The site has been available for just over 2 months. There have been over 1500 page views since the inception on Novermber 11th. I am honored and gratified by such a strong early response to the articles. I am very indebted to Rosa Say for including one of my posts in her 2005 Hawaiian blog carnival on Management and Leadership for Talking Story.

I plan to develop and enhance the site in the next few months. On Febuary 2nd. (Ground Hog Day…Ony the shadow knows for sure) I will be inviting readers to participate more fully in strength-based leadership by engaging in a Google hosted Strength Based Leadership Group. If you want an advanced look at the site click here.

I designed a 4 color quadrant to represent strength-based leadership. The 4 color quadrant logo was created to represent the essential 4 dimensions of strength based leadership. The quadrant also represent the solidness and strong base of the approach.

The green part of the quadrant respresents the core of strength.

The red part of the quadrant represents the love and caring that flows through leadership.

The yellow part represents the energy that is so vital to working with the approach and to use strength based leadership to energize others.

The blue part of the quadrant, the color of sky and water, represents the pervasiveness of areas in work and living where strength based leadership can be applied. For example see this post profiling Esther and her strength as a way of being.

At the centre of the quadrant the four colors meet. Strength, love, caring, and you coming together to transform the ideas and concepts into living leadership.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner published Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others. This book provides an excellent guide on the art of recognizing and appreciating others in the workplace.

Kouzes and Posner outline 7 essentials in encouraging the heart: (1) set clear standards; (2) expect the best; (3) pay attention; (4) personalize recognition; (5) tell the story; (6) celebrate together, and; (7) set the example.

Although the book was published in 1999 it is still an informative and practical resource in 2006. I developed training sessions, curriculum, and resources for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s Leadership StAR (Staff Appreciation and Recognition) program. This book played a key role in the development of that program.

Kouzes and Posner discuss the heart of leadership. They note that encouragement and courage both have their roots in the Latin word cor, which literally means “heart.” Read the following lines from the introduction:

Heart brings forth images or courage when faced with great challenges, hope when confronted with great difficulties, and the fortitude to reach inside and give your best even when faced with great odds. Heart involves strength and toughness. It involves leaders’ awareness of their responsibilities to those they’re entrusted to lead, as well as to the values of the organizations that select them.

Leaders who encourage the heart fuse “toughness and tenderness. Guts and grace. Firmness and fairness. Fortitude and gratitude. Passion and compassion. Leaders must have courage themselves, and they must impart it to others.” (introduction p. xvi)

1. Are you putting your heart into leadership?
2. How well are you encouraging the hearts of the people you lead?
3. How many different tactics can you list to encourage the heart?

Paul Simon had an old song about 50 ways to lose your lover but Kouzes and Posner outline 150 ways to encourage the heart: Click here to access a PDF version of chapter 12 on 150 ways to encourage the heart.

Commit yourself to transforming at least 5 ideas into heartfelt actions.

What ignites your human spirit?

An often-neglected part of balanced energy management is to focus, renew, and expend our spiritual energy. Many people equate spiritual with religion. Although religion may be a part of many people’s spiritual dimension this does not have to be the case.

Loehr and Schwartz define spiritual energy as “ the connection to a deeply held set of values and to a purpose beyond our self-interest.”

Most of us have done some type of values exercise but the key questions are:

When was the last time you looked at your values?
How do you act on those values?
How do you use your values in the service of others?

A popular business book was Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Part of the book said the most critical quality for leaders is the ability to put ideas into action. Bringing this impetus to spiritual energy:

How well do you put your values into action?
Do you execute a list of values or strengths into viable and on-going spiritual energy actions?

I conclude this post with Martin Seligman’s thoughts on a full life at the end of his book, Authentic Happiness:

…a full life consists in experiencing positive emotions about the past and future, savoring positive feelings from the pleasures, deriving abundant gratification from your signature strengths, and using these strengths in the service of something larger to obtain meaning.

Uploaded on December 15, 2005 by Eggz

I feel invigorated by the start of this site on strength-based leadership. I anticipate 2006 with energy, excitement, and enthusiasm. I look forward to providing ideas, articles, resources, links, and discussion to further advance your strength based leadership.

The next two weeks will be a personal and family time of relaxation, recovery, and renewal.

As Loehr and Schwartz stated in The Power of Full Engagement:

The richest, happiest and most productive lives are characterized by the ability to fully engage in the challenge at hand, but also to disengage periodically and seek renewal…We become flat liners mentally and emotionally by relentlessly spending energy without sufficient recovery.

As a “flat-lander” from the Canadian prairies I don’t also want to be a flat liner. It is time experience waves of relaxation in Mexico.

Keith Ferrazzi was a co-author of Never eat alone: And other secrets to success, one relationship at a time. Brian Uzzi is a co-author of How to build your network.

Two authors with 4z’s in their names are contributing to a renewed buzzzz on relationships, connecting, and networking.

A strength-based leader knows the importance of caring connections. A leader’s work is done with others and through others. Never eat alone begins with this Margaret Wheatley quote:

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.

Ramit Sethi talked about how networking is viewed by many as a dirty word or a sleazy collection of business cards. He disagreed saying networking is “about having deep relationships and giving more to people than you expect back.” This is synonymous with the love demonstrated by the strength-based leader.

Networking and relationships are transforming. Our connection may energize both of us and be of mutual benefit. I borrowed Never eat alone from my public library and the librarian was commenting that she read the book and that it was quite helpful. You could say we even networked for a just a couple of moments about the book and I believe we will have a stronger relationship next week when I return.

If you want to sample Ferrazzi’s thinking, visit the blog: Never eat alone. Business week just published an article on Ferrazzi on Networking for the right reasons. This includes how to manage 250 important relationships. If you read the book, whatever you do, try to avoid reading it alone at your desk while you eat lunch.

There are many pathways to networking. Perhaps you are looking for a more traditional or strategic view of networking. Brian Uzzi and Shannon Dunlap wrote a Harvard Business Review article on How to build your network. They examine the inner workings of networks, how to diagnose your current network, create a more potent one, and actively manage it. It includes a method to map your network and determine the next steps to build a more effective network. This article is currently available for free on line by clicking here.

Carry on caring and caring enough to be connected from A to Zzzz.