UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

PROJECT ON LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT SUBMITTED BY VRINDA .A. BHANDARE TYBMS SEMESTER V ACADEMIC YEAR 2011-12 PROJECT GUIDE MRS.ASHITA CHAUDHARY

S.S & L.S PATKAR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCE & V.P VARDE COLLEGE OF COMMERCE & ECONOMICS GOREGAON (W) MUMBAI- 400062.

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
PROJECT ON:

LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT
Bachelor Of Management Studies (BMS) Semester V. Submitted. In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements For the Award of Degree of Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS). By: - Vrinda Bhandare Roll No-410

S.S & L.S. Patkar College Of Arts and Science & V.P.Varde College Of Commerce and Economics. Goregaon (West), Mumbai 400 062.

V.P.Varde College Of Commerce and Economics. Goregaon (West), Mumbai 400 062.

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Miss Vrinda .A. Bhandare of (BMS) has successfully completed the project on Leadership Management Semester V (2011-12) has successfully completed the project on Under the guidance of Mrs.Ashita Chaudhary

Course Co-ordinator Zeenat Khan

Principal

Project guide / Internal Examiner Ashita Chaudhary

External Examiner

DECLARATION

I, Miss. Vrinda Bhandare of Patkar College of TYBMS [Semester V] hereby declare that I have completed my project, titled Leadership management in the Academic Year 2011-2012.

The information submitted herein is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

_____________________

Signature of Student [VRINDA BHANDARE]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To list who all helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth is so enormous. I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channel and fresh dimension in the completion of this project. I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me chance to do this project. . I take this opportunity to thank our coordinator Mrs. Zeenat Khan, for his moral support and guidance. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide MRS. ASHITA whose guidance and care made the project successful. I would like to thank my college library, for having provided various reference books and magazines related to my project. Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly helped me in the completion of the project, especially my parents and my peers who supported me throughout my project

INDEX
SR NO 1. i. ii. iii. iv. v. 2.
Manager or Leaders Leadership theories and approaches Leadership styles Blake Mounton Managerial Grid Leadership qualities

TOPICS
INTRODUCTION OF LEADERSHIP

LEADING BY EXAMPLE Great leaders: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

vii.

Adolf hitler Ratan Tata Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani Steve Jobs Bill Gates Larry Page Akio Morita Henry Ford

viii.

CASE STUDY ON INFOSYS

3.

LEADERSHIP STARTS WITH YOU,NOT THEM i. ii. iii. iv. v. The Blame Game Personal Responsibility, Self-Reliance & Self Dicipline Emotional Intelligence 10 Common Leadership And Management Mistakes Situational Factors

4.

BECOMING A LEADER, WHAT DOES IT MEAN, HOW DO YOU GET IT? i. Understanding Power

5.

LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT i. ii. iii. Training Coaching Mentoring

6. 7. 8. 9.

MOTIVATION AT WORK, MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION TEAM BUILDING PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. Problem Solving Decision Making Risk Analysis The Ladder of Inference Decision making Under Uncertainity Six Thinking Hats Multi Voting Avoid Group Think

10.

CONFLICT IN THE TEAM i. ii. iii. No Jerks Allowed Dealing with Sticky Situation The Importance of Forgivness

11.

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP i. ii. Strategic Leadership Ethical Leadership Leadership Qualities For 21st Century

12.

LEADERSHIP BY NEW GENERATION i.

ii.

Must Have Skills For The 21st Century

13.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT i. ii. iii. iv. How Good are Your Project Management Skills Project Management Phases And Processes Why Do Project Fail Project Close Activities

14. 15.

CLOSING THOGHTS BIBLOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Leadership is a part of all us at home, in business, and our community. What was extremely beneficial to me was that reading through the various theories, and case studies, I was able to identify with many of these examples and situations. It had enriched me with an insight about myself . It is that very awareness of both my personal and other people's behaviors that makes leadership possible. I am the first to admit that learning about leadership management does not automatically make one a good leader, but they give a tremendous insight and the possibility to become a better one. My own view is that Leadership is a process to change or create something from what otherwise would be chaos. It must be highly flexible and demands awareness, skills, and sensitivity. It is highly dependent on situations. Leadership is being human. They are all equally eye opening for everyone in the organization.

LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT

What is leadership?

"Leaders

are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right."

Professor Warren G. Bennis "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

An army officer, charging forward to meet the enemy. An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his party to follow. An executive, developing her company's strategy to remain ahead of the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization. Leadership is dynamic, vibrant, and inspiring. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their team to the right destination in a smooth and efficient way.

In this article, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll discuss the "transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James MacGregor Burns. This model highlights visionary thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes that are only designed to maintain current performance.

Its the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals Leadership Management is a function of knowing yourself ,having a vision that is well communicated ,building trust among colleagues and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential Leadership Management is about building teams and communicating so that everyone works together. The importance of leadership is a key ingredient to successful businesses and championship teams. Teams that have this synergy tend to be the ones on top. A leader is someone you trust and is knowledgeable, but not all knowing; speaks with purpose, but listens well; sets the example and lives the corporate values everyone is expected to follow. Leadership is the ability to achieve great personal and organizational results through others using positive interpersonal relationships.

Why Is Leadership Management Important ?

Leadership is about building teams and communicating so that everyone works together. The importance of leadership is a key ingredient to successful businesses and championship teams. Teams that have this synergy tend to be the ones on top. Effective leadership helps our nation through times of peril It makes a business organization successful. It enables a not-for-profit organization to fulfill its mission. Without leadership, organizations move too slowly, stagnate and lose their way

MANAGER OR LEADER???

We hereby kill the word manager. Burn it, rip it up, stab it, it is done. It is heavily stigmatized as secondclass citizen compared to the idealized leader.Frankly, we simply do not need it. Leader will do. It is a big lie that managers and leaders are different things! Managers deal with the present. Leaders deal with the future. I am sure you have heard things like this before I actually found the list below saying that : A manager takes care of where you are; a leader takes you to a new place. A manager deals with complexity; a leader deals with uncertainty. A manager is concerned with finding the facts; a leader makes decisions. A manager is concerned with doing things right; a leader is concerned with doing the right things. A managers critical concern is efficiency; a leader focuses on effectiveness. A manager creates policies; a leader establishes principles. A manager sees and hears what is going on; a leader hears when there is no sound and sees when there is no light. A manager finds answers and solutions; a leader formulates the questions and identifies the problems. A manager looks for similarities between current and previous problems; a leader looks for differences.

Hopefully, you see the humor and absurdity in these statements. In reality, managers and leaders are the same thing. However, there are many bad leaders! Stop thinking about manager versus leader,and start thinking about what it means to be a great leader.

LEADERSHIP THEORIES/ APPROACHES

Theoretical based: Theories always provided basis for the understanding of different concepts. Lets discuss first the basic approaches/theories which will help us to understand the other approaches and theories directly related to leaderships.

Theory X and Theory Y

Understanding team member motivation:

What motivates employees to go to work each morning? Many people get great satisfaction from their work and take great pride in it; others may view it as a burden, and simply work to survive. This question of motivation has been studied by management theorists and social psychologists for decades, in attempts to identify successful approaches to management. Understanding the Theories: Your management style is strongly influenced by your beliefs and assumptions about what motivates members of your team: If you believe that team members dislike work, you will tend towards an authoritarian style of management; On the other hand, if you assume that employees take pride in doing a good job, you will tend to adopt a more participative style. Theory X Theory X assumes that employees are naturally unmotivated and dislike working, and this encourages an authoritarian style of management. According to this view, management must actively intervene to get things done. This style of management assumes that workers:

Dislike working. Avoid responsibility and need to be directed. Have to be controlled, forced, and threatened to deliver what's needed.

Need to be supervised at every step, with controls put in place. Need to be enticed to produce results; otherwise they have no ambition or incentive to work.

X-Type organizations tend to be top heavy, with managers and supervisors required at every step to control workers. There is little delegation of authority and control remains firmly centralized. McGregor recognized that X-Type workers are in fact usually the minority, and yet in mass organizations, such as large scale production environment, X Theory management may be required and can be unavoidable. Theory Y Theory Y expounds a participative style of management that is de-centralized. It assumes that employees are happy to work, are self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater responsibility. It assumes that workers:

Take responsibility and are motivated to fulfill the goals they are given. Seek and accept responsibility and do not need much direction. Consider work as a natural part of life and solve work problems imaginatively.

This more participative management style tends to be more widely applicable. In Y-Type organizations, people at lower levels of the organization are involved in decision making and have more responsibility.

Leadership Styles and Theories

Using the Right One for the Situation From Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King, there are as many leadership styles as there are leaders. Fortunately, businesspeople and psychologists have developed useful and simple ways to describe the main styles of leadership, and these can help aspiring leaders understand which styles they should use. So, whether you manage a team at work, captain a sports team, or lead a major corporation, which approach is best? With this in mind, there are many different frameworks that have shaped our current understanding of leadership, and many of these have their place, just as long as they're used appropriately.

Leadership Theories Researchers have developed a number of leadership theories over the years. These fall into four main groups: 1. Behavioral theories What does a good leader do? Behavioral theories focus on how leaders behave. Do they dictate what needs to be done and expect cooperation? Or do they involve the team in decisions to encourage acceptance and support? In the 1930s, Kurt Lewin developed a leadership framework based on a leader's decision-making behavior. Lewin argued that there are three types of leaders: 1. Autocratic leaders Make decisions without consulting their teams. This is considered appropriate when decisions genuinely need to be taken quickly, when there's no need for input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a successful outcome. 2. Democratic leaders Allow the team to provide input before making a decision, although the degree of input can vary from leader to leader. This type of style is important when team agreement matters, but it can be quite difficult to manage when there are lots of different perspectives and ideas. 3. Laissez-faire leaders Don't interfere; they allow people within the team to make many of the decisions. This works well when the team is highly capable and motivated, and when it doesn't need close monitoring or supervision. However, this style can arise because the leader is lazy or distracted, and, here, this approach can fail. Similar to Lewin's model, the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid helps you decide how best to lead, depending on your concern for people versus your concern for production. The model describes five different leadership styles: impoverished, country club, team leader, produce or perish, or middle of the road. The descriptions of these will help you understand your own leadership habits and adapt them to meet your team's needs. Clearly, then, how leaders behave impacts on their effectiveness. Researchers have realized, though, that many of these leadership behaviors are appropriate at different times. So, the best leaders are those who can use many different behavioral styles and use the right style for each situation. 2. Contingency theories How does the situation influence good leadership?

The realization that there isn't one correct type of leader led to theories that the best leadership style is contingent on, or depends on, the situation. These theories try to predict which leadership style is best in which circumstance. When a decision is needed fast, which style is preferred? When the leader needs the full support of the team, is there a better way to lead? Should a leader be more people oriented or task oriented? These are all examples of questions that contingency leadership theories try to address. A popular contingency-based framework is the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, which links leadership style with the maturity of individual members of the leader's team. Its also contains the following theories: The Fiedler Model This is the first comprehensive contingency model for leadership. Effective group performance depends on the proper match between the leaders style of interaction and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader. Fiedler developed an instrument, the Least-Preferred Co-worker (LPC) questionnaire that measures the leaders behavioral orientation either task oriented or relationship oriented. He isolated three situational criterialeader-member relations, task structure, and position powerthat can be manipulated to create the proper match with the behavioral orientation of the leader. This contingency leadership model is an outgrowth of trait theory. Fiedler, however, attempted to isolate situations, relating his personality measure to his situational classification, and then predicting leadership effectiveness. Fiedler believed that an individuals basic leadership style is a key factor. The LPC questionnaire contains 16 contrasting adjectives, asks the respondent to think of all the co-workers he or she has ever had, and rates that person on a scale of 1 to 8 for each set of contrasting adjectives. What you say about others tells more about you than it tells about the other person. If the least-preferred co-worker was described in positive terms (a high LPC score), then the respondent was primarily interested in good personal relations with co-workers. If the least-preferred co-worker is seen in relatively unfavorable terms, the respondent is primarily interested in productivity and thus would be labeled task oriented. Fiedler argued that leadership style is innate to a personyou cant change your style.

 It is necessary to match the leader with the situation based on three criteria. Leader-member relationsThe degree of confidence, trust, and respect subordinates have in their leader. Task structureThe degree to which the job assignments of subordinates are structured or unstructured. Position powerThe degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases. The next step is to evaluate the situation in terms of these three contingency variables. The better the leader-member relations, the more highly structured the job, and the stronger the position power, the more control or influence the leader has. Fiedler concluded that task-oriented leaders perform best in situations that are very favorable or very unfavorable to them. A moderately favorable situation, however, is best handled through relationship-oriented leadership. Situational Leadership Theory: Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard developed the leadership model. Which is Called situational leadership; it shows how a leader should adjust leadership style to reflect what followers need. A contingency theory that focuses on the followers. Successful leadership is contingent on the followers level of readiness. Why focus on the followers? And what do they mean by the term readiness? o This emphasis reflects the reality that it is the followers who accept or reject the leader. o Regardless of what the leader does, effectiveness depends on the actions of his or her followers. The term readiness refers to the extent that people have the ability and the willingness to accomplish a specific task. Hersey and Blanchard identify four specific behaviors. _ Follower: unable and unwilling Leader: needs to give clear and specific directions (Selling). _ Follower: unable but willing Leader: needs to display high task orientation and high relationship orientation.

(Telling) _ Follower: able but unwilling Leader: needs to use a supportive and participative style. (participating) _ Follower: both able and willing Leader: a lenient approach will work (Delegating) The most effective behavior depends on a followers ability and motivations. If a follower is unable and unwilling, the leader needs to display high task orientation. At the other end of the readiness spectrum, if followers are able and willing, the leader doesnt need to do much. Situational leadership has an intuitive appealit acknowledges the importance of followers and builds on the idea that leaders can compensate for the lack of ability and motivation of their followers. Research efforts to test and support the theory have generally been mixed.

Path-Goal Theory: 1. One of the most respected approaches to leadership is path-goal theory. 2. Developed by Robert House, a contingency model of leadership that extracts key elements from the Ohio State leadership research and the expectancy theory of motivation. 3. The essence of the theory: the leaders job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to ensure that their goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization. 4. A leaders behavior is acceptable to employees to the degree that they view it as an immediate source of satisfaction or as a means of future satisfaction. 5. A leaders behavior is motivational to the degree that it a) Makes employee need-satisfaction contingent on effective performance. b) Provides the coaching, guidance, support, and reward necessary for effective performance. 6. House identified four leadership behaviors; a) The directive leader tells employees what is expected of them, schedules work, and gives specific guidance as to how to accomplish tasks. It parallels initiating structure.

b) The supportive leader is friendly and shows concern for the needs of employees. It is essentially synonymous with the dimension of consideration. c) The participative leader consults with employees and uses their suggestions before making a decision. d) The achievement-oriented leader sets challenging goals and expects employees to perform at their highest levels. 7. In contrast to Fiedler, House assumes that leaders are flexible. a) Path-goal theory implies that the same leader can display any or all leadership styles, depending on the situation. 8. path-goal theory proposes two classes of contingency variables:; a) Those in the environment that are outside the control of the employee (task structure, the formal authority system, and the work group). 1) Environmental factors determine leader behavior required if employee outcomes are to be maximized. b) Those that are part of the personal characteristics of the employee (locus of control, experience, and perceived ability). 1) Personal characteristics determine how the environment and leader behavior are interpreted. c) The theory proposes that leader behavior will be ineffective when it is redundant to sources of environmental structure or incongruent with subordinate characteristics. 9. Research to validate path-goal predictions is encouraging, although not all is found positive. The majority of the evidence supports the logic underlying the theory. Path-Goal Leadership Model Employee Contingencies Environmental Contingencies Leader Behaviors Directive Supportive

 Participative Achievementoriented Leader Effectiveness Motivated employees Satisfied employees Leader acceptance

3. Trait theories What type of person makes a good leader? Trait theories argue that leaders share a number of common personality traits and characteristics, and that leadership emerges from these traits. Early trait theories promoted the idea that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you either have or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this approach, and we're learning more about what we can do as individuals to develop leadership qualities within ourselves and others. What's more, traits are external behaviors that emerge from things going on within the leader's mind and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for effective leadership. Trait theory does, however, help us identify some qualities that are helpful when leading others and, together, these emerge as a generalized leadership style. Examples include empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making, and likability 4. Power and influence theories What is the source of the leader's power? Power and influence theories of leadership take an entirely different approach. They're based on the different ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done, and the leadership styles that emerge as a result. Perhaps the most well known of these theories is French and Raven's Five Forms of Power. This model distinguishes between using your position to exert power, and using your personal attributes to be powerful. An Up-to-Date Understanding of Leadership Within all of these theories, frameworks, and approaches to leadership, there's an underlying message that leaders need to have a variety of factors working in their favor. Effective leadership is not simply based on a set of attributes, behaviors, or influences. You must have a wide range of abilities and approaches that you can draw upon.

Having said this, however, there's one leadership style that is appropriate in very many corporate situations that of Transformational Leadership. A leader using this style:

Has integrity. Sets clear goals. Clearly communicates a vision. Sets a good example. Expects the best from the team. Encourages. Supports. Recognizes good work and people. Provides stimulating work. Helps people see beyond their self-interests and focus more on team interests and needs. Inspires.

In short, transformational leaders are exceptionally motivating, and they're trusted. When your team trusts you, and is really "fired up" by the way you lead, you can achieve great things! Having said that Transformational Leadership suits very many circumstances in business, we need to remember that there may be situations where it's not the best style. This is why it's worth knowing about the other styles shown below so that you have a greater chance of finding the right combination for the situation you find yourself in. Popular Leadership Styles The leadership theories and styles discussed so far fit within formal theoretical frameworks. However, many more terms are used to describe leadership styles, even if these don't fit within a particular system 1. Autocratic leadership: The classical approach .Manager retains as much power and decision making authority as possible .Does not consult staff, nor allowed to give any input Staff expected to obey orders without receiving any explanations Structured set of rewards and punishments Greatly criticized during the past 30 years

Gen X staff highly resistant Autocratic leaders: Rely on threats and punishment to influence staff Do not trust staff Do not allow for employee input

Sometimes the most effective style to use When: New, untrained staff do not know which tasks to perform or which procedures to follow Effective supervision provided only through detailed orders and instructions Staff do not respond to any other leadership style Limited time in which to make a decision A managers power challenged by staff Work needs to be coordinated with another department or organization

When it should not be used: Staff become tense, fearful, or resentful Staff expect their opinions heard Staff depend on their manager to make all their decisions Low staff morale, high turnover and absenteeism and work stoppage

2. Bureaucratic leadership: Manages by the book Everything done according to procedure or policy If not covered by the book, referred to the next level above.A police officer not a leader Enforces the rules

When it is most effective: Staff performing routine tasks over and over Staff need to understand certain standards or procedures. Safety or security training conducted Staff performing tasks that require handling cash

When it is ineffective: Work habits form that are hard to break, especially if they are no longer useful Staff lose their interest in their jobs and in their co-workers Staff do only what is expected of them and no more

3. Charismatic leadership A charismatic leadership style can seem similar to transformational leadership, because these leaders inspire lots of enthusiasm in their teams and are very energetic in driving others forward. However, charismatic leaders can tend to believe more in themselves than in their teams, and this creates a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader leaves. In the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and it needs a long-term commitment from the leader. 4. Democratic leadership or participative leadership Although democratic leaders make the final decisions, they invite other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. Also known as participative style Encourages staff to be a part of the decision making Keeps staff informed about everything that affects their work and shares decision making and problem solving responsibilities A coach who has the final say, but gathers information from staff before making a decision Produce high quality and high quantity work for long periods of time Staff likes the trust they receive and respond with cooperation, team spirit, and high morale Develops plans to help staff evaluate their own performance Allows staff to establish goals Encourages staff to grow on the job and be promoted Recognizes and encourages Achievement When most effective: Wants to keep staff informed about matters that affect them.

Wants staff to share in decision-making and problem-solving duties. Wants to provide opportunities for staff to develop a high sense of personal growth and job satisfaction. A large or complex problem that requires lots of input to solve Changes must be made or problems solved that affect staff Want to encourage team building and participation

Democratic leadership should not be used when Not enough time to get everyones input Easier and more cost-effective for the manager to make the decision Cant afford mistakes Manager feels threatened by this type of leadership Staff safety is a critical concern

5. Laissez-faire leadership This French phrase means "leave it be," and it's used to describe leaders who leave their team members to work on their own. Also known as the hands-off style .The manager provides little or no direction and gives staff as much freedom as possible. All authority or power given to the staff and they determine goals, make decisions, and resolve problems on their own An effective style to use Staff highly skilled, experienced, and educated Staff have pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own Outside experts, such as staff specialists or consultants used Staff trustworthy and experienced Should not be used: Staff feel insecure at the unavailability of a manager The manager cannot provide regular feedback to staff on how well they are doing Managers unable to thank staff for their good work The manager doesnt understand his or her responsibilities and hoping the staff cover for him or her

6. People-oriented leadership or relations-oriented leadership This is the opposite of task-oriented leadership. With people-oriented leadership, leaders are totally focused on organizing, supporting, and developing the people in their teams. It's a participative style, and it tends to encourage good teamwork and creative collaboration. In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership. 7. Servant leadership This term, created by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by meeting the needs of the team, he or she is described as a "servant leader." In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, because the whole team tends to be involved in decision making. Supporters of the servant leadership model suggest that it's an important way to move ahead in a world where values are increasingly important, and where servant leaders achieve power on the basis of their values and ideals. Others believe that in competitive leadership situations, people who practice servant leadership can find themselves left behind by leaders using other leadership styles. 8. Task-Oriented leadership Highly task-oriented leaders focus only on getting the job done, and they can be quite autocratic. They actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organize, and monitor. However, because task-oriented leaders don't tend to think much about the well-being of their teams, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic leadership, with difficulties in motivating and retaining staff. 9. Transactional leadership This style of leadership starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they accept a job. The "transaction" is usually the organization paying the team members in return for their effort and compliance. The leader has a right to "punish" team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard. Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team members some control of their income/reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity. Alternatively, a transactional leader

could practice "management by exception" rather than rewarding better work, the leader could take corrective action if the required standards are not met. Transactional leadership is really a type of management, not a true leadership style, because the focus is on short-term tasks. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work, however it can be effective in other situations. 10. Transformational leadership As we discussed earlier, people with this leadership style are true leaders who inspire their teams constantly with a shared vision of the future. While this leader's enthusiasm is often passed onto the team, he or she can need to be supported by "detail people." That's why, in many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership are needed. The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add new value.

Blake Mouton Managerial Grid

Balancing Task- and People-Oriented Leadership When a boss puts you in charge of organizing the company Christmas party, what do you do first? Do you develop a time line and start assigning tasks or do you think about who would prefer to do what and try to schedule around their needs? When the planning starts to fall behind schedule, what is your first reaction? Do you chase everyone to get back on track, or do you ease off a bit recognizing that everyone is busy just doing his/her job, let alone the extra tasks youve assigned? The answers to these types of questions can reveal a great deal about personal leadership style. Some leaders are very task-oriented; they simply want to get things done. Others are very people-oriented; they want people to be happy. And others are a combination of the two. If you prefer to lead by setting and enforcing tight schedules, you tend to be more production-oriented

(or task-oriented). If you make people your priority and try to accommodate employee needs, then youre more people-oriented. Neither preference is right or wrong, just as no one type of leadership style is best for all situations. However, it's useful to understand what your natural leadership tendencies are, so that you can then begin working on developing skills that you may be missing. A popular framework for thinking about a leaders task versus person orientation was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in the early 1960s. Called the Managerial Grid, or Leadership Grid, it plots the degree of task-centeredness versus person-centeredness and identifies five combinations as distinct leadership styles. Understanding the Model The Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral dimensions:

Concern for People This is the degree to which a leader considers the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task.

Concern for Production This is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task.

Using the axis to plot leadership concerns for production versus concerns for people, Blake and Mouton defined the following five leadership styles:

Country Club Leadership High People/Low Production This style of leader is most concerned about the needs and feelings of members of his/her team. These people operate under the assumption that as long as team members are happy and secure then they will work hard. What tends to result is a work environment that is very relaxed and fun but where production suffers due to lack of direction and control. Produce or Perish Leadership High Production/Low People Also known as Authoritarian or Compliance Leaders, people in this category believe that employees are simply a means to an end. Employee needs are always secondary to the need for efficient and productive workplaces. This type of leader is very autocratic, has strict work rules, policies, and procedures, and views punishment as the most effective means to motivate employees. Impoverished Leadership Low Production/Low People This leader is mostly ineffective. He/she has neither a high regard for creating systems for getting the job done, nor for creating a work environment that is satisfying and motivating. The result is a place of disorganization, dissatisfaction and disharmony.

Middle-of-the-Road Leadership Medium Production/Medium People This style seems to be a balance of the two competing concerns. It may at first appear to be an ideal compromise. Therein lies the problem, though: When you compromise, you necessarily give away a bit of each concern so that neither production nor people needs are fully met. Leaders who use this style settle for average performance and often believe that this is the most anyone can expect. Team Leadership High Production/High People According to the Blake Mouton model, this is the pinnacle of managerial style. These leaders stress production needs and the needs of the people equally highly. The premise here is that employees are involved in understanding organizational purpose and determining production needs. When employees are committed to, and have a stake in the organizations success, their needs and production needs coincide. This creates a team environment based on trust and respect, which leads to high satisfaction and motivation and, as a result, high production. Applying the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid: Being aware of the various approaches is the first step in understanding and improving how well you perform as a manager. It is important to understand how you currently operate, so that you can then identify ways of becoming competent in both realms. Step One: Identify your leadership style

Think of some recent situations where you were the leader. For each of these situations, place yourself in the grid according to where you believe you fit.

Step Two: Identify areas of improvement and develop your leadership skills

Look at your current leadership method and critically analyze its effectiveness. Look at ways you can improve. Are you settling for middle of the road because it is easier than reaching for more?

Identify ways to get the skills you need to reach the Team Leadership position. These may include involving others in problem solving or improving how you communicate with them, if you feel you are too task-oriented. Or it may mean becoming clearer about scheduling or monitoring project progress if you tend to focus too much on people.

Continually monitor your performance and watch for situations when you slip back into bad old habits.

Step Three: Put the Grid in Context It is important to recognize that the Team Leadership style isnt always the most effective approach in every situation. While the benefits of democratic and participative management are universally accepted, there are times that call for more attention in one area than another. If your company is in the midst of a merger or some other significant change, it is often acceptable to place a higher emphasis on people than on production. Likewise, when faced with an economic hardship or physical risk, people concerns may be placed on the back burner, for the short-term at least, to achieve high productivity and efficiency.

Theories of leadership have moved on a certain amount since the Blake Mouton Grid was originally proposed. And in many situations, the "Team Leader" as an ideal has moved to the ideal of the "Transformational Leader": Someone who, according to leadership researcher Bernard Bass:

Is a model of integrity and fairness. Sets clear goals. Has high expectations. Encourages. Provides support and recognition. Stirs people's emotions. Gets people to look beyond their self-interest. Inspires people to reach for the improbable.

So use Blake Mouton as a helpful model, but don't treat it as an "eternal truth".

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES:
1.Humility :It is often found in the most effective leaders, including Pope John Paul II and Abraham Lincoln.

2.Integrity :Leaders in different industries and cultures can and do spar over the rules, but integrity is the bedrock characteristic of straight dealing. If you lose your integrity, you lose everything.

3.Decisiveness A leader's ability to step up and make decisions, even if it's deciding only when consensus has been reached and it's time to act. 4.Take risk ssLeaders have the courage to act in situations where results arent assured. Theyre willing to risk failure.

5.Emotional resonance This is the ability to grasp what motivates others and use it to inspire them into action.

6.Build Teams Leaders create productive teams that draw the best from people. They effectively coach teams in collaboration, consensus building, and conflict resolution.

7. Conviction All leaders everywhere believe in what they're doing.

8. Dedication:Dedication means spending whatever time and energy on a task is required to get the job done, rather than giving it whatever time you have available.

9. Magnanimity A magnanimous person gives credit where it is due. It also means being gracious in defeat and allowing others who are defeated to retain their dignity.

10. Openness Openness means being able to listen to ideas that are outside one's current mental models, being able to suspend judgement until after one has heard someone else's ideas.

What leadership style work best for me and my organization?" "There are many leadership styles from which to choose Different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach.

Leading by Example
Making sure you "walk the talk

There's the boss who tells everyone to stay late, and then leaves promptly at 5:00pm to go golfing. There's the supervisor who criticizes everyone for spending time on the Internet, but is discovered buying groceries online in the middle of the afternoon. And the CFO who recommends layoffs to stop "unnecessary spending," but then buys herself brand-new luxury office furniture. Do you know any of these people? There's hardly anything worse for company morale than leaders who practice the "Do as I say, not as I do" philosophy. When this happens, you can almost see the loss of enthusiasm and goodwill among the staff. It's like watching the air go out of a balloon and cynicism and disappointment usually take its place. No matter what the situation is, double standards witnessing people say one thing and then doing another always feel like betrayals. They can be very destructive. If this ever happened to you, you can probably remember that sense of disappointment and letdown. If you're in a leadership position, then you know that you have a responsibility to your team. They look to you for guidance and strength; that's part of what being a leader is. And a big part of your responsibility is to lead them with your own actions. So why is it so important to lead by example; and what happens when you don't? Why It Matters There's an old saying about the difference between a manager and a leader: "Managers do things right. Leaders do the right things." (It's best to be both a manager and a leader they're just different processes.)

As a leader, part of your job is to inspire the people around you to push themselves and, in turn, the company to greatness. To do this, you must show them the way by doing it yourself. Stop and think about the inspiring people who have changed the world with their examples. Consider what Mahatma Gandhi accomplished through his actions: He spent most of his adult life living what he preached to others. He was committed to nonviolent resistance to protest injustice, and people followed in his footsteps. He led them, and India, to independence because his life proved, by example, that it could be done. Although Gandhi's situation is very different from yours, the principle is the same. When you lead by example, you create a picture of what's possible. People can look at you and say, "Well, if he can do it, I can do it." When you lead by example, you make it easy for others to follow you. When You Don't Lead by Example We've seen just how powerful it can be to lead by example. But what happens when you don't follow this rule? How does your team feel when you tell them to do one thing, and then you do the exact opposite? As we said earlier, if this ever happened to you, then it shouldn't be hard to remember how angry and disappointed we are. When leaders don't "practice what they preach," it can be almost impossible for a team to work together successfully. How can anyone trust a leader who talks about one thing, but does another? Consider what might have happened if Gandhi had, even one time, been in a physical fight with his opposition. His important message of nonviolent protest would probably have been much harder to believe after that. His followers would have looked at him with suspicion and distrust. The chances of them getting into physical arguments or committing acts of violence probably would have increased dramatically. Do you think that Alexander the Great's soldiers would have fought so hard for him if he had sat on top of a hill, safe from the battle? Probably not. He would have been just another average general in our history books, instead of the example of a successful leader that we know today. And so it is with your team. If you say one thing and do another, they likely won't follow you enthusiastically. Why should they? Everything you tell them after that may meet with suspicion

and doubt. They may not trust that you're doing the right thing, or that you know what you're talking about. They may no longer believe in you. Good leaders push their people forward with excitement, inspiration, trust, and vision. If you lead a team that doesn't trust you, productivity will drop. Enthusiasm may disappear. The vision you're trying so hard to make happen may lose its appeal, all because your team doesn't trust you anymore. Good leadership takes strength of character and a firm commitment to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason. This means doing what you say, when you say it. If your team can't trust you, you'll probably never lead them to greatness. Leading and living by example isn't as hard as it might sound. It's really the easiest path. If your team knows that you'll also do whatever you expect from them, they'll likely work hard to help you achieve your goal. Mahatma Gandhi and Alexander the Great helped change the world because they lived by example and, as a result, they accomplished great things.

Apply This to Your Life

If you ask a co-worker to do something, make sure you'd be willing to do it yourself. If you implement new rules for the office, then follow those rules just as closely as you expect everyone else to follow them. For example, if the new rule is "no personal calls at work," then don't talk to your spouse at work. You'll be seen as dishonest, and your staff may become angry and start disobeying you.

Look closely at your own behavior. If you criticize people for interrupting, but you constantly do it yourself, you need to fix this. Yes, you want people to pay attention to one another and listen to all viewpoints, so demonstrate this yourself.

GREAT LEADERS ADOLF HITLER

The Great Leader Adolf Hitler A review of the life of the great leader Adolf Hitler will be reviewed in the paper. The review will also include Hitlers rise to power and in the end the paper will review the fall of Adolf Hitler. The readings of the history will show that Hitler was man with great God gifted qualities and he used these qualities during his lifetime. The name of Hitler has become a notable name in the history because he had made many contributions for his country during his power. He was a man with a broad vision and always believed in his decisions. Adolf Hitler had a very strict background during the days of his childhood; his father looked him after because his mother died of cancer. His father was a man of discipline and he taught these strict rules to Hitler as well. His personality was a summation of various daring qualities and he used all his qualities in his leadership activities. He was an excellent orator, daring soldier and a great leader. The name and contributions of Hitler will be remembered whenever the history will be reviewed. A Man With Daring Qualities The biography of the leader Adolf Hitler shows that he was a man of daring qualities. Hitler always believed in himself and his plans. The life and experiences of Hitler proved that Hitler was a man of daring qualities. Hitler did what he wanted to do. The life of Hitler depicts that he

believed in the concept that one should fight until the last breath. These daring qualities of Hitler made him famous amongst the other leaders in those times. He knew the methodology to derive the best solution in a problem. Hitler proved his abilities by commanding many other soldiers under him. He possessed a great insight; it was this insight that made him observe the upcoming dangers. Hitler used to analyze the situations and then he made plans in order to remain safe and sound. Hitler knew what could be done to solve a problem. He used to decide the appropriateness and the reliability of his decision. After satisfying himself he implemented his decisions, which eventually proved successful and advantageous. Hitlers daring qualities made him strong whenever he was faced with an enemy. He was always ready to fight the enemies for the sake of his country. An Organized Man The second most important aspect of the personality of Adolf Hitler was that he was a very organized man .He did what he wanted to do but in a very organized and planned manner. He made rules and disciplines for himself as well as for the others who were under his command. These rules were implemented in an organized manner. Certainly, this organized form of working made his plans succeed. After reading the experiences of Hitler in his biography it will be observed that he made his orders whenever they were needed. These orders were made by him according to the situations. He trained his soldiers as such that they were always ready and alert for the orders of Hitler. As soon as they were ordered they implemented the plans. This shows that he was an n organized man. Hitlers organized way of working polished his plans and when these plans were really implemented than they proved successful. Hitler developed these qualities by observing his father, as he was also a very strict man .He used to observe his father and this observation made him act like his father.

RATAN TATA

Ratan Naval Tata (Born on Dec. 28, 1937 in Mumbai) is the present chairman of the group, indias largest conglomerate founded by Jamshed ji Tata and consolidated and expanded by later generations of his family. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION Ratan Tata born to Naval Tata and Soonoo Commisariat in the Tata family, a prominent family belonging to the Parsi community. Ratan is the great-grandson of Tata group founder Jamsedji Tata. After his parents separated in 1944, he was brought up by his grandmother Lady Navajbai and did his schooling in Mumbai from Campion School. Later, he enrolled in Cornell University, where he earned a B.S in architecture with structural engineering in 1962, and has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. CAREER In 1971, Ratan Tata was appointed the director in-charge of the nation radio and electronics company Ltd. (Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty. Ratan Tata suggested that company should invest in developing high technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. J.R.D. was reluctant due to the

historical financial performance of Nelco which had never even paid regular dividends. Further Nelco had 2% market share in consumer electronics market and a loss margin of 40% of sales when Ratan Tata took over. Nonetheless J.R.D. followed Ratans suggestions. In 1981 Ratan Tata was named director of Tata industries, the groups other holding company, where he became responsible for transforming it into the groups strategy think-tank and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses. In 1991 he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the Tata groups, which today has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the indian stock market. Under Ratan Tatas guidance, Tata Consultancy services (TCS) went public and Tata motors was listed on the new York stock exchange. Tata motors introduced his brain child, the Tata Indica. On January 31, 2007, under chairmanship of Ratan Tata, Tata sons successfully acquired Corus groups, an anglo-dutch steel and aluminum producer. With the acquisition, Ratan Tata became a celebrated personality in indian business culture. The merger created the fifth largest steel producing intity in the world. On march 26, 2008, Tata motors under Ratan Tata, bought Jaguar and land Rover from Ford motor company for $2.3 billion.

TATA NANO CAR 2008 Ratan Tatas dream was to manufacture a car costing Rs. 1 lacs (US $2000). He realized his dream by launching Nano in new Delhi auto expo on January 10, 2008. three models of the Tata Nano were announced and Ratan Tata delivered on his commitment to developing a car costing only Rs. 1 Lac, adding that a promise is a promise referring to his earlier promise to deliver this car at the said cost.

The true objective of setting these criteria was never meant to be merely to use them as an assessment for an award, but more importantly, to utilize them for an institutionalized approach to derive performance and attain higher levels of efficiency in everything that a corporate entity does.

- Mr. Ratan Tata LEADERSHIP Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. Leadership is fundamentally the ability to form and mould the attitudes and behavior of other individuals, whether in formal or informal situation. Leadership is a process of influencing other individuals to mobilize and direct their efforts towards certain goals, and to accomplish these goals through them. Ratan Tata faced the challenge with a quiet determination, in his style. His modern mind grasp of detail and breadth of vision were the key drivers in revitalizing the group and taking it into the 21st century. In just a few years, Ratan Tata modernized a century-old diversified business house and transformed a sprawling domestic empire into a cohesive global entity. A true leader is one who creates more leaders, and Ratan Tata has empowered a whole new generation of bright engineers, managers and executives. He knows it is they who will turn challenging ideas into new success stories for his group The quality and depth of management in Tatas today gives the group stability and resilience.

MOTIVATION Motivation is an inner driving force that activate our moves. Motivation is a movement towards balance. Motivation is initiated by need and ends with need satisfaction. Motivation is a hypothetical process inferred from observations of changes.

DHIRAJLAL HIRACHAND AMBANI

INTRODUCTION: Born on December 28, 1932 in Chorwad, Gujarat. Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s Moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. he moved into textiles and opened his mill near Ahmedabad.

9 great management lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhaism No 1: Roll up your sleeves and help. Sense of do it yourself

He does not wait for infrastructure to be created to support his operations. He goes out and builds it himself; be it a power plant for his petrochemical enterprise or a canal to bring water from large distances for his cooling plant

Dhirubhaism No 2: Be a safety net for your team. There used to be a time when our agency Mudra was the target of some extremely vicious propaganda by our peers, he gently asked M if They needed any help in combating it. knowledge that he knew and cared for what his team was going through, and that he was there for Them if needed him, worked wonders for confidence. He gave courage which we never new we had 3.Dhirubhaism : The silent benefactor. When he helped someone, he never ever breathed a word about it to anyone else "Expect the unexpected" just might have been coined for him

Dhirubhaism No 4: Dream big, but dream with your eyes open. It's difficult but not impossible!" Whenever a task seemed too big to be accomplished, he would reply: " No is no answer!" Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do so too. His favorite phrase "dream with your eyes open 5. Dhirubhaism: Leave the professional alone! management techniques of him is different the simplest strategies are often the hardest to adopt. Let professionals do the work This technique enforced responsibility among his team Produce your best." 6.Dhirubhaism: Change your orbit, constantly!

Dhirubhai's "orbit theory." This is no miracle. when you change orbits, you will create friction. The good news is that your enemies from your previous orbit will never be able to reach you in your new one. By the time resentment builds up in your new orbit, you should move to the next level. And so on Changing orbits is the key to our progress as a nation 7.The arm-around-the-shoulder leader It was Dhirubhai's very own signature style Arm around the shoulder -With that one simple gesture, he managed to achieve many things. This tendency that he had, to draw people towards him, manifested itself in countless ways. That did much more than words in letting me know that I belonged, that I had his trust, and that I had him on my side 8.The Dhirubhai theory of Supply creating Demand He was not an MBA. Nor an economist. But yet he took traditional market theory and stood it on its head. And succeeded. when everyone in India would build capacities only after a careful study of market, he went full steam ahead and created giants of manufacturing plants with unbelievable capacites 9.Money is not a product by itself, it is a by-product, so don't chase it He did not breathe a word about profits, nor about becoming the richest A by-product is something that you don't set out to produce. It is the spin off when you create something larger.

STEVE JOBS

Steve Jobs is the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers Inc. and arguably one of the worlds most successful businessmen today. He founded Apple in the 1970s, got chased out by his own board of directors, but returned eventually as Apples CEO. Since then, he has revolutionized the IT industry with his creations like the MacBook, the iPod and the iPhone. Since his return, he has brought Apple Computers Inc. from a fledging company to a global force to be reckoned with. A Quick History Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in Feburary 24, 1955. He was an adopted son of the Jobs couple from California. Jobs attended Homestead High School in California and often went to the after school lectures by Hewlett-Packard Company. It was there that he met his eventual partner, Steve Wozniak. Jobs would have his early beginnings working at Atari as a technician building circuit boards. In 1976, he would start the company Apple Inc. with Steve with funding from a millionaire investor. In 1984, he developed the Macintosh, which was the first small computer with a graphic interface in its time. It had promise to revolutionize the whole PC industry.

However, bad business decision and internal stife with his CEO would eventually cause Jobs to leave his own company. He went on to start two other companies; NeXT and Pixar. Pixar would be acquired by the Disney Company and NeXT would be acquired by his own Apple Computers Inc. With the acquisition, he returned to Apple Computers Inc. in 1996 as interim CEO. From that time on, the rise of Apple Computers began again as the iMac would be developed. The famous iPod and iPhone would later be developed and it would revolutionize the whole handphone and MP3 player industry. Under his leadership, Apple Computers Inc. became a force to be reckoned with. In 2009, Jobs would have a personal net worth of $5.1 billion. However due to the need for a liver transplant, Jobs took a break from his work since January 2009. Awards and Honours 1. Most Powerful Person in Business by Fortune Magazine in 2007 2. National Medal of Technology in 1985 3. Samuel S. Beard Award in 1987

Steve Jobs Leadership Qualities:

A rebel: Jobs was never satisfied with the status quo. He wasnt afraid to disagree with people nor did he shy away from conflict An optimist: Never willing to succumb to defeat, Jobs always saw the future and reached for it. Even when fired from Apple in 1985, he was able to forge new pathways and envision fresh possibilities. A dreamer: Not many CEOs can be credited with such a creative and imaginative spirit. Jobs was never inclined to do things the same as everyone else. An enabler: Apple employees have often noted that Jobs was not only creative, but he allowed them to be creative. Jobs enabled, empowered and equipped his people to dream and think for themselves An adapter: One of Jobs most remarkable qualities was his ability to shift quickly with and adapt to the changing world around him. Cultural shifts were not something to be feared, they were opportunities to move in new directions. A philanthropist: When Jobs was accused of being stingy with his money earlier this year, the rock star Bono shot back in the New York Times.

MANY MORE LEADERS ARE

Akio Morita [ Sony]

Bill Gates [Microsoft]

Larry Page [Google]

Henry Ford [Ford Motors]

THEY SAID. Flawless execution separates us from others. - Morita The company is the pioneer and as such will always be the seeker of unknown. - Morita A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. - Henry Ford Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. - Bill Gates Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. - Bill Gates Best is not the end point, but a starting point for innovation. - Larry Page Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. - Larry Page

CASE STUDY: ON INFOSYS

INTRODUCTION In February 2001, Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Infosys) was voted as the Best Managed Company in Asia in the Information Technology sector, in leading financial magazine Euro moneys Fifth Annual Survey of Best Managed Companies in Asia. Infosys was started in 1981, by seven professional entrepreneurs led by Narayana Murthy, Chairman and CEO of Infosys with an equity capital of Rs.10,000. By 2000, Infosys market capitalization reached Rs.11 billion and by 2001, Infosys was one of the biggest exporters of software from India. Narayana Murthy had built an organization that was respected across the country, with very strong systems, high ethical values and a nurturing working atmosphere. With his sound management skills, Narayana Murthy seemed to have taken Infosys to the pinnacle of success in two decades. From a turnover of Rs.1.16 million 1981, Infosys had grown to a Rs.19 billion company in 2001. (Refer Tables I and II) There were many firsts to Narayana Murthys credit. Infosys was the first company to push for offshore software development as against body shopping that was coming during the 1980s. He championed corporate governance in India. Infosys was the first Indian company to follow the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) disclosure norms before going for a Nasdaq listing in 1999. Narayana Murthy was also the recipient of many awards (Refer Exhibit I)

In late 2000, Infosys became a total software services company. It had set up a software development centre at Toronto as part its globalization strategy. Analysts felt that Narayana Murthy had not only managed his company well, he talked about the company at every opportunity that came his way. In the process, he had built a brand equity for his company.

BACKGROUND NOTE Narayana Murthy obtained his Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Mysore in 1967 and his Masters degree in Technology from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 1969. He started his career as head of the computer centre at IIM, Ahmedabad. In 1972 he went to Paris where he was part of the team that designed a 400terminal, real-time operating system for handling air cargo for Charles De Gaulle airport. Narayana Murthy was a left-wing activist and mingled with French communists during his stay in Paris but his outlook changed while traveling around Europe. He believed that the only way to pull India out of poverty was to create more jobs, by setting up new companies. In 1975, he returned to India and joined Systems

Research Institute, Pune, (Maharashtra). He then headed Patni Computer Systems Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, (Maharashtra) before founding Infosys in 1981, along with six other professionals. STRATEGIST From the beginning, Narayana Murthy focused on the worlds most challenging market - the US. He had two reasons for this. First, there was no market for software in India at the time. He believed that Indian software companies should export products in which they had a competitive advantage. In 1987, Infosys entered into a joint venture with Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), a leading global management consultancy firm. KSA-Infosys was the first Indo-American joint venture in the US. In 1988-89, Infosys set up its first office in the US. Reebok of France was looking for a software system to handle its distribution management at the same time. Infosys bagged the contract and developed the Distribution Management Application Package (DMAP) for Reeboks French operations. Infosys decided to use this package to create a standard application package for similar operations of any company. In 1989, Infosys bagged another major contract from Digital Equipment.

In the early 1990s, with the opening up of the Indian economy, many export-oriented software companies were set up in India that created the momentum: Infosys leveraged this very successfully. By mid-1990s, Infosys was competing not only with Indian software majors like Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro, but also with overseas players like Cambridge Technology Partners and Sapinet, which offered software solutions. Narayana Murthy believed that Indian software professionals had the ability to deal with complex projects. Analysts felt that unlike elsewhere, Indias sharpest minds were heading for a career in software, and the best of these aspired to be at Infosys. Infosys also competed with consultancies as Anderson Consulting and Ernst & Young, which positioned themselves as information management specialists. In 1994, the joint venture with KSA was dissolved. In 1995, Narayana Murthy created Yantra Corp. in Acton, Mass. US. Around the same time, Infosys entered into a joint venture with Satyam Computers and DCM.

During 1998-99, Narayana Murthy planned to position Infosys as a true global company global clients, global operations, global staff and a global brand image. In 1998, to support his global ambition, Narayana Murthy listed the shares of Infosys on Nasdaq through American Depository Receipts (ADR) issue worth US$75 million. With this, he took the Indian software industry global. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

Analysts felt that one factor which helped Infosys to grow at a faster pace than others was the low employee turnover. The turnover rate at Infosys was around 11% as opposed to industry average for software companies of over 25% during the 1990s. Infosys retention capability was a function both of its rigorous selection procedures as well as proactive HRD practices. About 80% of the middle and senior level executives were promoted from within the organization. Infosys provided many facilities to its employees, which were intended to take care of both the professional and personal needs such as ticketing, credit cards or house loan applications, crche facilities for kids, a gymnasium to work out etc. Infosys was one of the first companies to adopt an employee stock option plan (ESOP) and create additional wealth for its employees. Narayana Murthy believed that employees created wealth andunless Infosys had a mechanism to make them principal shareholders, it was unlikely to grow. By 1997, 500 employees were awarded stock under the ESOP. By 2001, Infosys had about 2000 rupee millionaires on its staff and more than 213-dollar millionaires. Analysts felt that Infosys had one of the best reward systems in the industry. Most employees in Infosys were paid high salaries by industry average for software companies. Narayana Murthy said, My employees seek challenging opportunities, respect, dignity and the opportunities to learn new things. I keep telling them that my assets are not this building, the business or foreign contact. My assets all 8000 of them walk out of the gate every evening and I wait for them to come back to me the next morning.

Employees were encouraged to communicate with each other and with the higher management about interesting ideas and ways of solving problems through the electronic bulletin boards. To improve communication, the managing director sent mails every fortnight. There was also a concept called the Chairmans List and an annual excellence award. However, groupism was not encouraged. Narayana Murthy explained, Everything is judged on merit. Ego doesnt come into the picture. Our transactions are zero-based so there is no history sheet. Different people compete, then they have a discussion, one solution is accepted, one person wins, they smile and go out to lunch. Because the group of people is very smart, there has to be a uniform distribution of wins. There are no overt or covert prejudices. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND INFOSYS Analysts felt that Infosys became one of the most respected companies in India, through its corporate governance practices, which were better than those of many other companies in India. Narayana Murthys move to adhere to the best global practices was driven by his vision to become a global player. Infosys adopted the stringent US Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) many years before other companies in India did. Infosys corporate governance practices conformed to the recommendations of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) committee and the Cadbury committee on corporate governance with a few exceptions. To maintain transparency, Infosys provided details on high and low monthly averages of share prices in all the stock exchanges on which the companys shares were listed. It was one of the few companies in India to provide segment wise breakup of revenues. Narayana Murthy believed in commitment to values, and ethical conduct of business. He said Investors, customers, employees and vendors have all become more discerning, and are demanding greater transparency and fairness in all dealings. He also made a clear distinction between personal and corporate funds. Founding members took only salaries and dividends and did not have other benefits from the company.

Infosys received was the recipient of awards for its good governance practices. In 2001, Infosys was rated Indias most respected company by Business World . Infosys was also ranked second in corporate governance among 495 emerging companies, in a survey conducted by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) Emerging Markets. In 2000, Infosys was awarded the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance by the Government of India. LEADERS IN THE MAKING

In August 2001, Narayana Murthy set up a Leadership Institute in Mysore, India, to manage the future growth of Infosys. The institute aimed at preparing Infosys employees to face the complexities of a rapidly changing marketplace and to bring about a change in work culture by instilling leadership qualities. Commenting on the institute, Narayana Murthy said, It is our vision at Infosys, to create worldclass leaders who will be at the forefront of business and technology in todays competitive marketplace. We believe the Leadership Institute will play an instrumental role in equipping Infoscions to be leaders, contributing to the advancement of the IT industry. Narayana Murthy expected Infosys revenues to touch around Rs.500 billion (US$12 billion) by 2008-09. Analysts felt that the two factors responsible for the success of Infosys were Speed and Imagination. (Refer Exhibit II). Narayana Murthy agreed, Without these, we would be wiped out as fast as dew on a sunny morning. Actually, we have a fetish for excellence.

LEADERSHIP STARTS WITH YOU,NOT THEM

THE LEADER AS AN INDIVIDUAL A QUICK GUIDE TO SELF IMPROVEMENT A short description of self improvement: understand yourself, set meaningful goals, and manage your time effectively. Before we dive into the details for each of these,we must address an old foe.

THE BLAME GAME

The BLAME game is an ongoing folly for many people and organizations. Real progress cannot begin until the BLAME ends. BLAME is an acronym that stands for, Barely Legitimate Almost Meaningless Excuse. It is a partially true, yet wholly unproductive, process of faulting others instead of taking personal responsibility.Sadly, when you ask many professionals what the problem is, their index finger involuntarily thrusts outward to identify the culprit.You must accept that a lot of the time, even if there is plenty of blame to go around, some of it is yours. Personal improvement will never happen if you do not stop the BLAME game. Finding Solutions Rather than Finding Fault: Imagine this scenario: You and your team spend weeks putting together a presentation to bring in a big new client for your company. But the presentation doesn't go well, and the potential client walks away. A few days later, you and your team answer questions from senior-level management and the blame begins. It starts with "Well, this presentation topic wasn't MY idea," and it quickly moves on to "I think Susan should have organized the slides better." Before you know it, an hour has gone by and the team is still going in circles, trying to figure out who's at fault, and why.

Have you ever played "the blame game"? It's all too common in the workplace. While it's important to look at and learn from mistakes, it's also critical that we don't get caught up in whose fault it is. Sorting through a messy situation should always come first. Once you deal with the situation, then you can begin the process of figuring out what went wrong. Pointing the finger of blame is rarely constructive. In the above scenario, wouldn't it have been much better for the team to sit down and discuss what happened? They could have figured out what the client really wanted, what the team did well, and what the team didn't do well. And they could have learned from the situation, instead of spending all their time and energy blaming someone for what went wrong. We'll show you why playing the blame game doesn't help, how to identify when you or your team is playing the game, and how to move on and learn from the situation. The Blame Game Pointing the finger of blame is usually easy. Why? Because it's natural to want to defend ourselves. And while the blame game often involves pointing fingers at many different people, it's easy to start escape putting all the blame on one person or group, when the failure really happened somewhere else, or when the problem has many different sources. People may start escaping when they don't want to take responsibility for a mistake or action, or when they want to move attention away from themselves. Escaping can have many negative effects. The most damaging are the humiliation, criticism, and loss of self-esteem felt by the victim. Escaping can also damage the integrity of other team members who witness it, especially if they do nothing to stop it. And what happens to the people who start the escaping in the first place? When nothing is done to stop their behavior, they may think it's acceptable and they're likely to do it again. And remember, it's possible that, in the end, no one is at fault. After all: that potential client could choose only one supplier. What to Look For Most of us don't like to look bad, so it's understandable to want to move the focus and blame onto someone else. And we often aren't aware of the actions and words that lead us to blame others, so it's especially important to step back to see things clearly.It's also important to learn how to identify when blame is, or soon will be, misplaced so you can stop it from getting worse. When the team starts to point fingers, people quickly become defensive and angry.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, SELF-RELIANCE & SELF DICIPLINE The first step towards professional self-improvement involves a deep belief in personal responsibility, self-reliance, and self-discipline. These concepts will significantly influence the outcomes associated with everything you area part of: tasks, projects, relationships, departments, business units, organizations your entire career! They explain Life success as much as career success. Personal Responsibility: Who is responsible for how much you earn? Who irresponsible for the evaluations you receive at work? Who is responsible for the skills you develop? The answers are not the economy, your boss, or the Human Resources department. The answer is you! To believe otherwise is dishonest, unproductive, and leads to playing the BLAME game. Self-Reliance: It is true that teams can be amazingly wonderful. Nonetheless, you should not rely on team members more than you rely on yourself. You must use your own skills, capabilities, judgment, independence, and energy as the first and best assets in your career. Build yourself. Trust yourself. Believe in yourself. Here is the best part: when you embrace self-reliance, you will find yourself building more positive and productive relationships and teams. UNDERSTAND YOURSELF Understanding yourself requires you to engage in self-analysis in order to become more self-aware. Self-awareness is the cornerstone of your professional development. The process begins with an understanding of five important issues about you: cognitive biases, personal values, personality, emotional intelligence, and professional strengths. The better you understand these basics, the more you will be able to unlock the power of goal setting and rapid personal development.

Let us understand the personality and person part of that individual known as a leader. To

understand this lets try to start from basic personality part. PERSONALITY: Personality is the pattern of relatively enduring ways in which a person feels, thinks, and behaves. Personality is determined by nature (biological heritage) and nurture (situational factors). Organizational outcomes that have been shown to be predicted by personality include job satisfaction, work stress, and leadership effectiveness. Personality is not a useful predictor of organizational outcomes when there are strong situational constraints. Because personality tends to be stable over time, managers should not expect to change personality in the short run. Leaders should accept employees personalities as they are and develop effective ways to deal with people. To understand leader we need to understand him/her as individual. For this understanding personality indicator is very important. The Nature of Personality: Peoples personalities can be described in a variety of ways: 1).Personality is the pattern of relatively enduring ways in which a person feels, thinks, and behaves. 2).Personality is an important factor in accounting for why employees act the way they do in organizations and why they have favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward their jobs and organizations.

Some Major Forces Influencing Personality: Personality Determinants: An early argument centered on whether or not personality was the result of heredity or of environment. Personality appears to be a result of both influences. Today, we recognize a third factorthe situation.

Situation Influences the effects of heredity and environment on personality The different demands of different situations call forth different aspects of ones personality. There is no classification scheme that tells the impact of various types of situations. Situations seem to differ substantially in the constraints they impose on behavior.

Heredity Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception.

 The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individuals personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes. Three different streams of research lend some credibility to the heredity argument: The genetic underpinnings of human behavior and temperament among young children. Evidence demonstrates that traits such as shyness, fear, and distress are most likely caused by inherited genetic characteristics. One hundred sets of identical twins that were separated at birth were studied. Genetics accounts for about 50 percent of the variation in personality differences and over 30 percent of occupational and leisure interest variation. Individual job satisfaction is remarkably stable over time. This indicates that satisfaction is determined by something inherent in the person rather than by external environmental factors. Personality characteristics are not completely dictated by heredity. If they were, they would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience could alter them.

Environment Factors that exert pressures on our personality formation: The culture in which we are raised Early conditioning Norms among our family Friends and social groups The environment we are exposed to plays a substantial role in shaping our personalities. Culture establishes the norms, attitudes, and values passed from one generation to the next and create consistencies over time. The arguments for heredity or environment as the primary determinant of personality are both important. Heredity sets the parameters or outer limits, but an individuals full potential will be determined by how well he or she adjusts to the demands and requirements of the environment.

Variables Influencing Individual Behavior

Personality is the function of The Person and The Environment. In other words it is a PersonSituation Interaction. Relationship of different components in behaviour is show in the following slide.

Types of work-related behaviour: Values: Values Represent Basic Convictions A specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. They have both content and intensity attributes. An individuals set of values ranked in terms of intensity is considered the persons value system. Values have the tendency to be stable. Many of our values were established in our early years from parents, teachers, friends, and others. Importance of Values Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation. Values generally influence attitudes and behaviors. We can predict reaction based on understanding values.

Attitudes: Attitudes are evaluative statements that are either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects, people, or events. Attitudes are not the same as values, but the two are interrelated.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional Intelligence (often referred to as EQ) refers to your ability to successfully assess and manage your emotions and others emotions. This set of skills is considered equal in importance to IQ by most experts. In a leadership role, where interpersonal issues are so vital, EQ is a highly valuable skill commodity! Emotions have a very strong influence over the outcomes of every situation. Both positive and negative emotions spread rapidly through groups at work, just like a virus. The people with the strongest ability to make an emotional impact are those in positions of leadership! Strong EQ allows you to take advantage of this reality in order to boost morale and productivity. Someone with high EQ perceives emotions accurately in others, feels empathy, tends to be more open and agreeable, and is less likely to engage in problem behaviors. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage both your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence usually know what they're feeling, what this means, and how their emotions can affect other people. For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed a leader who shouts at his team when he's under stress, or a leader who stay in control, and calmly assesses the situation? According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped make the idea of EI popular, there are five

main elements of emotional intelligence: 1. Self-awareness. 2. Self-regulation. 3. Motivation. 4. Empathy. 5. Social skills. The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader. Emotional Intelligence in Leadership 1. Self-awareness If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel. And you know how your emotions, and your actions, can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses. And it means having humility. So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal Journals help improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness. Slow down When you experience anger or other strong emotions, slow down to examine why. Remember, no matter what the situation, you can always choose how you react to it.

2. Self-regulation Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control. This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability. So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Know your values Do you have a clear idea of where you absolutely will not compromise? Do you know what values are most important to you? Spend some time examining your "code of ethics." If you know what's most important to you, then you probably won't have to think twice when you face a moral or ethical decision you'll make the right choice.

Hold yourself accountable If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a

commitment to admit to your mistakes and face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to make sure that they're fair!

3. Motivation Self-motivated leaders consistently work toward their goals. And they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work. How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing this It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way.And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing.

Know where you stand Determine how motivated you are to lead. Leadership Motivation Assessment can help you see clearly how motivated you are in your leadership role. If you need to increase your motivation to lead, and it then directs you to resources that can help.

Be hopeful and find something good Motivated leaders are usually optimistic, no matter what they face. Adopting this mindset might take practice, but it's well worth the effort. Every time you face a challenge, or even a failure, try to find at least one good thing about the situation. It might be something small, like a new contact, or something with long-term effects, like an important lesson learned. But there's almost always something positive you just have to look for it.

4. Empathy For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it. If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic. How can you improve your empathy?

Put yourself in someone else's position It's easy to support your own point of view. After all, it's yours! But take the time to look at situations from other people's perspectives. Pay attention to body language Perhaps when you listen to someone, you cross your arms, move your feet back and forth, or bite your lip. This body language tells others how you really feel about a situation, and the message you're giving isn't positive! Learning to read body language can be a real asset when you're in a leadership role because you'll be better able to determine how someone truly feels. And this gives you the opportunity to respond appropriately.

Respond to feelings You ask your assistant to work late again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social skills Leaders who do well in this element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project. Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they're also not willing to make everyone else do the work. They set the example with their own behavior. So, how can you improve your leadership by building social skills?

Learn conflict resolution Leaders must know how to resolve conflicts between their team members, customers, or vendors. Learning conflict resolution skills is vital if you want to succeed. Improve your communication skills How well do you communicate? Learn how to praise others As a leader, you can inspire the loyalty of your team simply by giving praise when it's earned. Learning how to effectively praise others is a fine art, but well worth the effort.

Thanks to the many challenges and opportunities that arise when working with others, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be. Take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Working on this will help you excel in the future!

10 Common Leadership and Management Mistakes Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde It's often said that mistakes provide great learning opportunities. However, it's much better not to make mistakes in the first place! If you can learn about these here, rather than through experience, you'll save yourself a lot of trouble! 1. Lack of Feedback Sarah is a talented sales representative, but she has a habit of answering the phone in an unprofessional manner. Her boss is aware of this, but he's waiting for her performance review to tell her where she's going wrong. Unfortunately, until she's been alerted to the problem, she'll continue putting off potential customers. According to 1,400 executives polled by The Ken Blanchard Companies, failing to provide feedback is the most common mistake that leaders make. When you don't provide prompt feedback to your people, you're depriving them of the opportunity to improve their performance. To avoid this mistake, learn how to provide regular feedback to your team. 2. Not Making Time for Your Team When you're a manager or leader, it's easy to get so wrapped up in your own workload that you don't make yourself available to your team. Yes, you have projects that you need to deliver. But your people must come first without you being available when they need you, your people won't know what to do, and they won't have the support and guidance that they need to meet their objectives. Avoid this mistake by blocking out time in your schedule specifically for your people, and by learning how to listen actively to your team. Develop your emotional intelligence so that you can be more aware of your team and their needs, and have a regular time when "your door is always open", so that your people know when they can get your help. Once you're in a leadership or management role, your team should always come first - this is, at heart, what good leadership is all about! 3. Being Too "Hands-Off" One of your team has just completed an important project. The problem is that he misunderstood the project's specification, and you didn't stay in touch with him as he was working on it. Now, he's completed the project in

the wrong way, and you're faced with explaining this to an angry client. Many leaders want to avoid micromanagement. But going to the opposite extreme (with a hand-offs management style) isn't a good idea either you need to get the balance right. 4. Being Too Friendly Most of us want to be seen as friendly and approachable to people in our team. After all, people are happier working for a manager that they get on with. However, you'll sometimes have to make tough decisions regarding people in your team, and some people will be tempted to take advantage of your relationship if you're too friendly with them.This doesn't mean that you can't socialize with your people. But, you do need to get the balance right between being a friend and being the boss. 5. Failing to Define Goals When your people don't have clear goals, they muddle through their day. They can't be productive if they have no idea what they're working for, or what their work means. They also can't prioritize their workload effectively, meaning that projects and tasks get completed in the wrong order. Avoid this mistake by learning how to set SMART goals for your team. Use a Team Charter to specify where your team is going, and detail the resources it can draw upon. Also, use principles from Management by Objectives to align your team's goals to of the mission of the organization. 6. Misunderstanding Motivation Do you know what truly motivates your team? Here's a hint: chances are, it's not just money! Many leaders make the mistake of assuming that their team is only working for monetary reward. However, it's unlikely that this will be the only thing that motivates them. For example, people seeking a greater work/life balance might be motivated by telecommuting days or flexible working. Others will be motivated by factors such as achievement, extra responsibility, praise, or a sense of camaraderie. 7. Hurrying Recruitment When your team has a large workload, it's important to have a full team. But filling a vacant role too quickly can be a disastrous mistake. Hurrying recruitment can lead to recruiting the wrong people for your team: people who are uncooperative, ineffective or unproductive. They might also require additional training, and slow down others on your team. With the wrong person, you'll have wasted valuable time and resources if things don't work out and they leave. What's worse, other team members will be stressed and frustrated by having to "carry" the under-performer.

You can avoid this mistake by learning how to recruit effectively, and by being particularly picky about the people you bring into your team. 8. Not "Walking the Walk" If you make personal telephone calls during work time, or speak negatively about your CEO, can you expect people on your team not to do this too? Probably not! As a leader, you need to be a role model for your team. This means that if they need to stay late, you should also stay late to help them. Or, if your organization has a rule that no one eats at their desk, then set the example and head to the break room every day for lunch. The same goes for your attitude if you're negative some of the time, you can't expect your people not to be negative. So remember, your team is watching you all the time. If you want to shape their behavior, start with your own. They'll follow suit. 9. Not Delegating Some managers don't delegate, because they feel that no-one apart from themselves can do key jobs properly. This can cause huge problems as work bottlenecks around them, and as they become stressed and burned out. Delegation does take a lot of effort up-front, and it can be hard to trust your team to do the work correctly. But unless you delegate tasks, you're never going to have time to focus on the "broader-view" that most leaders and managers are responsible for. What's more, you'll fail to develop your people so that they can take the pressure off you. 10. Misunderstanding Your Role Once you become a leader or manager, your responsibilities are very different from those you had before. However, it's easy to forget that your job has changed, and that you now have to use a different set of skills to be effective. This leads to you not doing what you've been hired to do leading and managing. Make sure that you learn these skills you'll fail if you try to rely on technical skills alone, however good they are!We all make mistakes, and there are some mistakes that leaders and managers make in particular. These include, not giving good feedback, being too "hands-off," not delegating effectively, and misunderstanding your role. It's true that making a mistake can be a learning opportunity. But, taking the time to learn how to recognize and avoid common mistakes can help you become productive and successful, and highly respected by your team.

SITUATIONAL FACTORS We understand that leadership is a process and not a position. Three components playing important role in this process are leader, followers and situation. Situation is the environment or circumstances in which an individual performs. Following are the factors that can influence the situation; _ Task Type: the nature of the work or assignment can also effect the employees Structure of organization: The organization structure always depend on the size of the organization. If the structure will be more rigid, more complexities faced by the employees Stress: Stress in the environment and intensity under which team, organization, or leaders are working also play important role in leadership process and also situation itself. Environment: The environment itself effect on the situation prevails in the organization. The micro (internal factors) and the macro (external factors) always keep on changing, so that this is big challenge for the leaders to keep the close eyes on changing environment and make decisions accordingly..

Situational factors influence the leadership process: _ Size of the organization _ Organizational life cycle stage _ Social and psychological climate _ Patterns of employment _ Type, place, and purpose of work performed _ Culture of the organization _ Overall environment _ Leader-follower interaction _ Leader-follower compatibility _ Compatibilities within the followers Size of the organization: Size of the organization varies organization to organization and its operations and activities in which organization involve. An organizations size demands certain types of leadership skills which help to

provide right direction. Following two type of leadership, we can see in the organization;

Leaders of small organizations: can be in the form of salespeople, marketing manager and production managers. These leaders organize the system, assign the task, coach the team and evaluate the system. The small organizations have a flexible system and flatter structure. The approach of the small organization is more entrepreneurs.

Leaders of large organizations: In the large organization, the main focus will be on to create public image and future investment plans. The system of the large organization will be more procedural and structure of the large organization will also be more rigid and more complex because of its operations and activities.

Differences between Large and Small Organizations LARGE SMALL Economies of scale Flexible Global reach Regional reach Complex Simple Flat structure Entrepreneurs Changes with size Formalization increases Centralization decreases Complexity increases Vertical Horizontal Personnel Ratios Top administration Decreases Clerical Ratio Increases Professional Staff Ratio Increases

Growth Rates When organizations are growing Administration grows faster When organizations are shrinking Administration shrinks more slowly

Organizational life cycle stage: Every organization has its own life cycle. Which always start from its birth and end with its decline. To save from decline, most of the organization introduces new products and new paths etc.

Birth Growth Shakeout Maturity Non-bureaucratic Pre-bureaucratic Bureaucratic Very bureaucratic

Social and psychological climate: Every organization has its own climate of working and environment in which the employees works together. Different factors that influence the organizations climate ; Confusion , Anxiety ,Conflicts ,Mistrust Stress ,Politics. These factors also play their role on the formulation of situation and ultimately the leadership process. Patterns of employment: In todays organization the pattern of the employees also varies from organization to organization. We can now see the permanent or temporary and Short-term or Long-term employees. So it also effects the situation of the organization. Todays people need more job security and befits instead of their services. And organizations are facing more challenges in shape of changing the external environment. So it is another challenge for leadership to create a congenial working environment for satisfaction of employees.

Type, place, and purpose of work performed: The type of work is an important factor. The Work duties should be clearcut. The routine or monotonous work could create hostile working environment. Many researcher claims that in todays

organization work duties loosely defined which always cause de-motivation and stress.

Culture of the organization: The system of shared values and beliefs held by organizational members or the system of the shared values norms and behavior that held by the top management is called organizational culture. All organizations have their own cultures; Culture by default: means the culture already exists from the birth of organization. Culture by design: means the culture exists according to its operations and structure. The Observable Evidence of the organizational culture is; Symbols , Ceremonies ,Stories , Behaviors , Language ,Dress. The bottom line is Culture permeates org. behavior BUT Very hard to observe or quantify Organizational Climate: Organizational Climate is an important dimension that clearly determines organizational climate and environment. An organization should have a reward system to motivate its employee and linked with the performance. A transparent unbiased system in which employees feel satisfied. The standard of the performance should clearly define to the employee and same for each category and related with job description. A supportive working environment should prevails in the organization for the increasing the productivity of the organization. Overall environment: The organizational environment is the set of forces surrounding an organization that have the potential to affect the way it operates and its access to scarce resources. Basically organization environment has two dimensions internal and external. This can also be known as Macro and Micro factors or even General Environment and Task Environment. All these factors/forces do affect the leadership process. Leader-follower interaction: For running an organization successfully there is need of leader-followers interaction. There should be Leader-follower compatibility for working together in the organization. Proper communication and confidence on each other is very essential for trust and performance. Similarly, Leader-follower compatibility and Compatibilities within the followers is also very important for particular situation. All above factor affecting directly or indirectly the situation and ultimately the leadership process.

BECOMING A LEADER WHAT DOES IT MEAN HOW DO YOU GET IT BECOMING A LEADER! WHAT DOES IT MEAN & HOW DO YOU GET IT?

Leadership is the exercise of influence by one member of a group or organization over other members to help the group or organization achieve its goals. Formal leaders have formal authority to influence others by virtue of their job/position responsibilities. Informal leaders lack formal authority but influence others by virtue of their special skills or talents. Becoming a Leader: The leaders of a group, team or organization are the individuals who influence others behavior. Leader effectiveness is the extent to which a leader actually does help a group, team or organization to achieve its goals. Think like a leader Develop your judgment Build leadership traits Build your power base Share your vision Adapt your style Pick the right followers Organize tasks properly

Foundations of Leadership: Vision: Leaders must have, and be able to communicate a vision. Leaders must make the followers see what the organization can become and the success that can be achieved. A Leader must be effective that actually does help a group, team or organization to achieve its goals. An effective leader helps achieve goals. An ineffective leader does not.

Mission Statement: Every organization needs a mission statement, which is a statement of the purpose of an organization. The mission statement addresses the question: What is the organizations reason for being in business? It broadly outlines the organizations future course and communicates who we are, what we do, and where we are headed. Mission Statement describes purpose of the organization; _ WHAT is expected to be achieved _ WHY is it worthwhile _ HOW it can be done _ Defines Core Values

Objectives: Objectives are desired outcomes for individuals, groups, team or entire organizations. The leaders have to provide objectives--specific results that he or she wants the group to achieve. Planning is the first management function, but by providing direction, a manager becomes a leader. Direction: A leader must provide a direction for achievement of the objectives to his or her followers that can work toward. A vision is especially important in todays volatile business environment.

Motivate: Motivation is a frequently used but poorly understood in term dynamics. There are over definitions of the term motivation that have been used in various capacities. Motivation is important because it explains why employees behave as they do. Leaders need to understand this so that they must motivate the employees towards the organizational goals.

Influence communication: Communication is one of the most important processes that take place in organizations. Effective communication allows individuals, groups, teams and organizations to achieve their goals and perform at a high level, and it affects virtually every aspect of organizational behavior. Communication is good or effective when members of organization share information with each other and all parties involved are relatively clear about what information means. So leader must focus on the organizational communication. Good communication prevents many problems from occurring and serves the following functions in an organization.

Influence the group: A leader must have influence on the group or team to achieve the organizational goals. If the leader loses the influence on group or team he or she me lose the game.

Three competency of a Leader: there are three competency of leader;

Leading the Organization: Leading the organization and put the organization on right path through setting vision, direction and strategy. They also involve in problem solving and decision making. They keenly observe the prevailing politics in the organization and influence other team members. Leaders always try to create a change culture in the organization. For this purpose they take the risks and innovates the new things in the organization by enhancing business skills and knowledge.

Leading others: One of the leaders competencies is leading and managing others. In the organization, a leader manages the effective teams and groups for achievement of organizational objectives by building and maintaining a working relationship between them. They motivate other and build the trust on team members. One of the major tasks of leader is to develop other, which is more important factor. They set a reward system in the organization and mostly link it with the performance or achievement of goals.

Leading oneself: This is also very important to leading one self. It is the responsibility of the leader to adopt the changes prevails in the environment. They also increase the self awareness for himself that what is going on in

the surroundings of the organization. They always try to lean as more as they can. They also develop the culture of ethics and integrity with in the organization. Developing adaptability, increasing self-awareness, managing yourself, increasing capacity to learn, exhibiting leadership stature, displaying drive and purpose, developing ethics and integrity. Leaders always know about their strengths, weakness, opportunities, challenges and know who they are as an individual. They also know that Positions do not possess leadership characteristics, only people possess leadership characteristics. Leadership is not a matter of luck. The harder you work, the luckier you are.

UNDERSTANDING POWER

We started discussing concept of power and try to differentiate power, influence and authority Power - the ability to influence another person Influence - the process of affecting the thoughts, behavior, & feelings of another person

French and Raven's Five Forms of Power

Understanding Where Power Comes From in the Workplace Leadership and power are closely linked. People tend to follow those who are powerful. And because others follow, the person with power leads. But leaders have power for different reasons. Some are powerful because they alone have the ability to give you a bonus or a raise. Others are powerful because they can fire you, or assign you tasks you don't like. Yet, while leaders of this type have formal, official power, their teams are unlikely to be enthusiastic about their approach to leadership, if these are all they rely on. On the more positive side, leaders may have power because they're experts in their fields, or because their team members admire them. People with these types of power don't necessarily have formal leadership roles, but they influence others effectively because of their skills and personal qualities. And when a leadership position opens up, they'll probably be the first to be considered for promotion.

Do you recognize these types of power in those around you or in yourself? and how does power influence the way you work and live your life? Understanding Power One of the most notable studies on power was conducted by social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven in 1959. They identified five bases of power: 1. Legitimate This comes from the belief that a person has the right to make demands, and expect compliance and obedience from others. 2. Reward This results from one person's ability to compensate another for compliance. 3. Expert This is based on a person's superior skill and knowledge. 4. Referent This is the result of a person's perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to respect from others. 5. Coercive This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance. If you're aware of these sources of power, you can

Better understand why you're influenced by someone, and decide whether you want to accept the base of power being used.

Recognize your own sources of power. Build your leadership skills by using and developing your own sources of power, appropriately, and for best effect.

The most effective leaders use mainly referent and expert power. To develop your leadership abilities, learn how to build these types of power, so that you can have a positive influence on your colleagues, your team, and your organization. The Five Bases of Power Let's explore French and Raven's bases of power according to these sources. Positional Power Sources Legitimate Power A president, prime minister, or monarch has power. So does a CEO, a minister, or a fire chief. People holding these formal, official positions or job titles typically have power. Social hierarchies, cultural norms, and organizational structure all provide the basis for legitimate power. This type of power, however, can be unpredictable and unstable. If you lose the title or position, legitimate

power can instantly disappear since others were influenced by the position, not by you. Also, your scope of power is limited to situations that others believe you have a right to control. If the fire chief tells people to stay away from a burning building, they'll probably listen. But if he tries to make people stay away from a street fight, people may well ignore him. Therefore, relying on legitimate power as your only way to influence others isn't enough. To be a leader, you need more than this in fact, you may not need legitimate power at all. Reward Power People in power are often able to give out rewards. Raises, promotions, desirable assignments, training opportunities, and even simple compliments these are all examples of rewards controlled by people "in power." If others expect that you'll reward them for doing what you want, there's a high probability that they'll do it. The problem with this basis of power is that you may not have as much control over rewards as you need. Supervisors probably don't have complete control over salary increases, and managers often can't control promotions all by themselves. And even a CEO needs permission from the board of directors for some actions. So when you use up available rewards, or the rewards don't have enough perceived value to others, your power weakens. (One of the frustrations of using rewards is that they often need to be bigger each time if they're to have the same motivational impact. Even then, if rewards are given frequently, people can become satiated by the reward, such that it loses its effectiveness.) Coercive Power This source of power is also problematic, and can be subject to abuse. What's more, it can cause unhealthy behavior and dissatisfaction in the workplace. Threats and punishment are common tools of coercion. Implying or threatening that someone will be fired, demoted, denied privileges, or given undesirable assignments these are examples of using coercive power. While your position may give you the capability to coerce others, it doesn't automatically mean that you have the will or the justification to do so. As a last resort, you may sometimes need to punish people. However, extensive use of coercive power is rarely appropriate in an organizational setting. Clearly, relying on these forms of power alone will result in a very cold, technocratic, impoverished style of leadership. To be a true leader, you need a more robust source of power than can be supplied by a title, an ability to reward, or an ability to punish. Personal Power Sources

Expert Power When you have knowledge and skills that enable you to understand a situation, suggest solutions, use solid judgment, and generally outperform others, people will probably listen to you. When you demonstrate expertise, people tend to trust you and respect what you say. As a subject matter expert, your ideas will have more value, and others will look to you for leadership in that area. What's more, you can take your confidence, decisiveness, and reputation for rational thinking and expand them to other subjects and issues. This is a good way to build and maintain expert power. It doesn't require positional power, so you can use it to go beyond that. This is one of the best ways to improve your leadership skills. Referent Power This is sometimes thought of as charisma, charm, admiration, or appeal. Referent power comes from one person liking and respecting another, and strongly identifying with that person in some way. Celebrities have referent power, which is why they can influence everything from what people buy to whom they elect to office. In a workplace, a person with charm often makes everyone feel good, so he or she tends to have a lot of influence. Referent power can be a big responsibility, because you don't necessarily have to do anything to earn it. Therefore, it can be abused quite easily. Someone who is likable, but lacks integrity and honesty, may rise to power and use that power to hurt and alienate people as well as gain personal advantage. Relying on referent power alone is not a good strategy for a leader who wants longevity and respect. When combined with other sources of power, however, it can help you achieve great success. Anyone is capable of holding power and influencing others: You don't need to have an important job title or a big office. But if you recognize the different forms of power, you can avoid being influenced by those who use the less effective types of power and you can focus on developing expert and referent power for yourself. This will help you become an influential and positive leader.

Expert Power Lead from the front There are many different power bases that a leader can use and exploit. These include problematic ones such as the power of position, the power to give rewards, the power to punish and the power to control information. While these types of power do have some strength, they put the person

being lead in an unhealthy position of weakness, and can leave leaders using these power bases looking autocratic and out of touch. More than this, society has changed hugely over the last 50 years. Citizens are individually more powerful, and employees are more able to shift jobs. Few of us enjoy having power exerted over us, and many will do what they can to undermine people who use these sorts of power. However there are three types of positive power that effective leaders use: charismatic power, expert power and referent power.

Expert power is essential because as a leader, your team looks to you for direction and guidance. Team members need to believe in your ability to set a worthwhile direction, give sound guidance and co-ordinate a good result. If your team perceives you as a true expert, they will be much more receptive when you try to exercise influence tactics such as rational persuasion and inspirational appeal. And if your team sees you as an expert you will find it much easier to guide them in such a way as to create high motivation:

If your team members respect your expertise, they'll know that you can show them how to work effectively.

If your team members trust your judgment, they'll trust you to guide their good efforts and hard work in such a way that you'll make the most of their hard work.

If they can see your expertise, team members are more likely to believe that you have the wisdom to direct their efforts towards a goal that is genuinely worthwhile.

Taken together, if your team sees you as an expert, you will find it much easier to motivate team members to perform at their best. So how do you build expert power?

Gain expertise: The first step is fairly obvious (if time consuming) gain expertise. And, if you are already using tools like the information gathering tool, the chances are that you have already progressed well ahead in this direction.

But just being an expert isn't enough, it is also necessary for your team members to recognize your expertise and see you to be a credible source of information and advice. Gary A. Yukl, in his book

"Leadership in Organizations," details some steps to build expert power. A summary of these steps follows:

Promote an image of expertise: Since perceived expertise in many occupations is associated with a person's education and experience, a leader should (subtly) make sure that subordinates, peers, and superiors are aware of his or her formal education, relevant work experience, and significant accomplishments.

One common tactic to make this information known is to display diplomas, licenses, awards, and other evidence of expertise in a prominent location in one's office after all, if you've worked hard to gain knowledge, it's fair that you get credit for it. Another tactic is to make subtle references to prior education or experience (e.g., "When I was chief engineer at GE, we had a problem similar to this one"). Beware, however, this tactic can easily be overdone.

Maintain credibility: Once established, one's image of expertise should be carefully protected. The leader should avoid making careless comments about subjects on which he or she is poorly informed, and should avoid being associated with projects with a low likelihood of success.

Act confidently and decisively in a crisis: In a crisis or emergency, subordinates prefer a "take charge" leader who appears to know how to direct the group in coping with the problem. In this kind of situation, subordinates tend to associate confident, firm leadership with expert knowledge. Even if the leader is not sure of the best way to deal with a crisis, to express doubts or appear confused risks the loss of influence over subordinates.

Keep informed: Expert power is exercised through rational persuasion and demonstration of expertise. Rational persuasion depends on a firm grasp of up-to-date facts. It is therefore essential for a leader to keep well-informed of developments within the team, within the organization, and in the outside world.

Recognize subordinate concerns: Use of rational persuasion should not be seen as a form of one-way communication from the leader to subordinates. Effective leaders listen carefully to the concerns and uncertainties of their team members, and make sure that they address these in making a persuasive appeal.

Avoid threatening the self-esteem of subordinates: Expert power is based on a knowledge differential between leader and team members. Unfortunately, the very existence of such a differential

can cause problems if the leader is not careful about the way he exercises expert power.

Team members can dislike unfavorable status comparisons where the gap is very large and obvious. They are likely to be upset by a leader who acts in a superior way, and arrogantly flaunts his greater expertise.

In the process of presenting rational arguments, some leaders lecture their team members in a condescending manner and convey the impression that the other team members are "ignorant." Guard against this.

Others: other powers are the legal power uses according to the law, public power given by the public to an individual as leader and money power based on financial resources and influences others with the power of money.

Responses to the Use of Power Responses of the use of power can be divided into three different behaviors. If positional power is used appropriately the response of followers will be compliance. While excessive power use can create resistance behavior. In case some one is using personal power the response is always commitment of followers. Same can be understood from the following figure. The more you will move toward excessive or coercive power the more you can experience resistance.

Negative Consequences and Power Abraham Lincoln once said: Nearly everyone can stand adversity, but if you want to test a persons true character, give him power. Historian Lord Acton once said, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT

What is Empowerment? Empowerments is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one's own destiny. OR Some empowerment does exist and, when accompanied by accountability and appropriate guidance, it can lead to increased employee and customer satisfaction. TRAINING,COACHING AND MENTORING .

TRAINING and SEMINARS Training was addressed earlier in response to an ability related performance problem. You must give the right people the right training, at the right time, from the right resource, and then ensure transfer of learning back to the workplace Training is also a common and useful tool for building new skills. For either soft-side or hard-side training, one of the first issues you face is whether to use internal talent or external talent. Using internal talent to deliver training offers: Familiarity with the business: If they are in the business, they have deep knowledge about how concepts addressed in training apply to the work learners actually do every day. Content control: Topically, what you want is delivered. Internal resources make it easier to align training with the organizations mission, vision, and objectives. Cost control: High-quality internal resources typically cost less compared to high-quality external resources. Using external talent to deliver training offers: Fresh perspectives: External resources do not say, It cant be done, or That will not work because They are wonderfully nave about your inner workings and thus see and stimulate new perspectives.

 No fear of sacred cows:As opposed to internal resources who may censor, the external resource is blissfully unaware of any sacred cows. Further, if identified, they are more willing to talk about them, which is rare with internal trainers. Skills not possessed: by internal candidates. You can go to the market and find anything you do not have internally. External experts provide instant bench strength. Access to best practices: Though there are other sources (e.g., books, conferences), using outside talent is often a great vehicle for learning best practices for both the hard-side and soft-side issues. MENTORING A mentoring relationship is a strategic skill-building relationship focused on long-term career development within the organization and/or vocation. Mentoring is about providing advice, insight, and potential access to new network contacts. Your mentor can be a member of your organization or not, with similar implications as discussed with regard to internal versus external trainers. Mentoring programs at work often pair a junior person with a senior person so the less experienced employee might learn about career paths, career strategies, organizational history, and other institutional knowledge. Another key goal is to enlarge the junior employees professional network. To maximize their effectiveness, mentoring programs should: Be organic and voluntary. Contrived relationships are not terribly useful. The best mentoring relationships are established naturally, not assigned by mandate. Be supported. Some nominal amount of time and money should be allocated to allow the mentor and mentee to meet. Further, though mandates are not ideal, leadership must espouse the value of establishing mentor relationships and make themselves available as mentors. Involve people not directly linked. Though it is possible your boss could be your mentor, it is not ideal. The required confidentiality and freedom to speak about career-related issues suggests that the mentee should not directly report to the mentor. Be time bound. Some agree with this, some do not. The idea is that finite time provides an incentive to

act constructively and proactively. It also allows a socially acceptable end to the relationship if needed. Having said that if you are lucky enough to find a really good mentor, hang on to them!

Here are a few things to keep in mind about mentors. They should: Avoid self-biased assumptions. Recall that this is when you think they think like you think about an issue or that they really should think like you think. Just because you love golf does not mean your mentee must love golf. Listen. If you want to actually help them, listen more than you talk. As a result, you will learn more about them and be better positioned to offer useful advice and counsel. Tell it like it is. Assuming confidentiality is in place, call it like you see it. Try not to sugarcoat the feedback you provide. Be positive but honest. Be vetted. For formal mentoring programs, there needs to be some honest consideration given to who serves as a mentor. Just because someone wishes to be a mentor does not mean they should be a mentor. In an advisory capacity, some people can do more harm than good. Similarly, there are a few things to keep in mind about mentees. They should: Be respectful of the mentors time. Remember, if they are worth being your mentor, they are extremely busy people. Be on time! Show honest gratitude. No need to, kiss butt, but do make a genuine statement about how much you appreciate their support and assistance. Look for ways to help in return. They might need your assistance on a project, access to a member of your network, etc. Look for the possibilities. Stay in touch. A good mentor will want to know how you grow and develop. Keep them in the loop as your career progresses. In addition, you will remain someone they may think of as professional opportunities arise.

COACHING

A coaching relationship is a tactical skill-building relationship focused on short-term performance improvement. Like mentors, coaches can be a part of your organization or not. Aside from the short-term versus long-term difference, coaching differs from mentoring in that a mentor is typically significantly removed in the hierarchy from the mentee whereas a coach is often directly connected to the person being coached. It could be ones direct supervisor or a close peer. Whereas a mentor might discuss long-term career moves, a coach is focused on short-term accomplishments. The targets can be hard or soft skills, but the focus is on creating goals over one or two performance periods (not years) targeted at a very specific set of skills. In addition, coaches must: Communicate often. The closer hierarchical relationship of a coach (versus a mentor) and the shorter-term nature of the goals to be achieved necessitate frequent communication. Ask great questions. Coaches often have the desire to quickly offer advice. While that can be useful, when time allows, it is best to begin with great questions. Ideally, a coach guides the person being coached towards finding answers on their own. Make the relationship mutual.:One excellent way to help the recipient engage the coaching process is for the coach to not only offer help and guidance, but tosolicit professional feedback for themselves as well when appropriate. Make goals very focused. Goals should be very finite, specified, concrete, and measureable. You are essentially trying to help the person form new habits. Goals have the greatest effect when they focus on specific behaviors. All coaching relationships are unique. Depending othe nature of the two people involved and the nature of theparticular performance context, the specific goals pursued will vary. As you try to judge yourself as a coach and the role of coaching within the performance culture where you work, keep in mind: Not everyone wants to be coached. Some people resent coaching. The reasons vary. Do not begin

the coaching dialogue seeking to understand howto coach a particular person. Begin by seeking to understand whether they truly wish to be coached. Not everyone is coachable. Some people do not have a personality conducive to a coaching (or mentoring) relationship. They simply learn betterand more comfortably via alternative mechanisms. Of course, anyone who does not value performance improvement is not a good candidate for coaching.

Characteristics of Good Coach:

Positive: Your job is not correcting mistakes, finding fault, and assessing blame instead, your function is achieving productivity goals by coaching your CSR to peak performance Supportive: Your job as coach is to get workers what they need to do their job well including tools, time instruction, answers to questions and protection from outside interference. Goal oriented: Base your assignments o n clear definable goals .Tie specific task to those goals communicate those goals to the people who actually have to do the work

Focused: Effective communication is specific and focused .You are far more likely to get action if that CSR levels your risk focused on resolving issue at hand.

Observant: Being observant means more than just keeping your eyes and ears open, You need to be aware of what isnt said as well as what is. If you are paying attention, you wont have to wait for somebody to tell you about a problem Communication Skills for Effective Coaching: 1.Soften the Yous or change the into I to avoid sounding pushy Instead of Youll have to, say Could youOr Would you be able to 2. Focus on the solution, not the problem. Instead of The customer insists on speaking to the supervisor, say We will see what you could do in that situation 3Turn cants into cans Instead of We cant do that until next week, say

Well be able to do that next week. 4. Take responsibility dont lay blame .Instead if Its not my fault, say Heres what I can do to fix that. 5.Say what do you want, not what you dont want. Instead of Dont drive too fast, say Drive carefully 6. Focus on the future, not the past. Instead of Ive told you before not to, say From now on 7. Share information rather than argue or accuse. Instead of No, youre wrong, say I see it like this

MOTIVATION AT WORK MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP MOTIVATION AT WORK, MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP

Work motivation explains why employees behave as they do. Four prominent theories about work motivation need theory, expectancy theory, equity theory, and organizational justice theory provide complementary approaches to understanding and managing motivation in organizations. Similarly Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs also help us to understand the employees work behavior. Each theory answers different questions about the motivational process. Work motivation can be defined as the psychological forces within a person that determine the

direction of a persons behavior in an organization, a persons level of effort, and a persons level of persistence in the face of obstacles.

Three Approaches to Motivation: Individual Differences Approach: Treats motivation as a characteristic of the individual.

Job & Organization Approach: Emphasizes the design of jobs and the general organizational environment

Managerial Approach: Focuses on behaviors of managers, in particular, their use of goals and rewards

Needs Theories of Motivation: Basic idea: Individuals have needs that, when unsatisfied, will result in motivation. Different theories already discussed in chapter number 21 can also explain this phenomenon. o Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs is the most wellknown theory of motivation. He hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs

o Motivation-Hygiene theory: hygiene theory. Proposed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg when he investigated the question, What do people want from their jobs? He asked people to describe, in detail, situations in which they felt exceptionally good or bad about their jobs. o Alderfers ERG theory: Clayton Alderfers existence-relatedness-growth (ERG) theory builds on some of Maslows thinking but reduces the number of universal needs from five to three and is more flexible on movement between levels. o McClellands Theory of Needs: The theory focuses on three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation. Need for achievement: The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of

standards, to strive to succeed What Factors Diminish Motivation in the Workplace? Meaningless tasks , Red tape ,Lack of clear goals ,Failure to set priorities ,Distractions ,Overcommitment Information overload ,No positive feedback ,Lack of autonomy , Lack of recognition, Absence of humor ,Micromanagement ,Failure to delegate ,Bureaucratic hurdles ,Interpersonal conflict ,Lack of accountability

What are Some of the Results of Poor Motivation in the Workplace? Laziness ,Failure ,Poor quality Resistance, Avoidance, Tardiness, Burnout Demoralization, Frustration, Conflict, Lack of meaning, Absence of pride ,Resentment, Turnover, Detachment, Discouragement, Negative organizational culture Causes of Motivational Problems: _ Belief that effort will not result in performance. _ Belief that performance will not result in rewards. What are Some of the Most Powerful Motivators in our Lives? Commitment, Money, Meaning, Recognition, Love, Participation, Emotion, Appreciation, Collegiality, Competition, Hate, Religious beliefs, Sense of accomplishment ,Cultural norms , Chance to make a difference ,Independence Opportunity to serve, Duty, Habit, High energy level, Perceived need for change.

How Can You Motivate Yourself? _ Stick with your passions. _ Share your enthusiasm. _ Hang out with high achievers. _ Flavor tedium with pleasure. _ Go with your strengths. _ Make lists.

_ Stay focused on results. _ Just do something. How Can You Motivate Others? _ Associate with highly motivated people. _ Set a measurable goal. _ Make a compelling case. _ Use emotional temptation. _ Set a fire and keep it going. _ Make it fun. _ Explain how. _ Keep doing something new and different. _ Celebrate

Employee Motivation: _ Good leadership is key _ Create a culture of trust _ Encourage risk taking _ Foster ownership _ Goal-directed efforts

Conditions of Leadership Motivation: Leadership generates motivation when: It increases the number and kinds of payoffs Path to the goal is clear and easily traveled with coaching and direction Obstacles and roadblocks are removed The work itself is personally satisfying

Money as a Motivator:

_ According to Maslow and Alderfer, pay should prove especially motivational to people who have strong lower-level needs. _ If pay has this capacity to fulfill a variety of needs, then it should have good potential as a motivator.

The Role of Money: _ They value their services and place high value on them _ They perceive money as symbol of their achievement _ They do not remain in low paying organization _ They are very self confident _ Know their abilities and limitations Methods for Motivating Employees: o Set Goals o Use Pay for Performance o Improve Merit Pay o Use Recognition o Use Positive Reinforcement o Use Behavior Management o Empower Employees o Enrich the Jobs o Use Skill-Based Pay o Provide Lifelong Learning o Create motivating environment o Be positive

LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION Communication is one of the most important processes that take place in any organizations. Effective communication allows individuals, groups, teams and organizations to achieve their goals and perform at a high level, and it affects virtually every aspect of organizational behavior. One of the defining features of communication is the sharing of information with other people. Another defining feature is reaching a common understanding. In this case, communication is the sharing of information between two or more individuals or groups to reach a common understanding. Reaching a common understanding does not mean that people have to agree with each other. Communication is good or effective when members of organization share information with each other and all parties involved are relatively clear about what information means. As a leader: _ You need people to understand what you are talking about. _ You must take into consideration other peoples needs. _ You need to be able to hear others opinions and ideas. _ You need to organize and capitalize on the best ideas. _ You need to delegate. A good leader spend 70% of day on communicating to share vision, motivate team members/employees, pass the information and build the relationship with other people.

Downward o Communication that flows from one level of a group organization to a lower level is a downward communication. This is typically what we think of when managers communicate with workers. o Its purpose is to assign goals, provide instructions, communicate policies and procedures, provide feedback, etc. o It does not have to be face-to-face or an oral communication.

Upward o Upward communication flows to a higher level in the group or organization. o It is used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress, and relay current problems. o Examples of upward communication are: performance reports prepared by lower management for review by middle and top management, suggestion boxes, employee attitude surveys, etc.

Lateral o When communication takes place among members of the same work group, among members of work groups at the same level, among managers at the same level, or among any horizontally equivalent personnel, horizontal communications are often necessary to save time and facilitate coordination. In some cases, these lateral relationships are formally sanctioned. Often, they are informally created to short-circuit the vertical hierarchy and expedite action. o They can create dysfunctional conflicts when the formal vertical channels are breached, when members go above or around their superiors to get things done, or when bosses find out that actions have been taken or decisions made without their knowledge.

Communication Types: Speaking Skills Speeches/Lectures Conversation Counseling

Writing skills Presentation/Briefing skills Actions 85

Interpersonal Communication: Oral Communication o Oral communication is the chief means of conveying messages. Speeches, formal one-onone

and group discussions, and informal rumor mill or grapevine are popular forms of oral communication. o Advantages are speed and feedback. A major disadvantage arises when the message must be passed through a number of people. This increases the potential for distortion. Written Communication o Written communications include memos, letters, electronic mail, faxes, periodicals, bulletin boards, etc. o Advantages include that they are tangible and verifiable. A written record is available for later use. People are more careful when communication is via written word. o Drawbacks include: time-consuming, lack of feedback, and no guarantee of receipt. Nonverbal Communication o We send a nonverbal message every time we send a verbal one. At times the nonverbal message may stand alone. They include body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between sender and receiver. o We use body language to convey a message and typically do unconsciously. o The two most important messages body language conveys is the extent to which an individual likes another and is interested in his or her views and the relative perceived status between sender and receiver. o Intonations can change the meaning of a message. o Facial expressions convey meaning. o Physical distance or the way individuals space themselves also has meaning. o Proper physical spacing is dependent on cultural norms.

Barriers to Effective Communication: A. Filtering o Filter refers to a senders purposely manipulating information so it will be seen as more favorable by the receiver. For example, telling the boss what she wants to hear. o The more levels in an organizations structure, the more opportunities there are for filtering. Being reluctant to give bad news, or trying to please ones boss distorts upward communications.

B. Selective Perception o Receivers in their communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics. o Receivers project their interests and expectations into communications as they decode them.

C. Information Overload o When the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity, the result is information overload. o The result is they tend to select out, ignore, pass over, or forget information. Or they may put it aside until the overload situation is over. The result is lost information and less effective communication.

D. Emotions o How a receiver feels at the time a message is received will influence how he or she interprets it. Extreme emotions are likely to hinder effective communication. o During those times we are most likely to disregard objective thinking and substitute emotions for judgments. 86

E. Language o Words mean different things to different people. Englishour common languageis far from uniform in usage. o Individuals interpret meanings in different ways. For example, incentives and quotas are often perceived as implying manipulation causing resentment among lower levels of the organization.

F. Communication Apprehension o An estimated five-to-twenty percent of the population suffer from communication apprehension. They experience undue tension or anxiety in oral and/or written

communication. They may find it difficult to talk with others face-to-face or on the telephone. o Studies show those affected with communication apprehension avoid jobs where communication is a dominant requirement. Managers need to be aware there is a group of people who severely limit their communications with others and rationalize the behavior telling themselves it is not necessary for them to do their jobs effectively.

Formal vs. Informal Communication o Formal Communication: Formal reporting relationships in an organization reflect one type of organizational communication network. Formal reporting relationships emerge from the chain of command established by an organizations hierarchy. Communication flows up and down the hierarchy of the organization from superiors to subordinates and vice versa. o Informal Communication: Informal communication is more spontaneous communication occurring without regard for the formal channels of communication. Nonverbal Behaviors of Communication: o Eye contact o Facial Expressions o Gestures o Posture and body orientation o Proximity o Vocal

Nonverbal Communication: o We send a nonverbal message every time we send a verbal one. At times the nonverbal message may stand alone. They include body movements, facial expressions, and the physical distance between sender and receiver. o We use body language to convey a message and typically do unconsciously. o The two most important messages body language conveys is the extent to which an individual likes another and is interested in his or her views and the relative perceived

status between sender and receiver. o Intonations can change the meaning of a message. o Facial expressions convey meaning. o Physical distance or the way individuals space themselves also has meaning. o Proper physical spacing is dependent on cultural norms. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.

Reducing Communication Barriers: Leaders must have a plan that can be used to reduce barriers to effective communication through; _ Establishing effective interpersonal relations _ Managing position power _ Being an active listener _ Acquiring feedback _ Displaying empathy _ Applying ethics to the conversation

Leadership is about listening: Hearing Understanding Remembering Interpreting Evaluating Responding Hearing

TEAM BUILDING

What is team? In a team, People depend on each other; May or may not work in the same physical location, Combine to achieve something together. Team Building The process of working with a team to clarify its task and how team members can work together to achieve it. A strategy that can help groups to develop into a real team is team building Key actions in Team Building Setting and maintaining the teams objectives and standards Involving the team as a whole in the achievement of objectives Maintaining the unity of the team Communicating efficiently with the team Consulting the team members before taking any decisions.

Stages of Team Growth: Stage I: Forming - Provide clear direction to establish the teams purpose, setting goals, etc., Stage II: Storming Provide strong, hands-on leadership to keep people talking and task-focused Stage III: Norming Codes of behaviour becomes established and an identifiable group culture emerges. People begin to enjoy each others company and appreciate each others contributions Stage IV: Performing Teams that reach this stage achieve results easily and enjoyably. People work

together well and can improve systems, solve problems and provide excellent customer service. Stage V: Adjourning Temporary project team reaches this stage; celebrate their teams achievements.

Helpful Team Behavior : Keeping the peace Being a friend Being enthusiastic Giving opinions Generating ideas Initiating Solving problems logically Relieving tension with humour Seeking approval Encouraging others

Key factors to successful performance of a team S.C.O.R.E Strategy Clear Roles and Responsibility Open Communication Rapid Response Effective Leadership Strategy: Shared purpose Clearly articulated values and ground rules Understanding of risks and opportunities facing the team Clear categorization of the overall responsibilities of the team

Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Clear definition of roles and responsibilities Responsibility shared by all members Specific objectives to measure individual results

 Open communication: Respect for individual differences Open communication environment among team members Rapid response to the teams problems Effective management to change in the internal and external environment

Rapid response:

Effective Leadership: Team leader who is able to help members achieve the objective and build the team Team leader who can draw out and free up the skills of all team members, develop individuals Coming together is a beginning Keeping together is progress; and Working together is success

PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING

Problems are discrete challenges we must address or we think we must address, both big and small. Decisions represent specific points in time during the problem solving process when you must choose a path forward among multiple possibilities. Problem solving and decision making are complementary, not synonymous. Problem solving is a process of addressing particular challenges. Decisions are made to help the problem-solving process flow effectively from beginning to end. Decisions are made by using any one or more, or many, available decision-making tools. For example, the team has an opportunity to hire a new member. You collect a huge pile of applications, but to move past the big stack towards a short stack, you must make one or more decisions about what you are looking for in a new team member. One or more decision criteria or tools help you get past the decision point and into the next part of the process. The same logic applies whether discussing hiring ,fixing quality problems, addressing vendor issues, or any other problem one might face at work.Decision-making tools facilitate movement through a problem-solving process.

A SIMPLE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS:

Before stepping through the worlds most simple problem-solving process, you need to make a mental commitment. Realize that problems represent opportunities! They are opportunities to: Demonstrate competence Apply creativity Make work-life better Improve product/service/process quality Help and develop others

 Improve relationships Enhance or build new skills You can view problems in a negative light as onerous, headache-inducing obstacles, or you can choose to see them as interesting opportunities. The positive frame drastically increases the odds of successful problem solving. Use an Agreed Upon Model You and your team need an agreed upon place to start. Call it what you like: an approach, methodology, template, or process. It is a mutually agreed upon way you and your team will systematically address the problem at hand. Assumption: you have time available to use a systematic approach to problem solving. Sometimes you do, sometimes you do not. We will talk about using the head (i.e., a systematic approach) versus the gut (i.e., a quick intuitive approach) shortly for now we will assume you have some time. However, even if you have time, far too often professionals at work do not have an agreed upon problem-solving process. The DIE model: Define, Investigate, Execute: What is it we want to accomplish with problem solving? We wish to find useful solutions. More crudely stated, we want to kill the problems make them die. 1.Step one is to Define the problem. This may seem perfunctory, but you would be amazed how often this is overlooked in daily practice. The first step is always to ask whether you are looking at a symptom or the root cause. Your eventual solution will only stick if it addresses the root cause. To find the root cause: Ask why at least five times. The problem might be a poorly trained employee or it could be a process flaw. The problem could be the quality of a raw material or the capability of a particular machine. Keep digging until you are confident you have found the source otherwise you will be slapping band-aids on symptoms and the problem will likely recur. Use the team. Yes, time is short, but problem solving is best described as a team sport. Depending on the nature of the problem to be addressed, one or more of those whom you lead may have deeper insight than you. Do not be rash with problem definition. Seek input from outside the team. The more important the problem, the greater the need to correctly define the problem. If your team lacks expertise, find it. In addition, the path to solving most problems usually spans multiple groups; thus, seeking input is a form of bridge building that may help you as the process unfolds past problem definition. Once you have the problem pinned down, 9 times

out of 10 you will realize that every outcome is multi-determined. Stated differently, the source of the problem often is not one thing, but several. Ask yourself the following: What are the most important causes? Always think about the 80/20. Concentrate your efforts on the ones with the biggest likely impact. To what degree are these causes related? The more related the causes, the more you must focus your efforts on multiple fronts. Who owns each cause? Socially and politically, what are your chances of actually acting successfully on each cause? The causes can be identified, but is it reasonable to suggest you can address them? Based on the interdependencies, the politics involved, and your personal power, you will have your short list of causes (targets) that might be worth your time. 2.Step two is Investigate. Investigating has two major components: to generate possibilities and to evaluate and select the most promising solution(s). Generating possibilities: This is the most creative part of the problem-solving process amassing possible paths forward. Individuals and groups find this challenging for many reasons. People cling to the past. Too often we see current tasks as overly related to past tasks, resulting in less than ideal decisions. Members wish to experience low risk. Many professionals are apprehensive about being overtly evaluated, thus they censor significantly when creativity is needed. People are not trained on creative problem-solving methods. Beyond having a mere conversation, there are many useful structured creative idea generating techniques. You cannot use them if you do not know them. Acquiescence to the leader. Status often unintentionally creates difficult conversations. Thus, people with good ideas regularly censor themselves and accept ideas espoused by the leader of the group. Desire for fast answers. Many well-intentioned professionals feel a desire to reach conclusions quickly, for personal and professional reasons. Haste often leads to suboptimal decisions. When you understand the common obstacles above, you can begin to work around them. Key strategies to use in order to facilitate productive problem solving include: Have group members do homework before the meeting. One of the most difficult times in most decision-making meetings is the very beginning when ideas begin to surface. Make it easy to begin

the process by having people arrive with several ideas already generated. Level the playing field. When selecting attendees for the meeting, err strongly on reducing the number of levels in the hierarchy represented. The lower the status variance, the more robust the conversation. Leaders do not go / go late. Your credentials and experience can help a lot but they can cause damage as well. Once in awhile, have an able lieutenant stand in to create a new group dynamic. Leaders do not start with your ideas. Yes, you have good ideas, but do not start with them. Tell the group they exist because you need their expertise and begin with their ideas, or you risk too much acquiescence to your ideas. Follow the classic brainstorming rules. The first chunk of time is dedicated to generating and capturing ideas and does not allow for idea evaluation. Build on ideas and combine ideas, the wilder the better. The second chunk of time is dedicated to applying agreed upon criteria to reduce the possibilities to an actionable few. Do not forget, aside from the issue of leaders and status, in a decision-making meeting of this sort, you need input from three particular groups of people: Your normal team members. The usual bunch who comprise your team, less any specific member who is not intimately involved in the particular decision at hand. Outsiders of interest. Should you feel/know that the potential solution will involve groups other than your own, representatives might be needed to ensure a quality solution and implementation. Those affected by the outcome. Think about the main group of employees who will feel the impact of the decision you make. Ideally, they need a voice in your process to increase the odds of successful decision acceptance. Once a meaningful array of possibilities has been proposed, it is time to evaluate. The time spent thoughtfully evaluating potential solutions should generally increase in proportion to the size of the problem and the time available. The more important the issue, the more the evaluation process should err towards being rigorous and systematic. During the evaluation process, be sure to: Use good data. All data are not created equal. Make sure you understand the assumptions underlying all key facts and figures before using them to make decisions. Use relevant standards. As the process of narrowing down possibilities unfolds, be explicit as to any and all standards the solution must meet. Any ambiguity here slows you down and often leads to unnecessary

conflict. Consider ripple effects. Every decision you make affects not only the targeted area, but (in varying degrees) other areas as well. That is the nature of the interdependent processes which comprise an organization. When evaluating options, consider all relevant part-whole relationships and the possible effects on nearby parts of the process or business for any given option being considered. Consider unintended outcomes. All decisions have multiple implications in practice some intended and some not intended. If you spend a small amount of time thinking about this fact, it is often possible to predict the most likely unintended outcomes, which becomes a factor to consider in choosing a final alternative. Following the generation and evaluation of alternatives, you make a selection. When you and/or your team make the final selection, be sure your choice: Can actually solve the problem. Do not satisfice (i.e., do something that is merely good enough). No solution is perfect, but for the process to have integrity, the solution needs to be as highly value added as possible given the time and resources available. Is aligned with higher level goals and objectives. This is a classic to be useful the solution must not undermine or work counter to other higher-level goals that apply to you and your team. Is financially feasible. In short, if it breaks the bank, it is not the answer. Find ways to make it more affordable, or try another path. Is politically feasible. Whether you like it or not, some paths forward will be politically supported and some will not. Depending on the amount of personal status you have and are willing to expend decide accordingly. Is owned by someone. Mutual agreement about a solution without agreement on ownership is one sign of a mediocre group. Who will do what and when must be very specific and publicly agreed upon. Finally, we Execute the solution. To execute means to implement the solution. Start by asking yourself what is needed for successful execution of your chosen solution. Who will be affected and how? Consider how to use each of these: Communication. Messages about the coming change must be specific, positive, provided with enough lead time to prepare, be clear as to explanations for the change, and must sell the benefits effectively. The larger the portion of the organization affected by the solution, the higher the need to use multiple communication channels and a consistent message.

 Training. To effectively adopt the decision you have made, what new skills, if any, will those affected require? Identify them, locate quality training resources, and ensure the training is complete prior to implementation. Resources. Even if new skill building is not required, are new work tools? This might include software, machines, or actual tools. If you ask employees to do something new, make sure they have the resources to be successful. Structural job changes. To maximize the impact of your decision, do certain processes or job roles need to be changed a little or a lot? A solution that does not match the structural capabilities of the current work environment is not an ideal solution. Next, make a genuine effort to predict the major bumps in the road and potential areas of resistance to your solution. Bumps in the road refer to challenges that crop up after implementation that could not be perfectly predicted beforehand. They tend to be unavoidable, but the major ones can often be anticipated. Make sure you: Predict both the hard-side and soft-side bumps. On the hard-side, which process changes, new technologies, or tools have a real likelihood of failing or not operating as intended? On the soft side, which person or group might you reasonably expect to resist the solution? Agree on key contingencies. When the predictable bumps happen, or when the predictable people resist, what will you do? A cogent answer is required before you begin to implement otherwise, you risk acting too rashly in the moment. Differentiate bumps from fatal flaws. Bumps are manageable issues. Fatal flaws stop your solution from working at all. Do not let negative people talk about mere bumps as fatal flaws. Never forget the need to frame positively. Bumps represent learning opportunities and your team will only view them as such to the extent that you view them as such. When trying to predict where you might face resistance, consider the following questions: Who will lose power? If someone perceives they are losing status and power, they might resist. Who will have a changed work load? If the array of tasks to be completed will be changed, resistance is possible. Who will be asked to use new tools or resources? Even if the tasks do not change, the means of accomplishing the tasks may change, and thus resistance is possible. Attempt to deal with your predicted resistors before you actually begin the execution:

 Consider co-opting. This means to take a predicted resistor and make them (in some fashion) part of the team making the decision. When they have a voice in the matter it reduces the likelihood they (or others whom they influence) will resist the solution. Sell the benefits. Whether co-opted or not, ensure the predictable resistors understand the operational and/or strategic importance of adopting the solution. Sell the consequences. Not adopting might have various consequences including: product/service /process-quality problems, or administrative implications for the resistors. The consequences of non-compliance should be known. Following the beginning of implementation, when evidence of resistance surfaces: Communicate immediately. Separate fact from fiction. Investigate quickly, but do not be accusatory. If there is resistance, find the root cause. Intervene with help. Do not begin with a heavy hand. Begin by seeking to genuinely help. This might involve further explanations or additional resources. Intervene with consequences. If needed, and if the implementation is important enough, you must do what is required to ensure success. This might involve you (or the appropriate authority) changing someones role, reprimands, or in the extreme removal of someone from their role. Choose one: Keep the resistor, or make the solution a success. Finally, effective execution will be facilitated by planning the appropriate timing, pace, feedback, and monitoring. Timing. Given the nature of your solution, consider calendar-based opportunities and constraints including budget cycles, product launches, holidays, etc. Choose the soonest possible time that allows maximum opportunity for solution success. Pace. Should you implement in small chunks (i.e., pilot), or all at once? Should you move fast or more conservatively? There are pros and cons to any answer. Your goal is to explore the implications of each prior to executing. Feedback. Be proactive, not reactive. Have people and mechanisms in place to ensure that once implementation begins, you have quality data upon which to make decisions. Monitoring. In order to monitor the solution, feedback concerning the actual work tasks being changed must be addressed with specific and appropriate metrics which must be agreed upon prior to execution. Local problems. Problems largely associated with one individual/group, a simple process, or a discrete

part of a larger process. The number of people and the portion of the organization involved are both small. Systemic problems. Large numbers of people are involved and/or a sizeable amount of the organization is involved. Your first task is to identify the nature of the problem local or systemic. Local problems need local solutions and systemic problems need systemic solutions. Unfortunately, many professionals err towards providing systemic solutions for local problems which unnecessarily increases bureaucracy. For example, if one employee fails to properly adhere to a given process requirement, the persons direct supervisor should address and resolve the matter. It might be the case that this particular person requires an additional tool or resource to correctly complete the job. Fine but that does not mean the supervisor should contact other leaders and/or Human Resources and initiate a similar fix to this problem that will be applied to everyone else involved in the same type of work. Every time you fix a local problem with a systemic answer you hurt productivity by wasting a huge number of dollars and hours. Time and money are limited resources. Only pursue systemic solutions when there is real evidence of systemic problems, not simply the possibility of systemic problems.

FOCUS ON THE RIGHT PROBLEMS

Given the never-ending number of problems addressed each day at work, and our limited time and resources, it is shocking the decisions we make.The two most common problem-related mistakes we make are allowing too many recurring problems and spending too little time on the most important problems. Too Many Recurring Problems When you go to work each week, do you neatly follow your list of things to do? Usually not. Normally, a long list of fires pops up unexpectedly screaming to be addressed. Fires happen for many reasons, but one of the best explanations is that the fire is a problem we have seen before yet failed to correctly solve. We put a temporary fix on it, we apply a short-term good enough solution, we put a band-aid on it, and we fail to ensure it will not recur. How many issues and problems that you face every day have you seen before? A conservative guess would be that 40% to 60% of the problems you face are not new. You faced them last week, last month, or last quarter, but you (and/or your team) failed to devise a plan or solution that just might stop them from coming back around at some

point in the future. Every time we face a problem, we have a choice as to whether we will fix the problem today, or fix the problem for good. It has been said a million times for a reason get to the root cause. Ask why? as many times as needed, but either get to the source of the problem and fix it, or pat yourself on the back for having guaranteed that the same problem will come back to haunt you later. Focus on the Most Important Problems In line with our discussion of 80/20 thinking, there are two main types of problems: strategic and operational. Both types are important, though the former is far too neglected. Strategic problems. (aka the 20%) These have more long-term implications. When they are solved, they move your career forward quickly or improve the productivity of your group significantly. They are the ones you need to discover and spend significant time considering. Operational problems. (aka the 80%) Have more short-term implications. They support the successful continued functioning of the status-quo. They are important, but should consume significantly less time than strategic problems. For example, operational problems might include improving the customer service process currently in place or improving the product returns policy to improve customer service. In contrast, a strategic problem might be determining how to identify and communicate with a new customer base to ensure a healthy financial future. Among the array of issues, challenges and problems that you face over time, how many should be of the strategic variety versus the operational variety? .

DECISION MAKING
DECISION MAKING Decision Making and Decision Making Process: All of us have to make decisions every day. Some decisions are relatively straightforward and simple: Is this report ready to send to my boss now? Others are quite complex: Which of these candidates should I select for the job? Simple decisions usually need a simple decision-making process. But difficult decisions typically involve issues like these:

Uncertainty - Many facts may not be known. Complexity - You have to consider many interrelated factors. High-risk consequences - The impact of the decision may be significant. Alternatives - Each has its own set of uncertainties and consequences. Interpersonal issues - It can be difficult to predict how other people will react.

With these difficulties in mind, the best way to make a complex decision is to use an effective process. Clear processes usually lead to consistent, high-quality results, and they can improve the quality of almost everything we do. In this article, we outline a process that will help improve the quality of your decisions. A Systematic Approach to Decision Making: A logical and systematic decision-making process helps you address the critical elements that result in a good decision. By taking an organized approach, you're less likely to miss important factors, and you can build on the approach to make your decisions better and better. There are six steps to making an effective decision: 1. Create a constructive environment. 2. Generate good alternatives. 3. Explore these alternatives. 4. Choose the best alternative. 5. Check your decision. 6. Communicate your decision, and take action. Here are the steps in detail: Step 1: Create a constructive environment:

To create a constructive environment for successful decision making, make sure you do the following:

Establish the objective - Define what you want to achieve. Agree on the process - Know how the final decision will be made, including whether it will be an individual or a team-based decision.

Involve the right people - Stakeholder Analysis is important in making an effective decision, and you'll want to ensure that you've consulted stakeholders appropriately even if you're making an individual decision. Where a group process is appropriate, the decision-making group - typically a team of five to seven people - should have a good representation of stakeholders.

Allow opinions to be heard - Encourage participants to contribute to the discussions, debates, and analysis without any fear of rejection from the group. This is one of the best ways to avoid groupthink. The Stepladder Technique is a useful method for gradually introducing more and more people to the group discussion, and making sure everyone is heard. Also, recognize that the objective is to make the best decision under the circumstances: it's not a game in which people are competing to have their own preferred alternatives adopted.

Make sure you're asking the right question - Ask yourself whether this is really the true issue. The 5 Whys technique is a classic tool that helps you identify the real underlying problem that you face.

Use creativity tools from the start - The basis of creativity is thinking from a different perspective. Do this when you first set out the problem, and then continue it while generating alternatives.

Step 2: Generate Good Alternatives

This step is still critical to making an effective decision. The more good options you consider, the more comprehensive your final decision will be. When you generate alternatives, you force yourself to dig deeper, and look at the problem from different angles. If you use the mindset there must be other solutions out there,' you're more likely to make the best decision possible. If you don't have reasonable alternatives, then there's really not much of a decision to make! Here's a summary of some of the key tools and techniques to help you and your team develop good alternatives.

Generating Ideas

Brainstorming is probably the most popular method of generating ideas. Another approach, Reverse Brainstorming, works similarly. However, it starts by asking people to brainstorm how to achieve the opposite outcome from the one wanted, and then reversing these

actions.

Considering Different Perspectives

The Reframing Matrix uses 4 Ps (product, planning, potential, and people) as the basis for gathering different perspectives. You can also ask outsiders to join the discussion, or ask existing participants to adopt different functional perspectives (for example, have a marketing person speak from the viewpoint of a financial manager).

If you have very few options, or an unsatisfactory alternative, use a Concept to take a step back from the problem, and approach it from a wider perspective. This often helps when the people involved in the decision are too close to the problem.

Appreciative Inquiry forces you to look at the problem based on what's going right,' rather than what's going wrong.'

Organizing Ideas This is especially helpful when you have a large number of ideas. Sometimes separate ideas can be combined into one comprehensive alternative.

Use Affinity Diagrams to organize ideas into common themes and groupings.

Step 3: Explore the Alternatives: When you're satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives, then you'll need to evaluate the feasibility, risks, and implications of each choice. Here, we discuss some of the most popular and effective analytical tools.

Risk In decision making, there's usually some degree of uncertainty, which inevitably leads to risk. By evaluating the risk involved with various options, you can determine whether the risk is manageable.

Risk Analysis helps you look at risks objectively. It uses a structured approach for assessing threats, and for evaluating the probability of events occurring - and what they might cost to manage.

Implications Another way to look at your options is by considering the potential consequences of each.

Six Thinking Hats helps you evaluate the consequences of a decision by looking at the alternatives from six different perspectives. Impact Analysis is a useful technique for brainstorming the unexpected' consequences that may arise from a decision.

Validation Determine if resources are adequate, if the solution matches your objectives, and if the decision is likely to work in the long term.

Step 4: Choose the Best Alternative: After you have evaluated the alternatives, the next step is to choose between them. The choice may be obvious. However, if it isn't, these tools will help:

Grid Analysis, also known as a decision matrix, is a key tool for this type of evaluation. It's invaluable because it helps you bring disparate factors into your decision-making process in a reliable and rigorous way.

Use Paired Comparison Analysis to determine the relative importance of various factors. This helps you compare unlike factors, and decide which ones should carry the most weight in your decision.

Decision Trees are also useful in choosing between options. These help you lay out the different options open to you, and bring the likelihood of project success or failure into the decision making process.

For group decisions, there are some excellent evaluation methods available. When decision criteria are subjective and it's critical that you gain consensus, you can use techniques like Nominal Group Technique and Multi-Voting. These methods help a group agree on priorities, for example, so that they can assign resources and funds. Participants in the process do not meet, and sometimes they don't even know who else is involved. The facilitator controls the process, and manages the flow and organization of information. This is useful where you need to bring the opinions of many different experts into the decision-making process. It's particularly useful where some of these experts don't get on! Step 5: Check Your Decision: With all of the effort and hard work that goes into evaluating alternatives, and deciding the best way forward, it's

easy to forget to sense check' your decisions. This is where you look at the decision you're about to make dispassionately, to make sure that your process has been thorough, and to ensure that common errors haven't crept into the decision-making process. After all, we can all now see the catastrophic consequences that overconfidence, groupthink, and other decision-making errors have wrought on the world economy. The first part of this is an intuitive step, which involves quietly and methodically testing the assumptions and the decisions you've made against your own experience, and thoroughly reviewing and exploring any doubts you might have. Step 6: Communicate Your Decision, and Move to Action! Once you've made your decision, it's important to explain it to those affected by it, and involved in implementing it. Talk about why you chose the alternative you did. The more information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people are to support the decision. An organized and systematic decision-making process usually leads to better decisions. Without a well-defined process, you risk making decisions that are based on insufficient information and analysis. Many variables affect the final impact of your decision. However, if you establish strong foundations for decision making, generate good alternatives, evaluate these alternatives rigorously, and then check your decision-making process, you will improve the quality of your decisions.

RISK ANALYSIS
Evaluating and managing the risks that you face:

Almost everything we do in today's business world involves a risk of some kind: customer habits change, new competitors appear, factors outside your control could delay your project. But formal risk analysis and risk management can help you to assess these risks and decide what actions to take to minimize disruptions to your plans. They will also help you to decide whether the strategies you could use to control risk are cost-effective. How to Use the Tool: Here we define risk as 'the perceived extent of possible loss'. Different people will have different views of the impact of a particular risk what may be a small risk for one person may destroy the livelihood of someone else. One way of putting figures to risk is to calculate a value for it as: risk = probability of event x cost of event Doing this allows you to compare risks objectively. To carry out a risk analysis, follow these steps:

1. Identify Threats: The first stage of a risk analysis is to identify threats facing you. Threats may be:

Human from individuals or organizations, illness, death, etc. Operational from disruption to supplies and operations, loss of access to essential assets, failures in distribution, etc. Reputational from loss of business partner or employee confidence, or damage to reputation in the market. Procedural from failures of accountability, internal systems and controls, organization, fraud, etc. Project risks of cost over-runs, jobs taking too long, of insufficient product or service quality, etc. Financial from business failure, stock market, interest rates, unemployment, etc. Technical from advances in technology, technical failure, etc. Natural threats from weather, natural disaster, accident, disease, etc. Political from changes in tax regimes, public opinion, government policy, foreign influence, etc. Others

This analysis of threat is important because it is so easy to overlook important threats. One way of trying to capture them all is to use a number of different approaches:

Firstly, run through a list such as the one above, to see if any apply. Secondly, think through the systems, organizations or structures you operate, and analyze risks to any part of those.

See if you can see any vulnerabilities within these systems or structures. Ask other people, who might have different perspectives.

2. Estimate Risk: Once you have identified the threats you face, the next step is to work out the likelihood of the threat being realized and to assess its impact. One approach to this is to make your best estimate of the probability of the event occurring, and to multiply this by the amount it will cost you to set things right if it happens. This gives you a value for the risk. 3. Manage Risk: Once you have worked out the value of risks you face, you can start to look at ways of managing them. When you are doing this, it is important to choose cost effective approaches in most cases, there is no point in spending

more to eliminating a risk than the cost of the event if it occurs. Often, it may be better to accept the risk than to use excessive resources to eliminate it. Risk may be managed in a number of ways:

By using existing assets: Here existing resources can be used to counter risk. This may involve improvements to existing methods and systems, changes in responsibilities, improvements to accountability and internal controls, etc.

By contingency planning: You may decide to accept a risk, but choose to develop a plan to minimize its effects if it happens. A good contingency plan will allow you to take action immediately, with the minimum of project control if you find yourself in a crisis management situation. Contingency plans also form a key part of Business Continuity Planning (BCP) or Business Continuity management (BCM).

By investing in new resources: Your risk analysis should give you the basis for deciding whether to bring in additional resources to counter the risk. This can also include insuring the risk: Here you pay someone else to carry part of the risk this is particularly important where the risk is so great as to threaten your or your organization's solvency.

4. Review: Once you have carried out a risk analysis and management exercise, it may be worth carrying out regular reviews. These might involve formal reviews of the risk analysis, or may involve testing systems and plans appropriately. Risk analysis allows you to examine the risks that you or your organization face. It is based on a structured approach to thinking through threats, followed by an evaluation of the probability and cost of events occurring. Risk analysis forms the basis for risk management and crisis prevention. Here the emphasis is on cost effectiveness. Risk management involves adapting the use of existing resources, contingency planning and good use of new resources.

The Ladder of Inference

Avoiding "jumping to conclusions" Have you ever been accused of "putting 2 and 2 together and making 5", meaning that the other person thinks you have jumped to the wrong conclusion? In today's fast-moving world, we are always under pressure to act now, rather than spend time reasoning things through and thinking about the true facts. Not only can this lead us to a wrong conclusion, but it can also cause conflict with other people, who may have drawn quite different conclusions on the same matter. Especially in a fast business environment, you need to make sure your actions and decisions are founded on reality. Similarly, when you accept or challenge other people's conclusions, you need be confident that their reasoning, and yours, is firmly based on the true facts. The "Ladder of Inference" helps you achieve this. Sometimes known as the "Process of Abstraction", this tool helps you understand the thinking steps that can lead you to jump to wrong conclusions, and so helps you get back to hard reality and facts. The Ladder of Inference was first put forward by organizational psychologist Chris Argyris and used by Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Understanding The Theory: The Ladder of Inference describes the thinking process that we go through, usually without realizing it, to get from a fact to a decision or action. The thinking stages can be seen as rungs on a ladder and are shown in Figure 1.

Starting at the bottom of the ladder, we have reality and facts. From there, we:

Experience these selectively based on our beliefs and prior experience.

Interpret what they mean. Apply our existing assumptions, sometimes without considering them. Draw conclusions based on the interpreted facts and our assumptions. Develop beliefs based on these conclusions. Take actions that seem "right" because they are based on what we believe.

This can create a vicious circle. Our beliefs have a big effect on how we select from reality, and can lead us to ignore the true facts altogether. Soon we are literally jumping to conclusions by missing facts and skipping steps in the reasoning process. By using the Ladder of Inference, you can learn to get back to the facts and use your beliefs and experiences to positive effect, rather than allowing them to narrow your field of judgment. Following this step-by-step reasoning can lead you to better results, based on reality, so avoiding unnecessary mistakes and conflict. How to Use the Theory: The Ladder of Inference helps you draw better conclusions, or challenge other people's conclusions based on true facts and reality. It can be used to help you analyze hard data, such as a set of sales figures, or to test assertions, such as "the project will go live in April". You can also use it to help validate or challenge other people's conclusions. The step-by-step reasoning process helps you remain objective and, when working or challenging others, reach a shared conclusion without conflict.

Tip 1: Use the Ladder of Inference at any of stage of your thinking process. If you're asking any of the following questions, the model may prove a useful aid:

Is this the "right" conclusion? Why am I making these assumptions? Why do I think this is the "right" thing to do? Is this really based on all the facts? Why does he believe that?

Use the following steps to challenge thinking using the Ladder of Inference: 1. Stop! It's time to consider your reasoning. 2. Identify where on the ladder you are. Are you:

Selecting your data or reality? Interpreting what it means? Making or testing assumptions? Forming or testing conclusions? Deciding what to do and why?

3. From your current "rung", analyze your reasoning by working back down the ladder. This will help you trace the facts and reality that you are actually working with. 4. At each stage, ask yourself WHAT you are thinking and WHY. As you analyze each step, you may need to adjust your reasoning. For example you may need to change some assumption or extend the field of data you have selected. 5. The following questions help you work backwards (coming down the ladder, starting at the top):

Why have I chosen this course of action? Are there other actions I should have considered? What belief lead to that action? Was it well-founded? Why did I draw that conclusion? is the conclusion sound? What am I assuming, and why? Are my assumptions valid? What data have I chosen to use and why? Have I selected data rigorously? What are the real facts that I should be using? Are there other facts I should consider?

Tip 2: When you are working through your reasoning, look out for rungs that you tend to jump. Do you tend to make assumptions too easily? Do you tend to select only part of the data? Note you tendencies so that you can learn to do that stage of reasoning with extra care in the future.

4. With a new sense of reasoning (and perhaps a wider field of data and more considered assumptions), you

can now work forwards again step-by-step up the rungs of the ladder.

Tip 3: Try explaining your reasoning to a colleague or friend. This will help you check that your argument is sound. If you are challenging someone else's conclusions, it is especially important to be able to explain your reasoning so that you can explain it to that person in a way that helps you reach a shared conclusion and avoid conflict.

Example: The regional Sales Manager has just read the latest sales figures. Sales in Don's territory are down again. It's simply not good enough. He needs to be fired! Most people would agree that the Sales Manager may have just jumped to a rash conclusion. So let's see how the scenario plays using the Ladder of Inference: The latest month's sales figures (reality) have come in, and the Sales Manager immediately focuses on Don's territory (selected reality). Sales are down on the previous months again (interpreted reality). The Sales Manager assumes that the drop in sales is entirely to do with the Don's performance (assumption), and decides that Don hasn't been performing well (conclusion). So he forms the opinion that Don isn't up to the job (belief). He feels that firing Don is the best options (action). Now let's challenge the Sales Manager's thinking using the Ladder of Inference: The Sales Manager came to the sales figures with an existing belief that Don, a new salesmen, couldn't possibly be as good as the "old-timers" who he has trained for years. He focused on Don's territory because Don is the newest salesman, and selected facts that supported what he already believed (that Don wouldn't be doing a good job). To get back to facts and reality, we must challenge the Sales Manager's selection of data and his assumptions about Don's likely performance. Although the figures are down in Don's territory, they have actually dipped less than in other areas. Don is actually a great salesman, but he and his colleagues have in fact been let down by new products being delayed, and by old products running out of stock. Once the Sales Manager changes his assumptions, he will see the need to focus on solving the production issues. He can also learn from Don how is it that Don has performed better than other sales people in the face of stock problems? Can others learn from him?

Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Making the Best Choice With the Information Available:

According to statistician George Chacko, decision making is the "commitment of resources today for results tomorrow." As such, decisions are usually made in a situation of some uncertainty, because we can never be completely sure what tomorrow will bring. For example, imagine you were trying to decide between two candidates for a new sales job. One has considerable experience of selling in the field in which you operate, but has only an average performance history. The other has never worked with your type of product, but she's got a superb track record in another type of selling. You're effectively "comparing apples with oranges". How do you pick the one who will generate the best future sales? Alternatively, imagine that you're deciding whether you'll invest in a new project. Given an uncertain future (and therefore uncertain future sales) how will you decide if the additional sales you'll generate will justify the additional costs? This is where you need to manage the level of uncertainty you're working with, so that you can make a decision based on rational, disciplined thought. In both cases, the solution is to quantify the problem, although each involves a different approach. In the first, you need to turn qualities like "experience" and "sales ability" into numbers, so that you can compare them. In the second, you need to understand the ways that things may change in the future, and factor these into your decision.

Six Thinking Hats

Looking at a decision from all points of view

'Six Thinking Hats' is an important and powerful technique. It is used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation. This tool was created by Edward de Bono in his book '6 Thinking Hats'. Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans. Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive, and more emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally. If you look at a problem with the 'Six Thinking Hats' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning. How to Use the Tool:

You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. In meetings it has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the same problem. Each 'Thinking Hat' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below:

White Hat: With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them.

This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data. Red Hat: 'Wearing' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.

Black Hat: Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them.

Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans 'tougher' and more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties.

Yellow Hat: The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult.

Green Hat: The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here.

Blue Hat: The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When

contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, etc. A variant of this technique is to look at problems from the point of view of different professionals (e.g. doctors, architects, sales directors, etc.) or different customers. Example: The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of vacant office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting. Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They examine the trend in vacant office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period. With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it. When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a 'cyclical downturn', in which case the office building may be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent. With the Yellow Hat, however, if the economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession. With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes. The Blue Hat has been used by the meeting's Chair to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples' points.

Multi-Voting
Choosing fairly between many options:

Have you ever felt short-changed because of the result of a traditional vote? The democratic system of majority wins is usually a fair way to make a decision. So long as voters have sufficient information on which to make a choice, the system tends to work well, just as long as there are only a few options from which to choose.

Do we nominate Mary or Bill as the team representative? Hands up of those in favor of Mary. 3 hands. Those in favor of Bill? 12. Great, Bill it is.

But what happens when the choices expand and each vote is then dispersed over a wider range? A winner emerges but there are many more people who didn't vote for the winning option than people who did.

Who should we nominate for employee of the month? Sara, Suzanne, Katherine, Joseph, or Charles? Sara gets 3 votes Suzanne gets 4 Katherine gets 3 Joseph gets 5 Charles gets Here, Joseph is nominated by a hair, but only five people feel their opinions were taken into account. The remaining 14 people have had their choices cast aside like yesterday's news. When there are many choices, simple majority rule voting is often not the best method for reaching decisions, if you want everyone to feel that they own the decision. Yet with idea sharing and brainstorming activities frequently taking place in workplaces today, voting is needed more and more. This is particularly the case where the decision is subjective, where different strong views are held, where many members of the group have power, or where strong commitment to the outcome is needed. When group consensus is needed, multi-voting is a simple process that helps you whittle down a large list of options to a manageable number. It works by using several rounds of voting, in which the list of alternatives becomes shorter and shorter. If you start with 10 alternatives, the top five may move to the second round of voting, and so on. In addition, in all but the last round, each person has more than one vote, allowing them to indicate the strength of their support for each option. Everyone votes in each cycle, so more people are involved in approving the final outcome than if only one vote was held. Multi-voting helps group members narrow down a wide field of options so that the group decision is focused on the most popular alternatives. This makes reaching consensus possible, and gives an outcome that people can buy into.

AVOIDING GROUP THINK

Avoiding fatal flaws in group decision making Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting and then decided against it because you did not want to appear unsupportive of the group's efforts? Or led a team in which the team members were reluctant to express their own opinions? If so, you have probably been a victim of "Groupthink". Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when the desire for group consensus overrides people's common sense desire to present alternatives, critique a position, or express an unpopular opinion. Here, the desire for group cohesion effectively drives out good decision-making and problem solving. Two well-known examples of Groupthink in action are the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and the Bay of Pigs invasion. Engineers of the space shuttle knew about some faulty parts months before takeoff, but they did not want negative press so they pushed ahead with the launch anyway. With the Bay of Pigs invasion, President Kennedy made a decision and the people around him supported it despite their own concerns. The term "Groupthink" was coined by Irving Janis in 1972 when he was researching why a team reaches an excellent decision one time, and a disastrous one the next. What he found was that a lack of conflict or opposing viewpoints led to poor decisions, because alternatives were not fully analyzed, and because groups did not gather enough information to make an informed decision. How to Spot Groupthink Janis suggested that Groupthink happens when there is:

A strong, persuasive group leader. A high level of group cohesion. Intense pressure from the outside to make a good decision.

In fact, it is now widely recognized that Groupthink-like behavior is found in many situations and across many types of groups and team settings. So it's important to look out for the key symptoms.

Symptoms of Groupthink
Rationalization: This is when team members convince themselves that despite evidence to the contrary, the decision or alternative being presented is the best one. "Those other people don't agree with us because they haven't researched the problem as extensively as we have." Peer Pressure: When a team member expresses an opposing opinion or questions the rationale behind a decision, the rest of the team members work together to pressure or penalize that person into compliance. "Well if you really feel that we're making a mistake you can always leave the team." Complacency: After a few successes, the group begins to feel like any decision they make is the right one because there is no disagreement from any source. "Our track record speaks for itself. We are unstoppable!" Moral High Ground: Each member of the group views him or herself as moral: The combination of moral minds is therefore thought not to be likely to make a poor or immoral decision. When morality is used as a basis for decision-making, the pressure to conform is even greater because no individual wants to be perceived as immoral. "We all know what is right and wrong, and this is definitely right." Stereotyping: As the group becomes more uniform in their views, they begin to see outsiders as possessing a different and inferior set of morals and characteristics from themselves. These perceived negative characteristics are then used to discredit the opposition. "Lawyers will find any excuse to argue, even when the facts are clearly against them."

Censorship: Members censor their opinions in order to conform. "If everyone else agrees then my thoughts to the contrary must be wrong." Information that is gathered is censored so that it also conforms to, or supports the chosen decision or alternative. "Don't listen to that nonsense, they don't have a clue about what is really going on." Illusion of Unanimity: Because no one speaks out, everyone in the group feels the group's decision is unanimous. This is what feeds the Groupthink and causes it to spiral out of control. "I see we all agree so it's decided then." How to Avoid Groupthink: The challenge for any team or group leader is to create a working environment in which Groupthink is unlikely to happen. It is important also to understand the risks of Groupthink if the stakes are high, you need to make a real effort to ensure that you're making good decisions. To avoid Groupthink, it is important to have a process in place for checking the fundamental assumptions behind important decisions, for validating the decision-making process, and for evaluating the risks involved. For significant decisions, make sure your team does the following in their decision-making process:

Explores objectives. Explores alternatives. Encourages ideas to be challenged without reprisal. Examines the risks if the preferred choice is chosen. Tests assumptions. If necessary, goes back and re-examines initial alternatives that were rejected. Gathers relevant information from outside sources. Processes this information objectively. Has at least one contingency plan

Group Techniques: Brainstorming Nominal Group Technique Helps ideas flow freely without criticism. Allows each group member to contribute individually, so mitigating the risk that

stronger and more persuasive group members dominate the decision making process. Six Thinking Hats Helps the team look at a problem from many different perspectives, allowing people to play "Devil's Advocate". The Delphi Technique Allows team members to contribute individually, with no knowledge of a group view, and with little penalty for disagreement. Decision Support Tools: Risk Analysis Helps team members explore and manage risk. Impact Analysis Ensures that the consequences of a decision are thoroughly explored. The Ladder of Inference Helps people check and validate the individual steps of a decision-making process. How to Overcome Groupthink: However, if Groupthink does set in, it's important that you recognize and acknowledge it quickly, so that you can overcome it and quickly get back to functioning effectively. Follow these steps to do this: 1. Even with good group decision-making processes in place, be on the look out for signs of Groupthink, so you can deal with them swiftly. 2. If there are signs of Groupthink, discuss these in the group. Once acknowledged, the group as a whole can consciously free up its decision making. 3. Assess the immediate risks of any decision, and the consequences for the group and its customers. If risks are high (for example risk of personal safety), make sure you take steps to fully validate any decision before it is ratified. 4. If appropriate, seek external validation, get more information from outside, and test assumptions. Use the bullets above as a starting point in diagnosing things that needs to change.

5. Introduce formal group techniques and decision-making tools, such as the ones listed above, to avoid Groupthink in the future.

Groupthink can severely undermine the value of a group's work and, at its worst, it can cost people their lives. On a lesser scale, it can stifle teamwork, and leave all but the most vocal team members disillusioned and dissatisfied. If you're on a team that makes a decision you don't really support but you feel you can't say or do anything about it, your enthusiasm will quickly fade. Teams are capable of being much more effective than individuals but, when Groupthink sets in, the opposite can be true. By creating a healthy group-working environment, you can help ensure that the group makes good decisions, and manages any associated risks appropriately. Group techniques such as Brainstorming, the Nominal Group Technique andSix Thinking Hats can help with this, as can other decision making and thinking tools.

CONFLICT IN TEAM CONFLICT GETS A BAD WRAP:

Conflict is underrated. It is often defined as bad, but that is overly simplistic. To begin, you must separate positive conflict from negative conflict. Your job as a leader is to stop creating or allowing negative conflict while figuring out how to create and validate positive conflict. To be specific: Negative conflict. Tends to be unplanned, usually involves personality clashes, overindulges in emotions and opinions, does not follow rules, and lacks facilitation by others resulting in lower productivity and strained relationships. Positive conflict. Tends to be planned, typically involves the discussion of relevant work-related issues, focuses on facts/emotions are tempered, follows agreed upon rules, and is productively facilitated by others resulting in higher productivity while maintaining or improving relationships. Let us briefly consider the major facets of these definitions:

 How conflict begins. It begins either randomlywhen one or more individuals lose it and engage in unproductive interactions, or in a planned thoughtful manner. Random conflict is usually unproductive. Planned conflict is not guaranteed to succeed, but the odds of success are far greater versus random conflict. The object of conflict. Can be unproductive or productive. Typically, unproductive conflict does not involve interesting work-related issues. It involves trivial work issues or personality and attitude-related issues. Productive conflict usually involves important work-related issues which, if addressed properly, have the potential to move the group forward. Issues and emotions. Your goal is always to deal in facts. Nonetheless, data are not always available, or of high quality, leading to the inevitable use of opinions. Caution, the more people deal in opinions, the more people can become emotional and lean on unsubstantiated positions. Referees and rulebooks. For conflict to be productive, it cannot be a spectator sport. Norms (rules) must exist, the team (referees) must be involved in the dialogue, and the leader (also a referee) must steer the dialogue as productively as possible ensuring adherence to the norms. The results of conflict. Can be good or bad depending on the severity of the conflict and the presence of quality conflict management skills. Generally, if theparticipants have quality conflict management skills, better decisions and higher productivity result. The Rules of Positive Conflict To create and keep positive conflict, follow a few rules: Address the issue, not the person. Address behaviors, not perceived intentions. State what you want and why. Use positive language, frame statements positively. Do not interrupt while others are speaking. Show emotions, but keep the extremes in check. Stick to the facts, be wary of opinions. Avoid the BLAME game. If you criticize, be open to criticism. Stay on track, do not bring up largely unrelatedissues.

None of these represent magic bullets, but if theybecome mutually agreed upon and adhered to group norms, they will effectively manage both planned and unplanned conflict. In terms of dealing with conflict, there are generally three types of people. The passives (70% of people). They habitually avoid conflict. Negative conflict that is avoided almost always resurfaces later and it usually grows. When you avoid conflict, you tell others about your will and character. When positive conflict is avoided, improvement potential is lost possibly forever. The potentials (20% of people). They understand the potential of positive conflict. However, they fail to adequately check the emotions and they do not possess strong conflict-management skills. Best of intentions aside, they make things worse. The professionals (10% of people). They understand the potential of positive conflict and they have at least decent emotional intelligence and strong conflict management skills. This is the small group of people whom you should aspire to join.

NO JERKS ALLOWED

Opportunities for positive conflict abound: we need to discuss an unproductive team dynamic that we have allowed to fester, we need to address how to improve one of our key processes, it is vital we find and talk about the root cause of that quality issue, and so on. Leaders must identify opportunities for positive conflict, speak up and facilitate the dialogue, validate the input offered by others, and celebrate the progress positive conflict can bring. However, while supporting participation in positive conflict, the leader cannot support jerks. Jerks are: rude, demean others, negatively personalize issues, pick on people, take too much credit, and in general are not liked by most of the team. Actually, there are two types of jerks at work: The everyday jerk. The vast majority of jerks fall into this category. Believe it or not, most jerks are meaningfully unaware they are perceived as jerk by their colleagues. They are not malicious. They are simply clueless and a pain to work with. The evil people. Some jerks are aware of their status and do not care. That is evil, pure and simple.

Some jerks are highly skilled employees. On the task side, they add a lot of value. As a result, many jerks are regularly tolerated due to their superior performance. No amount of amazing performance justifies consistent jerk-like behaviors. If you do not deal with them: They get worse. A jerk who does not experience negative consequences due to their behaviors is a jerk whose bad tendencies will increase. They multiply. Jerkiness is contagious! One jerk at work unchecked can become multiple jerks quickly. They hurt morale and productivity. Left unchecked, morale is predictably going to drop, and productivity typically follows suit. They damage your reputation. If you are the boss, expect others to lose respect for you. No matter how good the jerk is at the job, if you allow them to be a jerk, folks might start to think you are a jerk too. If you feel you have a jerk on your hands, follow these steps: Decide: is this an isolated incident or a pattern? Do not intervene for a mild isolated incident. If you see more than three mild (or worse) incidents in a fairly short span of time, the rule is: three strikes and they are a jerk. Decide: is this merely irksome or a hit to productivity or morale? If the jerk is an irritant, but not really causing harm, err on not intervening. Otherwise, proceed to the next point. Provide private feedback. State your view of their jerk status (follow the rules of effective communication), be particularly careful to be specific and check your emotions. Provide a private reprimand. If feedback does not work, formalize by using a letter in their file and/or comments on an evaluation. You must also set new, clear, behavioral expectations. Change their role. For all but the truly evil jerks, the above will suffice. If needed, rescope their role to mitigate the damage they can cause. Remove them from the company. This is a difficult last resort that is sometimes far wiser than attempting to develop the person any further.

DEALING WITH A STICKY SITUATION

Here is a quick take on a famous and quite useful model for managing conflict Each option differently balances the need to assert your position with the possibility of giving others what they want. Whether dealing with negative or positive conflict, these are your major choices: Avoiding. This is typically not productive. It tends to make conflict worse. The one caveat involves the 80/20 rule. Strategically, you cannot fight for every issue, thus avoiding can have some utility in the long-run. Accommodating. Refers to giving someone what they want regardless of what you want. Done too much, it can turn you into a doormat. However, as with avoiding, it can be useful as a long-term strategic option. Compromising. This is the old give and take, quid pro quo, I get something and you get something. It is a decent option many times. The problem is that no 1 Ruble, T. L., & Thomas, K. W. (1976). Support for a twodimensional model of conflict behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 143-155. party gets all they want. Further, if you compromise too quickly, people come to expect it.

 Collaborating. This represents the idealized win/ win where, through ingenuity and hard work, we both get all we need. This is difficult and rare since it requires lots of extra time, genuine empathy, and creative problem solving. Forcing. This is the my-way-or-the-highway approach, which almost always leaves a bad taste in peoples mouths and should not be your first thought. However, in a crisis or to ensure safety, it can be justified and will be viewed as legit if you provide a great explanation and if you participate with the team in whatever endeavor you are forcing. When you find yourself at a point in a conversation, or in a project where there is unease and growing disagreement about an issue, you must actively think about which of the above paths will be most advantageous for you. From a broader perspective, engaging conflict intentionally is part and parcel to change and improvement. It is, however, not a risk free proposition. To be successful, be sure to choose your battles wisely, understand your social capital, and do the homework. Step 1 Choose Your Battles Wisely Engaging a conflict is not something you do without planning. As mentioned earlier, this is all about the 80/20. You cannot and should not engage every issue you want to engage. The issue had better be important if you are going to put the following at risk: Time. It takes time to properly prepare and time to engage the issue across different contexts (e.g., meetings, personal conversations, research and analysis). Reputation. Your reputation is a prized asset. Like trust, it is difficult to build over time, yet easy to bruise. Conflict represents a possible threat to your reputation depending on how you handle the process and whether or not you win. Relationships. Conflict does not exist in a vacuum. You engage it in opposition to people people you often need to continue working with productively after moving past the current conflict. Take care not to unduly damage key relationships. Work load. Related to the issue of time, it is often the case that to the extent you are successful in a conflict management situation, you will have created new work for yourself and/or others. Know this before engaging the issue. The issue might be in your 20% if most of the following are true: Valuable outcomes are expected. The issue represents a genuine opportunity to significantly

improve the team and or the teams productivity. There is a competitive imperative. Customers expect it and the competition does it. To not do this could lead to losing customers and revenue, or strategic partners. Other factors require this change. Not changing hampers other processes. For example, if we do not change this process, policy, or practice we will not beable to attract and hire the type of professionals we desire. There is a moral or ethical imperative. The issue must be addressed because it is the right thing to do or is needed from a legal perspective. Mission/vision centrality. To engage this issue is part and parcel to supporting the organizations mission and vision. Personal strategic utility. Engaging the issue will build bridges between you and other individuals or groups whom you wish to be associated with in the long-term. In short, it is a good career move. Step 2: Understand Your Social Capital One important consideration when thinking through a possible conflict situation is the amount of social capital you possess and wish to spend. Social capital is an intangible asset amassed over time. It represents the amount of personal latitude and freedom you have at work to advance your views, speak up, engage conflict, and generally not adhere to norms. You can think of social capital as chips one might spend, as in the game of poker. The chips you build up or earn over time are a function of several things: Tenure. Mere tenure should not justify the acquisition of chips (as would strong performance), though it often does. Track record. A more intellectually satisfying explanation as opposed to tenure, and more potent. Nothing earns more chips than amazing performance. Charisma & likeability. This is not about performance, but about how people generally feel about you as a person and as a colleague. Whether fair or not, this can be a powerful source of social capital. Helpfulness. Similar to charisma, this is not about your performance, but about how you relate to others. People love genuinely helpful colleagues and friends. Who you know. You are part of a network. The strength of your network has a strong impact on how others view your ideas and suggestions. Ask yourself how much social capital you have in the bank. Is your account low, adequate, or full? This is admittedly difficult to judge since some people are very

skilled at judging these types of personal issues while others are not. Nonetheless, you need to consider this issue. Step 3 Do the Homework In the first step you decided to engage the issue. In the second step you determine you are willing and able to spend some of your social capital. The third step requires you to complete several key activities before you actually start espousing your view on the issue. Do you have a snowballs chance? Think about the leaders above you in the organization. Based on what you know about them, their experience, their loyalties, and their recent decisions would you expect them to support your position? Paint a picture. Can you vividly describe the interesting and valuable end state to be achieved should they decide to accept your position? Be able to quickly describe why it is so worth achieving (to the group, customers, etc.). Stick to the facts. Do not rely on opinions, innuendo, half-truths, unproven bold assertions or your perspective on the matter. Start with and faithfully stick to the facts. Bring your friends. You want a decent grip on your odds. Do the leg work and find out where everyone stands. The more friends you have (those who share your view on the issue), the better your odds. Turn lemons into lemonade. Be able to articulate how your position actually helps the opposition. It is difficult for them to disagree with you when your solution in some way helps them. Make it a no-brainer for the leadership team. If you were given the green light today from your boss, how would you sell this idea to senior leaders? Be able to articulate in a few short and ultra coherent bullets how your position supports the companys higherlevel goals and objectives. Admit your culpability! Do not BLAME others. Fess up to your role in the status quo instead. When you admit your role in the calamity, the opposition is more likely to be positively engaged in the discussion. Validate points with which you agree. Try to find some part of the oppositions position with which you can agree. Your goal is to build some honest mutual respect that will help them want to listen to your position. Offer solutions, not problems. If you are going to raise difficult issues, you need good ideas. Have something articulate to say about how we might change the status quo on this issue or seriously consider biting your tongue. Finally, get ready to volunteer! If you are going to ask others to help you make change, you had better

be the first one standing in line ready to donate your precious time for the cause. gender, and age. There are many bases of diversity. However, in the end, these categories of differences are not useful. What is useful is how they contribute to the diversity of thought. THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS No discussion of conflict is complete without mentioning the healing wonder of forgiveness. Here is a great rule of thumb: If you do not find yourself in need of forgiveness or needing to offer an apology once in a while, you are not being aggressive enough in your pursuit of positive conflict. When you forgive someone you voluntarily let go of resentment and anger you feel towards a person and/or an issue. You have granted the person the gift of a clean slate and you have granted yourself the gift of not having to shoulder unneeded negativity and spite. If you are an upwardly mobile leader, you must be forgiving because: You will need forgiveness at some point. Your odds of being forgiven for mild professional transgressions increases in direct proportion to how well you are able to forgive others. It is the right thing to do. This book rarely tries to dictate morality, but most agree, there is little justification for holding a grudge. Eventually, the correct course of action is to forgive. It is a key ingredient for group health. Forgiving is not simply about you and an adversary. It is about making a contribution to the overall health of the group of which you are but one part. Consider asking for forgiveness when: You sense or know you have upset someone. We vary in terms of our ability to sense when we have upset others. Try asking someone if you have upset them. Even if they are not completely honest, pay attention to their word choice and non-verbal cues and you may learn a lot. You broke a norm or rule, intentionally or not. If you become aware that you have broken a formal or informal standard, it might be time to apologize. However, never forget, it is often easier to ask for forgiveness than permission! The relationship in question is strategically important. You are losing productivity thinking about the issue. If you find yourself preoccupied, thinking about whether or not you are somehow guilty stop wasting time, go talk to the person, and consider asking for forgiveness.

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Strategic Leadership is the ability to anticipate and envision the future, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and initiate changes that will create a competitive advantage for the organization in the future. Without a strategy the organization is like a ship without a rudder, going around in circles. Joel Ross and Michael Kami. Strategy is the essential of all business games. Even in real life without strategy and plan one can not be successful. Leader, manager, business man and even individual need to do strategic planning and develop strategies in the changing environment. The Three Big Strategic Questions every body needs to ask before thinking/planning a strategy are: o Where are we now? o Where do we want to go? o How do we get there? What is Strategy? A Teams strategy consists of the set of competitive moves they are employing to

manage the team/objectives of the team/organization. o Strategy is Teams game plan to Conduct operations Compete successfully Achieve Team objectives

Strategic Management: The set of decisions and actions used to formulate and implement specific strategies that will achieve a competitively superior fit between the organization and its environment so as to achieve organization goals

Business Strategy Levels: o Corporate-level strategy asks, What business are we in? o Business-level strategy asks, How do we compete? o Functional-level strategy asks, How do we support the business-level strategy?

Strategic Planning: A Basic Planning Model consists of following steps. o Missions and Goals o External Analysis - Opportunities and Threats o Internal Analysis - Strengths and Weaknesses o Selection of Appropriate Strategies o Implementation of Strategies About Mission Statement we have already discussed during previous chapters. Next two stages/steps are AWOT analysis. After Analysis, one needs to select appropriate strategy and finally implement it.

Examples of SWOT Elements: o Strengths: Favorable location, talented workers, state-of-the-art equipment o Weaknesses: Unfavorable location, outdated equipment, limited capital o Opportunities: Culturally diverse customer base, changes in technology, deregulation

o Threats: Ecommerce, declining market, new competitors Sample Strategies Depending on the nature of business, analysis and priorities, organization may choose any strategy. Few examples are given bellow. o Cost leadership o Focus o High quality o Strategic alliances o Growth through acquisition o High speed and first-mover strategy o Product and global diversification o Sticking to core competencies o Brand leadership o Creating demand by solving problems o Conducting business on the Internet

Strategic Leadership: Strategic Leadership involves: The ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility and empower others to create strategic change

Vision An attractive, ideal future that is credible yet not readily available. o Links the present to the future o Energizes people and garners commitment o Gives meaning to work o Establishes a standard of excellence and integrity

Common Themes of Vision: o Vision has broad appeal o Vision deals with change

o Vision encourages faith and hope o Vision reflects high ideals o Vision defines the destination and the journey

Mission The organizations core broad purpose and reason for existence

Strategy o Strategy is Teams game plan to Conduct operations Compete successfully Achieve Team objectives

Strategy Formulation and Implementation Strategy Formulation o The integrating knowledge of the environment, vision, and mission with the core competence in such a way as to achieve synergy and create customer value

Strategy Implementation o Putting strategy into action by adjusting various parts of the organization and directing resources to accomplish strategic goals

Strategic Leadership o Requires the Managerial Ability to: o Anticipate and envision o Maintain flexibility

o Empower others to create strategic change as necessary o Strategic Leadership is: o Multi-functional work that involves working through others

Effective strategic leaders: o Manage the Teams operations effectively o Sustain high performance over time o Make better decisions than their competitors o Make straight, courageous, practical decisions o Understand how their decisions affect the internal systems in use by the team/organization o Solicit feedback from peers, superiors and team members about their decisions and visions Determining Strategic Direction: o Determining strategic direction involves developing a long-term vision of the Teams strategic intent Five to ten years into the future Philosophy with goals The image and character the Team seeks o Ideal long-term vision has two parts: Core ideology Envisioned future o A charismatic leader can help achieve strategic intent. o It is important not to lose sight of the strengths of the organization/team when making changes required by a new strategic direction. o Leaders must structure the team effectively to help achieve the vision.

Developing Human Capital: Human capital o The knowledge and skills of the org/team entire workforce are a capital resource that requires investment in training and development o No strategy can be effective unless the org/team is able to develop and retain good people to

carry it out. o The effective development and management of the teams human capital may be the primary determinant of a teams ability to formulate and implement strategies successfully.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
Doing the right thing

We've seen some high profile ethical failures in the press in recent years. The devastation caused by accounting fraud at MCI WorldCom and Enron will not soon be forgotten. And CEOs of several other well-known companies have been charged with bribery and corruption. This highlights the extent to which it can be difficult for leaders to determine what's right and wrong. Some make

the wrong choices and end up in the courts, or in the news. What we rarely see, however, are stories about the numerous companies that are managed by ethical leaders. While standards seem to keep falling in some corporations, other leaders "raise the bar" and inspire their teams to do the same. These leaders do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. They put their ethics before the bottom line and as a result, they have dedicated teams that would do almost anything for them. So how do they do it? And how can you do it as well? We'll show you how to define your own ethical standards and start putting those standards into practice. Define Your Organization's Values To lead your team with character and integrity, you must set an example. You're the leader, remember? Your team looks to you. To begin, you must know your own values as well as your organization's values. For example, the global technology giant 3M is well known for its company values. Why? Because the entire team from top executives all the way down to the mailroom live and breathe the principles of honesty and integrity every day. 3M communicates clearly that it wants its staff to do things like keep promises, have personal accountability, and respect others in the workforce. Every leader in the company knows this, so they work by these rules. And as a result, everyone else follows. Hopefully, your company has clear rules about how it wants team members to act. As a leader, it's up to you to know these rules and codes of conduct and to make sure you enforce them. Your personal values are also important. If the company's written rules don't say that you must be fair to everyone, but this value is important to you then, of course, you're going to do it. Good leaders follow their personal values as well as organizational values. Ask yourself these questions:

What standards of behavior are really important to my company? What specific values do I admire in certain leaders? Do I identify with those values? Would I still live by those values, even if they put me at a competitive disadvantage?

Set the Tone Now that you know your company's core values, you can begin to set the tone and create the right environment for your team and your organization. Again, leading by example is the best way to do this. It's what you do, not what you say, that demonstrates to your team what you care about. So, if your company values honesty above all else, then make sure you demonstrate that by being honest with everyone around you. If

your company values free speech, then make sure you allow your team to communicate their ideas openly. Next, establish consequences for team members who don't follow corporate values. If you allow someone to come in late continuously without making up the hours, that won't set a good example for the rest of the team. You need good consequences as well. Set up some kind of reward system for team members who consistently act according to the company values. Storytelling is a great way to reinforce and communicate these values. If you know of team members or even clients who acted ethically in difficult situations, then tell their stories. This shows your staff that they can do it as well. To learn more, see the Mind Tools article on the art of business storytelling. By getting your team interested in ethical conduct, you communicate how important these values are to both you and your organization. Recognize Ethical Dilemmas Here's the scenario: You're in a meeting with other top executives, and you realize that one of your colleagues has changed the numbers in his report. As you listen, you realize that he's exaggerating how well his team is doing on a major project. Instead of saying that his team will finish in eight weeks, which he previously told you, he's promising to be done in only five weeks. And instead of saying that the project will help increase company earnings by 4%, which he also told you earlier, he's promising a 12% increase. What do you do? He's a close colleague and a personal friend. On the other hand, he's overstating how well his team is doing. Do you support him, or do you tell the truth to the other executives? We're often faced with tough choices like this in the workplace. Most of the time, however, ethical dilemmas aren't this obvious, and they can be hidden in ways that are hard to uncover. So, how do you recognize these dilemmas?

Identify "trigger" situations Certain situations seem to attract ethical dilemmas. Some of these are areas like purchasing, hiring, firing, promoting, and calculating bonuses. There can also be other unexpected situations. You could make a mistake will you admit it to your boss, or try to cover it up? Or you could discover that a colleague is acting unethically do you protect the person or tell someone?

By recognizing when these situations might occur, you can make the right decisions when and if something actually happens.

Prepare in advance Imagine yourself in the situations we just mentioned. What would you do if you

knew one of your colleagues was about to be fired, but you weren't legally allowed to tell her?

Putting yourself in these imaginary situations can help you work through your feelings and decide what you would do if the situation became real. In real life, you may have only seconds to reach a decision. Of course, you won't be able to imagine every possible ethical dilemma you might face, but this exercise WILL help you get to know your values, and it can prepare you for the decisions you may have to make.

Listen to your "inner voice" Your conscience often tells you that something isn't right, even if this is just a feeling of uneasiness with something. If you face a situation that makes you uncomfortable, or goes against one of your core values or beliefs, then make sure that you stop and think things rationally.

Reevaluate your decision before you act If you're in a difficult situation and you aren't sure what to do, make a decision. But before you act on that decision, ask yourself how you would feel if your actions were in the company newsletter or on the evening news for everyone to see. Would you be proud of what you did? If not, then reconsider your decision.

When in Doubt... At times, you'll make a decision but still wonder if you did the right thing. You may be uncomfortable, but these situations can teach you to trust yourself and your instincts. If you calm your anxiety and look logically at the situation, your instincts will often guide you in the right direction. Ethical living and leading takes courage and conviction. It means doing the right thing, even when the right thing isn't popular or easy. But when you make decisions based on your core values, then you tell the world that you can't be bought and you lead your team by example. Once you identify your company's core values as well as your own, you can start to set the tone with your team and your organization. Actions always speak louder than words, so make sure you do as you would wish others to do.

LEADERSHIP BY THE NEW GENERATION Bridging the age gap

The leader of your long-established team has retired, and his replacement is a young manager straight out of business school. She's anxious to get going in the organization with fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm and you hope that she'll bring some new life and energy into the company. As the weeks go by, however, you begin to see growing discomfort and conflict between the older staff and this new team member. Your older colleagues think "the new kid" is overconfident, pushy, and too anxious to leave right at 5:00 pm. The newcomer finds it hard to get support from her older colleagues. She's concerned that they can't (or won't) multitask, they're less confident with technology, and they're unwilling to share their hard-earned knowledge. As a result, cooperation is suffering. How can you bridge this generation gap? And why is this important? There's little doubt that the US workforce is at a unique point in history (we'll look at other countries shortly). As "Baby Boomers" (people born between 1946 and 1964) begin to retire, the new generation steps into their shoes.

Generation X, or Gen X (born between 1965 and 1976), and Generation Y, or Gen Y (also called "Millennials," born between 1977 and 1998), have values and work styles that are completely different from the baby boomers. Finding ways to bridge the gaps within this new multigenerational workforce takes great skill and it all starts with understanding how the new generation of leaders thinks, and what's important to them. In the US, the drop in birth rate in the post baby boom years means that, by 2010, the number of people in the 3544 middle management age-group will drop by nearly 20%. Many other major economies worldwide are facing similar demographic changes. One practical consequence of these statistics is that organizations will have to work much harder to attract and retain good people. New Generation leaders are a scarce commodity, and should be nurtured as such. Generations X and Y: What They Care About The new generations of leaders often have a completely different way of working from their older counterparts. (Keep in mind that we can't discuss all of the characteristics of these new groups in such a short space. Also, not everyone in these generations fits these characteristics: we're going to make some huge generalizations here, however hopefully these generalizations will be useful!) For example, while boomers usually view long hours as evidence of loyalty and hard work, Gen X and Y tend to try to have more work/life balance. They've seen their parents' lack of quality of life, and the lack of loyalty companies showed to these hard-working parents in the 1990s, and they're not impressed. They want flexible hours, more vacation time, continuous training, and telecommuting options. They expect to leverage technology to work efficiently instead of staying late in the office to get it all done. Boomers have traditionally felt that you have to "pay your dues" to your company and if you hate your job, that's just part of life. Generations X and Y typically don't accept this; they want rewarding, intellectually stimulating work and they don't want someone watching them too closely to check on their progress. These new groups are independent, creative, and forward thinking. They celebrate cultural diversity, technology, and feedback, and they prefer more of a "lattice" or individualized approach to management (as opposed to the traditional "corporate ladder"). The new generations also tend to like teamwork. Studies have shown that colleague relationships rank very high on Gen X and Y's list of priorities. Things like salary and prestige can often rank lower than boomers might expect, or might want for themselves. Some people argue that differences between generations aren't as strong as are suggested here, and that people's life stage is often more significant .Our opinion is that people are complex, and are affected by a range of different

factors; that life stage is, of course, important in the way that people think and behave; but that there are useful differences in attitude between different generations, and these can lead to sometimes-profound misunderstandings between people of different generations.

Attracting and Retaining the New Generations

Many have talked about how Gen X and Y seem always ready to leave one company and move onto something better, as soon as there's an opportunity. While it's true that they usually won't stay with a job if they're unhappy as boomers often did this doesn't mean they aren't serious or loyal. It simply means that if you want to keep the best and brightest leaders in your organization, you need to offer them an environment that's geared to their values. Quite a few Fortune 500 companies are changing their entire organizations to meet the wants and values of these new generations. Here are some examples:

A major U.S. chemical company has eliminated its "corporate ladder" approach to management. There are no bosses, and there's no top and bottom in the chain of command. Instead, authority is passed around through team leaders, so everyone in the company has a sense of equality and involvement.

A large U.S. accounting firm gives four weeks of vacation to every new hire (most U.S. companies offer only two weeks). This firm also offers new parents classes on how to reduce their working hours to spend more time with their families.

A software company in Silicon Valley has no set office hours. Staff come in and work when they choose. Everyone gets paid time off every month to do volunteer work, and they get a six-week sabbatical every four years.

If you think these dramatic policies would never work and would be too costly, then remember these are all very profitable, highly productive companies with low turnover. They've made new rules, and they're successful. Leadership Styles: So, what does all this say about the new generation's leadership styles? Well, it's easy to see that Gen X and Y are unlikely to lead in the same way the boomers did. The new leaders value teamwork and open communication. They'll encourage collaboration, and they won't give

direction and expect to be followed just because they're in charge. They want to understand their peers and other people's perspectives. They'll spend more time building relationships with their teams than their predecessors did. Because they value their family time, they'll also give their staff enough time for personal lives. As a result, corporate culture might become less rigid than it is now, bringing more flexibility and a sense of fun. As a result, if you're a member of a team whose leadership is being passed from an older generation leader to a new generation leader, you'll probably need to adjust to having more autonomy delegated to you, and to finding that the boss may not be around as much to check on things. This new generation values action, so they'll work more efficiently and productively to earn time off. They'll expect their team to work hard too, but they'll also know when it's time to leave the office and go play. One of the ways in which they gain this efficiency is by using technology. Although they themselves will usually get to grips with this easily, you may need to remind new generation leaders that other members of their team need more training and support than they do themselves, if they're to get up to the same speed with new applications. But they'll also follow a leader who has heart. So if you have new generation managers in your team, then you'll probably have to prove your worth before they'll fully support you. But once you show them that worth, they'll follow you all the way. Here are some things you can do in your company to ensure that your new generation of leaders wants to stay.

Offer ongoing training, especially if it teaches skills like organization, time management, leadership, and communication. People in Gen X and Y usually love to learn new things, so opportunities to grow are high on their list of priorities.

Increase nonmonetary benefits. Gen X and Y tend to value time as much as, if not more than, money. They have lives outside of work, and spending time with family and having fun are very important to them. Increase your vacation benefits and offer flexible working hours. These people are often busy parents who appreciate when a company understands that the traditional 9-to-5 day isn't always practical.

Give them freedom. Gen X and Y are often self-reliant and don't always look to a leader for direction. Their goal is to complete tasks in the most efficient way possible, while still doing them well. So don't force them to work under a management style that boomers often preferred, with the boss giving orders. Give them the freedom to make their own decisions.

Earn their loyalty and respect. Gen X and Y may not automatically be loyal to leaders, just because those

leaders are in charge. Younger staff want open communication and leaders who are supportive and worthy of being followed.

Treat women and men as equals. Gen X and Y grew up with mothers who were often focused on their careers as well as their families. They're used to viewing women and men equally, so be sure you compensate both genders equally. If women feel they're the target of discrimination, you'll quickly lose them.

Be "green." The new generations have grown up with Earth Day and the threat of global warming. They want to make less of an impact on the environment. Studies have shown that people who work for companies with green initiatives have higher job satisfaction, and turnover is usually much lower.

Leadership qualities for the 21st century 21st century leaders are finding it hard to cope with the increasingly complex and consistently fast paced nature of their businesses. Immersed in a world of volatile markets, leadership failures even among highly feted CEOs continue to rise as we enter the new millennium. The pressure is now on to find answers to the question: What qualities do we need in our 21st century leaders?' Many significant companies in the USA have seen a rise in CEO churn in recent years - but this phenomenon is not confined to the USA alone. Analysts say that 60 percent of all major companies worldwide have replaced their CEO at least once since 1995. Some researchers blame shareholder pressures, a lack of the right leadership or unwise CEO appointments. But maybe traditional leadership no longer operates effectively given the new business challenges where obsolete leadership models are less effective in dealing with current issues. Leaders for 21st century businesses Since the 1980s business structures have become less hierarchical - more flattened, more fluid. Today's businesses are driven by relationships that make the most of people's knowledge and enabled by networks with improved connectivity. These developments have meant businesses can respond better to their dynamic global

environments. Further, the emergence of extended enterprises, consisting of several independent but networked businesses, is creating new value webs' through collaboration and various forms of partnership. Changing markets, flatter organisations and new partnering arrangements have given 21st century leaders many roles, multiple stakeholders and an increasingly fragmented job where they continually face trade-offs in time, energy and focus. Their challenges include:

matching their leadership style to a fast-moving, complex, technology enabled business holding multiple perspectives without being overloaded working with others in virtual teams, often in other countries articulating a compelling future vision guiding disparate groups of people to deliver business goals cutting unnecessary overheads today while building for tomorrow.

This complex world demands new leadership beliefs and behaviours - not just from single CEO leaders, or even the whole top team - but from leaders distributed throughout the organisation, leaders who can motivate, empower, articulate and innovate. New leadership qualities for new businesses The requirements business is placing on its leaders are constantly changing - evidenced by an increasing number of books and articles on leadership since the 1960s. Most leaders recognise today's challenges but do not know how to respond because they are unable to think differently about their role. Traditional leadership attitudes and behaviours have trapped them in an outdated meaning of leadership where their thoughts and actions are ineffective in dealing with 21st century complexity. A blended 21st century leadership style is emerging with a new set of leadership qualities:

brings new perspectives and confronts threats head on seeks new solutions outside predictable areas open-minded and curious about their environment mobilises their company to take advantage of new market opportunities views business as a networks of communities and works across boundaries uses collaboration and partnerships to maximise sustainable growth.

Leading into the new millennium Building 21st century leadership qualities means acknowledging that leadership still means showing people the way. But it also means clearing the path so others in the business can lead too. 21st century leaders know the importance of a context for action - and that leadership attitudes and behaviours determine the context in which others will act. Traditional leaders believe their authority comes from a previous track record of delivering business results. Their hierarchical position gives them confidence to tell others what to do and how to act in pursuit of business goals. Their behavioural responses reflect these beliefs - but these beliefs can be recalibrated to help leaders loosen the constraints of outmoded thinking to act in new ways that are more effective in a discontinuous, complex environment. But are 21st century leaders born or can they be made? Leaders have always been able to develop their skills through coaching, seminars and training course - and gaining 21st century leadership skills is no different. With a more effective set of leadership qualities, 21st century leaders are less reliant on how things should be' to approach business challenges and opportunities with an enquiring mind - one that makes room for new possibilities. By embracing complexity calmly and confidently they are better able to lead their businesses into the new millennium and deliver sustainable growth that increases business value A 21st Century Leader understands that if you want engaged employees, you must develop the individual. It is this understanding that leads the 21st Century Leader to a focus on self. Not a selfish focus but a focus on self for the benefit of others. The Brunson Level II Coaching Program and the Brunson Leadership Development Program for Groups focus on the following key skills for Leadership effectiveness and organizational impact:

Must Have Leadership Skills For The 21st Century If you want to make a difference at home, at work or in your community, you need these skills.

Good communication skills. The ability to work as part of a team. Comfortable with change. Flexible. These are all skills good leaders have. But are they enough? Perhaps more important, are they still valid for the 21st century? We live and work in a rapidly changing environment..Today's world is different. The stakes are high. The challenges and issues you face are changing at a rapid speed." All this is certainly true. But are the required skills changing? "Leadership skills for the 21st century are the same as were necessary in the 20th," "Leaders need to demonstrate character, communicate clearly, coach frequently, execute for results and always lead by example." Who needs leadership skills? We all do. You don't have to have a formal title or people reporting to you to be a leader.. "While we do not have to be in charge of groups, businesses or governments, we each have an obligation to make a difference, to contribute actively to a community and to work in the public sphere to create great capacity, confidence and continuity," "If more people accept this role, crises will be met with leadership at several levels. Leadership vacuums will be less common. While there are literally dozens of traits that leadership experts point to as "must haves," certain skills keep coming up again and again. Here are 10 "must have" leadership skills for the 21st century: 1. Character: It is number one, "People have to be trustworthy." Especially in today's environment where leaders frequently are being taken to task for their lack of character. "Character is the root of good leadership "By character I mean the values and beliefs the leader brings to the workplace. They should be authentic - that is, rooted in integrity, honor and ethics." "Don't play to win,". "Playing to win at any price is bad business over the long term - especially since many companies are creating an unethical culture." 2. Vision. "Having a vision and being able to communicate that vision," says Brody, is another critical trait for today's leaders. -You need to be able to articulate your vision. You need to be able to energize others." That, she says, requires courage, "because sometimes you've got to do the unpopular thing because it's in the best interest of

the organization, shareholder or member." "Leaders inspire people by having a vision, taking a personal interest in their people and providing frequent feedback related to the vision,". "Employees will do amazing things when they are inspired by a vision and when their leader gives them praise and recognition for a job well clone. 3. Passion:." "There used to be a tithe when we thought we needed to have charismatic leaders. And there are times when the charisma really does work. But we're beginning to see that the companies that are built to last don't necessarily have charismatic leaders. They have leaders who respect others, who listen, who are confident." Charisma "doesn't hurt,", but "the charisma should not be in lieu of talent and commitment." 4. Communication is still a top-rated skill when it comes to leadership effectiveness. "All leadership is relationships, and all relationships thrive via communication," says Cashman. "in the 20th century, results were enough, but leadership in the 21st century will require great results plus great interpersonal skills to succeed." "Communication is essential to leadership,". "In fact, "it drives the entire leadership process from vision and strategy through delegation, coaching, recognition and evaluation." 5. Coaching Skills. In addition to communication, "coaching is the mantra of management. Managers are more and more required to support their people with resources and advice. This is not micromanagement," , "It's real management." 6. The Ability to Create Value. What do you have to contribute? How do you create value for your organization? "Leaders of the 21st century need to go beyond achieving financial results to achieving enduring value for all constituencies served," Execution for results is the outcome of successful leadership. It is why you do what you do." 7. Flexibility. How many industries have you worked in? How many types of positions have you held? "Flexibility is more paramount in our global and faster-paced economy," says Baldoni. "But," he adds, "every age

has required it. Today we are merely accelerating." Flexibility means more than the willingness to change companies or careers, of course. Stephen Fairley is a business coach and president of Today's Leadership Coaching, Inc. in Chicago. Successful leaders, says Fairley, "demonstrate interpersonal flexibility and a strong sense of emotional intelligence. They can quickly recognize when to use their leadership skill set, their managerial skill set or their coaching skill set." 8. Comfort with Ambiguity. Change is the only constant, some have said. The ability to navigate change - and deal with ambiguity - is a critical skill for today's leaders. "The increase in workplace diversity, globalization and the entrance of Gen Xers has significantly impacted how leaders must use all different kinds of interpersonal skills to continue to be effective," says Fairly.. As that transition takes place, it becomes more and more difficult for people to understand the purpose and meaning of their work. So effectively managing this ambiguity becomes of prime importance to leaders." 9. Collaboration. "With the advent of globalization, rapid technology change and general turbulence in the world, leadership theory predicts that a more collaborative approach is likely to be called for than the traditional command-and-control style. Leaders are likely to need well-developed emotional and cultural intelligence, in addition to cognitive intelligence and a keen understanding of the business they are in," she says. The new leadership model has the leader at the center of concentric circles of universes, flowing out from their inner circle and business to the nation and to the world at large." "Twenty-first century leaders might benefit from thinking of themselves as being in the center of a web rather than on top of a pyramid," "Successful leaders will be those who can create, sustain and modify effective human capital and organizational strategies. As the business world becomes more horizontal and network-based, leaders will need to rely more on inspiration and influence rather than the exercise of commandand-control power." 10. Knowledge Seekers. It is better to think of leadership as a role for which individuals can prepare themselves. When citizens discover their passion, are ready to take a risk to pursue it and to try new things interpersonally, they generally become leaders." Successful leaders don't take leadership for granted. They work to cultivate leadership skills and are lifelong

learners. "Read as many books on leadership as possible.Read biographies of great leaders, considering their different styles. Observe the leaders you work with. What's working for them? What's not working? "Volunteer for leadership responsibility in areas outside of the work environment. Get on a board. Work with a not-for-profit. Nothing beats doing. There's no one right way to lead, but nothing beats hands-on experience. Nobody ever feels ready enough - so just do it!"

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project Management is a well-established approach to managing and controlling the introduction of new initiatives or organizational changes. Projects are finite in length, usually one-time pieces of work involving a number of activities that must be completed within a given time frame, and often on a fixed budget. Common examples of projects are construction of a building, introduction of a new product, installation of a new piece of machinery in a manufacturing plant,

creation of a new software tool, or the design and launch of a new advertising campaign. While the very simplest projects can be managed easily by applying common sense and just getting on with things, projects that are more complex need a great deal of planning, and benefit from a formal, disciplined management approach. From making sure that activities will actually meet the specified need, to devising a workable schedule, developing systems for reporting progress, and managing requests for changes all of these issues require thoughtful consideration. Managing projects well requires a great deal of time, skill, and finesse. There are many sides to project management and this is what makes it so interesting and demanding. Project managers are expected to take an uncertain event and make a certain promise to deliver. They are also expected to do this within a specified time and within a limited budget.

How Good Are Your Project Management Skills?

Whether or not you hold the official title of project manager, chances are you'll be called upon to lead some sort of project at some time. From initiating a procedural change in your department to opening a branch office in a different city, projects come in all shapes and sizes. As the complexity increases, the number of details you have to monitor also increases. However, the fundamentals of managing a project from start to finish are usually very similar. This short quiz helps you determine how well you perform in the eight key areas that are important to a successful project. The quiz is aimed at people who manage projects of a significant size, but who are not full-time project managers. However, everyone can use their answers to make sure they're applying best practices. How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? Instructions: For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don't worry if some questions seem to score in the 'wrong direction'. When you are finished, please click the 'Calculate My Total' button at the bottom of the test.

Statement 1 I communicate what needs to be done by what deadline, and expect the people to whom I assign the work to be responsible for breaking down the work packages into smaller and more manageable pieces. 2 When I choose suppliers, I base my decision on their ability to deliver on time as well as on price. 3 I prepare a specific timeline and sequence of activities, and I use this schedule to manage the overall project to ensure its timely completion. 4 When a project begins, I work with its sponsor to negotiate and agree specific deliverables. 5 Project teams are only temporary, so I dont worry too much about

Not at all

Rarely

Some times

Often

Very Often

personalities. I select team members based on the technical skills I need. 6 At the start of a project, I formally outline what, why, who, how, and when with a Project Initiation Document so everyone can understand how the elements of the project fit together. 7 I consider a variety of cost alternatives when developing my original project budget plan. 8 I outline clear expectations for the project team, and I manage their individual and collective performance as part of the overall project evaluation process. 9 When a project gets behind schedule, I work with my team to find a solution rather than assign blame.

10 I identify as many potential project risks as I can, and I develop a plan to manage or minimize each one of them, large or small. 11 Because projects involve so many variables that change so often, I let the plan develop on its own, as time passes, for maximum flexibility. 12 I use customer/stakeholder requirements as the main measure of quality for the projects I manage. 13 I routinely monitor and reevaluate significant risks as the project continues. 14 I give people a deadline to complete their project work, and then I expect them to coordinate with others if and when they need to. 15 I keep all project

stakeholders informed and up-to-date with regular meetings and distribution of all performance reports, status changes, and other project documents. 16 I define specifically what the stakeholders need and expect from the project, and I use these expectations to define and manage the project's scope. 17 Forecasting costs is more art than science, so I include extra funds in the budget and hope that Im under cost at the end. 18 I present project status information in an easyto-use and easy-to-access format to meet stakeholders' information needs. 19 Delivering on time and on budget are the most important things for me.

20 When I contract for goods or services, I often choose suppliers based on familiarity and the past relationship with my organization. Total = 0 Score Interpretation Score Comment Oh dear. Right now, you may be focusing mostly on day-to-day activities rather than the bigger picture. If you spend more time on planning and preparation, you'll see a big improvement in your project outcomes. 20-46 And you'll have more time to spend on productive work rather than dealing with last-minute surprises. As part of planning more for your projects, take time to create a development plan for the specific skills on which you scored lowest (you'll see these below). Your project management skills are OK, and when projects are relatively simple, your outcomes are often good. However, the more complex the projects you manage, the less control you will have and the more 47-74 likely you are to deliver below expectations. Take time to improve your planning skills and prepare for the unexpected. The more time you spend on your up-front planning, the better your project outcomes will be. (Read below to start.) 75You are an accomplished project manager. Few things

100

that happen will upset you, or hurt your confidence in your ability to lead the project to a successful end. Use your mastery to help others on your team develop their project management skills. Lead by example, and provide opportunities for other team members to manage parts of the project. Also, be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. Just as you review a project at its completion, make sure that you review your own performance, and identify what you can do better next time. (Read belowto start.)

Project Integration (Statements 6, 11) At the beginning of a project, it's important to develop a solid understanding of the project's goals, and how the various elements will fit together for a successful outcome. Start by producing a Business Requirements Analysis, and then develop a comprehensive Project Initiation Document, which covers the basic project needs and outcomes, so that everyone can understand the project's goals. To prepare this critical, high-level document, you need to understand the phases and processes of project management. This overview will help you become better prepared for what's ahead. Understanding the planning cycle is also important, because it helps you appreciate how important your project plan is to a successful outcome. Scope Management (Statements 4, 16) Projects have a nasty habit of expanding as they go along, making it impossible to hit deadlines. To control this scope creep, it's essential to define the scope at the very start of your project based on the Business Requirements Analysis, and then manage it closely against this signed-off definition. For more on how to do this, see our article on scope control. Schedule Management (Statements 1, 3, 9, 14) A project's scope can easily grow, and so can the time needed to complete it. For a project to be completed

successfully, despite all of the unknowns, it's important to clearly define the sequence of activities, estimate the time needed for each one, and build in sufficient contingency time to allow for the unexpected. It's also important to monitor full completion of each activity it's shocking how long it sometimes takes for an activity to move from 80% complete to 100% complete! With this information, you can develop a Project Schedule and then begin breaking it down into very specific pieces of work using a Work Breakdown Structure. A schedule often isn't enough, particularly when different people do different things and their work output becomes the input for another piece of work. Cost Management (Statements 7, 17) To determine what a project will cost, you must be systematic with your estimating, budgeting, and controlling. Also, be aware that many project decisions will have an impact on cost. Therefore, it's important to understand what's driving your costs and to develop a system for monitoring the project's financial performance. Managing project finances requires many tools and strategies, and it's very important to set up a reliable control system to keep track of the costs and required changes. Quality Management (Statements 4, 12, 19) Projects must be delivered not only on time and on budget, but also to specification (this is what quality means in project management). As part of this, ensure that you actively manage project benefits. By continuously referring to the benefits that the project will provide, you keep client quality at the forefront and you won't waste precious time and resources trying to achieve an inappropriate level of quality. An effective project manager knows the importance of checking that project outcomes are consistent with needs. The Deming Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) andBusiness Testing are important tools for this, as they both force you to consider the needs of the end users. People Management (Statements 5, 8) The people on your project team can make or break the final outcome. Here, getting the right mix of interpersonal and political skills is just as important as the right technical skills. To help your new team start working together effectively as soon as possible, develop a Team Charter and outline performance expectations. Use wellinformed task allocation and appropriate team management skills to keep the project team on track and working productively. And be prepared to help people through the Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing stages

that so many teams go through. Communication (Statements 15, 18) As with most situations, effective project communication means communicating with the right people at the right time and in the right way. To do this, Stakeholder Management is essential. When you analyze your stakeholders, you identify who must be kept informed in full, and who needs less intensive communication. This can save you a lot of time, and helps you maintain good relationships with people involved in the project. Project Dashboards are great for presenting project updates in a way that people can quickly understand. For longer projects that require periodic status reports,Milestone Reporting is effective for capturing the essentials of a project's status. Risk Management (Statements 10, 13) Project managers must understand which of the risks to their plans are significant. An Impact/Probability Chart will help with this. From there, develop a plan for monitoring and controlling the major risks involved in your project. Using your Risk Analysis, develop options to reduce risks, prepareContingency Plans, and decide who is responsible for which parts of risk response. Project Procurement (Statements 2, 20) Unless your project is in-house, external suppliers will generally have a large impact on your costs. Suppliers will also affect whether the project delivers on time and to specification. Take the time to define your needs in a Request for Proposal document, and then use an appropriate Procurement Management approach to select the best supplier.

For more on these project management skills take a look at the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

General Project Management Skills (Statements 4, 9) This quiz also highlights some general skills that you should be aware of while developing your project

management skills. Negotiation specifically, Integrative Negotiation is very important for dealing with suppliers and getting the in-house resources you need, when you need them. Conflict resolution is another important general skill. From resolving conflict within your project team to managing conflict that arises during negotiation, this is a fundamental skill for project managers. And, ultimately, your problem-solving skillsare essential. They will not only improve negotiation and conflict resolution skills, but also help with risk management, time management, and quality management. Project management is a complex process that requires a wide range of skills. Whether you manage projects on a regular basis or only once or twice a year, the skills learned in project management are applicable to many managerial and leadership positions. Understanding client needs and meeting their expectations in a timely manner are universal requirements. Use the information you gain here to improve specific project management skills as well as your general workplace skills.

Project Management Phases and Processes

Structuring your project

For all but the smallest projects, experienced project managers use well-established project management methodologies. These are often published systems such as PMBOK(Project Management Body of Knowledge) or PRINCE2 but they can also be in-house methodologies that are specific to the organization.

These approaches have some differences in emphasis, and they tend to use slightly different terminology, but they generally share two key features: projects are delivered in stages, and certain common project management processes run across these stages. This is illustrated in Figure 1.

. Project Phases Phases, or stages, are very important for project managers. By thinking in terms of phases, you can ensure that the deliverables produced at the end of each phase meet their purpose, and that project team members (or sub-teams) are properly prepared for the next phase. You identify the required deliverables for each phase from the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for it. The WBS is drafted as part of your preparation activities, and then validated by the rest of the project team. At the end of each phase, someone signs off on the deliverables from that phase. (In your preparation phase, think through who needs to approve each deliverable. Approvers may include the project board, project sponsor, or key stakeholders.) Once the deliverables are approved, the phase is completed and the project team can pass

through the "gate" to the next phase. This is why the term "stage/gate" is used so often in project management. The exact phases, and the order in which they're completed, may vary slightly, depending on what you need to achieve with your project. The phases are as follows:

Project strategy and business case. Preparation. Design. Development and testing. Training and business readiness. Support and benefits realization. Project close.

Let's explore each phase in more detail.

Project strategy and business case In this phase, you define the overall project business requirement, and propose the approach or methodology that you want to use to address it.

The gate at the end of this phase is the approval of your high-level project proposal and of the business case that validates the approach you want to use. You must also show that you can achieve the project's goal within the required timelines and budget.

Tip: Make sure that you review the business case at the end of each project phase to ensure that its still valid. If anything has changed, revise it as needed.

Preparation Here, you work with key stakeholders and project team members who have already been identified to establish and start the project:

Complete a high-level Work Breakdown Structure. Determine the project's high-level plan at the milestone level. (Work with appropriate project team members to produce detailed plans at each subsequent phase. This ensures that they have a sense of ownership of these plans.)

Identify and recruit project members. Produce the Project Initiation Document. Select third parties to use in the early project phases (for example, IT subcontractors or partners).

Put actions in place to secure key resources. (For example, reserve rooms for the training phase, and allocate desks and PCs/printers for the project team.)

Design Start the work involved with creating the project's deliverables, using the project strategy, business case, and Project Initiation Document as your starting point. Then work with relevant stakeholders to develop the designs of the main deliverables. In larger projects, you may use business analysts to help you with this.

You probably have a project board or project sponsor who is responsible for signing off the overall design, but make sure you also get input from other stakeholders as well. This helps build business ownership of the project deliverables.

If changes to processes are required, use a Flow Chart or Swim Lane Diagram to create a detailed map of how things will work. At this stage, you must do everything you can to think through and deal with project issues before you start to build project deliverables problems are almost always easier and cheaper to fix at design stage than they are once the detailed work of implementation has started.

Select stakeholders carefully for the detailed design phase. A good detailed design is more likely to lead to a good project deliverable. If the detailed design is poor, the project deliverables are much less likely to meet requirements!

Tip: For projects that have significant technical risks and uncertainties, consider including a feasibility or proof-of-concept phase. This increases your certainty that what you're planning (probably at great expense) will work, while allowing you to cancel the project at minimum cost if the proof-of-concept fails.

Development and testing With all of the planning and designing complete, the project team can now start to develop and build the components of the project output whether it's a piece of software, a bridge, or a business process.

As part of this phase, you need to test these components thoroughly to confirm that they work as they should. Training and business readiness This stage is all about preparing for the project launch or "go live." Do the following things during this phase:

Train users. Put in place ongoing support. Transfer data to new systems. Identify what's required for the project to be effective from the launch date, and ensure that you adequately address this.

Support and benefits realization Make sure you provide transitional support to the business after the project is launched, and consider what's required before your team members are reassigned. Project teams are often assigned to other work too soon after the project has gone "live", meaning that project benefits are often not fully realized.

Monitor the delivery of project benefits. You can use this to promote your project or to give you information about other actions needed to ensure that the project is successful.

You can monitor benefits as part of "business as usual" activities, and you should (ideally) continue to do so after the project is closed.

Project close Closing a project is not the most exciting part of the project lifecycle, but, if you don't do it properly, you may obstruct the ongoing delivery of benefits to the organization. Make sure you do the following:

Complete and store documentation. Carry out a Post-Implementation Review, so that you and your colleagues can use the experience you've gained in future projects.

Use your business connections to reassign project team members to appropriate roles in the organization. You don't want to lose the experience and knowledge that they've gained from working on the project.

Project Management Processes The key project management processes, which run though all of these phases, are:

Phase management. Planning. Control. Team management. Communication. Procurement. Integration.

Let's look at each process in more detail.

Phase management Here, you ensure that you adequately satisfy the conditions for completing each phase, and for starting the next one. To do this, make sure that you fully understand the "gates", or deliverables that must be completed and approved by the appropriate stakeholders before you can exit a phase. Deliverables and sign-off requirements are usually identified in the Project Initiation Document, Planning Carry out high-level planning for the whole project at the start of the project, then do more detailed planning for each phase at the start of each phase. Ensure that you have the right people, resources, methodologies, and supporting tools in place for each planning phase, so that you can deliver the project on time, on budget, and to appropriate quality standards.

Control It's essential to control scope, cost, and issues; and to manage time, risks, and benefits effectively. Create reports that contain the information you need to create an accurate picture of how things are proceeding. A common way of doing this is to use a Project Dashboard.

Team management As project manager, you are responsible for managing the project team. Working on a project is often different from most "business as usual" activities, and project work may require a different approach and set of skills. As such, you'll probably need specific project management training and support. And there are additional complexities in managing team members who have project responsibilities as well as other roles at the same time (Communication Make sure that you're clear about who is responsible for communicating to team members, the project board, the different stakeholders within the business, and relevant third parties. Inadequate communication is

a frequent problem area for projects, and it needs considerable attention to communicate well.

Procurement This is a specialist area. Many projects hire third parties to manage purchasing, particularly when it involves IT systems. Managing these third parties is often the role of the project manager.

Integration Many projects do not stand on their own within an organization they often impact other areas of the business. Make sure that you consider how your project will interface with other projects or functions.

Formal project management involves following an established project management methodology. In turn, most of these methodologies follow a set of common project phases, with common processes that run across each phase.

Why Do Projects Fail?

Learning How to Avoid Project Failure

We can probably all think of projects that have "failed" perhaps processes got worse rather than better, maybe they were cancelled because of cost overruns, or perhaps systems were launched with fundamental errors. How do you know when and why a project has failed? In many cases, the reason for failure is obvious. However, the definition of failure isn't always clear: one project with a significant delay

might be described as a failure; yet another, with a similar delay, might be seen as a stunning success. In this article, we'll define project failure, and explore the factors that cause some projects to fail. Definition of Project Failure A project is considered a failure when it has not delivered what was required, in line with expectations. Therefore, in order to succeed, a project must deliver to cost, to quality, and on time; and it must deliver the benefits presented in the business case. The requirements for success are clear and absolute right? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Because the second part of our definition of success is that the project must be delivered "in line with expectations." If key stakeholders agreed that a project had to exceed its initial budget, the project may still be considered a success. Likewise, if a project delivered everything that was in the detailed project designs, it may still be considered a failure if it didn't include vital elements that the key stakeholders needed. This doesn't seem fair, but project success and failure isn't just about the facts, nor is it simply about what was delivered. It's also, crucially, about how the project is perceived. Reasons for Project Failure Here are some of the main reasons why projects fail:

The wrong business requirements have been addressed If your project is set up to deliver the "wrong thing," it may be considered a failure even if everything is delivered on time, within budget, and to the required quality. This seems harsh. But if your project doesn't deliver what the organization really needs, this will inevitably negatively affect how it's perceived. This is why it's so important to conduct a thorough business requirements analysis.

It's not possible to deliver the business case If your business case can't be delivered, then you have an impossible task. To make things worse, after the business case is approved, delivery of other things then becomes dependent on your project. This makes changing your project's deadlines, budgets and expectations more difficult.

For example, once you've promised to deliver a new airport baggage management system, airlines may schedule additional flights for shortly after the system's launch, so that they

can take advantage of the new capacity. If the baggage system doesn't work, or if it has major problems during testing, it may be hard to convince senior managers to allow the project to be delayed, because they will have to give up promised increased revenue.

When you write your business case, make sure you think through the project requirements in detail, and identify what's needed to ensure that you can deliver those requirements. Don't just list assumptions make sure you explore them thoroughly. Review other, similar projects, so that you don't forget any major items. If you're delivering a new system, review your hardware and interface requirements. If you have major risks, include sufficient contingency resources (people, budget, and time) to manage those risks appropriately. Remember that implementing change is hard!

Be realistic, and be ready to have some difficult conversations. For instance, your CEO may be disappointed that he can't have what he wants before the year end, or key users may say that they really need a fully featured product at the end of phase one. However, it will be a lot harder to have these conversations at a future date, when your project is in trouble!

In many cases, business case documentation is written before a project manager is assigned. If you're the incoming project manager, make sure you don't simply accept these documents as they are! You're responsible for delivering the project, so be sure to review the business case. Validate assumptions, and identify any gaps or areas that need more detail. If difficult conversations are needed, have them now. Once deadlines, requirements, and budgets are set, expectations are much more difficult to change!

Governance is poor Few projects ever start without a sponsor. This is the person who has identified the need for change in an area of the business, and who is committed to making that change happen. He or she plays a vital role in ensuring the project's success. A good sponsor can make a mediocre project fantastic, and a poor sponsor can delay and frustrate a fantastic project team.

The project sponsor is supported by the project's governance bodies, usually in the form of a steering group. These governance roles are essential: they provide direction,

guidance, and critical review of the project and its progress. As project manager, you're involved in the day-to-day running of the project, but governance groups can take a step back and look at the project from a different perspective. They can ask difficult questions about progress and performance. They may see things that you've overlooked. However, they can also support you by providing contacts and insights that help you get things done, and by providing "political cover" when you need it.

Project managers don't usually have any influence over who their project sponsor is. Sponsors either self-select, or they're chosen because of their position in the organization. However, you often have more influence over who is in your steering group. As such, if you know that your project sponsor lacks passion for the project, or if the sponsor doesn't like to say no to people who keep trying to expand the project scope, then make sure you balance this with tougher or more engaged steering group members.

Implementation is poor If you deliver your project competently, you'll avoid poor implementation right? Unfortunately, it's not that clear. Delivery can be complex. You need to manage risks, issues, and scope; manage your team; and communicate with stakeholders.

Delivering change is hard, and not everything is in your control. Therefore, being competent isn't enough for good implementation, but it's a good start! There are a lot of tools available to help you.

People lose focus on the project's benefits Projects are based on a list of benefits that must be delivered. For example, you may need a faster customer service process, you may need to produce products more cheaply, or you may need to improve the quality of your service. These benefit statements should be refined so that they're clear, concise, and quantified.

From these benefit statements, a set of "things to do" is generated. For example, you may need to consult customers, redesign products, or implement a new system. The outcome of this is a business case document that analyzes the project in terms of costs, and of the benefits will be delivered.

The project team then focuses on detailed planning, and on delivering the line items in the project plan building a new system, developing training packs, mapping out new processes, and so on. At this stage, the team may forget about the benefit requirements.

This often results in a project deliverable that's well built, but doesn't provide the necessary benefits. For example, if the project plan focuses on designing and building a system, you could get a fantastic system, but one that's not being used by the business.

To avoid this problem, adopt a benefits management approach throughout the life of the project, and remember the need to deliver the required benefits when you're planning and delivering your project.

The environment changes This is probably the trickiest area. If the business's needs change, then your business case can become outdated before you've actually completed the project.

If you're working in an environment that's changing fast, you can help reduce the risks by doing the following:

Making timely decisions If the project is clearly not going to be able to deliver the revised requirements, don't ignore this. The sooner you communicate this, and the sooner you make a decision about the project's future, the better.

Considering smaller projects It's more difficult to change direction in a large cruise ship than in a tugboat. So, think about whether a proposed project's scope and delivery timeline are appropriate within your business environment. Delivering projects in smaller pieces is not always appropriate, but it's worth considering.

Managing expectations Just because you cancel a project does not automatically mean that the project is considered a failure. This depends on many factors, including how you manage the involvement of key project stakeholders in the decision-making process.

For a project to be successful, it's not enough simply to manage your project competently, and deliver a good quality product. To avoid failure, make sure you have identified the right business requirements, created an achievable business case, put strong project governance into place, managed a high-quality implementation, focused on benefits, and monitored your changing environment. Above all, be sure to manage the expectations of your stakeholders, so that they stay supportive. After all, these are the people who will declare your project to be successful or otherwise.

Project Close Activities

Ending Projects Properly

Projects usually have a clearly defined end a bridge opens for public use, a product launches, or new software rolls out to everyone in your organization. As you approach the 'go live' stage and you're getting ready to hand the new process over to 'business as usual', are you looking forward to relaxing for a while, or are you already planning your next project? Either way, before you move on to new challenges, it's important you don't ignore the final step of project closure. This doesn't just mean dotting the 'I's, and crossing the 'T's, or tying up any loose ends. It means capturing the lessons you've learned during the project, so that your team or other departments within the organization can benefit from them next time. And, it also means taking stock of what you've achieved, and celebrating your successes. The steps you need to take to formalize the project's acceptance are sometimes called the 'close project process.' This process verifies that the project has delivered the required outcomes, and that stakeholder expectations have been met. It also makes sure that everyone involved in the project knows how to move forward. Without formal closure, there's a risk that issues may arise, and no one will be assigned to resolve them. Project closure has many different elements, and the best way to carry out a closure is to plan for it from the start. This way, you have the opportunity to decide which criteria you'll use to show

that the project is actually completed, and you can budget time and resources for the closing activities. As with all goals, it's important to know what you need to do to cross the project finish line. Sometimes, a project is cancelled before it's finished. When this happens, some parts of project closure become irrelevant. However, other elements may still need to be completed.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Leadership is about skills not birthright. While some traits help, the truth is most of your leadership success will be explained by hard work and your mastery of the skills described in this book. The cumulative effect. Stop looking for home runs and remember that leadership success is best defined as the cumulative effect of many small things done correctly over time. Marathon not a sprint. Do not attempt to master all of this over night. Get it right a piece at a time and assume a good pace, but one that you can maintain. You want to finish the marathon. Keep the conversation alive. You personally have the power to not only continue your professional development, but that of others as well. Keep these topics alive and actively considered by your leadership team.

BIBLOGRAPHY Website:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TCS.htm http://www.leadership-with-you.com/steve-jobs-leadership.html http://blogs.hbr.org/krishnamurthy/2008/06/bill-gates-entrepreneur-manage.html http://www.zainbooks.com/books/management/leadership-and-teammanagement_1_introduction-organization-the-stage-for-leadership.html http://www.drdewett.com/ Books: Reforms 2020-The Indian express magazine Leadership @ Infoys The Little Black Book- Todd Dewett, Ph.D.