This blog began several months before the publication of Remarkable Leadership – Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time.  While I have continued to write about leadership topics, and plan to for as far into the future as I can see, for a variety of reasons I am changing the blog platform for this writing.  All future posts on leadership development, and leadership skill development (as well as ocassional updates about the book itself) will be found on the Unleashing Your Leadership Potential Blog.

All of us can be leaders. You can be a (Remarkable) leader. I’ve said it, and written it, but I’m not the first (and I won’t be the last – Seth Godin talks about this idea extensively in his new book Tribes).

It doesn’t matter what I write, what Seth writes or what we believe. It only matters what you believe.

Are there people that you know that seem to have some leadership skills you don’t have? Of course. We all can look at others and envy or look up to them. But what is missing in this mis-placed jealousy, is that we are blind to the natural gifts that we bring to the table.

You have, in the unique bundle of DNA that makes you who you are, the potential to become a Remarkable leader. You job is to believe in that potential, recognize it when you find it, affirm it, and grow it.

Growing it can happen with a mentor, with coaching, from reading, from taking a workshop, and many other ways. But in the end, growing your unique leadership gifts comes from practice. Practice the right things with the right guidance, and you will become a great leader.

This doesn’t mean you will become like your leadership model; be that John F. Kennedy, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or your father. You cannot be them, but just as importantly, they can’t be you.

If you buy my idea, do these two things right now (do them even if you don’t agree with me):

1. Look in the mirror today and begin to believe that you can be a highly effective leader.
2. Go watch this quick video by Gary Vaynerchuk as he talks about being you – it is well worth the 2:37 time investment.

After all, you are worth it.

The other day my son commented that his mother and I were being judgemental. this came after I made a comment about something as we drove down the road.

My immediate response was that I wasn’t judging, but making an observation. This led to a spirited conversation in our car about the differences between observation and judgement. The differences are huge and we see them every day. Here are a couple of examples.

“His hair is long.” – observation

“His hair is too long.” or “His hair needs to be cut.” – judgements

“The table is black.” – observation

“The table is ugly.” – judgement

“She is very skilled.” – observation, if based on truly observing the skills being discussed

“She is better than I am.” judgement, unless there is factual measurement on a criteria that all agree defines “better.”

The conversation we had in our car was more than wordplay or a dictionary challenge. It defines an important concept that we often lose sight of or miss by not thinking clearly. As a leader when developing others, giving feedback or making decisions, we need to be crystal clear on our judgements vs. our observations.

Are you passing judgement on people and their behavior? Whether positive or negative, spoken or unspoken those judgements will have an impact on people’s performance (so if you are going to judge, make it a positive one!)

When giving feedback are your statements largely observational or judgmental? If you try to pass judgement off as fact you risk being wrong and setting a stage for defensiveness, resistance or worse.

While we all need to make judgements, when making decisions, especially important ones, it is again important to separate observation from assumption and judgement. doing so will help you make better decisions.

The differences between judgement and observation can get cloudy, but it need not be. When we speak or think from a place of oberservation, there is no judgement, no assignment of right or wrong, or degree of goodness. Observations are like reflecting a mirror on a situation. Being more observant, and being able to stateour observations are important to our ability to communicate, influence and lead.

No where right now is it clearer than in the campaign for the U.S. Presidency.

Both Senator Obama and Senator McCain (and in many more cases their spokespeople, surrogates and fans) make statements meant to be interpreted as observations or statements of fact, when in effect they are merely judgements or personal interpretations. Use the time you watch or listen to campaign related activities over the next couple of days to help you identify and sort out observations from judgements. This practice will help you in your life, and perhaps help you sort out the truth from the massive spin that is employed by both campaigns as well as their supporters.

Here’s the question:

Are you managing your projects, or are your projects managing you?

This question is much more than a play on words or a time management query.

The question is about planning and focus. It is a question which begs us to put our projects in the proper big picture perspective.

Perhaps most of all this question encourages you to think about whether you are proactive or reactive.

While I could write much about these answers, it is the questions and how you answer them that are most important. Your answers will have a significant impact on your levels of stress and success.

If your answers show you that you could use some guidance, consider signing up for my next teleseminar -Remarkable Leaders Manage Remarkable Projects. This teleseminar is just one small part of the Remarkable Leadership Learning System.

In this election season, I decided to share a few quotations from U.S. Presidents about leadership itself.

Here’s the one I shared with our Powerquotes list today:

“I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because
once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him, he
will stay as long as he is scared and then he is gone.”

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

And here are a couple more . . .

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only

obstacles vanish.”

– John Quincy Adams

Make sure you vote for the best Leader among the Presidential candidates, you have until October 16th to cast your vote!

There are many criteria we can use to vote for a particular candidate.  I’m most interested in one of those criteria – which candidate, Barack Obama or John McCain, do you feel has the strongest leadership skills?

Please share your ideas by voting on our Presidential Leadership survey.  You will have the chance to compare each candidate on 12 leadership competencies from Remarkable Leadership.  Cast your vote, and request the results which we will share in a Special Report on October 16th, invite everyone else you know to vote as well!

I’ll be providing updates and additional information over the next few days.

As our election grows ever closer, I continue to watch the candidates, watching for lessons that we can apply as leaders everyday. In conversations recently with friends and colleagues I have mentioned that I believe both candidates would be better served by talking straight, even if it means acknowledging the similarities between their positions.

While we as leaders don’t find ourselves under the intense scrutiny of millions, I believe the same is true for us.

Talk to people. Tell them what you are thinking. Tell them if you aren’t sure on something. Tell them the future is complex. Let them know that you care. Acknowledge other opinions. Create opportunities for understanding.

I believe that if one of the candidates would really do this, they would gain many votes. Much more importantly for all of us as leaders is that we can and must do this.

Talking straight builds trust, confidence and understanding. We do not need to talk only in sound bites – we can explain things clearly. Talking straight – honestly and authentically is one way to communicate more powerfully.

And communicating powerfully is a hallmark skill of Remarkable Leaders.

Goal achievement is an important task for us as leaders and we must recognize our role not only as an individual but as a leader. In other words we must be adept at goal achievement, and we must be able to assist, encourage and inspire gaol achievement in those we lead as well. With that dual frame of mind, I hope you will read the the following – that I posted a few minutes ago on my Remarkable Learning Blog.

Actually I want you to read it twice. Read it first thinking of yourself. Then read it again with your “leader hat” on. Then when you are finished, determine what action you will take on your goals today and what actions you will take to remind, re-focus and inspire your team to do the same.

The risks of this action are few, but the rewards are potentially huge.

Goal setting is one thing we all recognize is important, both personally and professionally (even though the vast majority of people don’t set any). Setting goals is one thing, achieving them is something else. If goal setting is the first step in success, persistence is a very close second.

Too many people set a goal and feel like the hard work is done. For all of the value of the Law of Attraction, the part that is often overlooked is the Law of Action. Yes, we set the goal and begin to attract it, but attraction comes much faster by taking action.

Persistent, regular, consistent action.

Here is your recipe for goal achievement.

1. Review your goal(s).
2. Take at least one step towards achieving them each day.

Like the stonemason who carves away at the rock with his hammer and chisel, one blow, one chip at a time.

Like the Salesman who makes one more sales call each day.

Like the athlete who practices everyday.

If you want to reach your goals, you must take action towards them. Don’t just ponder and think about hitting a home run when you actually go to bat; go to bat. When you keep swinging you will hit some home runs, but more importantly you will hit singles and doubles.

You can achieve many goals with daily singles and doubles.

If you want to achieve your goals, be persistent. Take actions everyday that will lead towards the achievement of your goals.

If you can accelerate the effort to take many steps each day, your goals will come faster. But if you take consistent, persistent action in the direction of your goals, you will achieve more than you ever imagined to be possible.

Be persistent today.

It might be time to turn off the news, and focus on our work. Here are my thoughts about how the Wall Street situation affects us as leaders and what we can be doing to make a difference.

If you would like to get better at the skills I suggest: delegation, engagement, sharing responsbility and more, you might want to register for my Remarkable Leaders Share Responsbility teleseminar for October 7 at 2 pm.

What suggestions would you add to mine?

“A poem is no place for an idea.”

- Edgar Watson Howe

This quotation isn’t a slam on poems. But the audience of poem readers is (relatively) small.

If you have an idea that you want to spread, it must be shared in places where people will see it, hear it, read it and talk about it.

What is your idea?

How are you sharing it?

Don’t hide it, expose it. Don’t whisper it, shout it. Make it real, make it accessible, and make it happen!