There are distinct differences between leadership and management. Sometimes you are able to keep them separate, and sometimes you must act as both manager and leader. Here are the differences between leadership and management, as well as some tips on integrating the two.
Leadership and management are two different concepts and actions. In many organizations, leaders and managers are the same people. The difference is in how you, as a leader and manager, separate the tasks of the two realms – and try to find a way to integrate them at …

Change is a constant. It’s always been with us, it always will be, and it’s never easy. That’s something that doesn’t change.
But the challenge of dealing with it is greater today because the pace of that change is accelerating. Only fifty years ago, we had decades to adjust to significant changes. Today we often have only a year or two. Science, technology, transportation, and communications are advancing so rapidly that all of life seems to be in constant transition.
That means that at times you may have to be ready and …

1. Find The Obvious – Drucker looked for the obvious things in order to identify people’s greatest needs. It takes discipline to find them…and will lead to tremendous opportunities in your small business.
2. Help Employees Grow – Show the employees of your small business how to learn. In the knowledge economy we have today, Drucker believed continuous learning is the key for growth.
3. Teach – To become a better learner…teach. Drucker taught American history, Japanese art, religion and statistics during his career, because teaching requires learning new concepts, not just …

Introducing change can be a pretty messy affair, and may well open a Pandora’s Box of never ending problems. The main resistance to change is people, for people are creatures of habit, and tend to prefer staying within their comfort zone, the status quo. As such, it is pertinent that as leaders and managers, we carefully manage the introduction of change in a way that can produce maximum effects for our team.
In this leadership lesson, we shall look at five principles that we can follow as we set out to …

When moving on to head new teams, it is often tempting to dive in to find similarities between the new team and the previous team. Indeed, for some of us our previous team may be our only reference point for us to base any decisions or comparisons on. While it is certainly effective to find similarities between teams to guide our actions and decisions, more importantly it is crucial to note the differences between the teams that may potentially make the difference.
We have previously discussed the fatal mistake a leader …

It is often tempting to seek a ‘perfect’ leadership model, and use stick to it religiously. Such a model certainly has its appeal, as it would mean a strategy that would work 100 percent of the time, and this would certainly prevent much unnecessary failure and setbacks.
However, we must realise that such a ‘perfect’ model simply does not exist, for leadership is certainly not a straightforward process that may be carried out by robots. Leadership is a delicate process involving the leader, his team, the work the team does and …

Through my leadership journey, I’ve had the misfortune of sitting through numerous failed meetings. Some were downright unproductive, some were agonizingly long, and most yielded no decent results. Here we shall discuss a particular instance of a failed meeting which many may identify with, and may we all draw precious insights from this valuable leadership lesson.
Margaret, the head of the security department in a departmental store, was the chairperson for the meeting. While the meeting was set to start at three in the afternoon, Margaret was still talking on the …

Meetings can be a joy or a pain. Meetings can make time or take time. Meetings can be an asset or liability. Meetings can add value or take value. Meetings can be exciting or boring. The sheer importance of running effective meetings cannot be further emphasised. Here are five easy and practical ways that as leaders and managers, we may employ to chair meetings efficiently and excitingly.
1. Be Outcome Oriented
Is what you are discussing relevant to the larger picture? Are you still on track? As the chairperson of the meeting …

Your effectiveness as a leader significantly impacts on the results that you deliver. The results that you deliver not only impacts on the success you deliver for your organisation or team but also the personal success you achieve. So what proactive things can you do to become a more effective leader?
Step 1: Do a self assessment
A great quality of effective leaders is self awareness. They know where their strengths are and are also aware of their weaker areas. Start the journey to becoming a more effective leader by carrying out …

Sometimes, in our journey as a leader or manager, we may have achieved tremendous success. It may have been the completion of a big project, or the achievement of a certain milestone. Either way, it may have somehow caused us to become complacent. Rather than doing what have brought us to success, we choose to rest on our laurels, thinking that we are too good and such trivial issues are beneath us. Slowly, we loose the virtues that took us to where we were, and our complacency soon brought about …