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Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a New Business
Owning a home used to be the “American Dream.” However, this long-standing goal that so many aspired to, and ultimately reached, has been replaced with a new goal -- becoming a business owner. At first glance it sounds perfect: Leave the...
It Starts with the Selection Process: Prevention is the Best Cure
How many times have you heard this when talking with an experienced coach or consultant. You say: 1.My department is not making quotas. I’ve provided training. I motivate. What am I doing wrong? 2.My marketing department head does good work,...
Personal Financial Inventory
Financial stress. Something most people have known for different periods and seasons of their lives, for some it's a lifetime of stress, others only periods of it. It's definitely something that robs your level of comfort and peace. Solving some of...
Real Estate Values or Just Bad Habits
There are several small businesses that retain hundred-year-old traditions, Hand-dipping chocolates, fresh flowers on every table in a restaurant,or mints and roses on a guest's pillow at a B&B. Loyal customers come to expect these little perks or...
What is a Business Analyst? (Part 1)
What is a Business Analyst?
Today the term Business Analyst is synonymous with a career in
the IT industry but the most successful and valuable analysts
are those who understand the "business" rather than those who
understand IT.
So...
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Modern Managers Need Leadership Skills
Managers and Leaders - Are They Synonyms?
A manager is the person in charge of commanding and running a
business or a project. Leadership deals with the interpersonal
relations. Managing means planning, developing and organizing.
In the contemporary society leadership qualities along with
managing abilities are a must.
If there is one thing I've learnt during my career as a military
TV redactor in the Romanian Ministry of Defence, that is that
leadership has never been simple. In this day and age even
military leaders are confronted with many challenges including
bureaucracy, media influence, internationalisation and changes
of cultural and economic patterns.
One thing is so far clear: a leader is not a ruler or a despot.
His role is to guide, to inspire, to communicate, to build trust
and to direct toward the achievement of goals.
Many managers consider themselves leaders. Well, that's not
entirely accurate. When a manager is able to persuade a team to
complete some objectives without forcing his authority, then he
is demonstrating leadership qualities. While a leader can be a
manager, a manager is not necessary a leader.
Make no confusions: to be in charge of a team doesn't
automatically make you a leader. People choose their leaders
naturally, based on personal feelings, most of the times
subjective evaluations. There are some traditional patterns
people look for in a leader: physical appearance, social and
personal traits. Studies prove that tall and handsome men make
charismatic leaders. Education plays a significant role, but not
as important as individual qualities such as charisma,
magnetism, reputation and tact. Such leaders have to be self
confident and able to listen to their followers. While physical
appearance cannot be changed, but slightly improved with the
right clothing, other behaviours can be trained.
Leadership Training - Is That Really Necessary?
My answer is yes. Leaders are made, not born. There is no such a
thing as a natural born leader - this is just a label used to
describe a person able to influence others easily. Because
everyone has a natural born capacity to lead, becoming a leader
is not so difficult. To achieve this goal training and learning
go hand in hand.
What should a leader learn? The art of communicating a message
across effectively and clearly is a vital part of being a
successful leader. Speaking is not enough. Important factors,
such as understanding and using body language, listening and
writing, fuse to generate the lifeblood of good communication.
A leader should learn to overcome other's people barriers when
delivering a message. There are three basic rules to achieve
this goal: be clear in your mind, deliver the message in plain
language and make sure that the idea has been understood.
Cultural differences can make it difficult for some people to
communicate effectively. Germans and Nordics are more restrained
in gesture than many Latin nations, while Americans and
Australians can say exactly what they mean. A "be yourself"
approach can work - there is no better marketing than telling
the truth. Be honest, but not impolite. Do not try to be anyone
else or copy another one's style.
You've heard that often: first impressions are very important.
In business and media that's a proven theory: the first five
seconds of a meeting are more important than the next ten
minutes. A faultless look, even if informal, makes always a good
impact: matching decent colours, impeccable shoes and garments,
a proper haircut and no exaggeration with
cologne will not err.
Certainly there's more to leadership training than one can write
in a short article: from learning the secret of clear
communication both within the team and with the media, to
understanding and using gestures; from learning how to listen to
recognizing and overcoming prejudice (ground rule: think about
the words you hear, not the person saying them); from reading
efficiently to taking notes and improving memory; from using the
phone to writing letters and much more.
Because the contemporary society is continuously changing,
modern managers and leaders need to improve their skills
constantly and to gather knowledge vital for their
organizations.
Leadership Theories In 1960 the Douglas McGregor described two
behavioural theories, "Theory X" and "Theory Y", in his book
"The Human Side of Enterprise".
Theory X represents the idea of ruling by controlling, the
so-called "stick and carrot" philosophy of management. According
to Freud people are naturally lazy and need to be controlled or
punished in order to work effectively. Some managers do believe
these affirmations. In the modern society such approaches lead
nowhere: employees get frustrated, feel uncomfortable at work,
tend to introvert, perform just because they are afraid of some
consequences and not because they are motivated. As long as this
theory - you can find a better description of it on the web by
typing Douglas McGregor in any search engine - will influence
managers, the real potentials of an employee will remain hidden.
McGregor's Theory Y gives prominence to communication and human
interrelations. Managers who create a harmonious working
environment motivate workers. The idea is that a satisfied team
will achieve goals faster and more proficient than a frustrated,
fearful team. Adepts of the Theory Y give confidence to their
followers, know how to listen and how to reward them and support
initiative and creativity. The individual and organizational
goals can be integrated. This is the kind of approach the modern
society longs for. People need to be respected and valued for
what and who they are. Although there are common traits for us
all, it's a wrong approach to generalize.
Why Motivate?
Treat your workers as individuals and soon you will be able to
harvest the fruits of their work. And don't forget: a "thank
you, well done" motivates and wins a heart and a won heart means
a step towards attaining loyalty.
To motivate means to understand human nature. Motivation is an
essential factor in the existence and success of a company and
it is a skill which must be learnt. Forget the idea that money
is the prime motivator. Nowadays security is a major stimulus:
unemployment determines workers to appreciate the security of a
job. Well, sure employees will act positively to a raise or a
money prize, but if they don't like the job, the company or
(yes!) the manager is unlikely that they will perform at their
best.
Conclusion
As people have a normal predisposition to follow certain
attitudes, modern managers and leaders should be careful and
conduct by example. In order to avoid the perception of
inconsistency within the management team, training their
leadership skills is a necessity.
About the author:
Mihaela Lica is a skilled journalist and PR consultant, founder
of Pamil Visions - http://www.pamil-visions.com/
Previously she used to work as a military TV redactor for Pro
Patria and the Military Media Trust within the Public Relations
Directorate of the Romanian Ministry of Defence.
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| Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
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| Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
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| Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
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| Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
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| Crayola Creativity Central |
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| All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
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| Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
| Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
| members.optusnet.com.au |
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| gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
| So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
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| Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
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| Ideas by Creativity Pool |
| A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
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| CREATIVITY |
| Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
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| Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
| This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
| www.mindtools.com |
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| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
| A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
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| CreativeClass.org |
| Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
| www.creativeclass.org |
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| TIP: Concepts |
| The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
| tip.psychology.org |
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| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
| An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
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| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
| A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
| www.creax.net |
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