Leadership in the Moment

The New Year jolts even the most cynical of us into considering the idea of renewal.  We can go forward or backward but standing still is not an attractive option.  For some, it’s similar to cleaning house.  Maybe you look at your surroundings and make a determination of whether to keep or toss.  Perhaps it’s a time to make a commitment to discover your “inner leader”.  What will you do differently this year to enhance your ability to lead and have others willingly follow?  What habits will you toss which will you keep and strengthen?   

Our new eLearning program starts in January. This web-based training is designed to provide participants with all of the tools needed to start applying The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership® including The Leadership Practices Inventory® (LPI). For more information and registration:

http://www.sonomaleadership.com/Workshops/elearning.html

That was the question posed in our local newspaper, The San Francisco Chronicle, yesterday.  The festive time we spend with our families, known as “the holidays” often creates fake gaiety and unrealistic expectations.  To cope, we often slip behind familiar masks, according to the Chronicle.  One may be a role we play when we visit our family of origin–parents and sibs.  (Mine is that I’m still “Princess Pat” who refused to give in to my brothers’ atrocious table manners.)  Another role may be the one we take on with our own family or friends.  (Here I’m the “Organizer” who makes festive plans and carries them out.)

            The role-playing idea made me curious about the roles that leaders play in the workplace.  Are you a leader who challenges the system or goes along with it?  Perhaps one who demonstrates integrity or do you push the envelope of honesty?  What is the role you play and do you want to change it? 

Sonoma Leadership Systems presented a webinar this morning on the topic of “Leading in a Virtual Environment”.  Our expert in the topic is Beth High and she shared her insights on this challenge.  A few highlights were:  As an effective leader, you must–

•  Be clear in your vision and values
• Engage your constituents in new ways (“meet them where they are” technologically speaking.  What is their preferred method of communicating?)
• Ask for feed-back and then act accordingly
• Come across in virtual channels as compelling and consistent

In approximately two days (after December 14, 2009) you can hear the entire webinar on our site at:  http://www.sonomaleadership.com/webinars/webinars.html

We’d like to hear from you.  What are your leadership challenges and successes as a virtual leader?