a list of choices ...
Boss – person who has their name above another person’s name on an org chart
Manager – controls/implements according to set priorities/goals/strategies
Leader – inspires/capitalizes on opportunities and facilitates positive results
Whether you read the title of this article as who you’d choose to work for or how you’d choose to be considered by others (or both), our Western aspirations for those in charge include achieving the realm of “leader”. Unfortunately, some organization’s hierarchies hold bosses in positions that would ideally be inhabited by leaders. A good partial anecdote to UNleaders is that real leaders and leadership can be found anywhere in an organization – regardless of title or level on the org chart. I also believe that while leadership requires talent, many leadership skills can be taught/learned.
If you are interested in reading more about
Leadership and Strength Based Approaches to Leadership:
Transforming Leadership: Equipping Yourself and Coaching Others to Build a Leadership Organization (2nd ed)
By Terry D. Anderson, PhD
T&F Informa 1998
In the book, Transforming Leadership, Terry Anderson offers the Leadership Skills Inventory that examines 56 skills commonly demonstrated by effective leaders. The 56 skills fall under five categories: (1) personal mastery (2) interpersonal communication (3) counseling and problem management (4) team and organizational development (5) versatility in style, role and skill-shifting. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in an academic and practical approach to describing and identifying effective leadership. I like how the book covers leadership as a big picture concept, but also addresses some specific aspects of effective leadership.
*First, Break all the Rules
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
(Gallup Press 1999)
Now, Discover your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, PhD
(Gallup Press 2001)
* StrengthsFinder 2.0
By Tom Rath
(Gallup Press 2007)
** This is an update to Now, Discover Your Strengths.
* Strength Based Leadership
By Tom Rath and Barry Conchie
(Gallup Press 2009)
The Gallup series listed above is, as I’ve mentioned several times, at the top of my suggested reading list. The strength themes are valuable as a personal self-awareness tool and as guidance for practicing the recognition of a variety of strengths in people with whom we work. Rather than just valuing strengths naturally part of our awareness, these books can challenge us to value a broader set of strengths (in ourselves and others) for personal and organizational success.
To give the strength themes meaning, it is important to take the StrengthsFinder assessment and read at least one of the books. If your organization is trying to create a strength-based culture and approach to management/leadership, I believe an effective training program can be created with the use of the three books I’ve marked with an asterisk. Ideally, everyone in the organization would take the StrengthsFinder assessment and post their strengths in a visible place. I think that this is much more practical approach to “personality at work” than Myers-Briggs and some other assessments that are commonly used in team building.
34 Strength Themes
Achiever
Activator
Adaptability
Analytical
Arranger
Belief
Command
Communication
Competition
Connectedness
Context
Deliberative
Developer
Discipline
Empathy
Fairness
Focus
Futuristic
Harmony
Ideation
Inclusiveness
Individualization
Input
Learner
Maximizer
Leadership in Organizations
By Gary Yukl
Pearson Prentice Hall 2006
To get another good perspective on leadership (or any topic), I suggest investigating textbooks. While current textbooks can be expensive ($100-$200), they provide good in-depth discussions of subject matter in comparison to most popular books ($15-$30) found on our favorite bookstore shelves.
List of Chapters from
Leadership in Organizations:
Introduction: Nature of Leadership
Nature of Managerial Work
Perspectives on Effective Leadership Behavior
Participative Leadership, Delegation and Empowerment
Dyadic Role Making, Attributions and Followership
Power and Influence
Managerial Traits and Skills
Early Contingency Theories of Effective Leadership
Charismatic and Transformational Leadership
Leading Change in Organizations
Leadership in Teams and Decision Groups
Strategic Leadership by Executives
Developing Leadership Skills
Ethical Leadership and Diversity
Overview and Integration
click link to return to Studio22:
http://www.studio22azwa.com/
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Paid Voluntarism
While I have been a proponent of this quality-of-life-approach for many years and implemented it within my own career twice, I had never labeled it as paid voluntarism prior to reading the new book, With Purpose, by Ken Dychtwald, PhD. Thanks to Dychtwald, instead of describing the concept in narrative form, I now have a quick & descriptive heading for introducing the topic when I'm discussing innovative career approaches for 2009 and beyond.First, what is paid voluntarism? In With Purpose, Dychtwald describes it as a later-in-life merging of work and voluntarism. It is likely to include working for a not-for-profit organization and applying your transferrable skills to a position where you exceed the job description's requirements, make less money than you did in the past and still increase your overall life satisfaction through a sense of purpose and an ideal match to your interests and talents. This has the potential to be a win-win scenario where the organization attracts talent that may otherwise be outside it's hiring range of pay and, you, the individual get a "dream job."
While Dychtwald describes paid voluntarism as a form of phased retirement, I think that it can be useful across the lifespan under the right personal circumstances. I first chose this approach to my career when I was in my twenties; many of us are willing to make less money than our market value for a job description and work environment that offer us an upgrade in personally meaningful work. For people who are considering new options due to the changes in our economy, paid voluntarism could also offer a career choice that turns an unexpected, unwelcome life change into an opportunity for renewed purpose and an overall boost in quality of life.
Paid voluntarism is just one topic addressed in With Purpose. Dychtwald, and his writing partner, Daniel Kadlec, share many current philosophies on the meaning of life as it relates to work in America. If you’re looking for a book that might help you reflect on your life and your work within the same moment, you may especially appreciate this book.
With Purpose: Going from Success to Significance in Work and Life
Ken Dychtwald & Daniel Kadlec
Published by Collins Living 2009
Interested in traditional voluntarism?
Serving others has been shown to be an effective treatment for some types of depression. And, even when life and work are going great, volunteering has the potential to boost quality of life to its highest levels through making a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
For more information on volunteering:
http://www.pointsoflight.org/
What does the mug in the picture say?
Peace.
it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
- unknown
Need a book or two to read?
Interested in Management? Two Books to Experience
First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths
from Gallup Press
Opinion by Caron Sada © 2008 & 2009 All rights reserved
When I consider management books I have read over the years, these two remain on my list of favorites: First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover your Strengths. Since I prefer environments that are inspired by vision as opposed to being controlled by rules, I was certainly attracted to the earlier book’s title before becoming completely engaged in its content. And, because I was raised in a family that embraces a strengths-based approach to life, the connecting theme of both books fits ideally with my approach to life and business – focus on strengths and manage around weaknesses.
Within First, Break all the Rules, there are lots of great anecdotes and challenges to conventional wisdom. For example, as a person with a significant portion of my career in sales, I was sometimes frustrated by sales leadership that seemed obsessed with hiring and honoring the single strength of competitiveness; while competitiveness can be a strength in salespeople, there are also many successful salespeople who are focused on excellence and results, but for whom the win-lose-beat-the-competitor metaphors do not represent. So, when I read the story about a professional-football-player-turned pharmaceutical-sales-representative who was achievement oriented (not competitive), I remember being grateful that a top selling management book finally shared a deeper understanding of how individuals may have different motivations and traits while still being successful in the same job function. Although conscientiousness is consistently linked with performance across employment types, there is no single sales litmus test that perfectly predicts who will be outstanding. In the case of pharmaceutical representatives, I would even suggest that achievement orientation or need for affiliation may trump competitiveness so that the team selling model used by many companies has its best chance of succeeding. As First, Break all the Rules teaches, understanding potential insights and limitations of assessing talent is a good starting point for selection, hiring and development within high performing companies.
What makes this set of books an experience, as opposed to just good reading, is the opportunity to take the StrengthsFinder on-line assessment and print a copy of your personalized, signature theme report. In your copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths, you will find a unique code that you can use to log onto the assessment system. For anyone who wants to operate at 100% of their potential, self-awareness is a critical factor and, by participating in the StrengthsFinder program, you are likely to find focusing on your strengths uplifting while also demonstrating a proactive step in your personal development journey.
On January 6th, 2009 the next book in the series will be available: Strength Based Leadership.
For more information:
First, Break all the Rules
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman(Gallup Press 1999)
Now, Discover your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, PhD(Gallup Press 2001)
StrengthsFinder 2.0
By Tom Rath(Gallup Press 2007) ** This is an update to Now, Discover Your Strengths.
Strength Based Leadership By Tom Rath and Barry Conchie (Gallup Press - available January 6, 2009)
or visit: www.gallup.com
Positive Psychology
The special issue of the American Psychologist (2000) that announced positive psychology to the world is included in the references for Now, Discover Your Strengths (2001). It is worthy to note that Buckingham & Coffman were already on board with the positive psychology, or strengths psychology by Dr. Clifton, since First, Break all the Rules was published earlier (1999).
For more information on positive psychology and the “father” of modern positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman, visit the following website: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx
Strengths Psychology
Donald Clifton, PhD (co-author of Now, Discover your Strengths) received recognition as the “father” of strengths-based psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2002. His work in studying “what is right with people” as opposed to “what needed to be fixed with people” began long before positive psychology became a widely accepted movement. http://www.strengths.org/donclifton.htm
Big Five Personality Traits
For a brief summary of the big five model, (conscientiousness, openness to experience, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness) visit the following link: http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/bigfive.htm
Motivation Theories
For an introduction to theories of motivation, visit the following link: http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/motivation-theory.html
Originally printed on Caron’s Blog that can be found at www.studio22azwa.com
Tuesday - December 30th, 2008
Update – January 24, 2009
Strength Based Leadership, that was released on January 6th, is another outstanding book by Gallup Press. It has recommendations for how to interact with people of different strengths and also offers an updated strengths instrument.
return to http://www.studio22azwa.com/
First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths
from Gallup Press
Opinion by Caron Sada © 2008 & 2009 All rights reserved
When I consider management books I have read over the years, these two remain on my list of favorites: First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover your Strengths. Since I prefer environments that are inspired by vision as opposed to being controlled by rules, I was certainly attracted to the earlier book’s title before becoming completely engaged in its content. And, because I was raised in a family that embraces a strengths-based approach to life, the connecting theme of both books fits ideally with my approach to life and business – focus on strengths and manage around weaknesses.
Within First, Break all the Rules, there are lots of great anecdotes and challenges to conventional wisdom. For example, as a person with a significant portion of my career in sales, I was sometimes frustrated by sales leadership that seemed obsessed with hiring and honoring the single strength of competitiveness; while competitiveness can be a strength in salespeople, there are also many successful salespeople who are focused on excellence and results, but for whom the win-lose-beat-the-competitor metaphors do not represent. So, when I read the story about a professional-football-player-turned pharmaceutical-sales-representative who was achievement oriented (not competitive), I remember being grateful that a top selling management book finally shared a deeper understanding of how individuals may have different motivations and traits while still being successful in the same job function. Although conscientiousness is consistently linked with performance across employment types, there is no single sales litmus test that perfectly predicts who will be outstanding. In the case of pharmaceutical representatives, I would even suggest that achievement orientation or need for affiliation may trump competitiveness so that the team selling model used by many companies has its best chance of succeeding. As First, Break all the Rules teaches, understanding potential insights and limitations of assessing talent is a good starting point for selection, hiring and development within high performing companies.
What makes this set of books an experience, as opposed to just good reading, is the opportunity to take the StrengthsFinder on-line assessment and print a copy of your personalized, signature theme report. In your copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths, you will find a unique code that you can use to log onto the assessment system. For anyone who wants to operate at 100% of their potential, self-awareness is a critical factor and, by participating in the StrengthsFinder program, you are likely to find focusing on your strengths uplifting while also demonstrating a proactive step in your personal development journey.
On January 6th, 2009 the next book in the series will be available: Strength Based Leadership.
For more information:
First, Break all the Rules
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman(Gallup Press 1999)
Now, Discover your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, PhD(Gallup Press 2001)
StrengthsFinder 2.0
By Tom Rath(Gallup Press 2007) ** This is an update to Now, Discover Your Strengths.
Strength Based Leadership By Tom Rath and Barry Conchie (Gallup Press - available January 6, 2009)
or visit: www.gallup.com
Positive Psychology
The special issue of the American Psychologist (2000) that announced positive psychology to the world is included in the references for Now, Discover Your Strengths (2001). It is worthy to note that Buckingham & Coffman were already on board with the positive psychology, or strengths psychology by Dr. Clifton, since First, Break all the Rules was published earlier (1999).
For more information on positive psychology and the “father” of modern positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman, visit the following website: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx
Strengths Psychology
Donald Clifton, PhD (co-author of Now, Discover your Strengths) received recognition as the “father” of strengths-based psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2002. His work in studying “what is right with people” as opposed to “what needed to be fixed with people” began long before positive psychology became a widely accepted movement. http://www.strengths.org/donclifton.htm
Big Five Personality Traits
For a brief summary of the big five model, (conscientiousness, openness to experience, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness) visit the following link: http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/bigfive.htm
Motivation Theories
For an introduction to theories of motivation, visit the following link: http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/motivation-theory.html
PS --- a little personal disclosure ... you probably already guessed, but my preferred work style is collaboration (not competition) since I am achievement oriented ... but I DO like competitive sports and agree that a competitive spirit is a strength that can be a basis for outstanding sales results! My perspective is that it is a wise thing to recognize a variety of strengths ~
Originally printed on Caron’s Blog that can be found at www.studio22azwa.com
Tuesday - December 30th, 2008
Update – January 24, 2009
Strength Based Leadership, that was released on January 6th, is another outstanding book by Gallup Press. It has recommendations for how to interact with people of different strengths and also offers an updated strengths instrument.
return to http://www.studio22azwa.com/
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