Successful Leaders

These soft skills create hard results.

Leadership styles have shifted steadily over the past couple of decades. This shift has been prompted by the generational evolution of the workforce makeup resulting in a shift of leadership demographics. As the veteran generation and baby boomers begin to retire, so too retires the military style of management in favor of the softer side of leadership that millennials bring to the table.

This more feel-good leadership style has been propagated by many of today’s most prolific authors and leadership advisors. Why? Because we are realizing that leading people, as opposed to leading initiatives or leading projects, ultimately requires soft skills. Not only that, but those soft skills can be developed.

5 Things Strong Leaders Do

In today’s business climate, you are quickly becoming a dinosaur if you believe that the personal side of leadership is unnecessary or unimportant. You are managing people, not robots. In order to be a good people leader, you must recognize that people are human, full of frailties, and swayed by influences and happenings outside of work. Part of being human is making mistakes. The solution is not punishment, but to help them identify areas where they can improve.

Managing the personal portion of leadership while still achieving goals and hitting deadlines requires the art of leadership, as opposed to the science. As the leader, you’re managing for results and outcomes. But results don’t come without relationships, connections and personal investment.

If you’re not getting the results you want, it may be the soft stuff that you’re lacking. Here are the five soft leadership skills that affect the bottom line the most directly, and how leaders can develop them:

1. They have emotional intelligence.

Leaders with developed emotional intelligence have the ability to sense, appreciate and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity. Success is the combination of self-awareness—recognizing your own moods and emotion—with self-regulation—the ability to control disruptive emotions—and finally motivation—an intrinsic desire to effectively accomplish your goals.

Acute emotional intelligence allows managers to regulate their own moods and behaviors so that they have a more favorable impact on others. It also helps leaders recognize and draw out personal conflict within their employees—and to help solve the problem by offering empathy and additional resources as needed. Self-awareness is making sure that whatever is bothering you doesn’t become a team problem, and helping others recognize and do the same.

Potential results: increased productivity and camaraderie among employees who don’t allow their personal issues or foibles to rule their workday.

2. They are good communicators.

Under the guise of getting things done, leaders don’t often take enough time to fine-tune the way they interact with others and convey their messages, either verbally or in writing.

People in general tend to be sensitive to the way they want people to communicate with them, but they are less sensitive to recognizing the ways others want to be communicated with. For example, if an outgoing and fast-paced person corners an introverted colleague in the hall for a quick decision on a complicated work plan, chances are that person will shut down and not completely receive the message.

Developing communication skills goes beyond proficient writing or speaking. It is also the ability to adjust how you communicate so that the other person is receiving the message you intend. This creates clarity in communication, which reduces opportunities for misunderstanding.

Potential results: a team that functions smoothly without the distraction of misunderstandings and ineffective communication.

7 Personality Traits of a Great Leader

3. They are coaches.

People don’t like to be told what to do, talked at or ordered around. The command-and-control model of management is out of date.

Employee coaching is instead about facilitating and supporting a person’s professional growth, as opposed to giving a directive for a straight line between where they are and what they need to do. This approach requires more skill and finesse than command and control. The leader’s goal as a coach is to help the team learn, grow and create outcomes independently.

Leaders who are coaches will identify what is preventing people from being effective and give them the tools to teach themselves, instead of just telling them.

When a commanding style is used, it almost always sets up a barrier for employee engagement. If you constantly tell your employees what to do, it could prevent them from taking more initiative and a self-starting approach to the job. It is also setting up an expectation in the job that your employees don’t have to think because they will be told what to do.

Potential results: Employees, who can solve problems, create innovation and eventually lead.

4. They have interpersonal skills.

A leader with effective interpersonal skills is respectful of employees and has the ability to easily build rapport. This leader attempts to see the situation from the other person’s perspective, listening actively to understand ideas being presented and empathizing when needed.

Leaders with developed interpersonal skills can also help their teams cultivate relationships by encouraging understanding and thoughtfulness. These leaders also show sensitivity to diversity issues, celebrate distinctions and help facilitate relationships among those who may be different.

          There is team strength in different points of view, varied approaches to problems and ideas inspired by distinctive life experiences. Interpersonal skills develop relationships that add to the richness and effectiveness of the team.

Potential results: enhanced relationships and gelling as a team to achieve group goals and increase performance.

5. They are others-oriented.

Think of the best manager you ever had. Chances are this manager appreciated you. This skill is about being others-oriented as opposed to being self-oriented. A leader who appreciates others will take the time to connect with employees, making them feel important, heard, understood and valued.

          Appreciating others also involves recognizing employees for their ideas and contributions to the team or the project. If you make a habit of showing appreciation to each person on your team on a monthly or even quarterly basis, you will see a significant shift in employee loyalty and production.

Potential results: employees who work harder and are more dedicated.

These five skills naturally dovetail with each other, but when you aggregate them and practice them, you will be a better leader—and even a better person. It’s important to recognize that while some may view these skills as “soft,” they are anything but. Strengthening these skills will result in more effectiveness, productivity and stronger results from your team. And that goes straight to the bottom line.

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By: Lisa M. Aldisert, 5 Must-Have Traits of Successful Leaders, (January 9, 2018)

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44 Inspiring John C. Maxwell Quotes for Leadership Success

Being a great leader is all about having a genuine willingness and a true commitment to lead others to achieve a common vision and goals through positive influence. No leader can ever achieve anything great or long-lasting all alone. Teamwork goes hand in hand with leadership. Leadership is about people-and for people.

John C. Maxwell is widely considered to be one of the world's top leadership thinkers. I have compiled 44 of the best quotations from his books to inspire you to be a great leader, too.

1. "A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position." John C. Maxwell

2. "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another." John C. Maxwell

3. "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John C. Maxwell

4. "Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them." John C. Maxwell

5. "A leader who produces other leaders multiplies their influences." John C. Maxwell

6. "A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. John C. Maxwell

7. "Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow." John C. Maxwell

8. "When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment." John C. Maxwell

9. "The leader's Attitude is like a thermostat for the place she works. If her attitude is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the environment is easy to work in. But if her attitude is bad, the temperature is insufferable." John C. Maxwell

10. "If you wouldn't follow yourself, why should anyone else?" John C. Maxwell

11. "Great leaders always seem to embody two seemingly disparate qualities. They are both highly visionary and highly practical." John C. Maxwell

12. "The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be." John C. Maxwell

13. "If you can't influence people, then they will not follow you. And if people won't follow, you are not a leader. That's the Law of Influence." John C. Maxwell

14. "Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good navigators are capable of taking their people just about anywhere." John C. Maxwell

15. "If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not getting people to work. It's not getting people to work hard. It is getting people to work hard together. That takes commitment." John C. Maxwell

16. "If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do it. Everyone has the potential, but it isn't accomplished overnight. It requires perseverance." John C. Maxwell

17. "If you really want to be an uncommon leader, you're going to have to find a way to get much of your vision seen, implemented, and added to by others." John C. Maxwell

18. "Managers work with processes-leaders work with people." John C. Maxwell

19. "Everything rises and falls on leadership." John C. Maxwell

20. "Good leaders know when to display emotions and when to delay them." John C. Maxwell

21. "Do you know the difference between leaders, followers, and losers? Leaders stretch with challenges. Followers struggle with challenges. Losers shrink from challenges." John C. Maxwell

22. "Most good leaders want the perspective of people they trust." John C. Maxwell

23. "To lead any way other than by example, we send a fuzzy picture of leadership to others. If we work on improving ourselves first and make that our primary mission, then others are more likely to follow." John C. Maxwell

24. "All true leaders have learned to say no to the good in order to say yes to the best." John C. Maxwell

25. "The best leaders are humble enough to realize their victories depend upon their people." John C. Maxwell

26. "Leaders see everything with a leadership bias. Their focus is on mobilizing people and leveraging resources to achieve their goals rather than on using their own individual efforts. Leaders who want to succeed maximize every asset and resource they have for the benefit of their organization. For that reason, they are continually aware of what they have at their disposal." John C. Maxwell

27. "It's not the position that makes the leader; it's the leader that makes the position." John C. Maxwell

28. "When leaders fail to empower others, it is usually due to three main reasons: 1. Desire for Job Security 2. Resistance to Change 3. Lack of Self-Worth." John C. Maxwell

29. "When people respect you as a person, they admire you. When they respect you as a friend, they love you. When they respect you as a leader, they follow you." John C. Maxwell

30. "Leadership has less to do with position than it does disposition." John C. Maxwell

31. "If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, no matter how much or how little natural leadership talent you possess, you need to become a serving leader." John C. Maxwell

32. "Success for the leader is a single victory. However, when the protg experiences success, it becomes a double win." John C. Maxwell

33. "The challenge of leadership is to create change and facilitate growth." John C. Maxwell

34. "The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him but the number of people he serves." John C. Maxwell

35. "The rewards leaders give are counterbalanced by the results that their people give in return." John C. Maxwell

36. "The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others." John C. Maxwell

37. "A leader with confidence is a leader who brings out positive changes in people." John C. Maxwell

38. "As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you." John C. Maxwell

39. "Leaders who are effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives." John C. Maxwell

40. "There are five nonnegotiable characteristics that every effective leader must have: a sense of calling, an ability to communicate, creativity in problem solving, generosity, and consistency." John C. Maxwell

41. "A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others." John C. Maxwell

42. "The respect that leadership must have requires that one's ethics be without question. A leader not only stays above the line between right and wrong, he stays well clear of the 'gray areas.'" John C. Maxwell

43. "Your ultimate goal as a leader should be to work hard enough and strategically enough that you have more than enough to give and share with others." John C. Maxwell

44. "As a leader, you don't earn any points for failing in a noble cause. You don't get credit for being 'right' as you bring the organization to a halt. Your success is measured by your ability to actually take the people where they need to go. But you can do that only if the people first buy into you as a leader. That's the reality of the Law of Buy-In." John C. Maxwell

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Farewell to the Rapture

 By: NT Wright

Little did Paul know how his colorful metaphors for Jesus’ second coming would be misunderstood two millennia later.

The American obsession with the second coming of Jesus — especially with distorted interpretations of it — continues unabated.  Seen from my side of the Atlantic, the phenomenal success of the Left Behind books appears puzzling, even bizarre[1].  Few in the U.K. hold the belief on which the popular series of novels is based: that there will be a literal “rapture” in which believers will be snatched up to heaven, leaving empty cars crashing on freeways and kids coming home from school only to find that their parents have been taken to be with Jesus while they have been “left behind.”  This pseudo-theological version of Home Alone has reportedly frightened many children into some kind of (distorted) faith.

This dramatic end-time scenario is based (wrongly, as we shall see) on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, where he writes: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God.  The dead in Christ will rise first; then we, who are left alive, will be snatched up with them on clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

What on earth (or in heaven) did Paul mean?

It is Paul who should be credited with creating this scenario.  Jesus himself, as I have argued in various books, never predicted such an event[2].  The gospel passages about “the Son of Man coming on the clouds” (Mark 13:26, 14:62, for example) are about Jesus’ vindication, his “coming” to heaven from earth.  The parables about a returning king or master (for example, Luke 19:11-27) were originally about God returning to Jerusalem, not about Jesus returning to earth.  This, Jesus seemed to believe, was an event within space-time history, not one that would end it forever.

The Ascension of Jesus and the Second Coming are nevertheless vital Christian doctrines[3], and I don’t deny that I believe some future event will result in the personal presence of Jesus within God’s new creation.  This is taught throughout the New Testament outside the Gospels.  But this event won’t in any way resemble the Left Behind account.  Understanding what will happen requires a far more sophisticated cosmology than the one in which “heaven” is somewhere up there in our universe, rather than in a different dimension, a different space-time, altogether.

The New Testament, building on ancient biblical prophecy, envisages that the creator God will remake heaven and earth entirely, affirming the goodness of the old Creation but overcoming its mortality and corruptibility (e.g., Romans 8:18-27; Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17, 66:22).  When that happens, Jesus will appear within the resulting new world (e.g., Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2).

Paul’s description of Jesus’ reappearance in 1 Thessalonians 4 is a brightly colored version of what he says in two other passages, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 and Philippians 3:20-21: At Jesus’ “coming” or “appearing,” those who are still alive will be “changed” or “transformed” so that their mortal bodies will become incorruptible, deathless.  This is all that Paul intends to say in Thessalonians, but here he borrows imagery—from biblical and political sources—to enhance his message.  Little did he know how his rich metaphors would be misunderstood two millennia later.

First, Paul echoes the story of Moses coming down the mountain with the Torah.  The trumpet sounds, a loud voice is heard, and after a long wait Moses comes to see what’s been going on in his absence.

Second, he echoes Daniel 7, in which “the people of the saints of the Most High” (that is, the “one like a son of man”) are vindicated over their pagan enemy by being raised up to sit with God in glory.  This metaphor, applied to Jesus in the Gospels, is now applied to Christians who are suffering persecution.

Third, Paul conjures up images of an emperor visiting a colony or province.  The citizens go out to meet him in open country and then escort him into the city.  Paul’s image of the people “meeting the Lord in the air” should be read with the assumption that the people will immediately turn around and lead the Lord back to the newly remade world.

Paul’s mixed metaphors of trumpets blowing and the living being snatched into heaven to meet the Lord are not to be understood as literal truth, as the Left Behind series suggests, but as a vivid and biblically allusive description of the great transformation of the present world of which he speaks elsewhere.

Paul’s misunderstood metaphors present a challenge for us: How can we reuse biblical imagery, including Paul’s, so as to clarify the truth, not distort it?  And how can we do so, as he did, in such a way as to subvert the political imagery of the dominant and dehumanizing empires of our world?  We might begin by asking, What view of the world is sustained, even legitimized, by the Left Behind ideology?  How might it be confronted and subverted by genuinely biblical thinking?  For a start, is not the Left Behind mentality in thrall to a dualistic view of reality that allows people to pollute God’s world on the grounds that it’s all going to be destroyed soon?  Wouldn’t this be overturned if we recaptured Paul’s wholistic vision of God’s whole creation?

[1] Tim F. Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, Left Behind (Cambridge, UK: Tyndale House Publishing, 1996).  Eight other titles have followed, all runaway bestsellers.

[2] See my Jesus and the Victory of God (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1996); the discussions in Jesus and the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God, ed. Carey C. Newman (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999); and Marcus J. Borg and N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), chapters 13 and 14.

[3] Douglas Farrow, Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999).

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