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Archive for the ‘Servant Leadership’ category

Martin Luther King – Celebration of a Servant Leader

January 17th, 2010

Marting Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream

Martin Luther King is among the greatest Servant Leaders this world has ever seen. His vision, leadership and ultimate sacrifice blazed a path for millions. There are many great posts, videos and other references that remind us of his vision and social injustices he would fight still today. Below are some of my favorites:

1. Wikipedia Article – For a brief background and history on the man and his amazing contributions.

2. I Have a Dream Speech – The famous speech, in full length. Link here to YouTube. Video embedded below.

3. Look Here Interview – This is one of my favorite interviews of King. It is particularly humanizing of the man while displaying his great intellect and the foundation of many of his beliefs. » Read more: Martin Luther King – Celebration of a Servant Leader

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Posted in Servant Leadership

Tags: Leadership Motivation Servant Leadership

New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders

December 28th, 2009

What are your Leadership New Year's Resolutions?

Thinking about your New Year’s resolutions? Here’s a quick list of ideas for leaders. The list includes a few of the standards, but aims to inspire some new ideas for each of us:

Physical Fitness - Whether it’s weight loss, increased exercise or dropping a bad habit, this standard is important for leaders to maintain stress levels. You may also find increased productivity.
Listen More – Find yourself speaking more than you listen? Did your latest 360 feedback suggest the team may not feel their input is valued enough? Commit to listening a greater percentage of the time.
Succession Planning - Too many leaders let real succession planning wait too long, if they do it at all. Why not start the new year right with specific steps to ensure strong succession planning throughout the organization? » Read more: New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders

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Posted in Career, Servant Leadership

Tags: Inspiration Leadership New Year Resolution Self-improvement Tips

The Servant Leader’s Night Before Christmas

December 21st, 2009

All I want for Christmas is Servant Leadership

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all of the staff
Sat around hoping a leader would come, on their behalf.
Tired of the power model still in the air,
They hoped a servant leader, soon would be there.

There had been no focus on long-term success,
And Short-term drivers too long caused distress.
While some struggled for a solution, others had fled,
We needed a change before going in the red.

Then amongst the board there arose such a clatter,
“Ego-based leaders” they said, “no longer matter.”
“We’ve ousted the selfish, greedy narcissists,
Replaced them with servant leaders, here to assist.”

Ego’s torn, pride drowned, the power leaders walked out,
Their golden parachutes and bonuses now in doubt.
Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Not whom we expected, but one we all held dear. » Read more: The Servant Leader’s Night Before Christmas

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Posted in Parable, Servant Leadership

Tags: Christmas Servant Leadership

Servant Leaders Can Be Mean Too

October 28th, 2009

One misconception about Servant Leaders is that they are just “too nice”. Many executives hear the term “Servant Leader” and think, “that person will never make it in our environment” or, “they’ll just go easy on the staff and we’ll never get anything done”. Then there is my favorite: “Servant Leaders just want to be liked by everyone”. In reality, Servant Leaders can seem quite mean, depending upon the circumstances. Below are four examples of servant leaders that even Donald Trump could be proud of….

Accountability
Servant Leaders accept the blame for failures within the team. However, in serving their organization and their stakeholders, they must ensure » Read more: Servant Leaders Can Be Mean Too

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Posted in Featured, Management, Servant Leadership

Tags: Driving Results Leadership Servant Leadership Supporting your Boss Transparency Understanding

Day in the Life of Your Team

September 19th, 2009

Note: The conclusion of our 3 part series, this message reflects on the perception and realities between leaders and individual contributors. Part one was “A Day in the Life of Your Staff“. Part two was “A Day in the Life of Your Boss“.

We saw both sides of the story. The individual contributor, Jonathon, working incredibly hard and striving to do the right thing, is misunderstood and feels undervalued. The team leader, Michelle, is looking out for the best interests of her team and the company, but is viewed as a taskmaster, unwilling to contribute the same long hours demanded of her team. The world is full of Jonathons and Michelles. The reality is, many individual contributors and team leaders are more alike than they may realize. This gap in understanding is often the result of insufficient transparency between the two. Below are some suggestions, framed by this business fable, for individual contributors and team leaders to improve transparency. » Read more: Day in the Life of Your Team

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Posted in Management, Parable, Servant Leadership

Tags: Supporting Your Team Team Building Transparency Understanding

Day in the Life of Your Boss

August 23rd, 2009

First time managers often realize they underestimated how many additional responsibilities management entails and the efforts supervisors perform behind the scenes. So, before you suggest your boss does not work as hard as you, does not appreciate your contributions, or simply doesn’t “get it”, consider this short parable about one such – admittedly imperfect – manager. It begins with a long, restful evening…

Sleeping In
Michelle awoke to the obnoxious sound of her alarm clock ringing at 2:45 AM. It was 3:45 PM for her Asian colleagues she had visited earlier that month. While there, she learned how frustrating it was for her team members to always conform to U.S. time zones. Michelle believed in supporting her team and began accommodating them by awaking incredibly early for these weekly calls. Ugh, she groaned, rolling out bed, trying not to wake her husband anymore than the alarm clock. » Read more: Day in the Life of Your Boss

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Posted in Management, Parable, Servant Leadership

Tags: Empathy Supporting your Boss Team Building Transparency Understanding

A Day in the Life of Your Staff

August 23rd, 2009

How well do you know what members of your team do on a regular basis? Consider this parable of one employee’s interactions with his supervisor. It’s part one in a three part piece on the importance of transparency between leaders and their team. We begin with a reflection on the peaceful nights so many individual contributors experience…

Peaceful Nights
Jonathon woke to his Blackberry ringing. Rolling over, still blurry-eyed, he saw the alarm clock glaring back with “3:05 AM”. » Read more: A Day in the Life of Your Staff

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Posted in Featured, Management, Parable, Servant Leadership

Tags: Empathy Supporting Your Team Transparency Understanding

New Book: Servant Leadership for Project Management

June 14th, 2009

Recently published, “Business Driven PMO Setup, Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success”, written by Mark Price Perry, includes a chapter on the Project Management Office (PMO) as servant leaders. As Senior Vice President of Operations at BOT International, host of The PMO Podcast and a regular contributor to Gantthead.com, Perry has a wealth of hands-on experience and a keen awareness for Project Management work “in the real world”. In addition, his servant leader values were apparent not only in the book’s content, but in his approach to it’s creation as well. With 20 contributors, Mark was certain to balance his own insights with the experience and opinions of other practitioners. In fact, I was honored to be included as a contributor to the chapter on Servant Leadership. » Read more: New Book: Servant Leadership for Project Management

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Posted in Management, Project Management, Reviews, Servant Leadership

Tags: Book Book Review PMO PMP Project Management Servant Leadership

Conference Leadership Impressions from SAP SAPPHIRE

May 13th, 2009

I was very fortunate to be offered a coveted pass to SAP’s Sapphire conference last week. This is one of the larger conferences in the IT industry and specifically targets senior managers and executives requiring large-scale applications. As a result, although I was there for my employer and focused my time on their solutions, I also observed some of the leadership styles by so many information technology executives attending this conference. The attendance was down – a sign of the economic times, but there remained a broad range of leadership styles represented by Speakers, Vendors and Bloggers. Below are observations on the leadership styles these individuals presented at the conference*.

Hasso Plattner file photo from SAP Sapphire 2007 / CC BY-NC 2.0

Speakers & SAP Executives (Positive)
While commitments back at the office prevented me from catching all of the keynote speakers and SAP executives presenting, I was able to get to most of the top keynotes. » Read more: Conference Leadership Impressions from SAP SAPPHIRE

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