A SKILL SET CALLED LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a hot topic today. An online search found 22 million website listings for the word "leadership." Why? Because good leadership gets things done. But the quality of leadership determines the difference between a team passionate about what they're doing versus one that is following orders

 Thousand of books have been written about leadership. According to Dr Myles Monroe, defining leadership would be the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by passion, generated by vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose.

 To be a leader, you must first have a reason to lead. For some it is to improve their business, achieve their goals, create something and for some, to improve something

There are many definitions to leadership and it all depends from the angle being viewed. According to Warren Bennis, “managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing.”

 

Leaders manage change while manager’s control processes. We need to decide into then who we will be followers or leaders.

Picture resource: prinpink.wordpress.com

 

SAY WHAT? ROCK JOURNALISM!

Frank Zappa was a composer, film director, electric guitarist and record producer who wrote rock, jazz and orchestral music. Around this time it was difficult to categorize his music in a specific genre. So, Frank Zappy was a rock star, he didn't believe in education, he was a true believer of Freedom of Speech.

The quote "Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read", is this what he was actually trying to say that rock stars are not interested in what media says about them. It is the music that speaks volumes to the people that understand the message of Rock music.

 I am not sure that this kind of thinking would be attributed to all kinds of professions. To say that a doctor would not be interested in rock would be placing me in a difficult position. Today people are diverse in their skills.

So do I agree with Frank, absolutely not? As a PR practitioner I meet people in education, with a passion for beauty or a mechanic with a love for arts.

 Picture resource: zappa.cz

 

 

WHAT MOTIVATES ME?

When I looked at the question what motivated me, I had to really think of an answer. I am on a road of discovery, I hear my critics saying at this age of your life? Well the answer is yes at this stage of my life.

According to Stephen R. Covey, motivation is both the desire and willingness to do something. It's what gets you started and keeps you going. "Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.

Most of us are looking for things that will not last or maybe it’s just me.    

Napoleon Hill said that desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.

Most people are motivated either by the avoidance of pain or the pursuit of pleasure. In my experience the most common motivation seems to be the avoidance of pain. I do not like disruption in my life.

I'm surprised by how many people are motivated by fear. Fear of being alone, fear of what people might think, fear of failing, etc. Fear can be destructive, yet it can be harnessed and targeted towards a good end. If fear motivates you, use it to create the motivation that will allow you to achieve your goals.

A passionate desire for something pleasurable, coupled with the avoidance of pain creates the strongest motivation. The best way you can motivate yourself is to set inspiring worthy goals. You are most likely to stay motivated if you have plenty of good reasons to accomplish your goals and are mindful of the consequences of failure.

One thing that helps to motivate me is to have deadlines. I usually have a few projects on the go, when I finish something on time and do it well it spurs me on to repeat my success.

Success motivates me. I love a challenge and proving that I can do something that someone else thinks is beyond me.

I have come to realize that I need to look beyond me, to the one that created me to find continuous motivation as the above things are all temporal, yes helpful. 

Picture resource: jazzycomments.com

BE A SELF FULFILLING PROPHET

A landscape gardener ran a business that had been in the family for two or three generations. The staff was happy, and customers loved to visit the store or to have the staff work on their gardens or make deliveries, anything from bedding plants to ride-on mowers.

For as long as anyone could remember, the current owner and previous generations of owners was extremely positive, happy people. Most people assumed it was because they ran a successful business. In fact it was the other way around.

A tradition in the business was that the owner always wore a big lapel badge, saying Business Is Great! The business was indeed generally great, although it went through tough times like any other. What never changed however was the owner’s attitude and the badge saying “Business Is Great!”

Everyone who saw the badge for the first time invariably asked, "What's so great about business?" Sometimes people would also comment that their own business was miserable or even that they personally were miserable or stressed.

The “Business Is Great” badge always tended to start a conversation, which typically involved the owner talking about lots of positive aspects of business and work for example:

·         the pleasure of meeting and talking with different people every day

      ·         the reward that comes from helping staff take on new challenges and               experiences

·         the fun and laughter in a relaxed and healthy work environment

·         the fascination in the work itself and in other people's work and businesses

·         the great feeling when you finish a job and do it to the best of your capabilities

·         the new things you learn every day, even without looking to do so

·          the thought that everyone in business is blessed because there are many millions of people who would swap their own situation to have the same opportunities of doing a productive meaningful job in a civilized well-fed country, where we have no real worries.

And so the list went on and  no matter how miserable a person was, they'd usually end up feeling a lot happier after just a couple of minutes listening to all this infectious enthusiasm and positivity.

It is impossible to quantify or measure attitude like this, but to one extent or another it's probably a self-fulfilling prophecy, on which point if asked about the badge in a quiet moment the business owner would confide: "The badge came first. The great business followed."

Always keep your attitude in check.  

Picture resource: quotes99.com

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?

About a hundred years ago, a man looked at the morning newspaper and to his surprise and horror, read his name in the obituary column. The news papers had reported the death of the wrong person by mistake.

His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, "Dynamite King Dies, he was the merchant of death."

This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words "merchant of death," he asked himself a question, "Is this how I am going to be remembered?" He got in touch with his feelings and decided that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day on, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is remembered today by the great Nobel Prize.

Just as Alfred Nobel got in touch with his feelings and redefined his values, we should step back and do the same.

· What is your legacy, or footprints you want to leave behind ?

· How would you like to be remembered?

· Will you be spoken well of?

· Will you be remembered with love and respect?

· Will you be missed?

Picture resource: interment.net

THE BLIND MAN AND THE ADVERTISING STORY

An old blind man was sitting on a busy street corner in the rush-hour begging for money. On a cardboard sign, next to an empty tin cup, he had written: 'Blind - Please help'. No-one was giving him any money.

A young advertising writer walked past and saw the blind man with his sign and empty cup, and also saw the many people passing by completely unmoved, let alone stopping to give money.

The advertising writer took a thick marker-pen from her pocket, turned the cardboard sheet back-to-front, and re-wrote the sign, then went on her way. Immediately, people began putting money into the tin cup.

After a while, when the cup was overflowing, the blind man asked a stranger to tell him what the sign now said."It says," said the stranger, ‘it’s a beautiful day. You can see it. I cannot.'

What have you leant from this story? 

Picture resource: cartoonstock.com