Elearning! October-November

October-November 2013

Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.

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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.

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