What are your sources for leadership information, perspective, and knowledge?

Being informed can make you a stronger leader. My hope is that this blog will become one of your sources for understanding the roles and functions of strength, caring, and energy management in leadership. It is important that you find the sources that are most helpful to you.

If you have never explored the world of blogs I encourage you to click on some of the blogs listed on the right hand side of this page. Blogs, short for web logs, provide a direct link to the thoughts and perspectives of a specific blogger or group of bloggers. Because there are millions of blogs it is very important to separate the wheat from the chaff. Once I find a good blog I tend to check the blogs listed on that blog for other good sources of leadership information.

If you become a regular blog reader it is important to find a “reader” that will collect your blogs and let you know when a new one is published. I use Bloglines but there are a number of free readers that make it so much easier to read and track the blogs of interest to you.

By the way, have you thought about creating a blog to share your perspective and experience. Writing your thoughts is a great way to clarify your own thinking and share your ideas with others who may benefit from your perspective. A blog is very easy to set up and this one on Blogspot, a Google-owned company, is free (Yes, I am from Winnipeg and we do like bargains in Winnipeg). If you want to start a blogspot blog click on the “get your own blog” button at the top of the page.

If you are new to blogs as a source of information or you want to begin a blog you are certainly welcome to contact me and I will freely offer whatever help I can to get you going with this. It is a small way to repay the debt of the free help that other bloggers have given me to help me navigate through what seems like a mess of information to an efficient connection to a highly customized and individual stream of knowledge and thoughts that enrich and enliven my understanding and practice of leadership.

The VIA signature strength test at www.authentichappiness.org is free. The STRENGTHSFINDER test at the Gallup site: www.strengthsfinder.com is the cost of one of their strength books. The book I recommend is Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton.

On the inside cover of the book jacket you will find a 14 digit code that will give you access to the STRENGTHSFINDER test.

Testing is certainly not the only way to discover or uncover your strengths but it provides a good start on knowing your strengths and determining how to leverage them for the maximum benefit of the organization, the people you lead, and yourself.

If you would like some basic information about the 34 strengths that range from Achiever to Woo (yes woo!) I encourage you to read some basic material at the Gallup site: http://gmj.gallup.com/book_center/strengthsfinder/.

By the way, here is a brief description of woo:

People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Strength training is not something simply for the body or something you do at a gym. Good leaders know their strengths and leverage their strengths in the service of their followers and the organization.

I would not ask you to do something that I have not done myself. According to the STRENGTHSFINDER report my top 5 strengths are:
1. Maximizer
2. Strategic
3. Positivity
4. Ideation
5. Individualization.

How well do you manage your energy at work?
How well do you handle the transitions between work and home?
How much attention do you give to the skillful management of your leadership energy?

Energy is something we often fail to pay attention to. We may take our energy for granted or we may just bottom out when we are exhausted. Yet energy is an essential resource to achieve our objectives and to build and maintain our vital relationships. Energy comes in many forms: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and organizational.

If you are excited to get a head start on managing energy I highly recommend Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s – The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.

Here is what Marcus Buckingham had to say about the book

Fantastic! At the heart of this book is a simple truth: the secret to lasting success — individually and organizationally — lies in how we manage our energy. This is a phenomenal insight that most of us ignore. Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr provide a very practical map for marshaling our energy — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually — to live much more productive and fulfilling lives.

Part of this strength-based leadership blog will be devoted to a closer examination of leadership energy and an outline of approaches and methods to work with our energy, enhance the energy of others, and build the energy of our organization.

For a quick energy boost click into the energy management tidbits section on my website.

To Esther

This blog is primarily focused on organizational leadership yet today’s post honors a quiet yet powerful family and community leader. Esther was a former neighbour who died this week at 45 years of age. She leaves behind her husband and her two children ages 16 and 14.

Esther was a stay-at-home mom but this did not preclude her from being an active and engaging leader in her family and community. In many ways Esther personified the 3 qualities of strength-based leadership: strength, love and energy.

Esther was a strong woman. She may have been small in size but she was large in heart. She had an inner spiritual strength that was quiet and humble yet always evident. She transformed her house into a welcoming comfortable home and Esther guided her family and children with both subtlety and grace.

Esther was not a leader who was out front trying to pull people along, rather Esther stood beside you. Esther lived with cancer for many years yet she demonstrated phenomenal grit, strength and determination. You always got the sense that this was not even so much for herself but for the people she loved so dearly.

You knew Esther loved her family and loved life. The look in her eye as she watched her children communicated so much caring. She was very present when she spoke with you and she had a lilt in her voice that always made you feel a little lighter after talking with her.

Even in illness Esther had energy. She was busy making food for the school even as her personal energy was dwindling. Each interaction with Esther was an authentic example of a high quality interaction that rekindled your energy.

Esther, you will be missed and you demonstrated to me that leadership is not a role; it is a way of being with both yourself and others.

Thank you.

Do you put your heart into leadership?

A recent study presented at the American Heart Association suggested that unsociable men were more likely to die from heart disease and stroke than more socially engaged men. Social avoidance increased the risk of death from cariovascular disease in men by about 40%.

We must be very careful how we interpret research but this research seems to indicate that caring and connecting might have health benefits for the leader.

Jane Dutton suggested that the single biggest factor to energize your workplace was to create and sustain High-Quality Connections at work. A High-Quality Connection is based on mutual positive regard, trust, and active engagement on both sides.

Reflection Question: How many High-Quality Connections did you engage in today?

Connections are pathways to caring in leadership and being connected might just be a heart-felt approach to leadership.

Love is a central pillar in strength-based leadership. This post will offer a perspective on love in leadership from Tim Sanders. In future posts, this blog will examine, illustrate, and offer ideas on the role of love in leadership.

Tim Sanders had a recent New York Time Bestseller entitled: Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. I recommend the book. Click here to read a short outline of the book from the Fast Company website.

Mr. Sanders uses the phrase lovecat to outline love in leadership. This means:

Offer your wisdom freely. Give away your address book to everyone who wants it. And always be human.

In other words: share your knowledge, network and compassion.

Here is the beginning of the Fast Company article:

The most powerful force in business isn’t greed, fear, or even the raw energy of unbridled competition. The most powerful force in business is love. It’s what will help your company grow and become stronger. It’s what will propel your career forward. It’s what will give you a sense of meaning and satisfaction in your work, which will help you do your best work.

The Fast Company article might be a beginning but are you ready to keep it going?

I encourage you to keep returning as the topics of strength, love, and energy in leadership are developed and you are given keys to your own leadership development.

Are you willing to fall in love with leadership and make leadership your love?

I recently had the honor of hearing Mr. Gilbert Nolasco, the Vice-President of Integration for RONA, Inc. speak at Manitoba Quality Network conference. RONA is the leading Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home improvement and gardening products. Mr. Nolasco’s topic was: Vision, Value and Coherence: The Essential Partners for Success.

RONA refers to itself as The How-to People. Many Canadian go to RONA for their home improvement projects yet Mr. Nolasco came to Manitoba from Montreal (in near blizzard-like conditions) to share his “how-to” use vision, values and coherence as partners for success.

One of Mr. Nolasco’s core messages was to stay focused and stay simple. This was a powerful message given RONA’s incredible expansion in the last 6 years – from 9,000 employees to 22,000 employees and from $1.2 billion in retail sales to $4.8 billion in retail sales.

One part of his presentation that related directly to the focus of this blog was his outline of strong leadership. RONA’s 5 key points for strong leadership are:
1. Set the goals
2. Show what is important
3. Give direction to the actions
4. Stay focused
5. Be available

Although there is nothing earth shattering about these key points I believe the strength resides beyond the articulation of the points to the day-to-day lived action on these points by the RONA leadership. They have given a solid home to these leadership strengths.

Remember Mr. Nolasco said to stay focused and keep it simple even while RONA was experiencing rapid growth as sales quadrupled in six years and the number of employees more than doubled.

Here are 4 leadership questions for you to answer:
1. What are my 5 keys to strong leadership?
2. Can I stay focused on these keys?
3. Can I make sure the points become lived actions?
4. Can I keep it simple while experiencing dramatic growth?

My current favorite survey to develop initial awareness of your strengths is the VIA Signature Strength Survey offered on the Authentic Happiness website. VIA is short for values in action.

The survey is free and takes about 30 to 40 minutes. After completing the survey you can get the results of your 5 signature strengths. According to the research in Positive Psychology people who know their strengths and use their strengths on a daily basis report a higher level of happiness.

I have listed my strengths in the about me section of this blog. They are:

(1) humor and playfulness;
(2) curiosity;
(3) creativity, ingenuity, and originality;
(4) love of learning; and,
(5) spirituality and sense of purpose.

I strongly encourage you to take this survey. I plan to have a number of entries on the signature strengths in the near future.

Peter Drucker died today. I will miss his thinking and viewpoints. I have been in a conundrum on how to start this new blog on leadership. I knew my central focus was on strength-based leadership and the importance of caring and love in leadership. Since Peter Drucker is no longer alive to offer his insights and actions I would like to dedicate this site to him.

Peter wrote a very imporant article on “Managing Oneself.” in the Harvard Business Review March-April. 1999: 65-70. The essence of managing oneself was to know our strengths and to fully develop a strength-based leadership approach. Here is a short outline of the article from the Harvard Business Review site (you can also order a reprint of the article at this site):

Peter Drucker tells us in this seminal article first published in 1999, it means we have to learn to develop ourselves. We have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution to our organizations and communities. And we have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-year working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do.

It may seem obvious that people achieve results by doing what they are good at and by working in ways that fit their abilities. But, Drucker says, very few people actually know–let alone take advantage of–their fundamental strengths.

He challenges each of us to ask ourselves: What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my values? Where do I belong? What should my contribution be? Don’t try to change yourself, Drucker cautions. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills you have and accepting assignments that are tailored to your individual way of working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary worker into an outstanding performer.

Today’s successful careers are not planned out in advance. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they have asked themselves those questions and rigorously assessed their uniquecharacteristics. This article challenges readers to take responsibility for managing their futures, both in and out of the office.