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You searched for the string: "Focus on being the best" found 11 results
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LEADERSHIP: BEING THE BEST
published: 2009-08-17
They say history's written by the victors. But, in business, the victors also win the customers, gain market share and make the best profits. Sounds good to me.
LEADERSHIP: COACHING AND SELF-COACHING
published: 2009-01-03
Think of your favourite sporting figure! Who's their coach? Call to mind how they watch each play or shot – then gently (often almost invisibly) send a message: to relax, focus, push harder or whatever’s necessary. It's powerful stuff.
LEADERSHIP: WHAT THE HELL IS AUTHENTIC?
published: 2008-03-03
"Discovering Your Authentic Leadership" (Harvard Business Review, February 2007) is like a 20-minute, personal-growth workshop. All the feel-good, righteous stuff is there. You should be self-aware and authentic. Don't try to be like anyone else. Find your own life story and build on that. Ensure you've got life balance. Well, all that's fine so long as it finds you on parade and taking leadership actions others will esteem and follow. And, in this regard, my experience (from three decades of consulting and leading) says there are other factors as well. Like being passionate and driven, market savvy, technically proficient, tireless in the service of your team and, yes, at times even angry and unfair. Generals Patton, Napoleon and Wellington weren't heavily into self-awareness. Nor are many CEOs – including ones I've known and admired. Nice is certainly valuable, but not sufficient.
LEADERSHIP: IT STARTS WITH LEADING YOURSELF
published: 2009-07-20
It's a wry statement but true: every overnight success is preceded by ten years of slog. A serial entrepreneur said this to me recently. He was talking about his current business venture that's struggling to get traction. But, the same statement also applies to leadership. Getting to the top is a testament to discipline and courage. At each stage, the discipline to make a plan. And, the courage to implement it. Do you have that? And, know what it means today?
LEADERSHIP: HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
published: 2009-07-27
We often speak of some part of our organisation running "like a well-oiled machine". But, we all know business lacks that precise and reliable machine-like character. It's organic, changeable and often unstable. Unlike an engine, it's not bolted to a chassis or floor. It floats in a larger organic pool of economic, competitive and regulatory influences. No wonder, therefore, people find it hard to measure (and justify) leadership investment. But, if you've found some good metrics or trustworthy business-performance stats., please let me know (timothy@vectorleadership.com). In the meantime, here are some arguments to consider.
LEADERSHIP: BEWARE SELF-DELUSION
published: 2009-09-28
Half a dozen times in the last 20 years, I've worked with a CEO, who'd completely lost touch with reality. In discussing strategy, they believed themselves as informed and proficient as they'd been in their prime. Whether talking about customers, markets, technology or staffing, they knew it all - and, worse, felt no-one was ready to succeed them. But, in each case, their colleagues (particularly their immediate team) saw the fading powers - and the growing self-delusion. So, how would your team rate you on objectivity versus conceit? Are you honest about your strengths and weaknesses - and your use-by date? Here are six check-points.
LEADERSHIP: POWER AND PURPOSE
published: 2010-01-28
US decline and China's inexorable rise are much talked of. But, in a recent article, Josef Joffe* concludes his rebuttal thus. "Gainsayers will still dramatise China's growth rates as a harbinger of a grand power shift. But as the 21st century unfolds, the US will be younger and more dynamic than its competitors." Whether right or wrong, it's an important issue. And, his arguments have resonance for the durability of leaders, as well as nations. He stresses the requirement for "requisite power and purpose." If asked, would your colleagues say you still have these?
LEADERSHIP: DEMONSTRATE SUCCESS NOT HUMILITY
published: 2010-02-08
When someone commented to Winston Churchill that Clement Atlee was a modest man, he famously replied that Atlee had "much to be modest about." I suspect Churchill (in contrast to gurus like Jim Collins) would find the current fashion for bland CEOs unacceptable. Collins says the best are "humble, self-effacing, diligent and resolute souls." Diligent and resolute sound good to me and my four decades of business involvement say they're needed characteristics. But, humble and self-effacing contradict my experience. Some CEOs cultivate quietness and consultation but that's not the same as being humble or self-effacing. So, what kind of CEO are you; and, is it working? Here are some things to ponder.
LEADERSHIP: THE WISDOM OF CICERO
published: 2010-04-06
In Rome of the first century BC, most leading politicians were soldiers as well as statesmen. For example, Caesar, Mark Anthony and Brutus. But, one key contemporary was not: Cicero was primarily a thinker, orator and writer. He had huge influence during the final turbulent decades prior to the fall of the Roman Republic and appointment of the first Emperor, Augustus, in 27 BC. John Adams (the second US president) said of him that the world has not produced "a greater statesman and philosopher combined". As leaders, what can we learn from Cicero? Here are four must-haves I've taken from a biography* I read recently.
LEADERSHIP: BEING GOOD AT WHAT YOU DO
published: 2008-02-11
Richard Rumelt’s CV includes conquering both mountains and new territory in business thinking. In the latter, from an analytical base, he’s disproved many old assumptions. One of his most notable findings is as follows: being in the right industry does matter, but being good at what you do matters a lot more – regardless of your industry.
LEADERSHIP: THAT ONE KEY LESSON
published: 2010-07-07
How do you rate yourself on the following five actions? Showing self-awareness?. Demonstrating authenticity, integrity and compassion? Understanding and engaging people as individuals? Showing self-leadership and adaptability? Communicating, particularly listening well – and widely? These are my phrases but, taken together, they encapsulate nearly 80% of the responses to a recent online survey that asked “if you could teach one thing to a young leader, what would it be?” From my decades of working with leaders (and being one), I can’t fault any of these suggestions. Even though, at times and to my cost, I’ve ignored some! But, notwithstanding their importance, they’re less than the full picture. Let me explain why – and suggest what else might be needed.