by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 9, 2012 | Communication, Empowerment, Encouragement, Leadership
To be able to offer genuine encouragement as a leader you need to get to know your team players. In working with them you can find out their strengths and weaknesses. Focus your encouragement on both areas. Use an individual’s strengths to build up the team and move it forward towards its goals.
Use weaknesses as an opportunity for learning or training. With encouragement people work better as a team, there is more cohesiveness in an organization. Effective teamwork results in people that feel motivated and empowered. People will be more willing to put forward ideas and less scared to fail. A culture of encouragement is contagious and filters down through an organization. As a result an organization will enjoy a positive and creative energy. Leaders should make a conscious effort to incorporate encouragement into their daily communication with their team. This develops and models a culture of encouragement and result in positive attitudes.
How will you these helpful tips?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 7, 2012 | Communication, Empowerment, Encouragement, Leadership
Encouragement is something that can spur a team on to reach big goals. Any professional sports team will tell you how valuable it is to be playing at a home ground. The encouragement of seeing a stadium filled with team colors as they run out onto the field gives players a huge emotional boost at the start of the game.
And then in the crucial parts of the game, when there is a break in play, when the team is about to score, the stands erupt! So many times it’s the cheering and encouragement of the fans that seems to help carry the ball over the goal line. This is the power of encouragement and smart leaders know that it plays an important part in any team. When a team member is encouraged in an area of weakness and they grow as a result, it benefits the whole team. By initiating a culture of encouragement a leader sets his team up for success.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 6, 2012 | Current Affairs, Decisions, Empowerment, Leadership, Politics, President Obama, Vision
As the election season comes to a close, whoever wins will make history. We will elect an African-American to a second term or a Mormon as president. Both President Obama & Governor Romney talk about change and how they will implement those changes. Both have a vision on how to get America back on track and believe it wholeheartedly.
However, what they both fail to articulate is how change involves loss, sacrifice, and pain. That is the hard part. Why? Deep change requires that people change the way they think. When people change the way they think, it changes how they feel. When people change how they feel, they change the way they act/behave. Therefore, when both candidates call for change, what they are calling for is a revolution. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 5, 2012 | Communication, Empowerment, Encouragement, Leadership
Encouragement is often something that leaders overlook. They think that providing vision and management is enough to get a team to work together or achieve a goal. However, remember that teams are made up of individuals who have different personalities and talents. The organization will only benefit from those talents if encouragement is part of the culture.
Often people lack confidence, especially in a work environment. They will hold back if they think they will be mocked for their ideas or that they may fail. Fear is one of the biggest reasons people fail to reach their goals, because of their fears they don’t even try. In his book “Be All You Can Be!” John C. Maxwell explains that people need to be told “Yes you can” before they may try something new. This is the role of a leader, to provide encouragement and tell people that “Yes they can”. Your encouragement as a leader in a way gives people permission to succeed.
Who have you encouraged or inspired lately?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 2, 2012 | Current Affairs, Empowerment, Excellence, Family, Leadership, Relationships, Self-Leadership, Servant Leadership, Weblogs
Welcome back to my blog!
This is my personal blog. It is focused on “empowering people to live an abundant life.” My mission is to help you connect life’s dots while passionately pursuing your purpose. I write on personal development, leadership, finance, relationships, inspiration, and motivation. On occasion, I write about stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories.
My goal is to create insightful, relevant content that you can put to work in your personal and professional life. If you are in a position of leadership—or aspire to be—then this blog is for you. I typically post two to three times a week. To make sure you don’t miss my newest posts, you can subscribe via RSS feed.
Thanks for stopping by!
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 21, 2011 | Empowerment, Excellence, Leadership, Servant Leadership
I’m excited to share some thoughts regarding leadership. Recently, I googled the word “leadership” and it reavealed 141 million hits! Wow! Now I understand why many are confused when it comes to defining leadership. Since this is our first session, I’d like to begin by sharing the “best kept” leadership secret – BE A SERVANT.
The phrase “Servant Leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, he said:
The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.
The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived? (Source: Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership)
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