Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

An interesting way to start a leadership program with delegates who don't know each other would be to run an ice breaker game to help people get to know each other quickly and spark a few discussions. Try to find an ice breaker that has a leadership theme as a lead-in to the topic of the day. The following leadership ice breaker idea would serve to generate enthusiasm and opinions about the topic:

You will need to prepare beforehand a set of speeches from world class leaders. This can be easily done on the internet. You will need a speech and the name of the famous leader.

When your group have assembled give each one a few lines of the speech and another the name of the leader. Ask people to mingle and find the person with whom the speech matches. Once they have paired up famous leader and famous speech they should spend a few minutes sharing a bit about themselves to each other and their thoughts on this particular leader.

When everyone has paired up ask the group to come back together and then ask pairs to introduce each other. Ask them to read out a few lines of the speech and see if anyone else can guess who the leader is. Once the leader is identifed by the rest of the group the pair can then share a few thoughts on the leadership style of the leader. Carry on around the circle.

• This exercise can be quite difficult unless well know leaders and speeches are picked.
• The ice breaker can be quite lengthy with discussions of various leaders. With this in mind it's a great lead-in to leadership styles. However if this is not required at this moment in time you can omit this stage or keep it brief.

Martin Luther King

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Queen Elizabeth I

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; butI have the heart and stomach of a king"

George Washington

"A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."

Charles de Gaulle

"The flame of French resistance must not and shall not die"

John F Kennedy

"Ask not what your country can do  for you; ask what you can do for your country"

Nelson Mandela

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which i hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is aAn ideal for which I am prepared to die"

Ronald Reagan

"Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall"

Barack Obama

"America is a place where all things are possible"

Can Serious Business Include Fun?

 Brian Chernett, Founder, The Academy for Chief Executives writes an interesting article:

 
Just the expression 'serious business' suggests that we need to have our faces set into a serious expression whilst we embrace the 'work ethic' and drive ourselves and our employees into the ground. What if it didn't have to be that way? What if work was leavened with fun, indeed what if work was fun? How would that be? Would it impact your bottom line? Which way?

Everything starts with the culture of the business and business leaders can help to create a positive culture. In my book, The Entrepreneur Within, I describe it this way...

You may be asking - but does 'fun' add to the bottom line? My instinct and my experience is that it does. Creativity and performance are both best generated by a positive and enjoyable work environment. People are more productive when they enjoy what they are doing and/or they enjoy the environment in which they do it. Corporate culture and top management have a leading role in creating an enjoyable work environment.

Having a balanced workplace can help retain people and reduce recruitment costs. It can develop people and maximise return on training and development and make coming to work an enjoyable experience. Happy employees work better and communicate their enjoyment to customers and suppliers - and to anyone they come into contact with.

All of which DOES impact on the bottom line.

I have to say we whole heartedly agree with this view. Put yourself in your employees' shoes - wouldn't you prefer a fun environment in which to work - wouldn't it make you that bit keener to come to work? A bit more loyal? A bit more enthusiastic? More likely to have a smile on your face?

  Create a bit of fun in the office with a few ice breaker games at your next team meeting or just for a bit of morale boosting fun!

Check-out our ice breaker games web-site.

Getting some great leadership notes and quotes from the programme just recently:

• Of the world's 100 biggest economies - 63 are companies
• There's a shortage of talent and management in the world
• "The world belongs to the fast and not to the big"
• "Management keeps the car on the road and leadership tells you which road to drive down."
• Leadership - influencing others to willingly follow" 

What's your definition of "leadership?"

Check-out our Ice breaker ideas web-site for amazing ways to kick-start your leadership programs

A great way to get your Leadership Training Programme off to an incredible start is to divide the programme up into sections and ask two participants at a time to make notes and record anything they thought:

• was good about the content
• was bad about the content
• was an interesting point for further discussion

At the end of each section ask the recorders to sum up the session using the framework above and allowing others to chip in with comments.

This very simple method gets involvement, keeps people on their toes, provides some valuable insights and ensures that the discussion is a 2 way process and doesn't just emanating from the trainer.

So don't let your leadership delegates fall asleep on you - get your participants really involved and buzzing about  your leadership training programme. Check-out our web-site for great leadership icebreakers & training ideas