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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Instilling Urgency In The People You Lead

Instilling Urgency In The People You Lead

Summary: The author draws a lesson from a classic radio skit to show leaders how they might raise their activities to new levels of awareness and commitment.

A classic radio skit by comedian Jack Benny involved Benny being held up on the street by a man with a gun. "Your money or your life," the gunman said to Benny, who portrayed himself in character as an inveterate tightwad. There was a long pause. The gunman repeated, "Your money or your life."

"I'm thinking!" said Benny. "I'm thinking!"

Whenever I remember that skit, I think of leadership. The portrayal of Benny's stage character, a skinflint equally concerned for his money as for his life, gives a kind of sideways, albeit humorous, glimpse into the nature of human commitment. For some people, there are things as important or more important than one's life.

I submit that leadership involves such commitment -- maybe not as extreme as offering up one's life (though history clearly shows many leaders have) but none-the-less that calls for our total devotion.

Leadership is not just position or even performance. It's much more. It's a life-quest. I am not saying it should be more important than your life; I am saying that if you are in a position of leadership, you should make your leadership a better part of who you are.

Leadership is important to you in two ways. First, it is a career-maker/breaker. Most careers have at their basis leadership. A human resources director told me. "Brent, we hire people for their skills and knowledge but we promote them or fail to promote them or fire them for their leadership abilities (or lack thereof.) What we hire for and what we fire, promote for are two different things!"

Organizations are hungry for good leadership. And if you can provide it, you have a great career advantage over those who can't, or at least those who provide it ineffectively.

This is especially so if you promote the right kind of leadership. It doesn't mean being an order leader. The days of the order-leader are not just numbered. They're over. Today, leadership is motivational or its stumbling in the dark.

Because in terms of achieving more results faster continually, the order is the lowest form of leadership.

With globalization, businesses worldwide are undergoing changes as radical as any since the Industrial Revolution. With competition increasing dramatically, with the volume and velocity of information multiplying, with information becoming accessible to more and more people, with the traditional, pyramidal structures of order-giving flattening, leaders today need skills akin not to those needed for white-water canoeing.

Order leadership founders in an environment where lines of authority are dynamic, information widely disseminated, markets rapidly changing, and employees empowered. In such an environment, new leadership, motivational leadership, is needed.

In short, the leader who can "have" others get results. That means global leadership is essentially motivational leadership.

That's the kind of leadership needed to achieve such success. Now, here's the tool to make that leadership happen. That tool is The Leadership Talk. Here's what the Leadership Talk is all about.

When it comes to realizing motivational leadership around the world, there is a hierarchy of verbal persuasion. This hierarchy extends to people everywhere, no matter what their culture, what job they hold, or what ambitions they have.

The lowest levels of the hierarchy are speeches and presentations. They communicate information. The highest level, the most effective level is The Leadership Talk. The Leadership Talk not only communicates information. It does something much more. It establishes deep, human, emotional connections with people.

The question isn't, "Why is this connection necessary in terms of getting organizational results?" (After all, the answer is obvious.), the question is, "Why is the Leadership Talk the gold standard for international leadership?"

For one thing, I've had top leaders in top companies worldwide applying it for more than two decades, and it simply works. It's all about helping leaders get what I call "more results faster, continually." You can get those kinds of results on a global scale without the Leadership Talk.

The Leadership Talk is motivational, action-focused, results oriented. When you use it, you'll find it works not only on an organization level but also on a deeply personal level.

And it is in the realm of the deeply personal that leadership comprises the second way its important. This leadership methodology can be of great benefit to your life-relationships, not just your job ones. In fact, it's something you can devote your life to in every relationship every day.

Your leadership or your life? With the Leadership Talk, your leadership IS your life.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Why Self-Published eBooks are Winners

Myths abound about print books being the right kind of book and eBooks being on their last leg. These ideas spring from traditional publishing.

Hopeful authors have read it many times--that a true book, one that will bring you reverent kudos, must be in print and must be long. And it must have a top agent and publisher. Maybe true five-ten years ago. Like you, I believed it at first and went down that rocky road to get an agent, then publisher. Way too hard and took way too long.

My first rule. Write a short book first. Notice famous authors such as Ken Blanchard did. Second rule. Write a non-fiction, self-help book first, then a novel. You'll experience more success with a non-fiction. Then, you can use the profits to stay the long haul for your fiction.

Follow my lead. First, I wrote print booklets or journals and sold them at the back of the room in seminars of the same name. This led to thousands of income each month. Then I read self-publishing books such as Dan Poynter's. Right track. But, then I realized one can write a print and an eBook at the same time. And, you can sell either from your own Web site. Or, you can take a 50% or less royalty and sell from someone else's site.

Remember one great benefit of eBooks. The author gets by with little cost. You can send the books via email if you don't have a Web site yet, and you can offer them as downloads at your site.

One great benefit of short eBooks. Your audience loves them. They don't want to spend a lot of time reading. They want quick solutions in an easy to read format. They don't want long books over 130 pages with too much extraneous information. Give them answers to their questions and you'll have fans for life.

The sad truth that no emerging authors wants to believe--that they can get the publisher to publicize, promote and market their book. Not true. It's amazing how many bookcoaching clients really want to turn it all over to someone else. The problem is it's way too expensive, and no one knows nor has more passion for a book than the author. It's not money that rules, but a creative approach to sharing your wealth.

Another rule. If you can write a book, you can also write ad copy for the book's introduction, the short "tell and sell," the back cover, or the Web or email sales letter. You just need some coaching from a pro. Start a promotion savings account and spend a little to get the best words that will attract and give your audience enough information to make them compelled to buy your book. .

Join a telegroup that writes each two weeks and exchanges files with each other. Of course make sure the bookcoach is savvy and knows how a saleable book is put together, knows short cuts to write fast, and clear, and gives you useful feedback to help your book grow and get born.

What's your intention? To think it takes too much time, too much money and you aren't much of a writer? If you can get by your resistances, you can learn how to write--well. So your book will sell well. If you put a little daily attention on your book project, you can finish it.

Take some small action today and feel powerful, because authors are a special breed-and the club is awaiting your unique, useful information product. . .

Judy Cullins c. 2005