Frank Harber Effective Guidance

By Frank Demming

A few days ago, I had a coaching session with a fellow network marketer that is struggling. Last week she subscribed for my free coaching program, and I was able to squeeze her in for our initial one on one on short notice, because she seemed as if she needed immediate help. Within the first 15 mins of our conversation, it became evident that she needed to adjust her mindset if she wanted to be successful in this business. I proceeded to recommend her some initial books that will help her tremendously in this journey. Her initial reaction was, “I hate to read, can you just give me some pointers as to what those books are all about?” I was dumbfounded. Well, that conversation inspired me to write this article. As the title suggests, I truly believe that leaders are readers. Had it not been for me reading the plethora of books I have been exposed to, I would not be where I am today as a marketer. I would probably still be trading hours for dollars.

Anyway, this article is dedicated to the newbie out there, that may be struggling with their respective businesses. The three books I am going to be recommending are the pioneers that started it all for me, as I was coming into my own & shifting my thinking.

Reading, experts tell us, is the key to our success and motivation to leadership. Is this really true? Can success and leadership come because we read a lot? If so then why would this be true? We can answer the first question with a definite yes. Yes, reading does provide leaders and success. Certain books teach a different way of thinking. They can take negative thought patterns and change them to positive ones. In any business having a positive outlook is crucial. Without one, your business can crumble quickly. Of course it matters what books you choose. Books that motivate and encourage success are ones that you want to get your hands on. Ones like the following:

Think & Grow Rich written by Napoleon Hill at the time of the Great Depression. This is a life changing book. Woven through this book are the basic tenets such as work hard, offer true quality, treat customers with respect, and overcome your personal weaknesses. However, he also includes practical business advice such as have a good written plan, find new opportunities, and do not be afraid to fail over and over until you succeed. If there is one book to read, this is the one.

Power of your Subconscious Mind by Dr Joseph Murphy provides a down-to-earth suggestion that we can create success by using the power of our subconscious mind. His book is threaded with the idea of impressing the subconscious mind to help us succeed in getting rich and in life in general. His writing is presented with simple, usable techniques in which he states that you can easily apply to your life every day.

This Thing Called You by Ernest Holmes was written to help readers understand how to relax through meditation and prayers. We have been given life and therefore are inspired to be creative ourselves.

By Nancy Lowery

“Careful you’ve got a hooey!” the words were becoming all too familiar. In this context hooey isn’t nonsense or silly talk, it is a warning.

My efforts to manage the 40 foot ranch rope proved the skills I’d developed thus far in life seemed of little use. Setting the loop was one thing, throwing it presented a whole different set of challenges. My eye hand coordination was pitiful!

If you are of the mind that working with a horse represents a life and death scenario, you’ll warm to the fact that adding a rope, and a calf, increases the risk exponentially.

The ranch roping clinic reinforced the importance of preparation, planning and adaptability in most everything we do. Demonstrating confidence that I could do it was one thing, but more importantly I had to provide leadership to maintain the trust of my horse.

Being committed to your leadership values throughout a process of change is critical to the outcome and the relationships you need to maintain. While my vision may have been to get out there and rope a calf there were a number of short-term goals I first had to achieve.

I’ve read “credibility is one of the hardest attributes to earn and sustain – and the most fragile – It is earned minute by minute, hour by hour, month by month – but can be lost in very short order.”1

In my attempts to swing the rope my horse was making her concern of this new venture quite clear. Without some careful preparation she was more than ready to leave me in the dirt. I had to demonstrate credible behaviour. My actions had to support my horse and allow her to prepare so she understood her job, only then would she be a willing participant.

When I finally got the hang of the rope I could focus on the plan. When my enthusiasm got in the way and my actions didn’t include my horse she would back off and we had to start over. As with any activity with a horse you have to remain emotional neutral continually demonstrating you are there to support them and ready to adapt to what shows up.

By Sondra Whitt

Once upon a time a leader was expected to be the so-called alpha male – the stereotypical hard-charging, steam-rolling, corporate warrior, workaholic. But what about today’s leaders?

Robert McGarvey outlines seven desirable traits of today’s leader in an article in American Way Magazine entitled Field Guide to the New CEO. These are the leadership traits that get results: First of all, they are humble and “project a strong, sincere sense of personal modesty” with no room for arrogance and flamboyance. They are inclusive; they’re open to input from their employees when making decisions and work to build consensus instead of just issuing edicts. “They are masters at motivating others to rally around shared objectives.” Today’s leaders are broad-minded, in the sense that they have to be “able to build trust across (global) geographic boundaries.” They are intimate from the standpoint of being more approachable and personal. They no longer stay in their ivory towers but are as accessible to and interested in as many customers and employees as possible. Great leaders of today are values-oriented. People today “want to work for companies that are values-based and they want leaders who set the example.” The bottom-line profit can no longer be the only consideration behind all business decisions. Today’s leader is empathetic, living the Golden Rule, treating employees and customers like they themselves want to be treated. And today’s leader is absolutely honest. No more of the “bogus degrees, trumped up sales figures, and criminal convictions that have undermined dozens of CEOs in recent years.”

Michael Fiener, former PepsiCo executive, is a good example of a leader who exhibited strong leadership behavior that his employees wanted to emulate. He embodied McGarvey’s list of desirable traits and was also described as “fair, straight-forward, ethical and demanding – but compassionate. He was about values, standards and leadership by example.” Many of Fiener’s protégé’s have gone on to head human resource departments in companies such as Dell, Microsoft and Sears. “A great boss doesn’t need a larger-than-life persona, and leadership isn’t composed of heroic gestures and brilliant insights,” writes Feiner in his book, The Feiner Points of Leadership. “Rather it’s the unglamorous and old-fashioned work of building relationships, being committed to employees’ success and holding them accountable.” He inspired and encouraged his employees and he also held them, as well as himself, accountable to performance standards.

Feiner says that ninety percent of leadership is hidden below the surface. Such as believing their company’s mission/purpose is important and inspiring their employees with the same belief. They create high expectations, challenging employees to be better than they thought they could be. Feiner cared as much about his employees’ success as he did his own and showed it by giving of his time, advice, attention, coaching and feedback. He got to know his people, treated them as individuals and believed tough love was a demonstration of his commitment.

By Bryant Nielson

The Foundations of Leadership range from emotional intelligence to building relationships. Each foundation brings in elements of all the other foundations – and allows you to practice your leadership skill. As you do this, you’ll find that your leadership becomes effective. Effective leadership creates empowerment, innovation, creativity, and achievement – possibly where none existed before. This same leadership teaches people how to lead, along with responsibility and accountability. Let’s discover the ways that your effective leadership can be an advantage – both to you and your organizations – in several different areas of life. In the following series, we will look in more detail at each area and at the advantages that you can obtain.

First, think about how effective leadership can be used as a personal advantage. The most obvious advantage is that you are increasing your own skill. You can take your leadership skills with you wherever you go, whether in personal or work situations. When you have increased skills, you’ll feel more confident in your own abilities. Think about the advantages that could come about because of that confidence. As you practice the foundations of leadership, you’ll develop a toolbox or bench strength of your own – and be able to call on those tools when you need them the most.

At an organizational level, let’s look at communities or community organizations. Many times, as we’ve discussed, these organizations lack solid leadership simply because people do not step up to the plate. When you courageously step forward as a community or organizational leader, you define or redefine what leadership means to that group. But every organization has its own agenda – and you can promote that as a self-made leader. Not only this, you can use your own leadership as a way to create the expectations of leadership – this way, all facets of the organization will be able to sense when leadership is lacking – or has failed.

Corporate groups need leadership at all levels, and perhaps this is where your effective leadership can lend the most advantage. Everyone has some vision for his or her career, whether it’s to advance, to make a place right where you are, or to expand your position laterally. When you set the leadership example, you’re setting yourself up for the achievement of your own vision. As a leader, you prepare yourself to compete with the other people who want the same things. But take the advantages to the entire organization. Effective leadership builds teams, sets up open communication, and helps the organization move forward to the fulfillment of its goals. Leadership in corporate work groups creates a succession plan and a pool of talent who can fill in as things expand.

What about your family? You can use effective leadership as an advantage in family situations, as well. First, you are setting new expectations for yourself and for your family. Above this, as you move through the leadership foundations, you’ll start to define the roles and responsibilities of each family member.

By Bryant Nielson

We’ve looked at fifteen leadership foundations and how they can be applied in various areas of your life. When you put all of those foundations together, you’ll be able to lead effectively – but let’s look at the personal advantages of this ability to lead.

First, you’ll be able to develop your skill even further. Many times if you don’t demonstrate the ability or willingness to lead, you won’t receive any experience. But in certain situations, as we’ve seen, leadership is not always a chance that’s given – it’s an opportunity that you look for and take. When you take these opportunities, you’re just giving yourself the ability to develop your own skills.

With skill development comes self-confidence. Suppose you’re looking for a new job – your interview, panel discussion, or group interview will be all the better because you have confidence in your own abilities. Not only this, you’ll be able to promote self-confidence as part of your leadership package. Take care not to make it overconfidence, but a good balance – and that balance will make you all the more attractive as a leader.

But what if you’re not able or ready to practice leadership in a corporate arena? Take the initiative in your community, community organization, or family. When you do this, you’ll prepare yourself for leadership in other situations. It’s the process of building your own bench strength, as opposed to the bench strength of a team or organization. Wherever you find the opportunity to put effective leadership into place, take it and run with it. You’re preparing for leadership responsibility in the future.

As we’ve seen with many of the leadership foundations, in order to practice you must take a good look at yourself. This applies to many areas, such as communication, emotional intelligence, persuasion, and organizational savvy. As you move into the use of these leadership tools, you’ll be looking in the mirror to determine how you react in certain situations. This introspect gives you a good self-examination and serves as a method of feedback that you might not get in some situations. Even in informal situations, look at the way you react in relation to the leadership foundations – perhaps you can even ask friends or colleagues to give you feedback on your reactions. All of this makes you a better leader – and enables you to use your skill as an advantage.

When people see how well you react as a leader, you’ll also be able to set yourself up as a mentor. Mentorship is a definite advantage, first because it shows your leadership ability up front. But not only this, your mentorship can be used formally as a method to prove your leadership in appropriate situations. As you become a mentor, you’ll again be able to put your skill to the test, as well as obtain feedback and boost your own self-confidence.

By Maynard Brusman

Managing Energy With Stories

Are you working in an organization where leaders have high energy? Do the leaders in your organization mange their energy effectively?

One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself is  Am I managing time or energy? Inspiring leaders manage energy well.

Are you fully aware of how you are focusing your energy? Are you able to create a high performance workplace by creating a workplace climate where energy not time spent creates extraordinary results?

Most of us respond to workplace demands by putting in longer hours. But it is fundamentally flawed to assume that investing time in the things we care about will generate results. This belief, and the stories that flow from it, are simply untrue.

We can work long hours, have lunch meetings with direct reports and make the required phone calls, but if we are exhausted, distracted, frustrated and angry when doing so, the positive return we have hoped for will not materialize.

Nothing positive comes from putting in extra time without devoting high-quality, focused energy. Time has value only when it intersects with energy. High performance requires you to manage energy well.

Executives strive to sustain high performance in the face of ever-increasing pressure and rapid change, but they cannot make it happen without skillfully managing their energy.

In The Power of Full Engagement (2003), authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz assert we need to learn two new rules:

1. Energy is the fundamental currency of high performance.

2. Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy.

And Loehr puts forth a third important rule:

3. The stories we tell ourselves and others drive the way we gather and spend energy.

Tell yourself the right story, and the dynamics of your energy will change. Stories you tell will either create or sap your energy.

A perfect example is the old story about two shoe salesmen sent to Africa. The first one telegraphs back to company headquarters: Situation hopeless: No one wears shoes.

The second salesman reports: Situation ideal: Everyone need shoes!

Which story generates energy? Change your story, and you change your energy.

Workers in organizations like to complain about their workloads. How can professionals focus on what really matters when they are carrying around a load (work or otherwise)?

Change your language, and you change your story. You will ignite a new kind of energy. Take a moment to reflect on two recent stories you told yourself: one that gives you energy and one that depletes it.