Posts tagged as:

values

Character-based leadership creates energy. Character-based leaders lead out of who they are rather than their position.  They don’t manipulate; they inspire.  Their character, personality, gifts, values, beliefs and behaviors communicate to the whole team and other stakeholders that they are part of the team.  They share the goals and objectives of the team and serve the team in pursuit of that goal.

The team rewards those leaders with energy.   [click to continue…]

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Yesterday, Jennifer V. Miller posted a great article on networking, relationships and office politics.  The article is titled Networking Inside the Company Walls and it’s posted on Jennifer’s blog, The People Equation. It’s the first post in a series initiated by Jane Perdue that will also include Susan Mazza and myself. The idea is that many leadership skills, such as networking and building relationships, can contribute to office politics when applied with wrong motives.

Jennifer makes several great points about the need for networking across functional areas.  The key is to sincerely be working for win-win. If you’re not sure, be careful or get someone you trust to give check your motives. But if you can be sure that you’re committed to the other person’s (and the organization’s) success, then reach out. Everyone likes to be appreciated.  Most like to be helped once they feel they can trust you.  In fact, that’s what my post next week will be about; being sincere and authentic.

Jennifer V MillerOne other thing that Jennifer alludes to in the post: it is your responsibility. The days where you can “just do your job” are coming to an end. You need to know and be known in the organization in order to create value. “Just doing your job” is an invitation to layoffs, unless you have a irreplaceable skill. (Are there any irreplaceable skills any more?)  So the sooner you learn this and get out of your cube, the better off you, your peers, and your organization will be.

So, by all means venture on over to The People Equation and check out the post.  Also, please leave Jennifer a comment and tell her you came from the Lead Change Group.  Then stop back here on January 26 for my installment.

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Leadership or Office Politics Series

January 18, 2010

Jane Perdue of The Braithewaite Group and the Life, Love & Leadership blog has introduced a challenging topic with a post called “Politics are Necessary but Not Necessarily Evil” where she introduces the idea that many of the core characteristics of quality leadership are also the central tenets of office politics.  The only difference is [...]

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War With Apathy

October 27, 2009

In a discussion a few days ago, Mandy Vavrinak made an observation that I promised to write about. She has a knack with words and can typically apply precise wording to a particular effort or idea. She said I was “at war with apathy.”
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines apathy as:

A lack of feeling or emotion
A [...]

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Can You Act Contrary to Your Values?

October 21, 2009

You have probably heard the David Campbell quote: “Discipline is remembering what you want.”  We all have more wants than we can keep up with.  That’s why tools like Getting Things Done (the book and system by David Allen), PDA’s and note-taking applications exist.  We forget what we want.  Our higher, more important values typically [...]

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Leadership Focus and Values Appreciation

July 21, 2009

A month or so ago, I posted an article called “What Grabs You?” I talked about leading from what’s most important to you.  Your values determine the direction of your leadership. People are less likely to follow someone who doesn’t know what he stands for.
Values, or those things we treasure, those things important to us, [...]

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What Grabs You?

June 22, 2009

A follower on Twitter recently asked me to clarify my bio. Since my bio says I’m interested in “applying Christian principles in business,” he wanted to know what biblical principles I applied in business. In effect, he was asking what I value. I couldn’t get it in 140 characters. In fact, I’m [...]

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