Leaders Don’t Stop at the Decision - They Ensure Success

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."
That about summarize this for me. I've spent 4 years in the military leading and cultivating leaders, and the last 12 years leading project teams. Nothing irks me more than having leaders that lead from their ivory tower, or think that a loud hailer is all they need.

Following through, in my opinion is one of the most important trait of a successful leader. It doesn't always mean doing it by themselves, it could be through structure and behaviors that they setup and enforce.

Who were your the best leaders you have encountered?

Read more here.
http://www.pmhut.com/leaders-dont-stop-at-the-decision-they-ensure-success

5 TED talks on leadership worth watching

I love TED talks.

Download a bunch of them, great for the commute to work. If I'm to bury my face into my phone while I'm on the train, it might as well be for something enriching. Rather than gossipy, voyeurish, stalkerish Facebook. :)

Here are 5 TED talks on leadership that are gems. Where else can you learn from every-day-joes like a  former orchestra conductor, entrepreneur, Harvard Business School professor and retired U.S. Army general.

Enjoy the sardine packed trains and buses. And the talks.

Read more here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/03/21/five-ted-talks-on-leadership-worth-watching/ 

How to Get Anything You Want with Minimal Negotiation

Ahh. Something we hate (well i do), yet its so important in our day to day. We started negotiating when we are babies (try convincing a toddler not to have that candy or get on that car seat). Yet most of us suck at it. 

To most, there's only 2 methods to negotiating. By shouting and bulldozing your point across or give in to reach that middle ground that on paper is win-win but in reality its lose-lose.

There's more than that in negotiation. Here's some simple techniques. 

Read more here.

http://lifehacker.com/5974807/how-to-get-anything-you-want-with-minimal-negotiation/all 

For those who want to lead, read.

I miss reading. Being with a good book is way more enjoyable than the best movie. I'm sure many of you who might be reading this would agree.

When you read, your mind wanders. It enters a world beyond what the author is trying to convey and conjure. I would like to think that we learn and gain a little more wisdom from these experiences. Studies have shown that the more varied is our reading the better we learn.

Having said that, when was the last time you really read. Shut off all outside distractions and read. Bite each word and sentence, chew on it and digest the meanings. I find that truly enjoyable, but its such a rare occurrence now. As work and family commitments piles up, its so difficult to just have some time off to read. And its not just me or us, according to this article by HBR, we are reading less. We are getting more literate, but reading less.

I aspire to read everyday. Could be anything, just 15mins a day before I go off to bed. That will be my new resolution. Read more, to know less and ask more.

Read more here (pun intended).
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/for_those_who_want_to_lead_rea.html

Image credits: http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.com 

Understanding someone's inner logic

This is an interesting article from Harvard Business Review.
How many times have we faced the same problem. We find someone's behavior or thinking as unreasonable or illogical. But if we delve deeper and probe with the right questions, we might be pleasantly surprised that its perfectly reasonable and logical when we understand the motivation and mindset that the person is working with.

This is especially important in the context of project management. When you face a seemingly unreasonable stakeholder or client, maybe its time to take a step back. And ask different questions. Find out what could be motivating this unreasonable request.

I remember this quote from Ayn Rand (one of my favourite writer), "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong."

Bear it in mind. It might get you out of an awkward confrontation.

Read more here.
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/discovering_the_other_persons.html

Different language & expectations.

You probably would have seen some variation of this set of images. I created this sometime back as part of a "Project Management 101" training program for my team of project managers. I wanted to show how disconnected a project could be, in terms of expectations and responsibilities from different stakeholders involved in a project. With simple images, it really does push the point across.

I truly believe that the project manager is the key person in making sure everyone has the same objectives and speaks the same language. A strong project manager would greatly reduce the disconnect seen in the cartoon above.

Does your organisation have a different set of stakeholders? Like to create your own set of project management cartoon like the above? Try this at Project Cartoon.

First steps..

I've been working in the web and digital marketing industry since 2003 and in the military since 1998. And I've always wanted a place to store all of the interesting reads I come across in my daily work and life.