The Eye of a Leader

Ways to influence human behaviour There are many ways to influence human behaviour and leaders use variety methods to change the behaviour of subordinates in order to accomplish key goals and tasks. Many people often loosely use the term influence to refer to authority, power and leadership in organisations. Influence is an essential ingredient in authority, power and leadership. Influence has been defined as the ability to personally affect other people's actions, decisions, opinions, or thinking and it includes virtually any interpersonal transaction which has psychological or behavioural effects. Influence means how you change minds, shape opinions, and move others to act. Good leaders concentrate on things that they can influence. There are things that form the circle of  influence and these can be both directly and indirectly under a leader's control. A leader's circle of direct influence includes how he decide to behave toward his subordinates, how much and how wel...

Effective steps in dealing with failure The qualities and status of leadership do not automatically ensure success or guarantee the absence of mistakes. Things can go wrong even if everything is done right. A good leader will not panic in crisis. The following are some of the steps that are effective in dealing with setbacks or failure: Try to find positive aspects in the setbacks or failures, and see things in more positive light; look for something good in what happened. Focus on what has been achieved, rather than on what has not been achieved. Look at the setback or failure analytically. Make a list of your mistakes and think of how to improve your way of doing things. After gathering the facts, step back and ask yourself, what did I learn from this? Write down the things you need to work on and make a plan for addressing your mistakes. Once you come up with a plan, a way of adjusting your expectations and actions, you can begin to address the situation. Stay confident. Separate th...

Principles of effective discipline in leadership   Administering punishment or disciplinary action should not be a joy for the leader but rather a moment of sadness, as failure by subordinates is not the aim of any effective leader. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary discipline is defined as the training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. It is training a person in mind and character to enable him to become a self-controlled, constructive member of an organisation or of society. Mark Twain says: "There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good; it can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones; it can lift men to angelship." The following are the general principles for effective discipline: Diagnose before you prescribe: Before you punish someone, get your facts straight and think the matter through; Stick to facts and describe the facts specifically and concretely. Avoid gener...

Distinctive personalities in leadership Personality has been defined as the characteristic way in which an individual thinks, feels, and behaves; it accounts for the ingrained behaviours patterns of the individual and is the basis for predicting how an individual will act in particular circumstances. This embraces a person's moods, attitudes, and opinions and is most clearly expressed in interactions with others. A person can benefit by studying the personality traits considered important to a leader. By careful self-analysis and application, he can improve in those traits in which he is deficient and further strengthen those in which he is strong. "Leadership isn't just about having a powerful position. Anytime you use your influence to affect the thoughts and actions of others, you are engaging in leadership. So you can be a leader as a parent, spouse, friend, or citizen." ~ Ken Blanchard. It will be necessary to study certain human personalities which seem to be...