It is important that organizations should give time in improving the quality of its leadership. Enhancing the quality of leadership in an organization is not only for the personal growth of its leaders but also for the development of the business as a whole. Most organizations these days believe that leadership development drives the business. Enhancing leadership should not only be limited to top level officers but, it must involve all the individuals in the organization who, in one way or another, assume leadership roles.

Developing leadership in organizations involves a lot of factors. These include training strategies, coaching and mentoring, analysis of learning styles, job competencies design, job competencies support, succession planning, personal and business growth, and self development, interpersonal and social influence processes, team dynamics, perception of the organizational climate, social network linkages, and a lot of other elements.

Leadership development usually concentrates on enhancing the leadership aptitude, attitude, and skills of individuals. People often ask if leaders are made or born – leaders are in fact all born but not all of them are born as great leaders or managers or executives. Leaders are born with different potentials to lead well. People have diverse personal characteristics that can facilitate or hold back a person’s effectiveness in leading.

Leadership can also developed at a collective level through reinforcing the link between and alignment of efforts of individual leaders and the structures through which they affect organizational processes. This view has recently given rise to the distinction between leader development and leadership development: leader development focuses on the development of the leader while leadership development focuses on the development of leadership as a process.

The most common method in rolling out leadership development programs is through classroom trainings. It is also believed that classroom style trainings and related readings are most effective in helping leaders to learn more about the different factors involved in leading well. However, leaders must remember that they should not stop at knowing what to do. In order for learned behavior to be applied to everyday work and develop into sustained behavioral change, leaders must always remember that they should put into practice the things they have learned in the classroom and in their readings.

Achieving success in leadership development endeavors has often been associated with the learning aptitude and the characteristics of the leader, the kind and quality of the leadership development program, and the kind of support for behavioral change given by a leader’s supervisor. There are also personal traits that have been related to successful leadership development. These include the motivation of the leader to learn, a leader’s determination to achieve, self-monitoring, and more.

It’s difficult to strike a balanced tone when speaking of reasons people choose to home school their children. In our day to day lives, it’s common to happen upon discussions which reflect only one point of view be it on the radio, on television, in classrooms, in our own homes. Unfortunately most major issues are simply too large to tackle from the middle of the road and so people take a side and battle from that position. That said, it’s fair to say there are very good schools available to most all US citizens, places wherein children can get a quality education. Of course, there are others and it may be these others that has lead so many to educate their own children, in their own way.

This message is straight forward. Readers used to passive aggressive authors will find this style different. This paper is written without mincing words. There is NO intent to label or blame. This is written out of respect for the great endeavor the home school parent has taken on. This honesty and style is out of respect for your strength and temerity. Home school parents have already made the toughest choice, to educate their children personally. This 2 part series is intended to help the home school parent, to share some observations and to offer some ideas, tips and resources.

One cannot be all things to a child. Even if the parent/educator is incredibly well adapted and versatile, socialization with others is a positive in personal development. The discussion needs to recognize the incredible strength needed to make such a decision and if the most is to be made of the decision, needs to recognize each parent’s weakness in teaching.

In observing home school children, the most common deficiency in their home school experience is the socialization aspect. This is socialization on a global scale. Learning from experience, experientially, takes place daily just by being in and about the world at hand. Slam a hand in a door, learn not to close door while hand is in there. Our world is filled with rules, structure, it’s how we are able to function without stepping on one another, both figuratively and literally.

Our lives are governed by rules, nothing we do if free from guidelines. From the mundane to the spectacular there are expectations of how we’re to comport ourselves: in a library, better be quiet. As a home school parent/educator, one must be hyper-cognizant of getting the home school child into the world, out of the house. For kids that go to school, thi is one of the main benefits, they’re learning rules of life. Home school children can get this experience, school’s don’t hold exclusivity rights but parent/educators must make concerted efforts make it so.

If learning to be in groups and work in and around people out in the world is global-socialization, then the more specific and much needed socialization is peer-socialization. There are many benefits to home schooling, especially when comparing the ability to drill down and really focus on core subjects; however, the biggest gap in home school child development is peer-to-peer socialization. Parent/educators are recognizing this more and more and groups of home school children go on field trips together etc. In a school setting though, kids are receiving hours of peer socialization day in and day out, 9 months of the year. Therefore, this is an area the parent/educator must be especially sensitive and aware.

On the flip side, most home schooled children have a far greater breadth of knowledge for familiar subject, they converse with a topic-maturity not often found in similar aged kids. This is why so many parents have made the home school option. It is certainly a benefit to have such focused attention and time dedicated to improving the life of one, two or more children but most often less than the teacher to child ratio found in schools.

Walking away from the first of this two part series a parent/educator can take a few ideas. One, they should be proud of the courage it takes to decide to home school. If they haven’t already they should recognize the advantages they have over institutional schooling: schedule flexibility, location flexibility, subject matter flexibility,etc. Then, they should take to heart the socialization issue and get their child/children out into the world. Have the students experience a variety of situations at a variety of locales. Let them experience the world and learn lessons from these places. Take field trips either as a family or in home school groups. Some places that could be visited: grocery store, library, bakery, construction zone, gym.

As we conclude the first part of this mini-series on how to get most from the home school decision, one tip to achieving all three points above. Parents can look to getting a group of home schoolers together and enroll the lot of them into an experiential education based program. Outdoor education centers will provide this. It’s good to get the kids into these types of programs once or twice a year for concentrated periods of time. Camps are excellent for this.

Of course, do your due diligence and pick a camp you feel comfortable. Email or call the camp, gauge their response and decide if this appears to be a place you’d like your child to be. Outdoor education / adventure camps are excellent choices as you know they’re going to challenge your student/child in a holistic manner, engaging all types of learning in a supportive, success oriented environment.

Different organizations roll out leadership training programs to their employees and a lot of outlines of leadership training and development programs are available for use. However, a question remains: what should leadership training and development programs really include?

As with any activity, it would be helpful to start a leadership training and development program with icebreakers and warm up activities. Icebreakers like The Magic Wand, Marooned, The Interview, Who Did That?, The ADDIE Game (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation), and Finish the Sentence usually help clear the way for learning to come about through making learners feel more comfortable by making them engage in conversations. There are also motivators or activities intended to help stimulate learners to engage in the training proper.

The bulk of the leadership training and development program should focus on the different concepts that surround leadership. These include concepts on leadership such as the different approaches that leaders take to address different situations, the kind of leadership that they assume, culture and climate, people and mission, relationship with others, self assessment, leadership matrix, and others. Human behavior should also be part of the discussion as this is essential in determining how to motivate different types of persons.

Then, you can start focusing on different leadership and management tasks such as leading, directing, communicating, and motivating. Making and implementing visions and engaging in coaching activities are integral parts of leading. When discussing direction, you must take into consideration the importance of asking the right questions. The Johari Window is effective in showing people that communication occurs in two levels: overt and covert. It also discusses how people view the two levels of the communication process (arena, faade, blind spot, and unknown).

A sensitive part in any leadership training and development program is motivating. Discussing motivation often incites more conflict instead of developing understanding. When discussing motivation, it is crucial to understand what people want from their jobs, the importance of positive reinforcement, the effect of mistakes and blame, how to identify performance problems, effective confrontation counseling, and how to go about performance appraisals.

In any leadership training and development program, it is vital to remember that beliefs and values, leadership styles, teamwork, diversity, time management, change, and organizational behavior as elements that should not be left out. Although there is no perfect leadership training and development program, it is always possible for an organization to come up with one that would be most effective in enhancing the skills of their leaders and improving the kind of leadership that they support.

Language is indeed powerful. In fact, you unknowingly show others how you view the world by the words you use when speaking.

Experts believe that in addition using language to speak about the world they see, the words people use help to actually create the world they experience.

In what way is this true?

Your subconscious mind actually tries to look at reality in a way consistent with the words you speak.

This powerful tool on the tips of our tongues not only affects us, but also affects people listening to us. So you can change the way someone else views the world by consciously choosing certain words to help their subconscious form a world view you desire.

Here’s how you do this.

Using language and words the right way, actually allows you to hypnotize someone you speak to. I don’t mean a complete hypnotic induction like you see in the movies, where someone lies on a couch. But rather, you can speak directly to their subconscious mind when you use the right words and tone of voice. This gives you the ability to influence people to view things the way you want them to.

In other words you can change the way people behave by saying the right things in the right way.

So what are the “right things to say?

Reaching the subconscious mind is not as hard as you may think. One of the best hypnotists ever, Milton Erickson, developed a model for what I will call conversational hypnosis that has three basic steps. This is called the Milton Model. The three stages of the Milton Model are:

Stage 1.

Look for signs that reveal how the person views something. Notice the language used. What words does she use to describe her feelings. After you spot the pattern, use her experiences to lead her attention to her own inner experiences.

One way to do this is to ask questions like What was that like for you? or How do you feel about that?

This is focusing them inward where they will understand how their world view makes them feel.

Stage 2.

The second part of the Milton Model is to distract the conscious mind. Milton did this by using very complex and ambiguous language.

Erickson would chose words having the same sound, but with different meanings. Example words are sale-sail, wander-wonder, hear-here, right-write.

He liked using double binds, which only presented the desired options. For example, he might say the following: I can’t tell if you will enter a trance now, or in a few minutes.

The words he uses allow the subconscious only two alternatives: fall into a trance now or in a few minutes. This is also an example of an embedded command, fall asleep now or very soon.

When words are used in the wrong way on purpose in a sentence, they confuse and distract the conscious mind. When this happens the conscious mind turns inward, basically asking the subconscious mind for help which is exactly what we want!

These are a few of the Milton Model methods of distracting the conscious mind. I’m not sure if you want to learn about the Milton Model now or later

Stage 3.

Once the mind has been distracted, the final step in the Milton Model is to access the subconscious minds resources.

This can be done using a few methods. The most straightforward if by embedding subliminal commands into your sentences as you speak. Since they are subliminal, they will be transparent to the conscious mind, but heard clearly by the subconscious mind.

Some examples are things like:

–I’m not sure if you will do the dishes right now –You can do it, can’t you? –You will do this, didn’t you? (I know this doesn’t make sense to your conscious brain, but it makes plenty of sense to your subconscious brain)

You may be wondering, if I just say some confusing sentences to other people and use embedded commands, can i get them to do what I want them to?

Maybe.

The critical point about conversational hypnosis is that someone will only go along with your commands if they don’t try to make her break her values and genuine beliefs.

You are able to use conversational hypnosis to give commands to someone’s subconscious mind, but it will take a good deal more than just conversational hypnosis to actually change her value or belief system.

But, as you practice the Milton Model you will find that you will get better at influencing the people around you as long as you aren’t trying to manipulate them.

Changing your mindset is the single most powerful and important step you can take to change your life. The power of positive thinking has been studied by the psychiatric medical, scientific and spiritual community and they’ve all determined the same thing – positive thinking has power. Of course, changing the way you think is easier said than done. That’s where positive affirmations become a very useful tool.

Positive Affirmations

It seems easy to throw out negative statements about ourselves. “I am fat,” is a cruel and negative statement that doesn’t inspire much confidence in a life. Positive affirmations are statements that dispel negative beliefs. Instead say, “I like myself like I am and am comfortable with my weight.” That sounds much better and makes you feel that way too.

There is hope in a positive affirmation. Negative statements have a way of halting any future progress. It is acceptance of a false assumption. Positive affirmations focus on the thought process which is where the change begins.

Finding your Affirmations

Everyone has certain negative thoughts that they want to change. Depending on what you “negatives” are here is a broad list of possible positive affirmations that bring hope.

I heal quickly from illness or injury

I have overall health of mind, body, and spirit

When I am grateful, I find more things to be grateful for

I know that I deserve to be loved

When I show love to someone, it is given back to me tenfold

My partner and I are happy together and living peacefully

My body weight is just right for me

I make positive healthy choices for myself

When I have a need or feelings, I express them

I am my own unique self – special, creative and wonderful

Everything comes to me easily and effortlessly

I love “me” just the way that I am

My feelings are important and a part of who I am

I love my job

I always communicate clearly and effectively

It’s okay for me to have everything I want

I am getting wealthier each day

My energy level is limitless

My mind is a calm mind

My thoughts are under my control

I find success in everything I do

Do any of these affirmations apply to you? You are probably surprised by how many you can actually use. It brings to life the fact that women are not as different from each other and life situations as you may have first thought. There might be some negatives in your life that are not reflected here, but this list is a good place to start. Using the positive affirmations, for your weight for example, promote positive self-talk and keep you motivated as you work through the challenge.

Affirmations are the first step toward changing your thoughts, however with any process; it takes time, practice, patience and a love and acceptance for yourself. Negative thoughts will slip in from time to time but as you practice, it will get easier. Trust yourself and the positive affirmation process. It will change your life.

What are the qualities of leadership? What characteristics are needed to be a good leader? It doesn’t matter what your job title is or whether you are in any position of leadership, leadership skills and qualities can come in very handy during many of the challenging situations that we face in life.

What separates a good leader and a poor one is having the right characteristic of leadership and using effective leadership styles. There are plenty of attributes required to be a good leader. For this article, lets focus on the most vital ones.

I. Great Communicator. Good communication is one of the most important characteristic of leadership. A good leader is able to communicate well not only with the people he is leading, but with external parties as well.

So what does it mean to be a good communicator? For starters it means saying what is required, not what is desired. Good leaders tell the truth like it is, without sugarcoating or fearing of hurting others’ feelings.

Criticize when necessary, give credit where it is due, encourage when encouragement is needed and always listen to what your followers have to say. Being a good communicator means also being a good listener.

II. Decision Making. Part of a leaders role is to make decisions and provide direction to those under him. Being a good decision maker means ;

1. BE DETERMINED – Often times decisions made takes time before the result of it can be seen. A good decision maker must be determined to stick with a decision long enough and not change route or give up halfway through. 2. HAVE FLEXIBILITY – A good decision maker is also flexible in changing decision or directions when it is known that the original decision was not the right one. 3. TIMELY – The good decision maker does not spend too much time on analysis and consideration. No matter how tough, they are able to make the decision within the required time.

It is often not possible to have all information available to make a decision. At times like this, the effective leader uses his instinct and judgment, and is never afraid of making the decision.

Great communication and decision making will bring you a long way towards becoming an effective leader. Develop these 2 attributes to become a better leader.

When I read a label that says “One size fits all” I tend to get a little skeptical. What it usually means is that it doesn’t fit anybody exactly right. And even if it did, where did they get the idea that everybody would want to wear the exact same style? We understand that when it comes to clothes, but somewhere along the line we got messed up when it comes to small groups for students.

Small groups are a great idea, but not a new one. I think Jesus’ group of disciples may have been the original model. Small groups today typically follow a very different pattern than what Jesus did. Now each member of the group gets a book. The idea is for each person to read the designated chapter on their own then come back the next week to discuss it. Whether the small group is intended for senior citizens or seniors in high school, the same model is used. The “one size fits all” approach comes into play.

But that doesn’t generally work for high school guys. They may read the book for two or three weeks, but that’s about it. After that, the small group leader spends the first part of the small group time reviewing what each of them should have read, then tries to getting a meaningful discussion going. Right. The model is broke. And why should we be surprised? What other area of our youth ministry is patterned off a method used for adult and senior ministries? We wouldn’t consider it with our music or activities, but somehow we got duped into thinking it will work for small group studies.

Take a fresh look at how Jesus did small groups for guys. I’ve never read where he handed each of the disciples a scroll, assigned them a chapter to read, and asked them to come back a week later so they could discuss it. Instead, he took them on little outings and demonstrated object lessons for them. Think about it. The storm at sea, walking on water, the fig tree, and every time he healed someone or cast out a demon. These were all activities and object lessons Jesus used to teach his small group. The disciples never knew what was coming next.

My wife and I have been applying this principle to our high school small group. We don’t hand any of them a book. Instead we give them a little teaser of what we’ll be doing and encourage them to come out. Then we go on an outing or do an object lesson that leads right into a spiritual truth and discussion.

Blowing up eggs in a microwave, navigating mine fields with rat traps, prompting pumpkins to puke, and all sorts of other object lessons become tools that keep the guys guessing and coming back for more.

I’ve put 24 of our favorites in a book. Dangerous Devotions for Guys is designed just for the small group leader. It takes you through everything you need to make small groups exciting and life-changing. This is a way to get through to your students, to connect with them in an effective small group hour.

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to small groups. Let’s change the model when it comes to high school guys. It’s time to give your youth group something tailor made for them. That’s what Jesus did, and his small group changed the world.

About the Author: Tim Shoemaker is the author of seven books and speaks around the country to men’s and parents groups about living the Christian life in a way that impacts the next generation. He leads workshops teaching parents how to lead effective family devotions, especially when the kids get older. He also teaches children’s ministry and youth workers how to hold kids attention during devotionals. His workshops are “how-to”, “hands-on”, and powerfully equip and encourage. Happily married for over 28 years, Tim has three grown sons and is active in church leadership.

Definition of leadership has many aspects, yet it agrees that a leader is one whose magnetic personality galvanizes people for some cause. Great leaders influence their followers not by words, but by their actions. They do what they preach. They act as a catalyst and their presence is enough to motivate people.

It is often argued that leaders are born they are not made. Sufficient examples can be cited for both the arguments. However, history has been a testimony to the fact that several leaders have shown extraordinary leadership capability in later parts of their life. No one can become a leader unless and until he is able to influence others. A leader is one who is able to create a lasting influence in the minds of the people, making them believe that whatever the leader is doing, it is for their benefit.

One definition of leadership categorizes a leader as ‘X’ leader if he has extraordinary personal leadership capabilities. The ‘X’ leaders have inner instinct to lead. They demonstrate their leadership ability by developing requisite skills and knowledge. They lead from the front and show utmost care for their followers. These leaders also do not hesitate in admitting mistakes and learning from it. They constantly keep on innovating themselves. They are open to new challenges and are ready to adopt unconventional approach to achieve their objectives. These leaders also have the ability to take big risks.

While defining leadership it is imperative to understand that a leader is one who is effectively able to communicate with his followers. One definition of leadership defines leaders as natural leaders. These natural leaders are called charismatic leaders. The charismatic leaders have the potential to bring radical changes in the society.

Monitoring the environment continuously is what leaders do. They cannot just act locally but instead they need to have a broader outlook. Being very flexible and adaptable is a must. A better leader is one who is able to foresee the future and take steps to deal with it. Leaders can be nurtured also. Grooming the future leaders for their organization is done by leader. Proper training, guidance and responsibility help an individual to emerge as a leader.

It is often argued that there is not any single definition of leadership. Every leader in the past exhibited some unique trait, which made them the hero of their followers. Consistency of purpose is necessary. A fickle minded leader confuses his followers and takes them nowhere. A leader should lead a life of discipline. He should act as a catalyst and should not jump to take credit for any success. Once it becomes evident that the leader is behind name, fame and money, he loses the credibility and trust of his followers. A leader should show utmost restraint and patience. During adversity, he should create a positive environment around himself, which will motivate his followers. A leader should not only be visionary but he should be practical also. He should be able to establish a chord with his followers.

Of the many qualities of leadership, leaders are mostly renowned for great vision and for taking action to make their vision a reality.

They know how to drive others to help them reach goals. They understand how to help others change behaviors so that strategies can be made.

Some of the most important leadership qualities include:

* Listening to other viewpoints: Good leaders know the importance of listening to and weighing other people’s opinions, and they do so in a positive way. They often find ways to base their goals and strategies on their followers’ feedback.

* Good communication: Leaders are comfortable expressing themselves clearly. They know when they should speak calmly and when to speak to motivate. They are easy to follow because their directions are easy to understand.

* Good leaders also help their followers or team members understand the problems that are in the way of desired outcomes. Good leaders know how to also help their team find appropriate solutions.

* Delegation. The ability to delegate is one of the most vital qualities of leadership, but it’s also one of the most overlooked. Good leaders recognize the knowledge and abilities of their team, and they make use of these strengths by letting each team member do what he or she does best.

* Good leaders express appreciation when team members have done their job well and deserve acknowledgement. Leaders know the importance of rewarding team members, and they know when to do it.

* Leaders are respectful. In general, they strive to treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. By following the Golden Rule, they don’t just demand respect, they demonstrate that they deserve respect.

* Good leaders are goal setters. They have the ability to set goals that are clear, understandable, and attainable.

* Leaders try to include creativity or innovation into the goals that are set.

* A good leader will keep all team members involved in strategies as they’re implemented.

* Good leaders encourage integrity, ethics, and good values in the workplace. This is one of the most important qualities of leadership.

John Quincy Adams defined a leader as someone who inspired others to dream, learn, do, and become more. If you move people to do these things, you are probably on your way to becoming a great leader.