Leadership is a quality, which is undeniably useful for the eventual benefit of the company.

Management is the crucial, integral activity that will ensure it survives today, by ensuring the company delivers it’s operational requirements, thereby ensuring the possibility of seeing a tomorrow at all.

Leadership can be described as ‘that quality which involves innovation, risk taking and exploring of new avenues’ for the company to secure a stable, unchallenged superior position in a competitive world.

From this it could be considered that in a constant and steady state, all an organization consistently needs is solid management skills to survive, without any need for leadership skills.

Leaders in any organization are the seeds sown for health and success in the future.

“We provide food that customers love, day after day after day. People just want more of it.”
Ray Kroc

Whatever you think about McDonalds, their business model is successful.

Even though their menus have had to keep up with modern times and become a little more ‘healthy’, they remain a firm favorite with families and young people especially.

Of course, their food probably won’t win any Michelin stars, nor is that what their customers want. It’s being inexpensive, consistently acceptable and quick, that their customers want.

They need to know that what they buy will be what they expect and without surprises.

Parents, for example, don’t want to take their kids somewhere that has strange foods (escargots maybeL), that maybe the kids won’t like, or at silly gastronomic prices.

Regular customers know that what they get will be what they expect, so surprise, risk and probably even fear are written out of the equation. No one wants to ‘fear the unknown’ when they step out for a quick, easy and inexpensive meal, however adventurous they are.

So, it’s about consistency, good value and speed. Customers want to know that when they go in there, any kids they have with them will eat the food and have a good time.

In a fun atmosphere with edible food, McDonalds have made a huge difference to hot food retailing over the last 20 years, with a model that has been replicated many times over. A franchiseable deal that is easy to reproduce, and to make their business thrive.

In ‘The E-Myth’, Michael Gerber analyzes the franchise model and recommends it as a way of doing business that anyone can look closely at, whether there is a desire to franchise it eventually or not.

There is something in ‘The E-Myth’ for everyone who runs a business. If you want it more managerially focused, check-out ‘The E-Myth for Managers’ (also by Michael Gerber), which focuses more closely on the challenges that managers experience in the modern era.

Your great listening skills also helps to motivate your people perform to their best.

Realistically speaking if your employees are happy and feel important and fulfilled in their work, then tangible rewards like pay raises, bonuses etc. take a back seat.

Supporting the organization that shows they care (through your excellent listening skills!) becomes their top priority.

By involving them in the working of the company as much as possible, it provides them with a clear view of what lies ahead in terms of company plans, future aims and goals.

The basic purpose governing strategic thinking is to be able to construct an overarching and defining plan or strategy that would not only provide a focused and coherent framework for crucial policy decisions regarding direction of the business and resource utilization, but also a sufficient and clear guideline for the continued development and growth of the organization.

One of the most important purposes of strategic thinking, is out-thinking your competitors and keeping ahead of your rivals.

While engaged in any strategic thinking process, a business team usually has to try to consider as many consequences and eventualities that may arise from their own actions aimed at improvement or growth. By minimizing adverse outcomes that could destroy ambitious plans.

In this process, by bringing together innovation, strategic planning and operational management, leaders attempt to develop as foolproof a business strategy as possible with a greater likelihood of success.

“When we slow down, we go faster”
Japanese saying

How can this be?

Logic would suggest that to go faster, we need, well, to go faster.

Yet in life; in work; more pace so often leads to worse performance. Results that are way beneath our expectations and seemingly failing to reward the extreme effort we have put in.

This is partly because as we add pace and complexity, we hit the sludge of our own drag coefficient. We bog ourselves down by a lack of focus and simplicity that always brings steady results. We slow down trying to do too much and that means we are trying to do it all faster.

By trying to do so much and so quickly, we fail to take the care to think, to consider and to plan carefully the very best outcomes that will be achieved if we give ourselves a bit of space.

Like the tortoise and the hare, a steady focus and progression is much more likely to give a consistent outcome, than uncontrolled pace and the distraction that follows.

Some times we prefer to be chaotic and survive it, because, frankly, it makes us feel that we are doing more. That’s driven by an internal need to feel that we are really working hard!

Slower pace feels like we are coasting and that can feel uncomfortable in many cultures.

If you ever try sticking to the speed limit instead of speeding to your destination far too quickly, you will benefit from experiencing more and seeing much more as you pass by.

In the workplace, less haste means that you have the time to notice what’s going on around you much more. That can present great rewards where it comes to building relationships with your people and appreciating what is being done.

It can help to influence your own style, because you made the space to notice more.

Where you can, do less; take your time and focus clearly on less goals. Slowing down, to go faster, has proven itself over the ages.

A Management Snippet, courtesy of the Super Successful Manager! membership program.

A well functioning team includes a number of effective people who are concerned about each other and are strongly committed to their assignment. These individuals have the right motivation to work with their collective strength and skill to achieve a given target. Building and managing such a team is a challenge and, ultimately, a pleasure.

From our studies and readings about team development, we have discovered three basic criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to achieve the greatest heights in team management and performance. Coupled with relevant reward and satisfaction for each team-mate, you have a recipe for success.

These criteria are:

1. Resources and Commitment
2. Ownership and Heart
3. Learning

Though these three requirements form the defining structure of teamwork, they are not everything.

You see, every group is different and the needs and factors that guide its team effort have to be outlined exclusively.

The second of the outlined conditions, “Ownership and Heart” specifies that the success of a team is determined by the involvement of the members while the foundations are being laid. The effort needs to be heartfelt, and all the members must strive to come up with “team friendly” attitudes, principles and beliefs.

Teamwork is most fruitful when the members believe in it genuinely and execute their tasks with faith and loyalty, in a way that adheres to the primary principles of team effort. Unbreakable groups are made of the right attitude, frame of mind, and principles as much as the policies and systems that support them.

At the most basic position, the key to unlock the power of the team effort “Genie” depends on the eagerness of the team members to the rub the lamp of responsibility. Individuals who hold the stakes in the group need zeal for personal management to incorporate teamwork and to maintain it. The seeds of team effort must be planted, watered and developed by the members themselves. As said earlier, the team can only be built from the inside and not the outside.

There is no doubt that external agents will bring about the pace and comfort with which teamwork takes hold. But these forces cannot run the hearts and minds of the members. Each person in the team is answerable for his/her actions to the rest. There are many people who simply cannot grab the concept of responsibility.

However, these very people are the ones to tell us that they are disappointed with the lack of tightness and integrated teamwork that are found in working groups today. Some maintain that they can experience the power, energy and enthusiasm that should radiate from an ideal team effort.

Frequently, members of an organization are ignorant of the level and nature of the teamwork that define their groups. They are too occupied in their own competitions against each other to worry about such issues. In any social condition, if the individuals are unwilling to take responsibility, get involved, or show interest in what’s going on, they cannot expect more than the poor results they achieve.

Group members forfeit their rights to report against the poor level of motivation and the quality of work life when they shirk their duties, do not assist in building teams or contribute to teamwork.

One of the principal challenges nowadays is to teach and empower people to be more involved while building teams. The main factors that affect teamwork are not those external to the team like the top management, the union or the government, the stockholders or the weather.

The ideas, beliefs, principles and mental constitutions we form collectively as members of a group are the important factors. We see alarmingly large numbers of people who play the roles of victims to the external enemies of an organization and instead trying to improve the situation lament on its adversity.

They constantly complain about how their confidence has been shattered by these factors but fail to act in order to protect the group.

Keeping the workplace organized is a responsibility of business owners and managers. Employees do their share, but it’s ultimately the top executives who set the guidelines for workers to follow in order to maintain the cleanliness of the office. Here are some dos in workplace management.

1. Maintain a neat and clean office. First impressions, as they say, last. As such, offices frequented by customers have to be cleaned regularly. There should be no clutter because your client’s perception of your office is extremely important. Even companies that rarely have visitors need to follow this guideline because a beautiful and clean office makes employees feel good about themselves.

2. Place supplies in closets. Office supplies and extra equipment should be placed in closets because people have a tendency to throw things into cabinets unless the contents are arranged properly. Each item should be properly labeled to ensure that everything is in place.

3. Place unnecessary items in a box. Keep the things nobody seems to find useful in a box, rather than stuff them all in a room cluttered and unorganized. Label the boxes and place these at bottom of the closet. From time to time, clean up the boxes and ask the appropriate people for suggestions on what to do with these things.

4. Use handy desk accessories. Office desks with accessories that have the same type and color would look good so it is advisable to come up with the items that would work for the office. Order office equipment by the bulk so the purchase would be cheaper.

5. Organize your bills. If you have an accountant use an envelope for current bills and file older ones according to the date. Review telephone bills to see if different services are needed based on current calling patterns. For this factor, the (http://www.worldnet-long-distance.com/voice-t1.html) voice T1 is often cheaper than standard line service.

6. Choose desks and cubicles that are easy to use and give you maximum storage space. This is an important rule to follow because employees with not enough space tend to put their items in common areas or even the floor. Give employees access to the file cabinet drawer and several other drawers to make sure that the office is really clutter-free. Overhead cabinets are useful for storing books or notebooks.

7. Businesses that have tons of files have to set aside a storage room, instead of just buying file cabinets. This will give you ample space to store your current, as well as future files. To organize the files, consider hiring in a temp who can place all your important things and documents in their proper places. A file basket for papers that are not needed, but have to be kept, should be provided to the temp.

8. Coffee or break rooms keep the clutter of wrappers and cups from the workplace. But these rooms should be well kept at all times. Encourage people to clean up after themselves. Cabinets should be installed in these rooms to keep things in order and out of sight. Also make sure that dish soap, sponges and paper towels are provided so people would find it easier to help keep the place clean.

9. Hire a good cleaning service. Cleaning service can be hired for the office and they can report for work nightly or as often as needed. They can throw the garbage, recycle some items, clean the break room, vacuum and clean floors. You can also ask them to clean the windows once in a while.

10. Maintain cleanliness. Keeping the workplace neat and organized is everyone’s responsibility. As a head or owner of a company, ask your workers to do their share, such as cleaning one’s desk, cubicle or office. Tell them that they can get boxes to aid them in cleaning up their files. A temp, however, would be highly appreciated especially by employees who are always busy.

Article by Van Theodorou, he will help you slash your telecom costs, go to his site for business long distance carriers and learn more on his broadband voip learning center. This and other unique content ‘business’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Greetings!:

As an executive, supervisor, manager or team leader, you make daily decisions about everyone’s workload. Delegation is an excellent management tool to maximize your team’s performance; however, it is a skill that needs to be learned. To help maximize your delegation skills, we have put together 6 tips and 5 core competencies to improve your delegation skills.

6 Tips To Effective Delegation

1. Give The Person A Whole Task To Do – People prefer to get the job done and not wait for someone else to hand-off a component of it. Likewise, connect everyone who is actively working on the project so they can all see the big picture.

2. Make Sure They Understand Exactly What You Want Them To Do – Take the time to manage expectations so things are done correctly. Establish performance standards with SMART goals. That way, it is crystal clear what and how the task or project needs to be done.

3. Share Your Vision With Them - People like to know what your vision is on a project so share it with them. If they understand the big picture and how the task or project they are delegated fits into that big picture, they are more likely to be committed to it.

4. Set Project Due Dates – Most people need to know due dates so they can effectively manage a project. By setting specific dates and milestones you will help your team better manage a project that has been delegated to them.

5. Give Them The Right Tools – Make sure your team has the right tools to do the job. This can range from computers to software and everything in between.

6. Reward Your Team – Rewarding people for their individual and group performance is a great way to motivate them. Although financial consideration is great, best-in-class leaders find creative ways to reward their team.

Effective Delegation Can Strengthen Any Organization

Delegating tasks not only fosters a team environment but can help individuals increase their level of performance. Doing so, you will find individuals increasing their responsibility, leadership skills and project management skills. Plus, it’s an excellent way for them to feel important to your organization.

The 5 Competencies To Help Maximize Your Delegation Skills

1. Make Your Team Accountable – Leaders who delegate well demonstrate personal responsibility and hold everyone accountable for organizational outcomes.

2. Human Resource Management – Leaders who delegate well make sure there are resources available to meet the team’s goals and objectives.

3. Solid Interpersonal Skills – Leaders who delegate well build solid relationships of trust and respect inside and outside the organization.

4. Leveraging Diversity – Leaders who delegate well find ways to leverage capabilities, insights and ideas across diverse cultures, styles and ability.

5. Strong Leadership – Leaders who delegate know how to enhance their organization’s value, while tapping into their team’s skills and abilities, to help achieve the desired results.

SUMMARY – Effective delegation is all about sharing the workload, with the added bonus of developing skills and responsibility in others. A leader not only needs to look at the “final result” but also who worked, who didn’t work and what they should do differently next time. The 6 tips and the 5 competencies above will not only help you achieve a work-life balance but also become more productive.

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
–General George Smith Patton, Jr.

If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie’s® Competency Based Development Solutions can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please contact us.

Anita Zinsmeister, President
Dale Carnegie® Training of Central and Southern NJ
(609) 324-9200
success@dalecarnegie.com
www.southjersey.dalecarnegie.com

In parallel with Abraham Lincoln, who picked his greatest opponent in the battle for the presidency as his secretary of state, Barack Obama is now considering the value of adding Hillary Clinton into his team once he is President.

Described as a ‘team of rivals’, this bringing together of a range of people who he feels will benefit the American people as a whole is an interesting strategy.

In the article below in the UK ‘Independent on Sunday’, Leonard Doyle investigates the pros and cons.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/race-for-whitehouse/obama-starts-to-build-a-team-of-rivals-1020503.html