Why Use Golf To Develop Leadership?

Leadership Development Programme

Leadership Development Programme is just one of the leadership development articles at Leader House™. In this article, we will be taking a brief look at what a leadership development programme is and how to build an optimal programme for your employees.

What Is A Leadership Development Programme?

Leadership Development Programmes are tailor-designed schedules of activities that seek to improve the leadership skills of a workforce or group of workers. Leadership development programmes are typically targetted at the graduate intake who have been within a company for 3-5 years. At this critical point in their career – these ‘Generation Y‘ individuals will be looking to move on to the next step in their career. Whether that future is at their current company will depend on how attractive and possible a leadership role will be on their current path. Therefore by targeting leadership development programmes at twenty-something employees, companies are helping to retain talent within their organisation.

How Do I Build A Good Leadership Development Programme?

Good leadership development programmes consist of the following 5 success factors.

1. Multiple leadership training techniques

Employees learn in different ways and favour certain teaching techniques over others. Therefore it would be dangerous to create a course with only one technique in mind. You are not creating a ‘fad diet’ leadership course. You want to create a course that will hit all the bases and have the best chance at really engaging with the participants.

2. Hollistic view of leadership

Many companies take a very narrow view of leadership. Often management skill and strategic thinking are put at the forefront of important topics. While a good leadership development programme should also address people skills, leadership traits and charismatic leadership to deliver a wide picture and full curriculum.

3. Link  to On-The-Job Application.

A crucial element in a leadership development programme is the link between theory and practice. Abstract leadership principles may indeed be sound, but the true measure of the success of a leadership programme is whether these principles can be taught in a such a way that they can be instantly applied to the management of the business. This real-life link is the key factor that distinguishes self-help books from life coaches, dieting books from fitness instructors, and management books from good leadership programmes.

4. Respectable length of time

Leadership isn’t a skill that can be perfected overnight. Leadership excellence is often grown over years of experience. In an attempt to replicate this gradual development – it is important that leadership development programmes are low-intensity courses that span several months, as apposed to a one week crash course. By increasing the length of the programme – instructors will be able to use the programme to actually support and enrich the professional development that the manager gains from their day-to-day job. For instance, the manager can discuss problems that they are running into during the application of certain leadership techniques they have learnt in ‘class’, and hence the skills can be perfected and honed over time. And thus the programme and work life becomes incorporated.

5. A meaningful conclusion

Like every task set in a business – the end must be kept in mind. Why is this programme taking place? To prepare young employees to be managers? To improve the ability of senior management? Whatever the objective – the programme should end with a concluding activity that will display the skills that the participants have learned on their course. As well as this being motivational tool to keep participants actively involved with the course, it also helps to build confidence and affirm the belief that they are now capable of achieving more through leadership.

Examples of such events could involve hosting a conference (involving public speaking), implementing an intiative, heading up a new division, or receiving a promotion.

If you keep these sucess factors in mind when creating your leadership development programme – you should see improved results.

Simon Oates – Leader House™

The Pursuit Of Something Better – Review

If you’re looking for a review of “The Pursuit Of Something Better” then you’ve come to the right place. I’m currently reading an advance copy, and will be publishing LeadershipExpert’s official review within a week, so stay tuned!

Introduction

‘The Pursuit Of Something Better’ follows the story of  US Cellular – a regional telecoms company, through its journey to becoming home to one of the most vibrant and motivated cultures in the USA. As an underdog in the telecoms industry – US Cellular has to fight to survive in the modern world, but the employees fight for it, due to their extreme loyalty and pride.

On one day every year, the managers from across the organisation leave their positions to attend a conference that announces the results of something very dear to them – the annual employee satisfaction questionaire. Grass-root staff rise to the challenge and the company ticks over just fine without them. The atmosphere at the conference is likened to that of a concert – not an annual review. What on earth has happened at this company to drive such enthusiasm?

Well, you’ll have to buy the book yourself to find out!

Review

Review is coming soon!

Purchase

This title is released on the 15th of August.

You can pre-order this book on Amazon UK here

If you’d like to read a review of this book on other blogs, you can visit here and here.

Leadership Challenges

We all face leadership challenges at some point of our lives. If you’re searching for leadership challenges then you’ve come to the right place. You could be looking for one of two interpretations of this phrase.

1. Leadership challenge to mean, an attempt to overthrow your authority. “What can I do to protect myself against somebody overuling my leadership?“. For the answers to these kinds of questions, I suggest you reflect upon your own leadership skills rather than those of your ‘competition’. Are your leadership skills up to scratch? If you want to improve them, click here.

2. Leadership challenges to mean difficult and rewarding leadership experiences. “How can I deal with this situation and come out of it a stronger person?“. This is the topic this article deals with.

In most organisations – you will encounter challenges as a leader many times a year, possibly even many times a week, depending on how much pressure is placed on your role. The key to dealing with these is to quickly picture in your head a clear image of the benefits you would receiving from successfully accomplishing this task. Reduced stress? Increased respect? Improved promotion prospects?

Almost every scenario you will encounter – glorious benefits will await you on the other side. The thought of these will help motivate you, and that is why I ask that you picture them immeadiately.

Next, you need to look inwards and decide whether you have the appropriate leadership skills and experience to be able to overcome the current difficulty. Don’t worry if you look at your skill set and admit ‘I’m not experienced at this area’, because you can certainly compensate for lack of experience by good preparation.

To hone up your leadership skills I’d recommend buying a quick and effective leadership course such as ‘Apply Leadership‘, which is the product I talk about most to those who ask me which leadership e-course I would recommend. (You can follow the link to read my review).

Once you have the benefits clearly in mind, and a good preparation, it’s time to tackle the leadership challenge head on. This will probably involve implementing a strategy of leading that you are perhaps not 100% comfortable with. Perhaps you read a leadership book that suggested a certain leadership style, but you don’t feel that it’s working. Don’t worry! A subtle change of direction can go unnoticed by the workforce if you display confidence in your actions.

Follow these tips and you will be able to weather any leadership challenge, and emerge from the other side as a success leader with an extra notch on your belt!

Simon Oates – Leader House

Managing Generation Y

‘Generation Y’ is the affectionate name given to the demographic cohort that was born between 1980 – 1995, although specific definitions do vary. This group hence forms today’s teenagers and twenty-somethings – a group highly sought after by large recruiters, and whom form the solid base of employees for many multinationals. The problem of how to lead this generation is a hot topic.

What Are Busineses Doing To Attract Generation Y?

As competition has increased among the large graduate recruiters to attract the best ‘Generation Y’ talent, they have been fighting among themselves to paint the best picture of their own workplace. Of course, promises have to be met, and so in painting their company in this brighter way, they have indirectly led to progressive changes in the workplace. These new changes to the working environment include:

1. More flexible working hours for a better work/life balance. (Example – ‘The Big Four‘)

2. Guaranteed acceptance onto management training programmes after preconditions have been met. (Example – Enterprise Rent a Car)

3. Extensive induction training.

4. The opportunity to rotate round departments and roles. (Example – Unilever, P&G and Johnson & Johnson)

5. Higher reliance upon internal promotions to fill vacancies.

It is clear that the recruiters believe that generation Y care less about salary and traditional benefits, and more about the pursuit of an interesting, fulfilling and and less stressful job than their parents. This trend definitely seems to be following the general shift away from Fordism factory workers, and towards independent, respected and empowered workers, that has been taking place in the last century.

What Are Businesses Are Doing To Lead Generation Y?

When it comes to leading ‘Generation Y’ – new leadership styles have evolved to compliment the new ‘people -orientated’ workplace. These have manifested into:

1. Annual reviews taking a more personal development focus, rather than productivity. Managers are trying to adopt more of a ‘coaching’ and ’supportive’ role. Managers are told to encourage and train employees so that in the future they are able to take their place.

2. A more democratic and team-based way of working – where ‘on-the-job’ training is becoming more popular, and instructions on how to actually ‘get the work done’ is now coming from from experienced teammates more often than the manager.

Do These Methods Actually Work?

The evidence isn’t very clear on this issue. Despite all these new intiatives and opportunities that ‘Generation Y’s parents dreamed of, these young workers are extremely likely to leave a company they join after a short period of time (every 4-5 years on average), which is a far higher rate of turnover than their parents, the ‘baby boomers’.

I believe that this is happening for 2 main reasons. Firstly – only a fraction of companies are actually fulfilling the promises made to potential job candidates. The hype that recruiters drum up is unsustainable and almost impossible for companies to deliver on. This it doesn’t surprise me one bit to discover that graduates are continually drawn to the ‘greener’ grass on the other side of the hill.

Secondly, and this is linked with the first reason, managers are going about implementing these intiatives in a reluctant way and unsatisfactory way. Either managers are attaching too many ‘novelty’ intiatives to rudementary and meanial jobs – such that the employee feels like it’s all a show, or managers are only introducing leadership techniques as part of a ‘token’ effort.

For instance, I’m in disbelief at the number of times I’ve heard managers undermine their human resource counterparts with phrases such as “Now, I’ve been told by the people above to tell you that …”. This sort of attitude in implementing policies if effectively negatating any positive effect they were supposed to bring.

Therefore I would argue that, while it appears that ‘Generation Y’ workers are extremely unappreciative of the benefits and perks that exist today – these so-called perks only exist in policy and paper and aren’t created or supported with sincere intention from managers. In fact – this move towards pseudo-policy is alienating our Gen Y workers, and this may be able to explain why they are constantly on the move.

My Recommendation

Changes that companies have made to their leadership and human resource strategies have been well thought out, and do add good value to the job a company could offer a graduate – however to be able to lead Generation Y effectively, a heavy focus must be put on educating and training management to sincerely back these new efforts.

Leadership Styles – Autocratic vs Democratic vs Bureaucratic

Research and investigation into different management leadership styles has been fragmented and inconsistent. The key to good leadership development is a good knowledgebase.  That’s why we bring you an in-depth look at 3 key leadership styles that will highlight the benefits and shortfalls commonly associated with each. We won’t just be covering the leadership development theory; this article will also help to describe some of the practical issues that arise in the workplace as a result of implementing these styles, and I hope you find this ‘down-on-the-ground’ view will help you determine which style is right for your own leadership development. This article will also be useful for students researching leadership development or styles for essays.

What is Autocratic Leadership?

Autocratic leadership is a classical leadership style with the following characteristics:

1. Manager seeks to make as many decisions as possible

2. Manager seeks to have the most authority and control in decision making

3. Manager seeks to retain responsibility rather than utilise complete delegation

4. Consultation with other colleagues in minimal and decision making becomes a solitary process

5. Managers are less concerned with investing their own leadership development, and prefer to simply work on the task at hand.

The autocratic leadership style is seen as an old fashioned technique. It has existed as long as managers have commanded subordinates, and is still employed by many leaders across the globe. The reason autocratic leadership survives, even if it is outdated, is because it is intuitive, carries instant benefits, and comes natural to many leaders. Many leaders who start pursuing leadership development are often trying to improve upon their organisations autocratic leadership style.

What Are The Benefits Of The Autocratic Leadership Style?

Despite having many critics, the autocratic leadership styles offer many advantages to managers who use them. These include:

Reduced stress due to increased control. Where the manager ultimately has significant legal and personal responsibility for a project, it will comfort them and reduce their stress levels to know that they have control over their fate.

A more productive group ‘while the leader is watching’. The oversight that an autocratic manager exerts over a team improves their working speed and makes them less likely to slack. This is ideal for poorly motivated employees who have little concern or interest in the quality or speed of work performed.

Improved logistics of operations. Having one leader with heavy involvement in many areas makes it more likely that problems are spotted in advance and deadlines met. This makes autocratic leadership ideal for one-off projects with tight deadlines, or complicated work environments where efficient cooperation is key to success.

Faster decision making. When only one person makes decisions with minimal consultation, decisions are made quicker, which will allow the management team to respond to changes in the business environment more quickly.

What Are The Disadvantages Of The Autocratic Leadership Style?

Short-termistic approach to management. While leading autocratically will enable faster decisions to be made in the short term, by robbing subordinates of the opportunity to gain experience and start on their own leadership development,  and learn from their mistakes, the manager is actually de-skilling their workforce which will lead to poorer decisions and productivity in the long run.

Manager perceived as having poor leadership skills. While the autocratic style has merits when used in certain environments (as highlighted below), autocratic leadership style is easy yet unpopular. Managers with poor leadership skills with often revert to this style by default. To improve your leadership skills, I, and other leadership professionals usually recommend Apply Leadership, which is an effective and respected way to build your leadership ability.

Increased workload for the manager. By taking on as much responsibility and involvement as possible, an autocratic leader naturally works at their full capacity, which can lead to long term stress and health problems and could damage working relationships with colleagues. This hyper-focus on work comes at the expense of good leadership development.

People dislike being ordered around. They also dislike being shown very little trust and faith. As a result, the autocratic leadership style can result in a demotivated workforce. This results in the paradox that autocratic leadership styles are a good solution for demotivated workers, but in many cases, it is the leadership style alone that demotivates them in the first place.

Teams become dependent upon their leader. After becoming conditioned to receive orders and act upon them perfectly, workers lose initiative and the confidence to make decisions on their own. This results in teams of workers who become useless at running operations if they loose contact with their leader. This is the result of a lack of time dedicated to leadership development on the employees part.

When is the Autocratic Leadership Style Effective?

Following on from the merits and drawbacks listed above, the autocratic leadership style is useful in the following work situations:

1. Short term projects with a highly technical, complex or risky element.

2. Work environments where spans of control are wide and hence the manager has little time to devote to each employee.

3. Industries where employees need to perform low-skilled, monotonous and repetitive tasks and generally have low levels of motivation.

4. Projects where the work performed needs to be completed to exact specifications and/or with a tight deadline.

5. Companies that suffer from a high employee turnover, i.e. where time and resources devoted to leadership development would be largely wasted. Although one could argue that a lack of leadership development in the first place caused the high turnover.

What is Democratic Leadership?

Democratic Leadership is the leadership style that promotes the sharing of responsibility, the exercise of delegation and continual consultation. The style has the following characteristics:

1. Manager seeks consultation on all major issues and decisions.

2. Manager effectively delegate tasks to subordinates and give them full control and responsibility for those tasks.

3. Manager welcomes feedback on the results of intiatives and the work environment.

4. Manager encourages others to become leaders and be involved in leadership development.

What Are The Benefits Of The Democratic Leadership Style?

Positive work environment. A culture where junior employees are given fair amount of responsibility and are allowed to challenge themselves is one where employees are more enthused to work and enjoy what they do.

Successful initiatives. The process of consultation and feedback naturally results in better decision making and more effective operations. Companies run under democratic leadership tend to run into fewer grave mistake and catastrophes. To put it simply – people tell a democratic leader when something is going badly wrong, while employees are encouraged to simply hide it from an autocrat.

Creative thinking. The free flow of ideas and positive work environment is the perfect catalyst for creative thinking. The benefits of this aren’t just relevant for creative industries, because creative thinking is required to solve problems in every single organisation, whatever it’s nature.

Reduction of friction and office politics. By allowing subordinates to use their ideas and even more importantly – gain credit for them, you are neatly reducing the amount of tension employees generate with their manager. When autocratic leaders refuse to listen to their workers, or blatantly ignore their ideas, they are effectively asking for people to talk behind their back and attempt to undermine or supercede them.

Reduced employee turnover. When employees feel empowered through leadership development, a company will experience lower rates of employee turnover which has numerous benefits. A company that invests in leadership development for its employees, is investing in their future, and this is appreciated by a large majority of the workforce.

What Are The Disadvantages Of The Democratic Leadership Style?

Lengthy and ‘boring’ decision making. Seeking consultation over every decision can lead to a process so slow that it can cause opportunities to be missed, or hazards avoided too late.

Danger of pseudo participation. Many managers simply pretend to follow a democratic leadership style simply to score a point in the eyes of their subordinates. Employees are quick to realise when their ideas aren’t actually valued, and that the manager is merely following procedure in asking for suggestions, but never actually implementing them. In other words, they’re simply exerting autocratic leadership in disguise.

When Is The Democratic Leadership Style Effective?

Now you’ve heard about the benefits and drawbacks of this leadership style, let’s look at where its actually implemented in the business world.

1. Democratic leadership is applied to an extent in the manufacturing industry, to allow employees to give their ideas on how processes can become leaner and more efficient. While ‘Fordism’ is still applied in some factories across the country, truth is that production managers are now really starting to harness the motivational bonuses associated with not treating employees like robots anymore.

2. Democratic leadershp is effective in proffessional organisations where the emphasis is clearly on training, professional & leadership development and quality of work performed. Democratic procedures are simply just one cog in the effective leadership mechanisms firms like The Big Four have created over the years.

3. Non profit organisations also tremendously benefit from drawing upon the creative energies of all their staff to bring about cost cutting techniques or fund raising ideas.

4. As previously mentioned, creative industries such as advertising and television enjoy alot of benefits from the free flow of ideas that democratic leadership brings.

What Is Bureaucratic Leadership?

The bureaucratic leadership style is concerned with ensuring workers follow rules and procedures accurately and consistently. Bureaucratic leadership normally has the following characteristics:

1. Leaders expect a employees to display a formal, business-like attitude in the workplace and between each other.

2. Managers gain instant authority with their position, because rules demand that employees pay them certain priveledges, such as being able to sign off on all major decisions. As a result, leaders suffer from ‘position power’. Leadership development becomes pointless, because only titles and roles provide any real control or power.

3. Employees are rewarded for their ability to adhere to the rules and follow procedure perfectly.

4. Bureaucratic systems usually gradually develop over a long period of time, and hence are more commonly found in large & old businesses.

What Are The Benefits Of The Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

Increased safety. In dangerous workplaces where procedures save lives, a bureaucratic management style can help enforce health and safety rules.

Quality work. Some tasks, such as completing proffessional work or medical examinations, need to be done in a meticulous fashion to be done correctly. Laziness can result in poor work, and hence one solution is to enforce the rules via the bureacratic leadership style.

Ultimate control. An environment whereby employees are intrinsically motivated to follow rules in order to be promoted and succeed results in the tightest control management can ever assume over a company. This control can be used to cut costs or improve productivity.

What Are The Disadvantages Of The Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

Dehumanises the business. Bureacratic companies tend to remove as much potential for ‘human error’ out of the picture as possible. Unfortunately this also has the effect of removing all the enjoyment and reward that comes from deciding how to do a task and accomplishing it.

Lack of self-fulfillment. The bureaucratic way of working hampers employees efforts to become successful and independent, because the system becomes too contraining. This is why managers who experience ‘Apply Leadership‘ (one of the few audio courses that are respected among leadership professionals.) start working straight away to remove excess bureaucracy from their teams and organisations.

Parkinson’s Law. Cyril Northcote Parkinson made the scientific observation that the number of staff in bureaucracies increased by an average of 5%-7% per year “irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”". He explains this growth by two forces: (1) “An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals” and (2) “Officials make work for each other.” Parkinson’s findings suggest that bureaucratic leadership encourages inefficiency and waste of internal resources in the long run.

‘Position power’ obessession. After working in an environment that reinforces the idea that authority is created by rules which in turn support senior positions. Employees become attached to the idea that simply being in a job position creates authority. This can lead to intense office politics, arrogant leaders and little incentive to perform well once an employee has landed a top job.

Lack of creativity. It goes without saying that a rule-based culture hinders creativity and encourages workers to simply perform puppet-like work rather than think independently. This may result in a lack of growth in the business due to employees simply not thinking out of the box or looking for new areas to develop.

Poor communication. A common feature of a bureaucratic system is a complicated network of communication lines. Managers who don’t want to be ‘bothered’ by junior staff simply create procedures that allow them to avoid communicating with those below them. ‘Go through the formal process’, ‘Talk to my secretary’ and ‘My schedule is full’ are common rule-based excuses for blocked contact. Barriers to communication can hinder the success of any company. For example, the board may be charging ahead with a doomed product simply because their shop floor workers cannot pass on the message that customers are giving very negative feedback.

When Is The Bureaucratic Leadership Style Effective?

Bureaucratic leadership is found in extremely large corporations such as General Electric, Daimler and General Motors. However these cultures have evolved due to the age and size of these companies, and are generally blamed for the slow growth and recent failures at these companies.

1. Governmental bodies often have bureaucratic systems, and while these are often despised by the public, they ensure accountability to the tax payer and fair treatment for all. Excessive form-filling also serves the purpose of passing effort from the government authority (with a tight budget) onto the individual, helping to save costs.

2. Dangerous workplaces such as mines, oil rigs, construction sites and film sets all benefit from the tight control over health and safety that rules offer.

What Different Leadership Types Are There?

These 3 key management leadership styles are by no means a comprehensive list. Different leadership styles include laissez faire leadership, where the leader sets tasks and leaves workers up to their own devices to complete it.

Leadership Development

Leadership development is a complicated area, and thus countless styles have been theorised and researched. Good leadership development often involves using resources such as Leader House to be ’sift’ through these different leadership development tips and ideas. Once you’ve been able to pull together a solid leadership development plan for yourself, you can start to really engage your employees – and maybe even set them off on their own leadership development quest!

Leader House also has articles on another leadership style: charismatic leadership. You may also want to read our articles on leadership theories and common leadership traits.

Author – Simon Oates – Leader House.

Winner – Best E-Course: The 11 Forgotten Laws

Official Winner Of The Leader House ‘Best Leadership E-Course’ Award. May 2009.

Votes (57/73) Average Rating 83%.

Why I Bought The 11 Forgotten Laws

Do you remember that first spark of hope you felt when you watched ‘The Secret’ DVD? I clearly remember the desire that filled my heart, knowing that – Yes, I can make my dreams come true – FINALLY! Ok, so these sorts of products do often create an immeadiate rush of energy and motivation. After a few weeks however and (to be honest) lazy application of the methods contained in the ‘The Secret’, I started wondering:

- “It seems to work for other people, but I just can’t get it right.”

- “I’m frustrated that sometimes I can get it to work, but sometimes I can’t. What’s the trick?”

- “Why am I having so much trouble?”

- “I think the universe is against me.”

I don’t think I was alone. I mean if you think about, just like anything else, you have to practice many times before you see success at a difficult challenge. A child doesn’t learn to walk without falling over a couple of times, right?

But in practice, everything is easier said and done. When you’re frustrated, it’s hard to stay positive. And it’s especially harder to stay positive when the evidence all around you is screams negativity like the unstable economy or senseless acts of violence such as those recently seen in Mumbai.

I think that many people give up because they think that “‘The Secret’” is the “be all and end all” solution. Well, it’s NOT. ‘The Secret’ is just a small portion of the whole concept. It was never intended, and has never been, the whole answer.

I realised that coming to the conclusion that the Law of Attraction doesn’t work when all I ever did to educate myself was watch ‘The Secret’ 19 times (without really looking at changing the habits of other areas of myr life) is like coming to the conclusion that exercising is not an effective way to lose weight because all I did is run on the treadmill for 2 hours a day while still stuffing myself with fried foods and cheesecakes.

So, I was hungry for new knowledge and sought it out. And discovered that ‘The Secret’ only focuses on one part of a whole host of principles that can help sculpt your life into a happier being.

Check out The 11 Forgotten Laws – Click Here To Visit The Official Website

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What Does The 11 Forgotten Laws E-Course Contain?

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There’s quite alot to fit into this section because this is a bumper pack of resources!

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1. ‘The‘ Original Law Of Attraction Premium Ebook. – ‘Working With The Law’

The original Holliwell classic that inspired the authors of ‘The Secret’ and many others. This is the definitive guide to the law of attraction, also known as manifestation. Find wonderful positive gems of inspiration in this internationally acclaimed book.

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2. 95 Lesson Tracks covering the whole 11 Forgotten Secrets contained on 12 ‘digital’ CDs.

Digital Disc 1 – Working With The Law

Why your mind can be your biggest enemy

How to identify between the two types of human thought that matter

How to stop  previous accomplishments feeling meaningless

Digital Disc 2 – The Law of Thinking

An ingredient to add to your thought patterns to help escape past experiences

Help erase anxious thoughts

Why an educated and ethical person can so easily be broke

Digital Disc 3 – The Law of Supply

Age old advice you may only ‘think’ you appreciate fully

The Michael Phelps secret to accelarate your own personal and career advancement

Simple activity to help avoid having to ‘wait’ for anything ever again

Digital Disc 4 – The Law of Attraction

Escape mediocre results coming from half truths

Open the floodgates to your optimism and success

Digital Disc 5 – The Law of Receiving

How to bounce back when your back is up against the wall

A simple system of systematic giving that unleashes impressive returns

Digital Disc 6 – The Law of Increase

Step-by-step system to magnify praise and amplify growth

3 ways to create a massive paradigm shift

Generate confidence and raise your self esteem for public speaking

Digital Disc 7 – The Law of Compensation

How to build a wealth-attracting image

Stop walking past opportunies everyday

3 common but harmful daily habits you need to kill

Digital Disc 8 – The Law of Non-Resistance

Learn this frequent burnout-causing mistake many employees make

What you can learn from nature to experience greater prosperity

Digital Disc 9 – The Law of Forgiveness

An ‘unstoppable’ way to deal with suppressed anger

Embrace this type of affection to feel loved again

Digital Disc 10 – The Law of Sacrifice

Take control of your thinking with ‘rubber bat theory’

2 Habits to help you shoot up as the top performer in your company

Digital Disc 11 – The Law of Obedience

The surprising root to happiness

Nature vs Normal – bringing your life into allignment

Why large and larger problems can be good for you

Digital Disc 12 – The Law of Success

How to survive and even profit from the coming bankruptcy avalanche

Focusing on your hobbies to go from failure to success

And much more

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3. Complete Transcripts of The Audio Course

If you prefer to read rather than listen to this audio course, you’ll be able to to read every teaching contained in the audio lessons in this professional ebook.

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4. Bonus – The Prosperity Programme – Burt Goldman

Module 1 – Make The Law Of Attraction Work For You

In short: The secret to becoming a money magnet

An overwhelmingly simple gesture that could change your life

Rejection negative energies at a whim

The truth about wealth – a billionaire’s shocking confession

Module 2 – Do This To Attract Your Desires

The gift of irresistable persuasion

How a bankrupt and a billionaire are extremely similar

The stunning revelation that drove Bill Negrin to tattoo just two letters on his arm: “PA”.

Beyond sightseeing – One thing to really look out for when visiting a new city

Module 3 – Lifting The Curse of Unfulfilled Desires

How 2 green candles and a yellow cotton cloth helped Leroy Ricol find love

The astonishing technique that’s been turning ordinary people into money magnets since 1979

When money really does come out of thin air – How the author earned $5,560 with a mere thought

Module 4 – The Miraculous Universal Bank Meditation

Attract money to yourself through meditation. A step-by-step guide to entering this rare meditation state

Complete control of your state of mind needs intense meditation and skill, right? Wrong!

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5. Bonus – 3 Hour Video Seminar – Manifest Like A Millionaire – Laura Silva

Each year, delegates of the ‘Million Mind’ conference pay $5,000 a ticket to experience life changing seminars. Access to a recorded session of those seminars is included in this package just to sweeten the deal.

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My Final Recommendation

So in conclusion:

1. Visitors to Leader House have rated this product as their favourite e-course, which is why I’m putting my name behind it.

2. This is a complete guide to the insightful principles that underpin our success in life.

3. Gaining this understanding helped me to become a far more effective leader.

4. There’s enough bonuses to keep you involved with this course for several weeks.

5. It was so peaceful yet exciting listening to a course like this in audio form.

But most of all…

5. It really delivered results for me.

Don’t forget to read the comments below left by visitors, or leave your own comment/review if you’ve purchased The 11 Forgotten Laws. Tell us what you think!

Leadership Traits

Leadership traits are the characteristics that leaders possess that enable them to lead effectively. I’m going to run down 20 of the traits I believe are most important, it’ll be interesting to see how many you feel you already have, and which ones you’re still working on. Leave a comment below to let me know.

The Top Leadership Traits

20. Patience – A good leader needs to show their employees that they’re willing to give them as much time as necessary to see them perform. A manager who roughly attaches arbitary deadlines onto tasks and aggressively chases employees up will only antognise and stress their workforce. Good leadership management is about waiting as well as acting.

19. Continuous Development – Smart people have always sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. Most these days tend to be rather disappointing, but one e-course that is still respected by leadership professionals such as myself is in the industry leader – ‘Apply Leadership‘ which I consider an essential ‘crash course’ in the principles you need to know to further your career and even find happiness in other areas of your life.

18. Graft – A brilliant leadership trait is the trait of grafting. There’s a simple rule that most good leaders follow – always do the nastiest job yourself. While being able to delegate dire tasks to others is one of the perks of management, t is important that employees never actually question your dedication to work hard. By simply doing the famously nasty job yourself each year, your staff will never have a doubt over whether it’s fair you have the ability to delegate menial work.

17. Fairness/Equity - Fairness is one of the key criteria by which employees measure their superiors. Quite simply, if you don’t behave in an equitable manner at all times, you will lead no more than a rabble of reluctant workers, and will never gain their respect. Fairness is one of Herzberg’s ‘hygeine’ factors from his popular leadership theory. This means that if you are fair, employees will not be inherently motivated, but merely content. If however you act unfairly and break the rules, employees will be demotivated. Very little upside if you possess this trait but large potential negative effects on motivation if you lack it. Its a tough world, but the message is clear.

16. Modesty - An important note to remember is that in every team you lead, some will be envious of your job or position. These people are also often the most active, amibitious and productive members of the group, so it’s extremely important that you keep them onside. By being modest and humble, you minimise the potential for jealousy within the team, and inspire warmth and affection instead.

15. Appreciates Quality - Simple put, a good leader recognises that quality is the most important gauge of the work done. Always. A culture that cares little for quality will demotivate employees and reduce job satisfaction. Staff must be able to feel good about their work and their skills.

14. Sense of Humour - A practical reality for most leaders is that you’ll spend an awful lot of time in meetings or speaking in public. A good sense of humour helps to put across the message you want to convey more effectively and help smooth over awkward or tense moments in board meetings etc.

13. Wide Outlook – A good leadership trait is to be able to take a step back and take a look at the big picture. This is really one the main purpose of a leader, but so many managers instead choose to get bogged down in small decisions that should really be taken care of by someone else. While everyone is cleaning the deck and preparing the sails, somebody has to be looking where the ship is going.

12. Adaptability and Flexibility - A clear fact in life is that many things you enjoy will change, and many things you despise will quickly improve. As a leader, you must be able to cope with negative change, and also be able to quickly grab opportunities as soon as they appear. Less hesitation, and more asking the question “Ok, so how can I make the best of this situation”.

11. Human Understanding – A leader that can understand their employees and really be able to emphasis with the workforce or team as a whole will ultimately be a far more effective leader. Only by being able to put yourself in the shoes of your employees will you be able to make decisions that will enthuse and motivate your staff.

10. Clarity - Job roles and positions within companies can sometimes be at best – a complete mess. Business leadership is about separately and clearly identifying those roles and responsibilities and ensure that everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing.

9. Charisma – The skill of oratory has been perfectly demonstrated recently by Barrack Obama’s surge in popularity en route to the white house, and his continued popularity now that he has gained office. The ability to speak confidently and with meaning is a rare one, and carries much merit for those few who posess it. Increased influence and persuasion is just one of the positive benefits of being a leader with charisma.

8. Ability to Delegate – As I mentioned earlier, delegation is one of the perks of being promoted to a leadership position. Why is it then that so many leaders fail to delegate enough? Why do they continue to ‘meddle’ in small, trivial matters, and refuse to give subordinates the real responsibility and confidence to be able to make their own decisions? The answer is because it’s alot harder than you’d think to be able to properly delegate control to someone else. Especially the control over a job you’ve been doing yourself for many years. By undermining your subordinate’s ability to make decisions independently, you’re being a poor leader. That’s why the ability to delegate is one of my top 20 traits.

7. Calmness – Calmness is a leadership trait that again we could do with learning from President Obama. One of the most common pieces of praise I hear from President Obama is how he has stayed so calm under pressure. With the recession, middle east conflict and recent fiascos such as Swine Flu, Piracy and torture memos – it has sincerely impressed many that this man has been able to keep his composure and present a solid front. Any leader that can achieve this will instantly earn respect.

6. Ability to Listen – The fantastic leaders thorough history were also good listeners. Drawing upon the expertise and ideas of all those around you will improve your decision making. It follows that leaders who listen well simply make better decisions.

5. Confidence – Confidence flows through a team just like cheerfulness or a hardworking attitude. If the leader shows hesistation, self-doubt, or a lack of amibition, it will infect the rest of the team. Enthusiastically following an unconfident will really test employees attitude, and this is something you don’t want to be doing. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to enthusiastically follow your lead.

4. Consistency – This is a similar point to fairness. If you fail to be consistent with your attitude, decisions or behaviour, you will be causing unrest in your team.

3. Approachability & Friendliness – While many managers dream of being a superior and ‘feared’ leader, the most effective type of leader is an approachable one. A leader who an any employee can feel like they could have a conversation with will be able to hear about what the quiet dissenters have to say, or what the ‘real’ results of their latest intiative was.

2. Passion and Motivation – It goes without saying that a leadership trait that will be admired is your passion for what you do. Whatever your role, people will respect the fact that you take pride in your work, you enjoy it, and that you will therefore try your hardest to succeed. Passion and motivation will always trump formal leadership training or leadership coaching.

1. Trustworthiness - Ethics and trust has to come right at the top of the most important leadership traits for one simple reason. Nobody will obey, follow, or be inspired by someone they distrust. A good reputation, likeability and respect will be absolutely impossible if you’re labelled as a liar. Regardless of their own mal-practises, people will never be able to associate with an untrustworthy character.

Leadership Programmes

Such programmes are designed to provide trainees with an overview of an organization’s operations. This is achieved by a rotational training of all the departments, and it provides exposure to all the important activities and operations of the business.

This way, trainees get first hand experience of the functioning of the organization, from the very top to the bottom of the management ladder. This in turn helps them become more effective and efficient managers and leaders.

Alternatively, smart people have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. These days, most tend to be rather disappointing, but one e-course that is still respected by leadership professionals such as the industry leader:  ‘Apply Leadership‘ which I consider an essential ‘crash course’ in the principles you need to know to further your career or leadership skills and even find happiness in other areas of your life.

Leadership programs vary widely on any number of different things. The specific structure depends upon the type of industry, work, services and operations. They also have some very basic elements in common.

At the beginning, trainees are usually rotated through various departments to become familiar with work. In addition, they are also “earmarked” as potential candidates for top positions in the future.

The Value of Leadership Programs

All the top leaders in various industries acknowledge the importance of such programs. At Hilton Hotels, the trainees are rotated through about a dozen different hotel departments during a period of 6 to 8 months. It has been proven that these employees, who as trainees undergo all the operations of all departments in the hotel, make better managers.

Staples also runs such a program. In their program, trainees are rotated to give them the experience of working at retail store and the head office. It is observed that these programs give a better understanding of the overall working of the organization and the operations involved inside the organization.

At Staples, trainees go through seminars, training sessions on all aspects of the processes for which they are being trained. Therefore, they get to know about everything – how to quote prices for products or services according to company practice, how to negotiate, supply chain management, logistics and much more.

Sometimes, trainees work with managers that act as their mentors or ‘leadership coaches‘.

Experience Pays Off

In a program run in an industry such as retail, trainees are initially rotated at the store level. They get the experience of working at the counter in the first phase of the training.

Once they join the office and assume other responsibilities, they understand the value of their training. Such trainees who join the company speak about their being able to understand the routine work, “right from day 1″.

At Hilton Hotels for example, under housekeeping rotation, trainees are required to make beds and clean rooms. However, all this experience pays off, as they go on to become not only managers, but also future business leaders as well.

Leadership Grooming

This very experience of performing quite ground-level duties of everyday chores makes not only managers but also potential top leaders of the organization. Hilton has many directors and even VPs who were trained in leadership programmes.

Of course, getting it right from the basics is the key to success, isn’t it?

The Ultimate Guide to Leadership Communication

Change is all around us. Effective leadership communication during times of change creates stability and trust. Leaders at all levels must communicate change and share information as soon as possible. Here are tips for a communication-rich culture.

1. Communicate change as soon as possible. People do not want to hear about a merger or acquisition through the grapevine. Communicate even when you don’t have anything substantial to say. This lets people know you are aware of their need for information and you will provide it as soon as possible. Provide frequent updates to keep their need for information satisfied. People who do not have useful information in a timely manner feel confused, stressed, scared, and insecure.

2. Explain what is changing, how, and why. Let people know the business reasons behind the change and how it impacts them. Anticipate any questions they may have and give them detailed, valuable answers.

3. Let people know what they can do. Empower people to make a difference during volatile times. Inspire and motivate people to own the change and to be innovative in helping to resolve issues. Provide them with a specific call to action to make them feel included and important to the process.

4. Be visible during times of change. Be accessible and allow people to ask questions and offer ideas. Schedule meetings to communicate up, down, and across the organization. Follow through with your commitments to follow up with people.

5. Be a role model for change. Demonstrate high levels of emotional intelligence during uncertain times. No one wants to see a leader have an emotional meltdown. Your actions and leadership presence will speak volumes about what is really going on and help others deal with their fear and resistance.

6. Use a variety of methods to communicate. Select the most useful and effective channels to communicate. These methods can range from town hall meetings, to small group meetings, to newsletters and e-mail updates. Create a trustworthy, communication-rich environment that is reliable and effective leadership communication will follow.

7. Communicating bad news is often uncomfortable for both the sender and receiver. However, direct talk is often the best choice. But always deliver your message with tact and diplomacy. Demonstrate empathy when delivering bad news. Understand the emotion, resistance, and discomfort toward change.

Alternatively, smart people have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to better leadership and communication. Leadership professionals such as myself often recommend industry leader; ‘Apply Leadership‘, which I consider an essential ‘crash course’ in the principles you need to know to further your career or leadership skills and even find happiness in other areas of your life.

There’s no perfect way to communicate during uncertain times. Transition makes most people uneasy, and behaviors and long-held habits are not easy to change. Communicate clearly, openly, frequently, and most important, honestly.

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