Leadership Assessment




What makes a good leader?

“Organizations are like automobiles. They don’t run themselves except downhill. They need people to make them work – and not just any people but the right people. The effectiveness of an organization’s employees determines how the organizational machine will perform. In this process, the leader is the one who shows fellow travelers the way by walking ahead. If the leadership dimension is not in place a company simply cannot be successful”. Kets de Vries (2001)

How can you assess leadership abilities?

Many organizations are using psychological assessments to determine leadership suitability. The results of a psychological assessment are not enough on their own though. The results must align with the competencies selected by the organisation. Leaders also need to be equipped with the skills of assessment analysis and evaluation of decisions to understand the complex nature of interpersonal relationships in business and gain the communication skills to motivate support coordinate and initiate action.

Leadership assessments are often carried out by HR professionals, but you can also find some tools online the give you (albeit limited) assessments such as http://www.optimalthinking.com/leader-assessment.php

Dr. David Jackson provides much more information about leadership skills and assessment in this recorded webinar from the Madinah Institute of Leadership and Entrepreneurship.


The following sites may have more information for you:

How the Schools Were Evaluated - WSJ.com
"Comments on: Boyle Threatened To Bolt ""BGT"" - CBS News"
Speech Communication Professionals: Information from Answers.com
Study: Many Teens Sending 3000 Texts a Month - CBS News
The Facebook Effect - By David Kirkpatrick - NYTimes.com
telepathy: Definition from Answers.com


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Effective Communication Is An Important Skill



Effective Communication Does Not Require Complete Understanding

Effective communication is a skill that everyone should develop. To communicate effectively, you must be sure that your intended audience understands the message you are attempting to convey in the way in which you expect it to be understood. While you are still communicating if part of your message is understood, you are not communicating as effectively as you could be if the message is not understood in the way in which you intended. Notice that I didn’t say that the message should be “completely understood,” as there may be times when you are not expecting the audience to completely understand, but you have a specific idea you wish them to come away with. Of course, there are a ton of other things to keep in mind when it comes to effective communication. There are also a ton of things to remember to avoid when it comes to effective communication. Here is an excellent video illustrating a bit of both:

Effective Communication Requires An Attentive Audience

Newsolio. Tips for effective business writing and communication. Newsolio. Business writing and communication is only persuasive if it has an attentive audience. Keeping your business audience attentive is the subject of this article. We look at the key elements to persuasive succinct effective business communication.…


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Make Your Speech Communicate



Speak up!

Speech is one of the most common forms of communication. Communication is the effective passage of information from one person to one or more others. For it to take place in an effective and fulfilling manner, the barriers to it have to be eliminated, or at least reduced. Communication helps in education. It is also known to influence relationships either positively or negatively; and it is also used to share. The police and other investigative authorities can use it to uncover certain truths and solve crimes. Therefore, communication is a powerful tool. It is the beginning of knowledge transfer, the root to making the world a global village.

speech

A speech is a key aspect of communication. It presents an awesome opportunity to gain the attention of people and dissipate your ideas to them. Your communication skills will be the key to a successful speech. Remember that before you can make the speech, you must have content. Its the way that you pass it on that will lead you to success, or utter failure. Expounding more on this topic will require the application of the modes of communication. Bear in mind that communication requires four aspects: the sender, the receiver, the message, and a channel.

First off is the intra-personal communication. This is communication that occurs within you. It is silent and can be termed as reflection or meditation. It involves your thoughts, feelings and your perception of yourself. It helps in evaluation of the things that make you who you are: attitude, prejudices and self concept. The result of this is a clear understanding of your strengths and weakness. You will boost your self-esteem and orderliness. Intra-personal communication could however suffer through distraction from inside noise. The sender is you, same as the receiver; the message is your feelings; and the channel is your mind.

Then there is the interpersonal communication. This is where you engage in a conversation face-to-face or one-on-one. It occurs when two people communicate. This presents an opening to evaluate the impact of your speech to a single individual. This type of communication can be either formal or informal, structured or unstructured; depending on the situation. In this case, both people are sender and receiver because the communication mode is in most cases intended to be duplex. Messages are passed from both of you. These messages can either be verbal or non-verbal. The channel is mostly sight and sound. This mode has tremendous feedback. The effects of noise are usually not so severe because each of you can see if the other is distracted. This will easily lead into the development of a bond between the two of you, it is very effective in influencing your relationship.

After assessing your skills with the one-on-one, it is visible to do group-to-group communication. This occurs among a small group of people of less than ten individuals. This presents a real challenge since there are several distractions arising from the surrounding, and also from the group itself. It presents a platform to pick up on the non-verbal communication from a group of people. You should be able to see when someone is bored, attentive or even day-dreaming. This group will act like a sample space to clearly evaluate your hands-on capabilities while dealing with a ‘gang’. It will be important to keep the group interested and engrossed in your speech. This helps build your self confidence, and will also give you wisdom on dealing with many people. All the members of the group make up the sender-receiver combination; the channel is sight and sound; the message can be verbal or non-verbal. The setting can be formal or informal.

Then there is the public communication, which many consider as the ‘speech’. This is where you communicate with many people. It is important to let your eyes face down. Sound sure of what you’re talking about. Do not look like you are relying too much on your written speech. It is also important to remember that your first impression will matter a lot; and you will never get a second chance to change it. This type of communication is mostly highly structure. Make sure to remain organized and orderly. Do not divulge from the topic. Remember to be audible since the amplification will give more clarity to your voice. The channel used here is sound and sight.

The feedback here is very limited since you never get a chance to interact with the whole audience after the speech. But I believe that the audience can still communicate to you with their body language, and personal mannerisms. An attentive member will probably maintain eye contact with you and nod while you talk. He/she could also be taking notes. A bored one however, or one who fails to find relevance in your speech, is bound to yawn, twist and turn on the seat, or be seen wiping their spectacles. Be sure to pick up all the non-visual communication, and react appropriately; depending on the proportion of the audience portraying that sign. The key, however to not losing your audience is to keep the message simple and interesting.

The other type of speech is the mass communication. This involves communication to a very large audience through multi-media devices. These are the TV, radio, magazines, and the internet. Most of this information may come out as educative (informative) or persuasive. Some of these means of mass communication have no feedback like the radio since you cannot know what the audience thinks of your presentation. However certain technological advancements have led to availability of feedback on these; although this feedback will be delayed. The message is usually highly structured but should be kept really simple and to the point. If you are making such a speech, make sure to always maintain eye contact.

Therefore, the next time before you make a speech, take your time to think. Look inside yourself and decide where you want to steer the audience too. Then remember the functions of communication; and just how dynamic it can get. Then set out on your venture, with the aim of fulfilling the essentials of communication, both for you and for the receiver. Understand the dynamism and power of information; this will make your speech communicate.


The following sites may have more information for you:

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Women in the Economy: Recommendations for Change - WSJ.com


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Interpersonal Communication Skills



What are interpersonal communication skills? You speak, they listen, their mind works and then they reply. Sometimes they speak, you listen, your mind interprets and then you reply. This is a simple act of communication repeated infinitely every day. At times we screw up everything and there come moments when we just perform stunningly in our life. This screwing up and stunning performances, all depends directly or indirectly on the simple act of communication explained in the opening lines. When discussing communication and different communication skills than the one which has a straight impact on our lives is undoubtedly interpersonal communication.

Interpersonal Communication

What is the technical definition of interpersonal communication? Interpersonal communication is defined by many scholars in various ways. But we can sum up them all in one, interpersonal communication is the procedure in which people interact with each other face to face. The purpose of interaction varies a lot from person to person and their relationship with each other. This face to face communication includes a lot of other things as well like body gestures, tone, facial expression etc.

In short it is not just words that are exchanged but many more things matter as well. For instance, “you are a very helpful person” can be said gently or sarcastically. Consider a situation where you are just walking in a corridor in your school and somehow you fall. There can be a person who could run up to you and help and there is a possibility that a person may just stand and laugh at you. So in the first case the meaning of “you are a very helpful person” will be genuine and in the other scenario “you are a very helpful person” would be said acerbically.

There is a certain chain or cycle in interpersonal communication that is repeated again and again. This cycle involves a communicator, who initiates the communication. Next comes the message of the communication. Then the receiver receives it and gives feedback. So the cycle goes like this communicator, message, receiver and then feedback. It is the most basic cycle and there is some more stuff in here but these are the most important components of any interpersonal communication act.

A very important thing that can ruin the whole communication is noise. Noise has a special meaning in terms of interpersonal communication. Any element that damages or spoils the communication is considered to be noise. A physical noise like some unpleasant sound can interrupt the communication and sometimes the improper transfer of messages from communicator to receive also dent the interpersonal dealings. So if the element of noise enters in between any part of the communication cycle then one can consider the activity of communicating as dead.

Improving Interpersonal Communication SKills

Lets work out on the points and edges that can help us to improve our communication skills that will make interpersonal contact very effective for all of us. THe following points are relevant for improvement in one’s communication skills, specifically for interpersonal communication.

Three major things here that are crucial for interpersonal communication skills.

  • Listening
  • Intrepretation
  • Response

Listen As If It Is The Only Thing You Want To Do

Listen to the person talking to you as if this is the only thing you want to do at that time. Keep your facial expressions and body gestures composed. Show the interest in the topic of conversation by just being very attentive. And last but not the least thing here is not to cut the other person. Let the other person, speaker at that moment, complete his story or point or whatever he or she wants to say. There comes a time in almost every conversation when you think that you must correct the other person or you must say something but stop yourself from speaking and say when your time arrives.

The Mind Is Working, But Is It Thinking Correctly?

Another thing that is working simultaneously with the listening process is the interpretation process. Your mind is taking note of everything and suggesting you continuously of what to say. One more thing that is playing in your mind is the background of that person. Your previous interactions and pervious dealings always have an impact on the present communication which is not avoidable. So the best thing that you should want from your mind is to stay calm and give you best possible responses for the worst or the best interpersonal interaction. Your mind should not provoke you to react aggressively when there is no need.

Now It’s Your Time!

After all of it, the other person gives you chance to speak. This is actually the moment in which you can make it or break it. It is your time to become a hero. Speak and speak with politeness and confidence that leaves a mark on another person’s memory. Select the most appropriate language and tone. And be very specific and precise in what you want to say. Your message must be clear cut, something that delivers your intentions to the other person correctly. If you are satisfied with this step then you can easily assume that this was a successful act of interpersonal communication.

Ultimately, communication skills cannot be learned by reading about them but communication skills can only be gained through experience. So the best way to grasp all the communication skills is to polish them again and again by practicing. And this is the only tip that can make you successful in terms of mastering communication skills. One should always try to gain best possible communication skills as it helps in every aspect of life, be it professional or personal.


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Negotiation Skills



Negotiation Skills And The Art Of Keeping Everyone Happy

Negotiation skills are integral to interpersonal communication and although inherent in most of us, like any skill, they need honing and practicing. It is those who have studied, practiced and prepared the vagaries of the different aspects of a negotiation who usually get the best slice of the negotiation pie. In any sphere of life conflicts will arise, even more so in business where the vested interests are varied and each negotiator’s motive is different and directly in contrast to other negotiator’s interest. Good negotiation skills lead to win-win compromises where all parties involved come out with a feeling of satisfaction. These negotiation skills need to be cultivated through a practiced effective negotiation strategy which can only be achieved by meticulous preparation for negotiation. Although each negotiation may seem apparently similar there will be many unique elements to these negotiations and the one who has gone through these elements with a fine tooth comb usually make the best of these negotiations.

negotiation skills

The assessment of each negotiation is important. Even though it may be with people you have made numerous negotiations with before. Situations change, moods change and so do a lot of other things. A case in point could be a sales negotiation with a factory owner wherein you’ve not encountered much price resistance. He could have had a major order on hold from a client who wants a 25% cut on prices. This changes everything and you can be sure that he will now negotiate equally hard for that 25% cut with all his suppliers including you. The art of winning in a negotiation is getting what you want without losing any goodwill. This is even more true with people you may have to negotiate with again and again over a period of time. There could also be a situation where it is a one-time negotiation and they might not need the goodwill and would rather seek the biggest cuts possible. These negotiations are usually more confrontational and undesirable. Many negotiators resort to gamesmanship when the stakes are high. Persons involved in big sales negotiations will have encountered these tactics before. Neither of the above are ideal negotiating skills or strategies, as these lead to manipulation and tricks and usually undermine and damage credentials of the negotiators. Honesty is the best policy really works here. Being frank, concise and clear are the best options for any negotiator.

One Of The Most Important Negotiation Skills is Proper Preparation

Successful Negotiation depends on preparation – The study of the range of disagreement and all its environmental factors both internal and external could lead you to successful negotiations. If it is small disagreements, although being prepared is an advantage, it is wiser to resolve the conflicts quickly without attacking each element as the stakes’ aren’t all that high and spending a lot of time could actually undermine the whole negotiation.

However for larger conflicts ensure thorough preparation from every dimension and angle. Don’t presume but rather study the conflict from every degree. If you have negotiated with the same people before, study their methods, dispositions and body language. Body language tends to give you clear signals of approval or denial of your points although they might not admit it outwardly.

Here are some aspects you need to study thoroughly in a major conflict that requires patient negotiation:

Aims – What is the objective of the negotiation? What are the motives and interests of each participant in the negotiation?

Benefits – What are the benefits you seek from this negotiation and what benefit each participant is looking for from this negotiation process?

Alternatives – If the negotiation process doesn’t go as planned what are the alternative recourses available to you and likewise what alternatives may be available to him. It could be an hypothesis, conjecture or a calculated guess but it is wise to mull over these as you will be prepared should an eventuality occurs.

Relationships – What are the various relationships between various participants and whether these could affect or impact the process of negotiation either way?

Expected Outcomes – Any negotiation will have expected outcomes. The degree may vary from individual participants. Study the history and precedents of previous meetings if any or study similar meeting outcomes held elsewhere.

Consequences of the meeting – What are the consequences of you either gaining or losing in this negotiation and also similarly the consequences of the other participants?

Authority and Power – What is the power balance between participants and who has what authority and over whom? Who controls resources and who controls finances etc. all these preparations will improve your negotiation skills and make you a more effective negotiator as you will know exactly what to negotiate with whom.

Probable Solutions – After taking into account all possible considerations all the hypothetical solutions and how it affects all parties should be assessed and countered so that in such an eventuality you will be prepared to guide the negotiation in the direction most suitable to you.

Negotiation Skills: Do’s and Don’ts

Emotional displays and histrionics are not good negotiation skills and should be avoided completely. Be Calm. Don’t be critical or judgmental about other party claims. Don’t interrupt. Be patient and wait for your turn allowing other parties to be heard. Don’t shout. It shows you are losing control. Keep up your individual style and personality. Focus more on rational and logical processes of negotiation rather than arm twisting and other underhand tactics. Ensure to the extent possible that once the negotiations are over everyone goes away with an overall positive feeling about you in the meeting. Keep disagreements above board and look for amicable solutions. Don’t let disagreements affect you personally so that you can make a more rational judgment.

Negotiating successfully is an art which requires rehearsing and meticulous planning. As with any skill the more you exercise your negotiation skills the more you will improve in your negotiations. Good negotiation outcomes can be best achieved by exploring all the possible solutions and conflicts of the negotiation and how each party is affected by it. Always look for solutions that are win-win. Sometimes in multi party negotiations there could be a party which loses. Go out of your way to make him or her feel that it is based only on negotiations and it is nothing personal.

As your negotiation skills increase, you will still be surprised that after thinking of all possible solutions there could still be other compromises which you had not anticipated. However If you have analyzed most options you will be better prepared in decision making as you have already studied the effects of the solutions.


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"Flickr: ""Interpersonal communication"""
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Effective Communication As An Art



Effective Communication As An Art

Interpersonal intelligence is the mother of communication with other people, not just talking and gesturing.

We all know that there are people who handle communication as an art, and with this single skill have achieved much success. People with charisma who can convey their ideas, pass on their dreams and make people want to do what they think is right.

communication as an art

Some of these people are born with a gift, they communicate in an extraordinary way, with almost no effort, are clear, fascinating special in his speech and seem to hypnotize the masses.

The vast majority are not born with that star, but there is good news, we learn to communicate in an excellent manner and be as good expositors of our ideas as these great men.

Recent findings on neurolinguistic and emotional intelligence have achieved amazing results and techniques that can turn a normal person in an excellent communicator and speaker.

With the communication is transmitted in addition to knowledge, feelings and principles of a person, sometimes speakers that project feeling and emotions stir in a spectacular way to his listeners.

The art is learned, but we must be aware of learning, we want to learn and must learn to learn and learn to unlearn. This complicated set of words is based on what he calls Covey: Be proactive, owning your life and your actions and want to truly influence the lives and go through it without living.

There are many key success factors in the process of communication: Many renowned authors have addressed this issue, various concepts and methods. We in this paper to summarize these ideas to try to find a method that leads us to kneel in this fascinating art:

It all starts with the respect due to his listener, be it an individual or an audience, he is a great person and expected to respect their views.

Then there is the impact you get to give your information, you should always start with something unexpected, something unusual in today’s world, there is a constant bombardment of information, only one who can reach out faster to their target .

Your audience will only be interested in your idea, if this presents any benefit. Start with the benefits. After taking care of your listener, do not waste energy with useless talks, it’s your transmit your idea clearly, so others will understand, always make sure you have fully understood, ask questions to confirm, here are some of the main problems of communication, the person is sure what it says, but not sure what he said was what he understood the other person.

By exposing your ideas do it safely and calmly, do not use words that indicate uncertainty. Do not talk about issues of little importance, or distract the attention of your listener, uses words to create reality and generate action.

After presenting your idea, your listener will want details, present objections, or just outright reject your idea, you must listen carefully to identify needs, this method is widely used in the sales process, listen to customer needs, overcome obstacles, not fall into the temptation to promise what you can not get, you keep your credibility intact.

When people adopt your idea, stop talking, this is a closed sale. This idea just bought your listener is a win – win, never use your power to influence others to search only your personal benefit.

Cultivate personal relationships, do not become a hermit, assertiveness and empathy are fundamental principles. Develop your style, personal mastery is defined as the ability to generate power and to channel the emotional forces towards achieving common goals.

You can get the full command of effective communication as an art.


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skill: Definition Synonyms from Answers.com
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Who are you and why are you hiding from customers? - CBS News
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The Odd Truth April 1 2005 - CBS News
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Leadership Styles



Leadership and leadership styles

Leadership styles and leadership in general is a crucial issue today when the borders were opened to trade and global interaction. Speaking of groups, organizations and individuals is essential to mention the drivers, the leaders who succeed in their organizations and to guide their subordinates to do so.

The leader as a person has many flaws and virtues that must know, this involves first looking within oneself, to know and then understand others and reflect what you want to achieve what you want with others to achieve success. This analysis lead us to understand and then meet each other and thus improve our performance as leaders we are, whether for personal gain and / or our organization or groups.

The essence of leadership are the followers. In other words, what makes a person a leader is the willingness of people to follow. Also, people tend to follow those who offer ways to satisfy their wants and needs. Leadership and motivation are closely interrelated. If you understand the motivation, you will appreciate better what people want and the reason for their actions.

Conceptual Framework:

The leadership comes from the English word “to lead”, which means lead.
Harold Koontz is the art or process of influencing people to strive voluntarily and enthusiastically in meeting group goals.
According to the Dictionary leadership is defined as the direction, leadership or leadership of a political party, social group or other community. The Dictionary of Behavioral Sciences (1956), defines it as the “qualities of personality and ability to promote the guidance and control of other individuals.”

Other definitions are: – “Leadership is an attempt to interpersonal influence directed through the communication process, the achievement of one or more goals”

Chiavenato, Idalberto (1993), emphasizes the following:

“Leadership is interpersonal influence exercised in a situation, aimed through the process of human communication to the achievement of one or several specific objectives.”

Leadership in social psychology: Refers to the role of personality in the analysis of small groups.

In Sociology: The influence can be exerted on a community.

leadership styles

Rallph M. Stogdill, in his summary of leadership theories and research, notes that “there are almost as many definitions of leadership as people who have tried to define the concept. Here we take the case of managerial leadership as the process of directing the activities of members of a group and to influence them. This definition has four important implications.

First, leadership involves other people, employees or followers. Group members, given their willingness to accept the orders of the leader, help define the leader’s position and allow the lapse of the process of leadership but who would send the qualities of leadership styles would be irrelevant.

Secondly leadership involves an unequal distribution of power between leaders and group members. Group members are not without power, can shape, and indeed they do, the group’s activities in different ways. However, generally, the leader will have more power.

The third aspect of leadership is the ability to use different forms of power to influence the behavior of the followers of different ways. In fact, some leaders have influenced the soldiers to kill and some leaders have influenced employees to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the company. The power to influence leads to the fourth aspect of leadership styles.
The fourth is a combination of the first three, but recognizes that leadership is about values. James MacGregor Burns argues that the leader who ignores the moral component of leadership will be remembered as a scoundrel or worse. Moral leadership refers to the values ​​and needs to be offered to fans enough information on alternatives so that when it comes time to respond to the proposal of the leadership of a leader, to choose wisely.
Historical framework

Are leaders born or made? This question has prevailed throughout history. It has been a source of discussion and controversy, which has not yet been satisfactorily resolved.

In general, one can interpret and analyze leadership styles from two perspectives:

1) As a leader’s personal qualities
2) As a function within an organization, community or society.

Although initially defined leadership preferably in the first perspective, at present, mainly due to research in the field of organizational theory and administration, tends increasingly to dominate the conception of leadership as a function within organizations and society.

Leadership styles as a personal quality

At the dawn of history the concept of authority was surrounded by a magical aura – religious. An individual to demonstrate their superiority to the community became the leader. The leader was conceived as a being superior to other group members, with special attributes.

It was felt that these special powers or attributes are passed biologically from parent to child or was a gift from the gods, that is, born with them. However, even then, we looked through the transmission of knowledge and skills to create leaders.

Today with the rise of psychology, has tried to substantiate this view from the strong psychological bond we have with our father, the first archetypal figure we have. Psychological studies on leadership argue that we seek in our leaders gave us the assurance that the paternal symbol.

For too long we have tried to define and measure the leadership traits and skills of leaders, however, has not been until now a consensus.

The lists and explanations are very diverse, large and heterogeneous.

These listings reflect only the true characteristics of a leader, the values ​​prevalent in society or the image of the ideal leader.

Although now no longer thought that these are supernatural abilities and skills that make a leader are common to all, if one accepts that these leaders have a greater degree.

The leadership function within the organization

As it strengthens the theory of organizations, especially in this century, the study has gained strength as a function of leadership within organizations.

This perspective emphasizes the characteristics or behavior of the leader, but “circumstances over which groups of people up and organize their activities towards objectives, and how the role of leadership is analyzed in terms of a dynamic relationship.”

According to this perspective, the leader is the result of the needs of a group. Operationally, a group tends to act or speak through one of its members. When everyone tries to do both a result could be confusing or ambiguous.

The need of a leader is evident and real, and this increases as the group’s goals are more complex and extensive. Therefore, to organize and act as a unit, members of a group elect a leader.

Leadership styles: Features

The leader of the group is a tool to achieve their goals and personal skills are valued to the extent that they are useful to the group.

The leader is not the capacity or ability in themselves, but because these features are perceived by the group as necessary to achieve the goal. Therefore, the leader has to be analyzed in terms or function within the group. The leader is different from the other members of a group or society to exert greater influence on the activities and organization of these.

The leader acquires status to get the group or community achieve their goals. Your support is that it gets to the members of your group, community or society, more than anything else.

The leader has to distribute power and responsibility among members of their group. This distribution plays an important role in decision-making and, therefore, also support the group gives. As leadership is a function of group, it is important to analyze not only the characteristics of this but also the context in which the group operates.

It is considered that these characteristics determine who will become the group leader. It has been found that an individual who stands out as a leader in a constitutional organization does not necessarily stand out in a democratic situation, less structured. Depending on whether the situation requires quick and immediate action or permits deliberation and planning, leadership may fall on different people.

In short, “the leader is a product of its features, but their functional relationships with specific individuals in a specific situation.”

Leadership styles

When it has been assigned the responsibility of leadership and authority, is the task of achieving the goals leader working with and through his followers. The leaders have shown many different approaches to how to meet their responsibilities in relation to their followers. The most common approach to analyze the behavior of the leader is to classify the various types of existing leadership styles. Styles vary according to the duties which the leader must play alone, the responsibilities you want to accept his superiors and his philosophical commitment to the realization and fulfillment of the expectations of their subordinates.

Many terms have been used to define leadership styles, but perhaps the most important has been the description of the three basic leadership styles: the autocratic leader, participative leader and the leader of free rein.

Leadership styles: Autocratic

The autocratic leader assumes full responsibility for making decisions, initiates actions, direct, motivate and control the subordinate. The decision and gluttony are centered on the leader. You can consider that only he is competent and capable of making important decisions, you may feel that their subordinates are unable to guide themselves or may have other reasons to take a solid position of strength and control. The reply requested from subordinates is obedience and adherence to its decisions. The autocrat observes the performance levels of their subordinates in the hope of avoiding deviations that may arise with respect to its guidelines.

Leadership styles: Participatory

Participatory-leader: Use the query to practice leadership. Not delegate the right to make final decisions and points to his subordinates specific guidelines but check their ideas and views on many decisions that affect them. To be an effective participative leader, listen and analyze seriously the ideas of their subordinates and accept their contributions whenever possible and practical. The leader cultivates participatory decision-making of their subordinates so that their ideas are increasingly useful and mature.
Also drives his subordinates to increase their capacity for self control and urges them to take more responsibility to guide their own efforts. Is a leader who supports subordinates and assumes a position of dictator. However, the final authority on matters of importance is in their hands.

Leadership styles: Free Rein

The leader who takes the vent system or Liberal leader: With this leadership styles, the leader delegated to his subordinates the authority to make decisions can tell his followers “here is a job to do. I do not care how they do provided it is done right. ” This leader expects subordinates to take responsibility for their own motivation, guidance and control. Except for the stipulation of a minimum number of rules, this style of leadership, provides very little contact and support for fans. Clearly, the subordinate must be highly qualified and able to make this approach has a satisfactory outcome.
Of course, there are varying degrees of leadership among these styles were analyzed only three of the defined positions. At one time, separated by some authors and administrators of these styles of leadership and promoted as a panacea for all monitoring needs. Most emphasized the participatory management, although the autocratic style had several advocates who promoted it as the only effective technique. Occasionally there are developers free rein style which they claim is a style uniquely helpful.
Recent trends emphasize the need for adaptation and flexibility in the use of leadership styles, as opposed to the improvement of one of these styles. “It is believed that the current dynamic society are rare administrators whose thoughts and preferences are completely equal and workers with identical capacities and needs. And almost no two organizations with identical goals and objectives. Because of this, it is generally recommended that the administrator take into account a number of factors to determine what style of leadership is appropriate for each situation.

Considerations

The new millennium has transformed the practices of organizations and thus the skills and characteristics that the new business environment demands leaders. The characteristics I have described in this paper we show that the leader of today must have a very different leader for decades, whose pattern is adjusted more to the control and supervision.

A 21 st Century leaders are required a different preparation to meet the needs of modern organizations. Knowledge of more than one language, college, computer skills and communication skills are some of the aspects to be considered to be successful and competitive leadership styles.

The leader of today must master a myriad of functions, which facilitate interaction with the environment and efficiently direct the destinies of the company. To be strategist, organizer and leader proactive. To organize need to know where you are going, how will you organize and learn at each stage lead.

You should know a little of everything, and know all the aspects that can affect an organization, be prepared to face it and be aware that as time progresses also submitted to it at the road useful tools to overcome any adversity, there are also obstacles that obscure the view. It is then where should demonstrate that it can cope with that and with the team that runs face it, resist it, and learn from it for future experiences.


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Leadership Traits



The Essential Leadership Traits

A true leader not only demands respect, but has the necessary leadership traits to command it. Negative qualities, such as harshness and verbal abusiveness may exact compliance from members of the group, but it will be most likely out of fear, rather than dedication to the cause, or project, at hand. An employee may be left to think that if he didn’t need this job to pay his rent, he would terminate his association with that employer immediately. On a certain dance reality show, the proprietor, who is known for being mean, may have the right to rule her studio with a rod of iron, but the important question to explore is if she will have a studio ten years from now if she continues to run her site in that manner,even given that her methods yield results.

Indeed, being firm yet gentle may go far to strengthen morale in that studio. Besides that there are other character traits that can serve to strengthen communication between leaders and subordinates, yielding positive results.

Leadership Traits: Vision

leadership traits

Any discussion of leadership traits should begin in a discourse about vision. In order to be a leader, an individual must have a vivid picture of where he wants to take his organization. The person must not have a firm definition of success, but must know how he intends to achieve it.

A person of true vision is able to communicate with the other members of his organization the nature of his picture of the organization after such a plan is implemented both on paper and verbally. He must be able to persuade members of his team that it is the best goal to be achieved, for the benefit of both the group and the people it serves, and why.

Let’s use a non-profit organization for the homeless as an example. Let us say that the executive director wants to raise funds for the group by holding a banquet. She first has to truly believe that it’s the best fundraiser for the group, and that she is capable of making it happen. She must have the facts and figures to prove that it can be successful, and that the site manager will agree to it.

Additionally, she must speak of the project with a certain amount of passion. She must be able to convincingly remind all of the members of the group–including the board–of the members of the community who are ultimately being helped by this fundraiser, and why it would be to their advantage to help them. She must be able to inspire everyone to become excited about the project, that she has thought the entire project through, and that it is feasible.

Leadership Traits: Integrity

A true leader must possess integrity. A person who truly understands the principle of integrity knows that he communicates to his group not only by what he tells his subordinates to do or not to do, but also by what he does or refrains from doing himself, according to what is right or wrong. For example, it is not enough for a manager to fire an employee–or threaten to do so–for using the Internet to access inappropriate web content during work time. He must perpetuate a steady track record of wise, appropriate Internet usage himself. For if he lets an employee go for accessing social networks, or pornography, on the Web, the message he’s attempting to send by terminating the worker fails if it is found out that he’s guilty of the same breach of company policy.

Another example can be found in church. A pastor who preaches financial stewardship, will indeed lose credibility if his congregation finds out he is facing foreclosure, both on the church and the home he shares with his wife because he has gambled away all of the money he was supposed to be using to keep his–and the church’s–bills paid. Again, this sends a wrong message to the congregation, that it’s acceptable to preach one principle and to live his life in a radically different manner.

Leadership Traits: Fairness

Fairness, according to Focus.com writer Eve O’Neill, is one of the essential leadership traits. This quality involves treating people consistently. For example, if a landlord has a rule that he will not accept rent from any tenant who does not submit it by noon on the first day of the month, and asserts that he will not take excuses, he must enforce that rule across the board. He must take action to evict every single tenant who has not handed the rent in by that time, or word will circulate around the complex that the landlord has favorites. Indeed, this is a poor message to communicate to his resident body.

Leadership Traits: Assertiveness

Assertiveness is the ability to be firm in decision making. It is one of the key leadership traits, because it involves the ability to clearly express his expectations to the group in a way that eliminates any possibility of misunderstandings. For example, a teacher who states unequivocally that anyone who talks during a test gets a zero percent for that assignment must convince the class that she means exactly what she says, and she will dole out consequences accordingly. This communicates to the class that she is serious, and that the repercussions will be as severe as she says that they will be.

Leadership Traits: Humility

Humility is the leadership trait that involves the willingness to give credit to others when they exceed expectations, or develop an idea that unexpectedly propels the group forward. It also involves accepting responsibility for failure, as O’Neill points out. For example, let’s say an employer has hired someone against the better judgment of his board, and the employee has failed to perform up to par. The employee makes a mistake that costs the company a lot of money, leaving that manager with no other choice but to fire him. He has a choice–to either place the blame totally on the hapless employee, or on fate, or on the recruiter who recommended him for the position. One of the True leadership traits is that a true leader refuses to blame anyone but himself, acknowledging that the mistake was ultimately the manager’s. This action would communicate humility, as well as integrity, louder than any words ever could.

O’Neill, Eve. “The Top 10 Leadership Qualities. In the Focus.com blog, May 26, 2009.
Leadership Traits Article


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Customer Service Skills



Proper Customer Service Skills are Integral to Your Business

Customer service skills are an important part of business communication. Communication is a process through which an idea, request, complaint or an order from one person to the other; from a sender to a receiver. Depending upon the position of the sender and nature of the communication it can be a one to one, one to a few or in some cases many. A communication from a superior to a subordinate is a one to one, to his team is one to few where as a circular or a directive from the head of the company or an institution to the entire staff is a one-to-many type of communication. In a business set up communication have a key role to play in retaining, sustaining and increasing the business.

Customer Service Skills

 

An attendant in a Department Store, a Customer Care Executive, and Personnel at the Exchange Department of a Cloth Store or a Supervisor or Team leader in a Sales Team should possess good customer service skills. Though the customer may vary in each situation the basics of handling a situation like a query, complaint, suggestion, order or corrective steps all are part of interpersonal communication skills. What are the key factors that improve the customer service skills? Or what are the basics for customer service skills.

Customer Service Skills 1

Listening: When a customer speaks, just L-I-S-T-E-N. Write that in bold letter and repeat that every morning before you take a chair in an office or start for field work. Most of the conflicts of today whether it happens at an office, cloth store, or at a Gas Station is due to the fact that, half way through the customers talk, the other either respond or defend ( more likely defending) their stand. This leads to conflict or a heated argument which wastes valuable time of both. Recognizing the value of listening there is a renewed interest to focus the art of listening in management courses.

Customer Service Skills 2

Medium is important: You need a vehicle to travel from one point and to reach the point where you HAVE to reach. The vehicle is the medium that helps you to reach the place. Similarly in communication with the customer the medium is the language by which you communicate. Do not expect all the customers to understand the same language in the same level you communicate. In the era of globalization it really helps to know one or two additional language to communicate with different customers. Further talking with a customer in a language which he or she is comfortable will help to get across the idea better than any other language.

Customer Service Skills 3

Repeat to Confirm: To ensure that you have got the message right, it is better to confirm with the customer what you have understood by listening to the customer. You may be surprised that sometimes that you are in a different plain from the customer. Chances are that in order to speak in a commonly used language the customer would not have put the things in the right way to you. By repeating what you have understood to the customer, a lot of time and energy can be saved, to reach a common understanding of the issue.

Customer Service Skills 4

Genuine Interest: Always take a keen interest to learn what the customer is trying to put across. Not all customers are opening up or calling customer care to complaint. Show either by your actions or speech you are genuinely interested in serving the customer in the best way possible. A nod of your head and good eye contact (not staring though) a little leaning towards are good way to show that you care while the customer is personally there to discuss the situation. When the customer is on the phone, try to repeat the last word when the customer pause to take a breath will serve the purpose. For example when a customer says “I purchased this ready-made dress for my sister’s birthday last Friday and when I opened the package I found it is of different color” –Pause- You say “different color”. Even a frustrated customer will change the tone to normal when he understands that somebody is showing a genuine interest.

Customer Service Skills 5

Feedback: Report back to a customer the status of the query, complaint, request, and appreciation from the management for the compliment in the time frame so that the next visit or the call by the customer will be in a level field. Be tactful when giving a time frame to the customer, but stick to that once you give that. A phone call, email, letter, or a visit of service personnel is a must within the time frame to keep the customer believe that there is a response from the other side.

A customer is an integral part of any business. Keeping them happy will do good to retain, sustain and improve business. If at all there is a doubt about this just remember one dictum in business, “the customer is always right”


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Effective Communication



How to have more effective communication

effective communicationCommunications can be defined as the process by which information and thoughts are shared between people through different means. Webster’s dictionary defined communication as the transfer or exchange of information between two entities. Effective communication is said to occur when the information and thoughts that have been passed out is received and totally understood by the person that it is meant for. Every day, we send and receive different messages. Effective communication involves more than an exchange of messages. Before communication can be called effective, the recipient must have received, processed and understood the intended meaning of such message. In any organisation, the importance of effective communication cannot be over emphasized. Communication sustains relationships! Effective communication includes an array of skills like ability to pass out information in an easy to understand way, nonverbal communication, attentive listening and many others. Good communication skills are without doubt the most important attribute to possess. The four basic communication skills are: 1. Ability to speak clearly 2. Total listening 3. Writing and 4. Reading.

Components of an Effective Communication If communication must be effective, it must have two major components, these are: Encoding. Communication starts with the internal processing of the information or thought to be communicated by the sender. Decoding. This process is done by the recipient. It involves receiving the information and interpreting the intended meaning of the information that has been received.

Effective Communication Methods

1. Verbal communication. This involves speaking, the use of words and sounds. It can be done directly or through the telephone. It can also be further divided into interpersonal communication and public speaking. For verbal communication to be seen as an effective communication method the speaker must be fluent and his information must be easy to understand.

2. Non verbal communication. This involves the use of non verbal approaches to disseminate information. One of the most commonly used non verbal communication process is the use of sign language, tone of the voice, touch, and body motions.

3. Written communication. This involves writing down of the information or thought you want to pass out. If effective communication is to occur, a good writing ability is necessary in this kind of communication approach. Written communication can be done through the use of emails, letters, fax and some many other methods.

4. Visual communication. This involves the use of visual display to communicate. Examples of visual communication are television, pictures, photograph and many more.

Effective Communication Tips

Communication is the core of all interactions. Without effective communication, relationships will break, conflicts will arise, businesses will fail and the world will be a scary place! Do you want to improve your interpersonal communication skill, do you want to improve on your ability to do public speaking? These will surely help:

1. Context: The context of information determines how effective the communication process can be. Before passing out information, one must factor in things like the age, gender, education, social status and some many other things about the recipient. Things like this could affect how easily the recipient would understand the intended message.

2. Body language: Posture, facial expressions, eye contact and the movement of the hands will go a long way when effective communication is intended. Body language will help the recipient in decoding the hidden meaning of a message.

3. Active listening: Communication can never be effective if the recipient is not participating actively in the communication. Communication can only be done between two or more parties! Active listening may involve asking questions to clarify the message decoded.

Benefits and Importance of Effective Communication

As easy as effective communication is, many people still find it difficult to communicate effectively with others. The good thing is that it is easy to learn how to do it. These are some of the benefits one stand to gain if one can communicate effectively

Benefit at home.

Effective communication helps in improving relationships at home. The ability to communicate effectively will give you an edge when trying to pass difficult messages without necessarily destroying relationships and creating conflicts.

Benefit in the working place

When instructions are effectively communicated to the employee, this can only improve productivity. It also helps in creating conducive environment for employees; this will further improve their trust in the management.

Clearly, effective communication skills are important is virtually all human interaction.


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