Why Doesn’t Leadership Training Produce Leaders?

by Kate Mercer

Great leadership is one of the keys to long-term organizational success; so how come there seems to be such a shortage? In the corridors of political power, and in the boardrooms of large and small organizations, we regularly hear the questions: “Where is the inspired leadership we crave?”, “Where is our next generation of leaders coming from?”, “Where is the flair and inspiration we need to take us to the next level?”

If asked, you could probably say what ‘leadership’ is. Like everyone else, you’ve read the books and seen the leadership competency frameworks. You could clearly describe how it feels to be well and poorly led - you ‘know it when you see it’. But how many current great world leaders can you name off the top of your head? How many great leaders are there in your organisation now?
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Overcoming Procrastination “Carpe Punctum” - Seize this Moment

So, I have been listening to a lot of enlightening media lately, and they seem to have a central theme.  The moment.  Most of us get caught up in the day-to-day living of life, in which we are always tuned into thinking about things that don’t necessarily apply to right now.  If you want to overcome procrastination, you must respect the moment.

With this economy, it sure is easy to drift away thinking about this bill or that bill, or how we are going to pay this or that.  With the election season caught, we get thinking about the worse case scenario if this candidate gets into office or if that candidate gets into office.   Read more

Small Business Tips – It’s Never The Perfect Time

Many people wait for things to be “perfect” before they pursue their dreams and goals. They wait for the perfect conditions, the perfect attitude, and the perfect time of year. They really want to achieve their goals … but the time just isn’t right.

In business they wait to take action on things they need to do to grow their business until they have their strategic plan in place, until staff turnover settles down, until they stop being so busy, until they get a few more clients. They really want to get around to taking the actions they need to do to grow their business … but the time just isn’t right.

When managing people they really want to tackle the poor performer, the rude staff member, the tardy employee. They want to give recognition to the high performing team member and take time out to plan their team’s projects or tasks… but the time just isn’t right.

Are you seeing any patterns?
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6 Essential Areas to Being a Great Leader

If I asked you to name someone you thought was a great leader, who would you pick? John Wooden? Abraham Lincoln? Your grandmother? You have reasons for your selection. What are they? What makes that person a great leader? Too often we know a great leader when we see one, but less often are we able to pinpoint what makes it so. It’s worth taking the time to define the qualities of the person you selected as a great leader, and determine how you can incorporate those qualities into your own leadership.  Every one of us is different, so we will be different leaders, but there are core essentials that need to be well-developed to create a great leader. I believe there are 6 essential areas to being a great leader:

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