Your Leadership = Your Growth

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader success is all about growing others." Jack Welch.

Enjoy and be provoked.

Question for you, one that I ask many CEO/MD and GMs - What is stopping your organisation from growing? What are the excuses your people are giving you.

• The economy is slow - they have no money
• Our wharehouse, logistics, service, finance, marketing, sales people are letting us down
• We are too expensive - the customer needs more discounts
• Our product/service is not right, old, wrong for the client
• We don't have the money to do that

And on and on it goes - I bet you could add a few. So what next, how do we push through these excuses and more forward?

The toughest activity for a leader is accountability and motivating - both take time, effort and focus. What would your role be like if your people were even more responsible for their actions and driven to succeed as a team?

As a leader of the business your role is to have everyone aligned to the purpose, goals, strategy, mission, objectives and culture of the organisation.

The difference between success and failure is YOU. Look around at some of the businesses that fail, there are patterns, well documented time and time again.

Success in any organisation is about how YOU influence others - those that are employed by you and those that you need to choose your organisation to perform a function of some description. How effective you are at influencing is directly correlated to how successful you are and inversely how stressed/frustrated/angry you become.

TIP: So next time someone inside your organisation provides an excuse use this question - "How would you know if that wasn't true?"

This may seem like a pretty benign question and yet there is some deep psychology within the wording and combination of the words.

Let me explain. Firstly "How would YOU know" - this puts the focus back on them. This requires them to challenge their current beliefs. "if that wasn't true", this requires them to go into the future to figure out what they would have to do to know that it wasn't true - hence coming up with the solution that was hidden before and because of their belief.

Once you ask them they will act like a deer in headlights. They will go around in circles, possibly saying "I don't understand the question?" Ask it again, do not change the wording. Keep asking. They will say " I don't know the answer" You reply "and if you did know - How would you know if that wasn't true?"

There is so much power in this question.

You see it's all about making your life easier, less stressful and more enjoyable as a leader in your organisation. It's about having tools and strategies that influence others to see your way of thinking and implementing what needs to be done to get even better outcomes - time and time again.

What would your life be like if people wanted to follow you?

Inversely, what is life like NOW pushing against the stream time and time again and going backwards?

I experience so many leaders feeling beaten, struggling to moving their organisation forward, growing and having people aligned. 

Today more than ever, the leader's role requires them to grasp the rapid rate of change in the business world and to build an organisation that’s capable of continually adapting.

Your VOICE is your tool of leadership. Have you been maximising it to influence people? Have you ever trained on how to be even more effective with your language, your tone, your meaning, the power of your voice.

This is why we have created the SG Partners Influential Leadership Workshop in May, Brisbane. One company is sending 3 senior leaders!

This unique workshop is about providing YOU and YOUR PEOPLE tools and strategies to have people do what you want them to do, not because they HAVE to because they WANT too. This is the difference between short term change and sustainable change - it's about influencing them at a mindset level.Click here for more information or see below:

SG Partners Influential Leadership Workshop - May 18/19th Brisbane.

Why doesn’t my team work together, share information – why do I have silo’s, still?

How much time do I waste re hashing the same thing everyday with my people – why can’t they get it and implement the objectives?

Why is it so hard? Why can’t they do what is expected of them? If only they would do their job my life would be a lot easier!

Not another meeting/waste of time, why can’t these be more productive?

At our Leadership workshop you will learn tools and strategies to:

• Align people with your values and mission
• Transform teams by understanding limitations and shift to resourceful thinking patterns
• Get clarity and alignment with your strategy
• Enable people to perform at their peak performance
• Create meaningful outcome that motivate & inspire others
• and much much more

Who is this FOR: CEO’s, MD’s, Owners, General Managers, Senior Leaders, HR Leaders, Sales Leaders - When you are ready to learn tools and strategies to:

• Supercharging your team so they functions holistically and towards a shared strategy. 
• Lead others so they naturally follow. 
• Communicate with clarity and sell your ideas with more confidence. 
• Influence others utilising their own inherent values. 
• Being more congruent with your mission.

Which of these challenges are you faced with at present:

• Managing Employee Dissatisfaction.
• Handling Confrontation.
• Challenging, Supporting and Empowering Others.
• Control stress and wayward emotion.
• Faster and better aligned decisions.
• Lead through times of uncertainty.
• Gain trust, alignment and loyalty from others.
• Model best practice in your organisation and replicate in others.
• Improve personal alignment and happiness

So what are you waiting for Click HERE to access the workshop flyer.

Want to learn more about how we improve your company's position, your success, you revenue, margins and marketshare, contact me roland.weber@sgpartners.com.au

Original Post by Michael Lang (SG Partners)

Top 25 Websites for CEOs

The following article is from forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/08/02/top-25-websites-for-ceos/) written by Mike Myatt (http://blogs.forbes.com/mikemyatt/) on 2^nd August 2012

While I agree with many of these and like the way he leads from our own web site through the competitor and customer, we also need to consider the amount of time delegated to self education, which should form part of leader’s schedule.  There are certainly a number of other good web sites, but this is a good, well balanced list to start from in my view.

Top 25 Websites for CEOs

If you want to shorten your shelf life as a CEO, it’s easy to do – be uninformed and disengaged. There’s a big world out there, and CEOs need to get out of their bubble and go see it for themselves. Too many chief executives live in an isolated world of constant travel, public policy and capital markets road shows, board and executive meetings, and management briefings – everything is filtered, packaged and fed to them. THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM.

While many CEOs suffer from email, iPad and Smartphone addiction, the time spent on these devices is largely related to email, scheduling and logistics. The big miss here is far too little time is spent using the web as a digital learning medium. Successful CEOs don’t delegate business intelligence, learning, and listening – they do it themselves.

Let me be clear; isolation is not synonymous with highest and best use – it’s career suicide. Delegation should not be confused with abdication, and span of control should never be confused with span of influence or awareness.  I’m not suggesting chief executives engage in hours of mindless web-surfing activity, but I am suggesting they use the Internet for personal/professional development, research and business intelligence like the rest of the world does. CEOs must wake-up to the fact the Internet just isn’t a tool for their staff.

Following are my top picks for the Top 25 Websites for CEOs (in no particular order of preference):

The Obvious But Overlooked

1. Your Company Website: You’d be surprised how many chief executives have no idea what’s published on their own website – big mistake.  I was recently retained by a Fortune 100 company to work with their new incoming CEO, and when I enquired as to why he wasn’t listed on the company website, he sheepishly stated he’d been on board 6 months and hadn’t even checked the website. This is one of those “the buck stops here” things – if you’re the CEO, you better understand the entirety of your company’s digital footprint (public sites, sites behind the firewall, social media accounts, partner sites, etc.).

2. Your Competitor’s Websites: There are few competitive intelligence tools as effective as the online profiles of your competitors. There’s always a great temptation to delegate this activity to staff, but at a minimum, make sure you are briefed on a regular basis. However the better method is to own at least some of the homework yourself – you’ll find the knowledge acquired invaluable.

3. Your Customer’s Websites: It’s difficult to relate to your customers if you don’t know and understand them. A little time spent understanding the digital footprint of a client can lead to great conversations and big business. When customers find out you’ve invested time in getting to know their company, culture, challenges and opportunities, you’ll have escalated your relationship to a more fruitful level.

Unusual Suspects

4. Foreign Affairs: There are very few businesses of any scale who can’t afford to think globally, and there’s no better publication to inform you on international news and information than Foreign Affairs.

5. Psychology Today: One of the most thought provoking and informative magazines dealing with the human psyche. CEOs are first and foremost in the people business, and few publications will offer insights into the human condition like this one.

6. Mashable: This is where the cool kids hang out for news and information. With 20 million unique visitors and 6 million social media followers, Mashable has become one of the most engaged online news communities. It has both aggregated and original content, and multiple topical channels.

7. The Build Network: This is one of my favorite new publications/websites. With a truly unique format, the information here is short, crisp, relevant, and actionable. Well worth a visit for every CEO.

8. Twitter: This social networking site offers one of the best listening posts on the Internet. Virtually every major brand is represented on Twitter, as well as numerous thought leaders, and CEOs like Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Marissa Mayer, Thomas Geisel, Rupert Murdoch, and many more. If you think you’re too busy, or too important to be on Twitter, think again.

9. TED: Want to know what’s coming next? Visit the TED website and view videos from the world’s hottest innovators and thought leaders.

10. LinkedIn: Perhaps the world’s greatest talent engine, LinkedIn gives you virtually unfettered access to passive talent if you’re willing to pony-up for a modest subscription fee. Well worth the price.

News and Commentary

11. Forbes: You’re reading this now, so you must agree. Forbes has some of the best contributors and columnists in the business, while the site does offer hard news, the editorial content is definitely it’s strength – it’s rich and there’s a lot of it.

12. CEO.com: The site offers aggregated and original content specifically designed for CEOs. Who’s hot or not, in or out, and tips and advice for the chief executive. A great one stop shop for C-level items of interest.

13. Chief Executive Magazine: Every industry has a leading trade rag, and this is it for CEOs. The site contains news, editorial and research specifically catering to the chief executive.

14. Wall Street Journal: Still the gold standard for financial news and insightful commentary. Plenty of hard news and some insightful commentary to boot.

15. The Economist: Consistently sound thinking with a global focus can be found on the Economist. Everything here is fair game; politics, religion, business, education, innovation, and of course, the economy.

Research and Intelligence

16. Corporate Executive Board: There aren’t too many global brands who aren’t members, so what’s your excuse? I’ve never met a chief executive who couldn’t benefit from being better informed.

17. Forrester: Probably the world’s best known business research firm. Forrester covers all major segments with top-notch analysts.

18. EDGAR: The SEC database on securities filings and forms. If you want the latest info on public companies, this the place to find what you’re looking for (10k, 10Q, etc,).

19. YouTube: The world’s second largest search engine (a subsidiary of the largest) is a great resource when you need topical video content at your fingertips. It was recently reported users watch 4 Billion hours of YouTube videos a month.

Leadership & Strategy

20. Strategy & Business: Published by Booz & Co., you’ll find timely information on all things strategy, and a bit of topical content on leadership as well. The site is particularly good for what I call catorials (editorialized case studies).

21. HBR: I have a love hate relationship with HBR. Some of the authors offer pure brilliance as their contribution, but you’ll have to filter through some mundane B-school nonsense to find it. Nonetheless, when it’s good, it’s really good.

22. The Conference Board Review:  Their tagline, ideas and opinions for the world’s business leaders, says it all. Snappy content on a variety of global business issues important to leaders.

23. Hack Management 2.0: Better known as the Management Innovation eXchange, this site encourages fresh debate on topics related to leadership and management. The site also sponsors numerous competitions for innovative submissions on the hot business topics of the day. You’ll find many thought provoking subjects worth the time to peruse.

24. Real Leaders: The website of Young President’s Organization’s official leadership magazine. Intended to inspire better leaders for a better world, this site contains leadership editorial, CEO profiles, and topical case studies designed for CEOs by CEOs.

25: The N2growth Blog: My personal favorite:) If you like what you’ve read from me on Forbes, CEO.com, Success, Entrepreneur, The Washington Times, etc., you might also enjoy my company’s leadership blog (authored by yours truly). Consistently ranked among the top leadership blogs, I write specifically for CEOs. As a bonus, a few other  blogs from leaders I enjoy are:Richard Branson’s Blog, Mark Cuban’s Blog, and Tom Peter’s Blog.

The above list is clearly not exhaustive, but it covers a lot of ground.

Follow me on Twitter @mikemyatt

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