TipsLeadership
others perceive them?
Te best approach is to develop a can-do and collaborative
environment by setting the leadership example, and by listening
and providing opportunities
for others to be creative and to
shine. No matter how large or
small your sphere of infuence
may be, promoting a culture of
leadership development, enthusiasm, innovation, accountability
and transparency are essential
foundational elements to building a framework for team and
organizational success.
As you go about your everyday projects and tasks, it's
important to create leadership
development programs and
opportunities for mentoring
and coaching, as well as clearly
identify leadership talent for
all levels of the organization.
Ultimately, consider that many
organizations have found success by aligning individual
leadership strengths and skills
with broader organizational
needs and strategies.
42
A helpful resource on this
subject is Dave Karpen's "11
Simple Concepts to Become
a Better Leader" (www.
linkedin.com/today/post/
article/2013012816271115077789-11-simple-conceptsto-become-a-better-leader).
Karpen talks about simple, but
key, principles that make successful leaders: the ability to listen and engage in collaboration
as a team player; to demonstrate
respect and ofer recognition to
others; and to act with humility
and integrity. Karpen explains
that although these concepts
above are simple, people do
tend to forget them.
A great example of an organization that consistently demonstrates these principles is Zappos.
com, led by the pioneering CEO,
Tony Hsieh. Te company is
renowned for a culture that puts
people before proft by motivating employees and generating
strong consumer loyalty on an
emotional level. Zappos.com is
considered one of the best places
October / November 2013 Elearning!
to work in America, and customers consistently rank it as one of
their favorite companies. Amazon
was so impressed that the online
retail giant acquired Zappos.com
for $1.2 billion in 2009.
3
BECOME YOUR BEST
BY FOCUSING ON
LIFELONG LEARNING
AND INSPIRING OTHERS.
Another way of sparking your
authentic leadership style is
to help establish a culture and
mindset poised for lifelong
learning. Lifelong learning is
essential for keeping pace with
industry and leadership trends
and to supporting organizational competitiveness and sustainability. Efective and dynamic
leaders are up-to-date on the
most current information. Tey
develop fresh ideas and harness best practices. As a leader,
you're not only responsible
for self-development, but for
engaging and inspiring others,
helping them to develop and
achieve their highest potential.
Learn more about what set of
characteristics superior leaders
have by reading Dr. David G.
Javitch's "10 Characteristics of
Superior Leaders" (www.entrepreneur.com/article/204248).
Javitch accurately points out
that you must be seen as the
expert in your feld, highly
credentialed and capable of
leading to success in order to
be respected and followed. Ask
yourself this question: What
will it take for you to become
this person?
Becoming a leader is a personal journey. It takes efort,
persistence, dedication, practice and patience. Tere is a
learning curve, but the experiential process helps you evolve
over time and hone insights
and skills that enable you to
make a meaningful contribution to your organizational culture and its bottom line.
—Te author is
Director of Corporate & Strategic
Relationships for
American Public University.
She has more than 10 years of
combined experience in corporate and strategic partnerships
for leadership, talent and professional development across a
variety of industries. Her work
has been showcased in Human
Capital Media, Enterprise
Learning Conference, Elearning!, Chief Learning Ofcer and
the Learning and Leadership
Conference, among others. She
also serves in the Post-Secondary Education Board of Directors for the Sofware & Information Industry Association.
Learn more at www.studyatapu.com/solutions.