Category: Leadership Traits

“Can you help me?”

Those are not words that flow easily from our mouths as leaders.  But maybe they should be.

I recently took an international business trip.  It involved 6 flights, 4 trams, 4 shuttle busses and 2 taxi cabs in order to get to where we needed to be.  I have taken many international flights in my line of work.  And I am accustomed to many of the rigors of travel.  But, for the first time in 13 years of international business travel, I had to ask for help to get from one gate to the next to make my final connecting flight on the way home.

I arrived at Liberty in Newark, NJ late last Thursday afternoon and by the time I cleared customs and boarded the tram and got to my gate at the next terminal they were already boarding the flight.  Imagine my surprise to see a nearly empty gate.  What I discovered at the gate was that United had decided to change the departure gate to the other side of the terminal.  My gate was no longer Gate 125.  It was Gate 75.  I was not going to make it.

But at my age and after already flying for almost 10 hours I made the tactical decision to seek assistance in reaching my goal.  My goal was to get home and see my family.  And I did not have enough strength to get from Gate 125 to 75 in time to make my flight.  So I approached the counter and requested one of those electric carts that you see in airports.  You know, the ones that annoy you as you are trying to walk to your gate! Continue reading “Can you help me?”

The purpose of leadership in any organization is to advance the mission, vision, scope, or return on an investment.  It is the strong leaders in an organization who can take your mission farther, faster than trying to do it alone.  Unfortunately, some organizations or senior managers (leaders) do not foster a leadership culture.

When this takes place, everyone and everything loses.  The organization loses.  The senior manager loses.  The community loses.  The investors lose.  People lose.  Everyone and everything loses.

There are many reasons for this.  And I will not take time to deal with them here.  But fear plays a huge role.  Fear that they will get cast aside by the new leaders.  Fear that they will not be able to compete against a younger and often a more energetic crowd.

But a leadership culture works both ways.  Older leaders mentoring young leaders.  And young leaders honoring and respecting older leaders who have paved the way to make their success possible.

The following are 10 Signs Your Organization Does Not Have A Strong Leadership Culture:

1. Senior managers do not prioritize building relationships with management and supervisors down the line.
2. Junior or younger leaders are often ignored.  Their contribution is not appreciated.  They are not consulted prior to key decisions or given a seat at the table when key decisions are made.
3. The leadership level becomes a closed group or an exclusive “club”. Continue reading “Does Your Organization Have A Leadership Culture?”

I am contemplating the examples of leadership that are prevalent today and instead of being shining examples of Leadership In  Action, with a space between “In” and “Action”, I seem to find that they are pitiful examples of Leadership Inaction, without a space between “In” and “action”. Is it a little bit hokey and a play on words? Yes, it is absolutely. But, unfortunately, it captures the state of leadership in our nation and in our culture today.

Many of us who are working for a living and trying to be productive members of society are observing ample instances of inaction by our elected leaders. When it seems obvious that taking a stand is necessary and the appropriate thing to do, instead for the most part we hear the sound of crickets from our elected political leaders.

But as much as I want to blame these elected political leaders, I can’t. It seems that what “sells” is that which is most pleasing to the ears of the listener. And, as a free market capitalist, I can’t blame them for selling a product that so many appear to want to purchase. Inaction sells.

But inaction has a tremendous downside.  It has the effect of sucking life and courage from those of us who would lead.  Consider what the great businessman and philanthropist Dale Carnegie once said: Continue reading “Leadership Inaction or In Action”

Leadership means sometimes you have to move large groups of sometimes inanimate objects such as people and institutions in a forward direction. As a leader you are often a “pusher”. But you have to remember that when pushing people – somebody is going to push back from time to time!

Although there may be more, there are at least four approaches:

Consider the Swift Approach

Some leaders believe that it is incumbent upon them to move swiftly when they come into a new position. They are often heard to say things like; “You gotta strike while the iron is hot!”

Let’s call these leaders “Hares”. [I’ll bet you can already guess the next group, can’t you?]

These leaders are not bad. They are not necessarily impatient as you may suspect. They just feel a strong mandate and see now as an opportune time to move. They feel that it is incumbent upon them to lead with speed.

One of the problems with this style of leadership is that those who employ it often do not take the time on the front end to build consensus among the other leaders and among the followers. And that mistake can poison the potential for change in the coming days.

Consider the Slow Approach

Some leaders err on the side of moving way to slowly. They believe that their followers will only respond to Continue reading “Leadership Means Sometime You Have to Push”