Leadership: An Essential Skill

I think that this is a great Ted talk for everyone whether you are good at talking in front of people or not. Julian Treasure talks about how to speak in front of people so they actually listen. Julian says there are seven things that shouldn't talk about when you want people to listen. The seven things you shouldn't talk about are gossip, judging, negativity, complaining, excuses, lying, and dogmatism. If you talk about any of these topics while trying to speak powerfully most likely people will be less interested in what you are trying to say. Julian says in order to have a powerful speech you must follow the guidelines of HAIL: Honesty- being clear and straight, Authenticity- being yourself, Integrity- being your word, and Love- wishing people well. Julian says if you follow these guidelines not only will people listen to you but your speech will be much more powerful and less boring. The final guideline Julian gives us is the tool box to increase the power of your speech. ...

This Ted talk by Michele Sullivan is an inspiring story about her life growing up shorter than most people and the struggle she goes through for simple everyday tasks. Even though she persevers Michele realizes she needs help with some things like climbing stairs if there are no ramps or help with bags on an airplane. To do these tasks she needs to ask others for help. She is very grateful for all the help she gets from others and has had wonderful conversations with all of them. The last few minutes of Michele's Ted talk she talks about how asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. Michele says she would be no where without the help of her family, friends, and many strangers that helped her along the way. We will all need help some where along the way and Michele explains that it is just as important to be there for others when they are in need. Michele then says the only shoes you can walk in are your own. You may not know what struggle is going on in someones life. With Mic...

I found another great TED Talk, this time by Arianna Huffington, where she simply talks about how sleep I such an important aspect of being a leader. I know this subject may seem a little corny, but the fact is we simply don't get enough sleep and it truly impacts our lives. Some college students are staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning and then waking up at 8 for class and then go about their days why no energy or will to learn. Arianna learned this the hard way for herself when one day after not getting enough sleep she fainted and hit her head because of sleep deprivation. Arianna believes that just because someone has a high IQ does not make you a great leader. A great leader is someone who can see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic. In other words someone who gets more sleep than someone else will enjoy life better and be more aware, become a better leader and succeed in their careers. 

The other day for a pre-work class assignment we had a family member or someone close to you take the Myers Briggs test. The catch was that whoever you had take the test had to take it in the perspective of you! For myself, I had my younger sister, Danielle take it. She has grown up with me and knows me very well so I figured she would get the same result as I did!  When I first took the test my results were ESTJ which stan ds for extraversion, sensing, thinking, judgment and is also know as "the executive." ESTJ's are e xcellent administrators, unsurpassed at managing things or people. I totally agree with this results. I think that I definitely represent these traits and I have also taken this test several times in the past and have gotten the same result each time which backs up my answers. As for my sister, her results for me were E SFP, which stands for e xtrovert, sensing, feeling, perception and is also know as "the entertainer." ES...

Since my last post was on four ways stop spot a bad leader I'd do the opposite this time and talk about the five ways to spot a good leader. In this particular article there are five ways instead of four for some reason. But, anyways here they are, a good leader is spotted when: They have followers, they have a bias to action, they are a better listener than talker, they have emotional talent, and they have a multiplier of their people's potential. The first way stop a leader is when the leader has followers. Do people show up when a meeting is called? Do they pay attention to the leader? I think that is this is important because without followers, it may mean that they do not take this leader seriously enough. The next, way to spot a leader is when they have a bias to action. This means they've executed, failed, and learned before and then succeed. The leaders help their team from chatting and talking and then brought them to action and doing work productively. Leade...

Today I found an article on how to spot a bad leader. I found this interesting because lately in prior classes we've talked about what is often found in great leaders but we have not touched upon on when to know a leader is bad. According to the article on Psychology Today there are four attributes of a bad leader: use of threats and punishments, use of fear tactics, self-serving use of power, and creating factions: in-groups vs out-groups. A bad leader is spotted easily when the use threats or punishments used. It is considered very ineffective and the leaders goal is just to stop an unwanted behavior. The person being punished may feel hurt or unwanted and it brings down morale. The only way punishment is effective is if is immediately after each behavior or violation. It is also effective if the leader can actually follow through with a punishment. For example "do that again and I'll fire you." Next a bad leader is spotted when fear tactics are used. Leaders wi...