The 27 Rules of Great Leadership

1.  Integrity is the most important requirement, without it everything else is for nothing.

2.  Have an effective appreciation and approach towards corporate  responsibility, so that the need to make profit is  balanced with wider social  and environmental responsibilities.

3.  Be very grown-up, never get emotionally negative with people – no shouting or ranting, even if you feel very upset or angry.

4.  Lead by example – always be seen to be working harder and more determinedly than anyone else.

5.  Help out alongside your people when they need it.

6.  Be fair – treat everyone equally and on merit.

7.  Be firm and clear in dealing with bad or unethical behaviour.

8.  Listen to and really understand people, and show them that you understand – this doesn’t mean you have to agree with everyone, understanding is different to agreeing.

9.  Always take the responsibility and blame for your people’s mistakes.

10.  Always give your people the credit for your successes.

11.  Never self-promote.

12.  Back-up and support your people.

13.  Be decisive even if the decision is to delegate or do nothing if appropriate but be seen to be making fair and balanced decisions.

14.  Ask for people’s views, but remain neutral and objective.

15.  Be honest but sensitive in the way that you give bad news or criticism.

16.  Always do what you say you will do and keep your promises.

17.  Work hard to become expert at what you do technically and at understanding your people’s technical abilities and challenges.

18.  Encourage your people to grow, to learn and to take on as much as they want to, at a pace they can handle.

19.  Always accentuate the positive – say ‘do it like this’, not ‘don’t do it like that’.

20.  Smile and encourage others to be happy and enjoy themselves.

21.  Relax and break down the barriers of leadership, give your people and yourself time to get to know and respect each other.

22.  Take notes and keep good records.

23.  Plan and prioritise.

24.  Manage your time well and help others to do so too.

25.  Involve your people in your thinking and especially in managing change.

26.  Read good books and take advice from good people to help develop your own understanding of yourself, and particularly of other people’s weaknesses.

27.  Achieve the company’s tasks and objectives, while maintaining your integrity, the trust of your people, and a balance of the corporate aims with the needs of the world beyond.

For more useful articles, tips and hints go to www.theartofsuccess.net

Be successful

Mark and Mike

All this is no accident. The manager in question just happens to be in control and research has shown that over 90% of these managers work from a daily checklist.

 So why should a daily checklist be so important?

1. Checklists help you perform complex tasks consistently and with high quality

It may seem silly to spend time making a list of how to complete a task you do frequently, but such checklists can save you time and ensure that you complete the task fully and with consistent quality. That, in turn, gives you more time to get other important things done.

The more complex the task, the more useful a checklist becomes

A well-designed checklist promotes consistent quality irrespective of who is doing the work and can be used to detect and correct common errors and problems quickly and effectively.

2. Checklists can help you “re-engineer” your work processes

Most of us follow certain processes as part of doing our work. A work process is a series of steps that you take to produce a result, from beginning to end and most of them have inefficiencies and unnecessary steps built into them.

The thing is, most people never stop to think about these processes, and as a result they never improve them.

When you create a checklist and detail the steps you need to take to produce an outcome, you will constantly reveal to yourself the work processes that you are using. This approach helps you to streamline your thinking.

Once you are aware of process, you can “reengineer” the steps you are taking to make process more efficient and the outcome more effective. For example, you can take out unnecessary steps that may have provided value before but are no longer necessary.

You can often streamline these processes by consolidating different parts or rearranging the order of steps. Use your creativity and imagination to think about and find better ways of getting to the same result.

Ask yourself, “What am I ultimately trying to accomplish?” and “Is there a better way to do this?”

Since checklists CAN encourage mindless behaviour, you need to be aware and avoid blindly following a checklist without using your common sense.

Use the checklist to help you avoid forgetting to do something important, NOT as an excuse to do your work without thinking. Reviewing and reengineering your checklists regularly can help you avoid that problem.

3. Checklists prevent error’s mistakes and rework

Checklists also save you time by keeping you from having to fix mistakes, correct errors or having to do a task over again.

For example, if you frequently have to create a complex report using a special computer program, you could make a checklist detailing how to do so.

That way you wouldn’t waste precious time trying to remember or figure it out each time you have to do it.

Checklists also come in handy if someone else has to do your job in your absence. Instead of having to ask around or guess how to do things, they would have step-by-step instructions to follow. While they might not breeze through the task like you do, a good checklist would be a big help.

So why not start using a checklist today and watch your effectiveness grow!

For more useful articles, tips and hints go to www.theartofsuccess.net

Be successful

Mark and Mike

Attitude, as they say, is everything. But what exactly is attitude?

Your attitude is your own personal filter for everything that happens to you, around you, or within you. What takes place in your world is not as important as how you view it.

You cannot choose what will happen to you. You can, however, choose how you feel about what happens to you and how you respond to situations you find yourself in.

So, let’s think about how you can keep your attitude as positive as possible.

2. Put things in Perspective

When you find yourself getting negative and your mood isn’t as good as you know it can be, take a step back and put things into perspective.

Is the stress and frustration really worth it?

When you look at the bigger picture, don’t they seem a bit insignificant? They should, because nine times out of ten the daily problems we face are not really that important when we take a look at life as a whole.

3. Always have something to look forward to

People love to look forward to things.

Some say that anticipation of something happening is better than when it actually happens. Do you recall as a child waiting for the build up to Christmas? It only lasts one day, but the anticipation and build-up last for weeks!

Keep something in mind to always be looking forward to.

4. Help others

There is no better way to forget about your problems than to help someone else with theirs.

When you take the focus off yourself, and give your attention to helping people, your attitude will change dramatically.

Not just workmates but also people you don’t know.

You’ll be amazed what it does for you.

5. Take a break

Your mood will be lightened if you take a break from what is getting you down.

You might not be able to change the situations that are causing you challenges, but you can take a break (minutes, hour’s or days) that will enable you to refocus and address the situation in a more positive light.

6. Talk with a positive friend

Talking things out can help you see the good in a bad situation.

Call a friend and tell them about your problem, but concentrate on positive areas, not just moans and groans.

This is a very therapeutic and effective cure to a rough day.

7. Life is too short

It’s true. 

The worst imaginable thing, would be to look back on your days, wishing you could have been happier.

Now is the time to take a good look at your attitude and make the necessary improvements.

It’s been said that no-one wishes on their death bed that they had spent more time at the office. And yet this is where they spent a great deal of their time. Why didn’t they make more of it, and make it a worthwhile experience?

Most people look back on their life and have regrets, not for what they did, but for what they didn’t do.

Days, weeks, months, and years have a way of rushing by.

Don’t let them pass while you are in a negative mood about life.

A positive attitude is worth the work, effort, and change that it takes to create it. Look back with no regrets, only happy memories.

I love this quote from Penny Freestone: “When tomorrow comes, the day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind…let it be something good”

 8. People have done more with less

A common cause for a poor attitude is the feeling that you are in a situation that is just too hard to deal with.

Perhaps you don’t have the job you want, or you may have a manager who drives you mad. Or it may even be more serious than that.

You may be too young, too old, too tired, too unlucky, too poor, etc, etc…

Remember, people have done more with less.

Many people from all over the world have overcome obstacles, solved problems, and maintained a positive attitude through the most trying of times. Read “It’s not about the bike” – Lance Armstrong

Don’t wait for the world to devote itself to making you happy. It won’t happen!

Go out there and make it happen yourself.

The power of a positive attitude is always within your reach.

You simply have to extend your hand and grab it!

Use these tips to develop a great attitude and to make your life the way you want it.

www.theartofsuccess.net – Personal Development

Mark and Mike

We have all experienced situation’s where we’ve been distracted from our plans only to see them fall behind. The simple truth is, we have allowed ourselves to fall into this situation. After all, you are in control, or at least you should be.

I read something the other day which said; “Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.” The key to all this is that you must stay focused, no matter what.

Why do you think the most successful business owners and managers are where they are? They are where they are through staying focused and finishing what they started. Quite simply, they have learned to say no! They do not allow themselves to be distracted from their goals.

By the way, you can say no and still be liked. So the next time you get distracted when you are doing something important, just say no and stay focused!

The Art of Success - Business Excellence

Mark and Mike