Your Leadership Voice

There are many voices that you use in your day.

Your Leadership Voice is strong and clear.

But what does that voice really say.

Find out about the Voices of Change at Leadercast 2011.

Windsor, Ontario Event Details - click here.

Other sites - click here.

Leaders Build Teams

"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we;" they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit...This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done." - Peter Drucker

Whatever your role, in whatever organization, you need Teamwork to succeed.  Solid leaders build teams by engaging others first, leaving themselves to the end.  Do you follow that leadership principle?
What can you change so that you can start to emulate Mr. Drucker's leadership model?

Live as a Leader

If only leadership was a button on our keyboard or an AP on our phones.
Imagine what we could switch on and do, or re-do?
Unfortunately that is not the case.
Leadership is LIVE ACTION.
Leadership is change on a dime.
Leadership is taking what comes at you and making the best of it for others.
Leadership is straight-shooting, forward-thinking, dynamic, energetic, LIFE!

To live as a leader, you cannot separate the personal and the professional - you will always be only one person.  You will need to live authentically in all you do.  You cannot switch off from one type of individual to another based on the circumstance at the moment.  I am not talking about the many facets of our personality - I am taking about our values at our core.  (if you can switch off your values and actions...then that will be a difficult life). 

No matter what - you are always you.  The way to you act with your kids, speak to your neighbours, engage with your team, work with your colleagues, is all about the authentic you, living as a leader.

To learn more about living as a leader click here.

Be the One

Are you the One?

Be the One.

You can listen to great speakers and participate in a facilitated leadership discussion in person or by teleconference.

Speakers include Jim Collins, Connie Podesta, Steve Uzzell, Chip Heath, Mark Sanborn and Tony Dungy.

Join the Be the ONE Leadership Development Series and find what you are looking for to move your leadership to the next level.

Click here to complete the information request form.

New Things

New routines and plans can cause stress on the team and for yourself.  Taking a risk to implement new things - routines, schedules, reports, creates change to the status quo.

This action now becomes about change - improvement and innovation, new ideas and following up on the suggestions/input of others.  Getting people on board with the change is where leadership is required.

Questions to consider when taking a risk:

• why am I taking this risk?  what will the results be?
• what is the difference between new and old?
• who will be impacted?
• what education and follow up is required to make the new 'thing' stick?

If you have considered this during your plan, you have mitigated some of the risk in introducing new things to your team.

Go ahead - take that risk - you will learn from it no matter what!

The Leader In Me

The Leader in Me is focused on service.  Helping others, through working with them, guiding, coaching, mentoring and challenging them to be the best version of themselves in all they do.

The Leader in Me is courageous.  Taking risks that better the future of my company, my colleagues, my team and myself.

The Leader in Me is authentic.  I am who I am, always - transparent, honest and open-minded.

The Leader in Me is decisive.  Making decisions with the facts at hand, research in my back pocket, advice from those who can help and consideration for all stakeholders.

Who is the Leader in You?

Learn more about developing your Inner-Leader by clicking here:  The Leader In Me

212 Degrees - The Extra Degree

"At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train.” Applying just one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a large machine.

Straight out of the book, this simple idea built within me I read the book and I started to find possibility in everything. Better yet, I started looking at my everyday routine to see how I could make a difference. I go to the gym – I actually schedule it to make sure I do it without any excuses. At the gym though, I can get lazy and hitting the treadmill can be boring if that is all that it is. By applying the extra degree, I started to turn up my pace a little each time, try the intervals that my trainer showed me in my orientation and it actually worked. I could easily keep a 6 mile/hour pace for 30 – 40 minutes and have even been able to crank it up to 6.5 in incremental steps – it was all that extra degree - the extra degree of push that I needed in my head and on the treadmill. If I continue to apply the extra degree, I will be able to reach my goal of a 10 km run in less than 1 hour. One extra degree can make a difference.

Just imagine what you can do.

Quick Goal Setting Plan

“Only three per cent of adults have written goals, and everyone else works for them.” -Brian Tracy



When I saw this quote on a website, I had to write it down. I have read many books on goals and what helps people grow both personally and professionally and no matter what, it always says you need goals. And according to Brian Tracy, not many people actually have goals.


So how do you set professional success goals for yourself? The formula is always the same:

• Get an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses

• Have an idea of where you would like to be at the end of a specific timeframe (this year, next year, in 5 years)

• Create a plan to get there, what steps will you take, which actions need to be completed, any research or investigation

• Set yourself milestones on the way to the end result to build in a way to monitor your progress

• Evaluate the investment in time and resources this will take and do you have the investment available

• Determine if it is realistic – can you actually do this?

• Write it down

Planning goals properly can take time, and is essential to your own success that the goal be well-thought out. Once your plan is in place, you can go back and tweak it by inserting dates for each milestone and noting the same on your agenda.
 
Remember to always spend at least 10-15 minutes per week reviewing your goals and how you are progressing. The goals are your own and only you will know about any changes that you make. In order to keep yourself accountable, you could enlist the help of a colleague, friend or coach -this will help keep you focused forward.
 
Just like the picture - have a plan to get across the water, with a backpack full of your strengths and abilities, working hard to get across each stone on the journey to success.

To Solve Your Team's Problems or Not?

You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb it himself”.

-- Andrew Carnegie

Every once in a while you are going to come up against performance issues on your team. Someone is not meeting deadlines consistently, work not up to standard, commitment level just doesn’t seem to be there. What do you do? Do you tell them how to solve the issue or ask them if they still want to work there? Hopefully not.


As the leader, you know what the expectations are because you set them, does the individual with the problem understand this? It is time for a face-to-face conversation to help the person solve their problems – remembering that you are the guide through this conversation, not the director or problem-solver. Three questions can guide the conversation:

1. What can you do to solve this problem? – you are helping them to look for specific details.
2. What obstacles can you see getting in the way of doing this? – you are helping to prepare them for anything that could derail their efforts.
3. When can this be completed? – you are helping them to determine how their time frame fits into the larger team picture, getting commitment to you and themselves.

There will be times when you are asked to offer suggestions or ideas by this person. Be sure that when you provide them, the individual understands you are offering suggestions on how you would work with the situation and they need to evaluate if it will work for them.