What is Leadership?

Perhaps it can be defined as the art of influencing people to accomplish a specific goal. 

 Influence

The ability to influence people is a complex task.  If we want others to follow us, we must have the power to sway or affect them.

Our ability to influence others depends on our ability to understand what makes people tick.  Your managers must become avid students of human behaviour and learn what makes people behave as they do.

Does your organisation live with:

• a blame culture
• unclear objectives
• failure to deal with 'Code of Conduct' issues
• failure to manage performance
• lack of feedback and open communication
• inconsistent treatment of individuals
• poor communicating by your managers?

Team / individual

Without people there can be no leading. People give the power to lead by willingly allowing the leader to influence and guide them.  In so doing, people relinquish authority to the leader (followership).

Task

Why lead if there is no objective? How can we influence others if we have no goal to guide them towards? People do not follow for no reason - there must be an end in mind.

High performing teams

Organisational behaviour specialists have created models to identify the clear stages teams move through on their way to becoming a high-performing team.

Tuckman's model is most widely used, which identifies four stages:

1. Forming

2. Storming

3. Norming

4. Performing

Every high-performing team once started out as a group of individuals.

Balancing task and relationship needs

Through working to get things done, teams both perform the task and engage in the relationship. Effective teams balance task (things to be done) and relationship (working together) needs.

Leadership training

'Inspire others through influencing and empowerment.'

Program content

• You can learn to become a leader
• What is the difference between a manager and a leader?
• Are there different Leadership styles?
• Can you cultivate a sense of mission and shared vision?
• How do you seek continuous improvement and innovation?
• How do you empower others by expanding their capabilities and teamwork?
• Learn how to give performance feedback
• Identify the dynamics of employee engagement and team interaction
  
• Acknowledge and reward your team
• Show confidence, display integrity, demonstrate energy and persistence
• Define the EQ - emotional intelligence - of a leader
• Identify the nature of change and its key drivers
• Kotter's eight-step managing change model
• Understand the importance of leading and managing change

Leadership training program outcomes

  

On completion of a Leadership training program participants will be able to:

• Define their role as a leader and identify how that differs from being a manager
• Embrace change and inspire continuous improvement
• Communicate well with others
• Inspire teamwork
  

For a pdf of our company brochure, click here

Emotional intelligence

Without emotional intelligence, a manager can have outstanding technical training, a highly analytical mind, a long-term vision, an endless supply of terrific ideas, yet still not make an effective leader of people.

Effective leaders manage their own thinking, emotions and behaviour.  They read the emotions of others, display empathy and work with others in a constructive way.

Research shows managers high in emotional intelligence outperform their targets by 20%. Ninety per cent of a leader's results come from their emotional intelligence. 

Relationship management

Leaders inspire and guide people, develop others by helping them improve performance, manage conflict and resolve disagreements, build relationships by creating a shared vision and synergy.

===

Read an article by Nina Sunday . . . 

Managing people: how to give feedback using a 5-step verbal template.

Have you ever given feedback at work only to find it created tension? Or do you sometimes find yourself holding back what you'd really like to say for fear it won't be well-received?

If you observe unacceptable behaviour it can be tricky finding just the right words to comment on the behaviour while not criticising the person.

Don't just blurt something out. Plan the best words to use.

Here's a 5-step verbal template to help you communicate feedback in a positive and assertive manner, that is neither aggressive nor too passive.

1. Describe the facts of the situation by starting with:

'When you [describe the observable behaviour] . . .'


2. Express how you feel about it with:

'. . . I feel [express the specific feeling] . . . '


3. Explain its impact:

'. . . and the effect is [explain the specific impact] . . . '


4. Then ask for the new behaviour:

'. . . Instead, what I'd like to see is [ask for the new behaviour].'


5. You might like to finish by asking for their thoughts:

'. . . This is important to me; what do you think?'

===

By phrasing your communication in this 5-step manner, you will achieve better outcomes.

Here's an example of how it could go:
===

'When you [came late to the meeting]
I felt [annoyed]
And the effect is [we spent time repeating information the rest of us had already heard.]
Instead, what I'd like to see is [you arriving on time in future.]
This is important to me; what do you think?'

===
Giving positive feedback

This template is just as effective for giving positive feedback. Turn it around by changing step 4 to reinforcing the current desirable behaviour, rather than suggesting a preferred new behaviour.

For example:
===

'When you [did such a thorough job in preparing for the meeting]
I felt [proud of your efforts.]
And the effect is [the client quickly agreed to our proposal.]
I look forward to seeing [more work like this from you in other situations.]'

===
ACTION SUMMARY

1. Rehearse giving feedback using this verbal template so you are fluent and natural before using it in real situations.

2. Give frequent daily feedback using this template til it's second nature.
Consider the benefit of frequent, useful feedback on your business culture.

3. Use this as well in life in general, with your spouse, your children, and your friends.

Copyright Nina Sunday 2010.  All rights reserved.  Published in Sydney, Australia.

---

Does Brainpower offer public workshops for individuals to attend?

We do not offer open workshops for individuals to attend.

Brainpower Training works inside companies and organisations with groups of their staff, usually in a workshop of around 10-16 people at a time.

 

---

The Brainpower difference: How we present

We use brain-based, multi-sensory, Adult Learning methods to keep theworkshop interactive, engaging and fun.  

Appealing to all learning styles, there'll be:    

• flipcharts created and coloured pens to use for Visual learners
• background music in the breaks for Auditory learners
• for Kinesthetic learners, as well as plasticene and pipe cleaners, brain-shaped squeeze balls with Brainpower logo to take-away.

• Our experienced and qualified Facilitator tailors the workshop to your group by:
  
  
• asking quality questions
• triggering discussion
• referring to your organisation-specific scenarios
• discovering insights beyond the obvious
  

Open-ended exercises help people discover for themselves what you want them to know.


Our Facilitator adapts and
customises the workshop to suit the
specific needs of your team

They'll interact with fellow participants and brainstorm practical action steps they can apply in your organisation to:


• identify problem areas
• generate solutions
• make great leadership happen

No Risk Guarantee

You have peace of mind knowing you are not only getting great value for money, but also results that positively impact performance.

Our guarantee is simply this:

If you are not 100% happy and delighted with your workshop, we will either refund the difference between what you paid to what you think it was worth or we'll continue to work with you for free until you achieve the outcomes you reasonably expected.

Call us on 1300 661 555. Our Client Managers are happy to answer any questions you may have and walk you through your options.

Any Questions?

You'll find the answers to most of your questions on the Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you can't find what you're looking for, please contact us and our Support Team will respond to your enquiry with priority.

Your best-match Facilitators

Sydney - Tom Martin

Melbourne - Kirk Fisher

Brisbane - Darryl Stubberfield, Mark Jones, Steve Weaver or Derrick Sillence

Canberra - Tom Martin

Perth - Darryl Stubberfield

---