Leadership Wisdom

Five practices of Exemplary Leadership

1. Model the behaviour you expect from other people.

2. Inspire others to share your vision and dreams.

3. Challenge the process by experimenting and taking risks.

4. Help others act by fostering collaboration and building trust.

5. Encourage the hearts of your people to carry on.

Source The Leadership Challenge – James M Kouzes and Barry Z Posner

Great advice – easy to understand, challenging to integrate.

Favourite line – “you are the most important leader in the organisation.”

Successful companies have leaders at all levels thus the relevance of this simple sentence cannot be underestimated.

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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Get them complaining!

Complaints represent a unique opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customers!
An unhappy customer whose complaint was satisfactorily resolved will tell up to five people about the positive treatment they received.
The fact is that most people don’t expect complaints to be handled well, so when you train your team to detonate this potential time bomb at base, you immediately exceed your customer’s expectations.
Top companies empower their employees to respond at the contact point wherever possible. For example: the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain authorises their staff to deal with any problem at source and to implement or create any customer satisfaction solution that will cost under $2,000.
If the scale of the complaint means that the employee needs to seek counsel with a superior, communication is key. The customer must be kept informed, given a detailed timeline and be told when they can expect a resolution of the issue. Then the challenge is to execute the planned resolution even more efficiently so that you really start building bridges!
I believe that we need to do better than merely solving complaints. We need to be proactive at eliciting them. Remember, 96% of dissatisfied people never complain to you directly but leave anyway! (source: Technical Assistance Research Programme, U.S.A.)
We need to engage in what I describe as ‘reverse selling’: extract complaints and ideas from your customers and integrate this feedback into a new product offering and sell your target audience back ‘their’ product. The customer now has an aspect of ownership in the product and will be much more inclined to buy it. This was the strategy I successfully employed to dramatically increase the turnover in many of the companies I worked for, before setting up my own marketing consultancy in 1990.
Be aware that the current canned attempt that some service organisations use to assess customer feedback is not sufficient. Asking “how was your meal?” in a lifeless voice with eyes firmly focused on the cash register won’t fool anybody! Recently, I ordered a sandwich in a five star hotel – to be precise a chicken salad sandwich! The friendly waitress arrived with effectively speaking two slices of ordinary brown bread, a few slices of dry chicken inside and lettuce. The plate was garnished by crisps which were stale. As the waitress was very warm I was in two minds whether or not I should complain. Anyway when she collected the plate she asked me the normal did you enjoy your meal to which I replied in a friendly yet “obvious” way – “it was alright.” Note you didn’t need to be a motivational speaker to work out what I was really saying was “It wasn’t good enough!” She replied “that’s great” and walked away! The following week I decided to email the manager – on his second email after the usual programmed attempt to fob me off he said to contact him the next time I was staying and he will ensure that the experienced is much better the next time around! Note I won’t be going back there ever and by the way the plain sandwich was €9.80.
Certainly not the Ritz Carlton!

Kevin Kelly International Motivational Speaker and Best Selling Author. For the past two decades Kevin has keynoted as a motivational speaker at conferences in Europe, Middle and Far East and the US. For more http://www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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Create A Mastermind Alliance

Why restrict yourself to the narrow “I” when the whole world is yours. Hindu Wisdom
As a leader, entrepreneur or businessperson have you pinpointed potential mentors and teachers who have walked the path before you? Why reinvent the wheel when you can gain access to people who can shorten the journey and help you avoid the inevitable potholes.
Creating a successful alliance is very much dependent on your current mindset. For example, are you open to learning from everybody you meet, regardless of age, education, wealth, race or gender? Do you believe that the teacher can become the student and vice versa?
You will find that the best people are always the most accessible. There are zero degrees of separation when you have the right intent. Approaching potential teachers with a win-win mentality will help bring your career to the next level.
So who do you select?
If you’re going to climb a mountain and you need a guide, you should look for somebody with personal experience and local knowledge rather than a person who dreams, talks, writes, paints or sings about climbing the mountain!
The same analogy can be applied to any challenge you face. In life and in business, a mentor with personal experience and local knowledge is much more valuable than one who is all talk.
Seek out the sherpa as opposed to the superstar!
Based on my own personal experience reaching out for help from those that have walked the path before, the best people are always the most accessible. Some time back I contacted one of the most successful people in this industry – their advice and inspiration give me the roadmap to excelling in this field.
Kevin Kelly International Motivational Speaker and Best Selling Author. For the past two decades Kevin has keynoted as a motivational speaker at conferences in Europe, Middle and Far East and the US. For more http://www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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Being Authentic, the New Strategy for Success

Research completed by Harvard psychology professors Nalini Ambady, Ph.D., and Robert Rosenthal, Ph.D. confirms our deepest suspicions – the time you’ve got to make an impact on either internal or external customer is reducing!
Observers viewed three thin slices of each professor’s behaviour – in 10-second clips from the beginning, middle and end of a class – and then rated the professors’ confidence, energy and warmth. They found that these ratings predicted with amazing accuracy the average student rating taken at semester’s end. Thinner slices – three two-second clips – also yielded ratings similarly congruent with student evaluations.
John A. Bargh, a researcher from NYU claims the assessment happens within a quarter of a second.
Think about it – in this timeframe there is only one sure-fire way that you will make an instant impact – you have to be real.
Remember there is a direct link between your physiology and psychology so instantaneously people know your natural disposition.
Other research has shown that, for most employees, the most important person in an organisation is their direct line manager and not the CEO. The relationship built between managers and their line will have a major impact on your bottom line.
People do as you do, not as you say. Whoever you are, whatever you do will be mirrored in your staff’s activities. If you want authentic, positive, proactive employees, you need to be in this space yourself first to facilitate the process.
Now more than ever, communication is key – dialogue rather than monologue. An authentic leader keeps employees informed of the ups and downs of the business and invests in their development. An authentic leader also recruits right – they are unfazed by and celebrate talent.
To build a business as a motivational speaker, you need to show that you truly walk the path of your philosophies. There is no point in directing people to live the dream if you have never set a challenging goal in your life.
So how do we become authentic, real?
Start by taking the important trip towards self-awareness. Stanford Business School Advisory Board, reports that self-awareness has been recognised as the most important capability for leaders to develop.

Kevin Kelly is an Internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, creativity and personal excellence.
www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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“Hope” – the intangible asset.

One major challenge highlighted from convenience research conducted with clients and colleagues around the world in 2009 was the inundation of negative stimuli that they were faced with on a daily basis. The bottom line was that “hope” that intangible asset that breeds optimism, perseverance and action in the face of adversity was in short supply.

The lack of leadership in political circles coupled with the media’s admitted penchant for sensationalism and bad news meant that business leaders, entrepreneurs, employees were given no time out from the challenges in the business environment.

In the absence of positive authentic leadership from both sources, it is important we take personal responsibility and focus on what we can do to inject more positivity into the current toxic environment.

2010 is a year for celebrating businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals who excel in the face of adversity, who persevere in the context of their dreams, who share and collaborate when the chips are down. Whether they are in your local community or in far distant lands, honour their efforts.
Be a “hope carrier” in 2010 – have a great year full of magic and adventure!

2010 Ten Strategies to Succeed

Persevere

Focus

Be transparent

Take Action

Lead – the authentic way

Communicate – the good, bad and ugly

Colloborate

Think differently

Exceed – how can you exceptionalise your business and exceed expectations.

Enjoy

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

Continue reading this article »