Career Articles & Advice

Building a High Performance Leadership Team by Ryan Scholz

The ultimate success of any organization—whether it is a business, a non-profit organization, or even a social club—is determined by the effectiveness of the team that leads that organization. There are numerous books written on the subject of team work and team building. I’ve had the opportunities during my career prior to consulting to be a member of senior leadership teams, and now as an advisor to senior leadership teams.

A natural tendency that I have is to make complicated stuff simple. Rather than come up with twenty keys to becoming an effective team, I have found in my experience that it really comes down to two things—focus and relationships. I think you can take everyone else’s list of principles and put them into one of these two categories.

Let’s start with focus. Most teams fail to be effective because they lack common focus and direction. Rather than work from a single agenda that belongs to the team, each person on the team is working from a personal agenda. Too much emphasis is placed on the relationship aspect of teamwork and not enough on the focus aspect. While I have nothing against activities that bring a group of people together for some activity called “teambuilding”, these in themselves do little to improve effectiveness.

Often in a speaking engagement or workshop, I can take people who are total strangers, i.e. no relationship at all, and have them perform as a team very effectively on a task that they are given. I observe high levels of energy and commitment to the task. When I analyze what causes this, I reach several conclusions. First, the task is clearly defined. The team know exactly what it has to accomplish. Secondly, since there is usually competition with other teams involved in the activity, the “enemy” is not members of their team, but rather the other teams. I’ve seen senior leadership teams act and behave like the competition is within their own organization rather than outside.

Third, there is urgency created because the time to perform the task is limited. If teams are busy trying to get things done and achieve a goal, there is little time to worry about personal agendas or petty relationship issues. Finally, there is one other dynamic that is subtle, but very important. When I have a group in a seminar, they do not have distractions that keep them from fully participating on the team. In the work environment, members of the leadership team often have competing priorities for their time.

So establishing focus for the senior leadership team involves having clear direction and goals, focusing on winning the game against external competition, creating urgency to achieve team goals, and removing distractions that prevent the team from operating effectively. The first thing I always do when working with a senior leadership team is ask them to independently write down their organization’s top five goals. Then we compare the list. If the combined list has more than five different items, then the senior leadership team is not focused.

Ryan Scholz works with leaders whose success is dependent on getting commitment and high performance from others. He is author of Turning Potential into Action: Eight Principles for Creating a Highly Engaged Work Place. For more information, visit his web site at www.lead-strat-assoc.com.

Article Source: Fun Personality

Cheerleading - all about team work. by CheerStar CheerStar

Cheerleading is a great sport. This sport requires a lot of physical skills and mental sharpness. Someone who wants to be a cheerleader should be willing to work in a team.

Cheerleading is considered to be a great sport for young girls as it keeps them involved in everything and helps them learn team work. A cheerleader needs to excel in talents like dancing, tumbling, cheers, jumps and stunting.

Cheerleading is an art and a way of leading the spectators to cheer for the team; this is done especially in sports. One of the main reasons for pulling in audience for the game is cheerleading. The cheerleaders in their attractive cheerleading uniforms and holding the colourful pom poms are people who are trained and talented. They have athletic abilities which help them perform activities such as dancing and cheering. This encourages the involvement of the spectators to the particular game.

The basic qualities that a cheerleader generally posses are that they have fit bodies, which are flexible. It is common that cheerleaders are very confident of the skills they posses.

The confidence in one’s self is what makes a person a good cheerleader.

The one thing important for every cheerleader is that they need to keep learning and keep practicing new dance moves, tumbling and their voice skills. The cheerleader should have marvelous talent and energetic personality that has the ability to bring a smile on the faces of the spectators.

Cheerleading has been a practice that has been followed from years. These days, cheering is not limited to football only but there are many cheerleading squads for basketball, cricket tournaments and many other games.

The one thing that has to be attractive and vivacious is the dresses that the cheerleaders wear. The unique cheerleading uniform speaks a lot about the person wearing the dress.

The colourful dresses and the accessories add to the charming and enchanting personality of the cheerleaders.

When it comes to the most admired cheerleading team, it is very easy to recognize them by their unique cheerleading uniforms. The proper cheerleading uniform is the identity of the team and it gives a long lasting impression about that team. The cheerleaders always maintain a good dress code.

Their dress codes vary from the events they take part in you can see scantly dressed cheerleaders in a sports event, or colorfully dressed cheerleaders for dancing in parties.

Cheerleaders can hold attention of all the spectators. The various parts of the cheerleader uniform are Lycra cheer skirts; there are so many types of skirts available.

There are so many accessories that enhance the costume of the cheerleaders; be it the shoes, the ribbons, the matching socks and even the megaphones for the announcements. All these accessories help the cheerleaders to keep their magic going strong.

The most significant accessory that comes in mind is the pom poms that the cheerleaders hold and perform with. There are so many kinds of pompoms like the metallic ones, the holographic ones and even the plastic ones. There are flash pom poms which are also used. The cheerleaders pick their pompoms according to the event they are going to cheer in.

Cheerleading is a very physically and mentally challenging sport. The cheerleaders have to be a part of the team be it from the uniform to the pom poms. It is through team work that the cheerleaders succeed together.

Paula Penza is author of this article on Cheerleading Apparel.
Find more information about Cheerleading Uniforms here.

Article Source: Fun Personality

Building a High Performance Leadership Team by Ryan Scholz

The ultimate success of any organization—whether it is a business, a non-profit organization, or even a social club—is determined by the effectiveness of the team that leads that organization. There are numerous books written on the subject of team work and team building. I’ve had the opportunities during my career prior to consulting to be a member of senior leadership teams, and now as an advisor to senior leadership teams.

A natural tendency that I have is to make complicated stuff simple. Rather than come up with twenty keys to becoming an effective team, I have found in my experience that it really comes down to two things—focus and relationships. I think you can take everyone else’s list of principles and put them into one of these two categories.

Let’s start with focus. Most teams fail to be effective because they lack common focus and direction. Rather than work from a single agenda that belongs to the team, each person on the team is working from a personal agenda. Too much emphasis is placed on the relationship aspect of teamwork and not enough on the focus aspect. While I have nothing against activities that bring a group of people together for some activity called “teambuilding”, these in themselves do little to improve effectiveness.

Often in a speaking engagement or workshop, I can take people who are total strangers, i.e. no relationship at all, and have them perform as a team very effectively on a task that they are given. I observe high levels of energy and commitment to the task. When I analyze what causes this, I reach several conclusions. First, the task is clearly defined. The team know exactly what it has to accomplish. Secondly, since there is usually competition with other teams involved in the activity, the “enemy” is not members of their team, but rather the other teams. I’ve seen senior leadership teams act and behave like the competition is within their own organization rather than outside.

Third, there is urgency created because the time to perform the task is limited. If teams are busy trying to get things done and achieve a goal, there is little time to worry about personal agendas or petty relationship issues. Finally, there is one other dynamic that is subtle, but very important. When I have a group in a seminar, they do not have distractions that keep them from fully participating on the team. In the work environment, members of the leadership team often have competing priorities for their time.

So establishing focus for the senior leadership team involves having clear direction and goals, focusing on winning the game against external competition, creating urgency to achieve team goals, and removing distractions that prevent the team from operating effectively. The first thing I always do when working with a senior leadership team is ask them to independently write down their organization’s top five goals. Then we compare the list. If the combined list has more than five different items, then the senior leadership team is not focused.

Ryan Scholz works with leaders whose success is dependent on getting commitment and high performance from others. He is author of Turning Potential into Action: Eight Principles for Creating a Highly Engaged Work Place. For more information, visit his web site at www.lead-strat-assoc.com.

Article Source: Fun Personality

The truth about personal development and leadership by Steve Thompson

Some of the events we go through have a negative impact, while others help us with goal setting and personal success. There is always the possibility of changing one’s life for the better, asking the brain to concentrate on goal setting.
If this is the first time you are hearing about Power Conscious Goals, then you have better pay increased attention to everything that is being said. You will soon discover that personal development can be taught from a self improvement guide. The most important thing that you have to keep in mind is that the brain can be reprogrammed for goal setting, success and personal growth. You can follow the recommended steps and find yourself to have grown as a person. Thanks to this personal growth, you will find it much easier to become successful and reap the benefits of leadership. This means that you will be able to fulfill all your dreams and desires, both on a personal and professional level.
There are many paths you can follow in order to achieve success and everything that comes with being a leader. The course of Power Conscious Goals represents indeed one of the most recommended paths, one that will eventually lead you to personal growth and goal achievement. Allow your subconscious to work its powers and discover success on your own. You won’t have to be disappointed at seeing other people succeeding, escaping the dreadful daily routine and finally be satisfied with the way your life is turning out. Success is not only a fantasy, and it’s always accompanied by personal development. You have the opportunity to benefit from both, so don’t blow your chances away by not paying attention to everything being said in this article.
Dreams can be transformed into reality, whether you dream of traveling to distant places, build yourself a strong career or form a family. The right philosophy comes from having a clear mind and putting all efforts in towards making a change for the better. There are no get rich quick schemes that you will find when it comes to being successful, nor any suggestions that will help you achieve personal growth in an instant. You will have to work hard and strive for goal achievement harder than anything else.
You should never underestimate the power your mind has, especially when goals like being successful are involved. Take full advantage of your mental powers and put all the positive energy into achieving your goals without any effort. There are many great things to discover, things that will help you life, including with personal development. Not only will you be able to concentrate better on your personal growth but you will discover that the universe meant for you to discover leadership. Go for personal development and do not wait for faith to come to you in hope that you will wake up!

Self Improvement, powerful motivation strategies training, Setting and achieving life Goals for Business and Personal through Power Conscious Goals nine step guide. Goal achievement, Plans, Tools, Resources and Workbooks. Self improvement and motivation!

Article Source: Fun Personality

What Do Self Improvement And Bamboo Have In Common? by Gene Anger

Although self improvement is a worthy pursuit, many often abandon their efforts due to a false belief they are not making progress.

We try this technique or that and see little or no results. We resist this “apparent” lack of success and begin to feel impatient or frustrated.

I recently heard an explanation of how bamboo grows and realize it is an excellent example of the process that takes place when we embark on a journey of personal change.

When a bamboo is planted the roots begin growing and continue growing for years under the ground and out of sight. The larger the root mass, the taller the bamboo plant will eventually reach.

You can watch a bamboo for years before any outward growth becomes visible. Then suddenly the bamboo begins an amazing growth cycle, shooting up like it is on a mission to make up for years of no growth.

Sometimes this is how self improvement works. We learn techniques and begin applying them. Then under the surface out of our conscious awareness, change begins to take place. We see no visible effects of this change, but it is happening.

The more we focus on our goals and direct our attention to making positive changes, the more our subconscious is getting into alignment with our conscious choices.

Then suddenly one day all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place and you manifest positive changes on a massive level.

Impatience and Frustration:

Many often feel stuck and frustrated with the perceived image that nothing is working.

Think of it like an overweight dieter. They begin to lose weight and see great results, then seem to hit a wall where no weight loss is achieved. The easy step would be to give up and proclaim the diet is not working.

However, if the individual sticks to their plan, they eventually get past this plateau and again see more weight loss results.

I don’t know about you, but in my personal life I discovered no matter how frustrated or impatient I become, it does not speed things up. Actually it has the reverse effect.

During periods of little to no growth, it seems normal to become impatient and frustrated. However you can compare this to digging up a bamboo every week to check on growth. Not only would the growth cycle be slower, there is a chance it wouldn’t even survive.

Have you ever left for work late and noticed the more impatient or frustrated you become with traffic, other drivers and stop lights the slower your progress becomes?

When broadcasting a signal “I can’t have what I want” the Universe acting without judgment then responds with heavier traffic, slower stop lights and drivers blocking our path – ensuring we get exactly what we focused on – being late for work!

Self improvement works exactly the same. Broadcasting impatience and frustration to the Universe because of slow or even no progress shouts out the Universe “I cannot manifest my desires!”

The Universe then responds by making sure we get exactly what we focus on – no progress.

So the next time you feel there is nothing happening, remember the bamboo and re-focus attention to your goals and desires.

Acknowledge any impatience or frustration that arises, accept it as yours and then let it go. Self improvement takes time. Little steps today make big improvements tomorrow.

Gene’s passion for self improvement led him to helping others overcome their self-limitation and self-sabotage. Check http://www.best-self-help-sites.com for his Free Self Help Tutorial or visit Gene’s blog http://www.lifewithgene.com for his complimentary e-Course “How to Get What You Want - Fast.”

Article Source: Fun Personality