Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

The next time you are interviewing a candidate and you want to access their leadership skills, consider asking the candidate these questions: What personal qualities define you as a leader? Describe a situation when these qualities helped you lead others. Give an example of when you demonstrated good leadership. What is the toughest group from which you've had to get cooperation? Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work? Describe a situation in which you had to change your leadership style to achieve the goal? One leadership skill is the ability to accommodate different views in the workplace, regardless of what they are. What have you done to foster a wide number of views in your work environment? Thanks to Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential HR Handbook , for these helpful questions!

If you lead a nonprofit organization, the one hour it will take you to read Peter F. Drucker's book called " The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization " will be well worth it. This book may fundamentally change the way you work and lead your organization. Perhaps one of most challenging of the five questions is the one where Drucker asks the reader is: " Do we produce results that are sufficiently outstanding for us to justify putting our resources in this area ? Because, Drucker argues that need alone does not justify continuing. Nor does tradition, if your results are not sufficiently outstanding. If you volunteer for a nonprofit or are seeking employment at a nonprofit, this book is also an insightful and inspiring read.

Last week, I wrote about goals and the importance of having a plan in place to reach your goals. Today, I remembered reading these additional goal-setting tips from two-time U.S. Olympian Alan Culpepper from the November 2013 issue of Competitor magazine. Here are his seven tips for setting goals, whether are your workplace or away-from-work goals: Be clear and specific about what it is you are trying to accomplish. Set intermediate goals that complement a long-term goal. Shoot high, but recognize the importance of a natural progression. Write your goals down. Review your goals periodically. Remind yourself often why you are working on your goal. And, remember even if you don't hit your goal, there is satisfaction the process.

There are seven major onboarding land mines that you are likely to come across as a new leader and there are specific points in the first 100 days where you are most likely to encounter them, explain authors: George Brant Jayme A. Check Jorge Pedraza ...in their new third edition of, The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan . Ill-prepared, without a plan, and lacking proper onboarding, the land mines will get you.  And, if you miss one or more of the critical tasks that must be accomplished in your first 100 days, you'll likely fail. The book is packed with: Examples and case studies Action plans Tools, techniques and tricks of the trade The authors also explain why you need to start even before your official first day on the job . For example: Cultural engagement is extremely important in a successful transition; and it is essential that you know what your cultural engagement plan will be before walking in the door for ...

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." -- John Quincy Adams "If you can speak about what you care about to a person you disagree with without denigrating them or insulting them, then you may actually be heard." -- Amy Poehler

Here are some great reminders about how to really listen -- what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener...from the book, The 11 Laws of Likability . Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

Here are 10 tips for how to maximize employee involvement : Have active ways to listen to your employees. Check often with employees to see if the information you are sharing with them is what they need and what they want. Share information about customer satisfaction with employees. Discuss financial performance with your employees and be sure everyone understands the importance of profitability and how they can contribute to profitability. Allow ad hoc teams among employees to form to address organizational problems and work with those teams to tackle the identified issues. Encourage employees to make suggestions for improvement whether those ideas are large or small. Take an idea from one employee and share it with other employees and teams and let everyone make a contribution to build upon that idea. Train! For long-term employees, find ways to keep their jobs interesting through new assignments and challenges. Conduct meetings around specific issues and brai...