" Leadership Is When You Make Others Better Simply By Listening"--Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello everyone and well yesterday was day of driving all over town attending baseball games and there were some nail biters. I saw the leadership of one of my sons take over a game of course there was some coaching involved. There were down 17 to zero in the first inning. It was the first game of their season and what everyone saw unfold before their eyes to me was incredible.

The team began to speak and communicate with each other on the field. I heard my son telling the other team members "It is the first inning we have many more to go" I saw him cheering each member and then the rest followed the cheers and what happened next was unbelievable. In the second inning they scored 4 runs and held the other team through communication on the field.

The third inning the other team were held but scored one run. The fourth inning came along and at this point our team had to score three runs or it would be a mercy call and stop the game. The cheering started up louder then ever and just like that bases are loaded and one teammate smacks the ball out of the field and just like that the score is 17-8 and so the game continued.

 The fifth inning comes on and they hold the other team. They score one run. The sixth inning starts up the other team  gets two players on base third player comes to bat hits it to second and one out throws to first to my son and just like that double play and they hold them again no runs scored.

The bottom of the sixth inning comes up the cheering and by now of course the fans are screaming and cheering and bam! one gets on base the second hitter gets on base my son comes up and hits a triple two runs in and now 17-10 no outs. Then two more get on base and again a triple now it is 17-12 and no outs. Then a fly ball and one out bases loaded. One hitter comes up gets on base and then another bases loaded boom a triple not we are at 17-15 then two more hitters and two outs the end score was 17-15.

What I saw was a team that in the first inning were demolished and their coach was crushed to see their team like this but then the cheering the communication and the effort and the passion to win came through and all I can say was WOW!!!!!.

Now my question is how different is this from  leadership in organizations? I have seen it so many times where leadership just gives up on their staff and fires them because they have given up on them no cheering them along! no guidance nothing!!

A leader must have the capacity ti guide the vision of the organization! What does this mean well my friends this is what it means according to Warren Bennis-You must always be professional and know where you are leading your people to. You must have the knowledge and persistence to face issues and setbacks and perhaps even failures.  

You must have passion for what you believe in and yes you must love to do what you do and be able to show it.

I believe that this is the most important lesson to know. You as the leader must know your strengths and you must know tour weaknesses. You must always stick to your principles which by the way many leaders miss or do not have. A leader must learn from experience and be willing to learn from others.

Leaders must  earn peoples trust. A leader must be willing to take risks and be willing to try new things.

One thing that I have learned through experience is that you must be a great listener to the people you serve and to the people you are to lead but never ever become a prisoner of public opinion because a great leader is never ever defined by what other think or say.

There have been so many leaders through out the years and I have found through mush talking and much much research that the one thing they all had in common and I have said this many many times is that they have willing followers in other words people believe in them that they will do their best to dot he right thing in every situation.

There are many leaders out there that are well not leaders but they believe they are because they sit in a position of power which almost always will fail unless they are in a position where there is no way of having them removed. Why are these leaders great in their own mind but never with the people and have no willing followers well because simply put they focus on to much on systems and structure as apposed to focusing on people!!!

Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance!! Albert Einstein

Hello and here we are once again my friends. You know this past week was a hard week because a friend of mine passed from Cancer and the one thing that i will always remember about her was that she always stood up for what she believed to be the right thing to do whether you or I agreed or not she stood for what she believed to be the right thing to do and I have to say that that is a quality  that cannot be trained or learned because either you have it or you do not not. In life you have to believe in doing the right thing as many times as possible or else the question becomes who are you really?

In business and leadership it is really the same thing because either you are a good leader or you are not. I know that leadership skills can be learned or taught, however the individual will need to make the mind change to be a good leader and sometimes must go against the status quo.

One of the reasons that through my research and many talks both on radio and local television shows si the Leadership fails because they have no idea how to engage people and even more important than that how to empower them and even better than that inspire them to reach higher then where they are at that point or any point in their lives.I find that in all or most of all the training that I have done for small businesses has been the big question that owners or managers ask me is how do we engage,empower and inspire our employees to believe in t themselves and the vision of the enterprise?

The answer is really simple I tell them: You have to listen to their stories get to know them as human beings and not just as employees. If you want to truly engage them then you have to ask them what are their needs to reach a goal. I have found that when you want true engagement with any one employees,spouse or kids you need to listen to their stories.

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As a leader you need to allow people to vent their frustrations and as hard as it might be to sit there and just listen to them sometimes as a leader you learn to appreciate the people that actually do the work for you.

The question now becomes do you as a leader know what is engagement? To me and what i try to assist leaders to understand is that engagement is whatever the employee brings to the organizations as an investment from themselves to give to the establishment. When a leaders listens it equals engagement it also means employees will do their best work.

When leaders and believe me there so many that just do not get it no matter what you teach them or tell them. Leaders will just simply turn away and say that is not my issue or I do not need to know who they are they have a job to do and these are the type of leaders who will diminish from employees because employees will never ever have any kind of relationship with them and they will never ever trust them to do the right thing when it concerns them.

Let me say this that not all leaders are bad some are really good and they care for people in general. They will take the time to listen to an employee and actually take the time to help them if help is needed.

When employees feel this way they will feel supported and they will also become more productive and let me tell you when employees feel this way regarding leadership and management this becomes a big advantage.

I always tell both leadership and employees the following:

One thing that all leaders need to know at this time in history is that according to research done by Grovo.com is that only 31 %  of employees are engaged which means that the 2/3 of the workforce in any organization is liable to leave and as always have said and I try my best to let Leaders and managers know that great employees will always leave their leadership and not the organizations.

Albert Einstein said said something a long time ago:

He said that condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance!!

"I wouldn't mind if I failed because I tried something worthwhile.Siggi Hilmarsson

Hello to all my friends around the globe who continue to support my journey in changing the perspective of life one mind at a time. We go through life making mistakes and that is OK as long as you the individual making those mistakes learns from them. I find personally that in my life I have made mistakes that have cost me dearly from loosing friends and relationships to loosing out on jobs. I have also learned that if you learn from those mistakes you become stronger and a much better person then you were before.

 

Learning from people is one of the most rewarding times that a great leader can have when they are willing to listen and share their lives with them. many leaders today are missing this ingredient to success and I have to say is that they will eventually fail as leaders.Leadership is not about power and wielding that hammer down when a member of your team makes a mistake it is about listening and teaching the correct way and with a smile. I have studied Napoleon Hill for over twenty years now and I have to tell you that this man had and to this day continues to teach me many things about life,history,mistakes and how to overcome them.

Failure seems to be nature’s plan for preparing us for great responsibilities.

If everything we attempted in life were achieved with a minimum of effort and came out exactly as planned, how little we would learn — and how boring life would be! And how arrogant we would become if we succeeded at everything we attempted. Failure allows us to develop the essential quality of humility. It is not easy — when you are the person experiencing failure — to accept it philosophically, serene in the knowledge that this is one of life’s great learning experiences. But it is. Nature’s ways are not always easily understood, but they are repetitive and therefore predictable. You can be absolutely certain that when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement. BY Napoleon Hill

Leadership today in many organizations are failing their organizations and their people. The biggest issue is that leadership believe that they know it all and they know what people think and should do when the facts are that most of the time they are so disengaged that they miss opportunities and ideas from people in general. Leaders should set aside any preconceived notions they may have about any topic, and listen attentively and not be a judge towards the words that come from another.

 Quote of of the day:

"I wouldn't mind if I failed because I tried something worthwhile.Siggi Hilmarsson

 According to Glen Llopis: Leaders fail in their primary role and responsibility of enabling the full potential in people and the business they serve because they don’t know the difference between substitution and evolution.   Instead of leading the organization and its people to continually evolve, they get stuck in a cycle of complacency and the substitution of activities associated with it.   

As a result, the company cannot grow or its growth cannot be sustained.These leaders practice substitution over evolution. Substitution is when you believe you are taking a different approach, but in reality it is all too similar to how you have led in the past – and not what the business needs to grow and compete in the 21^st century.   This type of leader seeks recognition for maintaining the status quo, rather than seeking to earn respect by identifying constructively disruptive ways of challenging the status quo.

Isolation Never A Way Or Technique To Lead--Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello to all my friends and well another week has passed now and here we are together again and so let us talk about  leadership a bit more because this seems to be an ongoing issue with everyone I speak to.

I believe that what seems to be and keeps coming up is that we have so many baby boomers trying to manage the new generations that are coming into the workforce with their old ways of managing which by the way is somewhat antiquated. Do not by any way think that there old techniques that do not work because the truth is that old way of managing can be good with the right way of training and implementing.

The main issue here seems to be understanding and isolation. What the hell do I mean by isolation you are asking? Well my friend let me tell you that in most cases I have found not only from experience but through research that I personally have done and tests that I have tried with my bosses and tests that I have tested in groups with staff members and I find that the biggest problem is isolation from leadership where they come to work and the only way or times that they will listen to you is if you stand in front of them or in their way as they walk in and they have to say excuse me to get passed you.

They walk into their offices and close the door and then they isolate themselves from having any kind of contact with people.What happens now is that people that you are supposed to lead begin to feel disconnected meaning they will do everything possible to avoid any contact. They will never ever trust you and perhaps start to sabotage the leadership members.People will also begin to feel unsupported and only do what they need to do to get by as far as work performance.

Here are some things people have said regarding leadership:

vlindervrij on April 11, 2013 at 5:11 pm said:

 

Three very important keys of being the most effective leader are:
1. Leaders are the most effective when they always investing in strengths.
2. Leaders are the most effective who surround themselves with the right people and maximize their team.
3. Leaders are the most effective who understand their followers needs.
When Leaders or anyone are without an awareness of their strengths, it’s almost impossible for them to lead effectively.
We all lead in very different ways,based on our talents and our limitations. Serious problems occur when we think we need to be exactly like the leaders we admire. Doing so takes us out of our natural element and practically eliminates our chances of success.

Ajay Kumar Gupta on April 10, 2013 at 7:40 am said:

  Leaders tend to isolate. More they reach up in hierarchy, more they tend to isolate people under. Since there are few people at the top and the responsibility is different, they generally feel to isolate people. And people below also tend to isolate them in routine matter. Leaders can overcome such tendency by remaining connecting with the people. The major problem why leaders or other people get disconnected is the perception of power.

 Lower level people or employees feel powerless and leaders are perceived powerful. And this feeling makes the difference. So, leaders need to create a feeling of equality, caring and approachable. Leaders should create a feeling that employees are not fearful from leaders.
Leaders on the other hands, should be humble and encourage more interaction with the people. They should come out of their cabin and make effective communication. Generally, lack of interaction, communication and interaction by leaders is perceived negatively. People perceived leaders biased. So, communication and visibility is the key.

I believe that when leadership isolate themselves it creates so much chaos and sometimes leaders because they have no idea how to have or create a dialogue with another human being it become difficult to manage anyone.My friends isolation is a killer in business in any business.

One thing we should all know and have a very clear understanding is that people are not stupid!!! They know when you are not a leader.

I hope you enjoy this article and if you do please share with leaders and if you are a leader then read and reread over and over.

What Is The Image Of Reality In Your World Luciano Santini

Hello everyone and thank you for your continued support on this journey to change the world one mind at a time in business or individual to have the opportunity to see a different perspective either in their life or in business to reach the full potential and or to reach a goal.

One of the few things people love to really talk about is TIME! When I ask leaders why has something that they so wanted to accomplish in the first place has not been started or completed the reaction and the answer is always not enough time. My next questions becomes why not enough time. I then go into explanations on time and why it is so important to manage it wisely

The one thing people especially those that hold high positions and just love to manage by power though they never seem to see that point of their leadership is that if they lead people then they must be able to "decipher the role time fills in that persons image of their reality" not the so called leaders reality and the reason is simply because it is a different perspective and totally different time management styles that need to be understood.

How many times have you worked with a boss that is so domineering and cares very little of other peoples feelings or emotions to the point that sometimes they have to be told to bring it down a notch or two. Then they believe so much in their position of power that they will drive good people away and those people will end up looking for opportunities in other places and at then end they will leave their organization.

 This is just another one of those scenarios where the old saying comes in handy " People do not leave the organizations-They leave their leadership" to be true to every word.

Napoleon Hill of who I have studied and respected his works for so many years states that if you find it difficult to keep an open mind because of previous experiences, remind yourself that you’re dealing with different people, that conditions have changed, or that because you are older and wiser, your chances of success are greater than in the past.

We also need to have an understanding that time is for everyone and yes though we do have 24 hours in a day and yes everyone has the same amount of time however it is not the time but how you the individual chooses to see the reality on how you the end user utilizes the space between each breath you take.

Never tear down anything unless you are prepared to build something better in its place.

This rule applies to both individuals and things. It’s easy to criticize other people thoughtlessly for their shortcomings, and equally easy to find fault in their work or in situations that are not to your liking. It is far more difficult to be a builder of people and to create works of art, useful products, or profitable businesses.

" You cannot give credibility to people without a record of achievements'-Ken Nissely

Hello my friends and how are we doing this fine day. Today is a great day because it looks a bit cool but clear and great to perhaps do a little traveling. I was just involved in a leadership seminar which was awesome and many questions were asked regarding leadership. One question that was asked was: How do we as staff know we have a leader in  place? My friends you have to understand that some leaders were in the room as well who operate this organization and knowing this myself was crazy but hey! they asked me to come and I told them ahead of time that these type of questions could be asked and to be prepared.

Here is my answer. I stated to the people that asked this question that in order to be able to have and know a leader is in place it would have to be someone that show passion towards people, someone who can inspire the people to follow the vision of the organization and someone who stands by them regards of good or bad choices.Leaders need to have an understanding of their staff in order to have expectations met in any organization due to this issue many leaders will fail.Leadership is not about knowing all the new technology that has reached corporations or about how good they are with paperwork.

People have to believe that the leaders they are to follow have the competency to guide people in the right direction and be someone who believes in their abilities to do the right thing. people must see the leader as being capable and somewhat effective. I believe Ken Nissely of James Expressions put it, " You cannot give credibility to people without a record of achievements'

Then I was asked what that meant exactly. Well I said it means that if a person is in a position of leadership and only leads to what they think and believe is leadership in ways such as "My way or the highway" in other words leads by power of position and not show passion and compassion to people then my friends that is no leader that is a person who somehow reached the top perhaps with good intentions but lost their way throughout the years or simply was not competent.

I have to say that in today's world of business it is becoming well known that the generalist manager and or leader is coming to a close specially in the knowledge of different industries. I see and notice many leaders believe that they are doing the right thing when in fact they are bringing down morale and affecting the organization in so many ways. I tell leaders that operate an organization where services are given may have very little contact with actual clients but in order to be a good leader he/she must have the competency to be a great consultant in that industry.

A leaders must be able not only to show people they can lead them but also to inspire them to reach their potential and also show ways to encourage them during hard times.I find that when people know that their leaders has no credibility or little credibility what happens is the following;

They will do great work when they are watched closely. people are only motivated when money is involved or used as an incentive.They will also react to new policies in a very slow way because they feel unsupported and the big one! unappreciated!.

One thing that most leaders fail to understand is that there is a big difference between having people follow you and receiving support then giving orders from a point of view of the position a person holds
.Maureen Fries says that "Leadership is getting people to look beyond their own job description for ways to improve and challenge the process".

The Business World Needs Positivity

Hello my friends, continuous readers and supporters  of this blog. Today I would like to start out with a big thank you to all who support my cause and read my blog postings and who share what I have to say. I just want to say that what I do write most of the time comes from the suggestions you the readers send me to write about.

Today I received a suggestion regarding building a positive environment in the workplace and I have to tell you that of course it starts with leadership and their efforts to make that happen. I have seen many times where you create one as a leader and here comes your boss and because there has been no drama in a while they must create some just to make it exciting for themselves because it affects everyone else in a very negative way and they do not realize it or they just do not care.

Here is what happens to so many good leaders in many organizations when you try; Many managers leave their leaders because they have no relationship building skills ( The so called leaders).

Here is just one story that seems to ring around many organizations;

 I was qualified, and had done the majority of the responsibilities already, so I assumed the job was mine. Much to my surprise they brought in an elderly women from another store who because she had been around for 20 years leadership assumed that she had the right skill sets. She was really bad at interacting with people, asked my help with everything, and I might mention she was creepy in the way that internal customers cringed when she approached them.

I find the problem to be most of the time that management is very controlling and mostly sits in the office all day watching the employees to see how many minutes they are late.

Here is a great way to start thinking for yourself by Catherine Pratt www.Life-With-Confidence.com She explains it this way;

There is an African proverb that says,

"When you cross someone on your path who is more committed to their hatred than you are to your love, then their hatred will take the place of your love.” 

The moral of this proverb is that you need to make the commitment to yourself that you will walk with positive thoughts and have joy for life. Don’t let the negative people bring you down. It’s very easy to get caught in that trap. Step 1 is to be aware of your thoughts and try to focus on the positive. Listen to your thoughts, are they positive or negative? 

 If they’re negative, try to look at the situation from a different angle and make it a positive. This gets easier with practice. Also, just because everyone around you is unhappy doesn’t mean you have to be. This can be tough to do but it’s definitely worth it. If you can train yourself to be positive in these types of situations, you will be able to deal with almost any situation you come across. 

 Remember, most of the time environments are all in how you think about them. If you think it’s a horrible place to be and there’s no hope, that’s exactly how it will be. If you look at it as a learning experience and a challenge to come up with meaningful solutions, you will be able to find the answers. 

 Whether you love your job or hate it is really going to depend on how you view it and what you’re willing to do about it. You have much more power than you may think. Instead of feeling like it’s hopeless, view it as a challenge to actually make a real difference in your workplace. You’ll appreciate the results as will your co-workers. You definitely have the power to change a negative environment into a positive, fun place to be. You can do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only the highway of useful service leads to the city of happiness.

Psychologists who study human behavior have concluded that we are happiest when we are striving to achieve success. It is the act of striving, not the successful completion of the task, that provides the greatest psychic rewards. When you strive to achieve success through service to others, you multiply the benefits to yourself, and you ensure that whatever road you choose in life will ultimately lead you to success and happiness.

 

 There is no occupation or profession that will not benefit from a concerted effort to better serve others. But the greatest benefit will be to you, in the form of the self-satisfaction that comes from knowing that you made a difference, that without you others would never have received the service you provided.

I hope you really enjoy this posting and please feel free to send me more suggestions regarding what you would like to read about or send suggestions. I am open to anything!!