousands of years. So, why do we spend the majority of our time glorifying concepts of leadership that have only been written in the past decade (much of it based in previous scholarship)? Throughout history there have been many authors (some unknown) that have dedicated their time to the development of leadership theory. Confucius, Plutarch, and Machiavelli are just some examples of excellent leadership authorship.
In the same manner, throughout history, there have been excellent examples of leadership. It would be my opinion that ancient history has given us more useful examples of leadership than that which we have seen with our own eyes in modern decades. My point is not to discredit the leadership or leadership study of today, but to give a little credit to the forgotten leadership and leadership study of the past.
Alexander the Great is probably one of the most infamous leaders of the past. I like to study Alexander the Great because his leadership intellect seems flawless. Take, for example, his attitude toward culture. During a time when ethnicity and culture was the strongest prevailing force in society, Alexander utilized other cultures to strengthen his own . Alexander did so with systematic precision – knowing off-the-bat that the Macedonians were neither powerful nor numerous enough to fulfill his complex agenda (especially bordering with the more powerful Hellenic tribes). He took something that was so emotionally powerful and partitioning to individuals of the time (i.e. culture), and turned it into genius strategy and strength.
I’m not, by any means, saying that ambiguity is the key to success in leadership. What I am saying, however, is that there are little, but extremely powerful, lessons that we can learn from studying the authors, leaders, and laymen of the past. Alexander never relinquished his quest for glory, but rather dedicated his entire life to it. His passion for success was unmatched. In his own words, as recorded by one ancient author, “do you think I can relinquish this quest for glory, the one thing to which I have dedicated my entire life? No, I shall not fail in my duty…” Take some time to research the ancient authors and to study ancient leadership. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
Posted by Aleksandar M. Velkoski on July 6, 2009 under General Leadership |
Firstly, to regular readers of The Prime Leader, I would like to apologize for not posting for the past few weeks. As I’m sure you are aware, working full-time, and studying full-time, can get rather difficult to manage. Add on top of those requirements posting to your blog and you can easily see how some time off could become useful and necessary from time-to-time.
I’d like to resume posting by discussing the significance of “envisioning” for a few moments. In industry, you hear a lot businessmen and women discussing the need to develop vision statements and mission statements for their organizations. Of course I am not going to sit here and argue against developing a vision statement and mission statement. If anything, I am going to be a major supporter of the concepts. However, how do most people, or organizations, actually go about developing vision statements and mission statements for their organizations? Do you think that their method is effective? Let me share a few of my thoughts with you.
Based upon my experience and inquiry, I’ve come to the conclusion that many people go about developing vision statements and mission statements in a manner that is somewhat backward. It seems as though this is especially true for small business owners. They first work toward developing brief sentences that meet the qualifications of a vision statement and mission statement, and then they loosely try to move their organization in the direction set by those statements. It’s almost as though they use their vision statement and mission statement in place of their strategic and business plan. This is, of course, the wrong approach.
In essence, what I am trying to say is that a statement cannot drive the direction of an organization. A leader, however, can do so. How? Well, she must FIRST envision. Envisioning is a concept that describes the act imagining the future. Its core meaning is to picture the future in your mind as it would play-out in reality. The core of envisioning goes much deeper than writing a statement down on a piece of paper. It’s actually imagining where you want your organization to be in the future, and then developing a written plan to get there. Part of that written plan, then, is your vision statement and mission statement. A vision statement and mission statement, alone, cannot guide your organization. A leader that “envisions” can.
What are your thoughts? Can you think of some examples of leaders that envisioned?
It is, often, very hard for us to stay positive. This is especially true during times of challenge and difficulty. For some of us, periodic challenge and difficulty can be exciting. For most of us, however, challenge and difficulty, especially prolonged challenge and difficulty, can be exhausting. Positive thinking and action can not only help us get through the challenges and difficulties of leadership, but also can help us embrace challenges in life, which may lead us to totally shift our perspective. I cannot stress enough the importance of positive thinking and action as an antidote to challenge, and as a prescription for long-term success.