Monthly Archives: September 2017

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Leadership Skills – CommunicationI often

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For this post I am using a narrow definition of leadership.  In this context, leaders are individuals providing guidance, direction, support and influence.

This does not necessarily need to be done from the front (a traditional view of leading) but the results need to be better than they would be without leadership.  That is the leader needs to facilitate a positive change (result).

If you aspire to lead, whether in front or from behind there are a number of skills that can assist you to be a top performer.  Of these the most important is communication.

Many of the other key leadership skills like empathy, self awareness, confidence and innovation all both support and require strong communication skills.

What to Communicate?

I often find conversations I have with others about communication often start with a focus on how.  That is things like clarity, brevity, retention, listening and so on.

For me good communication from a leaders perspective always starts with what.  Leaders influence, guide and motivate.  How you do this is key but the content trumps all.

WIFM

What’s in it for me is foundational content for any communication.  To get attention and direct behaviour toward action, most if not everyone starts with the personal motivation question?

It is all about me after all so why do I care about what you are communicating.?  Give me a reason.

This does require using self awareness, empathy and other skills to some extent to understand what is the most appropriate and grabbing content.

Top quality  communication practices are not just for leaders.  Everyone can benefit from strong communication capabilities.   More on this in future posts.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

What does your parody look like?

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Others can parody your behavior through use of humorous, satiric, or ironic imitation.   Often this is done when you are not present, which is  sometimes unfortunate as parody can be a great way to wake up your self awareness.

Parody (about you) often provides real insight into what others think about your behaviour.  By paying attention, this can be very insightful and useful to you.

Public Figures

Public figures can be a regular target of parody.  The current president of the United States is a great example of this.  The numerous and very pointed parodies provide a telling story of how the Presidents behaviour is viewed.

If you are lucky

Humor often contains a message.  The exaggeration of your actions, if you are lucky enough to see it, can be very helpful in understanding what others think of you.

The awareness of what others think, versus what you think of yourself, is probably some of the most beneficial and helpful knowledge you can ever get.

Of course, if your relationship with others enables them to parody your behaviours while you are around, it says a lot of the trust and respect they hold for you.  (Not a bad thing).

So, if someone is mocking you or using humor to send a message, pay attention, it can only help you to become a better person.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Control or Lead

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Control is the use of power to direct other peoples behaviour while leadership is taking the initiative to influence or change behaviour.  Often controling and leading practices can appear similar.

Whether practicing control or leadership, the ultimate result is the same, causing a change.  The difference of these behaviours is how you facilitate the arrival at the end result.

Most perceive direct and forceful controlling behaviours negatively.  It’s assumed there are selfish motivations behind these actions, and it makes it harder to buy in.

Leadership practices , to some extent put wrappers on the controlling behaviours, making them more appealing and easier to accept.

A Fine Line

The two labels, leader and dictator are often easy to distinguish at an emotional level, unfortunately this relization comes when it is too late to effect change.

While admittedly an extreme example, Adolph Hitler was considered a great and inspired leader by millions of people until it was too late to reverse the damage caused by his dictorial practices.

A Control Void

Whether created through leadership or dictorial behaviours an absense of control can be more harmful than tight and unpleasant contols.  Germany under the Weimar Republic is an example of this.

The economy of the country was shot, moral degradation was everywhere and a sense of hopelessness pervaded the nation.  Life was not good.

The return of strong control, (aka Hitler’s government) resolved a lot of these problems, for a tome anyway.

Practicing control through consultative leadership using earned pwoer is certainly perfered, However a does of the dictorial extreme is not always out of place.  (Hence the value of Donald Trump).