Leadership Tips

Build Effective Leadership Skills

To maximize our potential in a rapidly changing global economy, people recognize the need for leadership ethics more than ever before. Developing commitment in a world of "free agents" and "volunteer" talent is not an easy assignment and requires the development of leadership skills; effective leadership ability that you didn't learn at the university or in executive education.

So what is professional coaching and how does it differ from consulting?

Download and listen to this MP3 recording of a recent interview of Coach John Agno for the answer to that question.

Coach Agno believes we must develop leadership qualities to achieve the success we seek. Agno's job is to coach people to greater self-awareness, purpose, personal strengths and a sense of well-being that often translates into greater compensation, job satisfaction and practical use of skills and abilities. Coach Agno knows that every CEO needs a personal coach. However, the goal of our leadership tips is to help those of you, who don't have an executive coach, pay attention to your intentions and get to where you want to be.

Self-coaching helps you acquire useful leadership skills, clarify your values and guiding principles and actively build your reputation. Self-knowledge provides the personal integrity to engage in powerful action oriented relationships.

“The crux of leadership development that works is self-directed learning: intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of who you are or who you want to be, or both.” Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard Business School Press)

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Bottom Line: Leadership development is self-development. Learning how to not micromanage, not be overly concrete, not fail to explicitly state expectations and other unproductive inter-personal behavior only happens through the increased self-awareness gained in a personal coaching or mentoring relationship.

What is Leadership?

Effective leadership can happen on the dance floor of conversation. Leadership is an interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.
Leadership is not just for people at the top. Everyone can learn to lead by discovering the power that lies within each one of us to make a difference and practicing the law of reciprocity.

Leadership is applicable to all facets of your life: a competency that you can learn to expand your perspective, set the context of a goal, understand the dynamics of human behavior and take the initiative to get to where you want to be. Through discovering who you are and your life's work, you develop the self-awareness and confidence required to lead.

Coached to Success insights help you to develop the leadership skills necessary to become the master of yourself so you will be ready, willing and able to lead others. Self leadership happens through self-learning and self-coaching. As you build your capability to lead, people become attracted to you and this opens the door for trusting you. When they trust you, people will be open to listening to what you have to say.

What is Success?

Success lies in being who we are and in the choices we are willing to make for ourselves, not in the fear of what you should do or be. Fear is the only thing that holds people back from achieving personal success.

Only you know what's important in realizing your vision of success. However, we all seek shared outcomes to provide a foundation for where we want to be. Here is one client's definition of the foundation for his success:

"Have you ever watched, listened, and felt someone tuning a guitar or other string instrument? That is what it is like to have the good fortune of connecting with John Agno. He is a living tuning fork and you're that string instrument. Today, I have greater self awareness, am more in step with my calling, and better able to appreciate the journey, including the valleys, than ever before. Thanks, John for helping me get attuned with my life signature."

You can drastically increase your chances of succeeding in business and life when you learn from a coach or mentor – someone who once stood in your place and overcame all obstacles to earn success and happiness.

The common thread throughout history has been that you learn mastery performance from the master. Whatever quality or skill you want to develop, you "get it" by hanging out with people who have it.

Leadership development is not an event.

Albert Einstein once said, 'We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles but no personality. It cannot lead; it can only serve.'

Leaders know and science has discovered emotionality's deeper purpose: the timeworn mechanisms of emotion allow two human beings to receive the contents of each other's minds. Emotion is the messenger of love; it is the vehicle that carries every signal from one brimming heart to another.

Leadership happens in a series of interactive conversations that pull people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.

That is why leadership development is not an event. It is a process of participating in respectful conversations where the leader recognizes his or her own feelings and those of others in building safe and trusting relationships.

For human beings, feeling deeply is synonymous with being alive.

Develop your leadership ability through one-on-one leadership coaching.

After receiving leadership coaching tips for a year, here is what a few subscribers had to say:

"I have enjoyed receiving your coaching tips for the past 12 months and have found them to be very useful. For instance: During our recent manager's Leadership Training Program, I shared a number of your tips with my colleagues and the consultant running our program. I read the tips and explore other references provided. I learn by reflection and find that I think through some of the ideas and relate them to how I have handled recent work and life experiences."

"Many of the self coaching tips have been very helpful, making me stand back and see a bigger picture when my nose is immersed in detail. I really like their brevity and encapsulating ideas neatly."

"I have enjoyed reading the tips. I find they provide insight in dealing with both my personal issues, as well as, my professional career. Many of them help when dealing with employees. I think the tips will help anyone who is interested in or already in a leadership position. As leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard, than we hold our subordinates, in order to set the example we want them to work toward."

"I have enjoyed the self coaching tips and have used them in my own internal corporate mentoring. I have also passed them on to others because they are succinct and beneficial."

"Self coaching tips have helped me a lot. I have never missed one in this one year. It does not take much time to read them. It is short and informative. It has helped me to understand myself and concentrate on my improvements."

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