Strategic Leadership Coaching's Blog

LinkedIn Guide for Grads

is celebrating the 2009 graduating class by hosting "Seek Week" a campaign to help grads launch their careers.  "Seek Week" features a number of articles from career experts and students published on the LinkedIn Blog addressing issues new grads face when beginning their job search.  In addition to the articles LinkedIn has put together a couple of other resources to support grads.  One is the '09 Grad Guide, a step by step guide to online professional networking with LinkedIn.  Something I recommend for every new grad looking to establish a network of professional contacts.  The second resource is the '09 Grads Group that connects grads with career experts who can answer questions or provide services.

 

As a part of "Seek Week" I wrote a guest post entitled Surviving the Transition from College to Career:  A Guide for Parents and Graduates check it out for a few tips on navigating parent/graduate relationships during this important period.  To further support new grads, Strategic Leadership Coaching is offering a free Career Search Survey built around the key skills that every job seeker needs to master.  The survey comes with a free 30 minute coaching session to interpret the results.

Technorati Tags: LinkedIn,graduates,job search,career search,professional networking

Just trust me.

"Trust is a peculiar resource; it is built rather than depleted by use." – Unknown

We have all heard it at various times from wide a range of leaders, "Just trust me". This simple statement uttered so casually begs the question, "why should I trust you?" a query every discerning follower should be asking. The statement also assumes a point of view that trust is exclusively dependent on the trustor a token given arbitrarily to any leader who asks. The reality is that trust is a product of our mutual interdependence on one another with each party contributing something to the relationship to build trust. The trustor contributes their belief in the trustee and a willingness to take action on the word of the trustee. The trustee contributes their observable behavior of trustworthiness. So instead of imploring followers to trust them leaders would be better served by asking themselves if they are displaying trustworthy behavior? There are three benchmarks that a leader should be aware of when calculating their trustworthiness Ability, Integrity, and Benevolence.

1. Ability – Do I display the knowledge, skills, and competencies that are expected of one in my position?

2. Integrity – Do my words and actions match up? Are my values consistent with the values of those who I would like to lead?

3. Benevolence – Am I concerned about the welfare of the people I am leading?

The more a leader displays these qualities the greater the likelihood that trust will grow with their constituents. So contrary to the commonly practiced belief that trust is an abstract condition that is beyond our control; trust has some very tangible components that are well within our control.  What steps are you taking to build trust with your followers? 

If you would like to further unpack the issue of trust I recommend you read the article by Roy Lewicki and Edward Tomlinson at the link below http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/trust_building/?nid=1210

Five Leadership Challenges

Leadership is a difficult responsibility in any context and leaders are called to walk a hard path. Dan Allender in his book Leading with a Limp outlines five universal leadership challenges that every leader will face in their journey: Crisis, Complexity, Betrayal, Loneliness, and Weariness. Allender goes on to discuss the continuum of common responses to theses challenges:

Challenge	Faulty	Response	Effective
Crisis	Cowardice		Courage
Complexity	Rigidity		Depth
Betrayal	Narcissism		Gratitude
Lonliness	Hiding		Openness
Weariness	Fatalism		Hope

For example when a leader is challenged by complexity they often respond with rigidity, which flows out of a desire to maintain control.  However, rigidity is static and obscures the opportunities often hidden in complex situations.  Allender says every attempt a leader makes to control a complex situation results in further change making the situation even more unpredictable.  On the other hand responding with depth frees a leader to hear the voices of those around him and consider their counsel even when it challenges the prevailing wisdom.  A leader with depth lets go of the false belief that they can or need to handle every complex situation by themselves.  They are no longer bound to convention or the dictates of maintaining a powerful image.

How are you choosing to respond to the leadership challenges you are facing? Where would you place your self on the continuum of responses?

Leadership Discussion

      My passion is helping people to maximize their leadership potential. I am particularly interested in seeing Generation X and the Millennial Generation come into their own as leaders. The more I interact with these two generations the stronger my sense that there is a genuine struggle about what it means to be a leader. My impression is that a desire to step up and lead exists and many are doing that, but for some the road just doesn’t seem as clear. I see my role as a coach to help people find their way on that road.

It is my desire that this blog would begin a conversation about what it takes to step into leadership as an individual and as a generation. My plan is to share some of my thoughts and theories about leadership through this blog so that others might interact with my ideas. If you have specific thoughts about shaping the next generation of leaders I would love to hear them.