What Successful Leaders Know
Source: CPA Trendlines
The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article in CPA Trendlines.
True professionals need a signature point of view. Robert P. Gandossy, North America practice leader for Hewitt's leadership consulting practice, calls it the “it” factor.
To be sure, “it's” easier said than done. But considering that Gandossy has written more than 60 articles and six books on leadership, innovation and change, we thought you'd be interested in his 10 principles every great leader should know.
- Everything communicates. As a leader, how you act and what you do communicates more clearly than the words coming out of your mouth.
- Model the behavior you are looking for from others.
- What you hear is as important as what you say. Have a number of upward channels and do something with what you hear.
- You haven't communicated anything until you have been heard by your audiences. Know the demographics and psychographics of your various audiences and tailor communication to them.
- They both end in “tion” but there's a big difference between “information” and “communication.” Communication influences thoughts, feelings, and actions. Information simply informs.
- Communicate courageously. If you communicate openly and honestly, you will make some mistakes but those mistakes will be better than the bland, sanitized, and uninspiring communications in many companies.
- Remember you are competing for attention. Why should your employees pay attention to messages from you?
- If it looks important, it must be important. How you package the communication about programs has a big impact on perceptions of the program itself.
- Practice. Great communicators practice. A lot.
And if you do just one thing, do this: Choose future managers for their communication skills as much as for their achievements.
For the complete article, read “Do You Have the ‘It' Factor for Leadership?”
From CPA Trendlines, http://cpatrendlines.com, February 22, 2011.