LeadershipTraits

Growing your business might seem a daunting task when you oversee every aspect of your business. Regardless of whether you are just starting out or have some experience, managing your business has many challenges. This explains why roughly half of small businesses close their doors by the fifth year. How you deal with these challenges defines you as a business leader. That said, below are key leadership traits that contribute to business growth and success.

1. Good Communication Skills

To lead your venture, you require good communication skills. This allows you to easily articulate ideas and opinions while minimizing misunderstandings. Communication plays a significant role in establishing trust among your employees and across other levels of management. The way you attribute ideas and opinions can directly affect your employees’ performance and their openness to feedback.

Good communication skills also involve respecting your employees’ ideas without making generalizations. You should know how to mediate and manage conflict and situations that require constructive criticism.

2. Team Player

A good leader shouldn’t sit in the office, comparing charts and micromanaging their employees. Instead, they should be involved in daily processes of the business and have open discussions with employees about alternative ways of achieving the organization’s success. One key leadership skill that business owners should have is ensuring that their employees feel free and safe to express different opinions and disagreements.

Doing this creates a trustworthy business environment that employees can uncover and exploit their true potential. This improves employee productivity and contributes towards the fast achievement of your business vision.

3. Adaptable

Change is unavoidable in the business environment, and a good business leader should be highly adaptable to change. The ability to predict, perceive, and manage change will enable your business to stay afloat. As well as be resistant even in tough economic situations. This aside, another crucial business skill that comes with being adaptable is implementing these changes seamlessly without affecting the company’s balance.

4. Self-Awareness

Lack of self-awareness is a common problem facing most business leaders. This is basically the ability to understand your strengths and weaknesses. In most cases, business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs make the mistake of doing everything they can to cover up their weaknesses. However, you should address them openly to find an effective solution. Furthermore, without addressing them, over time, your business will become vulnerable and fail.

5. Decisiveness

An effective leader should be ready to make sound decisions quickly. Unfortunately, most business leaders don’t know that no decision is also a decision, commonly referred to as “paralysis by analysis.” Out of sheer fear that you will make the wrong decision, you may postpone taking action. In most cases, this causes a larger problem and will have a ripple effect.

Most experienced business leaders attest that you should learn these lessons the hard way. Once you face the consequences of making slow or no decisions, you will understand the value of moving swiftly and confidently. Even if you aren’t 100% certain about the direction of your decision.

6. Creativity and Imagination

The ability to bring new and innovative ideas that push your business forward is another crucial trait that will keep your business operational for the long term. Surprisingly, building a profitable business isn’t the challenging part. The hard part is keeping your business profitable through one or two decades. What’s even more challenging is doubling the revenue of an already profitable venture.

Most business leaders think that business growth reflects hard work, which isn’t entirely true. Apart from hard work, creativity plays a significant role in propelling your business forward.

Conclusion

Taking up exceptional leadership traits can be daunting. However, they can be nurtured over time with persistence. Therefore, try the leadership personalities mentioned above for the betterment of your venture.


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Word to improve your leadership skills.

Many people define the term “leader” differently, but there are several core leadership skills that define a great leader. For example, as a successful leader, there is often a need for transparency. You should also be able to listen without distractions and create an appropriate workplace culture for your team. Even if you are already a good leader, there’s always room for more growth. Whichever areas you’re lacking in, you can focus on improving. Below, we discuss five key areas you should look to focus on to improve your leadership skills.

1. Learn to take initiative

Your team looks up to you for direction and inspiration. Whenever they feel lost, the group naturally expects you to show the way. You can only do this if you’re the kind of person that takes initiative. Learn not to be complacent. You should aim to step out of your comfort zone regularly, as this will help your team trust you.

Remember that taking on more responsibilities also gives you more opportunities to learn. Every project you take on is a chance to boost your knowledge. A leader should be skilled in a variety of areas to be able to share knowledge with their team.

2. Improve your critical thinking

The best leaders can foresee potential issues before they occur by analyzing current conditions. They can also find ways to prevent some of the problems before they emerge. As a leader, you should be the person who identifies opportunities and maximizes these opportunities to benefit the organization.

Luckily there are several approaches you can use to improve your critical thinking skills. These include challenging common assumptions, finding different perspectives, and keeping an open mind. You should encourage your team to discuss and debate any issues that arise to help them grow.

3. Strive to listen better

As a leader, you’ll be communicating regularly with multiple employees from every corner of the organization. Often you’ll also be presenting business strategies and various reports to your team and the higher-ups, including CEOs and investors. To get the right feedback in any of these circumstances, you must be a good listener.

Using open-ended questions, listening without interrupting the speaker, and adapting your listening to the other person’s point of view (with factors such as culture and background in mind) is a good start.

4. Improve your conflict handling skills

Every team in an organization experiences conflict at some point. Indeed, due to the wide range of differences among people, the lack of conflict may signal the absence of effective interaction. The best leaders view conflict as an opportunity to address underlying issues and build stronger relationships between people and groups.

You should aim to be honest and straightforward. It takes a lot of courage, but it’s the first step to dispute resolution. Additionally, learn to listen actively and be impartial in your judgment. You would be able to pick up these skills if you were to do a Deakin leadership degree.

5. Learn to delegate

An often overlooked area of leadership is delegation. This is a crucial leadership skill that many new leaders lack. However, the best leaders don’t attempt to do everything on their own. You must understand that letting someone with better knowledge do the job guarantees better results for the organization. You should also appreciate that a new set of hands and pair of eyes can help your team do the job faster and better.

So how do you delegate? Theodore Roosevelt made it simple. “The best leaders are those who have enough sense to pick the right people to do what they want to be done, and the self-restraint to avoid meddling with them while they do it.”

Other Tips to Improve Your Leadership Skills

There are many other skills imperative to being a successful leader, including discipline, motivation, and team empowerment. The bottom line is that the best leaders are constantly looking to improve their leadership skills. Like we said in the beginning, there’s always room to grow.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let's talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master's degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

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Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

How-to-Be-a-Successful-Leader-in-the-Changing-World. Woman leader at her desk using a laptop.

The world is changing by the day, and leadership is no exception. Advancements in technology, social responsibility, globalization, and politics mean that situations are fluid and leadership must adapt. Aside from building character, change presents new opportunities while marking your journey’s milestones. Every leader’s challenge is understanding why, when, and how the disruption will occur so they can prepare their team. So, how can you be a successful leader in a changing world?

Build Digital Capacity

An organization’s digital shift starts with its leaders. There are many reasons why leaders need digital skills. For starters, they improve judgment, allowing leaders to approach situations holistically. Leaders can also inspire their teams’ innovation. Again, digital capacity facilitates standardization and automation, enabling leaders to implement changes that involve and incorporate the input of team members.

So, what abilities do leaders need? The first one is communication. Over the years, leaders and managers may have remained distant from their team. However, this trend is disastrous for companies in the digital era. For example, you can introduce systems that promote communication within the organization. By making yourself approachable, these programs boost your worker’s morale and productivity. The communication extends to your clients. On top of stellar customer service, advertise your brand using social media.

Break Down Hierarchies

To promote talent and accelerate decision making, businesses are abolishing conventional hierarchies. Workers often don’t have to report to managers, likewise with managers to division heads. Instead of using seniority to assign duties, share your goals with your workers, and let them define their roles within reason. This improves their abilities while contributing to the company’s success.

You can also hire externally. Apart from providing new ideas, external candidates could have more experience than your current workers. Their fresh perspectives also come in handy during situations demanding innovation and culture shifts. Moreover, eliminating administrative layers encourages remote work. This broadens your talent pool since individuals can choose their work hours. What’s more, you save on rent, office furniture, and employee insurance.

Take Risks

Grab every opportunity to advance your company’s vision, no matter how risky it is. Do you want to launch a new product? Or are you looking to expand your services? Aside from encouraging innovation, risks give you an upper hand over your competitors. However, don’t take risks blindly. Start by outlining your goals and evaluating your decision’s pros and cons. Secondly, uncover potential obstacles and take time to solve them.

This goes hand in hand with weighing your resources against the action’s cost. If you’re confident enough, take the first step, watching out for setbacks, and how you can fix them. Remember, success isn’t guaranteed regardless of how much you plan. If you fail, forgive yourself and learn from the incident. Share your experiences, both successful and not as a leader to also inspire your team.

Increase Empathy

Empathy involves fitting in another person’s situation to understand their perspective. According to DDI, empathy tops the list of essential leadership skills. It shows you why your workers are struggling and how to improve their performance. Employees are likely to work harder if they feel valued. Furthermore, it helps motivate them to care about their colleagues, creating a healthier working environment. Outside the organization, empathy helps you market products by understanding your customer’s needs.

So, how do you demonstrate empathy? To begin with, ask questions and note responses. Likewise, connect with your team outside work to know their struggles. You can invite them for lunch or go for team building retreats. Most importantly, reduce virtual interactions and meet in person. This way, you read their body language and listen to the tone of their voice.

Embrace Leadership Challenges

Being a successful leader in a changing world isn’t easy or straightforward. The first step of handling difficulties is accepting you don’t know everything. By so doing, you empower your team and encourage collaboration.  Keep these tips in mind for improving your leadership and in critical times such as when you want to have success in entering a new market.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let's talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master's degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

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Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

Why-Leadership-is-important-to-your-Remote-Teams'-Success-700

Leadership in any context is challenging, let alone when it comes to remote workers. A recent study revealed that 80% of employees prefer to work remotely for at least part of their time. With an increase every year in remote work across industries, managers across all organizations will need to adapt to the needs of remote teams, making sure they can lead such workers towards meeting specific goals. Whether you’re managing employees in different time zones, offices, or departments, here is why leadership is important to your remote teams' success.

There are many factors to consider when handling remote teams. Because verbal communication and physical interaction can be limited, managers often feel as if they don’t have adequate control over the situation but there are ways to help improve communication and productivity through good leadership implementation.

Using an effective leadership strategy will help you to overcome these challenges and get the best out of your teams that are working offsite.  Here are some keys to help managers adapt and thrive in this new leadership role.

The role of leadership in your remote teams' success

Enhancing Communication

Constant communication is critical when leading remote teams. It’s the best way of tracking progress, addressing challenges, and boosting productivity. Because there’s minimal face-to-face contact with remote employees, you should develop communication goals that your team members can easily adhere to. Using a project management tool like Asana is a great way to communicate on projects, along with regular email communication and even conference calls.

Clear communication channels improve your feedback cycle and provide more opportunities to keep everyone on the right path. Consider daily “stand-up” checking chats via video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Hangout. Add to that weekly status video conference times and use a chat tool like Slack or Google Hangouts for more immediate back and forth team communication and collaboration.

Setting expectations

Another significant challenge with managing remote workers is setting expectations. Proper leadership involves informing each team member of what’s expected of them. Because contact is limited, you may have fewer opportunities to emphasize employee expectations on a daily basis. This is why having a detailed plan for setting expectations is critical when leading remote teams.

You can set expectations in many different ways. Showing examples of specific workflows, develop a calendar of tasks, establish a routine for reporting progress, and providing timely feedback are all effective strategies for setting expectations in remote workers.

Building trust

The productivity of remote teams will largely be affected by trust. As a leader, you should remember that workers have a sense of independence when working remotely. Instead of micromanaging to cover up for limited contact with a remote worker, a better leadership strategy is to develop trust. Give your remote teams the freedom to make decisions when handling critical tasks.

You should also seek their feedback when designing schedules, setting expectations, and developing outcomes. When remote teams feel that they have significant input, they’re more likely to have personal accountability and buy into your message.

Providing opportunities to collaborate in real-time

Another important goal of leading remote teams is collaboration. Leadership is all about bringing out the best in people as they work towards a common goal. Therefore, leaders play a critical role in building collaboration among team members even when they’re not physically present.

There are many different tools available for collaborating in real-time. Maximize face-to-face contact by using video conferencing on a regular basis. Keep such conference calls to small teams and make them short and sweet. In this way, you’ll be able to foster team building and identify the strengths/weaknesses of every team member.

Keeping employees focused on outcomes

Another challenge with remote employees can be keeping them focused on your company’s goals/objectives. Because they’re not physically present at an office location, they may find your company’s mission and values harder to adhere to.

Leaders of remote teams should strive to keep employees focused on the outcomes of your business. Setting deadlines and following up on a regular basis can help keep them focused on the objective. This means that you should remind remote workers of the critical role they play through their daily tasks. When such employees feel like part of a larger goal, they’re more likely to perform at a high level.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!

Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

Ways-to-Improve-Your-Leadership-Skills-700

Management is as much about relationships as it is about results. As a business owner or manager, your leadership skills will have a direct impact on the productivity and motivation of your team members.

Get it right, and you will have a highly motivated and enthusiastic team ready to do their best to achieve your company goals. Leadership skills require constant honing, and if you hope to do it well, here are keys to keep in mind.

Practices to Improve Your Leadership Skills

1.  Understand Yourself First

Self-awareness is key to good leadership and to improve your leadership skills. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Look inward and identify what it is that you bring to the table. You must first understand what you have to work with before you can think of improving it.

Acknowledging your shortcomings and being purposeful about growing in and being aware of your weaknesses is the only sure way to grow as a leader. You will also achieve significant growth once you identify your strengths and build on them. Use coaching, mentoring, and courses to improve your leadership and to work on improving your strengths.

2.  Lead By Example

Model to your team the kind of attitude and behavior you would like to see in them. As a leader, be ready to walk the talk in earnest.

Are you following the rules you expect your team to follow? Are you late to work on most days, and yet, are too quick to scold that employee who clocks in five minutes late? Your team will always be paying attention to what you do over what you say.

3.  Step Out Onto The Floor

Instead of hiding away in your office and delegating everything over the phone, or email, step out onto the floor, and let your team see you. Make an effort to support your team in doing whatever tasks are at hand.  Be available and interact with your team. People trust people that they know and like, so you need to let them get to know you!

Let those around you know that you are a part of the team. It’s not about how much you can take on, but that you are willing to do it, however, small the job may be. You may not even need to do anything, and just being out there will communicate to the rest of the team that you are all in it together, inspiring them to do more and to do better.

4.  Communicate Effectively

Effectively communicate your expectations. Ensure that each team member is aware of what their role entails and what is expected of them as they take on the role. Be open and do not be one to shy away from having the most difficult of conversations.

As a leader, you must also be sure to listen. Encourage your team to share their ideas and be accepting of the feedback that you receive. Be inclusive and give room for your team to share their viewpoints, who knows what great ideas they will come up with.

5.  Nurture Emotional Intelligence

Work-related stress can take a toll on anyone. It can be easy to just fly off the handle and vent out your frustrations in a vicious rant directed at your subordinates. Don’t do it. Ever.

As a leader, learn to practice the pause. Exercise restraint and be patient. If a member of your team mismanages a task, patiently explain to them the right way. It will minimize the chances of the same mistake happening again in the future. Doing it any other way will only lead to employee demoralization and instill fear.

Be the leader your team and business needs with these tips to improve your leadership skills. Whether innate or developed over time, you can develop your leadership skills with practice. What is most important to remember is that you need to keep learning and changing your approach accordingly.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!

Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

How-startup-success-depends-on-your-leadership-skills-700

Entrepreneurs are usually seen as visionary leaders who come up with great ideas. Then develop a business to accomplish those ideas. They direct a team, bring their expertise to the table, and take responsibility for the company’s success or failure. There are many examples of companies that started off with great ideas but failed due to poor leadership. As well, there are those that have become highly successful despite merely good ideas. Conversely, some ventures survive as long-term small businesses, providing a small income for the ownership team but nothing more.

Leadership matters most in the early stages of a startup because you’re working with a softer, less developed idea with a lot of unknowns and a small team. The idea, market, workforce, and culture of your company are still volatile and it’s your job as a leader to ensure they are aligned. Once these concepts are established, your leadership skills become less influential in the company’s development, and other external factors already set in place before your time may affect your decisions.

What should you do to improve your leadership skills

In a startup organization, the leader plays the role of an idea generator, team builder, decision-maker, and image-maker. At a large company, the leader knows their exact responsibilities and who they are supposed to manage. Responsibilities are widely spread and decisions can be made by a group instead of one individual.

At a startup, however, the leadership role is more subtle as employees are more friends. Additionally, everyone often wears many hats. There is usually no clear definition of roles. It’s also not easy to manage a team and ensure everything works as planned. So, how can you approach these challenges and ultimately become an effective leader for your startup?

Here are 4 ways you can improve your leadership skills online:

Subscribe to Blogs

To be a great leader, it is important that you continue learning. By subscribing to blogs revolving around leadership, such as John Maxwell you will get a regular stream of helpful articles to aid you in becoming the best leader you can.

By being a devoted reader of online leadership blogs you can sharpen your mindset and skills, and understand concepts that can help you lead better.

Listen to Podcasts

By subscribing to a leadership podcast, it’s like you have a team of mentors available to you all day long. Podcasts also won’t take any time out of your day as you can listen to them while doing other things, such as your morning commute, or while out for a run after work.

There are a tremendous number of leadership-focused podcasts available.  Michael Hyatt is a good starting place.

Join a Leadership Mastermind Group

Technology is a wonderful thing, you no longer need to travel to attend mastermind sessions, in fact, many of your favorite mentors host online masterminds once or twice a year. This means that you get access to your mentor and their wisdom, without having to travel and be away from the office. Investing in joining a mastermind group is worth the money, giving you direct access to others that are currently going through or have been through the same growing pains.

Hire a Digital Coach

Many leaders find they are ‘too busy’ to join online groups or read email newsletters coming in. If this is you, it is time to hire a digital leadership coach. Hiring a professional that can offer you insight personalized to you and your business may be exactly what you need. Weekly conference calls mean that you can run your business and grow alongside it.

Leadership is critical during the early stages of a company’s development. A leader has the power to make or break a company based on his/her decisions and actions. Great leadership requires constant growth with your business, by investing in your leadership you will be better prepared to take your company to the next level.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!

Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

Why-Self-Leadership-Matters-and-How-to-Grow-It-700

As Daniel Goleman points out in his bestseller, Emotional Intelligence; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, “exceptional leaders distinguish themselves because of superior self-leadership.” If you want to be a great leader, that’s where you need to start.

Fortunately, with sufficient commitment, anyone can improve or slowly enhance their leadership skills via improving their self-leadership. We’ll show you how shortly. First, though, what is self-leadership?

A Definition

Self-leadership is having a developed sense of who you are, what you can do, where you are going, and how you are going to get there.  It’s a clear and accurate understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, and potential.

Developmental psychologist Susan Cook-Greuter compares it to mature adulthood. Before mature adulthood, humans project authority onto other people, groups, and institutions. We only feel “mature” because we can command other people to act in ways that please or appear correct to us. Mature adulthood is when you stop exercising authority through other people and instead begin to take responsibility for all your actions and behaviors.

The five main characteristics of self-leadership are self-awareness, motivation, empathy, social skills, and self-regulation.

Why is Self-Leadership Important?

As we mentioned earlier, superior self-leadership qualities separate you from the rest. If you’re looking to distinguish yourself in the office or any other crowded and competitive environment, your self-leadership qualities can be the biggest difference between you and the others.

Secondly, self-leadership and leadership development complement each other. If you want to become a great leader of people, you first need to be able to lead yourself and build the foundations required to exercise leadership. Leading others, for example, requires that you possess the skills to produce direction, alignment, and commitment. You’re much better equipped to achieve this in a group if you already possess the same qualities on a personal level.

5 Tips to Grow Your Self-Leadership Skills

Get Started Today

If you’re serious about improving your self-leadership skills, whether for personal growth or career advancement, now is the time to get started.   Here’s one resource to consider, a 30-day leadership guide with 10 minute-a-day reflections to help you improve your self-leadership.


Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let’s talk about life, leadership, and business coaching. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

Contact Mike today to start the breakthrough!

Mike Gingerich life leadership business coaching

Business-Leadership-and-Productivity-Tactics-for-Success-700

Studies show that the number of employees not in management positions that are disengaged is exceptionally high. The most common result is that the employees are not being productive and goal accomplishments suffer. Every business owner’s dream is to reach maximum capacity when it comes to productivity and that is why they often end their relationships with employees who do not share their vision. For your business to achieve its mission and objectives, the top management needs to also have practical leadership skills and productivity tactics that will help them maximize their teams and ultimately increase productivity.

Leadership and productivity tactics that will make your business successful

1. Lead your business by leading yourself first

Understanding how to lead yourself before leading others is the first step towards becoming a successful leader. Employees are more likely to get influenced by someone who has a vision and a purpose.

What does this tell you? Knowing your values and leading consistently with them is one way of leading yourself. Continue to move towards your purpose, and that way, it will be effortless for you to motivate employees towards achieving higher goals. Keep improving yourself and lead by example.

2. Create SMART goals

Peter Drucker’s emphasis on setting SMART goals is not in vain. One of the most common mistakes that managers can make is not acknowledging the importance of making SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals. You should be spelling out precisely what the business intends to accomplish in your mission statement and have yearly goals that are measurable, achievable, realistic, and relevant to the overall business goal. They should also have a timeframe within which you expect them to be accomplished. These need to be shared with your team and regularly reviewed for progress.

SMART goals will help to improve individual performance as well as the overall performance of the organization, as they are motivating and attainable.  Encourage team members to set goals that help your team accomplish the business goals as well.

3. Leverage your passion and proficiency to be most productive

You will be more successful if you start doing more of what you love. It is, therefore, important to establish your “desire zones.” It is a great way to be able to experience flow and freedom while taking on your leadership roles. Identifying the areas that you are passionate about and you are skilled in means that you know where your mind needs to be and where you want to go. It also shows you what you should be delegating so you can work in your sweet spot. It is a recipe for successful leadership, productivity, and growth.

4. Take time to refuel to accomplish more in less time

Studies show that employees who take time off and have outside pursuits perform better. It’s important to not be “all work and no play”. In fact, teams that engage in fun together are actually more productive in the workplace! Camaraderie can be built and motivation to help one another increases.

The same goes for leadership; there is a need to delegate duties and take a break to refuel your mind and body, and to step back to evaluate your leadership.

5. Keep priorities in focus by translating annual goals to quarterly targets and weekly tasks

To achieve the goals that you set, they have to be broken down into smaller tasks. Have you ever stepped back for a moment and wondered if your goals might be so big, that your employees might have no idea of how they will accomplish them? If you haven’t, you need to give this a thought. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being ambitious. What matters is what you are doing to make your goals achievable.

Make your goals less intimidating and more motivating by breaking them down into actionable tasks.

6. Plan on weekly checkpoints for accountability and course adjustments

This is the reason why you should set SMART goals. For effective leadership and increased productivity in your business, they need to be measurable. You should always be on your toes. Once you have broken down the goals into smaller tasks, it is time to assess the progress. You should be tracking daily goals and weekly progress. From there, you will be able to identify whether or not there is a need to change the strategies that you have in place to accomplish your specific goals.

Leadership has an essential role to play in the success of any business. With the above tactics, you have an effective blueprint for effective leadership and boosting the productivity of your organization.

A leadership devotional what?

My leadership devotional is a 30 day guide that you read daily.  Basically, there is a short topic each day about leadership and it has some key points for reflection and a biblical Scripture reference you can look up for further study.  The goal is to help the reader to reflect and sharpen their leadership skills.

However, the question remains, why would you publish this Mike?

Why I published a leadership devotional

I typically write on digital marketing and social media topics.  All of these are practical and somewhat technical in nature related to the online marketing and web arenas.  However, my premise always is that people do business with people, and therefore backing up to the 30,000 view it comes down to your interactions with people...and leadership.

So I dive into the "why" of a leadership devotional in this podcast and give you a quick peek at a few of the topics I cover.

Ready to dive in?

Listen Now:

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Subscribe:  Halftime Mike on iTunes  | Android users via RSS  | Listen on Stitcher.

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Why I published a Leadership Devotional - Video Podcast

7 Reasons I published a Leadership Devotional

So why did I publish a leadership devotional when I focus on marketing, social media, and web development?  Because each of these involves people at the core, and leadership is the opportunity to influence in a positive way and to add value in any sphere we relate to others in,  including marketing, social media, web development, non-profits, for-profits, and our families.

Let me dive deeper into my reasons...

1. Leadership is influence

I believe that with leadership we can influence, and influence is a way to add value.

I do not believe we are here by random chance or that we have no purpose other than what we try to create. We have a purpose and a role to play and it always includes adding value to others.  We win when others win so we need to be aware of our ability to influence and use it for the greatest good in our businesses and organizations.

2. A Devotional is a way to focus

As noted a devotional is intended to be something you do daily, in this case for 30 days!  They say it takes 21 days to develop a habit so in 30 days you can develop improved leadership habits and the art of reflection.

The unexamined life is not worth living!  That's a great quote I've heard and it has value.  I've pitched my podcast as a chance to stop, reflect, set a game plan, and then go and make improvements to your business to win the game in the second half.

So it is with a devotional.  It allows you to stop, reflect on what and why, and through that reflection you can learn and improve going forward.  That's my aim...to add value to you...to hundreds...to thousands, by enabling them to stop, reflect, learn, and go forward better, wiser, and more capable as leaders.

3. Short is sweet!

You are busy!  I know that. I am too.  This is intended for the busy marketplace person.  You can spare 10 minutes a day and this is all you need.

I wrote this intentionally to be be able to be ready daily within 5 minutes and then you can spend 5 looking up the Bible reference and reflecting on the devotion for that day.  You can even write notes in the devotional!

Take 10 minutes to stop, go deeper, and you can go forward a better leader that makes better decisions in life and business.  Isn't that good business?

4. Leadership is a skill, not simply a genetic trait

Sometimes the question of whether leaders are "born" or "made" comes up for debate.  I'm not here to debate it, I'm here to tell you we all have a skillset given to us by birth but we are responsible to develop it and see our potential realized.

And leadership is part of this.  No matter your gifts, you need to develop your leadership skills and have them improve.  To be stagnant is to regress in leadership and influence.  Leaders need to be ever-growing and have "learners" mentality.

5. Great businesses have great leadership

This devotional adds value because leaders want to learn, grow, and contribute.

Show me an organization that last and that performs at a high level and I will show you an organization with very good leadership.  Businesses may pop up fast and have a season of growth but they can't sustain it without good leadership.

Why do companies have high turnover?  It is usually able to be linked back to the leadership and decisions that leadership provides.

6. High Performing Teams are not random creations

Again, a great performing team is not by happenstance and random big bangs.  It is from effort, dedication, and intentional leadership that seeks the greater good of the team and customers.  It takes regular, sustained effort to provide leadership, connect with teams, and empower your team to support customers.  This is not random, it takes diligence and effort.  It takes study and reflection, and this leadership devotional provides the opportunity for that.

7. I want to contribute

My goal in life is to add value and to do that I need to contribute, and contribute in uncommon ways.  This devotional fits the mission!

I've had multiple forms of leadership roles over the past 25 years and I've learned from the good and the bad.  I've made mistakes and I believe I learn from them and improve.  And my aim is to pass on some of what I've learned to help others.

I've led businesses, teams, small groups, ministries, organizations and more over the past 25 years. Along the way I picked up a M.S. in Organizational Development and Leadership as well.  I don't know it all for sure, but I have picked up some things and want to pass those on.

Topics covered in the Leadership Devotional:

 

Read a sample day devotional and get the purchase link on Amazon at www.mikegingerich.com/blog/lead.

Buy "Add Value. Be Uncommon." Leadership Devotional book now:

ACTION ITEMS:

  1. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST!  This is just a sample of the goods I deliver to help you get on track, think through your key online changes and what you need to do this year to succeed.
  2. Identify your "one thing."  What's the next single thing you need to take action on that you learned today?   Share below!

Resources: Keys to Online Success


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Why the Halftime theme Mike? 

I’m an Indiana Hoosier native where basketball is the top sport. Every team heads to the locker room at halftime to evaluate the first half and create an updated plan for the second half. That plan includes adjustments based on reviewing what worked and what didn't. The “halftime” is a key review point where the game stops, the team pulls away to huddle in the locker room away from the fans, and they come out prepared and ready to succeed in the second half.

That’s what this podcast is all about, taking the time to pull away for a bit to evaluate, learn, and set some strategies for your business to succeed in the second half. Join me by subscribing and let me be your “business halftime” to help you find great success going forward!

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