When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to followyour leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: YourCharacter or your Skills. They want to know if you are the kind of personthey want to follow and if you have the skills to take them further. Yes,there are other variables but these are the bulk of the matter. This week wefocus on the kind of skills that cause people to follow your leadership,specifically things that an Extraordinary Leader doesn’t do!

1. Not Riding Momentum – To increase your leadership effectiveness, you wantto learn to ride the momentum of the situation (the positive momentum ofcourse!). When we begin to experience bad momentum we naturally try to stopit and that is good, but many people also have the tendency to try to stopthe positive momentum as well. This comes from our basic desire to havethings “under control.” Unfortunately, often when we try to control thesituation, we actually stop the good that is happening. So let go of thereigns and ride the momentum!

2. Flaunting the Privilege of Leadership – Leadership has its privileges,that is for sure. And rightly so! The entrepreneur who started the companyought to be paid well and reap the rewards for the risks that he or shetook. Unfortunately, human nature is still such that people can resent thesuccess and privileges of others, even if they worked hard for them.Therefore, an extraordinary leader will not be guilty of flaunting theprivileges they have because this is likely to cause a backlash and canactually harm their ability to lead. Whenever possible share the privilegesand rewards of leadership and your followers will love you all the more!

3. Picking People Who Won’t Threaten Them – An Extraordinary Leader willalways try to pick people who are better than them! Again, human nature issuch that we think, “Wait, if I hire her, she’ll have me out of a job in notime.” Then we pick someone of lesser quality, while our competitor hiresthe good one and surges ahead. No, pick the best! If they are better thanyou, you will grow together as a team and you will still be the leader andpeople will respect you for your ability to pick – and lead – a winningteam!

4. Not Having a Second in Command Who Complements Them – An ordinary leaderpicks someone who is like them so they can feel comfortable. AnExtraordinary Leader picks someone who can do all the things that he or shecan’t; someone who can see things in ways that he or she can’t. AnExtraordinary Leader

needs a right hand person who can compliment theirskills and style. This way the old adage is proved true – two heads arebetter than one!

5. Not Giving Power Away – An ordinary leader wants to do as much as theycan so they can be seen as a good, hard worker. They think that they lead byexample in this. An Extraordinary Leader knows that they need to empowerothers to do the work and make the decisions if the organization is to growand they are together going to make a difference. We must let others takeleadership themselves, even if it means they fail at first. This way wemultiply the organizational leadership and we go even further!

6. Unable or Unwilling to Make Hard Decisions – Leadership is a lot ofdecision making. Non-leaders don’t like to make decisions because theyoperate from a subjective viewpoint. They aren’t thinking about the overallhealth of the organization, they are thinking about who will get mad or whomight lose their jobs. While we want to be sensitive to these things, theExtraordinary Leader understands that sometimes hard decisions have to bemade for the sake of the organization – and they make them. Then they carrythem out. John Maxwell says that decisions are like crying babies: bothshould be carried out quickly!

7. Trying to Have No Casualties – This may be the greatest leadership lessonI have ever learned. The Extraordinary Leader knows that anytime theorganization will make ground, there will be casualties. In the movieGladiator, the lieutenant comes to tell Maximus that the troops are notfully ready for battle. Maximus sees that the other side is about to moveand if they don’t move first, they will lose the war. The Lieutenant beginsto say, “The casualties will be too great,” but Maximus finishes thelieutenant’s sentence so that instead he said, “The casualties will be’acceptable.’” I realize now that when my organization moved aheadtremendously a few years ago, the people who got in a huff about it were thecasualties and that any time a group moves ahead, that will happen. Weshouldn’t look for or enjoy casualties, but understand they will assuredlycome, and accept them. So move ahead!

About The Author:

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams.

To see Chris “live” at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on the subject of Secrets of Influence go to http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/ or call 800-929-0434.

Webster’s Dictionary describes a “partner” as an ally or an association built around common interests and goals.

A partnership denotes a joint venture, a relationship built on equal status (rather than inequality). Mutual consent and consideration from both parties are important attributes.

Organizations need leaders with a personal commitment to the idea of building partnerships with employees by establishing goals and missions, listening, being accessible, understanding, empowering others, and maintaining accountability. They need leaders with a sense of dedication for employee productivity, who develops unconditional support and concern. They need leadership coaching to change employees’ patterns of reacting to situations to a more “proactive” style of influencing events. They need people who are empowered risk takers, who can accomplish and break through tasks. Dictatorial edicts, autocratic requests, domineering opinions that amount to marching orders, have no place in this kind of partnership.

Partnering is a more useful approach to building a relationship with an employee. A problem-solving or motivational one-on-one coaching exchange acknowledges a mature adult-to-adult relationship and allows both parties to participate. The employee recognized the coach’s greater experience, and the coach appreciates and helps develop employee talent.

A Two-Way Process

Leadership coaching is a two-way street, which involves quality communication and trust between the manager and the employee. Its underlying premise is always mutual benefit. The better one partner looks, the better the other will too. A lot of power and creativity can come from both managers and employees working together to build and maintain this two-way partnership relationship.

Leadership coaching is a responsibility to effectively coach, train, and develop employees. Research demonstrates that skillful leaders use their ability to listen, reason, ask penetrating questions, and bring out the best in employees. Top managers show that they are

really trying to understand the other person. They are coachable themselves. They rely less on authority and dictums and more on collaboration and negotiation. Effective leaders blend and weave ideas and solutions, and when appropriate defer to the employee. They avoid hammering on employees, criticizing their work and acting in non-productive ways.

Employees also have responsibilities. Those who refuse to participate treat the job mechanically, are disinterested, and in shared responsibility and authority many need to be dismissed – as compassionately and gracefully as possible. Others may need to be brought along slowly until they are helping solve job challenges and other problems.

Quality employees will perform whether a supervisor is watching over them or not. They recognize the key to success is pulling together. Teamwork, mutual benefit, and trust are important guide words for them.

Sometimes building and maintaining a good partnership is not easy. Talking straight to your partner (whether it be a spouse, employee, or a manager) takes a lot of candor, skill, and courage. However, difficulties can be overcome, and in the long run, the benefits are worth the effort.

When you come right down to it, employers and employees have a lot more in common than they have differences. They both can benefit by successful partnerships. As resources are used efficiently and accountability is embraced, salaries will improve through achievement as well as job satisfaction. Everything considered, good leadership coaching between the manager and employee makes a lot of sense and is in the best interest of both parties.

If you would like to learn more about leadership coaching and how it can assist you or your organization, please contact CMOE at (801) 569-3444 or visit their website.

There is a common phrase that says: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I know that most of us have heard it. The problem is that we all too often take it, and other so-called “conventional wisdom” as truth.

Read that phrase again: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

What is conjured up in your mind – what do you think of – when you contemplate those words?

If you’re like most, you believe, for whatever reason, that after a certain age, you can’t learn anything new. That, after a certain point, an ‘old dog’ cannot do anything about who they are or what they are able to do to change the course of their life and it’s direction, level of happiness or ability to produce the results that they would like to see.

The old dog in the phrase doesn’t have to be ‘old’ in the sense of years though. I’ve met many people several years my junior, who believe that because they’ve done so many things a certain way, that, for them at least, any other way is out of the question.

And therein lies the theme for this article. For, it is the belief in so-called ‘truths’ like this one that most often prevents otherwise powerful people – individuals filled with the potential for greatness – to break through to the happiness and success they seek.

Although, there are many that contribute to your overall progress, we’ll be focusing on the success trait of ‘commitment.’ The dictionary describes commitment as a ‘duty,’ ‘promise,’ ‘responsibility,’ or ‘pledge.’ And, each of these key words can be used to focus our intention on breaking free of these self and outwardly imposed limiting beliefs to unleash our own power to be what we choose. Understanding with clarity and focus will allow us to set up our lives in a way that danger cannot touch us, and if it did it would be dealt with . . . quickly and decisively.

Let’s look at each of these ‘keys’ to commitment, as they relate to the concept of Warriorship and our desire to engage the world in a positive, productive, way in order to better understand why we must grab the opportunity (or as a great poet reminded us to “seize the day!”) for growth whenever possible.

Duty

Related to the concept of leadership, each one of is a role model in the life of at least one other person. Regardless of whether you are a parent or not, someone is looking at how you move, act, speak and the like. And, they are deciding for themselves about these actions. If they like what they see, even if you would call something a bad habit, they may embrace that ‘habit’ as a truth to be lived up to. They want to be “just like you.” If we are truly concerned about the fate of others and our influence over their lives in a positive way, it is our duty to be the best ‘example’ that we can be. We don’t have to literally be a teacher, or have a job whose official title says “leader,” but, we are an example that others are following. The question we must ask ourselves is, “how do I take control of the way I inspire or motivate others?”

Promise

This key can be seen to be a reflection of the water realm of clarity and truth and the wind realm of accomplishment through action. When we make a promise, we communicate something, in the form of a truth that others can rely on. Much like the commitment that two people make to each other when they get married, a promise is the creation of something that creates safety and security for another. And, it is the outward, ‘other’ focus that make a promise an important aspect of commitment and our ability to get

necessary help from others when we need it. The question here is, “what benefit will others (and myself) receive if I succeed in my endeavor?”

Responsibility

This key has to do with our liability or accepted obligation for seeing that something is done. This is the opposite of the “it’s not my job” attitude often heard and lived by the lazy personality. In order for us to commit to something, we have to see and accept our own responsibility for making it so. In fact, to take this even further, we must see accept complete liability for the failure of something not happening. The statement that, “if it’s to be it’s up to me” leads me on. The question, “what it does it say about me, when I take responsibility for my life and actions?”Pledge – Related to the fire realm of connection and expression, a pledge is a vow and a means of engaging with a goal or cause. Much deeper in meaning and understanding than a promise – just as the ‘pledge of allegiance’ is a more powerful title than the ‘promise of allegiance’ – this key comes from the heart. We feel so strongly about the necessity for the goal to be attained that there is no doubt, no hesitation, no fear of failure. We are so totally committed that the pledge sounds more like a statement of ‘of course it will happen’ than a wish to somehow appear in the world as if by magic. Feeling sparks the question, “what makes this goal so important that it must be accomplished?”

Though the four keys can be found to be synonyms of each other and, for many, indistinguishable from each other, the subtle differences in context can mean all the difference in being committed to something and merely saying that we are committed.

So, how about you? How committed are you to those things you say are important. How much do you your really want to change your life – to create results that can benefit both yourself and others – to create the life you’ve always dreamed of living? How important is your Ninja Martial Arts training and your successfully learning the skills of Mastery?

Saying or thinking that you’re the ‘old dog’ in the phrase we talked about earlier just says that you recognize how limited you’ve become in your own habitual patterns. But, it’s never too late to start creating new habits and success patterns. In fact, the world depends on you’re taking action – and now! Because, if there’s one thing the world does need is one more truly successful person – one more bright light – one more honest, respectful, engaged person who does exactly what they say they will do because they recognize their purpose and is willing enough, no brave enough, to break from the those who will settle for mediocrity.

Here’s the formula: If you change, you will grow. But to grow, you must be committed to act – to do exactly what must be done to make the world, if only your little corner of it, a better place in which to live.

Jeffrey M. Miller is the founder and master instructor of Warrior Concepts International. A senior teacher in the Japanese warrior art of Ninjutsu, he specializes in teaching the ancient ways of self-protection and personal development lessons in a way that is easily understood and put to use by modern Western students and corporate clients. Through their martial arts training, his students and clients learn proven, time-tested lessons designed to help them create the life they’ve always dreamed of living, and the skills necessary for protecting that life from anything that might threaten it. To learn more about this and other subjects related to the martial arts, self-defense, personal development & self-improvement, visit his website at http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.” -Thomas Paine

“The best index to a person’s character is (a) how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can’t fight back.” -Abigail van Buren

“Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are to some extent a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece…by thought, choice, courage, and determination.” -John Luther Long

____________________________________________

Here is a simple tip for aspiring leaders – It is far better to have character than to be one.

I once heard Bob McEwen (former Congressman from Ohio) define character as the combination of morality and integrity. According to his definition, morality is not doing the wrong thing while integrity is having the strength to do the right thing.

Based on this definition, character is not something you just have. You must work to build character every day. It is something that develops over time, but is destroyed in a moment.

Why, as a leader, is character a big deal?

Without even considering the moral and legal implications of character lapses, just look at the impact on your organization. As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” By this standard, your personal character will become the character of your organization. Consider these facts:

• 58% of workers surveyed indicated that employee fraud would decrease if managers (company leaders) were better role models (Oct 2002, Ernst & Young, “The CPA Letter”)

• 80% of people surveyed indicated that they decide to buy a firm’s goods or services partly on their perception of its ethics (2003, Wirthlin Worldwide)

• Unethical behavior leads to more sabotaging behavior in the workplace, such as:

o Under delivering on commitments

o Over promising to win a customer or gain support for a project

o Wasting time and energy guarding turf

o Lowering goals to avoid failure rather than striving for excellence

o Padding the budget to look better

o Fudging results to stay competitive

o Hiding facts

o Skipping over details

o Withholding praise from others

o Hogging credit

o Shifting or buffering blame

o Looking for scapegoats

(Case Western Reserve University, Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science)

As you can see from the results of these studies, the character of the leader affects not only the behavior of the organization, but its results as well. I do not know all the details of the Enron or MCI WorldCom scandals, but I do know that the fallout hurt the companies and their employees. These examples are extreme cases of character failures, but many smaller ones happen in business and

organizational life every day.

As usual, I have a story to relate to illustrate my point. One time I hired a man to work in a department I managed. During the hiring process, I realized that a woman in the department, working in the same capacity, was significantly underpaid compared to both industry standards and the starting salary of the man we were hiring. I immediately went to my supervisor and attempted to negotiate a resolution plan. In response to my request to adjust her salary he asked, “Does she know that he will be making more than her?” This perspective floored me. It seems that her knowledge of the situation, rather than a determination of whether it was right or wrong, was the deciding factor on whether it should be addressed or not. At that moment, I remembered a statement I had heard long before: “Character is what you do when no one is watching.”

Unfortunately, I was unable to persuade my supervisor to take action in this case. This response severely damaged my trust and respect for both the person and the organization. I eventually left the organization for other reasons, but in retrospect, I probably should have left sooner. When it comes to character, leaders simply cannot compromise.

You can staff your organization to compensate for skill and knowledge deficiencies. You must stand alone on character. Do not let short-term thinking entice you into small, subtle concessions on matters of character. Be a leader of high morals and impeccable integrity in everything you do.

So, I encourage you to remember this simple tip . . .

It is far better to have character than to be one.

You may use this article for electronic distribution if you will include all contact information with live links back to the author. Notification of use is not required, but I would appreciate it. Please contact the author prior to use in printed media.

Copyright 2005, Guy Harris

Guy Harris is a Recovering Engineer. He works as Relationship Repairman and People-Process Integrator. His background includes service as a US Navy Submarine Officer, functional management with major multi-national corporations, and senior management in an international chemical business. As the owner of Principle Driven Consulting, he helps entrepreneurs, business managers, and other organizational leaders improve team performance by applying the principles of human behavior.

Guy co-authored “The Behavior Bucks System(tm)” to help parents reduce stress and conflict with their children by effectively applying behavioral principles in the home. Learn more about this book at http://www.behaviorbucks.com

Learn more about Guy at http://www.principledriven.com