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Welcome to the first Examiner column devoted to the critical topic of leadership. In the months to come, my goal is to offer a broad variety of content to help you think differently about leadership, and hopefully, provide ideas and tips to help you become even more effective as a leader.
This just in – leadership matters. It’s true in all walks of life, but especially true in the business world. You can’t browse the internet or pick up a paper or business magazine without reading about the power of positive leadership. And everyone wants more if it. Executive search firms have never been busier trying to fill the demand for leadership talent. Every year, the top consulting firms and Fortune 500 companies line up to grab MBA talent from the best business schools. Great leaders demand a premium on the open market, as they seek to find the right environment to apply their skills.
If you are a business executive, you face a number of critical challenges to building a successful organization. However, of all the variables that impact your company, one stands out as the single best indicator of your success – the quality of your leaders. By now, it’s accepted that a company’s human capital is its best single asset. If this is true, then leadership is certainly the key ingredient that powers this asset; you simply can’t become a great company without great leaders. And in today’s competitive environment, you need leaders at all levels of your organization to spark innovation, drive productivity, and motivate and empower employees. Having the right leaders also makes a substantial impact on key customers and business partners. In fact, great leaders have been proven to be significantly more effective than average leaders in every way – from producing revenue and profits to driving customer satisfaction and employee commitment (Zenger & Folkman, 2002).
As a business executive, leadership needs to be one of your top priorities. You need to insist upon and support the right processes. You need to make sure you’re being rigorous, fair, and well-grounded in your assessment of leadership talent. Finally, you need to demonstrate a passion for growing leaders, and make it known that you consider it every manager’s job to help develop the next generation of leaders.
In the weeks and months to come, we'll explore the characteristics that great leaders share, examine specific examples where leaders are making a difference, and offer suggestions for how you can take your leadership game to a new level. Leadership most definitely matters, and you owe it to yourself (and your team) to continuously improve as a leader. Make a commitment to your own development by bookmarking and visiting this post on a regular basis. Its up to you to create your own leadership style and improve your impact as a leader.
For more info: Steve Arneson can be reached at steve@arnesonleadership.com or by visiting his website at www.arnesonleadership.com
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- Ask the Experts
- Setting Performance Objectives
- Talent Trumps Experience
- 5 Things You Should Know About Your People
- Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
- Evaluate Your Work Relationships
- How to Choose a Business Book
- Leverage Your Strengths
- Learn to Delegate
- Assuming a New Leadership Role
- Your Leadership Journey
- The Art of Taking Notes
- Find a Mentor
- Make Meetings Work
- The Power of Storytelling
- Evaluating New Opportunities
- The Need for Knowledge and Wisdom
- Character & Success
- Leadership Excellence
- No Elevator to the Top
- 50 Lessons
- Knowledge @ Wharton
- Harvard Business Online
- Chief Learning Officer
- Talent Management
- Sloan Business Review
- HR Executive Online
- Quick MBA
- Executive Networks
- Rypple
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- Leader to Leader
- Washington Post: On Leadership
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- The Next Level
- Free e-books
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