Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

There are eight specific actions business leaders can take to show that they value their employees, according to Andrew Leigh, author of the book, Ethical Leadership -- Creating and Sustaining an Ethical Business Culture.

Those eight behaviors are: Attention -- Pay attention to what people say to show your interest.Listen -- Make time to hear what colleagues, peers and employees have to say to show you care.Positive Language -- Find words and phrases to show employees they're needed.  Examples are, "We couldn't have accomplished this without you," "That was really useful."Document -- Put praise in writing to increase its impact.  Make clear where the credit belongs.Micro Sessions -- Create two-way communication sessions.Visits -- Schedule visits to teams and work areas.Stories -- Share stories that highlight unusual contributions and provide your personal response to them.Invite -- Ask people to contact you directly with their issues and concerns -- not to …

Eric Harvey and Al Lucia wrote a booklet called, 144 Ways To Walk The Talk. They provide the following great advice about giving feedback:
1. Make it timely -- give your feedback as soon as possible to the performance.
2. Make it individualized -- tailor your feedback to the feedback receiver.
3. Make it productive -- focus your feedback on the performance and not the performer.
4. Make is specific -- pinpoint for the receiver observable actions and behaviors.

A few years ago, Brian Tracy, along with Christina Stein, published, Find Your Balance Point.

"The desire for peace of mind and the idea of living a balanced life are central to your happiness and well-being. When you start to live your life in balance with the very best person you could possibly be, you will enjoy the happiness you deserve and experience harmony among all the elements that make up a successful life for you, as you define it," explain the authors.

The book teaches you how to identify you balance point, move to it at will, and automatically return to it whenever you want.

"You need to establish your balance point before you can set and achieve the goals that are important to you," explains Tracy.

The starting point is to develop absolute clarity about who you are and what matters to you. This means you much be clear about your values.


Then, chapter by chapter, Tracy and Stein take you through:
Creating your vision and how to be powered by clarityCon…

When I read business books, I turn the corner of every page that has something I really like, want to remember and easily reference in the future.

Halfway into the 300-page book, Leadership Conversations, I had turned the corners of nearly every fifth page. So, you can see why I believe this is such a good book. There is so much to learn from Leadership Conversations. It's a must read for today's business leaders. Leaders who are leading multi-generational workforces. And, leaders who want the skills to get promoted and move up the corporate ladder.

Authors Alan S. Berson and Richard G. Stieglitz wrote the book because they believe that a leader's most powerful skill is the ability to hold effective conversations.

So, in their book, they detail the four types of conversations every leader must effectively master.  Conversations that: Build relationshipsDevelop othersMake decisionsTake action And, they provide real-world examples and tactical guidance for each of those conversat…

To learn how to stay motivated, read High-Profit Prospecting, by Mark Hunter. It's a powerful read that includes counter intuitive advice and cutting-edge best practices for sales prospecting in today's business world.

Today, I share one of my favorite sections of the book where Hunter describes his seven things motivated people do to stay motivated:
Motivated people ignore voices in their lives. These might be people in the office and friends who have bad attitudes. They're out there, and if you're not careful, they'll control you, too.Motivated people associate with highly motivated people. Just as there are negative people in the world, there are also positive people. Your job is to make sure you spend as much time with the positive people as possible. Motivated people simply look for the positive in things. Positive people count it an honor to live each day, learn from others, and impact positively those they meet. Positive people take great satisfaction in hel…

In his book, Getting To "Yes And": The Art of Business Improv, author Bob Kulhan reminds us of the important difference between leadership and management.

"I'd suggest that the act of managing focuses strictly on strategic thinking at its most practical -- on execution. Managing is taking care of logistical and practical details," says Kulhan. "The real problem arises when anyone confuses the managing of job-specific details with actual leadership. One does not need to be a visionary to qualify as a leader, but leadership does imply vision from a position of oversight," explains Kulhan.

He further shares, "Managing is part of leading, and a great leader can and should be an excellent manager. The skill of managing, though, is only one part of leading, and managing in and of itself is not leading."

Finally, Kulhan says that "a good leader communicates on a broader, higher level. A leader drives for results, leads by example, and develops ta…