Do you claim to be a Leader in your business or your field of expertise? 

I have noticed that many people claim to be Leaders, but are really Slackers.  A Slacker is someone that basically likes to give instruction or direction, but takes no action on advancing themselves or their business.

Does this describe you; or someone else on your Mastermind Team? 

Here are a few clues that might help you to figure it out.

A Leader:  Praises his/her team and offers encouragement

A Slacker:  Is quick to find fault and slow to give praise

A Leader:  Holds himself/herself to a higher standard that his/her team

A Slacker:  Has a high level of expectation for his/her team but doesn’t hold

                 himself/herself to that same high standard

A Leader:  Leads by example and is a role model for his/her team

A Slacker:  Blends in with the crowd and never steps up to take a leadership role

A Leader:  Has a deep rooted belief in his/her business and leads new teammates through the growth process (learning the business and facing obstacles)

A Slacker:  Convinces a person to join his/her team then pawns them off on someone else or simply pushes them to the side (Referred to as “sign and drop”)

Which of these characteristics, best describes you and your teammates?  Be honest with yourself.

Just remember, that a leader must lead and nourish others through the growth process.  If he/she loses integrity and fails to take action, then this same failure mindset will ripple down to his/her teammates.  A team will duplicate their leader and their leader’s actions.

Let me ask you one last time…Are you a Leader or a Slacker?

I've been thinking today about how running our businesses small or large relates to what's happening in the stock market. I keep coming back to the competencies that I teach and support through www.centerforleadershipskills.com  particularly the competencies of Resiliency and Trust.

Business leaders must be able to create an environment that is quickly adaptable to change. Make sure you have the capacity to be flexible/ Resilient. When you are in a flexible mode remember that change always creates stress  therefore the competency of being Trustworthy is absolutely essential.

Be sure that you and your leaders are well schooled in Change Management and the five stages you can expect employees to go through around change. It is your key to success

I also add a couple of competencies of my own – Compassion and Empathy. Be cognizant of what your staff is going through, personally as well. What sets the world on its ear sets families into crisis. Listen carefully, be observant to unspoken needs and communicate with people. Nothing triggers employee angst and fear more than the lack of communication.yet another leadership competency.

Be strong, competent and confident…Lead on!

PS. If I can help, let me know.

Leadership development refers to any method or activity that aims to enhance the quality of leadership of an individual who heads an organization or team. Leadership development activities use to be very rigid, formal and strict because the people who were conducting them wanted to ensure that everything be in a formal setting. Leadership positions were primarily bestowed on those who held a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) or other programs normally offered by prestigious universities and business schools.

Now, the trends in leadership development have shifted to a more relaxed and personal style. Although there is still the serious and formal aspect of it, many leaders are incorporating other means to motivate participants to actively engage. Some trends in leadership development today include action learning which uses movements in teaching leadership values.

Others make use of trails, adventure courses as well as high-ropes to help participants discover their inner leadership potentials. There are also those who indulge in executive retreats believing that these busy people need a quiet and peaceful environment to reflect on their issues and hopefully, come out as better individuals and better leaders.

Types of leadership development --

Leadership development can be applied into two settings—an individual setting or a group setting. In developing individual leaders, traditional approaches are usually used. These usually focus on targeting the individual’s leadership abilities as well as assessing the attitudes of individuals when it comes to leading other people or an organization.

Experts say that leadership may be innate to some people but if not recognized early and not nurtured properly, the effectiveness of his or her ability to lead may decrease over a period of time. To help people with innate leadership skills achieve their fullest potentials, it is a must for them to undergo leadership development as soon as possible.

However, individual leadership development may be hard at first since it is not easy to deal with different personal characteristics that usually hinder the effectiveness of a person's leadership. Experts say that for an individual to enhance his or her leadership, he or she must undergo formalized programs to address issues and improve leadership competencies. But individuals can enhance their leadership skills on their own by developing their focus and their persistence in learning new things.

Aside from developing individual leadership, there is another method of getting the best out of a leader and that is through the help of other people. Unlike in individual leadership development that focuses on specific attributes of a leader such as behavior, ways of thinking, or feeling, the collective leadership development focuses on the development of leadership as a process.

This type of leadership development will target interpersonal relationships, the social influence process, and the team dynamics between the leader and his/her team. It will also focus on factors that surround the team such as the organizational climate as well as the social network linkages among the organization and between its members.

When you are talking to someone do you make them feel that you really care about them? Author and Teacher, Richard Moss says “The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.”

When talking with others, here are a few things you can do to let people know you care:
* Ask open ended questions that start with words like "What' and "How".
* Repeat back what they have said so they feel that they have been heard and understood.
* Don’t interrupt.
* Show that you are listening by nodding your head, smiling and making affirming statements like "I see" or "yes".
* Make solid eye contact and don’t let your eyes wander.
* And keep the conversation on them

The pay off for developing these disciplines is big because you’ve made someone else feel special, and you feel great about doing something good for someone else.

I have repeated the old adage "Act enthusiastic and you'll be enthusiastic" - Frank Betcher,  so many times over the past. In fact, I used it as a mantra with my staff of account mangers to help them rev up their energy when they had a tough client situation...it works all the time.

So what does this have to do with leadership? Well you do need to keep an energetic presence.You know the "speed of the leader is the speed of the team.
But, what I really want to talk about today is how these sayings can help you move forward in times when you are not exactly comfortable with yourself.
For leaders who are not comfortable, I want you to find your leadership model and emulate that person until you feel that you have all the confidence you need to get your job done. When you model a leader whom you admire, you will feel the confidence that goes along with that persons demeanor.

Here is your mantra for the day - "Model an admired leader and you'll act like an admired leader" - can you feel it?

Now, acting like a leader is one thing, you need to remember that one must delve much deeper to really be a leader. Come back soon, next time we'll be talking about competencies and a leaders heart.

For today, find your leadership model and act like the leader you know you can be!