OK, we are almost done this long lesson on the Marine Corps leadership characteristics or as we call them traits. By the time we are done you will be better prepared to lead in any capacity. This will also help you to develop more of a motivational leadership style. You will also be able to identify the good and bad in leadership speakers and bosses.
Unselfishness- This one seems simple but it is surprising how many leaders only care about themselves. Now of course we should care about the company, the institution, the production, our personal progression ect. BUT you must care about the welfare of your subordinates. If you don't show any compassion for their personal lives then they will give you the bare minimum. In the Marines the most junior guy eats first and the most senior Marine eats last. If there is a shortage of food the staff and officers will go with out. Troop welfare is something we practice on a regular basis with our hearts. Too many people think about what is good for themselves and nothing else. Remember to give your people a pat on the back, a break, a jacket if it's cold, the list goes on. They will completely have no respect for you if you don't do for them but always do for yourself. Of course they will die for you if you are of a motivational leadership style always staying firm but fair.
Courage- Most leaders lack in this dept of leadership characteristics. There are two kinds of courage. There is the type where a Marine, fire fighter or a police officer puts him self in danger for the benefit of others. More often though there is moral courage. The type to tell someone face to face they are wrong. The courage to stand up to your boss for the sake of those who work below you. The courage to correct one of your employees for wearing the wrong uniform or showing up late. The list goes on you get the point. Unfortunately most people set the rules but don't enforce them. I love hearing a leadership speaker preach about this. If you are a leadership speaker, talking about this will get heads rolling as managers will want to step it up.
Knowledge- Short and sweet, if you don't know your job how can you lead people in that field. If you don't know what you are doing then you need to have the courage to ask someone for help (even if they are junior to you). Focusing on leadership characteristics like this will make you more promotable and respectable. This is how you become the go to guy or gal. Reading technical manuals or standard operating procedures will help you gain knowledge ultimately improving your proficiency.
These should be enough to digest for a couple days as you incorporate them in to your motivational leadership. Good luck.
Showing posts with label Max Garcia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Max Garcia. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More Leadership With The Marines part 2 by Max Garcia
Now, on to the next set of leadership characteristics. If you are a leadership speaker or anyone speaking at a seminar these 14 leadership characteristics or "traits" as the Marines call them will make great back drops for people to look at before and after you speak. Just exposing your lower level management and your hard charging employees to this material will breed motivational leadership where ever you work. The more people the better.
4) INITIATIVE - This one is pretty straight forward. If it needs to be done don't wait to be told, manager or employee.
5) Dependability...you may want to ask your leadership speaker to talk for a minute about this one. There is nothing more annoying than to tell your lower level managers to get something done only to be driving home wondering if they got it done. I like it when I have a manager I can depend on to the point where I do what I call "fire and forget". Like a missile that locks itself on to a target. You just hit the fire button and the machine does the rest. It is a great feeling when you tell someone to get something done and you just know you can consider it done. When I get the opposite kind of person I go from motivational leadership to authoritative style. In short, if I have to chase someone down and tell them to do something twice they are not getting the nice guy. If they show up late more than once in a long period of time, talk back, or wear a uniform that does not represent well, forget it, they will feel some heat and my motivational leadership style is out the window. I don't appreciate having to execute things on my "to do" list twice.
6) Our last of the leadership characteristics for today is Tact. Tact is also self explanatory but it's wide variety of meanings can make great guided discussions to get the audience to open up to a leadership speaker. Some people view tact as the leader having some respect when he talks to the subordinate. Others view this as the opposite, others think it means peers showing respect for each other. I personally think the most important meaning is that you can tell your boss what is on your mind, you can even tell him he is wrong. You just have to use tact or you will be the one who loses.
More to follow.....
4) INITIATIVE - This one is pretty straight forward. If it needs to be done don't wait to be told, manager or employee.
5) Dependability...you may want to ask your leadership speaker to talk for a minute about this one. There is nothing more annoying than to tell your lower level managers to get something done only to be driving home wondering if they got it done. I like it when I have a manager I can depend on to the point where I do what I call "fire and forget". Like a missile that locks itself on to a target. You just hit the fire button and the machine does the rest. It is a great feeling when you tell someone to get something done and you just know you can consider it done. When I get the opposite kind of person I go from motivational leadership to authoritative style. In short, if I have to chase someone down and tell them to do something twice they are not getting the nice guy. If they show up late more than once in a long period of time, talk back, or wear a uniform that does not represent well, forget it, they will feel some heat and my motivational leadership style is out the window. I don't appreciate having to execute things on my "to do" list twice.
6) Our last of the leadership characteristics for today is Tact. Tact is also self explanatory but it's wide variety of meanings can make great guided discussions to get the audience to open up to a leadership speaker. Some people view tact as the leader having some respect when he talks to the subordinate. Others view this as the opposite, others think it means peers showing respect for each other. I personally think the most important meaning is that you can tell your boss what is on your mind, you can even tell him he is wrong. You just have to use tact or you will be the one who loses.
More to follow.....
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Micro Managing, Not So Good Leadership Characteristics by Max Garcia
“During a local security patrol the fourth vehicle was hit by an Improvised Explosive Devise and small arms fire causing injury to four Marines and Mortally wounding the Platoon Commander. Despite his inexperience, while Cpl Buckley's Squad leader was calling in a Medical Evacuation he immediately took charge of the squad and the tragic situation by applying first aid to three of the Marines. Cpl Buckley was able to stop the bleeding from one Marine that Doctors later confirmed would have surely bleed to death had he applied first aid incorrectly. (Fallujah Medical Officer 2004) As the helicopter was leaving with the casualties the company was hit again, this time with incoming mortars. While his squad leader ran to stop the helicopter for more casualties, Cpl Buckley took charge of the Squad and placed them in to a safe position to better defend the company preventing further casualties. Ok, enough motivational leadership stories…
This is only one example of how empowering your junior managers through motivational leadership along with the freedom to make decisions will benefit the whole team. Any leader regardless of billet needs to use initiative and not be afraid to make a decision with out permission from the next supervisor. Likewise, if you are that next person in charge and you don’t leave specific instruction for your subordinate leader when you step away then you have no room to criticize any decision they make unless it is unsafe or unethical. Too often the supervisor steps away for a meeting and the time comes to execute something as simple as scheduling. It never fails, many times the Boss comes back and changes the decision the shift manager made in his or her absence despite the lack of instruction. These daily decisions lead to loss in morale, productivity and more important, loyalty. These types of leadership characteristics are seen far too often. Instead of giving motivational speeches or a pat on the back the senior manager makes the junior managers feel as if their position means nothing.
In my units the most junior Non-Commissioned Officer knows he has my support to make a decision if left with out instruction. Using these leadership characteristics has kept me alive in combat and kept my sanity when over tasked. I have had more than one instance where I forgot to do something and my next man in line was right there to pick up the slack. Had I trained them only to act like robots then certain task would have surely fallen through the cracks due to my forgetfulness. When they cover for me like this I always make sure to give quick motivational speeches to those involved to re enforce their loyalty for next time.
So, the next time you take a vacation and you assume your subordinate leader has “got it”, ask yourself if that person knows he or she has your support to make a decision and exercise their own leadership characteristics. Will you use motivational leadership and support their decisions even if you are not crazy about them? Or, will you step on your “right hand” man causing them to hesitate in the future when you really need them the most. Chief Executive Officers, remember this when giving your motivational speeches to your lower level business managers. In short, let them know you have their back and they will have yours.
This is only one example of how empowering your junior managers through motivational leadership along with the freedom to make decisions will benefit the whole team. Any leader regardless of billet needs to use initiative and not be afraid to make a decision with out permission from the next supervisor. Likewise, if you are that next person in charge and you don’t leave specific instruction for your subordinate leader when you step away then you have no room to criticize any decision they make unless it is unsafe or unethical. Too often the supervisor steps away for a meeting and the time comes to execute something as simple as scheduling. It never fails, many times the Boss comes back and changes the decision the shift manager made in his or her absence despite the lack of instruction. These daily decisions lead to loss in morale, productivity and more important, loyalty. These types of leadership characteristics are seen far too often. Instead of giving motivational speeches or a pat on the back the senior manager makes the junior managers feel as if their position means nothing.
In my units the most junior Non-Commissioned Officer knows he has my support to make a decision if left with out instruction. Using these leadership characteristics has kept me alive in combat and kept my sanity when over tasked. I have had more than one instance where I forgot to do something and my next man in line was right there to pick up the slack. Had I trained them only to act like robots then certain task would have surely fallen through the cracks due to my forgetfulness. When they cover for me like this I always make sure to give quick motivational speeches to those involved to re enforce their loyalty for next time.
So, the next time you take a vacation and you assume your subordinate leader has “got it”, ask yourself if that person knows he or she has your support to make a decision and exercise their own leadership characteristics. Will you use motivational leadership and support their decisions even if you are not crazy about them? Or, will you step on your “right hand” man causing them to hesitate in the future when you really need them the most. Chief Executive Officers, remember this when giving your motivational speeches to your lower level business managers. In short, let them know you have their back and they will have yours.
Friday, September 11, 2009
3 Rules for Confidence by Max Garcia
It doesn’t matter whom you work for or what your occupation is. I tell all my new people when they check in that I have three rules for building self confidence. These personal confidence rules I made up when I was a Drill Instructor at Parris Island, South Carolina. I told every platoon I graduated and now I tell every new member of my current companies. The three rules for building self confidence are: personal appearance, learn your role as quick as possible, and last but not least, always, no matter what happens, always be respectful. These rules of personal confidence I live by and train others to live by. I guess you could call these my tools to improve confidence because so many people feel inferior when starting a new job. I call them the three rules for success. The fact that I brief these rules to every new join has saved me time, frustration, paper work, and has made my Marines stronger. I believe this is fact only because of my three rules for success. To apply these when building self confidence in the corporate world some complimentary thinking will be needed. For now we will discuss the first rule.
The First Rule:
Improve confidence through a first impression. A first impression is a lasting impression. From the second you walk up to hand in your resume, to your first day on the job up until the day you leave, everybody is judging your personal appearance. Despite that it’s against what we are taught in school, not to judge a book by its cover, the fact remains people are judgmental creatures. You can have stellar performer, but if their personal appearance is lacking no one is going to promote them to a position where they have to deal with upper management. That’s just fact. If you are in a position of leadership then this rule should be gospel to you when it comes to personal confidence.
Everyone regardless of position or occupation is critical of those senior to them. The last thing you want is to be known by your subordinates as the sloppy or eccentric boss. It doesn’t matter how great you “know your job”, you lose prestige if you don’t look sharp in the eyes of those junior to you. Not only that, when you look good you feel good. When you feel good you will perform as such resulting in solid personal confidence. We will talk more next time about building self confidence using my other two rules. I want you to first improve confidence for your self by first assessing your own appearance. If you are in a leadership position, ask yourself if your people would work better if they simply dressed sharper?
The First Rule:
Improve confidence through a first impression. A first impression is a lasting impression. From the second you walk up to hand in your resume, to your first day on the job up until the day you leave, everybody is judging your personal appearance. Despite that it’s against what we are taught in school, not to judge a book by its cover, the fact remains people are judgmental creatures. You can have stellar performer, but if their personal appearance is lacking no one is going to promote them to a position where they have to deal with upper management. That’s just fact. If you are in a position of leadership then this rule should be gospel to you when it comes to personal confidence.
Everyone regardless of position or occupation is critical of those senior to them. The last thing you want is to be known by your subordinates as the sloppy or eccentric boss. It doesn’t matter how great you “know your job”, you lose prestige if you don’t look sharp in the eyes of those junior to you. Not only that, when you look good you feel good. When you feel good you will perform as such resulting in solid personal confidence. We will talk more next time about building self confidence using my other two rules. I want you to first improve confidence for your self by first assessing your own appearance. If you are in a leadership position, ask yourself if your people would work better if they simply dressed sharper?
Friday, September 4, 2009
Preventive Maintinance Leadership by Max Garcia
In my opinion there is no different level of difficulty between processing a do or don’t do order, the difficulty is within the business speaker. The only difficulty is if the person doing the business speaking for upper management forgets or doesn’t know exactly what needs to happen. It is difficult to remember to pass every step to completing the task but if you forget something specific then you can not complain when it is not completed the way you would do it. That is the only difficulty in the “do instructions”. It is a motivational leadership failure if you only state what you desire as an end result and then complain about how it was achieved.
The business speaker or leader needs to do what I call “Preventive Maintenance”. If you know there is a project coming up then you need to start writing down all the things that helped you achieve or not achieve results from before. Then you must give a quick brief. Your brief should include what specifics you want to see happen. Without focusing too much on the negative you should firmly state the things you don’t want while maintaining your motivational leadership style. This will keep your people on your side. I will give you an example.
Let’s say you are cleaning up your work area and checking your paper work for an inspection of upper level management. While business speaking you can not just simply state, “our inspection is coming up”. “The place needs to be immaculate and the paper work needs to be perfect”. A good business speaker for the boss will do preventive maintenance by stating, “every desk needs to be cleaned free of dust, loose papers, pictures, and all trash taken out”. If desk are your major concern, then you know you just covered it and everyone should be taking note of what you just said. Next you might want to cover paper work by stating “everyone needs to check his or her own log book for mathematical errors and then hand it in to the shift managers for further editing”. Then you can state what you do not want as long as your tone is of a motivational leadership style.
An example of that would be mentioning that how you don’t want to see any white out on the pages or pen scribbles. Now you have just covered what you want and what you don’t want. You may also want to mention that if anyone can think of anything else feel free to bring it up to your shift manager. Now, your people are thinking outside “the box”. If you forget something they will use their own initiative because you used motivational leadership while asking their opinion. The last thing a boss ever wants if for his business speaker to run a dictatorship where they act like robots because then you have no room for error.
If during your inspection a desk has outdated paper work and some of the paper work is sloppy you have a solid ground to informally counsel your employees with anger. If you just said “I want the place cleaned up and all the paper work straight”, then you have no room to counsel anyone because you did not specify.
Keep in mind that it is not any easier while business speaking to process a due instruction, it is just easier for people to complain that it isn't the way they wanted it. It takes guts to get up in front of your people and clearly articulate the objective at hand (Captain Handon 1999).
The business speaker or leader needs to do what I call “Preventive Maintenance”. If you know there is a project coming up then you need to start writing down all the things that helped you achieve or not achieve results from before. Then you must give a quick brief. Your brief should include what specifics you want to see happen. Without focusing too much on the negative you should firmly state the things you don’t want while maintaining your motivational leadership style. This will keep your people on your side. I will give you an example.
Let’s say you are cleaning up your work area and checking your paper work for an inspection of upper level management. While business speaking you can not just simply state, “our inspection is coming up”. “The place needs to be immaculate and the paper work needs to be perfect”. A good business speaker for the boss will do preventive maintenance by stating, “every desk needs to be cleaned free of dust, loose papers, pictures, and all trash taken out”. If desk are your major concern, then you know you just covered it and everyone should be taking note of what you just said. Next you might want to cover paper work by stating “everyone needs to check his or her own log book for mathematical errors and then hand it in to the shift managers for further editing”. Then you can state what you do not want as long as your tone is of a motivational leadership style.
An example of that would be mentioning that how you don’t want to see any white out on the pages or pen scribbles. Now you have just covered what you want and what you don’t want. You may also want to mention that if anyone can think of anything else feel free to bring it up to your shift manager. Now, your people are thinking outside “the box”. If you forget something they will use their own initiative because you used motivational leadership while asking their opinion. The last thing a boss ever wants if for his business speaker to run a dictatorship where they act like robots because then you have no room for error.
If during your inspection a desk has outdated paper work and some of the paper work is sloppy you have a solid ground to informally counsel your employees with anger. If you just said “I want the place cleaned up and all the paper work straight”, then you have no room to counsel anyone because you did not specify.
Keep in mind that it is not any easier while business speaking to process a due instruction, it is just easier for people to complain that it isn't the way they wanted it. It takes guts to get up in front of your people and clearly articulate the objective at hand (Captain Handon 1999).
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Choosing the Right Leadership Characteristics by Max Garcia
When developing your leadership characteristics you want to pay close attention to the various styles of leadership. Your style of leadership can and will greatly affect the results of your employees. Those affects, negative or positive will be a direct reflection of your leadership characteristics. Most people are familiar with two forms of leadership, persuasive or athoritative. The truth is that there are as many styles of leadership as there are characteristics of leadership. Every leadership challenge is going to call for different styles. Some subordinates are very easy to work with, show up on time, take initatiave, work hard and never question orders. These employees allow you to display relaxed leadership characteristics and courtesy. Other subordinates wait for you to give them an inch so they can take a mile. These co workers tend to be more disrespectful, question directions and require more supervision. The characteristics of these employees may call for you to use more force and athority. The key, is finding balance between the two. My father Dan Garcia, who retired from the Marine Corps, called this firm but fair leadership.
Many leaders, particularly those in the military feel that you always have to be consistent and treat every one exactly the same. This is true to some degree however, if you treat your best guy like your worst guy he won't be your best guy for long. If you have someone who knows exactly what your intent is and follows it to the letter wheather you are there or not enjoy it. Don't micro manage that person like they are incompetent and they will most likely continue on that path. I'm not saying don't supervise, in fact you should always inspect what you expect. Just keep in mind those that micro managed you in the past when you were doing excellent. Did you resent them to a certain degree? Did you feel as if they didn't trust you despite your consistent results. I know I totally resent any micro management, especially when in a leadership role. Why give someone a promotion and then stand over their shoulder? You might as well lead for them.
The moral of the story is to deal with each leadership challenge according to the situation, not just a standard style of leadershp characteristics you read in a book. Some bosses have fun simply being mean to their employees. They run the show out of fear and laugh about it. Sure they will work because you say so or else! They may even move a little faster when you are around. But, let there be no doubt if your subordinates hate you it will adversely affect you in the long term. They will only do the bare minimum, they will not take initatiave and they will probably stab you in the back the first opportunity they get. You will have no loyalty what so ever. This style will not improve confidence as a leader, in fact it displays a lack of personal confidence in one self. I once was about to make a huge mistake, one that could have possibly gotten me fired. Fortunately for me I had plenty of loyalty in my unit. One of the subordinates quickly pointed out the mistake for me, saving my butt. I said thank you and let him know how much I appreciated him having my back. This warning came from a subordinate that I had to firmly counsel on more than one occasion. That is where the firm but fair part comes in. If someone needs corrected, correct them. If the situation calls for a little harshness, make it harsh. However, if someone deserves a pat on the back you should be just as fast to do that with much more enthusiasm. Leadership characteristics like these go a long way and will assist in building personal confidence while in a postition of authority. Stay tuned for more articles like these or visit my website at http://www.themaxgarcia.com/
Many leaders, particularly those in the military feel that you always have to be consistent and treat every one exactly the same. This is true to some degree however, if you treat your best guy like your worst guy he won't be your best guy for long. If you have someone who knows exactly what your intent is and follows it to the letter wheather you are there or not enjoy it. Don't micro manage that person like they are incompetent and they will most likely continue on that path. I'm not saying don't supervise, in fact you should always inspect what you expect. Just keep in mind those that micro managed you in the past when you were doing excellent. Did you resent them to a certain degree? Did you feel as if they didn't trust you despite your consistent results. I know I totally resent any micro management, especially when in a leadership role. Why give someone a promotion and then stand over their shoulder? You might as well lead for them.
The moral of the story is to deal with each leadership challenge according to the situation, not just a standard style of leadershp characteristics you read in a book. Some bosses have fun simply being mean to their employees. They run the show out of fear and laugh about it. Sure they will work because you say so or else! They may even move a little faster when you are around. But, let there be no doubt if your subordinates hate you it will adversely affect you in the long term. They will only do the bare minimum, they will not take initatiave and they will probably stab you in the back the first opportunity they get. You will have no loyalty what so ever. This style will not improve confidence as a leader, in fact it displays a lack of personal confidence in one self. I once was about to make a huge mistake, one that could have possibly gotten me fired. Fortunately for me I had plenty of loyalty in my unit. One of the subordinates quickly pointed out the mistake for me, saving my butt. I said thank you and let him know how much I appreciated him having my back. This warning came from a subordinate that I had to firmly counsel on more than one occasion. That is where the firm but fair part comes in. If someone needs corrected, correct them. If the situation calls for a little harshness, make it harsh. However, if someone deserves a pat on the back you should be just as fast to do that with much more enthusiasm. Leadership characteristics like these go a long way and will assist in building personal confidence while in a postition of authority. Stay tuned for more articles like these or visit my website at http://www.themaxgarcia.com/
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Leadership Characteristics by Max Garcia
What are the most important leadership characteristics? Leadership is defined in the english dictionary as a person who rules, guides, or inspires others. What qualities stand out most when observing someone who is a successful leader? For this article we will touch heavily on personal confidence, the characteristic that challenges most people. Despite their outward appearance most people question their own abilities and decisions all the time. Even top performers doubt themselves on a daily basis.
Confidence has to be one of the most important leadership characteristics there is. Now I didn't say cocky alpha males, I said confidence! With out confidence who ever you are leading will not follow you for long. If they're required to follow you due to your employment position they may have to do as you say but they surely don't have to respect you. You see, you must first be confident in yourself before you become confident in what ever area you are leading in. If you are comfortable in your own skin, it won't matter if you are the new boss that doesn't fully understand the policies in place yet. You will feel just fine kindly and confidently asking the advice of others instead of trying to fake it. In fact, your subordinates will respect the fact that you are humble enough to ask them. If you are comfortable with your own abilities in general, all the other leadership characteristics will come naturally. If you have challenges with this characteristic there is help.
Thats right, even if your fellow employees, subordinates, bosses, friends and family disrespect you on a daily basis there are some things you can do in your every day activity to help re establish your self. First and most importantly change the inner voice in your head. If you are the type that sees two people talking in the hallway and the little voice in your head tells you that they are talking bad about you change the voice inside your head. Now you have to trust me on this. The next time you catch yourself thinking something like, oh no my employees are laughing and looking at me, I want you to stop your self.
As soon as you stop yourself replace your thoughts with words that empower you instead. My employees love me, I have all the characteristics of a great leader. My family loves and respects me to no end. My friends think I'm cool no matter what I do. I am a confident and powerful individual. By the way, you need to say these statements even if you don't believe what your mouth is saying. If you have watched my DVD on confidence you will understand how this works. For now you just have to trust me. Do this just a few times and you will notice a change in the attitudes of the people around you ultimately helping you to become more confident in what ever area you are leading in. Build on the leadership characteristic of confidence and all other things will fall in to place. When you are looking to improve confidence and building self confidence in others stay tuned for more articles like these or visit my website at www.themaxgarcia.com
Confidence has to be one of the most important leadership characteristics there is. Now I didn't say cocky alpha males, I said confidence! With out confidence who ever you are leading will not follow you for long. If they're required to follow you due to your employment position they may have to do as you say but they surely don't have to respect you. You see, you must first be confident in yourself before you become confident in what ever area you are leading in. If you are comfortable in your own skin, it won't matter if you are the new boss that doesn't fully understand the policies in place yet. You will feel just fine kindly and confidently asking the advice of others instead of trying to fake it. In fact, your subordinates will respect the fact that you are humble enough to ask them. If you are comfortable with your own abilities in general, all the other leadership characteristics will come naturally. If you have challenges with this characteristic there is help.
Thats right, even if your fellow employees, subordinates, bosses, friends and family disrespect you on a daily basis there are some things you can do in your every day activity to help re establish your self. First and most importantly change the inner voice in your head. If you are the type that sees two people talking in the hallway and the little voice in your head tells you that they are talking bad about you change the voice inside your head. Now you have to trust me on this. The next time you catch yourself thinking something like, oh no my employees are laughing and looking at me, I want you to stop your self.
As soon as you stop yourself replace your thoughts with words that empower you instead. My employees love me, I have all the characteristics of a great leader. My family loves and respects me to no end. My friends think I'm cool no matter what I do. I am a confident and powerful individual. By the way, you need to say these statements even if you don't believe what your mouth is saying. If you have watched my DVD on confidence you will understand how this works. For now you just have to trust me. Do this just a few times and you will notice a change in the attitudes of the people around you ultimately helping you to become more confident in what ever area you are leading in. Build on the leadership characteristic of confidence and all other things will fall in to place. When you are looking to improve confidence and building self confidence in others stay tuned for more articles like these or visit my website at www.themaxgarcia.com
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