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Do Your Leaders Have GRIT?

Brian Ward — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:39:53 +0000

If your leadership team is fixated on short term results, then they probably need more “Grit”. While you may look for traits such as IQ and other specific talents, researchers in recent years have discovered an independent trait called Grit that is a good predictor of success and goal achievement over the longer term.

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The Three Secrets of Engagement

Brian Ward — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:40:47 +0000

Do you know what causes engagement in your team? The type of engagement I am talking about is innate, in other words driven by an internal desire, and universal, that is it applies across all peoples and cultures.

As it happens, research [1] has demonstrated that we all seek self-determination. And self-determination is made up of three innate and [...]

How To Motivate Yourself and Others

Brian Ward — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:28:53 +0000

When it comes to understanding how to motivate ourselves and others, psychologists have been arguing the pros and cons of different theories for decades. Most of us have grown up on a diet of theories provided by such trailblazers as Maslow, McClelland, and Herzberg and more recently Robbins. But psychologists now tend to be in [...]

Leadership Styles: Research in Motion (RIM)

Brian Ward — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:43:09 +0000

This morning we woke to the news that RIM is in crisis mode. In 2008, it had a stock share price of $148. Last week, shares closed at $17.24. Something had to give, and today it did, with the announcement that it’s co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were stepping down. RIM started out with [...]

High Performing Teams: Is There Enough “GRRRRRR!” in Your Team?

Brian Ward — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:58:12 +0000

Most descriptions of High Performing Teams focus on the ideal – where everyone gets along with and supports each other, where conflicts are minimised or even prevented altogether, where teamwork prevails and a smooth flow exists in the patterns of communication between team members and with other teams.

Yet in reality, most teams that are [...]

Where Are The Leaders?

Brian Ward — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:54:52 +0000

Despite innumerable leadership theories, models and the training that goes with them, effective leaders are still in short supply. I say this because numerous studies have shown that when it comes to developing and executing organizational strategy, which is the main task of leadership, the failure rate is huge, somewhere in the region of 70%.

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Leadership Styles: Bill Gates’ Big Idea

Brian Ward — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:43:10 +0000

One of the Five Key Facets of High Performance Leadership is FOCUS. When I discuss this, I describe a leader’s FOCUS as either dealing with a BIG crisis or pursuing a BIG idea. Bill Gates has now turned his attention to helping raise people out of poverty, through [...]

Leadership Styles: Sir Richard Branson

Brian Ward — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:48:03 +0000

Arguably the world’s most successful (and colorful) entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson’s leadership style is a key driver of his brand, which is now one of the top 20 brands in the world. Looking at his leadership style through the lens of The FACET Leadership™ Model, it [...]

The New Accountability

Brian Ward — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:20:09 +0000

This article discusses accountability in organizations and how managers can shed the command and control aspects of the old style of accountability in favor of a more humane way of managing, which the author calls ‘ the new accountability’.

“Working for an organization should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody [...]

Four Keys to Effective Communications for Leaders

Brian Ward — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:36:03 +0000

Are people listening to your leadership message? If not, try looking at your communications again. Whether you are trying to persuade, inform, educate or entertain, your message has to compete with dozens if not hundreds of other messages that the recipient receives every day.

By and large, we tend to remember those messages that impact [...]