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I
attended a webinar this week given by business author,
Marcus Buckingham. A webinar is a live feed audio presentation
via the internet with sound and pictures to groups of people in various meeting
locations. Buckingham is as passionate speaking about business as he is writing
about it. He has published several books and is promoting his latest book, "The
One Thing You Need to Know". Buckingham
has a long history with the Gallup Organization and excels at researching in depth
on a project and then assembling the results in a way that makes the subject easily
understood. When he speaks, his passion for his work comes through loud and
clear in his vocal variety and rate of delivery. After
listening to him for an hour and half, I walked away with a simple theme for leadership
he has identified in great leaders. Great leaders include leaders in business,
politics, military and religion. I want to share the "one thing" in
this newsletter that is important for being a leader in business, in community
organizations and in a family. Buckingham
found that leaders bring clarity to the followers by answering four questions.
- Who do we serve?
- What is our core strength?
The one thing at which we are best.
- What is our core score?
- What actions can we take
today? Things we can do right now.
There
are no right or wrong answers to the questions. The answers
have to be vivid and clear to the followers. Then the power of the answers in
the minds of the organization begins to push the thinking and energy in the same
direction. Good things will also happen in other areas as a
result of the team being clear on the answers. I
like the simplicity of Buckingham's questions 2 and 4. Cornering that one thing
you are best at and then putting a plan in action today to capitalize on that
thing seem like two easy steps for success. Buckingham
is also a big believer in individuals finding out what their strengths are, too.
It may sound radical at first thought, but he believes we should forget about
our weaknesses and build on our strengths. On second thought, it makes a great
deal of sense. Life experience will tell you that you have never been able to
build up your weaknesses. You can, however, identify your strengths and capitalize
on them. What
is your one thing that makes you or your business better than the competition?
How will you wring the benefits out of it starting today? I
help small business owners develop their leadership skills. Leading for success
is included as part of the eight key strategies for more profit in less time in
small business. Would you like to know more? Click here. | 
