Selected Comments 06/13/2010 to 06/18/2010

What follows are selected comments Leadership readers left since Monday 06/13. Warning: this post exceeds the normal 300 word limit.

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Ian Sanders On Leadership – 06/13

Sam: Good leaders are servant leaders.

Ajay: … start with yourself about the thing that you want others to do without expecting others to start and in fact this is the true form of servant leadership.

Creating Connections – 06/14

Francces: I think LinkedIn offers the richest engagement, the easiest targeting, and the best long-term results.

Tony: (on LinkedIn cp. Twitter) I find that I get out of each what I put in, each time I have placed an emphasis on either, I have not been disappointed

Croadie: I think a secure boss is the precursor to any of this working other than perhaps “sucking –up.”

Cathy: … I swallowed my pride and went red-faced into my boss’ office and apologized for my behavior.

Jim: Understand what “motivates” your boss.

Mark: …if you can engage with someone as a person, regardless of their status then you are a “good person.”

David: … if you truly want to build up your leadership skills, you have to build up your ability to disconnect.

Sam: Advice implies you will take it. Ask for an opinion instead.

Heba: …once mistrust and disrespect is there nothing would help to connect them.

The Race is won or lost in the Mountains – 06/15

Dr. Asher: … maintain perseverance by following the set rules of the game and march towards the victory mark with improved (methods).

Aja: Distractions … are overcome by direction.

Tony: Leaders assess the situation, make a decision and act, I got up and … coasted forward, down the mountain, where I found mechanical help…

Doc: One might suggest that the distraction is part of the journey!

Croadie: Sometimes, just sometimes it is not your type of crisis and there is no harm in giving others more control than normal.

Juggle: Rethink Work-Reclaim your Life – 06/16

Ajay: Present life is actual life.

Jim: Being overly right brained … I found that in learning how to juggle, if I allowed my right brain to control the juggling, I was able to juggle longer. When I used my left brain to analytically control the juggling, invariably one of the balls hit the floor with a thud.

Six Ways to Make Teams Work – 06/17

Hans: I’m not so sure about the need for consensus decision making.

M P: Sometimes consensus is appropriate, other times team members will fully support a leader’s decision as long as they feel their point of view has been heard and considered.

Doc: Perpetuating a feel good group that expands its mandate corrupts its charter.

Dr. Asher: A lot depends on the clarity of purpose with which the team is formed. The selection of right group members is vital and driving a team with defined process steps to handle the assigned task becomes the responsibility of a team leader.

Tim: The leader’s job is to ensure that people feel heard and understood, and if we don’t go the direction they recommend that they understand why.

Selected comments – 06/07/2010 to 06/12/2010

What follows are selected comments Leadership readers left since Monday 06/07. Warning: this post is 354 words.

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06/07 - John Wooden on Learning

Dr. Asher: ‘I know everything’ or ‘I don’t need any advice/ suggestion’ (is) the major obstacle to learning

Dr. Harvey: Leaders must have the capacity to suspend their points of view, particularly when engaged in dialogue about concepts or ideas that conflict with the way they have come to perceive the truth.

Tim: It takes a strong, confident person to be an out-of-the-closet learner!

Amy: What makes learning difficult, Fear of others asking questions.

06/08 - Growing Powder

Diane:  By the way Dan – beautiful grandchildren.

Ajay: A person learns more in adversities … It is almost impossible to learn leadership skills through education, discussion or teaching. So a person with a lot of support may not learn leadership.

Anna:  Sometimes the simple magic of someone ‘giving’ you a little bit of growing power (influence, listening, supporting your ideas) makes you strive to live up to your new good name.

Mark: The real opportunity to grow comes when you’re thrown in the deep end.

06/09 - Explosive Personal Growth

Tarek: My boss made a point to encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and do something new.

Tim: “If you’re comfortable, you aren’t growing.”

Doc: Life has to settle into a routine before a leap can occur.

Jim: Knowing what we know is important, knowing what we do not know is more important.

Croadie: (An) event can sit you on your backside with such a jolt you know you must change and you start that process but it may be years before you emerge – I’ve been there.

Sue: Once I found a way to take responsibility for my own growth, I stopped being stunted.

Dag: Life offers opportunities for explosive growth but we avoid these opportunities as much as possible.

Sam: To truly grow, “I don’t know” should be followed by “but I’ll find out.”

06/10 - Frailty and what matters

Ajay: Frailty gives value to opportunity but also gives opportunity to compromise our values.

Abhishek:  We get to know the real worth of opportunities only after frailty.

Special thanks to Doc for the poem he left on “Frailty and what matters.”

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Thanks to everyone who leaves comments.

Meet James Leemann and Richard Croad on the Featured Contributor page. I’ll be adding other contributors in weeks to come.

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Leadership Freak

Dan Rockwell