Monday, July 12, 2010
White Water Rafting
Here at Elevation, fun incentives and challenges are always going on. A couple weeks ago, we separated the office into smaller groups and each group received points based on growth within the company. The winning team enjoyed a Saturday at the U.S. National White Water Center in Charlotte, NC, all paid for by management. The day was a blast, it was filled with white water rafting, rock climbing, the adventure line, good food, played corn hole, and ended the day listening to live music. The experience was a great time for some team bonding activities and for some, trying new things.
Leadership by Susan Ward
Definition:
A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.
Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.
In business, leadership is welded to performance. Effective leaders are those who increase their companys' bottom lines.
To further confuse the issue, we tend to use the terms "leadership" and "management" interchangeably, referring to a company's management structure as its leadership, or to individuals who are actually managers as the "leaders" of various management teams.
I am not saying that this is a bad thing, just pointing out that leadership involves more. To be effective, a leader certainly has to manage the resources at her disposal. But leadership also involves communicating, inspiring and supervising - just to name three more of the main skills a leader has to have to be successful.
Is a leader born or made? While there are people who seem to be naturally endowed with more leadership abilities than others, I believe that people can learn to become leaders by concentrating on improving particular leadership skills.
As I say in 5 Keys to Leadership for Small Business, "Leadership is a winning combination of personal traits and the ability to think and act as a leader, a person who directs the activities of others for the good of all. Anyone can be a leader, even if the only person they’re leading is themselves."
A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.
Put even more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and skills that makes others want to follow his or her direction.
In business, leadership is welded to performance. Effective leaders are those who increase their companys' bottom lines.
To further confuse the issue, we tend to use the terms "leadership" and "management" interchangeably, referring to a company's management structure as its leadership, or to individuals who are actually managers as the "leaders" of various management teams.
I am not saying that this is a bad thing, just pointing out that leadership involves more. To be effective, a leader certainly has to manage the resources at her disposal. But leadership also involves communicating, inspiring and supervising - just to name three more of the main skills a leader has to have to be successful.
Is a leader born or made? While there are people who seem to be naturally endowed with more leadership abilities than others, I believe that people can learn to become leaders by concentrating on improving particular leadership skills.
As I say in 5 Keys to Leadership for Small Business, "Leadership is a winning combination of personal traits and the ability to think and act as a leader, a person who directs the activities of others for the good of all. Anyone can be a leader, even if the only person they’re leading is themselves."
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