Motivation, Inspiration…Barack Obama Rally under the Arch St. Louis, MO

100,000 came to listen

Some were Senators

Some were Gold Medal athletes

others were CNN news reporters

 

Most were everyday people

the Message... Change, Hope and Faith tomorrow can be a better day.

He motivated and inspired. We need to act. Nov. 4, 2008

Filed under: Barack Obama, Claire McCaskill, Inspiration, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Life, News, People, Time Management, politics, teamwork , Barack Obama, MO, Obama Rally, St. Louis, the Arch

Situational Leadership Model

Those of you who haven’t taken the course and aren’t familiar, please let me know and I’d be glad to give additional comments, or answer questions.

Basically…. (most of this explanation is taken from Wikipedia)

Leadership styles are characterized into four behavior types S1 to S4:

• S1: Directing/Telling 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.

• S2: Coaching/Selling Leaders still define roles and tasks, but seek ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader’s prerogative, but communication is much more two-way.

• S3: Supporting/Participating 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.

• S4: Delegating 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.

Of these, no one style is considered optimal or desired for all leaders to possess. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation. However, each leader tends to have a natural style, and in applying Situational Leadership he must know his intrinsic style.

Development levels

The right leadership style will depend on the person being led – the follower. Blanchard and Hersey extended their model to include the Development Level of the follower. They stated that the leader’s chosen style should be based on the competence and commitment of her followers. They categorized the possible development of followers into four levels, which they named D1 to D4:

• D1: Low Competence, High Commitment – They generally lack the specific skills required for the job in hand. However, they are eager to learn and willing to take direction.

• D2: Some Competence, Low Commitment – They may have some relevant skills, but won’t be able to do the job without help. The task or the situation may be new to them.

• D3: High Competence, Variable Commitment – They are experienced and capable, but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well or quickly.

• D4: High Competence, High Commitment – They are experienced at the job, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They may even be more skilled than the leader.

Development Levels are also situational. I might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in my job, but would still drop into Level D1 when faced, say, with a task requiring skills I don’t possess. For example, many managers are D4 when dealing with the day-to-day running of their department, but move to D1 or D2 when dealing with a sensitive employee “issue”

The development level is now called the performance readiness level (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2008). It is based on the Development levels and adapted from Hersey’s Situational Selling and Ron Campbell of the Center for Leadership Studies has expanded the continuum of follower performance to include behavioral indicators of each readiness level.

• R1: Unable and Insecure or Unwilling – Follower is unable and insecure and lacks confidence or the follower lacks commitment and motivation to complete tasks.

• R2: Unable but Confident or Willing – Follower is unable to complete tasks but has the confidence as long as the leader provides guidance or the follower lacks the ability but is motivated and making an effort.

• R3: Able but Insecure or Unwilling – Follower has the ability to complete tasks but is apprehensive about doing it alone or the follower is not willing to use that ability.

• R4: Able and Confident and Willing – Follower has the ability to perform and is confident about doing so and is committed.

Filed under: Business, Feedback, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, training , Management Lessons, Managing People, Situational Leadership, Situational Leadership Model

Take an Optimism Quiz

This quiz is 15 questions and takes about 5-7 minutes to answer (unless you over think it all.)  Email the link to your staff and have them take it, always good to know who’s an optimist and who’s a pessimist.

The quiz will open in a new window.

Filed under: Business, Life, Management Lesson, Motivation , employee motivation, Optimism, Pessimism, Quiz, Self-Test

Ronald Reagan Leadership Quote of the Day

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”

— Ronald Reagan

Filed under: Business, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, quote of the day , delegate, delegation, leadership, Management, politics, quote, quote of the day, Ronald Reagan

Henry Kissinger Leadership Quote of the Day…Getting from A to B

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

— Henry Kissinger

Where is your team right now?  Can you draw a map that details these things:

• Where are you right now?
• Where do you want to go? (The goal)
• Are there more important or more logical “stops along the way”

Now discover how you get there.  Determining these “stops along the way” is critical.  A journey is almost never a non stop flight from A to B; it has points A1, A2, A3… all along the way.  And B itself should never be the end, it is a stop along the way to C, and to D, and to E…

Ask everyone on your team to take 5 minutes a map this same exercise.  It’s interesting to have the group decide point A and point B, but then let them be original and determine the path between the two on their own.  Share the differences between each scenario and determine, as a group, the best way to get there.  Use something from everyone’s idea.

Happy travels!

 

Filed under: Business, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, training , Business, Business News, henry kissinger, leadership, Management Lesson, Map your course, quote of the day

Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

Filed under: Business, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, Time Management, video , Business, Lecture, Life, Management, Randy Pausch, Time Management, video

The Secret of Branding and Customer Service; the Whopper Freak Out Video

While watching American Idol recently, I saw a commercial for Burger King.  If you haven’t seen this Whooper Freak Out Video, click the name and watch.  It’s quite funny and insightful.  The reactions of the customers are varied but the center on one central theme:  the product they’d come to know and love, the product that WAS Burger King to them was gone.  And with the disappearance of this item, their impression of the company was changed as well.

The question is, what in your current business is the Whopper?  What would you take away that if you did, the customer would simply not stand for it?  What would get these reactions from your customers? 

The challenge is… Can you make exceptional customer service your Whopper?  Can you make exceptional customer service such a focus that if one day it were gone, the customer would not stand for it.  If you can, you’ll grow your business like never before.

Filed under: Customer Service, Exceptional Customer Service, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Management Training, Motivation, News, Whopper Freak Out Video

Meerkat Manor’s Flower and Lessons on Being an Exceptional Leader

If you are familiar with the series, Meerkat Manor, then you are familiar with their courageous, inspiring leader, Flower.  As you might know, she was killed in combat.  She died defending her family and protecting her way of life.  As managers, as leaders we have much to gain from her examples as leader of the Kalaharis.

Most prominent in this lesson is her keen ability to push forward, to constantly strive to acheive the tasks before her.  Granted her motivation was the greatest motivation of them all–life or death.  She knew her actions would affect her entire family’s ability to survive in the harsh conditions.  While we may not have such extreme motivators, we cans still learn and implement the leadership that is her legacy. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll dedicate this series to the life she lead, the lessons she taught, and the young leaders who are now thriving because of her teachings.  Join Management Lessons as we embark on “Lessons from a Flower”.

Filed under: Animal Planet, Flower, Inspiration, Lessons From a Flower, Life, Management Lesson, Meerkat Manor, Motivation

Practice What You Preach

Some of the best advice we can receive is the advice we hand out.  Recently, I had to learn this hard lesson.  It is much easier to consult, and critique another’s staff, another’s issues, another’s opportunites.  The hard part and the often times overlooked necessity is to turn our powers of observation and inspiration on ourselves.  In the words of Clarice Starling, “I think you’re scared.”

Filed under: Feedback, Inspiration, Life, Motivation

Today’s Thought

Great things don’t happen to people; people make great things happen.

Filed under: Business, Inspiration, Life, Management Lesson, Motivation, News