Archive - Leadership RSS Feed
0
December 31, 2011

Top 5 Most Popular Posts of 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, let’s take a look back at this year’s most popular posts as determined by overall traffic. Starting this blog back in May was the realization of a personal goal for me. I appreciate your participation and support and thank you for reading this year!

The Top 5 Posts of 2011

  1. The Leadership Equation: Characteristics of a Good Leader
  2. The Leadership Equation: Truthfulness and Integrity
  3. The Leadership Equation: Faithfulness, Humility, and Servanthood
  4. The Best Week Ever: The Practice of Personal Productivity
  5. How to Feed Twitter with Your Shared Google Reader Items

Let me know your thoughts: What was your favorite post? What topics would like to see covered in 2012?

In: Leadership, Productivity, Social Media, Technology

5
August 27, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Final Thoughts

We have now looked at Truthfulness, Integrity, Faithfulness, Humility, Servanthood, Charity, Justice, Wisdom, Understanding, Learning, Self-Control, Excellence, Worthy Vision, Motivation, and Counsel. All of these characteristics help leaders influence others.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence

When considering these characteristics, my tendency is to compare myself and other leaders against the high bar that has been set through the course of the series. My conclusion is that I often fall short of this bar and I am hard pressed to find any person who could clear the bar. As a result, I am ready to move onto a different topic – too intense, too much reflection. :-)

However, I do have a few final thoughts:

Read Post

In: Leadership

6
August 16, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Counsel

We have reached our final leadership characteristic. Good leaders not only give good advice and counsel to others, but listen to counsel as well.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence and c_2 = counsel

Vision is rarely developed in a vacuum. As Proverbs 15:22 states,

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Read Post

In: Leadership

7
August 8, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Motivation

Previously, we discussed the importance of casting vision as a leader and what makes a leader’s vision worthy. In addition to worthiness, a vision should motivate and not manipulate others.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence and m_1 = motivation

Good leaders recognize that true motivation occurs when a person is persuaded to take action towards a vision that is aligned with their personal interest and intrinsic motivation. Manipulation occurs when a person is persuaded to take action for the primary benefit of a leader and does not address a person’s intrinsic motivation.

So Can a Good Leader Effectively Lead All?
Read Post

In: Leadership

4
July 28, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Worthy Vision

Up to this point, we have discussed the leadership characteristics that enable trust and demonstrate competence. Now, we will focus on the characteristics of a good leader that help cast vision for others.

Much has been written about the importance of vision for a leader. When a leader casts vision, people share and follow a leader’s passions, hopes, dreams, and direction. Not all visions are created equal, however. Some visions have more worth than others.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence and w_2 = worthy vision

So what makes a vision worthy? Merriam-Webster defines worthy as “having worth or value”. This definition is not exactly helpful. For many organizations and corporations, one could observe that a worthy vision is a vision that has economic or financial value for its stakeholders.

I reject this notion.

Read Post

In: Leadership

5
July 17, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Excellence

In addition to wisdom and self-control, we will look at a third important characteristic of a competent leader: Excellence.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence and e = excellence

Good leaders demonstrate and expect excellence in everything. Everything includes both who they are (inward character) and what they do (actions.) If a task is worth doing, then a good leader does the task right and with full effort.

Read Post

In: Leadership

5
July 8, 2011

The Leadership Equation: Self-Control

In the last leadership post, we discussed the importance of wisdom, learning, and understanding in demonstrating competence as a leader and influencer of others. This week, we will continue to look at the characteristics of a competent leader.

    \[ l_i = \left ( i_1 + t + f + h + \frac{s_1}{s_2} + c_1 + j\right )\left ( w_1 + u + l + \frac{s_3}{a} + e \right )\left ( w_2 + \frac{m_1}{m_2} + c_2 \right ) \]

where l_i = leadership/influence and s_3 = self-control

Read Post

In: Leadership

Page 1 of 212»