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Showing posts from July, 2011

Leadership Lessons from Whales

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OCEAN LEADERSHIP Whales are known to teach, learn, cooperate, scheme, and even grieve. As a leader you cannot achieve things on your own. Work together.    All mammals sleep, but whales cannot afford to become unconscious for long because they may drown. It is thought that only one hemisphere of the whale's brain sleeps at a time, so they rest but are never completely asleep. As a leader you cannot afford to sleep. Be alert and proactive. Keep your senses open.     Many whales exhibit behaviors such as breaching and tail slapping that expose large parts of their bodies to the air. As a leader, make your presence known to the world. Though there have been many leaders who have been silently doing the work, telling the world of your presence can achieve many things. Some species, such as the humpback whale, communicate using melodic sounds, known as whale song. As a leader communicate pleasantly. A pleasant communication can motivate subordinates, change things...

Leaders Role in Turning the J-Curve to a Check Mark

Turn the J-Curve to a Check Mark In 513 B.C., Heraclitus of Greece observed “There is nothing permanent except change.” And in the 16th century, Niccolo Machiavelli stated in his political treatise, The Prince, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” The challenge today is that change is not an “engineering” problem. Change involves people, and can call up emotions, uncertainties and inconsistencies. When organizational changes occur, employees go through the process of change, their performance follows a J curve. Because employees have been doing things one way for a long time, performance often starts at a relatively high level (The Plateau) . When a major change in policy and practices occurs, individual and organizational performance can drop precipitously (The Cliff) . Next, the performance drop levels out, but it is far belo...

Leadership styles

Leadership is less about your needs, and more about the needs of the people and the organization you are leading. Leadership styles are not something to be tried on like so many suits, to see which fits. Rather, they should be adapted to the particular demands of the situation, the particular requirements of the people involved and the particular challenges facing the organization. In the book “Primal Leadership,” Daniel Goleman, who popularized the notion of “Emotional Intelligence,” describes six different styles of leadership. The most effective leaders can move among these styles, adopting the one that meets the needs of the moment. They can all become part of the leader’s repertoire. Visionary. This style is most appropriate when an organization needs a new direction. Its goal is to move people towards a new set of shared dreams. “Visionary leaders articulate where a group is going, but not how it will get there – setting people free to innovate, experiment, take c...

What is leadership...

......Ask yourself what is next......march forward...

Leadership lessons from Giraffe

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Leadership learnt from many sources..one interesting source is animals. One of the animal which amazes me is Giraffe.. Early written records described the giraffe as "magnificent in appearance, bizarre in form, unique in gait, colossal in height and inoffensive in character." Giraffe is the tallest animal in the world -may be 16-18 feet tall and weigh up to 2,000 pounds . As a leader stand tall among the crowd. Standing tall in intellect, being a role model will enable others to look up to you.  Giraffes have spots covering their entire bodies, except their underbellies, with each giraffe having a unique pattern of spots. Leaders should be unique in their skills  Being tall also enables them to scan the entire horizon. As a leader always have the big picture in mind. Wear the blue thinking hat for better decisions  The giraffe's soup-plate-sized hooves are used as offensive weapons, usually in the defense of the calves. The powerful kick from the front feet can kill...