There is much talk about building winning teams and how to lead them and much of that centers on “influence” and “visions.”
The ledgendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, an expert on winning teams, provided a far simpler approach that you can be implement in a matter of seconds.
The only caveat is that once started it must be followed exactly and whole-heartedly.
“If anything goes bad, I did it.
If anything goes semi-good, we did it.
If anything goes really good, then you did it.
That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”

If more “leaders” followed this path we wouldn’t …read more

At some point in the rise of the modern leadership movement, and the ensuing profit-making industry, leadership and management were set on divergent courses, with leadership presented as the brilliant star and management as the subservient drudges.
The results of this extreme focus on vision and influence are being felt globally in the form of the economic meltdown led by the Wall Street leadership who were above the mundane and wouldn’t dirty their hands with the gritty details of management.
In a brilliant opinion piece, Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University, founding partner of Coaching Ourselves and author …read more

When it comes to company success there is much talk about leading and influencing, visions and inspiration, but when the subject of benefits comes up then it’s all about the bottom line.
Did you know that there are no benefits are actually required by law for any worker, full or part-time?
So why should companies have benefits? Just think about how much better their bottom line would be without them. Wow!
Then think about how demotivated, unproductive and disinterested their employees would be. Double wow!
The smartest employers (AKA good leaders) offer all the benefits they’re able to offer to the people who work …read more

The leadership industry dotes on the idea that visions are what make leaders, since they influence people, and that visionaries aren’t like you and me and require special handling.
It’s CEO visions—those rosy predictions, high hopes and self-deluding prophesies—that fill annual reports that sway analysts.
From Business Week: Are stock analysts swayed by an annual report’s CEO letter to stockholders? Yes, concludes a forthcoming study in Organization Science. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and other schools looked at 367 shareholder letters written by new CEOs from 1990 to 1999—giving each leader a “charismatic vision” score. To assign ratings, they scrutinized the …read more

There are many lessons to be learned from the current economic crisis, but one of the most important is that we the people should stop following and start leading ourselves.
In other words, we each need to take responsibility for our own actions and think critically about the words and actions of those in positional leadership roles.
In business, we need to rid ourselves of the idea that positional leaders don’t need management skills or that managers don’t lead.
Jim Stroup points out in numerous posts that “No one has proven that leadership is different from management, much less that it is a …read more

Do words really make a difference? Can just one word change people’s perception of a person or event?
I’ve read several items lately on the importance of influence in leadership. Several even make the point that it’s the ability to influence that marks a person as a leader.
Personally, other than socially acceptable definitions, I don’t see a lot of difference between influence and manipulation.
Both influence and manipulation seek to produce an effect without any apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
But if you say someone has a lot of influence it’s a compliment; call the same person a master …read more

Post from Leadership Turn Image credit: Sam UL
After all this talk about the need for managers to possess strong leadership traits, I have another question for you.
According to Warren Bennis’ list, a leader

innovates;
is an original;
develops;
focuses on people;
inspires;
investigates reality;
long-range perspective;
asks what and why;
eye on the horizon;
originates;
challenges the status quo;
is his own person;
does the right thing.

What percentage of these traits is possessed by the people you see who are termed leaders?
“Influence” has become the hallmark of leadership. What percentage of these traits is possessed by those around you who influence?
We need to hear from you; your experience is invaluable.
Your comments—priceless
Don’t …read more