The Best Managers Are Also Great Leaders

Online, March 8, 2011 (Newswire.com) - An old adage states:

"Leadership is doing the right thing; management is doing things right."

Although essentially correct, this distinction is far too simplistic, because you really need both skill sets to be at the top of your game.

Without good management skills, a great leader lacks the tools to implement 'the vision'.

Without good leadership skills, a great manager will struggle to motivate their team to 'deliver the goods'.

To become a better manager it's important to spend some time improving your leadership skills. The following articles are a great place to start.

Jack Zenger's Top 10 Leadership Rules:

Jack Zenger is an expert in leadership development. As co-founder and CEO of Zenger Folkman, a consulting and leadership development firm in Utah, he has authored several books on the topic, including the bestseller - The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders

"I've always been really fascinated by what allows some people to be highly motivational and inspire others to work at a higher level," he says.

Here are his top 10 rules for becoming a great leader:


1. Ask instead of answer:

"Don't immediately give people the answer when they come to you with a question," Zenger says. "Instead, ask them what they think. It is the leader's job to develop his or her people. To just give them the answer is to have missed a real opportunity to show them that you respect them and their ideas."

2. Give positive feedback:

"Make sure your ratio of positive comments to challenging comments is at least five to one," he says. "It is important to have positive interactions between you and your employees. The healthiest and most productive groups are ones where they are generally supportive and reinforcing and positive in their interactions.

"If you don't agree with an idea, ask the idea generator to think about it and talk about how it would play out. This will force your team to think through their suggestions and see where their failings are. Remember, as a leader, you may not always be right."

3. Engage:

"When you come into your office in the morning, don't turn on your computer until you have walked around the office and connected with people first," Zenger suggests. "Leadership is all about motivating people, and motivating people is all about having a connection with them. There needs to be a bond."

"It is very easy to ignore your colleagues and go into your office and miss that opportunity to check in at the beginning of the day. There is real value in connecting with people and letting them know you care," say Zenger.


To read the full article visit:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/managing/article/jack-zengers-top-10-leadership-rules-katie-morell

The True Values Of Leadership:

Leadership is something everyone talks about in business but few of us understand.

Truly effective leadership grows out of personal values - the deeply-held personal beliefs that determine one's priorities in life - that nurture people's passion and commitment. This alignment of leaders and employees values adds value to the enterprise for customers, investors, employees and society.

For more than 30 years, I have worked with companies to help them understand that it's not what leaders do that's important, it's why they do it. The process of leadership is to turn your values into a compelling cause for others. I've seen this process change the lives of managers from executive to entry level, from Manhattan to Mumbai.

Effective leaders are those rare human beings who have an emotional commitment to their values and can inspire others to commit to these values too. Leaders develop in organizations that consistently allow managers to live their values at work without the company constantly facilitating the process.

However, before you can live out your values, you need to figure out what they really are and which are most important. Here's how to get started:

To read the full article visit:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/the-true-values-of-leadership-stan-slap

Original Article Source: http://www.managementnuggets.com/2011/03/best-managers-are-also-great-leaders.html

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