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What’s the Secret Ingredient That Turns Groups into Teams?
Working together building and maintaining long-term team relationships is the key behavior and skill of the most effective people in any organization.

Mutual Trust is the secret ingredient that turns groups into teams. It leads to cooperation, productivity, faster problem solving, loyalty and high morale.

Some of the key elements that create trust:

1. Put the goals of the team first. Place personal goals second.

2. Admit weakness, concerns and fears. People trust those who can admit they are human.

3. Ask for help when necessary. That’s just as important for building team trust as offering help when it’s needed.

4. Be optimistic and encouraging. Never criticize, complain or condemn.

5. Express approval. Your expression of approval towards someone satisfies their need for recognition and show respect for their accomplishments.

6. Offer appreciation. Whenever you thank someone for anything, you raise his or her self-esteem another notch. They feel more valuable and important.

7. Give your focused attention. This pays the team members a great compliment. You make them feel valuable and it helps to cut through any resistance and tension.

8. Compliment worthiness. Whenever you see anything that anyone has done that’s worthy of a compliment, point it out and tell them how much you admire and appreciate them.

9. Practice agreeability and acceptance. People like to be around and deal with other people who accept them for who they are without judgment. You express acceptance and agreeability to others by smiling at them, nodding and agreeing when you can, even in the toughest situations.

What Ingredients Do You Need to Make an Effective Team?.

You can build a trusting team by looking for these kinds of members.

A Facilitator: Start with a person who has a track record of getting things done through others.

A Practical Hardhead: This person brings stability to the team and keeps everyone focused and on target. Be sure that this person is confident enough to speak out clearly, when others seem to be planting their feet firmly in midair.

A Numbers Person: Be sure that someone can keep control of the budget and that dreamers don’t go wild with the company’s or other people’s money.

At Least One Creative Person: This should be someone who will consistently come up with innovative ideas.

A Future-minded Strategist: Every team needs someone who will project from the present into the future and will press for a backup plan.

At Least One Star Performer: This person is someone who always goes beyond the minimum. These types solve problems and get involved in projects without worrying whether an activity is in their job description.

Taking Lessons From The Geese.
When you start to doubt the wisdom of teamwork, heed these lessons from an unlikely source…a flock of geese.

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following. By flying in ‘V’ formation, the whole flock adds 71% more to its flying range than if each bird flew alone.

o Lesson: Teammates who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they’re going quicker and easier when they travel on shared power.

When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position.

o Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing the leader’s role.

When in formation, the geese from behind honk to encourage those in front to keep up their speed.

o Lesson: Sometimes team members need to hear a little honking.

Whenever a goose is sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation to help and protect it. They stay with it until it can fly again or dies.

o Lesson: Stand by one another in times of trouble.

Author : F McDuffee
Site : ezinearticles.com

Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, “Talk to the hand ‘cos the face ain’t listening?” Do you feel it’s like this sometimes when you are trying to get through to people? But just how good a listener are you? Do you actually “listen between the lines?”

So often we hear about a problem, and immediately jump in. We want a quick fix. However, we are inside our own head, and make no attempt to get into the head of the other person.

As a leader of staff it is very challenging to keep quiet, and to listen. This is the key, though, to getting the best out of your workforce. Take the time to listen to what they are saying.
What motivates them? What are they putting up with at work? What issues really concern them?

As a parent, or as a partner, we become mindful of our own listening skills. So often, lack of time, and stress in our lives get in the way of listening to those close to us. We hear, but we do not understand.

It is always tricky being around adolescents with their notorious mood swings. And yet, if you take the time to listen to them, to participate in their lives, you may discover a real friend. The key is to put your own issues on hold, and to get to know the child at his or her level.

My teenage daughter and I were talking about the bombings in London in July. Her value set was obviously challenged. I made time and space to listen to her, and let her drive the conversation. As a result, I was able to build up her trust. A stronger relationship between the two of us emerged.

This is no different from what you could achieve with your own staff. Let them know your door is always open, that you are open to discuss any problem they might have.

Be careful about how high you set expectations. Do you give the impression that you just want to get the job done? Do people feel that you are so focused that you would not listen anyway?

By taking the time to listen you will be able to address their grievance, and move on together. Everyone will be happier, and you will have laid a real foundation of trust.

Author : Julianne Kuhlmann
Site : ezinearticles.com

Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each member is aligned with the whole group and works in a happy friendly way. Team building has been very popular over the last ten years or so, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if we naturally lived a life in synchrony with your teammates and your customers.

Businesses in the past has employed people for the purpose of fulfilling a role and paying a wage, were the employee may not really enjoy the job they are doing. As we move into the New Energy and develop our awareness. As New Spirituality develops and Self-love grows and your appreciation for fellow employees naturally changes, we grow in synchrony and Self-realisation.

This shift is happening now; employees and business owners are going through major changes both at work and in their home life. It is getting harder and harder to stay in a job you are not enjoying doing.

Your individual life’s purpose and your job are aligning, it is possible to help this process through your imagination, your vision and your dreams to plan the next step on your life’s journey. The best way to achieve this is to shift your focus from what you don’t want to what you would love to have, be and do.

This shift in vision and what you are being will shift your energy to a more positive life where you are constantly choosing to follow your joy and stepping into happiness, as you take each step in life.

Your job may change during this process, as you become more aligned with your life purpose and your company’s expectation. Companies are living things and they can only grow through change as they evolve and expand.

Employees also like changing and growing both within the company and within their own life. So what can we do to speed up this process of evolution and growth?

Turning the attention back on your self is one of the most useful things that you can do. This can happen as easily as becoming aware of ones own breathing and reaching out with your feelings and adjusting your energies each time you become aware of some tension within the body and relaxing and re-centring.

Following one of the many methods of meditation can do it, the main thing is we look within and just observe what we feel and see. We cannot use our gifts until we become aware of them. By taking a few minutes each day to align our own energies will have a tremendous effect on our co-workers and bring harmony and peace into the work place.

Message channelled by George Lockett (C) Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved. Read HealerGeorge’s Blog: Journey into the Self
Visit the website for more information and previously published ebooks to read, Guided Meditation CD or MP3 file. Request Absent Healing at:
HealerGeorge
Or ask at question at: Ask HealerGeorge

Author : George Lockett
Site : ezinearticles.com

At a time when many companies are scaling down their marketing budgets, big design firms are finding it harder to win new clients and projects. Things maybe tough for the larger design firms, but the situation could be ideal for freelancers and other smaller boutique operations that can operate virtually.

One obvious advantage that full-service design companies have over independent freelancers is access to a wide range of creative and technical resources. So how can the individual compete with multi-skilled consultancies? The answer is to form a Virtual Team using a product that provides collaboration software that gets everybody on the Same-Page.

By joining forces with other freelancers who offer complementary skills, you’ll be able to offer a more complete range of services to your clients and prospective customers. One person on their own can’t hope to compete with a full-service agency on price alone, no matter how tight budgets are. If a freelancer can’t meet a project’s business objectives, he isn’t going to win the contract. Partnering with other freelancer makes you look more credible and professional, especially if the client is aware they’ll only be paying for a specific service from the specialist. Clients are increasingly wary of design agencies offering services they’ll never use and feel that they are paying for them through high ticket fees.

Here, then, are some tips for partnering with other freelancers and successfully running a joint project:

Recruit or be recruited

Both actually. You don’t need to wait for a new project before sounding out potential partners. Bookmark the sites of potential partners. Register your details with freelance and recruitment directories, offer details of your services you. You never know if someone else is out there looking for the skills you have to offer. Use these same directories to search for complementary freelancers when you need additional help.

Instinct + Think = Partner

Visit your potential partner’s website and review his portfolio. When considering a particular individual, follow your instinct – if you have any doubts about working with someone, chances are it won’t work out. Check out the clients listed on the website. How did the client enjoy working with your potential partner. Check on their references.

Put everything in writing

Bearing in mind that this team of freelancers may only exist for one project, each individual should have their own contract. Don’t make the mistake of being responsible for paying the team. Contracts and invoices should go direct to the client. You are not an employer so it’s up to everyone to make sure they get paid, not you. If you do decide to bundle invoice you are entitled to charge a markup (15 to 20% depending on industry) for your efforts.

Avoid confusing the client

Don’t allow your team to start emailing files to the client. A client may not understand what each person does. It makes sense to use a collaboration website with project management tools. Same-Page.com offers a highly customizable workspace where you can focus the team. Make a list of the project contacts readily available, create calendars and provide a centralize email notifications system.

Co-ordinating a team

Usually the person who builds the team is the one who should lead the project. Sometimes a client will approach the freelancer with a project in mind, recognising that at least the majority of it can be produced by a lead freelancer. Using a project management tool like TaskTracker allows the efforts of the team to be funneled through a lead project manager. Assigning task and letting team members know that co-workers are depending on their reporting each completed task is a priority. Deploy an issue management system for dealing with project interruptions.

Frequent communication

Use a hybrid intranet / extranet solutionto keep stakeholders informed all the time – that means everyone who has any involvement including the client as well as all creative and technical suppliers. Details of all developments should be passed by the email system to everyone involved.

Break it up into small pieces

Turn a large project into several smaller ones. This makes it easier to manage by assigning each task to the team member whose responsibility it is.

All this advice requires you to use some project management skills on a day to day basis. But it’s all possible if you plan carefully and use common sense.

Just remember, for your team to be effective everyone needs to get on the Same Page!

B Collen is the managing Partner for Same-Page.com. He brings a unique perspective to this area due to his 7 years of experience helping companies with dispersed workgroups get on the same page.

Author : Brewster Collen
Site : ezinearticles.com

If asked to look at your work calendar for the week, the odds are pretty good that you have a few if not several meetings already scheduled. Now, if asked how you feel about attending some of those meetings, the odds are even better that you may either roll your eyes, groan or mutter something under your breath. Sound familiar so far? Okay, that was the easy part.

Coming from a background of 20 years in the corporate world, I can readily identify with attending a surplus of meetings. Additionally, I know all too well how employees come to “dread” going to meetings and clearly I fell into that category as well. But now in retrospect, I’ve come to learn a few things, as we often do once we step back and reflect. After reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what causes meetings to break down– (S.N.I.P.P.Y) syndrome and an alternative (C.L.E.A.R. V.I.E.W.).

See if you can relate to any of the following statements:

1. Look, I’ve invested a lot of time on this idea and
    if we can’t move on it, I’ll have wasted my time.          Self-serving

2. We never get anything done in this meeting, anyway.   Negativity

3. We have to enforce this policy so people know right
    from wrong.                                                          Insisting

4. Can you believe how domineering she is in these

    meetings–who hired her, anyway?                            Provoking

5. Given our roles in the company, I think it’s
obvious
   that I should make the final decision.                          Power driven

6. If you would let others speak once in a while, it
would
    be helpful.                                                            You statement

As human beings, it’s easy for all of us to fall into any of these behaviors from time to time. What’s more problematic however, is being unaware of our behavior and the effect we have on others in the workplace. As we know, like the “common cold,” our attitudes can be contagious. The reason for this is something called the interaction cycle. The interaction cycle addresses how we interact with others and this impacts the quality of our relationships.

The key components of the interaction cycle include:

a. Values/Expectations/Mindset: these form our initial impressions.

b. Selective Perception: a filtering function that only lets in what matches our initial impressions.

c. Feelings: a range of negative to positive thoughts triggered by our perceptions.

d. Action: our feelings ultimately influence our behaviors.
e. Reaction: others respond to us by the way we act, so their behavior is in fact the result of what we send out.

What we know then is that behavior breeds behavior. Now, it’s starting to make some sense as to why we and others act as we do. But, the more critical issue is figuring out what can be done.

This brings us to a C.L.E.A.R. V.I.E.W. which is as follows:

C = Concentrate on the listener
L = Listen with the goal of understanding
E = Eliminate judgmental attitudes
A = Actively listen (paraphrase what you believe someone said)
R = Respect differences
V = Value input offered by others
I = I messages (describing someone’s behavior and its effect on you)

E = Encourage participation from others
W = Work towards agreement (build on what others say and then add your        input)

Wouldn’t you rather have a C.L.E.A.R. V.I.E.W. than the S.N.I.P.P.Y. syndrome? Change is a gradual process; however with increased insight and the right tools, we can all make a contribution towards constructive group dynamics.
After all, why dread something that we could ultimately look forward to?

Contact information: www.speech-matters.com; dale@speech-matters.com

Author : Dale Klein
Site : ezinearticles.com

“Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling leadership functions, and ensuring effective learning. In fact, asking questions is probably the most subtle power you have for controlling people. The person who asks questions always controls the conversation… if we could discipline our minds to ask questions instead, we could lead any conversation to wherever we wanted it because the other person would still be wrapped up in thinking what he or she wanted to say next…One of the rights you have as a trainer is to ask questions and expect answers. This is why question-asking is such a powerful tool. It challenges and avoids confrontation at the same time.”

Mitchell, Garry, The Trainer’s Handbook: The AMA Guide to Effective Training, Amacom, 1998, p 63.

If you deliver training, odds are you reduce participants’ learning and enthusiasm through manipulative questions – like the ones Garry is advocating for -and that you’re unaware that you’re doing this. I label Garry’s approach to questions as manipulative because they require that the trainer ask questions for the purposes of guiding a conversation in a particular direction without disclosing that direction in advance and giving participants a choice about whether they want to go there.

My colleague Sue McKinney and I explored this subject in detail in “The Facilitative Trainer” chapter of The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook. Today I hope I can help you identify how, if at all, this is happening for you, and offer a way of using questions that avoids the negative consequences above.

When I began my work as a trainer, I often resorted to subtly manipulative questions to achieve my goals in a training session. For example, I’d ask questions I already felt I knew the answer to in hopes that participants would get the “right” “Ahas”. Trouble was, this was significantly limiting learning for everyone in ways I couldn’t see.

Chris Argyris’ research and our client work lead me to believe that this kind of questioning gets people defensive; they don’t know why you’re asking the questions, they guess, and their guesses often contain negative judgments about you or the training design. All this reduces your credibility and their learning.

I used the following four methods to dramatically reduce this kind of manipulation and increase my effectiveness as a trainer; I continue to use them with colleagues to improve our training work.

~ Identify whether and how you use questions manipulatively. Record and revisit your own training work and/or ask to be observed as you train. Assess where you were being transparent about your reasoning for asking your questions – and where you weren’t.

~ Alone and with others, explore what beliefs led you to do this. For example, do your questions indicate you believe that the learners won’t “get it” without your “guidance”? Do your questions indicate that there’s only one “it” to get, and you know it in advance? These assumptions and beliefs won’t be “nice” or “pretty”, but until you discover them, you’ll continue to act as if they were true, and get consequences you and your participants don’t want.

~ Be transparent about the change you’re trying to make. If you decide you want to change your approach, let clients, participants and colleagues know, and ask for their feedback- especially during the training.

This last step has turned out to be simply essential for us. When I’ve tried to avoid doing this, change has either taken much longer or didn’t happen at all.

What are your reactions to my thoughts here? I invite you to email me with your thoughts.

© 2005 Matt Beane

This article was originally published in Fundamental Change, Roger Schwarz & Associates’ free, monthly ezine. You can subscribe at: http://www.schwarzassociates.com/fundamental_change.html

In exchange for subscribing, you’ll receive a link to a free .pdf copy of “Holding Risky Conversations,” a chapter from our recently-published fieldbook.

We write Fundamental Change to help you create workplaces and communities that are simultaneously highly effective and that improve the quality of life.

Every month we:

* Address issues important to you as practitioners and leaders * Share client examples and case studies * Offer tips and tools for challenging situations * Offer resources to help you become more effective.

Author : Matt Beane
Site : ezinearticles.com

It’s frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even your dog (!) won’t listen. While you can’t control how they receive what you say, you can control how you send it. Here are a few tips on why people don’t listen and what you can do to change it.

1. Short Attention Spans

When asked to guess the average adult attention span, most people say around thirty minutes. According to statistics, however, the average adult attention span is actually only seven seconds. That’s right! Every seven seconds you go away somewhere. You think about something else. In fact, you could actually be taking a mental break right now! It is a normal part of how the brain integrates external stimuli like when your computer starts defragging for a moment while you type. It helps to pause from time to time when you speak. This allows people to integrate your information or ask a clarifying question. Also, include examples to anchor your concepts. For example (see–I’m doing it now!), a concept without an example is like tree without roots, a house without a foundation, or Sonny without Cher. It just doesn’t have as much staying power.

2. Too Many Distractions

I was in a meeting the other day and five people coughed, four people side talked, three cell phones rang, two people went to the restroom, and a partridge did email on his PDA. Distractions are a big part of modern life. Your best bet is to acknowledge the distractions in a playful way such as a manager who recently led a meeting I attended. When a cell phone rang, he grabbed for it and said, “Oh, that’s for me….my mother likes to check in on me from time to time”. That prompted everyone to turn off their phones.

3. Lack of Training

Few of us were formally taught how to listen. While you probably took Reading 8, Writing 11, did you ever take Listening 10? It’s little wonder listening is challenging. Quite accidentally, I learned how to listen by practicing meditation. After a five-day retreat, I felt very light-hearted and so went to visit my aging father who was hard of hearing. My habit was to sit vacantly for hours while he complained about his arthritis, the error on his bank statement, and how hard it is to find good slippers. After this retreat, I surprised myself by totally paying attention to him with patience and compassion. After about ten minutes of complaining he suddenly changed tracks and started telling me fascinating and funny stories about his childhood. Then he cranked up his hearing aid and asked about me! Learn how to be present with people, give them your full, undivided attention and be ready for some pleasant surprises.

4. Language Barriers

It is no secret that the world of business is fast becoming a multicultural world. Although English is the default language of commerce, many people in your audience may speak English as a second language. Last month I was addressing a large insurance company where most attendees turned out to be new immigrants from China. I used the expression “getting jiggy with it”, and I saw people rifling through their dictionaries. This prompted me to say “I’m sorry, that went way over your head”, and a number of people looked up at the ceiling! If your listeners are ESL or have a more basic educational background, you need to simplify your language. Use much more literal descriptions rather than cultural expressions. Use facial and body language to express humor, and fewer words.

5. Unchecked Assumptions

Back in the 70s, Gilda Radner a comedienne who regularly performed on Saturday Night Live was well known for her popular character Emily Litella, a social activist with a hearing problem. Her causes included such important issues as violins on television, soviet jewelry and endangered feces. Believe it or not, those Emily Litella types can be found in your audiences. For example, I once told a story about my mother who was a secretary for the British Civil Service in WWII. She spent most of her time daydreaming that her boss would burst into the room and ask her to spy against the Germans. She could leave the nasty paperwork behind, don a disguise and become the next Mata Hari. Needless to say, one day her boss did burst into the room but instead he fired her for daydreaming all the time. A woman approached me after this story and told me that she used to be a Hari Krishna, too. One way to clear up false assumptions is to state your point in many different ways.

6. No Reason to Listen

Finally, the main reason people don’t listen is because you haven’t answered their favorite question: “What’s in it for me?” Before you start a long-winded monologue, tell your listener why you need their attention and make sure they understand how it will be benefit them. For example, “I’d like to tell you about this free software that will block all the spam before it gets to your Inbox …interested?” That will give you much better results than “When I was a youngster and I sat down in front of my first computer, I asked myself how can I make this machine work for me…” In general, put yourself in your listener’s shoes before you talk and their ears tend to perk up.

And just remember the greatest of all wisdom–no one ever listened himself out of a new friendship.

Carla Rieger is an expert on the artistry of change. You can reach her at http://www.carlarieger.com or at 1-866-294-2988. Carla uses proven secrets from the world of artistry to help your organization becoming a leader of innovation. She has been a professional speaker, trainer, facilitator and performance storyteller since the mid-80s. She is the director of Yes Education Systems, a creative communications and creative consulting firm since 1991. She has written three critically acclaimed manuals, Managing Change with a sense of humor, Speaking on the Funny Side of the Brain and The Heart of Presenting, in addition to many articles in trade journals and magazines. She has taught thousands to unlock the funny side of their brains, and to mine negativity both within and without for the key innovative solutions. Her work has been featured on radio, TV and many publications. She founded several theatre groups including Mad Cow Productions, Vancouver Playback Theatre and Mythic Cafe. She also wrote, produced and performed a one-woman show, Dancing Between Worlds.

Author : Carla Rieger
Site : ezinearticles.com

TEAM LEADERS WORKSHOP

Alice asked Cheshire cat “which road should I take?” (Cheshire cat) “Where do you want to go?” (Alice) “I don’t know”
(Cheshire cat) well it doesn’t matter which road you take.

How do you tell a good leader? “By how many people will follow them into battle”

What is Coaching?

A discussion process between members of an organization aimed at exerting a positive influence in the motivation, performance and awareness of areas for improvement and development of another person to help them be as effective as possible

What is transformational Leaders!

A literature search of over 200 books and articles confirmed that successful organisations had more innovative and productive teams and team members who were more loyal and committed. They also had leaders who exhibited characteristics that “transformed a group of individual into a high performance team.” Our first research question was: If successful organisations had more innovative and productive team members, and if loyal and committed team members were more productive and innovative….what role does transformational leadership play in creating and sustaining individual team members loyalty, innovation, commitment, and productivity?
Yet there existed no valid instrument for identifying those people who exhibited transformational leadership behaviours. We can identify transformational leaders by the way they exhibited these transformational characteristics;

1. Sharing the vision
2. Building a learning environment
3. Being a positive role model
4. Recognising individual abilities/values
5. Reinforcing self-confidence/independence
6. Supporting their team members
7. Driving out fear
8. Encouraging participation/self-expression
9. Fostering continuous improvement
10.Fostering initiative and responsibility
11.Encouraging persistence
12.Emphasising intrinsic outcomes
13.Advocating shared leadership

Acrostic – Leadership – Team
Lead by
Example
Accelerate,
Duplication,
Encourage
Relationships
Show
Honesty
Interest and
Praise

A great philosopher was once asked what his style or way of leadership was. He said, “There isn’t one style or way of doing things. Success in leadership comes from taking a bit of all the things you have learned from every style and way you have learnt it, and then adapting it to what you need for the environment, time and person you are dealing with.” In other words there is no one-way to do things.

I have chosen to take the good parts of many different leadership styles, and I have created my own blend of mix, so that I can implement what suits the occasion I am in, whenever and wherever it is needed.

The best way I have heard it stated was by John Maxwell when he said, “No matter how much you learn from the past, it will never tell you all you need to know for the present.”

My Ice-burg Leadership Theory
Team – above the water, this is what everyone sees.
Leadership – keeping the team afloat

If what you see above the water is excellence, it’s only due to the capacity of the teamwork and leadership below – this is what makes the team stable.

As we get stronger spiritually we add support, commitment, ownership, passion loyalty, and growth to our team. If you want to be served you need to serve. If you want to be a good leader you need to be the best servant of all. Emulate what you wish to see in others.

Value Verses Idea – What is the value of leadership?

Why are you in leadership?

Is it because the idea of becoming a leader sounds great? When times get tough an idea will not keep you going, if you value nothing your commitment will fluctuate.

What is the value of the things you do? We need to be Consistent. Ask yourself if you are the same at work as you are at home and whether you work because you enjoy it, or you work because you need to. If you work because you need to, you are working for an idea; this type of person will clock on and clock off at the minute.

Seven Leadership Mindsets;

1. Sow to grow not to survive – (don’t just do what you have to, invest in development and growing yourself)
2. No glass ceilings – (seek to exceed, don’t be the best – be better than the best)
3. Don’t compromise – (do unto others as you would like done unto you)
4. Take responsibility for your actions and decisions – (Be they positive or negative, take responsibility face to face with your team)
5. Accept no surprises – (hear everything your team has to say, good and bad)
6. Don’t accept that it “can’t be done” – (can’t, is an acceptable challenge) use cup eg;
7. Build your credibility before, you sell your credibility – (don’t speak before you have achieved, hope is a confidence – but action is substance)

Connection and communication

We need to learn how to communicate and connect with people, our teams, and other leaders.

Don’t ever underestimate the importance of building relational bridges between yourself and the people you lead. There’s an old saying: “To lead yourself, use your head; to lead others, use your heart.” That’s the nature of the Law of Connection. Always touch a person’s heart before you ask them for a hand or to join your teams*. In our teams I am sure that we would like to see less people going out the back door and more people coming in the front door.

* From John Maxwell’s book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Approach

When we approach people it needs to be purposeful, we need to approach people firstly, because we feel that their giftings or calling will be an asset to the team and then secondly, so that we will have a better quality team and team members. The mistake that organisations sometimes fall into is to approach the area of the teams with nowhere near as much passion as they would leadership, too many organisations get people just to fulfil or perform a duty instead of finding out their passions.

The type of methods and approach that we develop and implement will give us the results we wish to achieve. In creating the quality that is necessary for great teams, never allow yourself to settle for second best in your teams or leaders, especially when you are seeking to do your very best. The effectiveness of your organisation is a reflection of the importance you place on the performance of your teams, on the game day. The quality of our team is based both on the input we have with our leaders in running these areas, and the input our leaders have with their team members.

What approach works?

I will share with you my path to solving this problem. in my completed book that you can order. The greater number of people you Approach affects the number of Recruitment’s you obtain.

Recruitment

Once we pass the approach stage, we then look at recruitment. The first stage of recruitment is for the candidate to accept the approach conditions, namely; “ I would like the opportunity to develop the potential I see in you, and to be better equipped to fulfil you job.” “Will you allow me and the team leaders to speak into and develop your calling and giftings?” On acceptance of these conditions, I then place them into a team that best suits their gifts and abilities.

Not all team members want to go into leadership, not all of them are equipped for leadership, but this doesn’t mean that we stop developing and training them. All team members need input, especially those new to the team.

The greater number of people you Approach and the way you Recruit, affects your Retention rate.

COMMUNICATION

I have learnt over time that the hardest lesson to learn and the one we need to be continually developing in our lives is the art of communication. I have had to learn the hard way, as I bet a lot of you have had to. There are different ways to communicate to different groups of people, we cannot communicate to every one the same way; we don’t communicate the same way to the same people all the time. I have found out that the next hardest thing to do is to learn how and when to communicate in the right way. I believe that this is a life long learning process; just as you think you have figured it all out a new challenge arises to tell you that you have not communicated well.

If you don’t learn to develop different ways to communicate, you will never be able to lead others effectively or efficiently. I found that the great leaders around the world are very good communicators in varied ways, communicating on different levels to different people. Communication is like our walk with Christ it is a never-ending growth lifestyle.
The best way I have heard it stated was by John Maxwell when he said:

“No matter how much you learn from the past, it will never tell you all you need to know for the present.”

The true measure of transformational leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.

“It’s not the position that makes a leader; it’s the leader that makes the position.” -Stanley Huffty -

Leadership is – Influence!

Positional leadership doesn’t work in volunteer organizations; if a leader doesn’t have leverage – or influence – he is ineffective. In worldly organizations, the person who has a position has incredible leverage. In the military, leaders can use rank and, if all else fails, throw people in the brig. In business, bosses have tremendous leverage in the form of salary, benefits, and perks. Most followers are pretty cooperative when their livelihood is at stake.

But in voluntary organisations, such as churches, the only thing that works is leadership ‘in its purest form’. Leaders only have their influence to aid them.

A transformational leader develops the characteristics of a leader of influence.

What are the ten characteristics of an influencer?

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

Acrostic
A person of influence has Integrity with people
A person of influence Nurtures other people
A person of influence has Faith in people
A person of influence Listens to people
A person of influence Understands people
A person of influence Enlarges people
A person of influence Navigates for other people
A person of influence Connects with people
A person of influence Empowers people
A person of influence Reproduces other influencers

How to positively impact the lives of others becoming a person of influence. (John C. Maxwell & Jim Dornan)

1. Think big – plan well
2. Achieve quality – celebrate success
3. Work hard
4. Support honest, passionate people and give opportunity for advancement
5. What gets measured and focused on gets done
6. Use a carrot rather than a stick

Bill Hybels has written a very good book on “Courageous Leadership” and in that book he relates to ten different styles of leadership, he states that “certain leadership styles fit better than others with specific needs. I am increasingly convinced that highly effective leaders often impact not only because they are highly gifted but also because their leadership styles mesh perfectly with specific needs. It follows then that discovering and developing your unique leadership style is another major key to your leadership effectiveness.”

I have concluded that to be in the position of building leaders and finding the right people for our organization to achieve the goals we have set, that we need to be well read and understand (if not a master) in the different types of personalities types and leadership styles so we can place the right people in the right positions.

THE TEN LEADERSHIP STYLES

1. The visionary leadership style

What distinguishes the visionary leader is that he or she has a crystal clear picture in mind of what the future could hold. Such a leader casts powerful vision and has indefatigable enthusiasm for turning those visions into reality.

2. The directional leadership style
The directional style of leadership doesn’t get much press, but it is exceedingly important. The strength of this leader is his or her uncanny, God-given ability to choose the right path for an organization as it approaches a critical intersection.

3. The strategic leadership style
Strategic leaders have the God-given ability to take an exciting vision and break it down into a series of sequential, achievable steps. This gift of leadership allows an organization to march intentionally toward the actualisation of its mission.

4. The managing leadership style
Manager leadership style, I’m describing a leader who has the ability to organize people, processes, and resources to achieve a mission. The manager leader salivates at the thought of bringing order out of chaos. He or she finds deep satisfaction in monitoring and fine-tuning a process, and motivates team members by establishing appropriate mile markers on the road to the destination. It’s surprising how many visionary leaders are inept at managing people, processes, and money.

5. The motivational leadership style
Leaders with the motivational style are on the constant lookout for “sagging shoulders and dull eyes,” and they move quickly to inject the right kind of inspiration into those who need it most. They have a keen sense about who needs public recognition and who needs just a private word of encouragement. They seem to know exactly when a particular team member would get a necessary boost from a day off, an office move, a title change, or a training opportunity.

Some leaders view the motivation approach as a lightweight style of leadership. But it’s a huge mistake to underestimate the value of this style.

6. The shepherding leadership style
The shepherding leader is man or a woman who builds a team slowly, loves team members deeply, nurtures them gently, supports them consistently, listens to them patiently, and prays for them diligently. This kind of leader draws team members into such a rich community experience that their hearts begin to overflow with good will that energizes them for achieving their mission.

7. The team – building leadership style
The team-building leader knows the vision and understands how to achieve it, but realizes it will take a team of leaders and workers to accomplish the goal. Team-builders have a supernatural insight into people that allows them to successfully find and develop the right people with the right abilities, the right character, and the right chemistry with other team members. Then good team-builders know how to put these people in the right positions for the right reasons, thus freeing them to produce the right results.

When the appropriate people have been placed in appropriate position, the team-building leader says to the appointed team, “You know what we’re trying to do. You know what part of the mission you’re responsible for. You know what part the rest of us around the circle are responsible for. So – head out! Get on with it! Work hard in your department.

Communicate with your co-labourers. Create action. Get the job done!” The difference between the shepherding leader and the team-building leader is that the team-builder is driven more by a clear understanding pf the vision than by the desire to nurture and build community.

Of course, building teams always involves building community, but the unique strength of team-building leaders is that they have a stranglehold on the strategy and an acute insight into people that allows them to make precise placements of personnel into critical leadership roles. Leaders gifted as team-builders may or may not be skilled at managing their teams. In fact, many of them reason that management isn’t all that critical anyway; if the right people are in the right slots doing the right things for the right reasons, these people will accomplish their goals whether or not there is someone looking over their shoulders.

8. The Entrepreneurial leadership style
The Entrepreneurial leadership style has a unique twist. Entrepreneurial leaders may possess any of the other leadership styles, but what distinguishes these leaders from the others is that they function optimally in start-up mode. If these leaders can’t regularly give birth to something new they begin to lose energy. Once a venture is up and operational, once the effort requires steady ongoing management, once things get complicated and requires endless discussion about policies, systems, and controls, then most entrepreneurial leaders lose enthusiasm, focus, and sometimes even confidence.

9. The Reengineering leadership style
While entrepreneurial leaders love to start new endeavours, reengineering leaders are at their best in turn-around environments. These leaders are gifted by God to thrive on the challenge of taking a troubled situation – a team that has lost its vision, a ministry where people are in wrong positions, a department trying to move forward without a strategy – and turning it around. This leader says, “This is my lucky day. I get to start reengineering this mess.”

These leaders enthusiastically dig in to uncover the original mission and the cause of the mission drift. They re-evaluate personnel, strategy, and values. They repeatedly meet with team members to help them figure out where the “old” went wrong and what the “new” should look like.

10. The Bridge-building leadership style
Bridge-building leaders make important contributions to large organizations and educational institutions because they have the unique ability to bring together under a single leadership umbrella a wide range of constituent groups. This enables a complex organization to stay focused on a single mission.

The unique gift that Bridge-building leaders bring to this feat is enormous flexibility. They are diplomats who possess a supernaturally inspired ability to compromise and negotiate. They are specially gifted to listen, understand, and think outside of the box.

CREATING A CLIMATE FOR POTENTIAL LEADERS

The leader’s toughest challenge: Creating a climate for potential leaders.

Those leaders, who believe in our ability, do more than stimulate us – they create an atmosphere in which it becomes easier for us to succeed. Creating an environment that will attract leaders is vital to any organization. Creating an environment is the responsibility of the leaders. They must be active; they must generate activity that is productive; and they must encourage, create, and command changes in the organization. They must create a climate in which potential leaders will thrive.

Leaders must be environmental change agents.

The leaders in any organisation must be the environmental change agents. They must be more like thermostats than thermometers. At first glance, a person could confuse these two instruments, as both are capable of measuring heat; however, they are really quite different, how. A thermometer is passive; it records the temperature of its environment but can do nothing to change that environment. A thermostat is an active instrument, it determines what the environment will be; it effects change in order to create a climate.

The attitude of the leader, coupled with a positive atmosphere in the organization, can entice people to accomplish great things. Consistent accomplishment generates momentum. Many times momentum is the only difference between a winning, positive growth climate and a loosing, negative growth climate.

Don’t delegate – empower

The next time you find it difficult to adjust the environment in your organisation, keep in mind this simple fact from the laws of physics:

Water boils at 212 degrees, but at 211 degrees, it is still just hot water

One extra degree, an increase of less than one half of one percent, can make the difference between a pot of languishing liquid and bubbling caldron of power. One degree can create a full head of steam – enough power to move a train weighing tons. That one-degree is usually momentum.
Leaders in some organisations don’t recognize the importance of creating a climate conducive to building potential leaders; they don’t understand how it works.

Before people will want to connect with your team or they will need to know we care about them, how do we do this? We need to Connect – Communicate – then this shows we Care. Once they are on our team or in our church, we need to Care – Communicate – Connect.

Connect
How do you connect with people?
The word Connect is a verb which means we have to do something.

What are some ways to connect with people?
Introduce yourself, Eye contact, Ask their name – and remember it! Ask them about themselves – people like talking about themselves – and be interested in what they are saying

Let’s have a look at the word Connect!
Join together, link, associate with, connection, connector (introduce to others).

Thesaurus
Attach, Couple, Fasten, Join, Tie, Unite, Bond, Hook up, Link up, Link, Interlock, Associate, Relate, Bond with, Get along, Correlate, Bracket together and Secure.

Communicate
“The basic building block of good communications is the feeling that every human being is unique and of value.”

How do you Communicate with people?

There are people who, instead of listening to what is being said to them, are already listening to what they are going to say themselves. -Albert Guinon (1863 – 1923)

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Bonnie Jean Wasmund

Trevor’s own ministry, Faith Works Itinerant Ministries, is available for seminars, training programmes and teaching on a variety of topics; some that he specialises in is the Ministry of Helps seminars and team and leadership development.

For further information regarding any of the above courses or for Trevor’s own ministry, please feel free to contact him direct at:

FAITH WORKS
PO BOX 2702 NERANG
QUEEENSLAND 4211
0412 380 444
E-mail : lifestylets@optusnet.com.au
http://www.lifestyletrainingschool.org
http://www.sysm.biz
He has CD’s available and has written the following books and training manuals:

Ministry of Helps
Leadership & group facilitation
Where have we Robbed God?
Basic for Believers

The Word of God, The Character of God, Supernatural Prayer,
Evangelism, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Faith,
Exposition of Ephesians (focusing on the new creation reality)
Ministry Gifts & Talents, The book of Mark, Abundance, Worship, Apologetics, Marriage and family, Thou shall Prosper, Heroes of the faith.

Author : Trevor Bartley
Site : ezinearticles.com

Truth on mlm

Did you know that the truth on mlm can set you free? Well, it definately can and here’s why. Basic processes need to take place no matter how many different articles, books and websites are devoted to the subject on network marketing.

Here’s the truth on mlm.

You need to recruit and train new distributors into your business. The more of that you do the more success you’ll experience in your business. Teaching others while keeping it simple and them helping others is what builds your organization. So in reality you are gradually building the size of your group by multiplying yourself through others, otherwise known as leveraging your time.

So frankly speaking its very easy to. Where things break down of course is in the doing of the work itself and a regular basis until such time as your organization is self perpetuating. Not long ago that task was pretty tuff on most people because of time constraints and lifestyle choices.

Modern technology has come a long way in plugging up the holes in the “doing the work” phase. We’ve seen electronic systems automate practically the entire process. The cost and investment return is pretty good and deserves service attention and thought. Being able to work from home is a lot of fun and essentially it gets you out of the rat race.

Since we’re all so different on an individual level and with our very own constraints, attitudes and habits the time it takes to put together a decent income varies by the nature of the individual building the business.

We’ve seen very aggressive personalities build high 6 figure incomes in less than 18 months and others took (3) to (5) years. Even then most people drop out because they aren’t really ready to own their own business. Talks cheap and whiskey costs money. Boy, should that age me.

Personally, I’m grateful for the business opportunities available to us all. Not being afraid to work with a certain amount of discernment and patience has paid off in a very huge way. So, you really want a better lifestyle and the funs to go with it? Then apply the truth on mlm I’ve given you. It works!

Rolf’s extroadinary success work at home story motivated him to share with you key strategies in avoiding the pitfalls in
mlm and
network marketing

Author : Rolf Rasmusson
Site : ezinearticles.com

The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers, the people they manage, and your organization make the transition from where you are to where you want to be.

Some points are so obvious it seems silly to even mention them but experience suggests that, just as common sense is not really so common, we can be blindly oblivious of what seems obvious.

1. You can not influence the direction of a body at rest! When you sit in your car at a stop sign, with your foot on the brake, turning the wheel back and forth produces no results. The idea here is to understand the importance of getting started. It doesn’t matter if we start in a totally wrong direction,if we are in motion we can change direction, a little or a lot, slowly or quickly as things begin to happen, but we must first be in motion!

2. You can not become the person you want to be while remaining the person you are!

Leo Tolstoy once said,
“Everyone wants to change the world but no one wants to change himself.”

To effect change we must accept change – even hunger for change.

In order to get the motion started and to help you determine its direction you coach will need to ask the management team a lot of questions, such as:

What’s going on in your business right now that:

Worries you?

Makes you nervous?

Scares you?

Angers you?

Disappoints you?

Embarrasses you?

Pleases you?

Makes you smile?

Makes you proud?

Makes you feel optimistic?

What happened in the past year that should not have happened?

How much did it cost the organization?

Are there long term ramifications?

How could it have been avoided?

Have steps been taken to make sure it can’t happen again?

What didn’t happen in the past year that should have happened?

What was the cost to the organization?

Are there long term ramifications?

What could or should have been done to make it happen?

Is it salvageable – can we make it happen this year?

Have we taken steps to make sure we won’t make this mistake again?

What are the overall greatest concerns and challenges envisioned by the management team – for the organization as a whole and by department?

It’s important for the coach to make sure that he, and each team member, is aware of the perspective, attitude, and concerns of all involved parties.

The question now becomes:

Where do you, as individuals, as a team and as an organization want to be in five years?

And then:

What must happen in the next twelve months to make this a strong possibility?

We need to look at:

Resources in terms of: Equipment, facilities, people and training

Production in terms of: Volume, speed, quality efficiency and costs

Products in terms of: Improvements, to be discontinued, developed, or added

Marketing in terms of: Expansion of existing markets, development of new markets, advertising effectiveness, sales, pricing, and customer service.

People in terms of: motivation, attitude, quality of work life, training, knowledge,numbers and relationships

Management Resources in terms of: leadership skills, coaching skills, resource utilization skills, interpersonal skills, intuition, innovation, etc.

Dependent on the organization, this question and process might be repeated for a ten year outlook.

Even when an organization has been heavily involved in a process of strategic planning and goal setting, the coach must insure that every person with any responsibility towards the achievement of organizational objectives is aware of the objectives and of his or her role and responsibilities and of what personal goals and objectives must be set and realized to insure that he or she, as well as the department, is up to the task.

The essence of good coaching is the ability to ask the right question of the right person at the right time and to do so in a non threatening manner that will produce results – not retreat! The coach’s real world experience and understanding gained as a result of talking and working with hundreds of managers in diverse situations allow him (or her) to intuitively relate to your problems, concerns and situation and to suggest options which have proven to work in the past.

Coaching a team of up to a dozen members is, in most cases best done in ninety minute weekly or bi-weekly sessions. Too long a session leads to brain stagnation and too long an interval leads to lack of focus and ultimately to lack of commitment.

Len McNally is President and founder (in 1996) of The Leadership Centre, dedicated to leadership development, management team building and change management through executive and corporate coaching – from the top floor to the shop floor. With more than thirty years experience in sales, marketing and business development Len has for many years been an avid student of psychology, behavior and motivation. He still reads three to four books a month and has writen several book reviews for Amazon.com. He can be reached at (519) 759-1127 or email: the.leadership.centre@sympatico.ca. Other articles may be seen at: http://www.tlc-leadership.com

Author : Len McNally
Site : ezinearticles.com