Fundamentals of an Effective Leadership Training Program

One of the core factors behind an organizational success and growth is the effective leadership. Unfortunately, many organizations consciously or unconsciously do not provide proper leadership program to bring out leadership qualities in potential employees. Leadership development program is much more than simply discussing the philosophy of leadership, giving classroom lectures, providing guidebook or CD's to learn theory on leadership qualities.

Effectual leadership training entails more than just classroom lectures. They include a variety of training programs aimed at inculcating or motivating leadership qualities in people. Some of the most effective programs are aimed at developing the following skills:

Quick decision-making process: New leaders in any organization must be trained exclusively to take proper and quick decisions. A leader stands liable for the major decisions of the company. Therefore, the training should focus on developing this attribute in employees. One hasty decision and the company may face huge losses. The leaders should be given proper training in data analysis, understanding employees and their difficulties. This is the first step towards budding proper leadership development skills.
Developing communication skills: Imparting proper communication skills via the use of all the communication channels effectively should be the basic idea behind every leadership training program. Organizational communications are more than just e-mailing. Leaders must be trained to use all communication areas which include one-on-one interaction, giving speeches, addressing employees or other members confidently, and dealing (communicating) with clients efficiently.Maintaining staff relations: Leaders must be trained on how to handle their staff and motivate them to get the work done on time. A good leader should always maintain proper balance between being friendly and at the same time being professional. Some leaders become overfriendly with the employees which often end up degrading the work quality. Therefore, maintaining professionalism is a must.
Understanding the organization: To be a successful leader, a person must know about the company in detail, including its mission, vision and past history, and then work accordingly to fulfill company's objective. This process can work constructively in organization's progress. A leader must work in the interest of the organization.
Understanding Job Responsibilities: Prospective leaders must be briefed and trained properly about their job responsibilities. Leaders must be given details about their job profile and what they are expected to do being in that profile. Leaders should not be assigned job blindly; they must be trained in depth about the post and designation they are going to handle.

A leadership development program will be successful only when the above mentioned points are met properly. Leadership challenges can be properly tackled if the leaders are keen to learn newer concepts. Organizations must design the best leadership program and develop excellent leadership qualities in the positive interest of the company. Leadership development skills is pivotal for the progress and smooth functioning of the organization.

Padmaja Singh is a management graduate & writes on team building events & leadership training programs.

Original article

Effective Leaders Adapt

Leaders face a continuous dilemma between learning from the past and thus not reinventing the wheel, and adapting to be able to evolve in order to avoid stagnation and disappointments. This is often a challenging progression, because one of the biggest fears many face is change, and few find change (especially as it impacts their own actions) easy. Mark Twain wrote, "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away." However, I feel it is necessary for us to put that into perspective by balancing those thoughts with these written by Lowell, "The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion."

1. Nearly every human being changes his mind on certain issues at some point. Leadership is never about stubbornly adhering to a particular idea, even when the prevailing evidence indicates change is necessary. However, that is far different than when our politicians simply change for political expediency. Great leaders change their perspectives and approaches when they discover a better way, but never change solely for purposes of popularity and/ or political gain. One of the most difficult things for many to do is to admit that a change is needed, or that perhaps they made an error or misjudgment. Great leaders always adapt in order to improve and do something in a better manner. Fearful and weak leaders, on the other hand, either change with the wind direction because of their own insecurity, etc., or seem incapable of change because they are afraid to admit that change is needed. Great leaders are flexible, thoughtful, introspective and forward thinking in nature.

2. Leaders and their organizations must understand that evolutionary change is generally needed to avoid stagnation. Organizations must adapt and evolve to better serve the needs, mission and vision of the organization. This requires true leaders to become strategic planners, not only looking at the past and/ or present, but also weighing its impact on the near future, intermediate term and long term health of their organization. Times change and so do needs, and those in leadership that do not recognize this, and react proactively, are never effective leaders. While leaders must recognize their personal weaknesses and try to either improve in those areas, or at least use the knowledge of these weaknesses to do things better and/ or differently, as well as expand their personal comfort zones, each person is an individual, and great leaders use different approaches that fit best for them. A wise leader doesn't try to diametrically change who he is, but rather gradually adapts himself to address his weaknesses. There is no one size fits all form of leadership!

However, if someone in leadership refuses to adapt and modify in any way, even when change is called for, and adheres to his opinion without considering alternatives, he inevitably weakens himself as a potential effective leader!

With over 30 years consultative sales, marketing, training, managerial, and operations experience, Richard Brody has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs. He's negotiated, arranged and organized hundreds of events.

Richard's owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, and Director of Development, as well as a consultant. His company Website is http://www.plan2lead.net/, and he can be followed on Twitter @rgbrody. For great information on many topics, visit PLAN2LEAD's Facebook page and LIKE ( http://www.facebook.com/Plan2lead )

Original article

How to Shape a Simple Leadership Strategy - And Make It Effective

The topic of leadership is one of those complex, abstract concepts that easily fills 300-400 pages in a business leader's book. However, the simplification of complex or abstract concepts into a widely understood message is what these business leaders- who are communicators at their core- strive for.

As a former junior military officer interested in the topic of leadership and thrust into a role that demanded quickly navigating its dynamics, I realized that I needed a set of leadership principles to apply in my professional life. Thus, this author's five principles of leadership follow:

1. Have a decisive plan- What good is a leader that specifies no clear direction? The solution- plan, plan, plan, then make a decision. A non-decision often is as detrimental as a bad decision. Who cares if you have to implement a mid-course adjustment if things aren't going as planned? Staying the course despite indications your plan is not working is for fools; swallowing your pride, adjusting the plan, and then forging ahead is for leaders. And what if you don't have a plan? Improvise while you work towards a plan. Never let your colleagues know that you didn't have one in place. Otherwise, your credibility is about as solid as that want to-be that refuses to adjust.

2. Set priorities- Priorities are pivotal. They let your people know how they contribute to the team and plan, which constantly reinforces the plan. Like the plan itself, priorities can change, but be clear why they're doing so.

3. Listen to your people- Shut your mouth, perk up your ears, and gather as much input as possible. Being the boss with the corner office doesn't mean that the best ideas originate from that corner office. Actually, the best ideas eventually end up in the corner office, but they get there by hopping a ride on your people as they stop in to share them.

4. Respect your people- It's terrible that this one has to be a part of the 5 principles, but it must be said.

5. Take care of your people- Learn more about your people in general. Be genuinely interested in their personal lives, for it may affect their professional one. Learn what motivates your people. Is a pat on the back enough or do they need frequent public recognition? Investing in the care of your people will pay off ten-fold and you will be truly viewed as a leader.

This article's title has a phrase after the hyphen and it would be remiss to conclude without first addressing the effectiveness of this leadership strategy. It certainly has been successful for me. Two team of the quarter awards, one team of the year award, best team performance in over 4 years all demonstrate the value in following these principles.

Original article