Good Leadership Skills Start With You... Are You Ready!
Good leadership skills require certain traits! Some are teachable and others are more a part of a persons character.
It is the character behind the honesty. As a Marine character is the core value that can either make or break you. Doing one thing and demanding another from your subordinates. In the Marine Corps this will catch up to you very quickly! The purpose of this website is to bring real life experiences under a bright light and determine whether they are good leadership skills or not.
You can't expect to have people following you if you plant yourself in an office! My success has come from truly getting to know my staff. This means that I must invest time in getting to know them. In my case I take time to go through the facility stopping and talking with them. I don't get too personal. I talk about my children. I talk about my life and if they bring up something about themselves I listen. The next time I pass through I may follow up with them on that. As a Marine their support and unquestionable belief in me is critical. In a business setting that same support and belief translates into productivity. It creates loyalty.
Integrity, relationships, and communication skills creates loyalty one brick at a time. Loyalty takes time. It is not automatic! Loyalty is different than respect! I can respect someone but at the same time I can throw them under the bus in a second. However, loyalty is different. Someone that is loyal will stand behind you and cares about your well being. You must be just as loyal to your staff as you expect them to be to you. Effective Leadership and leadership types come in many different forms - but they start with you and who you are as a person. They are formed at a very young age - and stay with you for life. We can only improve upon them - not create them! Everything from raising our children to how we conduct ourselves in a business environment requires good leadership skills. As leaders it is necessary to take advantage of every resource available to us in order to become and remain successful. As an example the Performance Management system from SuccessFactors is a great leadership tool for managers as it allows you to easily monitor your employees and guide your team-building exercises. With that said I hope that you relax and enjoy reading and learning about many parts of my life and how I have applied good leadership skills in all areas of it! My Dad - a great man - taught me so much about effective leadership. He told me once - that there are three types of people. The First Type - You can suggest something needs to be done - and within a short amount of time - they are doing it... and doing it well - someone you can count on. Someone that is a leader! The Second Type - You can let them know something needs to be done - and within a reasonable amount of time - it gets done - and most of the time - they put some effort into it. A potentially good leader! The Third Type – You must tell them to do it right now - and in all cases you need to make sure they do it - because if allowed - they will put little or no effort into it. This person will never be a leader! Good Leadership Skills - Know who your looking for… My Dad also told me - when your interviewing someone - look for people that bring their lunch box to the interview. Of course - he didn't mean they should actually bring it with them - well I don't think he meant that! Nor did he mean you should be looking for hungry people. He just meant that as far as Leadership types - you should always be looking for aggressive people - calculated risk takers - someone with confidence. Not just someone wanting to collect a paycheck! Someone that truly wants to work for you - not on their terms - but yours. Someone that wants your job - and you should not be afraid of that. Good Leadership Skills - Don’t give up… I am a strong believer that - you should never give up until every option has been exhausted. Maybe it is the Marine in me - but quitting is not an option. Each time you quit at something - it will be a little easier the next time to give up. Everyone is watching you - your kids - your brothers and sisters - your parents - your friends - your enemies - your employees - your boss - get the picture. Don’t give up - the brave men and women before us - didn’t - and we have this country and our freedoms to show for it. Make them proud… Failure is not an option! Say what you mean! - Mean what you say! They will figure you out real quick if you don’t!
When I say they - I mean everyone - from your kids - to your employees - and everyone in between.
I can tell you one thing for sure - when the Marine Corps or my Dad said something - you could take it to the bank!
Effective leadership is required whether your running a small business - a major corporation - or your daily life!
We all know them - you know the Leadership types I'm talking about - the real leaders. Those individuals in our lives that continually demonstrate good Leadership skills.
We can all do the right thing when it is easy - but I am talking about the person that makes the right decision - even when it seems impossible to do. Like those that stormed the beaches in WWII - or marched into Iraq - those were and are real leaders - all the way down to the lowest in rank.
When the Fire Fighters and the Police ran into the World Trade Centers on September 11th to save lives - now those are your real leaders.
And the teachers that take money out of their own back pockets to pay for school supplies or lunch for the poor child in their classroom that can't afford it - there are your real leaders.
Are you a Leader? Be a Leader!
Everyday - there will be a fork in the road for you to make a decision. Effective Leaders choose the right road - even when it is hard - even when they know they may not return! Good Leadership Skills Are About Serving Good leadership skills are more about serving others then imposing their power and authority!
After all a prison guard can impose their power and authority over an inmate but would definitely not be considered a good leader!
So what exactly does the term serving mean when it comes to the workplace?
How does that translate into good leadership skills?
Let's start with the most basic needs of those we want to lead in the workplace.
Maybe we should list a few of them and then go 'from there.
1. To know their job
2. To be appreciated
3. To be respected
4. To have the equipment and supplies to do their job right
5. To be paid on time and the right amount
6. Not to be lied to
7. To be treated fairly
This is just a very short list but I hope you begin to understand where this is leading us to.
So our job as a leader is to serve our employee's so that they receive their most basic needs in the workplace.
Good leadership skills are the skills you need to serve them in a way that will meet those needs.
Sounds simple doesn't it?
Then why do so many so called leaders have such a tough time leading their staff to success?
Why?
Because it is much more than following a step by step process!
Have you ever heard a parent, maybe even you, tell their children something like, "After everything I have done for you this is the thanks I get..!"
The parent that says this is going to fail! Most likely fail miserably!
Do you see what they are really saying?
They are saying that if I do this for you I am expecting you to do this for me. The old Quid Pro Quo or This for That!
They are trying to buy their child's compliance!
If I buy you what you want you will be good!
That isn't leading!
That is bargaining!
The only thing you will get in return is a higher and higher price tag to get compliance.
This is only meeting one of your child's needs, immediate gratification, and destroying all the rest of them including their ability to develop good moral values.
So apply this same logic to a leader in the workplace.
If we believe that the only need an employee has in order to do their job right is to get paid we are in for a great big surprise!
Developing good leadership skills that will meet the needs of your employees takes hard work and dedication to them!
Not only addressing and meeting all seven needs listed earlier, but an entire list of needs every employee has!
As I stated earlier there is no step by step process that once completed your employees will sing and dance while doing their jobs in the most excellent way!
No it means serving them daily!
There is no magic wand!
No magic formula!
Put simply it means that you will have to put them first and your needs second!
That is what good leadership skills are all about!
My experience as a Marine taught me what real leadership is!
Sacrifice!
Total sacrifice!
In some cases life giving sacrifice!
Unlike a business environment leadership in the Marine Corps means you are responsible for the lives of your Marines!
The fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, and friends are all counting on you to take care of their loved one! You better not fail them! You won’t accept failure under any terms!
That's pressure and responsibility!
That’s Leadership!
When you think about every decision you make may cause one of your Marines to come home in a coffin... When you think about every decision you make may cause one of your Marines to come home in a coffin you are more in touch with each one of them!
You must commit yourself to protecting them while accomplishing your mission for our country!
When you live with your Marines daily and you learn their strengths and weaknesses so that you can call upon the right one to do a job at the right time, there are no acceptable losses that you can sustain!
No not even one!
I have had to deliver more than one message to loved ones of fallen Marines assigned to other leaders and it is not something that I will allow to happen on my watch!
If I have to look one of my Marines in the eye and send them into a Hot Zone I will be confident that they are going to return! If it does it will only be after I have sacrificed every part of my being to getting them all out alive!
That is what leadership is!
If I have to look one of my Marines in the eye and send them into a Hot Zone I will be confident that they are going to return!
I will have given them the right training and preparation!
I will have given them the right motivation!
I will have them armed with every possible advantage in weaponry!
I will know that they have the inner strength to make it!
Good leadership skills are more than making a profit!
Good leadership skills are more than some step by step process!
Good leadership skills are sacrificial to insure both mission and Marine are taken care of.
No difference than in business. You must keep everything in balance and you will be successful!
Other Resources:
Check out this great site American Income Life Leadership Academy! You will not be disappointed!
Thank you and may God Bless you!
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