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Art of Leadership Blog

What Makes A Good Executive

2/22/2012

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Peter Drucker says that being a good executive happens in three stages: getting the knowledge you need, converting this knowledge into effective action, and then ensuring that the whole organization feels responsible and accountable.

He says that the way to get the knowledge you need is to:
  • Asking what needs to be done?
  • Asking what is right for the enterprise?

Effective leaders find one priority (or two at the most) which are the most important at the time and focus on it. Then when they are done with that task they ask again what needs to be done instead of going right to the second task. Also effective executives focus on those tasks they are especially good at and delegate the rest. They also focus on the enterprise as a whole and not any one constituent or group.

The second stage is converting knowledge into effective actions. This includes:
  • Develop Action Plans
  • Take responsibility for decisions
  • Take responsibility for communicating
  • Focus on opportunities, not problems

Action plans create statements of intention, a way of checking results against expectations.
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What Makes a Great Leader?

2/15/2012

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According to Daniel Goleman Emotional Intelligence distinguishes great leaders from merely good ones. He says that when a group of senior managers had the following key capabilities of emotional intelligence, their divisions outperformed earnings goals by 20%. These capabilities include:

  • Self-awareness - the ability to know one’s own strengths, weaknesses, values and impacts on others
  • Self-regulation - the ability to control or redirect disruptive moods or impulses
  • Motivation - wanting to achieve something for its own sake
  • Empathy - the ability to understand other people’s emotions
  • Social Skills - building rapport and relationships with others to be able to move them in desired directions

Goleman says we are all born with certain levels of emotional intelligence, but we can strengthen these abilities through practice and persistence. The first three skills in emotional intelligence are self-management tools, while the last two are how people interact with others.

Goleman says that out of leaders with similar technical skills emotional intelligence was the skill that set them apart. It was their ability to deal and manage people, relate to them, create rapport with them, and motivate themselves as well as their employees that really created success. 

It was also their knowledge of themselves, their values and what makes them tick as well as their ability to regulate strong emotions in a way that balances things out.

I do agree with the author that people skills are a key component of the effectiveness of a leader as I believe the hallmark of a good leader is drawing people into your vision.

So where are you on the emotional intelligence scale? Are there any of the five skills listed above that you need to work on? If so what steps can you take in order to enhance that skill?

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“The Accidental Creative” Review 3

2/8/2012

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In “The Accidental Creative” Todd Henry speaks about two more areas that he believes are key in providing structure and rhythm to the creative process. These are:

4. Stimuli - he says “What comes in must come out.” It is for us to determine what is important to come into our sphere and what is just noise. He says to focus on stimuli that are challenging, relevant and diverse. He also says that three factors should play a role in the direction: 
  • Maintain a study plan of stimuli you want to come into your sphere
  • Structure your study plan into quarterly increments
  • Assimilate information into wisdom by synthesizing data and seeing patterns that emerge

5. Hours - Henry says that we have to let go of our constant crunch on time. As creatives he says we are judged on our effectiveness, not our efficiency. If you want to have a lot of ideas then you have to structure time to do that by establishing the following:
  • Idea Time - this is setting aside an hour a week to just generate ideas on your own. This is time to think outside of the box and allow yourself to be.
  • Unnecessary Creating - taking the time to just explore fringe ideas, experiment, and try new things.

So how do you keep all of this on track - this structure and this rhythm? Well Henry says to have regular checkpoints to add discipline to your life. It includes weekly, monthly, and quarterly check-ins in each of these five areas to see where you are making progress and where you need to make adjustments. It is also a way to create accountability, traction, and clarify opportunities.

How are you managing the stimuli and hours? What are you doing keep track of your creativity? Which of these five areas can you implement in order to bring a bit more structure to your creativity?
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“The Accidental Creative” Review 2

2/1/2012

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For the majority of this book Todd Henry, the author, focus on five key areas that creatives can focus on to bring some structure to their creative process. This blog post will go into detail on the first three areas he discusses.

1. Focus - he says that the best way to focus your energy is to be a “Developer” or someone who can see the big picture, break it down into manageable parts, but can also veer off course every once in a while if needed. This allows for some flexibility while keeping in tune with the major objectives. He suggests a few different technique for focus:
  • Be clear about the project objectives from the beginning. 
  • Focus on the “Big 3” or the three biggest creative areas that you want insights on 
  • “Cluster” work that are similar in nature so that your mind can focus on grouping activities


2. Relationships - Henry says “Investing in healthy, thriving relationships yields long-term benefits for everyone...” He says there are three ways to cultivate creatively stimulating relationships and that is: “to have relationships in which you can be real, relationships where you can learn to risk, and relationships where you can submit to the wisdom of others.” He lays out three strategies to enrich relationships:
  • Start a circle - this is a group of people who can inspire you with their vision, their strategic thinking, and their track record of executing great ideas.
  • Head-to-Heads - this is where two people get together and share new insights and new resources that they have gathered since their last meeting in order to keep a healthy competition and accountability with the other.
  • Establish a Core Team - this a group of people who help you shape your decisions and career choices. This can be a Board of Advisors or a group of friends to share your successes and ask guidance in your down times.


3. Energy - energy management is a key to our success as it keeps us out of ruts and keeps us moving towards our goals. Henry suggests two main practices for energy management:
  • Whole-Life Planning - here he talks about stepping back to examine our life as a whole and establishing a rhythm around energy management that takes into account all of our commitments.
  • Pruning - eliminating less effective activity. “Each choice you make to do something is a choice not to do something else.” Pruning away things that keep you away from the priorities of the season will help you to have energy for the important projects in your life.

How are you managing your focus, relationships, and energy? Are there any tools listed above that you can begin to implement in your life in order to enhance your creative growth?
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    Monica Thakrar

    Monica Thakrar has over 18 years experience in business focused mainly on strategy, change management, leadership development, training and coaching resulting in successful implementations of large scale transformation programs.  

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MTI Inc. is a woman-owned small business founded in 2008 | Monica Thakrar, CEO | DUNS #004654409 | NAICS Codes 541611, 541612, 611430 | Classification WOSB 

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