To my readers: Leadership Turn is ending; its last day is December 29. I’ve enjoyed writing it and our interaction since August 16, 2007 and I hope we can continue at my other blog.

If you enjoy my views and writing, please join me at MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

The WELCOME MAT is out!

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Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Point is host for the December Leadership Development Carnival and he’s done it with such flair and good imagery that it’s silly for me to try and improve his snowstorm analogy.

Although the weather outside may be frightful, this Carnival’s writers are so delightful. So stoke the fire, grab a blanket and get ready to curl up with some of the best leadership writing from the past thirty days. Cozy yet? Good… let’s jump right in. Leadership Whiteout The good thing about a whiteout is that you have no choice but to stop and pay attention:

• Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership warns you to Mind The Leadership Gap.
• Art Petty of Management Excellence reflects on the year in Leadership Style 2009 – What We Learned.
• Taleo’s Alice Snell calls out the Leadership Void.
• Find some direction with Bret Simmons’ You Will Lead The Same Way You Follow, So Be Careful About How You Follow.
• Aspire’s Mary Jo Asmus provides terrific guidance with, What Do You Believe About Leadership?
• Janna Rust of Purposeful Leadership offers Coaching: How the Best Leaders Teach.

Surviving The Blizzard 2009 has been anything but easy:

• Coaching Tip’s John Agno leads us off with Six Essential Leadership Traits for Hard Times.
• Barbra Sundquist of Become a Certified Coach offers great tips on How To Help Someone Who Is Stuck.
• Working Girl’s Laura Schroeder taps into employees’ Enlightened Self-Interest.
• Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success shares The Secret of Motivation.
• HR Bartender Sharlyn Lauby shares her tale of Workplace Ethics and the Three Monkeys.
• Nick McCormick channels John Spence of Awesomely Simple in You Become What You Focus On.
• Mountain State University’s Becky Robinson states the importance of Creating Community.

Plowing Through We often have no choice but to push forward:

• MoneyNing’s David Ning has 12 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Get More Done.
• James of Organize IT supplies an Emergency Response Guide.
• Patti Blevins suggests you Develop Your Prosperity Consciousness.
• Without Warning Coach Rodney Johnson throws down in Wrestling With Alligators.
• The People Equation’s Jennifer Miller breaks through The Ambiguity Factor.
• Scientific Management’s Aaron Windeler provides 4 Leadership Tactics That Help The Bottom Line.
• Chris Young of Maximize Possibility offers 5 Ways To Keep “Accountability” From Becoming A Buzzword.

Finding Snowflakes Let’s face it, some employees/leaders may be more unique than others:

• Great Leadership’s Dan McCarthy reminds us that High Potential Notification Guidelines should not be too heavy or too light.
• GeekMBA360 lets you in on the Dirty Secrets of Performance Reviews.
• Amy Wilson of TalentedApps uses her senses in Be Their Eyes And Ears.
• Andy Klein of the Fortune Group tells us Why Leaders Must Hold People Accountable (or deserve their failure).
• Lisa Rosendahl of Simply Lisa states that Leadership Is Only As Good As The Leader.
• Dallas Bragg of Developing Daily offers helpful tips on Mentoring New Employees.
• The Mentor Club’s Louise Moule quantifies The X Factor Of A Consultant.
• Miki Saxon of Leadership Turn provides a simple truth in Real Leaders Are Fair.

Brain Freeze Sure it’s cold, but that’s really no excuse:

• Madeleine Van Hecke’s post on SharpBrains teaches us to Train Your (Brain’s) Autopilot (and how to turn it off).
• Management Issues’ Wayne Turmel shakes up your inner lizard in Reptilian Brains.
• Anne Perschel of Germane Consulting asks, Are You Smarter Than A Fish?
• Jonathan Senior of Sharp End Training makes you an instant expert with the Buzz Phrase Generator.

Good stuff. Mark asks, “What issues would you like this crowd to tackle in 2010?” Let me know and I’ll pass on your comments or post them at Mark’s site.Your comments—priceless Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAILImage credit: Great Leadership

I have some great links for you today, but I only want you to read them if you hold tight to the Leadership Turn caveat while you do it.

In case you don’t remember, the caveat is that leadership information is useful to you whether you are still in school, a stay-at-home parent, a worker, middle manager, or the person in the corner office. Everyone leads at one time or another, so tweak the information to fit what you need at this moment.

First, some useful information from a book review called 7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm, the 7 actions listed can be implemented by anyone in or out of crisis.

Speaking of navigating, the Navel Leadership blog lists 11 Principles “To help you be, know, and do…,” I think you’ll like them.

Especially for my women readers, and anyone who plans on functioning in the now-and-future world, a write-up of two books, Women Lead and Remarkable Women. If you want to read them try your local library or Amazon.

Parents are the first leaders most of us follow—more or less. I wonder how a parent who yells handles similar frustrations at work. Because, like any other leader, the longer we are with them the more effort it takes to earn our trust and respect.

Finally, from Psychology Today, learn about “the cheap psychological tricks used by bad leaders.”

Enjoy!

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For people who love blogs and crave a variety of ideas, viewpoints and opinions carnivals are like potato chips—you can’t read just one.

But unlike potato chips, blog posts don’t get stale, so return as often as you like before (or after) the next Carnival goes live November 1 at Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership.

This month’s host is Becky Robinson at Leader Talk.

Ever wonder how the posts are chosen? The answer is by the blogger—each of us chooses a recent post that we feel brings exceptional value to you.

There is an enormous amount of practical advice in these posts; useful whether you are in a classic ‘leadership’ role, raising kids or in the most important role of all—leading yourself.

Scan down the list and cherry-pick the ones that will be most useful to you immediately; then read those whose descriptions pique your interest.

One last note. Please some back and share the links of those you found to be of the most use.

(You can find other carnivals in which Leadership Turn has participated here.)

Enjoy!

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Hopefully you’re not laboring today, at least not at work.

There’s no football, so other than eating what is likely the last BBQ of the season and indulging in too much beer you might be a bit short of entertainment.

Never fear, just click the link and settle in for some great viewpoints on leadership, management, employee interaction and other pertinent subjects at September incarnation of the Leadership Development Carnival.

You’ll not only find my favorites, Wally Bock, Steve Roesler and Jim Stroup, but a host of excellent writers and downright smart people.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with what they say (I often don’t), but agree or not you will learn and that’s the real value—oft times you will learn more from those on a different side of the subject than from those with whom you agree.

Click around the carnival and then come back and share what impressed you most or what set your teeth on edge.

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Dan McCarthy over at Great Leadership By Dan is once again hosting The July 5th Leadership Development Carnival (it will be hosted other places in the coming months) and, as Dan says, “It’ll help work the cramps out of your brain,” now that the holiday is over.

There’s a lot of excellent information available from the many outstanding participants.

Click around, read and enjoy, but with my normal caveat—leadership is for everyone, not just the person out front.

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It’s a holiday weekend and I assume (hope) that you have better things to do than sit around reading a bunch of stuff on the Net.

So the links I’ve found for you are made to bookmark; they’re ongoing resources for you to explore as the mood and time moves you.

First is a cool site from Stanford Graduate School of Business with videos, such as the one on Jeff Raikes, head of the Gates Foundation, and a large selection of other topics.

Next is a favorite from Business Week’ Innovation and Design. It comes out weekly with great stories; for example, did you know that McDonald’s Chicago HQ is the greenest building on the planet?

Finally, also from BW is the new Business Exchange, an online community “to access the most
relevant content for you, filtered by like-minded business professionals.”

Have a terrific holiday and stay safe; I don’t know what I’d do without you.

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CEOs have been envied for decades; the pedestal kept getting higher and we all know that the higher the pedestal the further the fall. Things started changing in the eighties and now CEOs as a group are scorned and reviled as symbols of ego and greed who caused most of the problems we’re facing.

Certainly some do qualify for that title, but tarring all CEOs with that brush is plain stupid, as stupid as judging any group based on the actions of a tiny minority—no matter how high profile its is.

Today’s links offer up info on the folks in the corner office, whether they’re one of the vast majority who work hard and are getting a bad rap or one of the folks who screwed up.

First for the good guys.

The Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2009 offers a video discussion at their recent conference called CEO: How Will It Stop Being a Dirty Word?

And a new website offers a place where CEOs post stuff to show that Not All CEOs Are Jerks.

Do you apologize when you screw up? An article in Chief Executive says that an apology can improve performance; while Steve Pearlstein talks about an almost confession from a Wall Street bigwig—as he says, it’s a start.

Last is a bad guy; an interview with a jailed CEO courtesy of the BBC. Remember Dennis Kozlowski? He of the $600 shower curtain? Listen to what he has to say about himself and current events.

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Few companies would consider doing a major project using individual contributors instead of teams.

Hiring is a major project, one that has substantial long-term impact on the group, department, and company.

So, why are teams used in every part of business today—except staffing? Why is it assumed that the various parts of staffing are a function only of managers and HR?

Sadly, some managers are not comfortable involving their people. The reasons range from control issues (involvement in staffing is very empowering) to fear (the manager feels insecure) to disinterest (staffing has a low priority).

But in today’s fast-paced work environment, it’s hard for managers to block out several consecutive minutes, let alone the hours, needed to read resumes, let alone source any candidates, screen, etc.

Speaking as an ex-headhunter, I’m here to say that the mechanics of recruiting aren’t rocket science; they may not be intuitive, but anybody can learn them, especially in these days of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

More importantly, when it comes to recruiting, there is no manager, no HR person, certainly no headhunter who is as impressive to an outsider as employees excited about their company.

Candidates really respond positively to being recruited by a peer! A peer who likes her company so much she is willing to put time into the staffing process? A manager to whom hiring is not about control but rather about empowerment? Who sees hiring as a chance to shine, not a necessary evil? Who not only understands the desire to make a difference but actually gives people extra opportunities to do so?

Wow! That’s the kind of manager most good candidates want to work for! Nobody can sell the company or the group or the project or the manager with the same intensity and passion as the company’s own people!

More bodies ease the work load, as well as supplying creative ideas and fresh energy to the staffing effort. Further, teams

• empower and give people a feeling of ownership;
• engage people in the present and future of their group and the company;
• teach critical managerial skills;
• spreads the workload; and
• helps minimize new employee friction.

With the exception of technical interviewing anybody in your company can be on the team, whether they are from that department or not. Sure, it takes a well written job req, but almost everybody in your company knows as much technically as most headhunters—and they certainly know more about the company. Best of all, they really care!

None of what I’ve written hinges on the economy; the time to teach people new skills is not, not when you have multiple openings and are under pressure to fill them.

Think of it as an investment—one with an amazing ROI.

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Today is about the boss, but the reasoning behind the ‘leadership’ advice can be used by anyone.

First is advice from Toddi Gutner in WSJ Online for what to do as an incoming CEO. The advice is well worth reading considering 1,484 CEOs turned over in 2008.

Next a look at CEOs from a different culture and with a different attitude. It’s not that the Japanese do everything right, but American CEOs could certainly use a dose of their humility.

Right up there with humility are the findings of the Center for Creative Leadership that found soft skills to be of major importance during harsh economic times.

“The greatest challenges were identified as: motivating staff in uncertain times; being able to clearly communicate the rationale for changes; working within a leadership team format rather than alone; and developing staff for redeployment rather than layoffs.”

Finally, two great interviews, one with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and the other with Kevin Sharer, chief executive of Amgen. Amazing what you can learn from real pros who produce real value.

Enjoy and I hope that you’ll take a moment to share what you learn from these sources.

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