WHAT IS SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP?

After reading the "One minute manager" of Kenneth Blanchard i found this paragraph one of the most interesting,...

The Situational Leadership method from Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey holds that managers must use different leadership styles depending on the situation. The model allows you to analyze the needs of the situation you're in, and then use the most appropriate leadership style. Depending on employees' competences in their task areas and commitment to their tasks, your leadership style should vary from one person to another. You may even lead the same person one way sometimes, and another way at other times. Blanchard and Hersey characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of direction and of support that the leader gives to his or her followers, and so created a simple matrix (figure).

Leadership Behavior of the Leader
· S1 - Telling / Directing
- High task focus, low relationship focus - leaders define the roles and tasks of the 'follower', and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way. For people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and supervision to get them started.

· S2 - Selling / Coaching
- High task focus, high relationship focus - leaders still define roles and tasks, but seeks ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader's prerogative, but communication is much more two-way. For people who have some competence but lack commitment. They need direction and supervision because they are still relatively inexperienced. They also need support and praise to build their self-esteem, and involvement in decision-making to restore their commitment.

· S3 - Participating / Supporting
- Low task focus, high relationship focus - leaders pass day-to-day decisions, such as task allocation and processes, to the follower. The leader facilitates and takes part in decisions, but control is with the follower. For people who have competence, but lack confidence or motivation. They do not need much direction because of their skills, but support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.

· S4 - Delegating
- Low task focus, low relationship focus - leaders are still involved in decisions and problem-solving, but control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leader will be involved. For people who have both competence and commitment. They are able and willing to work on a project by themselves with little supervision or support.

Effective leaders are versatile in being able to move around the matrix according to the situation, so there is no style that is always right. However, we tend to have a preferred style, and in applying Situational Leadership you need to know which one that is for you.

emotional intelligence (EQ)

emotional intelligence theory (EQ - Emotional Quotient)

Emotional Intelligence - EQ - is a relatively recent behavioural model, rising to prominence with Daniel Goleman's 1995 Book called 'Emotional Intelligence'. The early Emotional Intelligence theory was originally developed during the 1970's and 80's by the work and writings of psychologists Howard Gardner (Harvard), Peter Salovey (Yale) and John Mayer (New Hampshire). Emotional Intelligence is increasingly relevant to organizational development and developing people, because the EQ principles provide a new way to understand and assess people's behaviours, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills, and potential. Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning, job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relations and customer service, and more.

The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are wider areas of emotional intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are. Success requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which has tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence, ignoring eseential behavioural and character elements. We've all met people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially and inter-personally inept. And we know that despite possessing a high IQ rating, success does not automatically follow.

emotional intelligence - two aspects
This is the essential premise of EQ: to be successful requires the effective awareness, control and management of one's own emotions, and those of other people. EQ embraces two aspects of intelligence:

• Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour and all.
• Understanding others, and their feelings.

emotional intelligence - the five domains

1. Knowing your emotions.
2. Managing your own emotions.
3. Motivating yourself.
4. Recognising and understanding other people's emotions.
5. Managing relationships, ie., managing the emotions of others.

By developing our Emotional Intelligence in these areas and the five EQ domains we can become more productive and successful at what we do, and help others to be more productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of Emotional Intelligence development also contain many elements known to reduce stress for individuals and organizations, by decreasing conflict, improving relationships and understanding, and increasing stability, continuity and harmony.

Top 10 ideas about what employees want from work

Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life. To create positive employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter - because employees matter. These ideas will help you fulfill what people want from work and create employee motivation.

1. What People Want From Work
   Some people work for personal fulfillment; others work for love of what they do. Others work to accomplish goals and to feel as if they are contributing to something larger than themselves. The bottom line is that we all work for money and for reasons too individual to assign similarities to all workers.
   
2. How to Demonstrate Respect at Work
   Ask anyone in your workplace what treatment they most want at work. They will likely top their list with the desire to be treated with dignity and respect. You can demonstrate respect with simple, yet powerful actions. These ideas will help you avoid needless, insensitive, unmeant disrespect, too.
   
3. Provide Feedback That Has an Impact
   Make your feedback have the impact it deserves by the manner and approach you use to deliver feedback. Your feedback can make a difference to people if you can avoid a defensive response.
   
4. Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation
   You can tell your colleagues, coworkers and staff how much you value them and their contribution any day of the year. Trust me. No occasion is necessary. In fact, small surprises and tokens of your appreciation spread throughout the year help the people in your work life feel valued all year long.
   
5. Trust Rules: The Most Important Secret
   Without it, you have nothing. Trust forms the foundation for effective communication, employee retention, and employee motivation and contribution of discretionary energy, the extra effort that people voluntarily invest in work. When trust is present, everything else is easier.
   
6. Provide Motivational Employee Recognition
   You can avoid the employee recognition traps that: single out one or a few employees who are mysteriously selected for the recognition; sap the morale of the many who failed to win, place, or even show; confuse people who meet the criteria yet were not selected; or sought votes or other personalized, subjective criteria to determine winners.
   
7. Employee Recognition Rocks
   Employee recognition is limited in most organizations. Employees complain about the lack of recognition regularly. Managers ask, “Why should I recognize or thank him? He’s just doing his job.” And, life at work is busy, busy, busy. These factors combine to create work places that fail to provide recognition for employees. Managers who prioritize employee recognition understand the power of recognition.
   
8. Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees
   Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers readily agree that their role is key in retaining your best employees to ensure business success. If managers can cite this fact so well, why do many behave in ways that so frequently encourage great employees to quit their job?
   
9. Team Building and Delegation: How and When to Empower People
   Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs. Team building occurs when the manager knows when to tell, sell, consult, join, or delegate to staff. For employee involvement and empowerment, both team building and delegation rule.
   
10. Build a Mentoring Culture
    What does it take to develop people? More than writing “equal opportunity” into your organization’s mission statement. More than sending someone to a training class. More than hard work on the part of employees. What development does take is people who are willing to listen and help their colleagues. Development takes coaches, guides and advocates. People development needs mentors.

How To Manage Older Workers ;-)

The work force is aging as baby boomer move toward retirement. Gen X managers need to learn how to motivate and manage this talent pool of older workers. Both generations have very different views of the other and will need to learn how the other generation operates. It is up to the managers, Gen X or otherwise, to take the lead and create the climate in which older workers will remain engaged and productive.

Here's How:

1. Throw out all your assumptions.
   You may think older workers are harder workers or that they are difficult to train. Get rid of your stereotypes. Your older workers are individuals just like everyone else in your group. Treat them as such.
   
2. Remember the range of ages.
   You wouldn't treat a seasoned manager of 35 the same as a 21-year old right out of college. Don't think the 15 year gap is any less in your older workers. A worker at 55 and a worker at 70 have different goals and needs. As a manager, you may need to look at groups getting ready to retire (55-62), retirement age and still working (62-70), and older worker who want to keep active or who need to work (70+). Each group presents different management challenges.
   
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate
   Don't assume that the older worker knows what you expect of them. They don't have the same background as you. Be very clear what you want done and what the measurements of completion and of success will be. "Bill, take care of that for me" is not enough. Try "Bill, I need you to prepare the department's budget for the next fiscal year. Use the numbers from last year and add 10% on everything except training which should go up 15%. I need it by Tuesday".
   
4. Value their life experience.
   Your older worker have been around. They have seen a lot. They have done a lot. Recognize the value of this experience. Learn from it. Encourage the younger members of your team to learn from it. The lessons from the "school of hard knocks" are invaluable.
   
5. Train them.
   Older workers need training as much as younger workers - just as much, just as often. The subject of the training may be different, but the need is the same. And don't believe that older workers can't be trained. They are just as receptive as their younger peers.
   
6. Meet their security needs.
   Older workers probably need benefits more than the younger workers. They need medical coverage, vision care, and financial planning. Make sure your company's benefits plan meets their needs too.
   
7. Motivate them.
   Any manager's key job is to motivate their employees. Older workers have different motivational "hot buttons" than their younger counterparts. Opportunity for advancement is probably less important than the recognition of a job well done, but see step #1 above.
   
8. You don't have to "be the boss".
   The older workers grew up in a hierarchical society. They know you are the boss. Most of them were bosses at some point too. Get on with leading the department and don't waste time posturing. It won't impress them anyway. They've seen it all before.
   
9. Be flexible.
   Your older workers, depending on age group (see #2 above) may want flexible hours or a shorter work week. For those of them that need that, be willing to be flexible. You need their talent and technical skill so do what you need to to keep it available. Do not, however, assume that all older workers want to go home early. Some may be motivated by working the same long, hard hours that they have always done.
   
10. Use them as mentors.
    Let them coach and encourage the younger workers. Most older workers have a wealth of knowledge and experience that they would love to pass on. Give them the opportunity to do so and your entire organization will benefit.

First Day Manual for Managers

Interesting article i read,...

Whether you are a first time manager or a manager stating a new job there are things you need to know and do on your first day. A First Day Manual for Managers summarizes them for you and provides links to additional detail for those items you choose for more in depth study.

Planning - time management

Use this time management story to show how planning is the key to time management.

Start with a bucket, some big rocks enough to fill it, some small stones, some sand and water.

Put the big rocks in the bucket - is it full?
Put the small stones in around the big rocks - is it full?
Put the sand in and give it a shake - is it full?
Put the water in. Now it's full.

The point is: unless you put the big rocks in first, you won't get them in at all.

In other words: Plan time-slots for your big issues before anything else, or the inevitable sand and water issues will fill up your days and you won't fit the big issues in (a big issue doesn't necessarily have to be a work task - it could be your child's sports-day, or a holiday).

the bath and the bucket story (lateral thinking, making assumptions, dangers of judging people)

Given the title (on the subject of buckets..) and its quick simple message.
The story illustrates lateral thinking, narrow-mindedness, the risks of making assumptions, and judging people and situations:

A party of suppliers was being given a tour of a mental hospital.
One of the visitors had made some very insulting remarks about the patients.
After the tour the visitors were introduced to various members of staff in the canteen.
The rude visitor chatted to one of the security staff, Bill, a kindly and wise ex-policeman.

"Are they all raving loonies in here then?" said the rude man.
"Only the ones who fail the test," said Bill.
"What's the test?" said the man.
"Well, we show them a bath full of water, a bucket, a jug and an egg-cup, and we ask them what's the quickest way to empty the bath," said Bill.
"Oh I see, simple - the normal ones know it's the bucket, right?"
"No actually," said Bill, "The normal ones say pull out the plug. Should I check when there's a bed free for you?"

Cold calling tips

Yesterday i was following a course about cold calling,... this is my opinion

Cold Calling Is Still An Effective Sales Tactic If Done Right
The obituary for cold calling is premature. While in the perfect world, your phone would be ringing off the hook all day with clients offering you business, the reality is that if you want business, you need to go after it, and cold calling is an effective sales tactic if it's done properly.

But many small business people would rather spend an entire day in a dentist's chair than go cold calling. Does the thought of cold calling makes your stomach drop to your toes? These cold calling tips won't eliminate your fear, but they will help you make cold calling a more successful experience.

1. Focus on the goal when cold calling.
2. Research your markets and prospects.
3. Prepare an opening statement for your cold call.
4. What should be in the opening statement of your cold call?
5. Prepare a script for the rest of your cold call.
6. Ask for an appointment at a specific time when cold calling.
7. Remember that gatekeepers are your allies not your foes.
8. Do your cold calling early in the morning, if possible.
9. Be persistent when cold calling.
10. ...

And above all, practice, practice, practice. While cold calling may never be much fun for you, you can get better at it, and the more you practice cold calling, the more effective a sales tactic it will be. So get your script and your call list together and reach for the phone. The people who want to do business with you are out there - but you have to let them know about you first. ;-)

Tell people what you want, not how to do it.

This really works ;-)
Some people like it others don't, most of them prefer the first.

You will find people more responsive and less defensive if you can give them guidance not instructions. You will also see more initiative, more innovation, and more of an ownership attitude from them develop over time.

Fix the problem, not the blame.

It is far more productive, and less expensive, to figure out what to do to fix a problem that has come up than it is to waste time trying to decide who's fault it was.

Be on time for ALL your appointments!

I hate it when people are late for an appointement,... some people even don't show up.

If you schedule a meeting, set a time to visit with a client, or tell a friend you'll meet them for a working breakfast you have to be there at the time you set or you will lose their respect. If your dispatcher tells a client the serviceman will be there at 1pm, make sure he is. It's just common courtesy, but it will really help your business.

Time Management Tip

It's not how hard you work, it's what you get done.
Anybody can work hard, and most people do. The really successful people focus on accomplishing results not on effort expended.

Retire

This is when you know you have been successful. When employees see your company as the employer of choice, they will join you. When they recognize you as a good boss and a real leader, they will stay around. As long as you continue to inspire, motivate, and challenge them, they will continue to contribute at the high levels you need in order to beat your competition. They will be long-term employees; even staying with you and your company until they retire. They will refer other quality employees to your company, including their relatives. You will attract and retain second and even third generation employees.

Along the way, you will have had some of the most creative employees, some of the most productive employees, and the lowest employee costs in your market. You will be able to spend the money you save in this way on other key competitive elements, including raises and bonuses for all employees – even yourself.

Admire

Once you have hired the best employees and have challenged and motivated them, you can not relax. The biggest mistake a manager can make is to ignore employees. The same attention you paid to their work assignments, to their satisfaction levels, to their sense of being part of a great team needs to continue for as long as they are in your group. As soon as you start to slack off, their satisfaction and motivation decreases. If you don't do something, they will become disenchanted and will leave. They will become part of the "employee turnover" statistic you were trying to avoid.

• You want TGIM (thank goodness it's Monday) employees not TGIF (thank goodness it's Friday) ones.
• Give them positive feedback as much as you can, even if it's just a good word.
• Provide appropriate rewards and recognition for jobs done well.
• Create referral programs and reward your employees for referring other employee candidates "who are just as great as you".

Inspire

Once you have recruited the best employees to come to work on your team, the hard part begins. You have to inspire them to perform to their capabilities. You have to challenge and motivate them. That is where you will get their best effort and their creativity that will help your organization excel.

• Make them welcome. Make them feel like part of the team from the first day
• Set goals for them that are hard, but can be achieved. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals.
• Be a leader, not just a manager.

Hire

This first step is probably the most important. It is important to hire the best people you can find. This is not a time to be cheap. The cost of replacing a bad hire far exceeds the marginal additional cost of hiring the best person in the first place.

• Hire talent, not just trainable skills. Skills can be taught to a talented employee. A skilled employee can not just be given talent.
• Improve your interviewing skills. Often this can be as simple as knowing what questions to ask during the hiring process.
• Make your company a place people want to come to and work for. Company culture can be a powerful recruiting tool. Make sure yours reflects the goals the company wants to achieve.

Hire, Inspire, Admire, Retire

A condensed Employee Life Cycle
Today I saw a chart of a 12-step Employee Life Cycle. Maybe Human Resources professionals need that much detail, but functional managers don't. Here is a four-step, condensed employee life cycle plan that tells you everything you need to know.

Hire, Inspire, Admire, Retire
An employee life cycle is the steps the employees go through from the time they enter a company until they leave. Often Human Resources professionals focus their attention on the steps in this process in hopes of making an impact on the company's bottom line. That is a good thing for them to do. Their goal is to reduce the company's cost per employee hired.

Unfortunately, they aren't the ones who really make a difference – managers are. People don't really work for companies; they work for a boss. To the extent that you can be a good boss, you can keep employees, keep them happy, and reduce the costs associated with employee turnover.

In the process, you will make your own job easier and increase your value to the company.

Employees are one of a company's largest expenses these days Unlike other major capital costs (buildings, machinery, technology, etc.) human capital is highly volatile. You, as a manager, are in a key position to reduce that volatility using the condensed employee life cycle of HIAR (pronounced hire) - Hire, Inspire, Admire, Retire.

source

Managing Work Expectations -- Transforming Attitudes

Work expectations are those things people consider likely to happen in their job situation, either now or in the future. Whether spoken or unspoken, met or unmet, expectations have a powerful impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and play a key role in driving our attitudes.
Research shows that people who have clearly defined, well-communicated expectations find more satisfaction and success in their work than people whose expectations go unspoken or unrealized.

Organizations that employ satisfied, successful people reap the rewards of increased productivity and reduced turnover.

Leadership development tips

While leadership is easy to explain, leadership is not so easy to practise. Leadership is about behaviour first, skills second. Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them, rather than the skills they possess. Leadership is different to management. Management relies more on planning, organisational and communications skills. Leadership relies on management skills too, but more so on qualities such as integrity, honesty, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, confidence, positivity, wisdom, determination, compassion and sensitivity. Some people are born more naturally to leadership than others. Most people don't seek to be a leader. Those who want to be a leader can develop leadership ability.

Leadership can be performed with different styles. Some leaders have one style, which is right for certain situations and wrong for others. Some leaders can adapt and use different leadership styles for given situations.

Here's an Excellent 30 minute BBC Radio 4 Discussion about Modern Leadership - (first broadcast 2 Sept 2006). The discussion highlights the need for effective modern leaders to have emotional strength and sensitivity, far beyond traditional ideas of more limited autocratic leadership styles.

Philosophy is the platform on which great leadership is built. Get the philosophy right, and the foundation is strong. Ignore the philosophy and all that follows here will be built on sand. Different leaders have different ideas about leadership. Here's Jack Welch's perspective, which even though quite modern compared to many leaders, is nevertheless based on quite traditional leadership principles.

leadership tips - jack welch style..
Jack Welch, respected business leader and writer is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles (notably these principles are expanded in his 2001 book 'Jack: Straight From The Gut'):

1. There is only one way - the straight way. It sets the tone of the organisation.
2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer; transfer learning across your organisation.
3. Get the right people in the right jobs - it is more important than developing a strategy.
4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.
5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.
6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner - the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open.
7. Business has to be fun - celebrations energise and organisation.
8. Never underestimate the other guy.
9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.
10. Know when to meddle and when to let go - this is pure instinct.

As a leader, your main priority is to get the job done, whatever the job is. Leaders make things happen by:

• knowing your objectives and having a plan how to achieve them
• building a team committed to achieving the objectives
• helping each team member to give their best efforts

As a leader you must know yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you.

However - always remember the philosophical platform - this ethical platform is not a technique or a process - it's the foundation on which all the techniques and methodologies are based.

Plan carefully, with your people where appropriate, how you will achieve your aims. You may have to redefine or develop your own new aims and priorities. Leadership can be daunting for many people simply because no-one else is issuing the aims - leadership often means you have to create your own from a blank sheet of paper. Set and agree clear standards. Keep the right balance between 'doing' yourself and managing others 'to do'.

Build teams. Ensure you look after people and that communications and relationships are good. Select good people and help them to develop. Develop people via training and experience, particularly by agreeing objectives and responsibilities that will interest and stretch them, and always support people while they strive to improve and take on extra tasks. Follow the rules about delegation closely - this process is crucial. Ensure that your managers are applying the same principles. Good leadership principles must cascade down through the whole organisation. This means that if you are leading a large organisation you must check that the processes for managing, communicating and developing people are in place and working properly.

Communication is critical. Listen, consult, involve, explain why as well as what needs to be done

Some leaders lead by example and are very 'hands on'; others are more distanced and let their people do it. Whatever - your example is paramount - the way you work and conduct yourself will be the most you can possibly expect from your people. If you set low standards you are to blame for low standards in your people.

"... Praise loudly, blame softly." (Catherine the Great). Follow this maxim.

If you seek one singlemost important behaviour that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take the credit yourself - even if it's all down to you, which would be unlikely anyway. You must however take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people make. Never never never publicly blame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility - true leadership offers is no hiding place for a true leader.

Take time to listen to and really understand people. Walk the job. Ask and learn about what people do and think, and how they think improvements can be made.

Accentuate the positive. Express things in terms of what should be done, not what should not be done. If you accentuate the negative, people are more likely to veer towards it. Like the mother who left her five-year-old for a minute unsupervised in the kitchen, saying as she left the room, "...don't you go putting those beans up your nose..."

Have faith in people to do great things - given space and air and time, everyone can achieve more than they hope for. Provide people with relevant interesting opportunities, with proper measures and rewards and they will more than repay your faith.

Take difficult decisions bravely, and be truthful and sensitive when you implement them.

Constantly seek to learn from the people around you - they will teach you more about yourself than anything else. They will also tell you 90% of what you need to know to achieve your business goals.

Embrace change, but not for change's sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as you take up your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises you ever make are those that you can guarantee to deliver.

What direction will IT take in 2007?

By: Clive Longbottom

Nice article I read,...

As we bid farewell to 2006 and begin to see the realities of 2007 (ie, no real change to the problems we had in 2006), I thought I would have a look at what could change 2007 into a more interesting year in the IT space.

First, wouldn't it be great to get more IT and line of business people working together? For this to happen we need to change the nomenclatures used, and provide enabling technologies that allow business processes to be matched with technical capabilities, and vice versa. Sounds like a job for service oriented architectures (SOA).

Second, I would like to see greater harmony within the supplier community.

Third, I would like to see the death of the massively overpriced mobile data plan.

Fourth, I would like to see much greater use of networking at home.

...

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