Note from Art: Today’s post is from Jeff Hornstein, a Speaking Coach and someone passionate about helping individuals and teams develop their critical presentation skills. I invited Jeff to share his thoughts and ideas on “Executive Presence” and he was kind enough to contribute this post and his wonderfully useful pdf guidebook, “Communicating Credibility.”
I had an interesting kitchen table discussion recently with a friend who questioned my belief in the ability to change the world by helping support the development of effective leaders. His point: for every one person that actually “gets it” and develops into an effective, values-driven and people-focused leader, dozens of “incompetent idiots” will end up in positions of responsibility and the cycle of horrible leadership and lousy leaders will continue.
If you’ve been around the block for a few decades as a leader, your current To-Do list doesn’t feel as good as the one you had for most of the 90’s and the middle of this decade. However, the benefit of your experience is that you know that we’ll find our way through this fog of uncertainty and fear and doubt. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know the absolute path.
I’ve long believed that the best leaders are teachers. Not lecturers, but teachers. As teachers, they challenge us to think, to explore, to experiment, to learn and to keep trying. (click on the title to read the entire essay.)
Fresh on the heels of my remarkably fun and productive collaboration with Mary Jo Asmus of Intentional Leadership on “The Words of a Leader,” I feel duty bound to remind you that while words are indeed powerful tools for creation or destruction, it’s your actions that will seal your fate as a leader. Or rather, how well your actions and your words match.
This dual post was the outcome of a casual exchange of thoughts via Twitter that quickly evolved into a must-write piece and fun collaboration on an important topic: the words of a leader. My partner in crime here is Mary Jo Asmus, the author of the outstanding Intentional Leadership blog…one that I turn to regularly for inspiration and insight.
Good leaders are builders and they form and shape their words into phrases and questions that encourage learning and improvement and risk-taking and more learning. Good leaders are master craftsmen in many ways, and words are some of their most important tools. Less effective leaders use words like tools as well, but in this case they crassly apply the words of brute force in settings where precision is called for
The formula is simple and the outcome is predictable. Treat people with respect and they will generally return the courtesy many times over.
The word “respect” just might work as the lone word in the world’s shortest chapter in the world’s shortest and most effective book on leadership. Master the term, practice it liberally and you’ve uncovered one of the simple secrets to leading effectively.
Just in time for a long holiday weekend, Dan McCarthy is hosting the always exciting and often inspiring Leadership Development Carnival at his home blogging base at Great Leadership.
Aside from the way over the top kind words that he has for me and this blog (Thanks, Dan!), he’s put together a collection of phenomenal essays from some really great writers and authorities in the world of leadership and business.
There are few skills that will take you further and help you more than developing your speaking skills. Your writing skills are a close second. While you can hide and some people do get away with dodging the speaking bullet, I’m not sure why you would want to. The fear is overblown.
Self-confidence is rocket fuel for leaders. Used carefully and ignited under the proper conditions, it propels you and those around you to remarkable heights.
However, beware the narrow tolerance ranges of your own self-confidence.
