June 2015
INSIDE:
GETING RID OF THE VAMPIRES IN YOUR LIFE
ELITE
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR LEADERS
HOW TO TURN FAILURE INTO SUCCESS
INTERVIEW WITH BLACK CAPS COACH MIKE HESSON
THE ROADMAP TO SUCCESS
⭐ TOP TIPS TO INSPIRE YOUR TEAM⭐ GIVING YOUR TEAM A PURPOSE.⭐
www.EliteLD.co.nz
CONTENTS 3 TURNING FAILURE INTO SUCCES
EDITOR Mark Wager mark@EliteLD.co.nz
ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES sales@EliteLD.co.nz
COVER IMAGE Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
COACHING ENQUIRIES coaching@EliteLD.co.nz
Failure is inevitable and happens to all of us. You might not feel it at the time but failure is the best thing that could happen to you. The key is how you deal with failure and this article provides a few tips.
5 INTERVIEW WITH BLAK CAPS COACH MIKE HESSON
The New Zealand cricket team has had a remarkable year of success. I sat down with their Head Coach to learn more about his philosophy on leadership.
10 TOP TIPS: HOW TO INSPIRE YOUR TEAM
IMAGES BY Stuart Miles Nattavut Sura Nualpradid renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Is it a skill that can be learned, or is it just natural charisma? The good news is that the ability to inspire people is the same as any other aspect of leadership, a skill that can be learned.
13 GET RID OF THE VAMPIRES IN YOUR LIFE
There are people in this world who look and talk like us but they are different. These people have unfulfilled lives. Where there should be self-love there are gaps.
17 GIVING YOUR TEAM A PURPOSE
Often considered only something to be done at an organisational level defining a purpose at the team level allows everyone to examine the status quo.
21 THE ROADMAP TO SUCCESS
When I share a success story, I get two kinds of reactions from people and it's in this reaction that I know instantly if this person has a chance of reaching their full potential.
23 THE DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP
12 QUOTES OF THE MONTH
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www.EliteLD.co.nz
Welcome to Elite Leadership Development Magazine
All material appearing in Elite leadership is copyright material and cannot be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher.
One of the most exciting and a little but scary aspects of leadership is that with every new bit of knowledge gained is the realisation that there is still so much left to learn. This is why I enjoy interviewing leaders from different fields. Just before the Cricket World Cup I interviewed the Head Coach of the New Zealand Cricket Team, Mike Hesson who shared his views on how development of leadership within the Black Caps was instrumental in the teams success. The full interview can be found on page five. If you have recently met a leader who has inspired you and you think they would be interested in being interviewed, let me know and I will get in touch. My email address is mark@eliteld.co.nz or find me on Twitter at Mark_Wager I just want to say thank you to everyone who has downloaded issues one and two of this magazine. This magazine is a free resource for anyone who has an interest in being an effective leader and will remain free so as long as people find it interesting. Thanks, Mark
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Turning Failure Into Success By Mark Wager
MARK WAGER: TURNING FAILURE INTO SUCCESS Failure is that horrible experience that we try desperately hard to avoid. In fact most people are so desperate to avoid failure that it prevents them from trying in the first place. Failure is inevitable and happens to all of us. You might not feel it at the time but failure is the best thing that could happen to you. The key is how you deal with failure and here are a few tips. “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan
negative occurrence but instead should be seen as a positive one which if approached in the right way can provide you with lessons which will greatly increase the chances of success next time. It's only when we define the reality of the present that we are truly able to plan our future. Tip 2: Take a step back A lot of people have the initial reaction of responding to failure immediately. This can be a crucial mistake as in this moment you will be flooded with a range of emotions many of which will be negative so this is not the time to evaluate the situation. Take a moment walk away and gather your thoughts.
Tip 1: Be prepared for the truth Failure is by definition your judgement of what has happened in comparison to what you wanted to occur. This is not a ISSUE 3 | www.EliteLD.co.nz | Page 3
Tip 3: Take responsibility One of the key differences in behaviour between people who succeed and people who fail is the allocation of responsibility of failure. Many people blame other people, they blame circumstances they even put it down to bad luck but successful people take responsibility for the failure and responsibility for their life and their destiny. Tip 4: Gather information The way back to success starts with defining the reality of your current position. Gather feedback by talking to people around you and listen to what they say even if it’s not what you want to hear. Remember how you think you come across may be different to how people perceive you. These perceptions are important and you need to know if they exist.
Tip 7: Never give up The most important lesson is also the most difficult one to implement and that is to have the belief in yourself in order to continue your journey and not to give up. It is difficult because there will be days that you don’t feel right and just want to bury your head and not face the world. We all have these days but it’s on such days that we gain the most by believing that our dreams are in fact our destiny. "Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up" - Chinese proverb
Tip 5: Evaluate your own performance At the end of the day after you have gathered as much information as possible you have to be your own judge and how close you get to your dreams will be defined by how well you evaluate yourself. Look at what you did well and what areas you can improve on. I personally use the keep-startstop model. I look at one thing that I need to keep on doing. What is the one thing that I need to start doing and the most important thing I need to stop doing. Tip 6: Let go of the past Failure may seem brief but we can often carry the weight of failure around our necks for a long time. It's only when we can put failure behind us that we can look towards success. Ask yourself what is the weight that's holding you back and why are you allowing it to slow you down. Be prepared to move on and start focusing on the future.
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Leadership in Sport: Mike Hesson By Mark Wager This is the first in a series of articles in which I sit down and interview some of the most prominent leaders in New Zealand sport. I want to see how important leadership is in sports and if the principles of sports leadership can be successfully applied within other organisations. Recently I had the opportunity to visit the head office of New Zealand Cricket. Entering through the doors, the first thing you see is the trophy
cabinet right next to the reception. The interesting thing about the trophy cabinet is upon closer inspection it's filled with trophies that have been won within the past few years. In a country that is known for the success of the All Blacks rugby team it's easy to overlook the remarkable success that New Zealand Cricket has achieved and especially since Mike Hesson has become Head Coach.
I sat down with Mike Hesson to get his views on leadership.
"I think if you are able to sell a vision then people will follow"
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(Mark Wager) Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to talk to me. Lets start by discussing what your definition of leadership is? (Mike Hesson) Firstly, it’s the way you frame up how the team operates. As a leader you need to set those boundaries those definitions about how you want to do things around here and then put criteria in place and be clear what their role is and how they fit. I see my role as defining how we go about things and breaking it down so that everyone in the organisation knows how they fit in, what their role is and how they will be judged. (Mark Wager) In your relatively short spell as Head Coach of the Black Caps you have already seen victories in away test series over traditionally stronger opponents such as The West Indies in the Caribbean and India. How much of this
success do you put down to the quality of leadership in your team? (Mike Hesson) It’s a combination of things. The team now is very clear of those expectations, sure I’ve helped lead that but we have also developed a leadership group that involves leadership from the support staff also having a player leadership group and if they are driving it that’s far more likely to have some success and we now have a very good playing group that drive the group and ultimately if I’m doing my job properly I’m just tweaking here and there. A lot of the work takes place by the playing group.
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(Mark Wager) What role does the leadership play in setting the expectations in behaviour (Mike Hesson) They do but we are slightly different. I’ve been through teams that have reams of paper that sets how we do things around here, roles and expectations but I’ve gone away from that. I prefer, this is what we are trying to achieve here’s a few basics standards of behaviour and expectations, the rest of it to be fair is common sense. Are you working in the best interest of the team yes or no? If you are its simple carry on doing it. If it’s no we need to have a discussion about that. I find the more you write down and the more opportunities you have to sneak around the edges, I’ve been through that, and I don’t think it works. I think if you have genuine buy-in form the group they know what’s right and wrong. (Mark Wager) What qualities did you see in your Captain Brendan McCullum that make him such an effective leader? (Mike Hesson) He’s very consistent in his approach, he is quite a charismatic character but he’s also really consistent every day. He doesn’t have highs and lows. I think within a leadership group you have got to have people that are really consistent as players. They go through a lot of emotions and stresses and when they look at leaders within a group they have got to know that they are under control
(Mark Wager) You mean emotionally? (Mike Hesson) Emotionally I think when a decision is made they look at Brendan on the park. That‘s a good trait. You are clearly a leader when people look to you for direction. It’s his actions, he speaks well and he’s very engaging so I think our leadership group works well because he does work a lot with the players. It’s not an authoritarian style. I think that’s important in our sport. (Mark Wager) What is the single most important factor in getting your team behind you? (Mike Hesson) I think giving clear direction. I think if you are able to sell a vision then people will follow and I think secondary to that, players need to have a voice. I think that’s important in sound leadership.
“We understand the principle of how to become an expert but the principle of hard work can’t be underestimated. Talent will only take you so far."
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(Mark Wager) The England and Wales cricket board have gone on record about how they use behavioural preference tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI) In order to develop an individuals understanding of themselves and their colleagues, what methods do you employ to get the same results?
interesting people. We don’t want clones and that individuality is encouraged.
(Mike Hesson) There are a lot of different tools you can use. Whenever you build a team there are a variety of personalities and one of the things that we do is select on character. How they fit within a group. Character can be defined in many ways but fundamentally you have to be a good person and be able to buy into a team first culture and when you have those types of people you can work out where they fit, but we also have players that enter our group at 19/20 and some of them leave at 35. Sure some of those character traits stay the same but also they can be manoeuvred through the environment they are in. When they arrive at 19 they might be unsure of who they are. They could change over time.
(Mike Hesson) I think so. We are trying to win games of cricket but we are following a clear method in terms of getting the best out of a large group of individuals and working with them so whether we are selling bread or whatever it is we are able to apply the same principles and get people the right seat on the bus. Buying into what they can do, and understand their role and get satisfaction from what they do.
We gather a profile on players through experience with their major associations, with New Zealand A and other teams. We gather a lot of information from different staff so we build up a picture of the players from a playing point of view and a personality point of view. We don’t select on personality. The beauty of cricket is that we a have a variety of people and every team I’ve coached I’ve had the pleasure of having some
(Mark Wager) Do you believe that the principles that make a successful cricket side can be used in other industries outside of sports?
(Mark Wager) What leadership books can you recommend? (Mike Hesson) I’ve enjoyed Outliers: The story of success by Malcolm Gladwell. We understand the principle of how to become an expert but the principle of hard work can’t be underestimated. Talent will only take you so far. So appreciating that there are exceptions to that, the rough diamond principle. They just need to have that trait to work hard as well.
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Top Tips: How To Inspire Your Team Every month we will look at some practical tips to help Managers in every situation
We all aspire to be great leaders. When we look at leaders, we admire one quality. That quality is the ability to inspire people.
How do they do this? Is it a skill that can be learned, or is it just natural charisma? The good news is that the ability to inspire people is the same as any other aspect of
leadership, a skill that can be learned. Here are some top tips that will help you develop this rare and invaluable skill.
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Be passionate:
Become a storyteller:
When an inspiring leader is described, you always hear the the same word and that word is "passionate". If you care about something, and I mean really care don’t be afraid to be passionate about it. Share it, scream it from the rooftops if you have to. Even if people don’t initially share that same passion, eventually they will.
There has never been a person that has been inspired by a graph. Well not a sane person anyway. Share your journey and the journeys of people who have been on a similar path that you are now expecting your team to take. Make the journey real to people, make them realise that the emotions they feel have been felt by others including yourself but like those people before them, they will find that this journey is the right one.
Be honest about your weaknesses: If you have been a Manager for a significant amount of time, you may have forgotten this key fact, so you may want to sit down while you read this. Your team knows you are not perfect . Every member of the team has areas they need to develop and you are no different . Share those challenges with your team. They won’t be viewed as weaknesses and to be honest, they will, more than likely already know. Care about people: Deep down at some level we all want to feel valued. We want to believe that there is some greater reason for our existence. While as a leader, you can never fill the need that should be filled by healthy personal relationships, remember to ask about their weekend, how they are feeling, share a joke or two. Its the small things that count. Show that you value them not only as an employee but as a person.
Go beyond what is expected: In order to expect your team to do things which will amaze and impress you, first of all you have to do the same for them. Find out what is the most they expect of you as a leader and then use that as your starting point. Exceed what is expected of you and your team will do the same in return. Lead by example: Communication comes in different forms and with different levels of effectiveness but nothing is more effective than demonstrating the behaviours you want your team to demonstrate.
“Deep down at some level we all want to feel valued. We want to believe that there is some greater reason for our existence"
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH
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Get Rid Of The Vampires In Your Life By Mark Wager The vampire is one of the most iconic images in history from. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula” through to Nosferatu leading up to Anne Rice’s and Stephanie Meyers’ modern day interpretations. The visual image of the vampire has changed during the years but the consistent characteristic has remained; the vampires need to suck the blood from the living and make them undead, a
vampire like themselves The vampire has been used as an analogy for many things throughout literature, whether it’s a symbol of guilt, a repressed sexual need or an expression of the wealthy feeding of the poor, the story of the vampire can be a powerful expression. This made me consider just how many of us have vampires in our lives and how we could get rid of them
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There are people in this world who look and talk like us but they are different. These people have unfulfilled lives. Where there should be self-love there are gaps. Where there should be light there is only darkness and they believe the only way to relieve this darkness is to take the light away from other people’s lives. When they see happiness in other people they don't use it as an incentive to what they themselves could achieve but instead they wish to feed of this light. These people are simply modern day vampires and you need them out of your life. What makes a vampire? They started off like everyone else and like most people they looked at their lives and didn’t like what they saw. Not uncommon but most of us have been there and what makes these vampires different is, when they saw themselves in the mirror, an unfulfilled life, and did not like what they saw, the blame for this life was transferred to everyone else but themselves. They blamed circumstances, they blamed their boss, their partners and, other people but never themselves. This thinking results in failure to take full responsibility for the state of their own lives, their career and their happiness. They will never ever resolve their issues and will never ever live their life to its full potential. They are not fully alive, they only appear alive. They continue to reinforce this shadow of a life by believing that anyone who achieves success only does so because of luck or chance so they consciously make a decision to put down that person’s achievements, they feed off their energy, their success with the sole aim to make the successful person as lifeless as themselves.
“They continue to reinforce this shadow of a life by believing that anyone who achieves success only does so because of luck or chance" How do you spot a vampire? Don’t be fooled and think that the vampires in your life are obvious. The ones that are obvious are likely not in your life and you are keeping them at a distance. The dangerous ones are the ones who may be close to you. They are nice and bubbly and may smile when you share good news but it’s in these moments of sharing that you see the difference. They will immediately respond by either covertly diminishing your achievements by saying “you are so lucky” or “how on earth did you do that?” Deep down the resentment is building and so is the desire to suck the energy out of you. Another sign is that they will talk about a personal achievement of theirs which is not related to your topic.
“Ask yourself, why do you allow these people in your life?"
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Why get rid of the vampires? It can come across as a heartless decision to cut or distance people out of your life but remember just how much of an influence the immediate circle of friends have on you. I’ve heard it said that you as a person are the average of your five closest friends. Looking around and I think this is accurate, we attract like-minded people into our inner circle and they influence us greatly. Despite how complex we are as individuals fundamentally we repeat behaviours that receive positive reinforcement and we stop behaviours for which we receive negative reinforcement. We haven’t changed that much since we were babies. A baby cries and as a result receives attention, because they receive attention the behaviour is reinforced and so next time they want attention what do they do? They cry. When the baby's cries are not responded to the baby stops crying, the behaviour was met with negative reinforcement so it stops and replaces this with a different behaviour. We need to surround ourselves with people who will reinforce the positive behaviours in our lives. If we don’t we will never grow. How to get rid of the vampires Cutting people out of your life can be as brutal as pushing a stake through a heart. To be honest this is something that I personally delayed doing for a long time. I kept a circle of friends who in hindsight never provided a positive environment yet I thought “it’s just them” “They don’t mean anything by it” and maybe they were completely unaware of the negative impact they had on me and it wasn’t until I heard someone say “why do you allow these people in your life?” Until then as
strange as it sounds I never realised that how people treated me and my happiness was my responsibility. It was at this stage I made the difficult decision to rid the vampires out of my life. If cutting people out of your life seems a step too far for you then like in the movies try to get rid of the vampires with light. Make a conscious effort to influence your friends more than they influence you and show them the way with the light in your life. Be ultra positive and be positive about the behaviours they demonstrate that you want to see repeated. These vampires exist because of gaps in their selfesteem. A lack of acceptance of who they are. Shower them with positivity and allow them to accept themselves and encourage them to take responsibility for their lives and their own happiness. Do this and maybe you will get rid of the vampires in your life and those who remain will be your true circle of friends.
“Cutting people out of your life can be as brutal as pushing a stake through a heart"
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Giving Your Team A Purpose By Mark Wager
We all need a purpose, something which clearly defines our existence, the reason why our heart beats faster than normal, the reason why we feel hours pass like minutes, the reason why we say no when our inner voice tells us to quit. We have a fundamental human need to find our purpose and we will feel unfulfilled until we find it. Teams are no different. They will never reach their full potential until they discover their purpose. The question is how do you discover your team’s purpose. You may be thinking that it is an easy question to answer “We make XYZ product” “We make money” but those are both
outcomes rather than a purpose. It’s not a goal either so it’s not “the be the best team in the company” goals are fine, in fact an essential part of a team but are not the same as a purpose. The purpose of your team is the fundamental reason why you co-exist together. Why are you a team rather than a collection of individuals? This article will look at finding that purpose in order to improve the efficiency within your team. For an in-depth look at finding the “why” at an organisational level check out Simon Sinek’s work in his book "Start With Why."
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Often considered only something to be done at an organisational level defining a purpose at the team level allows everyone to examine the status quo and to challenge all the assumptions that we have about how a team should co-exist. This allows robust nonjudgmental rebuilding of the team into a team that fulfils the needs of the business as well as the individuals involved. Even if the team dynamics are not looking that different from before you started you will be amazed with the improved communication and increased understanding that the team shares of their roles within the team and how their work and behaviours impact their colleagues. Step One: Explain the benefits It can often happen especially in large organisations that the overall vision gets lost in translation either due to the message being lost in a sea of jargon or that the vision is too disjointed from the work that the team does that there is no obvious connection between the vision and daily tasks. A team's purpose reinforces that overall objective by clearly creating a connection between the work they do, why they need each other and the overall objective. The key is to clearly state the benefits to your team so that it doesn’t sound like you are trying to implement the latest leadership fad. The benefits are clear establishing a team purpose will provide a focus to improve communication, understanding and
collegial support. All of which are essential elements of every successful team. Step Two: The why Ensure your team has had time to talk about this before gathering together. Why do we exist together as a team rather than just work separately as individuals within the same organisation and why this organisation as opposed to others. Most exercises will come up with a purpose along the lines of achieving something together that they couldn’t do as individuals. Just think of the Avengers movie and you are half way there. Step Three: The how Once your purpose is in place the work doesn’t stop there. Now it’s time to challenge your assumption of how you work together by asking your team how they make their purpose happen. Just a tip, try to discuss this through a lens of team interaction rather than individual tasks so items often raised are “providing accurate and constructive feedback” and “keeping people informed of decisions that impact their job” also try to stay away from specific behaviours as you want to leave them for the next step.
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Step Four: The what This is the stage where ambition meets reality the “what” is where you look at the specific behaviours that make the “how” happens. An interesting technique to get to this stage is to create a grid with a list of “hows” written down one axis and the list of team members down the other axis. Then ask the team members to look at each box formed by the grid and make a note of the specific behaviours that enable the “how” to occur with each team mate. For example if one of the how’s is “providing accurate and constructive feedback” then along that axis fill out the behaviours that currently exist to enable that to happen with each team member. There will be some duplication but there will also be some gaps, when the gaps appear direct people back to the “how” line and think of ways that it could happen.
and people identified to be responsible for each task. This is not an easy process and you will need a level of buy-in from your team before even starting but if you go down this track then you and your team will reap rewards far greater than you could imagine.
It’s during this step that defences might get raised and history is used as a deflecting tactic “We also did it this way etc” Ensure people have the belief and empowerment in order to achieve the ideal team state. Step Five: The When The final stage is when. During this stage you need to define where the team is at now, the current reality then the specific steps to get to the ideal future state that was clearly defined during the "what" stage. The plan to make this happen needs to have timeframes for completion, clearly marked milestones ISSUE ONE | www.EliteLD.co.nz | Page 19
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The Roadmap To Success By Mark Wager
When I share a success story, I get two kinds of reactions from people and it's in this reaction that I know instantly if this person has a chance of reaching their full potential. So when I talk about a new client or about a new book coming out I hear either a defensive reply or a proactive reply. A defensive reply is when the person protects themselves by dismissing the accomplishment. The proactive reply is when the person replies in a way that they seek tips and hints on how to achieve their own personal success. I recall a time when I was leaving a successful team. The team was so successful that it was the highest performing team in the organisation every month for twelve consecutive months. My boss at the time was concerned about me leaving but was busy looking for a replacement. A lot of staff in the wider team were frustrated and even asked the General Manager to stop the Team of the Month award because they felt it was demotivating that they had lost to my team every month for the past twelve months. It was to my upmost displeasure that the General Manager agreed and the award was stopped. While my successor was being sought I had several staff members approach me. The majority asked me about how I managed to cheat the system and whether I was cutting corners because the results my team achieved were "impossible," yet there was one person, a young lady, who just asked, "can you tell me how you get these results because I want to do the same" It was in this moment that my boss had found my successor.
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The difference was that this young lady saw other people's success for what it really was, a roadmap to show what was possible while others saw it as a reflection on their own failures. Never forget that what the young lady knew,which was failure, was not good or bad. It was just the reality of the present. If you accept your current reality then and only then can you take the necessary action that success requires. In order to achieve success embrace the successes of others and learn from them. Lessons are always more enjoyable and effective when it's a based on a topic that you are passionate about, so close your eyes and think about what it is that stirs passion inside you when you see it. For some people it's business or others it's a particular sport or art. Whatever it may be, find the individual who epitomises excellence in that field, not just the person you like most but the individual who has utilised every single talent they can find. Once you do this then find out as much as you can about them, immerse yourself in books and interviews see how they act, how they approach life, how they deal with setbacks. You may have to dig deep but you will see their own roadmap to success , their attitude, their qualities that separated them from the pack. I guarantee you that you will find it's more than just talent that got them there and when you learn these lessons you can apply them to your own life. When I was in my early twenties, I read "The Book of Five Rings" which was a guide on fighting by a Japanese samurai called Miyamoto Musashi. In the book I discovered a fascinating piece of advice that altered my view of the world. He said that he was a skilled sword fighter because of his skills as an artist as well as his skills as a poet because when you see the way in one thing you see the way in all things. So when someone tells you about their success then take a proactive stance and embrace their success because you never know maybe in their success lies the secret to unlock your own.
“In order to achieve success embrace the successes of others and learn from them"
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The Different Levels Of Leadership By Mark Wager The difference between a company that excels and a company that is just good is found in the depth of leadership rather than the quality of leadership. The most successful companies have quality leadership at all levels of the organisation, from the boardroom to the front line, they have the type of leadership that encourages innovation and engagement. To achieve a high level of success, leadership at the top is no longer enough. Leadership must be at all levels of an organisation and it is only when this happens that a self-sustaining culture of innovation and commitment can thrive. What are the levels of leadership? Every organisation needs different levels of leadership; each level requires a slightly different skill set. There are four such levels and this article will explore each of these levels in turn.
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Level One: Strategic leadership Typical role: CEO When we think of leaders it’s usually this level that comes to mind. This is the level that oversees an organisation. Strategic leaders usually influence thousands to several hundreds of thousands of people. Their influence will even go beyond the organisation and impact the industry they are in. They establish structure, allocate resources and communicate a strategic vision for the organisation. The view they have of the business is measured in years rather than days. Level Two: Organisational leadership. Typical role: General Manager This level can easily be overlooked but the organisational leaders play an important role. They are responsible for turning the strategic vision into policies which in turn leads to results. They often lead indirectly through the Direct leaders and commonly conduct themselves outside their area of expertise. This type of leader influences people more often through policymaking and systems integration rather than through face-toface contact. This often leads to groundlevel staff being unsure of the contribution these leaders have on the overall success of the organisation. Level Three: Direct leadership Typical role: Supervisor This level used to be referred to as “front-line” leadership. The Direct leaders are recognised for helping others achieve. Their influence over people is primarily focused on their immediate team and comes via direct action (face-to-face contact). The Direct leaders are responsible for the provision of clear and concise expectations and
the immediate feedback of positive reinforcement and of corrective behaviour. It’s this interaction of proving positive and corrective feedback that is viewed by the staff members as representing the organisation’s values and beliefs which is why this level of leadership has such a high level of importance when it comes down to employee engagement. More than organisational leaders and even at least as much as the strategic leader. If you want to improve employee engagement then work on improving the Direct leadership level. Level Four: Ground-level leadership Typical role: Subject Matter Expert The Ground level leadership is vital and is often the most overlooked component. This is the leadership that comes from the subject matter experts who work in the front-line. They have no reports but they have a large amount of influence over their colleagues and it’s this influence that is important especially during any cultural change process. The view of colleagues will always carry weight and if those colleagues have high levels of technical expertise or strong personal characteristics then the weight of those opinions are even greater. In summary, for an organisation to succeed it needs quality leadership at the strategic level but if a company wants to exceed all expectations and reach its potential then it needs quality leadership at not just the strategic level, but also the organisational level, the direct level and the ground level.
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