Leadership Tip: The Value of Praise

Our leadership models often tell us to be decisive, in-charge people who have all the answers and readily correct others. This approach focus on telling people what they aren't doing right rather than what they do well or contribute to the workplace. Try praising your employees with no qualification, just catch them doing something positive and let them know how much it means to you and the organization. Praise is a powerful motivator becuase people like to feel that the work they do is valuable.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Leadership Tip: Let Go

A big part of leadership training is to help people let go of the need to control every single person or event in the workplace. Inspirational leaders know how to let their people shine and give them wide latitude to succeed. When you let your people do what they love to do they make you look good. The leader's role in this situation is to be there for support and education if asked. What will you do to let go?

Are You a Boss Who Makes Last-Minute Demands?

A workplace communication article that fits well with a leadership training theme because it's about bosses being aware of how their behaviors affect others.

Leadership Tip: Trust People

A lot of leaders genuinely believe that leadership is an us vs. them endeavor and that trust doesn't even enter the equation. As such, employees are not deemed trustworthy until they prove themselves in some way. The challenge with this leadership approach is that it makes employees feel like misbehaving children. The key to inspirational leadership is to start the relationship with your employees by trusting them and giving them opportunities to work independently and use their skills and abilities.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

50 Practical Leadership Tips

A leadership training article I wrote on 50 ways to become a better leader.

Does Your Organization Value People?

A leadership training article I wrote on the importance of valuing people in the workplace.

An Underused Leadership Tool

A leadership training article I wrote on brainstorming.

Asking Employees to Conform to Your Leadership

Many well-meaning professionals believe that leadership means forcing everyone to follow them. This type of leadership means that one person comes up with the ideas and then expects everyone else to do exactly what is demanded. The difficulty with this approach is that it doesn't draw upon the talents, abilities and ideas of one's employees. It just tells them what to do, which is a recipe for a very dissatisfied workforce and workplace.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

The Golden Rule for Leadership

A lot of leaders believe it's appropriate to treat people any way they see fit as long as it's a means to an end. This leads to situations where leaders behave in less than stellar ways as long as they get results. One way to refocus that energy is to think of the golden rule: Treat others as you would have them treat you. Remember that this rule is specifically about treating people well, as in kindly.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Punitive Leadership

So much of what we call leadership is about punishing or correcting people. It's a hierarchical model where the benevolent dictator tells everyone what to do and then introduces consequences for any action that doesn't suit him/her or the rules he's imposed. The difficulty with this approach is that it's all about the dictator. Employees rarely have a say in what goes on or the ability to make decisions for themselves. People have a hard time growing or feeling motivated because they're just waiting for the next punishment or correction.

The approach I prefer is to encourage people to use their decision-making ability in conjunction with their talents, abilities and interests to make the workplace run better. It's a shift in leadership from dictating from the outside to motivating people from the inside.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

You Set the Example

Inspiring leaders set a positive example for their employees. This goes beyond modeling work habits to actually being a role model because of your behavior. Positive behaviors like being kind to others and showing empathy go a long way toward showing your employees that they really matter. Inspirational leadership is often about showing people that leaders can be kind, caring and productive.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Your Leadership Is Reflected in Your Workplace

The way you lead is reflected in how people behave in the workplace. Do they behave positively and creatively or despondently and begrudgingly? You get to decide what qualities you bring out in people as well as which behaviors you emphasize.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Leadership and Your Behaviors

A big part of leadership training is being aware of how your behaviors affect you and others. Enlightened leaders understand that what's going on in their heads isn't always what's happening in the outside world. The key is to lead in a way that makes you feel great about how you're behaving and where people will also feel validated and motivated. It's the difference between behaving in ways that force people to do things and leading by helping them inspire themselves from within.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

11 Ideas to Be a Hapy Leader

A leadership training article I wrote with practical ideas to help you be a happy leader.

10 Essential Leadership Qualities

A leadership training article on ten essential leadership qualities.

Leadership and Team Building

Ideas from my website on leadership and team building.

Leadership Means Taking a Look at Yourself First

A leadership training article I wrote on how effective leadership means taking a look at yourself.

10 Things Leaders Do to Hold their Employees Back

A leadership training article I wrote on things leaders to to hold their employees back.

Leadership: Competitive or Collaborative

A leadership training article I wrote on competitive versus collaborative leadership

Characteristics of Enlightened Leaders

A leadership training article I wrote on the characteristics enlightened leaders possess.

5 Characteristics of Leaders Who Aren't Very Effective

A leadership training article I wrote on five major characteristics of ineffective leaders.

What Is Leadership Training

There many ways to approach leadership training but I like to think in terms of the behaviors that generate excellent results. Inspiring leaders motivate people by communicating well, being kind, planning, being proactive, having self-awareness and delegating effectively. In this context, leadership training is about helping leaders understand how their behaviors help them lead themselves and others well.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Leadership Training Tip - Be Kind

A lot of people think that leadership is about barking orders. In actuality, the easiest part of leadership is telling people what to do. The harder things include the touchy-feely elements that build real relationships and deeper interactions. Being kind is a leadership skill that will help you create a happier workplace. When you're kind and praise people you'll increase the likelihood that they'll do great work. Being kind doesn't mean being weak, it just means treating people respectfully and with care.

Leadership Training that Goes Deeper

I always ask leaders and organizations to think of leadership training as a way to go deeper. That means looking at people's long-term behaviors and how you can teach people core skills that help them succeed in the workplace. Think in terms of how people communicate, collaborate, empathize and motivate others and you'll be on the way to designing leadership training that goes below the surface.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Lead More by Doing Less

A lot of people think that leadership is about being on top of people all the time. It's amazing how much better your results can be when you lay back a bit and let people shine. Identify and use people's strengths and abilities and let them do the things they love so you can lead with less effort while motivating people more.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training

Leadership Training Blog

Welcome to my leadership training blog where I'll share brief ideas, insights and information on practicing inspirational leadership. I've been training leaders for many years and I thoroughly enjoy helping proactive individuals build self-awareness and practice positive behaviors so they can build happy, healthy workplaces.

Take care,

Guy
Leadership Training