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The extra mile magazine june 2013, Leadership, HR and Personal Development

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MILEthe extra
motivate inspire lead engage
P
eter and I initially
connected on twitter
and then followed up by
swapping a ...
Within minutes of the issue going live we began
to receive such fantastic feedback we were deeply
humbled.
The first email...
In This Issue
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Be Inspired By Extraordinary People!	 fRONT pAGE
Interview with Peter Horsfield
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The extra mile magazine june 2013, Leadership, HR and Personal Development

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Great Articles, news and expertise from leadership, HR and People development experts around the world. Come and see our great new e.MILE Magazine here: http://www.peopledevelopmentmagazine.com

Great Articles, news and expertise from leadership, HR and People development experts around the world. Come and see our great new e.MILE Magazine here: http://www.peopledevelopmentmagazine.com

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The extra mile magazine june 2013, Leadership, HR and Personal Development

  1. 1. MILEthe extra motivate inspire lead engage P eter and I initially connected on twitter and then followed up by swapping a couple of emails on Linkedin. Immediately I looked at his site, I knew it was something special. Hoping Peter would share his story, and of course because inspiration is one of the key cornerstones of the E-zine, I had no hesitation in asking him to be my guest interviewee for this month’s issue of The Extra MILE. All the way from Austrailia, this is what Peter told me..... How Did “TheXtraordinary” Come about? What a great question to start with! In November 2008 the world woke to a new era! The good times were bust and the Global Financial Crisis was upon the world. Sleepless nights followed, in addition to emotional conversations with clients, difficult decisions being made. Time passed in addition to a Continued on page 4 Top Profiles on TheXtraordinary Bethany Hamilton - Shark attack survivor is back in the water after 3 weeks. Spencer West - The first amputee to ever reach the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro Malala Yousafzai - struggles to ensure the rights of girls and women in Pakistan. Spring 2013 * Issue 2 June 2013 Peter Horsfield By Christina Lattimer It's my absolute pleasure to introduce peter horsfield founder of the brilliant “thextraordinary.org” based in sydney, austrailia, peter is scouring the globe for inspirational people. here's why! Be Inspired By Extraordinary People!
  2. 2. Within minutes of the issue going live we began to receive such fantastic feedback we were deeply humbled. The first email within minutes said “outstanding! I loved it!” Those words exceeded any of our expectations and made our efforts worth every nailbiting moment! The feedback continued to roll in over the following weekend, which I spent replying to everyone. Within a day from the launch, we had received over 100 offers to contribute and 200 wonderful people signed up to receive a regular copy during that time. Up to the time of writing of this column we’ve had over 11,500 page views. Phenomenal! We’ve had some great feedback about the quality of the articles, and a big thanks once more goes to Welcome to MILEthe extra our wonderful contributors. Complete stars! Turning now to this month’s issue, to say we are even more excited is an understatement. We have some brilliant contributions and stories. We hope our front page interview with Peter Horsfield inspires you. How often do you search for a new inspirational story when you are either giving a speech or delivering a presentation? Well look no further than Peter’s great site TheXtradordinary.org We love the brilliant book review by Bernie Nagle giving his insights on Cindy Wigglesworth’s great book: SQ 21 – The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence - A must read for the enlightened leader. We have teamed up with Peter Newton of Free Management Books to give you access to a great resource of free books. They are expertly written and great quality. See the feature on page 22. We also have a great offer for new subscribers: Sign up to receive a regular copy of the monthly Ezine and receive a link to our great new E-book The Best Business Advice I Ever Received It is a collaborative venture with 38 inspiratonal members of the Inspirational Leadership Linkedin group. It is fun, bright and inspirational. Thanks to all who took part in this great initiative! The list goes on and on, and I hope you enjoy our many articles and stories, details of which are opposite. Thank you for reading this, and for your support and enthusiasm, it is amazing. You are Amazing! Christina Lattimer Hannah McIntosh W elcome to the 2nd Issue of The Extra MILE E-Zine. What a month it has been! We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the brilliant response to the first issue of the E-zine.
  3. 3. In This Issue ARTICLES OTHER CONTENTS Be Inspired By Extraordinary People! fRONT pAGE Interview with Peter Horsfield Nine Attitudes of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Managers 12 Christina Lattimer SNAKES ON A PLANe 15 David Jones Leadership Inspires Thought Leaders 18 Dawn A Harden The Democratic Dictator 20 Robert Whetsell PUBLIC SPEAKINg Fear is Nothing 24 Jon Torrens This Is The Way We Do Things Around Here! 26 richie maddock NEWSFLASH! 30 Suzanne Mandy DOES SOCIAL MEDIA ROCK YOUR HR WORLD? 34 Nicola Bidgood Thank You Tom! 7 twitter top 4 8 Book Review 10 Get the Blog 17 FREE MAnAGEMENT BOOKS 22 a shot of inspiratioN 28 Must Watch Video’s 31 JOIN OUR LINKEDIN GROUP! 38 CONTRIBUTORS 39 Contact Us 42
  4. 4. Continued from front cover few birthdays; clients began again to be happier, their investments began to recover… and the clearing air gave time to pause to reflect and experience a deeply profound moment. Success is not about how much money you can accumulate; success is about how much value others receive from you. From that moment on I set my daily to-do-list to discover and deliver a better experience for all I interacted with. This included researching other successful people, defining for myself what I truly valued in life and implementing these discoveries in alignment with my core values. From then www.thextraordinary. org was founded. With the intention to share FREE INSPIRATIONAL PROFILES of eXtraordinary people all over the globe; so to inspire, motivate and educate others who desire also to be successful and contribute to making the world a better place as their life’s legacy. Who inspired you? Every day I am inspired by ordinary people who do extraordinary things! That said, the defining moment to commit to our eXtraordinary crusade was cemented after chancing upon a video about an eXtraordinary man named Nick Vujicic. Could you imagine life with no arms or legs? Well Nick Vujicic is that guy! He’s the first eXtraordinary person I profiled and well.. check him out yourself and you will see why me telling his eXtraordinary life story is no justice to this eXtraordinary, deeply spiritual, tragic, inspirational, with a down to earth Aussie sense of humor, human being. Nick if you ever read this thank you..I dedicate www. thextraordinary.org to you and God bless you. What is your most inspirational story? Any story that involves one overcoming adversities, challenges and struggles in one’s life is inspirational; however what makes the people I write about eXtraordinary is when doing what they are doing has the goal/intention to help improve the lives of others that’s eXtraordinary! Somaly Mam, was sold into sex slavery at the age of six years old, she escaped the brothel at 20 years old and over the next 15 years has established a foundation to rescue children in south east from brothels, to date she has saved over 10,000 girls. Malala Yousafzai stood up for girls education in Pakistan, she was shot in the head by the Taliban returning home from school on a school bus. Malala survived and recovered now even more determined to stand up against oppression, tell her story, and girls education in Pakistanis destined to succeed through her tragedy, efforts and making global awareness. d. Everyday I’m amazed by the eXtraordinary contributions, success and achievements people are experiencing in harmony with their focus and intention to improve the lives of others! It’s Simply eXtraordinary! What did you hope to achieve by launching TheXtraordinary? I attended an event in 2011 where Bear Grylls described eXtraordinary. Bear if ever has the opportunity to read this article our crusade’s name was founded after you gave your inspirational speech when visiting Australia. Thank you. “ Success is not about how much money you can accumulate; success is about how much value others receive from you.” Nelson Mandela
  5. 5. The goal and intention of www. thextraordinary.org is to provide people with that little bit extra inspiration, empowerment and motivation to keep moving forward and achieve one’s goals in life important to ourselves. I passionately believe that when one person achieves their own goals their achievement then sows the seed of inspiration of others who also want to achieve their own goals. I also believe that we are more inspired by real life stories of living eXtraordinary people, being inspired by what people alive today are achieving and the ways they are giving back to make the world a better place for all mankind. Who will the site benefit? Centers of influence in the professional services of social/ community service, educators, personal development or any profession that requires leadership, motivation, and inspiration etc.. all the way through to a resource for parents. 100% of our information is free, child safe and can be used as a great tool to reinforce a positive, aspirational and engaging message about how real living people in the world today are making a positive contribution to society across all professions (art, business, sport, philanthropy..etc), be them men, woman, physically challenged, children, teenagers, growing up in western society or a developing country. How can people use the site? Our promise to visitors is to share our research of one eXtraordinary person a day i.e. 7 days a week, so visiting www. thextraordinary.org viewers have the opportunity to be inspired every single day on their journey to themselves being eXtraordinary. Other tools available are a Free 10 lesson teachers plan designed for teachers and students to research, discuss, homework and assignments. This is a excellent teachers resource, from testimonials we have received. EXtarordinary people we have researched are using our resource as a way to gain greater exposure for their cause and share with their fans/ followers. On our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ XtraordinaryChannel we have a daily trivia and the opportunity to share and suggest stories of inspirational and eXtraordinary people. What services or products do you offer/ intend to offer? Soon to be released is a Free mobile game app called Trivia extraordinaire! We are also soon to release certificate templates for our members to enter the name of the person they think is eXtraordinary and the reason why, so they can print it out and present it to the extraordinary person as acknowledgement of achievement/ gift. Another feature we will be adding soon is a online template enabling members to create their own extraordinaire biography of themselves, or someone they think is eXtraordinary including, why they are eXtraordinary, quotes, pictures, contact details, biography etc. and have this featured on our site and share with others. Briliant Peter Thank You! Here at the Extra MILE we think you are eXtraordinary! “The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra. And for me, I had always grown up with the belief that if someone succeeds it is because they are brilliant or talented or just better than me… and the more of these words I heard the smaller I always felt! But the truth is often very different… and for me to learn that ordinary me can achieve something extra-ordinary by giving that little bit extra, when everyone else gives up, meant the world to me and I really clung to it…” Bear Grylls” Bear Grylls
  6. 6. A PARADIGM SHIFT IN PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT START YOUR 3 x ROI NOW www.ReturnOnInvestmentTraining.Com Tel No: 01727 830589 Mobile: 07906 297792 DEVELOP YOURSELF DEVELOP OTHERS DEVELOP THE BUSINESS DEVELOP PRODUCTIVITY 1 Goal 2 Programmes 3 x ROI Guaranteed 4 Development Areas R O I
  7. 7. Thank You Tom! Tom Lowery sprung into my social media life about one month ago. Since that time he’s had a significant and positive impact by enlarging my network. Tom is what I call a connector, a connector with a difference. He consistently and frequently introduces people to each other, with humour and flair. His philosophy seems simple, yet takes a lot of effort. He helps people to widen their net, get their message out and shares their work and information. In many respects, Tom and I have a lot in common. We both believe there is lots of great talent out there, and we also share a desire to help others develop a platform for like-minded people to shine. Tom has a pretty cool blog which has a pot pourri of articles and musings which he peppers with writings from people who inspire him. If you want to be entertained, then you need to go and see! You can find Tom’s blog here: THINKING OUT LOUD I wanted to say a big and public Thank You to Tom for including me on his blog article: 22 Most Innovative Entrepreneur Blogs You Need To Follow I was honoured to appear in this article along with some truly inspirational people. I’m including the blog with links to those people, so you can go check them out. And of course as a big Thank You to Tom! by Christina Lattimer
  8. 8. twitter top 4 MILEthe extra motivate inspire lead engage We LOVE sharing great content on Twitter! Here is a summary of the most popular content we shared on Twitter last month. Simply click on the images to access the original articles. 6 Reasons Leaders Make Bad Decisions - Glenn Llopis The Problem With Squeezing Employees Too Hard - Jessica Stillman What If Today…You Told Someone That They’re Amazing? - Betsy Cross They Will Change Your Life: The 7 Non-Negotiables Of Winning - David K Williams
  9. 9. This Month’s Infographic is courtesy of www.dailyinfographic. com
  10. 10. I became acquainted with Cindy through a mutual friend in the Integral community. Cindy was gracious enough to join our Cleveland gathering via Skype one Wednesday evening two years ago, and she imparted such a lovely warmth and authenticity, I knew I had to get to know her better. Well, two years later she has gifted us with this book and we are greatly enriched for the experience. So, what is Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) anyway, and why should we care about it in the context of leadership? Cindy defines SQ as “the ability to behave from wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace regardless of the situation”. Borrowing heavily (and openly) from the Goleman/Boyatzis model of Emotional Intelligence, Cindy defines SQ as “the ability to behave from wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace” Book Review SQ 21– The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence Author: Cindy Wigglesworth Reviewed by Bernie Nagle
  11. 11. Cindy has crafted an easy to follow guidebook, deftly describing the 21 specific Skills of Spiritual Intelligence comprising four Quadrants of development: • Self-Awareness • Universal Awareness • Self Mastery • Social Mastery/Spiritual Presence. She intertwines the 21 Skill-Set descriptions with delightful stories and pertinent research, in a tone that reminds you of a long and loving conversation with one of your best friends. Cindy doesn’t “teach” she reveals a path for you to find your own way at your own pace. And to make it even more believable she intersperses the conversation with snippets from her own spiritual journey which I found endearing. The path of development leads one from an ego- centric pattern of behavior (motivated by fear, anger, and self-righteousness) to an ability to effortlessly engage one’s “Higher Self”, making compassionate and wise decisions, becoming a calming and healing presence, and an effective leader/change agent. After painstakingly describing and contextualizing the 21 Skills and their attendant effects, Cindy then devotes the next 60 pages to providing “how to” information on developing Spiritual Intelligence via a nine-step process and three core exercises anyone (even I) can follow. If one believes, as I do, that Enlightened Leadership is about engaging others in purposeful endeavours larger than ourselves, it follows that such leaders ought to possess the skills and qualities Cindy delineates for us so eloquently and lovingly. This body of leadership wisdom, were it a parcel of prime real estate, would be found in the same neighborhood (likely the same street) as Covey, Bennis, Greenleaf, Boyatzis, Barrett, and Collins. Yes, it is THAT important! In Cindy’s parlance, “Deep Leadership” is a key human quality each one of us should aspire to develop. “Deep, authentic leadership means that we lead ourselves first”, she says. How can we possibly lead ourselves if we have not first worked tirelessly on self-awareness and self- development of the sort we find in this groundbreaking thought-piece? In chapter one, Cindy shares a quote that sets the tone for the rest of the book: “Love is a bird with two wings. One wing is compassion; the other is wisdom. If either wing is broken, the bird cannot fly.” This loving conversation with your most trusted friend is brimming with both. “How can we possibly lead ourselves if we have not first worked tirelessly on self-awareness and self-development”
  12. 12. L ike learning to drive, leading and managing people is an experiential journey. My entrance onto the leadership stage was when I was promoted into the role, having stood in for the team leader from time to time I don’t know about you, but although I had practiced at managing people I hadn’t experienced it properly until I had to do it for real. Junior leaders and managers are appointed because they have shown potential, displayed leadership skills or are extremely good in the specific field they are in. More senior leaders and managers can have had a most distinguished career as a professional, i.e. doctor or lawyer or accountant, and the next step for their career is to manage people with the same specialism. An entrepreneurial business owner may be extremely successful and have acquired commercial business acumen and savvy long before they actually have to employ people. So people enter leadership and management at all stages. Often their success as a leader or not; will be determined by their people skills, and if these skills haven’t had a chance to develop then the most successful entrepreneur or professional may well find the going very tough indeed. One of the most impactful people skills is emotional intelligence. Wikipedia describes emotional intelligence as” the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups”. If you’ve ever been in an office where you have seen people have tantrums of a two year old, or the rumour mill is the most reliable communication channel, or there is a prevalent blame culture, then you know that emotional intelligence is somehow lacking. Even worse, if conflict is commonplace, and your people aren’t firing on all cylinders or even are openly disengaged then you may have a problem which stems from limited or unrecognised poor emotional intelligence. Depending on our psychological profile, and we are all thankfully different; then you may have brilliant emotional intelligence, or conversely you may need to develop this skill more. The great thing about emotional intelligence is that if you are struggling, you can learn! My first challenge as a young By Christina Lattimer Nine Attitudes of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Managers
  13. 13. manager was learning how to control my own emotions. In the early years I was quite often daunted about having to deal with some larger than life characters I had to manage. Managing my fear was one of my first and probably my longest lessons. I still feel afraid sometimes, but now I know how to deal with it, and it doesn’t faze me. My second challenge was to learn how to manage the emotions of my team. This stage was a long one and a steep learning curve. The journey was interesting, thought provoking and a necessary one. The final stage in my learning came when I had to think about engaging large teams. Some of who I didn’t see for months at a time. Although I did try to do the best I could to have physical contact as much as I could humanly manage. Trying to encourage people to feel good, fulfil their potential and understand how much I appreciated them was more difficult. Although there are many skills attached to managing remotely, my own emotional intelligence was a key player in making remote management a success. I have worked for and supported many managers and managed teams locally, regionally and nationally. During this time I have practiced and observed attitudes and behaviours which have been the most successful in getting the best out of a team. These attitudes and behaviours are most commonly adopted by people who have honed their emotional intelligence skills and have the best people skills as a result. I have practiced these in the latter years, and wished I had access to and learned them in the early years. You might be thinking that it all sounds unrealistic, given some of the people you might be managing. But I can guarantee that if you think about it enough, they are all attitudes or stances you would like people to take with you. The Nine Attitudes are: 1. Accepting people completely for who they are 2. Always looking for the good in people, there is always some 3. Dealing with negatives in an impersonal but practical way and getting over it! 4. Not judging – we all make mistakes. 5. Giving people the benefit of the doubt 6. Listening to what people need and wherever possible – obliging 7. Responding neutrally to anger or other attacking behaviour and helping the person to reframe it in a positive way 8. Pivoting negative situations to achieve a positive outcome 9. Caring about people, even when they were difficult
  14. 14. SNAKES ON A PLANE by David Jones “What’s wrong with them? They’re just staring at me.” S ome years ago I was asked to put together a training programme for a young company that, after a strong beginning, had begun to stagnate. The service was innovative and close to recession-proof. Recruitment procedures were solid and new staff were hungry and sharp. The problem? The MD was a hands-on leader who wrote and delivered all internal training. His intelligence and passion had lifted the business off the ground but his communication skills were pulling it back down again. When I sat in on a team meeting the issues became clear. He prepared with a “warm-up”, stretching his calves and hamstrings in the manner of a middle distance runner, then outlined the company’s goals for the coming month in a series of sporting metaphors that no one could understand. The staff, who liked him and wanted to do well for him, tried hard to pay attention. It was an uphill struggle. When one team member plucked up the courage to ask for clarification of what he meant by “passing the commercial baton” he repeated the phrase, slowly and loudly, with accompanying “sign language”’. Frustration and disenchantment swept through the room like a virus. Staff turnover had increased, and one exit interview had revealed a pointed and painful truth. A key reason for leaving was that the boss was very bad at telling people what he wanted, but very good at telling them when they hadn’t delivered it. The solution? Snakes on a Plane. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, “Snakes on a Plane” is a film about, well…a plane with a lot of snakes on it. I’ve seen it once. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. The one thing I can say for certain is that I wasn’t misled by it. No one who saw it has any right to ask for their money back. The title raised an expectation and the movie met it. I asked my client to list the training and appraisal sessions he had planned for the coming month. I then asked him to break each one down to its essentials. What exactly did he expect of his staff? If he was pitching this session as a Hollywood movie, what would the title be? Jargon and management speak were ruthlessly dispatched, and a clear central idea was established that people could understand and buy into. In our repeated practice sessions, I kept a flashcard to hand. Whenever my client drifted into convoluted language, the bad habits that were losing his audience and damaging his business, I held it up. Four words. “SNAKES ON A PLANE”. One of the greatest pleasures in the workplace is seeing the look on a person’s face when they are reminded of their own capability and potential. Strip away the management speak and let people see what they can actually do. My client had an employee in her mid-40s who had returned to work following a lengthy career break to raise a family. Her performance and motivation levels had been below par in a role that required organisational skill and clear thinking under pressure, qualities she had been specifically hired for. We held an appraisal that began as one of the sadder professional experiences of my life and ended as one of the most satisfying. Since the day she’d joined the company, a torrent of empty words had left
  15. 15. this person unclear about any of her daily goals. The jargon she’d been fed about juggling day to day responsibilities had confused and upset her to the point where she believed she lacked the ability to multitask. The remedy was simple. I asked her to tell me about a day looking after three young “A key reason for leaving was that the boss was very bad at telling people what he wanted, but very good at telling them when they hadn’t delivered it.” Snakes On A Plane (2006) children. Without a hint of self- importance she gave a list of tasks and responsibilities that would have put her employer and me in a spin. Multitasking? Here was the expert. All we needed to do now was explain very clearly what was expected of her every day. Entries in a diary. Projects to a deadline. Snakes on a plane. People want to be inspired, to be elevated. But above all they want a clear understanding of what’s expected of them. What does “winning” look like? If you don’t know what constitutes a job well done, how can you take proper pride in your performance? And if it’s not clear which direction the boss wants to lead you, How can you follow? I’m going to watch a DVD now. It’s called “We Bought a Zoo”. Guess what it’s about?
  16. 16. “Surprising, inventive, The Downside of Up, the story of a wide-eyed innocent thrust into the world of high- stakes business had me laughing out loud.” Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Someone’s Daughter, Necessary Roughness Coming Soon from NetMinds
  17. 17. Get theBlog Sign Up For Our Weekly Blog And Get Your Free E-Book! Yes Please - Sign me up! THE LATEST BLOG POSTS FROM CHRISTINA AT PEOPLE DISCOVERY
  18. 18. I n life and business, leadership plays a major role. It sets a pattern for our day-to-day activities and measures our success or caustic failure. The profile of a leader need not be prolific every time but the skill it yields must prove viable, engaging and real. A leader is a fundamentalist of change and is not afraid to stand alone if need be. Understanding how to orchestrate and maintain objectives and stay on task. Before you can become a leader you must understand and build a foundation of leadership standards. Is your goal C-Level management? Will you inspire others to want to think for themselves and follow your direction? In order to become a thought- leader you must learn what it means to be one. Leader vs. Manager Learn the difference. Many who can manage daily tasks assume they are ready to lead. Good management reveals a person’s ability to stay on topic, reliable in a pinch. In juxtaposition, a leader by definition has major managerial skills but the key element here: you have to have the ability to lead people. The tone of this role is not simply to command. The savvy to guide, teach, instruct and correct when needed. Cohesively doing so recommends a balance of skills. Another element left to fend for itself: Inspiration. Leaders must aspire to inspire. So what you say carries concise structure without micromanagement. “In order to become a thought- leader you must learn what it means to be one.” Leadership Inspires Thought Leaders By Dawn A. Harden
  19. 19. There is a nominal difference between being in control and under control. Wanton obedience means listen and obey. Strong leadership means what you have taught sees fruition. Build Trust Those around you have great expectations. Everyone listening to you may not become your best friend but they want, no need, someone they trust. When working with others honestly, the support sharpens. People gain confidence in you, respecting your opinion. Realistic guidelines will help reduce any trepidation associated with your role as leader. Take advantage of teaching tools your company offers. Seek external support for your business model. Share and solicit ideas thereby allowing for flexibility on execution of tasks. This critical step opens the door to improved dialogue, creating a positive, shared environment. While many industries have forsaken honesty as rudimentary, don’t believe the hype. Peer engagement involves your accountability in truthfully assessing and maintaining the needs and safety of those working with you. Put your money where your mouth is by keeping it real. Learn To Listen Since Texting’s emergence, we tend to express ourselves in abbreviated terms. Within seconds we have responses before complete, proper conveyance is diagnosed. Have an actual person-to-person meeting and just listen. Our conjecture should be well thought out. Not based on reactive assumptions. Much is miscommunicated by these methods, albeit convenient. Be aware that certain subject matter requires face time. Being a good listener means you choose your statements wisely as they are based facts as presented. This insures and protects time lost on recovery. Key point: You can either be a good hearer or a good listener. One hears voices the other hears words. Understand Your Role The role of a thought-leader is to evoke innovations. If you are seeking such a role be ready to accept the responsibility that accompanies it. The basics of the daily or weekly plan are a given. Thought-leaders though, need to be more than perfunctory. They should have the energy and forthrightness to be the creator. Write out a mantra you believe in and live by on a daily basis because it will make it easier to remember and follow through on. Post it so others see it as this will give basis for assurance that you mean what you say. Reinforce it with actions that speak for themselves. Hypocritical movement or speech jeopardizes good efforts. Have A Vision Famous Fashion designer Ralph Lauren was quoted as saying, “A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.” While this point has been touched on, the relevance of repetition is clearly valuable. We have it in our power to achieve greatness. There is no need to ride the coattails of others because we stand on perfectly solid ground all on our own. Success does not come from how many projects see the light but from the path chosen to birth the idea in the first place. Own the challenges, highs and lows. Boundaries for your greatness can only be held back because you gave up or gave in. Worrying and stewing over what others’ perceptions of you are will not help thought-life capabilities. We all make millions of decisions. Each of us earns kudos for our role in keeping the ebb and flow of our ever changing society. So call it what you want but at the end of the day you are a leader. “A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”
  20. 20. I t doesn’t take a lot of research today to understand that most of the legitamate writing regarding modern day leadership philosophy centers around engagement and service. A tremendous amount of effort is put into promoting a kinder, gentler leadership culture. Being a spiritual person, I am all in with this. I’m a big believer in the clichè “You will draw more flies with honey than vinegar.” Great leadership, however, is made up of two parts. Engagement and service are the key components of that part of leadership that inspires those you lead to come along for the ride, to work together to accomplish things they might not otherwise consider possible. However, not a lot is being written about the The Democratic Dictator The Path to Great Leadership By Robert Whetsell
  21. 21. other equally important piece great leaders so brilliantly exhibit... dictatorial decisiveness. A nicer description would be unilateral decision making. Let us not forget that great leadership often has little to do with democracy. Sometimes the great leader has to make decisions for you, or the group. While great leadership is made up of two equally important parts, one definitely comes before the other. It takes times to earn the trust of your team, whether or not you are their leader at that moment. Engagement and service are essential in earning the right to be, as President George W Bush so famously quipped, “the decider.” Great leaders have a sense of the moment, and recognize when it is necessary to engage and serve vs giving direction. But they have earned that right over time by gaining the trust of those around them. Try to skip over that step and it won’t matter if your decisions are right or wrong. And don’t think for a second that you only have to earn that trust once. You have to continuously engage and serve in order to maintain the team’s faith in you. As you rise in the ranks of management and leadership, you will have to earn that trust anew as you ascend to positions on new teams. For those of you who successfully become “deciders,” be ready to welcome the responsibility. Lots of folks seek the glory and the power, but want nothing to do with the responsibility required of great leaders. It’s really easy to see this in action if you watch any amount of political coverage. If we are going to be great leaders, we have to understand that sometimes, as much as we enjoy inspiring and serving our teams, we are going to have to make uncomfortable choices, decisions that the team is not capable of making on their own, and carry the responsibility. Engaging and serving is all about democracy. Directing and deciding is all about being dictatorial. Trust is the bridge between the two. Heed the call to great leadership. Embrace your inner “Democratic Dictator.” “It takes time to earn the trust of your team, whether or not you are their leader at that moment.”
  22. 22. Leadership and Learning Leading others by the way you approach and solve issues shows everyone the extent of your personal integrity and forms the basis of your reputation. Integrity is more than just saying the ‘right things at the right time’; it is about demonstrating your values and beliefs through your everyday actions. This type of manager inspires those around them to want to emulate these values and achieve more. The words of John Quincy Adams are as applicable today as they were in the nineteenth century, if not more so because of the speed of change and abundance of information. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth president. But how can you achieve this with so much of your time under the constant pressure of having to get the ‘job’ done? You have to be more creative in how you use what little time you do have by seeking out new ways to gain the knowledge and skills you need to perform your role and show others how they can develop themselves. Free Management eBooks can help you and your team to gain a practical business skill in just 20 minutes. Topics include: leadership, finance, productivity, project management and business strategy. Our free eBooks, checklists and templates are available for PC, Mac, Tablet, Kindle and Smartphone. Visit www.free- management-ebooks.com
  23. 23. www.rechargesb.com StrategieS tacticS • toolS StrategieS tacticS • toolS for increasing business profitability for increasing business profitability
  24. 24. PUBLIC SPEAKING Fear is Nothing Stand-up comedians are speakers with wit, adaptability and tons of confidence. They’re fearless, right? Wrong. In my experience as a stand-up comic, all comedians experience some kind of fear before going on-stage, and while the ones at the very top may have slightly less than most, they’ve also become very good at hiding it. When they step out and grab the microphone, that’s the crucial moment where they can instil a sense of faith in the audience by showing everyone that they know what they’re doing, even though the crowd may have never seen or heard of them before. Winston Churchill said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”. Winston Churchill also said: “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference”. For me as a speaker and coach, that means the way that you speak and present yourself. I see too many people who simply lack any conviction or sense of fun when they speak. Your audience wants to see something new, and to make a connection with you. Step out with a big smile, and deliver your information and your message in the way that you would want to hear it. Try to have some fun. Fear is your natural reaction to an unusual situation. It’s like someone standing in your way, trying to make you mess up. Just give it some attitude; push past and take your rightful place in front of everyone; it’s your turn, and those people watching are all on your side. Your fear of standing up in front of a group of people to speak is not only completely normal, but is actually a good thing; it provides the energy you’re going to use to get the job done. By Jon Torrens
  25. 25. Jon Torrens
  26. 26. This Is The Way We Do Things Around Here! By Richie Maddock M ost organisations ‘say’ things very well. They ‘say’ what the company values are; they ‘say’ what their customer service standards are; they ‘say’ what their policies and procedures are. What is said and what is done however, might be somewhat out of sync – and that creates the reality for employees - which in turn becomes your corporate culture. Yet there is an interesting paradox when it comes to workplace culture. Many leaders realise the importance of culture, and how it impacts on everything so they ‘say’ all the right things, yet few understand culture in simple and practical terms – and what we don’t understand, we cannot manage and what we don’t manage we become victims of. Recently, we conducted research that acquired views from over 350 people. We asked the following question: “If the culture of your organisation was to become as good as it realistically could, how much improvement would there be on peoples performance/productivity” 89% of senior leaders reported that their peoples’ performance would improve by 20% or more if their culture was realistically improved and almost seven out of ten non-managers (69%) felt that performance would improve by 50% or more. “There is a huge untapped potential lying dormant in organisations.” This shows that there is a huge untapped potential lying dormant in organisations. If leaders could tap into their workplace culture and actively work on improving it – who knows what performance gains could be made? This is where the concept of UGRs© plays a big part. UGRs stands for ‘unwritten ground rules’. The best definition of UGRs is that they are people’s perceptions of ‘this is the way we do things around here’ Sample UGRs in a company include: • At our meetings it isn’t worth complaining because nothing will get done • The only time anybody gets spoken to by the boss is when something is wrong • The company talks about good customer service, but we know they don’t really mean it, so we don’t really have to worry about it • We go through the motions with our bosses, once they have gone we do what we want UGRs drive people’s behaviour, yet they are seldom talked about openly. People check out the prevailing UGRs in their workplace so that they can conform which in turn influences their behaviour. They will watch a number of cues to deduce the UGRs in an organisation. These include: • People watch what gets noticed for example, if someone gets into trouble for speaking up, then the UGR might be ‘Around here you’re better off not to speak up even when you are asked
  27. 27. • People watch what doesn’t get noticed for example, if someone speaks badly of a boss, and nobody suggests they shouldn’t talk that way, then a UGR might be ‘Around here its fine to criticise the boss’ • People watch for the difference between what people say and what they do for example, if a manager says ‘in this organisation we care for our people’, and soon after that same person is heard treating a person without respect, then the UGR might be ‘Around here, the bosses say one thing and means another ’ We have learnt though that you can change UGRs and that you can use the concept to improve culture by engaging with all your staff in ‘this is the way we do things around here’. We have developed a five-step approach, which has been deployed in organisations across the world: • Envisage – this involves identifying the kind of culture that is necessary for the organisation to succeed into the future. We help organisations in this phase to identify the Key Cultural Attributes (KCAs) necessary for their future success • Assess – Identify the prevailing UGRs in the organisation linked to the KCAs identified in the first step. This involves doing what we call a UGRs Stock Take – where we uncover the real UGRs in the organisation. The step also involves identifying areas of concern from the Stock Take and putting in place strategies to address those concerns • Teach – Teaching everyone in the organisation about the UGRs concept. We’ve learned that many people subscribe to less-than- positive UGRs but do so unconsciously. Learning about UGRs is often a revelation for people that results in big changes in behaviour. • Involve – Get people identifying and prioritising the positive UGRs by which they would like to characterise the organisation into the future • Embed – Put in place strategies to embed the positive UGRs identified in the previous phase. For too long, the culture of organisations has been left to chance and that is mainly because leaders find it one of those subjects that is wrapped in theory and academia. UGRs is a practical and simple way to engage the whole organisation in something that is the lynchpin to success. During tough times, there are huge benefits to be gained by identifying the kind of culture necessary for the organisations future successes, and re- shaping the UGRs accordingly. Your Culture Your People Your customers’ experience Your vision, strategies and leadership Your way of working Your values
  28. 28. a shot of inspiration We love this video by Tony Robbins. This guru never ceases to inspire. In this video Tony advocates using INCANTATIONS instead of AFFIRMATIONS, and in his well known unique way explains emphatically why. If you’re having a doubtful moment or unsure if what you are doing is the right thing, then Tony’s video is a must!” You can access the video HERE or click on the image. Opposite we’ve included some timeless wisdom from the inspirational Mahatma Gandhi. We found these 10 quotes on the Skillcode Wordpress Blog. Visit the Skillcode Blog if you’d like to find out more.
  29. 29. 1. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. 2. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. 3. An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. 4. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. 5. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. 6. Where there is love there is life. 7. Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. 8. Nobody can hurt me without my permission. 9. I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. 10. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
  30. 30. COMING SOON Our brilliant new Expert Index and The Extra MILE Community Membership Features: Includes B2B Consultancy Features Your Regular Blog Includes Business and Social Media Contacts Showcases your Products and Services Free Event Listing: Free Classified Ads Improved Web Presence Dedicated Amazon Book Page A Team working Flat out to increase your Web Traffic FREE LISTING FOR ALL Exclusively for Experts, Trainers, Coaches and Providers in Leadership and Management Human Resources Personal Development Register Your Interest Here! Yes Please!- Send me details about the Expert Index
  31. 31. MUST WATCH VIDEO’S
  32. 32. NEWSFLASH! Developing others will develop your leadership! W ho develops whom? When I took on people development as part of my retail position a few years ago, I really wanted to make a difference. As a former classroom teacher, my job was to inspire and teach. I wanted to do the same in my new role. Although retail was new for me, I was confident I had the right tools to develop my new team. What I didn’t anticipate was how my team would provide the inspiration for my own personal development. This fascinating journey opened my eyes to the relationship between leadership and personal development. The Big Three key tools for everyday use Leadership is different depending upon how you look at it. In other words, one’s perspective is one’s reality. I’ve found that most people equate accomplishing their goals with a great sense of satisfaction. Goal setting, feedback and coaching can easily elevate personal development and team accomplishments. 1. Goal Setting When an individual sets both short and long-term goals, they are only partially on the path to accomplishing them. In the workplace, and life, goal setting is a fundamental aspect of personal development and successful leadership. I’ve found there are a few essential keys to successfully realizing goals, which are often left out of the goal-setting process. Revisit each one and ask the following questions: Where am I in accomplishing my goal? What steps can I take toward achieving this goal? Remember that goals are personal. No judging, comparison or belittling allowed. Rethink each goal and ask: Do I really want this? Should I revise it? Go ahead and rewrite the goal so it is achievable, making sure you are challenged and remain inspired. Consider whether the goal is too easy. If we reach our goals more than 50% of the time, perhaps the bar isn’t set high enough. Revitalize your approach by enrolling others. Who will support me in reaching my goal? Who will hold me accountable? These questions will elevate your success rate by moving you into possibility; creating integrity and ultimately achieving your dreams. They are also crucial to successful engagement between team members and leadership. 2. Feedback Providing a culture that promotes giving/receiving feedback, regardless of position, sets the stage for growth and development. Ideally, receiving feedback should originate during initial training, and continue throughout an individual’s career. Experiencing feedback, (whether you are doing a great job or have room “Remember that goals are personal. No judging, comparison or belittling allowed.” by Suzanne Mandy
  33. 33. for improvement), translates into meaningful and productive discussion. Effective feedback is • Timely and in the moment • Honest and delivered with empathy and compassion • Looks at the what or how something occurred (not why) • Focuses on actions or behaviors, never a person • Sharing of information and observations Feedback is critical in addressing performance and behavior issues and must occur between all employees, no matter the position. It effectively promotes desired results, productivity and self- esteem of the team because everyone knows where they stand. 3. Coaching Distinguishing between coaching and training is important in the development of team members. Simply put, training is where the expert instructs those with less knowledge or experience in that field. It is directive, which means the trainer directs and instructs the trainees in what and how to learn, ultimately enhancing performance. Coaching, on the other hand requires facilitation to enhance performance, learning and development. This creates an awareness of knowledge and expertise in the person being coached. While training is directive, coaching is non-directive. The coach never tells, trains or instructs. Instead, coaching stimulates people to figure things out themselves, using expertise and resources already present within them. How cool is that? Some of my favorite coaching questions that facilitate big time development are: What is going on for you right now? What’s stopping you? What are the facts? What is your next step? When will you do this? What support or resources do you need? How will you access these? What did you learn that you could apply now? How can I support you? What if there were no limits? I can recall the exact day when a colleague asked, “What do you actually DO?” I was floored. Clearly there was a gap in the way I communicated with my team. This inspired me to engage more often, and transformed my leadership. What is the limit? It’s no secret that a team that grows and learns together can produce incredible results. When an entire team engages in dialogue surrounding goals, feedback and in the moment coaching, the team also develops their leaders. This made me consider the possibility that leadership and personal development contain countless facets, many which are undiscovered. In the words of T.S. Eliot: “Only those that risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
  34. 34. S usan Heathfield of about.com thinks so. In her article 10 Reasons Social Media Should Rock Your World she outlines 10 ways HR can benefit from social media, in summary: 1. Stay in touch with colleagues and friends. 2. Help colleagues find you. 3. Find candidates for jobs. 4. Find a new job. 5. Establish your online brand. 6. Join groups that share your interests, your community, or your profession 7. Develop social connections over time on social media sites. 8. Provide a space in which the users of your product or service can interact with you. 9. Build community around your product or service. 10. Establish a Company presence Nicola Bidgood, HR Business Manager, one of our Inspirational Leadership and Engagement Group members is a postive and enthusiastic presence on our social media network, and is active on many social media platforms. We asked Nicola to tell us how social media has benefitted her. Nicola reported: “I formed the Westcountry HR Network Group in May 2012 in Exeter, UK, where I am based. I felt that HR Networking in the Westcountry wasn’t very proactive and I resolved to do something about it. I decided to create a LinkedIn Group, Twitter account, Facebook page and website for HR professionals with the main focus on bringing HR together. During the last year over 250 people have joined the Group. The Group was designed to meet the needs of the HR Profession in the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset area and to deliver local HR professionals the best service in HR Networking in the Westcountry. The Group not only blogs regularly on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter but meets on a regular basis in Exeter where events are held at Stephens Scown Solicitors. The topics are decided by the members every month. Through building this Network, the group now has members in HR, Training, Coaching, Law, Recruitment, Occupational Health, and much much more who then DOES SOCIAL MEDIA ROCK YOUR HR WORLD? By Nicola Bidgood
  35. 35. offer their time for free to present at the networking events. The activity on social media sites and networking has been key for my own HR development as attending these events and networking with others has not only increased my confidence, but has helped me and other members keep up to date with the current changes in employment law, learn new skills, discuss different areas of HR, meet new people, create business opportunities for people and generally make new friends. One of my best moments was when I made contact with Morag Barrett of Skye Associates based Colorado in the USA. We first met on twitter, and exchanged some tweets. So when I sent out an exploratory request on Linkedin for a coach or mentor to help me develop my career, having already made contact, Morag came forward. After 10 months of Skypeing each other, Morag came over to the UK and ran an event at the Westcountry Network Group, which was a great success. Having used social media extensively, I have made some great and valuable contacts, which have benefitted not only me, but also other members of the group, who have now started working together on many, many other projects together which I am very proud of. I’ve recently been been asked to run network events at a local college in South Devon, so using social media has helped me grow my network in extraordinary ways.” We think Nicola is doing an amazing job and is a living demonstration of how social media can benefit HR professionals. Not only has engaging on social media benefitted Nicola, but also her ever growing, switched on HR Network Group. Good Job Nicola!
  36. 36. SUBSCRIBE Like This Issue? Subscribe to get a copy sent to your mail box every month! And when you do, you’ll get a free copy of the Inspiratonal Leadership, Management and Engagement LinkedIn Group’s best business tips! The Best Business Advice I Ever Received Click here to Subscribe
  37. 37. TRANSFORMING WORKPLACE CULTURE – SEMINAR IN LINCOLN UK JULY 12
  38. 38. JOIN OUR LINKEDIN GROUP! CLICK HERE TO TAKE A LOOK! Getinvolvedinpopulardiscussions! JOIN US NOW! Inspirational Leadership, Management and Engagement Group www.figueroafinancial.com/about
  39. 39. CONTRIBUTORS JON TORRENS Jon Torrens coaches companies and individuals in all aspects of speaking and presenting, from the fundamentals of writing through to advanced improvisation techniques. He’s a former professional stand-up comic and computer game designer, and is based in Ely. Comedians Confidence Blog DAWN A. HARDEN Dawn is Founder and CEO of Floral Greens Publishing. Her love of writing has led her to be an accomplished Amazon author and Speaker. Her fondness for Deaf culture and all things natural inspires her to educate and encourage everyone she meets to think outside the box and pay it forward. Floral Green Publishing LLC RICHIE MADDOCK RichieisafounderandDirectorofLynchpinAssociatesLtd,aUKbased companythatseekstohelporganisationsimprovethecustomerexperience andenhanceemployeeengagementthroughdevelopmentofitsculture.Heis acontributingauthoronthebook‘TheExecutiveDiet’andisasoughtafter speakerandpresenteronworkplaceculture.LynchpinaretheUK’slicensed consultantsoftheUGRs©concept. LynchpinandAssociates ROBERT WHETSELL Born and raised in Oklahoma, Robert Whetsell has over 25 years of experience as an educator, coach, and manager. He currently works as the Director of Operations for Crown Products (www.crownproducts.com), a regional distributor based in the NYC metro area. You can find Robert online at LinkedIn, Twitter, and his personal blog Crown Products
  40. 40. SUZANNE MANDY Suzanne has been a professional educator, coordinator and facilitator for the past two decades. Her extensive experience in promoting learning and leadership through motivational teamwork has resulted in innovative and successful projects throughout the public and private sectors. A graduate from the University of Maine, Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Science in Education degree, as well as a Masters of Education in Exercise Science. LULU Lemon DAVID JONES Having managed sales, training and recruitment operations throughout Europe and the Gulf, David currently works in translation and localisation, helping clients build bridges to emerging markets and truly “go global”. An experienced copywriter and journalist, he writes regularly on business, management, culture and current affairs issues. David believes passionately in the power of motivational coaching and has written and delivered a range of courses under the collective title “If You Believe It, They’ll Believe It”. David Jones LinkedIn BERNIE NAGLE Author of the 1997 book, “Leveraging People Profit - The Hard Work of Soft Management”, with Foreword by Warren Bennis. This book originates and describes the concept of the “Altrupreneur” - one who conducts the affairs of an enterprise with conspicuous regard for others. This Leadership model is servant-leadership based, relationship-driven, goal-guided, and laser-focused on engaging innovation and creativity to create sustainable competitive advantage in the workplace. Altrupreneur
  41. 41. NICOLA BIDGOOD I am a confident, self motivated and decisive Human Resources professional with a proven track record of establishing and building long term business relationships at all levels. High level experience in dealing with grievance and disciplinaries. Implementing communications and engagement strategies. Conduct regular focus groups to measure engagement. Good influencing, coaching and negotiating skills. Tactfully able to deal with difficult and sensitive situations. WestCountry HR TOM LOWERY Writer, Corporate Training specialist, author and entrepreneur. Blogger at Thinking Out Loud. I write about life, people, business and interpersonal relationships, which means, in essence, I’ve combined literature and business to create my own career path: I’m a “lit-re-preneur Thinking Out Loud PETER HORSFIELD Founder at www.theXtraordinary.org. Our crusade is about inspiring you and motivating you to achieve your goals and the things that are important to you.. We do this by researching and writing about extraordinary people that have overcome struggles and gained prominence and success and at the same time are contributing back to the world to make it a better place. theXtraordinary.org
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