Seminars on DVD

Part of continuously developing your capability as a leader requires that you keep up to date with developments in the leadership world. Of course, following blogs like this will help, along with reading the latest leadership books. But what about those great seminars you are invited to but don't get round to attending or those you would have attended but didn't hear about in time?

These are the keynote seminars by the thought leaders and gurus of our time. We all know the problems - no time, no budget, wrong part of the world - but these are the type of seminars that can have a profound impact on your own development and the success of your business. So, shouldn't you really find out about what you might be missing?

I am delighted to announce that we have teamed up with Seminars on DVD - an exclusive service that enables you to keep up to date with the latest business and leadership seminars by having them shipped to you on DVD. Watch them at your own convenience (and watch the key parts over again!) at just a fraction of the cost of attending in person. Each keynote seminar on DVD costs just $89 but there are significant reductions if you are buying more than one.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be reviewing some of the most powerful of these seminars from globally recognised names such as Mike Lipkin, Tony Allesandra, Dr Nate Booth, Warren Greshes, Jack Canfield, Don Hutson and Brian Tracy. In the meantime, if you'd like to check out the full list of seminars currently available on DVD you can just go there now.


Simon Cooper heads up ELC Training Solutions and is author of the best selling leadership development book, Brilliant Leader.

Leadership and the 8th Muda

As a leader in your organization, do you add muda or subtract it?

Muda is a Japanese term for waste. One of the prime tenants of the Toyota production system, to which much of that company’s outstanding quality and profitability can be attributed, is to reduce muda. The organization is built on constant striving to identify and eliminate anything that does not add value for the final customer. The Toyota processes are now used worldwide, often called LEAN processing.

Seven mudas are traditionally recognized: overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, and defects. Jeffrey K. Liker, in his excellent book The Toyota Way, adds an eighth muda – unused employee creativity.

Liker describes the eighth muda as the waste of “losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not engaging or listening to your employees.” Too many organizations suffer from CEOs or owners that inflate the eighth muda, rather than contribute to its elimination.

In the last two weeks alone I’ve heard a handful of unsolicited stories about clueless bosses who seem eager to be eighth muda poster icons. They shut down employee contributions by:

• Blowing up angrily at errors, apologizing, but then doing it again. Bring them bad news, they kill the messenger.
  
• Arrogant statements of who is in charge – “It’s my way or the highway,” or “In this company, I am god.”
  
• Ignoring and refusing to discuss looming challenges that keep partners, directors, and other lesser executives awake at night.
  
• Refusing to let other executives to speak on the company’s behalf, even if they are more polished presenters - but also can’t seem to find time to improve their own basic presentation skills.
  
• Discounting human concerns, while fixating on a company goal – “I don’t care about anything except making this quarter’s numbers.”
  

In all fairness, these executives are often passionately optimistic and enthusiastic about their company or idea, incredibly smart and talented individuals with inspiring visions, with plenty of success they can point to at any moment. What is often outside of their awareness is the erosion, if not outright destruction, of relationships that could sustain their success.

Paradoxically, it is those leaders most obsessed about squeezing each penny that leave tons of money on the table, particularly in the form of lost opportunity and employee turnover. When faced with 8th muda bosses, the best and the brightest look for opportunities to go where they are appreciated, places where they not only have economic opportunity but can make a contribution to something larger than themselves.

I hear plenty of stories, too, of great places to work, and of incredible leaders who strive to bring out the best talent of everyone in the company. By whatever name they call it, they are intentional about eliminating the 8th muda, the waste of untapped employee talent. They invest in employee development, pay attention to the human side of their businesses, and correct unintentional disincentives whenever they are discovered. And they eat their competition’s lunches.

Seeking to reduce the muda on the human side is as important and as do-able as reducing muda in manufacturing processes. It does, however, require an effort and an attitude of doing what’s best for long-term value.

Look at your company. Look at yourself. Where are you eliminating muda? Where are you creating muda – and what are you going to do about it?


Guest writer Tom Stevens heads up Esquare Leadership.

Leadership Techniques for Everyone

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the funeral of my friend Kermit. A pleasure, you ask? Yes, a pleasure and a honor, because it was a great celebration of Kermit’s life and the passion and spirit he brought to living it.

Usually, when I go to funerals, the spiritual leader (pastor, minister, rabbi, cleric, etc.) goes on and on about the deceased, a person he barely knows; and maybe one or two friends or associates might say something about the deceased. Well, Kermit’s funeral was special. The pastor spoke briefly, a singer sang a hymn, and then the pastor asked for comments from the audience. That’s when the funeral became really special. After one and a half hours later, over forty people had gotten up and shared their positive experiences and what Kermit meant to them. People from their 20’s to well over 60-year-old people from different spiritual, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds stood up to make comments. People who served with him in the Navy (Kermit retired as a Commander) stood up and spoke about how Kermit changed their lives.

There was story after story about how Kermit made the speakers overcome obstacles and made them believe they could do better, and did this with passion. Some of them were as follows:

1. Past ballplayers talked about Kermit’s cowbell as a rallying cry at their ballgames.

2. A woman told of having a flat tire on a busy roadway and Kermit, whom she didn’t know at the time, stopped and helped her fix the tire; and then they became friends.

3. A businessperson talked about how Kermit volunteered his time to help him launch a business that is still going strong after ten years.

4. A previous player described how he was motivated by Kermit to make something of himself. He went to college and is a very successful basketball coach teaching the same principles that Kermit taught him.

5. A man explained that he was going through a divorce and bankruptcy and was thinking of committing suicide. Kermit heard about his troubles, called him, and helped him through these dark times. Now this person helps others through their challenging moments in life.

Wow! It moved me. Here are five leadership and success secrets Kermit shared with us. How can you apply them to become more successful and outstanding leaders?

1. What is Your Cowbell?
Create Passion! Kermit truly enjoyed working with people to make them better. It was not just the cowbell, but the emotion and excitement he experienced when seeing other people succeed. The cowbell was just the tool that Kermit used to show his passion so that others became passionate. Let your passion show. Let people know that you are excited about their accomplishments, and the passion will multiple.

2. Expect the Best
Excellence Will Take Care of the Rest. It was said about Kermit that when meeting people, he never met a stranger. In his mind they were already someone he knew. Kermit always expected the best when interacting with people, and they eventually rose to his expectations.

Expect the best out of people, and they will rise to your standards.

3. Understand So That You Are Understood
Kermit’s conversations were always centered on understanding the other person. For all the years I knew him, I never knew he was a commander in the Navy. He didn’t make his title the focus of the conversation. You see, it wasn’t about him; it was always about the other person’s interests, needs, etc. Because of this, people naturally wanted to become involved in Kermit’s projects and help Kermit make other people successful.

So my question is: How well do you understand your employees?

Take the time to understand their goals, wants, needs, hobbies, etc. The more you take time to understand them, the more your employees will want to help you succeed.

4. Give of Yourself
Kermit always gave his time, energy, and passion without “keeping score.” In return, the people he helped not only helped him, but went on to make a difference in other people’s lives.

Take the time to go the extra mile to see how you can help your employees, your team, and/or your organization without “keeping score.” Your employees will feel that you care, and then they will go to a new level of caring.

5. Share the Knowledge
Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others so that they become more successful. Whether it was coaching a sports team, helping a friend start a business, or sharing his experiences to get a person through a difficult time, Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others. Because Kermit shared his knowledge, other people became more successful and they shared their knowledge with others so that they could be more successful.

What special knowledge do you have that can help others succeed? Don’t hoard your knowledge, share it. By sharing your knowledge, you multiply yourself and become known as a developer of people. Your knowledge, once you share it, will live on after you are gone.

Apply these five leadership techniques and create success in your business, with your team, in your community, and your life. Just like Kermit, you will also see instant results.
Thanks for sharing, Kermit, and making the world a better place.


Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and leading expert in the areas of leadership, motivation, presentation skills, customer service, and team building.

Conduit goes open

Great news this week for our toolbar users. The platform providers, Conduit, have introduced an excellent new feature. By simply clicking on the + symbol at the end of our toolbar, users can access the Conduit marketplace and add any component of their choice from 200,000 other toolbars. Combined with the option to include/exclude any of the components we already provide such as direct feeds to the best leadership blogs, every user can customise their own toolbar to provide a unique and personalised browsing experience - all completely free.

Our leadership toolbar can be downloaded from here


Simon Cooper heads up ELC Training Solutions and is the author of the best selling leadership development book, Brilliant Leader.

Virtual Networking - I love it!

A couple of weeks ago, I received an unsolicited email from a reader of an online article I had written. He wasn't trying to sell me anything but just asking for some advice about the value of article marketing. Having reviewed his website I replied to the email with what I hope were some helpful comments.

To cut a long story short, it transpired that my new connection and I shared much in common in relation to our views on both leadership and learning. Dr John Dentico has just launched his new leadership blog, LeadSimm - The Games Leaders Play and if his first article is anything to go by, it is going to be an extremely valuable addition to both new and experienced leaders around the world.

Welcome to the world of leadership blogging John!


Simon Cooper heads up ELC Training Solutions and is author of the best selling leadership development book, Brilliant Leader.