Articles on Leadership from the International Press—primarily Asia
The mighty
oak didn't grow from
seed to majestic tree in a week. Similarly,
you can't evolve a manger into a leader based on
a three-day seminar."
Murray
Johannsen
The
single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus
on leadership development. There is almost no limit to
the potential of an organization that recruits good people,
raises them up as leaders and continually develop them.
John
C Maxwell (2001) The 17th Irrefutable Laws of Teamwork,
page 185
The Leadership Development Program For Individuals
"I
will get ready and perhaps my chance will come."—Abraham
Lincoln
Coaching
This program consists of
individualized learning targeted to meet personal
goals. We focus on the application
of practical knowledge that build behavioral skills and to
apply what one has learned.
It's been said that you
can't know where you are going, if you don't know where you are.
The right assessment serves as a powerful method to confirm strengths
and discover weaknesses prior to undertaking a training program.
"Change
requires transformational leaders, just like making good bread
requires yeast." —M.
Johannsen
Speeches by our Founder
As
any gardener knows, the ground must first be prepared before
planting
the seeds.
This leadership development program is designed to both entertain and open up minds to new ideas
and
possibilities.
The goal is
to change the world view of managers
This leadership
development program consists of a series of workshops
on the key component knowledge necessary to grow transformational
leaders. Each program uses self-assessments, sound theory, and
exercises.
Few
people know how to develop skills, It was never taught, never discovered, never read about.
The purpose
of this leadership development scheme is to teach individuals
how to develop their own skills step-by-ste
Building
corporate teams are an essential element to developing
a sustainable competitive advantage. After all, it never hurts to have a number of people running around who are constantly improving things.
The purpose
of this leadership development methodology is to assist organizations
and visionary executives that want a consistent, comprehensive
pipeline from leadership supervision to developing transformational leadership customized
to the organization.
This
article addresses our understanding
what
can and cannot be changed about oneself in leadership
development.
By
Murray Johannsen
Despite
a voluminous amount of written material, leadership development
still remains a mystery to many.
While the experts disagree
on the relative importance of genetic
and environmental factors (the never ending nature
versus nurture debate), each plays a role in the development
of leadership ability.
Genetics.
Studies have shown that genetically identical twins raised
in completely different environments, still show similar
behavior patterns. While there does not seem to be a
specific gene for leadership, it can be said that certain
genes have a direct impact on factors associated with
leadership such as intelligence. While one doesn't need
to be genius to be a leader, one can't be in the special
needs category either.
Family.
Even
though cynics might conclude that television is the great
brainwasher of the young, the strongest environmental factor
molding children is still the family. Prior to the start
of school, children learn a great deal through observation
and by modeling those around them. Future leaders may have
been fortunate while young to have a leadership role model
in a brother, sister, parent, mother, father, aunt or grandparent.
Personality.
While
there is a lot of disagreement on whether certain traits
are always present in leaders, we know that possessing
certain traits can definitely help. This raises on interesting
question, is it possible for a person to change
certain personality traits? One might answer that question
with a bit of humor.
Do you know how many psychologists
it takes to change a light bulb?
It takes just one—but
the light bulb has really got to want to be changed.
Position.
In
some cases, the position inside an organization forces
someone to "grow into it." We have seen this
happen many times in human history when an individual with
the title of King or Queen, also received the label Great
beside their name. Katherine, Frederick, Alexander, Constantine
and others used their birth right as a starting point to
greatness.
In other cases, managers tend
to fall into the trap of over using the authority associated
a position to get results. There is nothing wrong with
using authority. However, over reliance on it tends to
inhibit the development of leadership skills.
Opportunity.
It's been said that certain leaders act like a battery—all
that potential just waiting for the right conditions for
the current to flow. Some have the potential to lead, but
the conditions were never right to take charge, for them
to emerge as a leader.
In corporate settings, this occurs when potential
leaders are allowed to emerge to take charge of project
teams for example. An emergent leaders generally does well
since that person does not have to deal with legitimacy
issues that so often bedevil team leaders appointed by
management.
Belief.
One
of the most subtle, powerful brakes or accelerators of
leader development is what one believes. There is no stronger
prison than the one we build within our own minds. For
many, the mental prison consists of a small number of core
beliefs that limit accomplishment.
If you ask a group of people,
how many are managers, almost everyone will raise their
hand, even if they do not have a business degree. If you
ask the same group how many are leaders, few will raise
their hand. Until such beliefs are erased, the person is
100% correct—they can never, will never lead.
Contrary to the opinion of
many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made,
and they are made by effort and hard work.
Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970,
Professional football coach, Wiebusch, Lombardi (Follett,
1971)
Learning and Effort.
While
all the other factors are important, this one clearly dominates
the list. It implies that leadership is a skill, and like
all skills, it can be learned.
Strange though it may seem,
most individuals learn very little from experience. Raw
experience by itself, is rarely enough to learn a skill.
If experience was all one needed, you could become a marital
arts expert by watching Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies.
Finally, effort and underlying
motivation play an incredibly important role in mastering
complex skills such as transformational leadership. One
has to be willing to put in the hours required to both
seek out sound theory and then practice, practice and practice.
Leadership Video: Influences
On Leadership Development
I
don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he
was yesterday.
Abraham
Lincoln
We have put together a number of resources that
can be accessed on this site.
Are You A Good Leader?, Fortune, September 2007. This is a short ten question quiz you can take.
"Big Dog" makes available a number
of articles that together become an excellent resource for
the self-help inclined. This page references his leadership
development outline..
Leadership Skills
Development. Many have never
learned who to learn a skill. Unfortunately, many organizations
have not figured it out either. This page presents on overview
of the model we use in our leadership development program.
The bad news—transformational
leaders don't grow like weeds in the corporate garden. The
good news — leadership
can be cultivated if the organization offers the right leadership
development program and make leadership
development a priority.
One
can work magic inside organizations when one views leadership
training as a process, not an event.
Anonymous
Leadership development can be a difficult, tough
road to travel. Below are some of the better resources we have
found on different
aspects of organizational leadership development.
The
best organizations in the world have long realized that leaders
must be grown, cultivated and nourished. To not due
so risks falling into decline as dictated by the organizational
life cyle.
Presented below are some of the recent insights
from articles all over the world addressing organizational leadership
development and organizational performance.
While it is
nearly impossible to do an ROI
calculation on leadership development, a number of studies
and books have repeatedly found
a positive
relationship between organizational leadership development and
organizational performance (see below).
This
was documented in a 2003 study that asked 1900 professionals
who helped troubled companies. These individuals were asked
to identify the most common reasons businesses get into trouble
or failed.Reasons
included:
Factor*
%
Too
much Debt
28%
Inadequate
Leadership
17%
Poor
Planning
14%
Failure
to Change
11%
Inexperienced
Management
9%
Not
Enough Revenue
8%
*Source:
Buccino and Associates: Seton Hall University Stiffman
School of Business, As reported in August 25, 2003, Business
Week.
Adding the "inadequate leadership" and "failure to change" categories
together means that about 30% of the reasons for looming bankruptcy are due
to managers who cannot lead.
Organizational Performance and Leadership Development
Organizational
leadership development works as a method of enhancing
organizational performance. However, a number of factors
within the control of management can prevent organizations
from realizing any kind of meaningful benefits.
International
Study: Watson Wyatt: Leadership: The Critical Key to
Financial Success
Best Leadership Practices. This article is about a Canadian organization and the practices they instill inside the organization.
How Companies Generate Leaders, Fortune, September 2007. The top companies have figured out something the rest have yet to learn—i.e sustainable competitive advantage depends on leadership development.
One of the more comprehensive, academic sources
on leadership
development is Carter McMamara's page titled "Leadership
Development Planning." It contains a number of sources to help
one develop The Plan.
Leadership
Development Magazine is an on-line magazine that started
publishing in late 2006. It bills itself as the a source
of "practical ways to do things right." Articles
come out each month by a number of different authors.
On
Leadership: Both executive training methods can help Pittsburgh Post Gazette -
Pittsburgh,PA,USA, September 18, 2004 The article mentions that corporate investments
in executive leadership development are at an all-time high
and
covers two general methods
currently in vogue.
The
Pitfalls of Executive LeadershipMarketingProfs, I've worked at companies with smart, charismatic
leaders who have run a good idea right into the ground.
A leader without a sound strategy is like a guide without
a compass.
. .
Why
Most Managers Can't Lead, eMediaWire, Why most
managers have never learned leadership. Leadership can be
learned, but it takes time, effort, intention,
and a sin.
Poll:
Companies Face Leadership Vacuum. SmartPros Editorial Staff, Global companies need more effective executive
leaders and better leadership development, according to
a poll of 200 global human resource executives.
This section
presents some good articles, interesting press releases, or
summaries of recent research on leadership from the wire services
or the business press.
By Traci Purdum, Industry Week. Oct. 5, 2005
-- According to a new study by Leadership IQ, a global leadership
training and
research
company, 46%
of newly
hired employees will fail within 18 months. The reason: poor
interpersonal skills.
E-Commerce
Times, September, 2005. Wikipedia and other open-source
computer projects also challenge traditional ideas about
executive
leadership.
It requires leaders who encourage collaboration, not obediance.
MarketingProfs, January 18, 2005. I've worked
at companies with smart, charismatic leaders who have
run a good idea right into the ground. A leader without
a sound strategy is like a guide without a compass. . .
eMediaWire. January 11, 2005. Why most managers have never learned
leadership. Leadership can
be
learned, but it takes time, effort, intention, and a sincere
effort.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh,PA,USA,
September 18, 2004
The article mentions that corporate investments in executive
leadership development are at an all-time high and covers two
general
methods currently in vogue.
Fast Company, NY,
USA - Sep 21, 2004
... This year, Ford will send about 2,500 managers to its Leadership
Development Center for one of its four programs.
Business Wire (press release)
- San Francisco,CA,USA, September 14, 2004
It's recommended that companies provide the necessary executive
leadership coaching to the bottom third of managers and executives
to turn around their performance.
By: Bill Thomas, Posted on Tuesday, May 25,
2004, zongoo.com
Did you know that there are 7 really effective, yet powerful
ways to improve your leadership learning?
Leadership development is a huge concern for Asian companies in particular. Economies of countries like India and China are growing at a scorching pace, creating a void where leadership talent is concerned
Why leadership development programmes are not
always able to achieve their objectives since leadership is
one of
most discussed and little understood phenomenon in the corporate
world.
In
today's business environment of rapid technological change,
global competition and shorter product life cycles,
companies are increasingly looking at their purpose, the values
of
their employees, their corporate values, and increased
creativity. The
spiritual may be making it's way into more businesses.
Eric Krell, Society
For Human Resource Management On-line, March 2005
Though difficult to ascertain, measuring the return on the
cost of expatriate assignments is necessary to justify the
expensive investment.
Conference
Board, November, 2004
Many leadership development challenges faced by organizations
in other parts of the globe are magnified in the Asia Pacific
region (note: report is available for download).
By Phillip Augustine, The
Star Online.
Developing better understanding of one's own behavior results in better self-awareness
and understanding, charting career development, team building,
management
and
leadership training,
problem
solving ...
Dr Marshall M. Lih, National University of
Singapore, CDTL Brief, April 2003
According to the author, there is no greater need in education today than
developing leaders of a society who can meet the complex and multifaceted
challenges of the 21st Century. The need is global and covers all fields
of endeavors and all levels of the society.
By Leon Gettler, The Age,
Australia, November 11, 2003
Bosses, according to a new survey, claim that employee morale is a big issue
- but the same study's figures suggest most don't have a clue about what
to do about it.
Presents a very common sense but
powerful principles to skills development for those in technology
that can be followed
by others
as well.
Web
Sites With Good Leadership Articles
The
student that takes from once source gets punished,
The
professor that takes from 20 sources gets published
The
scholar that takes from 100 sources gets put on a pedestal.
Murray Johannsen
Few sites with leadership articles
do a very good job of screening their articles so the quality
of the
information is often low. The ones presented below are some
of the better sites one that
seek
to present
useful
content,
ranging
from the expert to the novice.
This is a group of professional speakers who have written
short articles as a means of getting their name out there.
Some good reads, but mostly conventional wisdom combined
with platitudes.
Many of this articles where published in business
magazines so the quality is goodr. For some reason leadership
was
put under the heading management science which is a oxymoron
along the lines of clean coal, temporary tax increase, and
compassionate conservative and job security.
A number of good articles targeted toward
senior managers and executives. Articles are a bit longer, between
2000 and 2500 words. Our favorite title amongst the many is:
"Train Dogs and Develop Leaders."
A 6 minute audio streamed
or PodCast interview with Marshall Goldsmith. Elliott Masie
asks Marshall to discuss his findings about the effectiveness
of leadership
development activities.
