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You searched for the string: "Take charge and support others" found 13 results
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LEADERSHIP: IT'S WHAT YOU DO THAT COUNTS
published: 2008-06-09
Action is the language of leadership. As elsewhere in life, it's what you do that counts. Yes, you need to meet with people and talk a lot. But, the bottom line is "walking the talk." Action, not theory.
LEADERSHIP: THE SMALL BUSINESS SUPERCHARGER
published: 2008-06-30
For many small business owners, survival is an ever-present issue. There are so many challenges. Finding customers. Delivering the product or service. Holding good staff. Managing cash and so much else. What's the key? To staying afloat - and, more importantly, growing and succeeding?
LEADERSHIP: THE HEROES ON THE FRONTLINE
published: 2008-06-23
Talk to any soldier and they'll tell you it's frontline troops, not generals, who fight the battles. HQ may set direction and define key goals but it's platoon leaders and their troops, who go there. They're the ones, who reconnoitre, take territory, dig in and fight. Now, business isn't warfare. But, the metaphor has its place.
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: A QUICK COVER-UP
published: 2009-04-20
Warren Buffett famously quipped that it's not until the tide goes out you find who's been swimming naked. He was referring to financial risk-takers. But, he might as well be talking about leaders. With the tide rising, we all look fine. But with the lake sucked dry, we may be caught. So, as you stand in front of your team today, do they see you clad - or threadbare? Are there holes where it's better to be covered?
LEADERSHIP: PROVIDING THE NECESSARY RESOURCES
published: 2009-05-04
Speaking of the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill immortalised the heroic few, whose bravery saved the lives of many. History is full of similar (but often less upbeat) stories. One that comes to mind is the WWI landing at ANZAC Cove in Turkey, where bungling by Churchill and other leaders left a small contingent of Commonwealth troops outnumbered and under-resourced. Many died in attempting the job they'd been given. In terms of your own leadership (particularly in the current downturn), what would your people say about your provisioning and support - in the context of what you've asked them to do?
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: BEWARE OF YOUR STRENGTHS
published: 2010-03-22
Twenty years ago, I was shocked to hear that some of the reasons my wife had originally been attracted to me were now driving us apart. My decisiveness and energy were leaving no decision-room for her. It's often the same in business. Our natural attributes, which are powerful and value-adding, can go to extreme and undermine effectiveness. If I asked your colleagues, which two of your strengths would they say are most causing them trouble? Here's a checklist that might help.
LEADERSHIP: ARE YOU CONVENIENCE OR QUALITY?
published: 2010-05-03
Kevin Maney has created a strategic-choice continuum. At one end, businesses position themselves to offer quality (or what he calls fidelity). High-priced stuff, which customers buy for its market-standing and their personal-image enhancement. A Louis Vuitton bag says I’ve got taste – and money. At the other end is convenience. Discount flights and meals cost little but do nothing for your self-belief or mystique. If you applied this thinking to your leadership, where on the Maney Continuum would you fall? Nearer to quality or convenience? Let’s check that out.
LEADERSHIP: FOR BETTER CSR
published: 2010-05-17
It’s unusual to read something balanced and practical about CSR. Activists want business to carry the wrap for everything. Apologists limit it to immediate operating activities and what the law requires. True, the primary responsibility is to sell sound products that people want, employ and reward fairly and act honesty and responsibly. But, the authors of a recent HBR article offer an insightful approach to the boundary issue of what is and isn’t a company’s responsibility? They make this erstwhile no-man’s land a fertile ground for corporate creative thinking and commercial good sense.
LEADERSHIP: THINK BIG BUT ALSO SMALL
published: 2010-05-24
Successful leaders offer both an uplifting goal and the steps to get there. The secret’s in the balance. If you’re only visionary, your legacy may well be just that: a high-potential but unrealised dream. People love it, but nothing happens. Equally, if you’re only focused on action and implementation, your people may be busy as hell but going nowhere. On long flights, I sometimes cook up an idea and enjoy the experience of what the outcome might look like – truly the view from 30,000 feet. But later, back at my desk, I have to think about how we’ll get there and my interest wanes. Too much hard work. Which would your people say you are: the dreamer or the detailer? Test yourself: which of the following two statements is more your home territory?
LEADERSHIP: HOW’S YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND COURAGE?
published: 2010-08-30
What do lobsters, scorpions and bees have in common? Yes, a capacity to inflict a nasty bite. But they also all lack a spine. An exoskeleton (the lobster’s hard shell) is all that holds their bodies together. There’s no internal bone structure. Some leaders are like this. Outer toughness and a nasty bite: the cutting remark or petulant decision. But little inner structure or resolve that makes for true leadership that will deliver results and build respect. What would people say about you: outer show or inner strength? Here are some action options.