Great leaders watch the future.
The president of Sony has a 200-year plan for the company.
American leaders know that companies will be facing a educated workforce shortage within the next 20 years.
Now some leaders are stepping forward to do something.
Solutions for Our Future is
"a national initiative to establish a dialogue about the critical role colleges and universities play in serving the public, solving pressing societal needs, and preparing people for our country's future."
This is a organization of leaders from over 400 colleges and universities who are seeking to raise awareness of the mission-critical impact that higher education has on our economy.
For a hilarious PSA (Public Service Announcement), click here and scroll down to the "First Responders" file. This PSA shows the importance of higher education in the community.
BOTTOM LINE: Smart Leaders support Higher Education, because Higher Education will produce the leaders of tomorrow.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Great leaders Go the Extra Mile
Lately, I've been thinking back to when I started practicing Aikido, over 15 years ago. I was fortunate enough to begin my training under Akira Tohei sensei (now, sadly, deceased), 8th degree black belt and chief instructor of the Midwest Aikido Center in Chicago.
I remember Tohei sensei comparing Aikido training to stacking up a pile of paper one page at a time -- in the moment, it doesn't seem like you're getting much work done, but over time, you can really accumulate a great deal of experience.
Great leadership is like that -- your day-to-day doings by themselves don't add up to much. But, done mindfully and in a spirit of practice, those day-to-day events can add up to a huge amount of leadership experience.
Bottom Line: Go the Extra Mile - mindfully treat every moment at work as an opportunity for practice and new learning as a leader.
I remember Tohei sensei comparing Aikido training to stacking up a pile of paper one page at a time -- in the moment, it doesn't seem like you're getting much work done, but over time, you can really accumulate a great deal of experience.
Great leadership is like that -- your day-to-day doings by themselves don't add up to much. But, done mindfully and in a spirit of practice, those day-to-day events can add up to a huge amount of leadership experience.
Bottom Line: Go the Extra Mile - mindfully treat every moment at work as an opportunity for practice and new learning as a leader.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
"Three Secrets for Empowering Women Leaders"
Next Monday, March 27th, I will be presenting "Three Secrets for Empowering Women Leaders" to the Women's City Club of Cleveland. Here's the description:
Leadership Coach Tim Warneka presents insights from his new book Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today, including three mission-critical Black Belt secrets for empowering women leaders. Warneka’s relationship-based approach to leadership combines the power of Emotional Intelligence with the strength of the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido.
Please note - copies of Leading People the Black Belt Way will be available for purchase and signing after the program, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Domestic Violence Center.
To learn more, click visit the Women's City Club of Cleveland's website and click on "Programs & Events"
Hope to see you there!
Leadership Coach Tim Warneka presents insights from his new book Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today, including three mission-critical Black Belt secrets for empowering women leaders. Warneka’s relationship-based approach to leadership combines the power of Emotional Intelligence with the strength of the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido.
Please note - copies of Leading People the Black Belt Way will be available for purchase and signing after the program, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to the Domestic Violence Center.
To learn more, click visit the Women's City Club of Cleveland's website and click on "Programs & Events"
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Excellent Leaders Take Care of People!
Kudos to Florida Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway, one of the prosecuting attorneys in the case against Debra LeFave, the Florida teacher who was convicted of having sex with underage boys. Mr. Ridgway was quoted on MSN as saying:
“The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims in this case in order to force it to trial. I am not.”
Mr. Ridgway could have chosen to keep the trial in the media -- thus keeping himself in the media and advancing his career (a tactic used quite effectively in several recent high profile legal cases).
Instead, as one of the leaders of this case, Mr. Ridgway took the more ethical route, choosing instead to protect the 14-year-old male victim from having to testify...an event that would certainly have traumatized the young boy; given our society's reluctance to see males as victims.
Bottom line: Florida Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway made the right leadership choice!
P.S. Memo to Ms. LeFave: Whether or not you suffer from bipolar disorder is irrelevant to the fact that you engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with an underage teenager.
“The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims in this case in order to force it to trial. I am not.”
Mr. Ridgway could have chosen to keep the trial in the media -- thus keeping himself in the media and advancing his career (a tactic used quite effectively in several recent high profile legal cases).
Instead, as one of the leaders of this case, Mr. Ridgway took the more ethical route, choosing instead to protect the 14-year-old male victim from having to testify...an event that would certainly have traumatized the young boy; given our society's reluctance to see males as victims.
Bottom line: Florida Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway made the right leadership choice!
P.S. Memo to Ms. LeFave: Whether or not you suffer from bipolar disorder is irrelevant to the fact that you engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with an underage teenager.
Setting bones in 30 minutes or....free MOVIE TICKETS?!?
Interesting article here ...
Seems a U.S. hospital is using the marketing ploys used by so many other service industries - if you come into their ER, they pledge to have you seen by a doc in less than 30 minutes or you get... an apology and a pair of movie tickets.
Now, this has BAD IDEA written all over it.
I'm fine with pizza joints offering 30 minute delivery time or you get it free. But the ER is a different place. Entirely.
If I, or (God forbid) my kids have to go to the ER, I don't want to be wondering if the doc who is treating my child is rushing thru the care in so the next patient doesn't win free movie tickets.
And a hospital offering an apology? For years, I've been in favor of apologies as a standard part of medical practice, believing that apologies could dramatically decrease malpractice suits. Every lawyer I've ever spoken to has always told me something to the effect that "Hospitals can never apologize, because that would open them up for lawsuits." I'm wondering if the marketing dept. checked with legal before launching this "free tickets" deal....
The biggest reason that this is a BAD idea is that ER stands for EMERGENCY ROOM, and emergencies (by definition) can take a highly variable amount of time. As a mental health professional I have had to wait at the ER with patients -- sometimes for what seemed like enormous amounts of time -- but I've always assumed that the ER staff is doing their best to get to everyone. It's not like I assumed they were in the backroom playing pinochle or something!
I'd be very curious to hear how the ER staff is responding to this new marketing campaign. Dollars to donuts they don't like it. And when employees aren't happy, they emotionally disconnect from their job...and everything slows down.
Bottom Line: An apology and free movies tickets in an ER Room is a BAD Leadership call!
Seems a U.S. hospital is using the marketing ploys used by so many other service industries - if you come into their ER, they pledge to have you seen by a doc in less than 30 minutes or you get... an apology and a pair of movie tickets.
Now, this has BAD IDEA written all over it.
I'm fine with pizza joints offering 30 minute delivery time or you get it free. But the ER is a different place. Entirely.
If I, or (God forbid) my kids have to go to the ER, I don't want to be wondering if the doc who is treating my child is rushing thru the care in so the next patient doesn't win free movie tickets.
And a hospital offering an apology? For years, I've been in favor of apologies as a standard part of medical practice, believing that apologies could dramatically decrease malpractice suits. Every lawyer I've ever spoken to has always told me something to the effect that "Hospitals can never apologize, because that would open them up for lawsuits." I'm wondering if the marketing dept. checked with legal before launching this "free tickets" deal....
The biggest reason that this is a BAD idea is that ER stands for EMERGENCY ROOM, and emergencies (by definition) can take a highly variable amount of time. As a mental health professional I have had to wait at the ER with patients -- sometimes for what seemed like enormous amounts of time -- but I've always assumed that the ER staff is doing their best to get to everyone. It's not like I assumed they were in the backroom playing pinochle or something!
I'd be very curious to hear how the ER staff is responding to this new marketing campaign. Dollars to donuts they don't like it. And when employees aren't happy, they emotionally disconnect from their job...and everything slows down.
Bottom Line: An apology and free movies tickets in an ER Room is a BAD Leadership call!
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Let's talk about "LeaderSpeak"
LeaderSpeak is a verbal trick used by poor leaders to Push or Pull people into going along with what the leader wants. Leaders who engage in LeaderSpeak are not truly Leading People because effective leaders do not Push or Pull people.
Here's an example of LeaderSpeak from today's media:
Today's media reports President Bush as urging "Americans to resist a temptation to retreat from Iraq..." (here's the full story).
Framing withdrawal from Iraq as a temptation is a brilliant LeaderSpeak move. Americans have "avoiding temptation" deeply ingrained at them from an early age, as we learned that temptation is a sin and something to be avoided.
The further brilliance of this statement is it sets up a perfect rebuttal towards anyone who argues in favor of leaving Iraq. Notice the LeaderSpeak use of retreat as well - retreat is a word that is loaded with shame in America. Americans never retreat - or at least so the cultural message goes.
By powerful combining the religious power of temptation with the shaming power of retreat in a single LeaderSpeak phrase, Bush effectively pushes people into following along, as well as cutting off any dissenting voices.
On the other hand, Great Leaders.....
...avoid LeaderSpeak like the plague.
Great leaders value dissenting and opposing voices, for they know that wisdom can often be found in dissent and opposition. Great leaders are willing to risk saying what is important for them, as well as the vision they hold for the organization they all -- all without needing to resort to rhetorical trickery and deceit.
What's at stake? The emotional engagement of the people in any given organization (or nation). Currently, the lack of emotional engagement in our employees is costing America around $360 billion (that's billion with a "b") per year.
What's it costing your organization?
Have a LeaderSpeak story from work you'd like to share with others?
Email it to me at Tim at blackbeltconsultants.com
Here's an example of LeaderSpeak from today's media:
Today's media reports President Bush as urging "Americans to resist a temptation to retreat from Iraq..." (here's the full story).
Framing withdrawal from Iraq as a temptation is a brilliant LeaderSpeak move. Americans have "avoiding temptation" deeply ingrained at them from an early age, as we learned that temptation is a sin and something to be avoided.
The further brilliance of this statement is it sets up a perfect rebuttal towards anyone who argues in favor of leaving Iraq. Notice the LeaderSpeak use of retreat as well - retreat is a word that is loaded with shame in America. Americans never retreat - or at least so the cultural message goes.
By powerful combining the religious power of temptation with the shaming power of retreat in a single LeaderSpeak phrase, Bush effectively pushes people into following along, as well as cutting off any dissenting voices.
On the other hand, Great Leaders.....
...avoid LeaderSpeak like the plague.
Great leaders value dissenting and opposing voices, for they know that wisdom can often be found in dissent and opposition. Great leaders are willing to risk saying what is important for them, as well as the vision they hold for the organization they all -- all without needing to resort to rhetorical trickery and deceit.
What's at stake? The emotional engagement of the people in any given organization (or nation). Currently, the lack of emotional engagement in our employees is costing America around $360 billion (that's billion with a "b") per year.
What's it costing your organization?
Have a LeaderSpeak story from work you'd like to share with others?
Email it to me at Tim at blackbeltconsultants.com
Book Review: FIVE STARS from Reader Views
I just received this new, five-star review about Leading People the Black Belt Way:
"Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today"
By Timothy H. Warneka
Asogomi Publishing Company (2006)
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (3/06)
What do King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Aikido and Charles Dickens' 'The Christmas Carol' have in common? Good question! According to author Timothy Warneka, they teach you true leadership qualities and he makes a compelling argument for this in his book, "Leading People the Black Belt Way."
Click here for more...
"Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today"
By Timothy H. Warneka
Asogomi Publishing Company (2006)
Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (3/06)
What do King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Aikido and Charles Dickens' 'The Christmas Carol' have in common? Good question! According to author Timothy Warneka, they teach you true leadership qualities and he makes a compelling argument for this in his book, "Leading People the Black Belt Way."
Click here for more...
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