Mastering Change In Business Leadership

By M. Isi Eromosele

In order to deal with change in a fast paced, interconnected global business world, a leader must have a most important attribute, flexibility. An open minded leader is an adaptable leader who will lead his/her company towards new opportunities.

When things change or even go wrong, a flexible leader should not get upset or frustrated. Instead, this leader should explore the change and opportunity for the benefits they might contain for his company.

Superior leader maintain calm and resolve when unexpected scenarios occur. They need to relax, think objectively, analyze the situation and consider various options. They should keep their emotional equilibrium by asking questions and seeking information, even as they seek solutions to unanticipated problems.

Effective leaders deal with change by focusing on getting relevant facts before reacting. They initiate a process that slices through the uncertainty and ask open-ended questions that seek to produce pertinent answers.

A superior leader focuses his/her attention of the vision for the future. When an unexpected change or event occurs, the leader need not change his focus on the future, even as he/she tries to adapt to the change that has occurred.

A leader can greatly improve their ability to deal with change by focusing their attention on the future, and by seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. They should not waste time and energy looking for someone to blame or criticize. They maintain their performance at their best by maintaining focus on their desired vision for the future.

The critical issue for dealing with change is that of maintaining control. Maintaining control in any particular situation is vital to enabling a leader to relax as he/she leads his team through the necessary adaptation to change.

A leader’s locus of control is where he/she feels the control is located for a particular problem that needs to be resolved. A leader with an external locus of control feels that he/she is controlled by forces outside of himself/herself.

When a leader has an external locus of control, he or she feels a high degree of stress. And with an external locus of control, a person is very tense and uneasy about change of any kind. This type of individual would not make an effective leader.

A leader with an internal locus of control enjoys a high degree of self-determination. He/she feels that they are very much in charge of any particular situation. They accept a high degree of responsibility and they believe that everything that happens has a reason for occurring. Such an individual would make a highly effective leader.

Since the only thing over which a leader have complete control of is the content of his/her conscious mind, their ability to deal with change begins with their taking full, complete control over the things they think about.

Since change is inevitable and continuous, it is how a leader thinks about what is happening that is most important in determining how change affects him or her, and whether they use it to their advantage or let it work to their disadvantage.

It is apparent that we fear change more today than ever before, and for less reason. The reason we fear change is because we are afraid that we will be worse off as a result. No one fears change that implies improvement.

A true leader’s aim is to become a “change master,” to embrace change, to welcome change and to ride the tides of change. They can do this by taking control of the direction of change in their lives and ensuring that it is predominately positive and toward improvements their desire in their vision for the future.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Motivation Through Leadership

By M. Isi Eromosele

Leadership is not what you do, but who you are. While leadership is very much who you are, it cannot be separated from what you do. Who you are represents the inner person, and what you do represents the outer person. Each is dependent on the other for maximum effectiveness.

The starting point of motivational leadership is for leaders to see themselves as role models, setting themselves as example to others. A key attribute of leaders is that they need to set high standards of accountability for themselves and for their behaviors.

They should assume that others are watching them and then set their own standards by what they do. They, in fact, should lead by example, taking daily actions for others to see and act on.

Motivational leadership is based on the Law of Indirect Effort. According to this law, most things in human life are achieved more easily by indirect means than they are by direct means.

You can more easily become a leader to others by demonstrating your qualities of leadership than you do by ordering others to follow your directions. Instead of trying to get people to emulate you, concentrate on living a life that is so admirable that others want to be like you without your commanding them to do so.

In business, there are two major bases of power. These are ascribed power and position power.

Ascribed power is the power a leader gains because of the kind of person they are. In every organization, there are people who acquire influence and are looked up to by others, even though their positions may not be very high up on the organizational hierarchy.

These are the men and women who are genuine leaders because of the quality of the people they have become, because of their characters and their personalities.

Position power is the power that comes with a job title, job description or simply position in an organization. When an individual is promoted to the position of a Manager in a firm, he/she inherits specific powers and privileges that come with their new position.

Powerful motivational leaders practice what is called “servant leadership.” These types of leaders see themselves as servants and as such, take all necessary actions to ensure that those under their direction perform at their full potential.

Effective leaders of today do not exude power, act cocky and bark orders for others to carry out. These most effective leaders ask questions, listen carefully, plan meticulously and build consensus among their staff on the way towards achieving their objectives.

They are highly successful because they work and guide others towards a collective fulfillment of desired goals that would benefit all.

The following are several great qualities of motivational leaders.

Vision

This is the most effectual attribute that distinguished leaders from followers. Leaders engender vision. Followers do not. Leaders have the ability to look at the bigger picture in every situation or scenario while followers are concerned with the activities of today.

Excitement | Commitment | Loyalty

An excellent way to motivate others is to transfer your motivation to them. The fastest way to get your team excited about a project is for you to exhibit excitement. As a leader, the way to get your team to commit itself to achieving goals is to show total commitment yourself.

Building loyalty within an organization requires a leader to act by example through showing loyalty in all their actions.

A true leader should have the courage to step away from the familiar and comfortable and face the unknown with great confidence and optimism. It is this ability to lead without fear that distinguishes a leader from the line staff.

A leader should set an example that inspires and motivates his/her staff to rise above their previous levels and strive to accomplish goals to their full potential.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Empower Other People Through Your Leadership

By M. Isi Eromosele

Once you know how to empower people as a true leader, they will want to work with you to help you achieve your business goals.

Your ability to enlist the knowledge, energy and resources of your teams enable you to become a production multiplier, leveraging your teams and yourself to achieve much more.

The first step in empowering people is to resist doing anything that disenfranchises them, reducing their energy and enthusiasm for what they do. With people you work with, there are several actions you can take on a daily basis to empower them and make them feel good about themselves.

The deepest need that every individual has is for self-esteem, a sense of being important, valuable, and appreciated. Everything that a leader does in their interactions with their teams affect their self-esteem in some way.

Perhaps the simplest way to make their staff feel good about themselves is for leaders to consistently give expressions of appreciation for everything that their staff does for the benefit of the team and the company. Say “thank you” on every occasion.

Every time you thank another person, you make that person like themselves more. Their self-esteem rises and their self-image improves. As their leader, you cause them to feel more important. You make them feel that what they did was valuable and worthwhile. You empower them.

The wonderful thing about thanking other people is that, every time you say the words “Thank You,” you like yourself better as well. You feel better inside. You feel happier and more content with yourself and life.

You feel more fully integrated and positive about what you are doing. When you develop an attitude of gratitude, this flows from you, the leader, unto the people you interact with. As a result, your popularity increases and your staff become more eager to work with you.

As a leader, another way to make people feel important, to raise their self-esteem, thereby giving them a sense of power and energy, is by the generous use of praise and approval. When children are praised by the people that they look up to, their energy levels rise, their heart rates and respiratory rates increase and they feel happier about themselves overall.

People will always look for ways to reciprocate your kindnesses toward them. When you look for every opportunity to do and say things that make other people feel good about themselves, you will be surprised at not only how good you feel, but at the wonderful things that begin to happen all around you.

The third way to empower others, to build their self-esteem and make them feel important is simply to listen to them. The most important single activity that takes place over time for a leader is listening intently to other people when they are communicating with him or her.

In summary, the three principles for leaders to empower people around them are appreciation, approval, and attention. As a leader, voice your thanks and gratitude to others on every occasion. Praise them for every accomplishment and pay close attention to them when they talk and want to interact with you. These three behaviors alone will greatly empower the people around you.

The more time a leader spends talking to his/her staff and inviting their feedback and comments on the job, the more empowered they will be to do their work well. The word we are talking about in empowerment at work is “ownership.” Your job as a leader is to transfer the ownership into the hearts and minds of your employees.

When they feel personal ownership of a project and the responsibility for doing it well, they will be completely empowered. This is one of the most important aspects of the art of people management.

Humans are primarily emotional. Everything that people do or refrain from doing is triggered by their deeper emotions. As a leader, your job is to connect with their higher and more positive emotions so they feel so good about you that they want to help you and please you in some way.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Integrity and Global Leadership

By M. Isi Eromosele

Integrity is a value, like persistence and courage. It is the value that guarantees all the other values. You are a good person to the degree to which you live your life consistent with the strong values you believe in.

Integrity is the quality that locks in your values and causes you to live consistent with them.

Integrity is the foundation of character. And character development is one of the most important activities you can engage in. Working on your character means disciplining yourself to do good things that a thoroughly honest person would do, under any given scenario.

To be fully honest with others, you must first be wholesomely honest with yourself. You must always be true to yourself. You must be true to the very best that is in you, to the very best that you know.

Only a person who is living consistent with his or her highest values is living a life of integrity. After you have committed to living a life of integrity, you will find yourself continually raising your own standards.

The external professional manifestation of high integrity is high-quality work. A person who is totally honest with himself or herself will be someone who will dedicate themselves to doing the very best work they can produce.

Perhaps the most important rule you will ever learn is that your life only becomes better when you become better.

Live your life from the inside out. The inner core of your personality lies in the values you practice in your life. Ultimately, your values determine the kind of leader you are and continue to be in the future.

What you believe in defines your character and your personality as a leader.  It molds what you stand for and what you won’t stand for and shows the world and your followers the kind of leader you have become.

Integrity as a value should occupy a sacred place in our hearts. The quality of integrity, which can be defined as a person’s adherence to values, ranks as the number one quality sought in every aspect of life.

When prospective clients try to determine who they will do business with, they rank the integrity of a company as the most important single quality, even if a they feel that a company’s product, quality and price is superior.

Integrity is the number one quality of leadership. Integrity in leadership is expressed in terms of constancy and consistency. It is manifested in an absolute devotion to keeping one’s word.

The glue that holds all relationships together, including the relationship between the leader and his followers is trust, and trust is based on integrity.

Integrity forms the bedrock of how we function in our society. Global business relationships depend on it. Personal relationships depend on it. Financial relationships depend on it. Purchasing relationships depend on it.

The most successful global companies in the world are those with reputations of high integrity. This level of integrity nurtures the confidence that their customers have in them, enabling them to do more business than their competitors.

Our individual greatest personal asset is the level of integrity we project to our customers. It is our personal reputation for keeping our word and fulfilling our commitments. Our integrity precedes us and affects all of our interactions with other people.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Leadership + Management

By M. Isi Eromosele

Leadership is an improvisational art. Leaders need to be guided by an overarching vision, clear values and a strategic plan. What they actually do from moment to moment cannot be scripted beforehand. As such, they must respond as events unfold.

While a plan that is created today may make sense for the moment, tomorrow may bring unanticipated challenges to actions taken today. These challenges would then necessitate adjustments.

Taking a high level perspective can be extremely difficult for a leader to do when he or she is closely engaged on the ground, with multiple events swirling around them. It is imperative for a leader to seek input from a broad range of people, coupled with the need to be aware of hidden agendas. This enhances the ability to broaden the leader’s perspective in the midst of taking necessary corporate actions that is critical to the growth of the company.

As they interrelate with their staff, astute corporate leaders need to observe their own actions and be able to be objectively self-critical, something that is not easy to do.

The management of conflict is one of the most difficult challenges a leader faces in trying to implement organizational change. This challenge may be related to resistance to a proposed change, or may involve opposite views on how the change should be implemented.

It should be understood that conflict is an essential part of a change process and if handled properly, can be hugely beneficial to the organizational, qualitatively and quantitatively. Thus, the crucial role of a true leader in this scenario is to manage the apparent differences is such a way that minimizes their collective destructive potential, while positively harnessing the energy generated by these differences.

One of the most effective ways to affect this is to set up clear rules and processes that give minority opposite views a thorough hearing without being disruptive to the change implementation.

A major challenge that leaders face is to keep the stress level of their employees at a sustained productive level, even while helping them deal with the real threats and challenges facing them.

A leader may moderate the pace of change in order to reduce the staff’s anxiety level. A structure can be established for the problem solving process. Workgroups could be set up to tackle specific projects. Rules can be set up for decision making. Reporting relationships can be succinctly outlined.

Since most organizational changes require an organization’s employees to adapt, leaders should not provide solution answers to the staff. Instead, employees should be encouraged to come up with creative ideas that will result in the successful implementation of the change. This will make them better integrated stakeholders.

Most importantly, a leader needs to distinguish his or her personal self, which serves as an anchor in the discharge of their executive responsibilities and their professional role. The two should never be mixed up. A leader has to understand that often than not, when people attack someone in a position of authority; they are attacking the role, not the person.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Visionary Leaders

By M. Isi Eromosele

Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls forth the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. They work with the power of intentionality and alignment with a higher purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand.

There is a profound interconnectedness between the leader and the whole, and true visionary leaders serve the good of the entire company. They recognize that there is some truth on both sides of most polarized issues in their organizations. They search for solutions that transcend the usual adversarial approaches and address the causal level of problems.

A visionary may dream wonderful visions of the future and articulate them with great inspiration. A visionary is good with words. But a visionary leader is good with actions as well and so can bring his/her vision into being within an organization, thus transforming it in some way. More than words are needed for a vision to take a solid form. It requires leadership and heartfelt commitment.

Visionary leadership is based on a balanced expression of the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical dimensions. It requires core values, clear vision, empowering relationships, and innovative action. When one or more of these dimensions are missing, leadership cannot manifest a vision.

Spiritual Value

A commitment to values is an outstanding characteristic of all visionary leaders. They embody a sense of personal integrity, and radiate a sense of energy, vitality and will. Will is standing in a spiritual state of being. Will is a spiritual attribute, which allows a leader to stand for something.

More self-aware and reflective than others, visionary leaders follow an inner sense of direction, and lead from the inside out. Rather than being corrupted by power, visionary leaders are elevated by power and exercise moral leadership.

Inspirational Vision 

Visionaries who are successful at manifesting their visions base their leadership on an inspirational, positive picture of the future, as well as a clear sense of direction as to how to get there. Vision is a field that brings energy into form. Effective leaders broadcast a coherent message that embodies their vision.

They keep communicating the vision to create a strong field which then brings their vision into physical reality. Visionary leaders often enunciate a vision based on principles that become guideposts for corporate success.

Empowering Relationships

Good relationships are the heart of effective visionary leaders. They embody a deeply caring approach to people, seeing them as their greatest asset. In contrast to the old style of leadership which tells people what to do, and pushes or dominates them, visionary leaders embody a receptive, as well as a dynamic energy. They know how to listen and learn from other points of view and have fine tuned their communications skills.

Innovative Actions

Visionary leaders promote a partnership approach and create a shared sense of vision and meaning with others. They exhibit a greater respect for others and carefully develop team spirit and team learning. Visionary leaders are especially noted for transforming old mental maps or paradigms, and creating strategies that are “outside the box” of conventional thought.

They embody a balance of right brain (rational) and left brain (intuitive) functions. Their thinking is broad and systemic, seeing the big picture, the whole system, and the pattern that connects. They then create innovative strategies for actualizing their vision.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group

Implementation Of Change Management

By M. Isi Eromosele

Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with and involvement of the people affected by the changes. If you force change on people normally, problems arise.

Change must be realistic, achievable and measurable. These aspects are especially relevant to managing personnel change. Before starting organizational change, ask yourself: What do we want to achieve with this change, why, and how will we know that the change has been achieved? Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it? How much of this change can we achieve ourselves, and what parts of the change do we need help with?

Managing organizational change will be more successful if you apply the following simple principles.

• Do not sell change to people as a way of accelerating agreement and implementation. Selling change to people is not a sustainable strategy for success. Instead, change needs to be understood and managed in a way that people can cope effectively with. Change can be unsettling, so the manager logically needs to be a calming influence.

• Check that people affected by the change agree with, or at least understand the need for change and have a chance to decide how the change will be managed. Additionally, make sure they are involved in the planning and implementation of the change.

• Use face-to-face communications to handle sensitive aspects of organizational change management. Encourage your managers to communicate face-to-face with their people too if they are helping you manage an organizational change.

• If you think that you need to make a change quickly, probe the reasons - is the urgency real? Will the effects of agreeing to a more sensible time-frame really be more disastrous than presiding over a disastrous change? Quick change prevents proper consultation and involvement, which leads to difficulties that take time to resolve.

• For complex changes, use project management techniques and ensure that you augment this with consultative communications to agree and gain support for the reasons for the change. Involving and informing people also creates opportunities for others to participate in planning and implementing the changes, which lightens your burden, spreads the organizational load, and creates a sense of ownership and familiarity among the people affected.

• For organizational change that entails new actions, objectives and processes for a group or team of people, use workshops to achieve understanding, involvement, plans, measurable aims, actions and commitment. Encourage your management team to use workshops with their people too if they are helping you to manage the change.

You should even apply these principles to very tough change like making people redundant, closures and integrating merged or acquired organizations. Bad news needs even more careful management than routine change. Hiding behind memos and middle managers will make matters worse. Consulting with people, and helping them to understand does not weaken your position - it strengthens it. Leaders who fail to consult and involve their people in managing bad news are perceived as weak and lacking in integrity. Treat people with humanity and respect and they will reciprocate.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2011 Oseme Group