Action And Integrity, Not Rhetoric, Makes A Leader

After over three decades of working closely with well over a thousand individuals in leadership positions, in training, qualifying, identifying and consulting, as well as having been both a volunteer and a paid leader for both for- profit and non- profit organizations, I have grown weary of late at the ever- increasing usage of fancy rhetoric, techno- jargon, platitudes, generalities, etc., that seem to be appearing in ever- increasing abundance in far too many organizations and their leadership. True leadership has never been about great words or oratory, nor using impressive technical sounding language. As it has always been, it is what a leader does, what actions he takes, and his personal and professional integrity that makes someone a great leader. It has never been about the rhetoric! Rumi wrote, "It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words."

1. Although many wannabe leaders have always resorted to rhetoric, why is it that it seems even more widespread today than ever before? Part of this is that there appears, in most organizations, to be far less competition for leadership positions than in years past. This often creates lower quality leaders, as organizations and their members are thus forced to accept less quality to be their leaders. Because there is so much competition for individual's time, effort, and resources, and because we have observed a diminishing number of individuals who even belong to organizations, both membership rolls and thus the choices for potential leaders have suffered.

2. Far too many of the individuals thrust into leadership positions are either unwilling, unable, or insufficiently committed, to undergo effective training and learning. While in better times, many organizations did not envision the need to professionally train its leaders, in these leaner times, when in many cases there is an apparent dearth of leadership in many cases, this lack of leadership preparation has come back to haunt them. People are not born as leaders, but leadership is a combination of training, personal qualities, traits, and an attitude that makes someone a truly great leader. Many people, unfortunately, have only minimal training, and often only take away from the training some expressions or words that trainers often use. True professional training is multi-faceted, and involves continuous and ongoing work, and development of an understanding that true leaders take action in a timely basis rather than resort to mere rhetoric.

Far too often, this techno- jargon, or rhetoric replaces comprehension. Individuals unready to lead look to a guru and a quick fix, and thus rely on terminology. Some of these dangerous terms that are both overused and misused include: governance; metrics; teams; next level; etc. True leaders understand that they must develop a true caring bond with those they represent, adopting an attitude that a leader's primary responsibility is to provide value and to serve the needs of his constituents.

Richard Brody, with over 30 years consultative sales, marketing, training, managerial, and operations experience, has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as a company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs, and regularly blogs on real estate, politics, economics, management, leadership, negotiations, conferences and conventions, etc. He has negotiated, arranged and/ or organized hundreds of conferences and conventions. He's a Senior Consultant with RGB Consultation Services, an Ecobroker, a Licensed Buyers Agent (LBA) and Licensed Salesperson in NYS, in real estate.
Richard has owned businesses, been a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has a Consulting Website ( http://tinyurl.com/rgbcons ), and his company PLAN2LEAD, LLC's site ( http://www.plan2lead.net/ ), and can be followed on Twitter

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Personal Leadership In Action

Whats your breaking point? Here is personal leadership in action. A young stay at home mother one day asks her husband for 10 bucks. The husband asks what for? Silently Ann (The young mother) was disgusted. She promised herself before that day ended that she would never ask for money again from her hubby.

She immediately started to study opportunity. She put in the hours, she did the classes. This woman has no formal education but something changed in her when she was asked to explain herself to her husband for a measly 10 bucks. Ultimately the reason she asked that day was for her child and it was her child who became the reason why she embarked on her new journey. That was all of 20 years ago when Ann was 20 living in New York State.

Now 20 years on Ann lives in New York city and funnily enough is with the same man. There is also a lesson to learned here and the lesson is forgiveness. Ann would never be the person she is today unless her hubby reacted like that on that faithful day. Ann now is a managing director of a multi-national company based out of New York. She earns a 7 figure salary and she has kept her promise. Since that faithful day she has never had to ask her hubby for money once again. What a remarkable story. Ann now holds a business degree as well as a Masters in Business (MBA).

Here is what you can learn from Ann's story. No matter where you are in your life right now, there is always time to change. A man in his eighties told me last year that he had been very successful in business up to now but his best is yet to come. Your best is also yet to come but you must make a ruthless decision. I say ruthless because decision comes from the Latin work "to cut" or to "cut off". When you cut off something, you are without something for life. It is permanent.

It is the same with a decision. When one really makes a decision, there is no way back. Decide now, what do you want and if you know what it is, go after it with the vigor and strength you know you possess, something similar to Ann. A wise man once said "Nothing can stop a person who will stake their very existence for their purpose" which basically means I will achieve this or die.

So my question to you is "are you ready to find out who you really are? "

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Leaders Who Don't Take Timely Action Do Harm

In my over three decades of involvement in leadership, as a leader, non profit executive, corporate executive, leadership and management trainer and consultant, I have discovered that one of the most harmful and dangerous things someone in a leadership position can do, is to procrastinate, when timely action is called for. Marcus Arelius said, "A wrong- doer is often one who has left something undone, not always someone who has done something." Because so many unqualified and insufficiently trained individuals ascend to leadership, there are always numerous errors, both of commission and omission. While errors of commission are often easy to identify, it is often the errors of omission that create a far more glaring and dangerous set of ramifications.

1. Many of these under- qualified individuals seem to prefer to avoid decisions, so as to avoid any type of responsibility. They seem to feel that if they procrastinate long enough, the challenge becomes that of someone else, instead of theirs. Unfortunately, many things begin as obstacles, and then become challenges. When delayed long enough, they often become treated as problems. When the delay is that long, it is often accompanied by numerous ramifications, mostly negative. In organizations, nearly every obstacle is relatively simple to overcome if a leader addresses it on a timely basis, and develops a strategy and an action plan in a sensible, well thought out manner. In order to do this, a leader must be able to fact find, ask questions, consider alternatives (and the various ramifications), develop contingency/ back up plans, etc., that are in line with the vital vision and mission of the organization. When action is avoided, or even delayed, additional obstacles often create an even greater urgency, and the process, at the very least, becomes abbreviated and less thorough. When valuable planning time is wasted, the time can never be recovered, and in almost all cases, additional circumstances tend to further complicate the situation.

2. I have often wondered why the word, procrastination, begins with a pro. There is nothing professional about procrastination, and effective leadership has always been dependent on timely, well considered and thought out action being instituted. Great leaders have always turned these obstacles/ adversities into challenges to overcome, and then made the most of these opportunities to make needed changes (or tweaks) that energizes and revitalizes, as well as refocuses the organization.

I hope that someday organizations will all come to learn what the most effective and viable ones have already learned and demonstrated. They must understand that nothing good in the long run ever comes from procrastination, and while a process must be well considered and examined, great leaders always make sure that issues are addressed in a timely manner. Organizations need to continuously evolve to remain viable, and only when leaders are completely trained and qualified can this process be performed.

Richard Brody,with over 30 years consultative sales,marketing,training,managerial, and operations experience,has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as a company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs, and regularly blogs on real estate, politics, economics, management, leadership, negotiations, conferences and conventions, etc. He has negotiated, arranged and/ or organized hundreds of conferences and conventions. He's a Senior Consultant with RGB Consultation Services, an Ecobroker, a Licensed Buyers Agent (LBA) and Licensed Salesperson in NYS, in real estate.
Richard has owned businesses, been a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has a Consulting Website ( http://tinyurl.com/rgbcons ), and his company PLAN2LEAD, LLC's site ( http://www.plan2lead.net/ ), and can be followed on Twitter

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Leadership Skill - Initiating a Call to Action - 4 Items You Must Address

Russell Simmons is undoubtedly an African American leader and businessman to be admired, but I was a bit confused and concerned after listening to an interview he gave on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Roland Martin, Tom Joyner and Sybil Wilkes all asked Mr. Simmons the same question "What is the objective of Occupy Wall Street?" On each occasion, Mr. Simmons failed to give a direct response accessible to listeners. Instead he repeated what seemed to be scripted rhetoric along the lines of "We need to get the money out of Washington." I assume the purpose of the interview was to inform people about the sit-ins as well as a call to action. Unfortunately, neither purpose was achieved. Below are four items leaders need to include in their call to action to ensure followers understand what needs to be done and why they should commit themselves to the action.

Leadership Skill - Call to action

If a leader wants people/followers/employees to do something the leader must present a coherent, understandable message describing what people need to do and how people will benefit.

To initiate a call to action be sure to:

1. Speak in terms that every person, at every level of the organization (or in this case movement) can understand. Leave out jargon, business terms and political speak. Using everyday language also supports an atmosphere of camaraderie.

2. Be honest about the objectives, likely challenges and desired outcomes of the endeavor. Be specific about ways people can/will/should participate.

3. When possible and feasible get feedback/input/ideas from people about the endeavor. Including them in the process creates investment and increases the likelihood of action.

4. Reiterate how people will benefit from taking up the call to action. Include immediate benefits to bolster motivation for swift action and long-term benefits to help sustain action.

As the winter months bring cold, wet, difficult conditions the Occupy Wall Street movement may find its way indoors. Don't let a change of venue or other obstacles cloud your call for action. Use venue changes, opposing views or competing movements as an opportunity to restate your call for action. Realign or redesign your call for action so that followers maintain their understanding of the original goal in the context of change.

Leadership Skill Summary- Be clear and concise about what you what people to do, why you want them to do it and how they will benefit.

Tonia M. Richardson, DM, LPC, is the principal coach at Lotus Solutions: A Coaching Enterprise. Visit http://www.lotussolutionscoach.com/About-the-Coach.html to learn about the services available and to request a free 30 minute phone consultation.

© Tonia M. Richardson. The author grants reprint permission to opt-in publications and websites so long as the copyright and by-line are included intact and the article is not used in spam. A courtesy copy of your publication is appreciated.

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