Leading Effectively e-Newsletter - January 2010 Issue

January 2010

In Your View

What leadership skills do you most need to strengthen in 2010?

Take Note

Need Some New Ideas?
To stir up some innovative thinking as we enter 2010, take a look at these articles and posts. (more...)

Setting Goals? Start With Your Values.
Bring your heart into the picture of goal-setting this year by taking several following steps. (more...)

From the Blog

Can bureaucracy trump leadership? CCL's Clemson Turregano shares his insight into the events leading up to the Northwest Flight 253 failed attack.

Time to Rev Up? Or Throttle Back?

Think you have a pretty good handle on your skills as a leader? If so, consider this: You might be taking your strengths too far. (more...)

Get your ideas flowing in the New Year!

Continuing to innovate is the key to competitive advantage. CCL's newest program, Innovation Leadership, can show you how to link innovation to your strategic goals. Begin now by contacting a client advisor at +1 336.545.2810 or by visiting www.ccl.org/innovationleadership to learn more about this exciting new program offered at locations around the world.

Five Leadership Skills to Accelerate Performance

"Leadership is like a muscle. The more intelligently you train, the stronger you get," says John Ryan, CCL's president and CEO. Here, he advises leaders to step up their leadership training in five areas. (more...)

Focus = Balance

Is there such a thing as a balanced leader? As pressures, challenges and distractions mount at work, it can be difficult to find a spare hour — much less a sense of balance. CCL's Joan Gurvis says that learning to focus goes a long way toward finding balance. (more...)

Wanted: Innovative Leaders

Today, uncertainty is palpable. Planning for next quarter is a challenge. Even more difficult is committing to decisions that will play out in one to five years. What is the new process, the innovative product, the game-changing service or the compelling vision? (more...)

New Service for Our Premium Subscribers

In 2010, we are launching a new service for our Premium subscribers. Beginning with this issue, we will bring you interviews with a variety of thought leaders who'll offer many different perspectives on leadership. Each of these interviews will appear in an easy-to-read Q&A format, which we hope you will enjoy. This issue features author and consultant Christopher Gergen discussing Entrepreneurship 3.0.

Exclusively for myCCL Premium Subscribers

Entrepreneurship 3.0: Creating an Extraordinary Life through the Entrepreneurial Mindset
An Interview with Author Christopher Gergen

"Some people don't just live: they lead a life. They don't sit around waiting for a lucky break. They create opportunities. They go after their dreams and bring them to life. They develop a vision of the good life, devise a plan for how to attain it, go for it, and check their progress along the way. As with any great effort, their work is never done but ever-evolving and, often, inspiring to those around them. Welcome to the territory of life entrepreneurs." (more...)

Not a myCCL Premium member? Learn more

Events You Won't Want to Miss

Training 2010 Conference and Expo
February 1-3, 2010
San Diego, CA
For more information, visit the conference Web site.

February 3:
CCL Webinar
The Truth About Sucking Up: How Authentic Self-Promotion Benefits You and Your Organization

February 17:
CCL Webinar
Coaching Tools and Tactics

Did you know ...
that job-specific experience is overrated?

Diversity of experience is at least as important as the depth of experience in estimating an executive's success in a new role.

Research from the Boston University Executive Development Roundtable finds that past experience doing the kind of work for which a person is being considered is not the best predictor of future performance. The main reason is that the demands of the job in the future will most likely be different, as the context and requirements for the job are often changing and shifting in unpredictable ways.

CCL has found that executive development results from a variety of experiences such as running community organizations, raising a family, leading a nonprofit board and juggling the demands of very diverse sets of responsibilities. These experiences, which aren't necessarily on the job, contribute to a broader view of the world by exposing us to diverse perspectives and offer an opportunity to develop and hone new skills, all of which is valuable for executive-level learning and development.

The implications for you? Exposure to and performing in multiple functions, varying roles or multiple companies may make someone a better candidate in today's environment than on doing one thing well for a single company for a long time.

Adapted from Lessons Learned: What Are the Lessons of Experience. By Douglas T. Hall, Kelly Hannum, and John F. McCarthy, with John DiCocco. Builders & Leaders, the Boston University School of Management Magazine, Fall 2008.