Teamwork and Leadership Bloggings

Want to Shape Employees Behavior? Positive Leadership

Be a Positive Leader and Shape Employees Behavior

Several months ago after returning from a week long and grueling business trip I came home to the following sticky note from my eight year old son placed carefully square smack in the center of my monitor. "Dad is the best. From Jacob." I left it there for several months. Why? Because it made me feel great! Am I the best? Well, maybe not always, but in his eyes I was. His note really made me want to be.

We can shape employee behavior so much quicker by being positive than we can by being negative. It is a special thing to feel appreciated as a dad, as an employee, as a leader! Feeling that someone values us and really thinks we are kind of neat lifts us up - it is inspiring. One simple positive kind comment, one plain sticky note with an encouraging comment or one thoughtful voice-mail can make someones entire day, maybe even week! It is amazing the affect we can have on others lives by just being a little more caring, a little more considerate, and a little more attentive.

I challenge each of us positive leaders this year to lift others up. Make it a habit!

I would love to hear any stories of someone in your life that lifts you and why. What can we learn from others and their example? Please comment below. Thanks.

Other posts that you might enjoy:

Positive video that every leader in business, the home, church or wherever must watch.

Leaders can learn to be positive from this little girl... Video

5 Practical Suggestions for Being More Kind as a Leader

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Post by Mike Rogers of Teamwork and Leadership
Mike is an author, trainer and speaker and a grateful husband and father of eight children. He is passionate about seeing people succeed.

How to have More Leadership Courage - 3 Tips

Leadership and Courage - Lead with Courage!

Mark Twain once said: Let's face it, being a leader is not easy. Some times it requires great courage in a very personal way.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
~ CS Lewis

Examples of where leaders are tested on their courage in the workplace are plentiful. As a leader you might have to give an employee difficult feedback. Or maybe people are questioning your vision in times of difficulty. In each situation the leader has to be confident and courageous. I will be the first to admit it isn't easy having been tested many times in my life as a leader.

Here are three things you can do now to ensure you have the courage necessary to lead.

1. Be true to your values. It is much easier to be courageous when you have something you are sticking to based on what you believe is the right thing to do. Whether you are making a difficult decision, giving tough feedback or leading your team through complex change; coming from a place of doing what is right will give you the leadership courage you need to succeed.

2. Don't listen. Don't listen to the negative comments of others or the negative thoughts in your own head. You control your thoughts and what you believe about who you are as a leader, so chose to believe in everything positive about you. Change every negative thought into a positive one and make it a habit for life. For a great example read "A Powerful Story that Could Change a Leader's and Others Life..."

3. Care. As simple as it sounds, this is probably the single most important thing you can do as a leader to increase your ability to lead with courage. Leaders who care are more concerned about others than their own fears. Click on the following link of video based on a true and touching story that demonstrates this - "The Best Leaders Care - Amazing Video Based on a True Story."

How do you find the courage to lead? Please share your own stories by commenting below. Thank you. 

Other leadership posts on courage you might enjoy.

Do you struggle providing employees difficult feedback? It may be due to selfishness on your part.

Leadership Story - Some leaders think they are tough and effective, but...

What is Leadership?

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Post by Mike Rogers of Teamwork and Leadership
Mike is an author, trainer and speaker and a grateful husband and father of eight children. He is passionate about seeing people succeed.

The Best Leaders Care - Amazing Video Based on a True Story

Great Leaders Care

I am a grateful father of eight children. Yes, that's right - eight! I have also been blessed to  have been married 25 years today to a wonderful, more beautiful every year and very strong woman. Why do I tell you this? Because in those 25 years I have learned a lot about leadership; right here in my own home. While I have had the opportunity to work in many leadership capacities both in business and as a volunteer, I would have to say that the greatest and most touching experiences of leadership have come from my experience as a father.  

I am happy to share with you a video based on a very personal and true story of two of  my  children that taught me a great deal about the most important factor in leadership - caring. I hope you find it of value.

To purchase this video and use at your next meeting, presentation and/or training, click here. Facilitator's guide included.

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Post by Mike Rogers of Teamwork and Leadership
Mike is an author, trainer and speaker and a grateful husband and father of eight children. He is passionate about seeing people succeed.

How Leaders Can Develop an Attitude of Gratitude and Sleep Better Too!

3 Specific Ways to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude for Leaders

Gratitude truly is an attitude. In this posting, as promised in our last posting "The Benefits of Gratitude - 3 Reasons Leaders Can't Afford Not to Be", we provide three specific tips on how leaders can cultivate gratitude in their life. There are big benefits to being grateful, so this is the time to start working on it right away!

1. Instead of counting sheep at bedtime, count blessings. It cured my occasional insomnia! Instead of worrying about everything you didn't get done and worrying about everything you have to get done, try focusing just on those things that you are grateful for. All of the negative thoughts disappear. It really works and you will wake up happier too!

2. Focus on giving to those you lead. One of the most powerful things I have learned is that the more I give of myself, the more I care about others. The more I care, the more grateful I become. You can give a genuine compliment, give a gift, give of your time or give of your compassion. The point is to give, give and give and you will be happier and more grateful for it.

3. Focus on the positives of those you lead. It is so easy to focus on the negative. Be grateful for the positive contributions of your organization, team, children or anyone else you have the opportunity to be a leader to. The more you focus on the good things people do, the more grateful you become for them.

Any other ideas or comments. I would absolutely love to hear from you. Please comment below.

Check out these other popular posts related to gratitude.

3 Steps to Becoming a More Grateful Leader - Cultivate the Attitude of Gratitude

Is saying thank you that important for leaders?

What Leader or Leaders Are You Thankful For?

Post by Mike Rogers
Mike is an author, trainer and speaker and a grateful husband and father of eight children. He is passionate about seeing people succeed.

The Benefits of Gratitude - 3 Reasons Leaders Can't Afford Not to Be

Create a greater attitude of gratitude leaders!

If you have followed this blog for any time (we are three years old in March!) you know I love talking about how leaders ought to be kind, smile more, care and be positive. Well... leaders ought to be grateful as well. The last couple of weeks I have done a lot of reflecting on the benefits of gratitude in my life. People that are grateful seem to be more successful and seem to be a lot happier. A happy person could give you a list of 10 or more things he or she is grateful for without hesitation, and each of them would be given with great sincerity.

Why must leaders be grateful? Here are three benefits of gratitude:

1. Improves health. Research shows that people who are more grateful have stronger immune systems, are bothered less by aches and pains, sleep longer and are more refreshed waking up and have higher levels of positive emotions (see "Why Grattitude is Good"). With greater energy and focus and better able to deal with stress; healthier leaders are more effective.

2. Improves relationships. As I already stated, grateful people are happier people. Most people prefer to be around and establish relationships with people that are happier. Relationship building is at the heart of good leadership.

3. Improves productivity. Leaders who are grateful tend to be more passionate and deeply committed to those that they lead and think more often about rewards and recognition. They give more credit, praise and faith in those they lead. People are inspired by leaders that they know care.

What are some of the benefits you have seen of being grateful? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

Watch for our next posting on how to become a more grateful leader.

Other postings you might like:

Is saying thank you that important for leaders?

5 Suggestion for Being More Kind as a Leader

What Leader or Leaders Are You Thankful For?

 

Mike Rogers

It Never Was About You - Great Leaders Love

Great Leaders Love

If you think it ever was about you as a leader, you are wrong. Leadership is about others. Great leaders love and care about others more than themselves.

Here are three tips to help you love and care about those you lead. However, let me preface these tips by saying that the most important thing you need to do is not fake caring. Either you really love those you lead or you don't. If don't feel it, don't fake it. Faking it will erode your trust as a leader very quickly. People know when leaders are genuine and when they are not.

1. Serve. There is a positive correlation between serving others and love. The more you serve others, the more you will care for and love them. The more you care and love, the greater desire you will have to serve. It can be as easy as sending a heartfelt card during a tender time in an employees life, or doing something nice for their family. There are many opportunities to serve those we lead, we just need to be aware and look for them.
2. Be empathetic. See those you lead as people with needs just like you. I was talking to a colleague of mine the other day who has an employee with a very sick father who lives clear across the country. She can't afford an airline ticket to see him. This kind and generous leader is going to buy her a ticket so she can see her father, and he is doing it anonymously. He has truly seen those he leads as people just like him that he can reach out and serve.
3. See the positive. Everybody has good in them. The more you think and speak positively of others the more you will care. If you are always seeing the negative; it is difficult to care because those feelings are in direct conflict with caring. Some of you might be saying, "well, that is fine and dandy, but there is negative, and I have to address that too." And I agree. But look for the positive first and then address the negative because you love that person, not because you are upset or angry.
4. Express it. Now, you don't need to say "I love you." That could be construed as something different than what you are trying convey. But telling those you lead that you really do care about them; that you appreciate them, and feeling it as you say it, will increase your love for them. There is a real connection that occurs when you express how you feel genuinely to others.

Please leave a comment below and let me know what you do that helps you love and care about those you lead...

See these past posts of leaders that care and love, who care about others more than themselves.

Layoffs - Why the "C" and "E" in CEO should stand for Caring and Empathy

Compassionate and Caring Leadership - Very Inspirational Video

Anyone can be a leader - Powerful Video

Mike Rogers

 

What kind of leader are you? Really?

What kind of leader are you?

I came across this quote the other day that I found to be quite clever. 

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. ~Oscar Wilde

What kind of leader are you? Is it even possible to be a leader if people are happy when you leave? It might be difficult to be effective if people are happy to see you go.

I saw a great example of this years ago with two of my oldest boys who were playing high school sports. One had a basketball coach that led by fear and the other had a football coach who led with love. The difference in the two coaches was remarkable. I found that in the case of the basketball coach the boys on that team would only perform to the level that they wouldn't get yelled at. In the case of the football coach the boys on that team would pull more out of themselves than they realized they had. They knew that coach cared about them and they would believe everything he said. They wanted to do their absolute best for him. And though they were small compared to other teams they continually won every year.

So, it is my belief that it is difficult to be as effective as a leader if people are happy to see you leave. What are your thoughts? Do you agree?



Other Similar Posts you Might Enjoy

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3 Steps to Becoming a More Grateful Leader - Cultivate the Attitude of Gratitude

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Mike Rogers
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Inspirational Leadership Service Video

Here is an inspirational leadership service video from spiritsclip.com that ought to make your day that much better. As I have stated on this blog several times, leadership can be demonstrated in a number of ways. And leadership always comes down to relationships.

The best kind of leader is the one who is willing to give more than he or she might have, as the humble and grateful man in this video demonstrates.

These kinds of videos inspire me to be a better leader and servant to my family, friends, employees and strangers. How about you?

Click here to access video.

 
Source: spriticlips.com

For Similar Posts and Videos Click on the Following Below:

Leaders Care - True Story

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Inspirational Video to Start Off 2010 - True Story

Inspiring Others is The Leaders Calling. Great Video

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Find the Good in Others - A Leadership Lesson and Three Benefits

My mom passed away last year around Mother's Day. It has been a difficult year to say the  least. She was the matriarch and really the center of our family. My mom was a fighter and kind and generous beyond measure. I have saved so many kind notes that people wrote about her after her passing. I always knew my mom was very, very special, but the many stories and kind thoughts told me things about her that I never knew.

Unfortunately I have been to my share of funerals since then. And I have observed that people who pass on are really wonderful people. So I ask, why do we have to wait until people are gone to recognize how special they really are? The answer is we don't.

Everyone has good in them, we just have to look. And when we find it we ought to express it. There is a saying that you will get whatever you look for. If you want to see the bad in people, you will find it. If you want to find the positive, you will find that as well. What does this mean for leaders? Here are the benefits of finding the good in others:

1. People are attracted personally to others who see in them what others might not. I have always told my children that if you want to make lots of friends, find good things about others and express it.

2. People are attracted to others who find the good in general. Would you rather hang around positive or negative people? Your answer to that question might say a lot about what you usually find and search for in others.

3. In every person there is some variety of bud preparing to blossom. You can't develop what you don't search to find in others. It is to your advantage as a leader to find those buds, but it will require you to find the good first.

What do you think? I look forward to your comments below.

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Mike

A Leadership Story that will Move and Inspire You

For Other Leadership Stories Click Here

A "stories of leadership" series

I heard a remarkable story yesterday that I surprisingly had never heard before, and one that reminds me of the reason I blog. The mark of the greatest leader, in my opinion, is one who is willing to give his life for another.

The Civil War was a bloody and vicious war. At least 618,000 Americans died and some say the toll reached 700,000. Casualties exceeded all of America's other wars from the Revolution through Vietnam.

In the winter of 1862 General Robert E. Lee's forces had claimed several key battlefields in the Eastern Campaign. One of those key battles was as one-sided a victory as a battle could be. It was the Battle of Fredericksburg. On December 13, 1862, Union forces began what was termed a desperate and eventual doomed assault on a heavily fortified position known as the "stone wall at the sunken road."

After crossing a river the Union confidentally took the town of Frederisksburg with little resistance. The confederate army had voluntarily given up the town so that they might fortify themselves along a stone wall at the base of a sloping hill. As the union army begin to approach the wall they were attacked and by the morning of December 14th over 8,000 Union soldiers had been shot in front of the stone wall. Many of those remaining on the battlefield were still alive, but suffering from their wounds, the cold and thirst. 

During that night both sides were forced to listen to the cries and moans of those soldiers for hours. A Confederate soldier stationed near the wall later stated that it was "weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and bear the cries of dying soldiers filling the air - lying crippled on a hillside so many miles from home - breaking the hearts of soldiers on both sides of the battlefield." 

Richard Rowland Kirkland, an infantry sergeant for the Confederacy could not rest or sleep due to the suffering of the Union soldiers and that morning asked his commanding officer if he could scale the wall and provide water for the suffering Union troops. The commanding officer was reluctant at first because of the danger to Richard, but later allowed him to. As Richard climbed the wall several shots were instantly fired thinking that Kirkland's motives were to wound more, but after realizing what was happening shooting ceased. Richard Rowland Kirkland made his way to each soldier comforting them the best he could by laying his jacket over one and providing water to the thirsty lips of all. For the next hour and a half he would scale the wall a number of times with his canteen to get more water for his enemy. It was a moment that temporarily stopped the Civil War.

This story deeply touched me. To me this exemplifies the highest calling of leadership. And it embodies the purpose of leadership. That purpose is to care and to serve. Is there one man on that battlefield that wouldn't have been willing to follow such a servant if asked to? He was the enemy of course, but how much more powerful the example.

What are your thoughts? Are there leaders like this you have admired in your life? Who are they? Please comment below.

Other Leadership Stories you Might Enjoy:

Quick Positive and Optimistic Story for Leaders

My Favorite Leadership by Example Story Ever - Powerful

A Powerful Story that Could Change a Leader's and Other's Life...

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Thanks

Mike Rogers