Lead People...Manage Things (Print)

How to Lead People

My name is Brian Ward, and I am a Co-Founder and Principal Partner in Affinity Consulting. For over twenty five years I have been helping managers and supervisors develop both their management and leadership skills.

During that time I've found that the biggest challenge facing most managers is always the same...how to make the leap from being a successful manager to being recognized as an influential visionary leader, one that people follow...willingly, intelligently, and enthusiastically.

In my work with managers, I've discovered that, in facing this challenge, the same leadership issues emerge again and again. These issues apply to managers in all types and sizes of organizations, ranging from small companies to large multi-national organizations.

What are these issues? Well, some, or perhaps all of these issues may sound familiar to you:

• Those around you, including your manager, and your staff, want you to 'be more visionary'. You want that too, but are not sure what to do about it. Every time you try to develop a 'vision', it fails to excite or energise you, or those around you.
• You are afraid that if you don't successfully demonstrate visionary leadership, then your career will be in jeopardy. You may even know some colleagues who, while excelling as managers, eventually just gave up as seemingly less talented managers got promoted above them because they were more 'visionary'.
• You have received feedback on your leadership style, and there are gaps. But then it stops there...your organization cannot provide sufficient learning and development opportunities to you to remedy these gaps.
• You have attended training courses or programs on leadership, but have not gotten the results you expected. The training is good, but when you get back to work, you meet reality. Real world, urgent issues get in the way of applying what you have learned.
• You are left feeling that the whole concept of leadership is too soft, too theoretical. It's not like management, which is built on a foundation of systems, tools and techniques. Leadership theories, and all the competencies associated with them, are simply not tangible enough to enable you to master them.

If concerns like these are bothering you, then read on. If not, then this leadership development resource is not for you.

Do I know the secrets of those who succeed as leaders? I believe that there are no secrets to success as a leader, and no mystery either. The answers to your questions on leadership can to be found in what other successful leaders have done. You see, success always leaves its footprints.

Let me repeat that:
"Success always leave its footprints"

What do I mean by footprints? Footprints are simply the steps that others before you have taken to achieve success as a leader. And when you follow these clear steps, your chances of success as a leader will multiply. Everything will just seem to flow more smoothly. But don't misunderstand me, there will be challenges, starting with my challenge to you...

"Brian Ward issues a challenge to readers who desire to be great leaders – honestly answer Brian's five critical questions and you'll learn a whole lot about yourself and your leadership focus"
Sandi L. Humphrey, CAE, Editor, Association Magazine

Introducing Lead People...Manage Things: Master the Five Key Facets of High Performance Leadership

I wrote this leadership how-to resource to help managers elevate their performance as leaders. Having worked with hundreds of managers, and coaching them to become better leaders, I distilled what I know into a concise set of points that busy managers could grasp and put into immediate effect.

In Lead People...Manage Things, I lead you through five key steps you can take to become a better leader, a 'high performance' leader.

Lead People...Manage Things: Master The Five Key Facets of High Performance Leadership clearly shows the key distinctions between leading and managing, how to master these distinctions, and become an influential, and successful, leader.

What will you achieve from using Lead People...Manage Things?

You will discover answers to the following questions. These five questions, and answers, are absolutely critical to your success as a leader:

1. FOCUS: How focused am I? How much of my time do I spend communicating and inspiring people about our mission, vision and strategic goals? How much focus do I create in my team and organization?
2. AUTHENTICITY: Am I viewed as authentic? Do people see and hear the real me? Do I wear a mask at work, and remove it when I leave each evening? How much trust do people have in me?
3. COURAGE: How courageous am I when my values, vision and goals are challenged? Do I stand firm and only change my position when I know that I am wrong? How well do I manage change?
4. EMPATHY: How empathetic am I? Too much/too little? Do I create enough opportunities for open and candid dialogue? Do I ever find myself getting bogged down in consensus building, or leading my team to false consensus? Is there a feeling of inclusiveness and engagement amongst the members of my team and organization, and with other stakeholders, including customers?
5. TIMING: Do I make and execute decisions in a timely fashion? Do I know when to 'fish or cut bait?' - do I demand well coordinated and timely execution from others?

I call this The FACET Leadership Model™. Of course, in Lead People...Manage Things, I go into much greater detail, leading you through these questions, providing real world examples of leaders who found enduring answers, and guiding you to find your own answers.

When you follow the five steps in this leadership guide, you will stop managing people and start to really lead them. It could make a huge difference in your career and life...

"When I learned to do these things effectively, things took a real turn for the better. My reputation in the field I work in got a major boost. I started developing programs for disadvantaged youth (currently up and working) and I started to get offers for promotions.

I have to say that when I found The FACET Leadership Model I did not know where to turn. I was drifting and struggling to put pieces together. I am now very confident that I can accomplish about anything I undertake.

The big difference is that I now have a system to work. A system that works. I recommend this program to all. Get involved. You have nothing to lose but bad habits. What you have to gain is a proven system that works.

Thanks and best wishes"

Roger W. Noe, State of Kentucky, Central Region Mental Health

As you apply The Five Key Facets of High Performance Leadership you will discover and gain mastery over the following:

• The four critical elements that your leadership vision must always be founded upon, that will literally compel you and others to take immediate action towards its achievement
• How to rigorously assess your readiness level before announcing your leadership vision to the world (this will dramatically reduce your personal risk when you move forward with your vision)
• How greater authenticity leads to greater trust and confidence in you as a leader, and how you can achieve it
• The three critical actions you must take right away in order to lead change effectively, and how by paying insufficient attention to just one of these causes many leaders to fail (by the way, these three actions always apply in every situation involving personal and organizational change)
• The types of resistance to change you will encounter as you embark on your journey towards your vision, and how to overcome each of them
• Ten simple techniques you can start using right now in order to become a more empathetic listener...use just a few of these and you will invigorate your team like never before!
• The one phrase that will get you, and your team, off the 'faster is better' treadmill, move with appropriate speed and help you avoid burnout
• and much, much more...

NOT mastering these key leadership competencies will leave you struggling. No doubt you already know other managers who struggled and failed to become successful leaders.They probabaly tried fads and techniques that really did not do them justice. As a result, their credibility suffered, and people lost trust in them. They may even have been viewed as 'faking it'. Don't let that happen to you...you don't have to.

Each day you put off taking these five key steps, you delay and may even jeopardize your success. And as you delay your success, you will continue to get mired in managerial tasks. The irony of this is that as you become a stronger manager, you will become a weaker leader. You will probably then make the fatal mistake of trying to manage people.

If you never follow the advice in this material, if you never do anything, at least embrace the following thought :

Nobody wants you to manage them, but they do want you to lead and inspire them...

"He has captured how to be recognized as a leader. These are excellent points for the leader who has a comfort level with managing! By separating the managing of "things", we can push back our desire for organization and administrative details, concentrating instead on our power of influence" - Cheryl Nerud, Training Specialist, Boise, Idaho

"What a refreshing new voice...! Many talk the concept of leading people, but few actually give the many different facets and their explanations of how to lead people." - Danielle M. Wilson, Physician Center Manager, Newark, Ohio, USA

"Just at the very beginning you start to read you feel confidence towards the author. This guy knows exactly what effect he wants to achieve. He not only wants us to read this book but he wants us to think while reading. And he does it successfully. A deep book for those who have the desire to achieve their goals" - Boryslaw Wereszczynski, Unit Manager, Krakow, Poland

Contents

Leading and inspiring people requires a special set of leadership competencies... a special set of leadership attitudes, skills and knowledge. The FACET Leadership Model™ describes these leadership competencies and guides you towards applying them.

Are You Ready to Move From Spending Too Much Time Managing To Spending More Time Leading?

Here is what this leadership how-to resource includes:

• Introduction: The World Needs Great Leaders
  The introduction makes the case for more leadership and less management.
• Overview of The FACET Leadership Model™
  This section gives you a birds eye view of The FACET Leadership Model and sets the tone for the remainder of the chapters.
• Chapter 1: The Power of Focus
  How to develop your leadership vision, and assess your level of commitment to it. It includes a straightforward self-assessment that highlights the strengths and weakness in your stated vision. Once you have a vision that meets the criteria in the self-assessment, you are then ready to move forward.
• Chapter 2: Authentic Leadership
  How to understand your true self and bring the insights gained to the work you perform in pursuit of your vision. Understanding self is an essential prerequisite to understanding others, building trust in you as a leader, and building a high performing team.
• Chapter 3: The Power to Lead...The Courage to Win
  How to deal squarely with managing change. It provides advice on what to do, and just as importantly what not to do, when introducing change that will help you and your team achieve the vision.
• Chapter 4: Making Conversation a Core Competency
  How to use the power of conversation within and between teams in helping to create common understanding and develop shared meaning, without getting bogged down in never ending dialogue.
• Chapter 5: Timing - Better Value...Faster
  How to use time to your advantage, and maximise the time of your team. This puts into perspective the need for you and your team to pace yourselves, and avoid burnout.
• User's Guide to The Five Key Facets
  This is a summary of the key points in the book
• Selected Biliography, with references and links to valuable leadership resources on the web, many of which are free!

Sincerely,

Brian Ward
PS: Purchasing this book will entitle you to free access to the FACET Leadership website.

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