Leadership Styles Today: February 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Keys to Empowered Leadership

By Mark Bowser

The big question we have to ask today is what is leadership? Leadership is probably the most important element to our success. Leadership can be defined as motivating one or more people to move in a certain direction. That move can be in the form of taking some action and/or acquiring a new belief. So, by this definition, leadership can also be defined as Influence and it also can be defined as Sales. Both are fundamental elements in your success. You may have never thought of it that way. Be honest, how many of you thought becoming better at Leadership, Influence, and Sales would help prosper your life? Probably not very many of you. However, I am going to give it my best to “influence” you on the absolute truth of that fact.

Effective leadership is the most vital element to any organization. With it and you can reach the stars. Without it and the murkiest swamp will become your home. As John Maxwell says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” So, what is effective leadership and how do we become that kind of leader? I believe one of the best definitions comes from author J. Oswald Sanders’ when he described leadership as “Influence.” Sound familiar? We all influence people everyday. It may be as simple as influencing your co-workers on where to go eat lunch or as vital as influencing your teenager not to use drugs.

The first thing I think we need to understand is that there is a difference between an “Influential Leader” and a “Positional Leader.” The Positional Leader has the title. I am the President. I am the Director. I am the King of the nation. Well, that is great. But that doesn’t in and of itself make you influential. The Influential Leader may be the peasant of the kingdom or the entry level employee. Influence is about inspiring and moving people into action in order to reach a desired goal. I hope you have the position, but I also hope you have the trust, respect, and heart of your people. Whatever your position is at this time, I want to help you develop into the Influential Person that you were born to be.

Before we can go any further, I believe it is important that we dig a little deeper into the explanations and actions of leadership. Let me ask you a question. Is there a difference between a leader and a manager? There is, isn’t there. Ok. What does a leader do? What is the first action that they take? Right. They create a vision. They may not create a vision for the entire organization but they definitely do for their part of it. Alright, what does a manager do? Right. They make it happen. They implement the vision. The leader creates where we are going and the manager breaks the vision into manageable parts and assigns the tasks to the right people and assures that it happens. Ok, let me throw another concept out there? What does a coach do? A coach motivates, inspires, teaches, provides resources, disciplines when necessary, etc…

Which are we? A Leader, a Manager, or a Coach? That is right. We are all three. I don’t think we can separate it anymore. We have to be all three. We are a Leader/Manager/Coach. Now, that makes our task a little more daunting but will make us much more effective and successful in the long run. As I close this article, I encourage you to let this concept be a seed in the fertile soil of your mind. Let it grow. Let it develop and before you know it, so will your influence.

Make it a great day! God bless you!

Mark Bowser

JEREMIAH 29:11

Mark E. Bowser

President/CEO

Empowering Enterprises, Inc.

7723 Tylers Place Blvd. #280

West Chester, OH 45069

(513)252-GOAL

Superior Training, Superior Results!

Check out our Complimentary Success Newsletters at www.MarkBowser.com & www.TakeActionSales.com

Come follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/MarkBowser

Connect with me on LinkedIN

http://www.linkedin.com/in/markbowser

Come visit Mark Bowser's blogs www.SalesTrainingToday.blogspot.com & www.LeadershipStylesToday.blogspot.com

Thursday, February 11, 2010

What Can Ben Franklin teach leaders about success?

Good morning Leaders!

Check out my article: "Ben Franklin's 13 Virtues of Success" article by
Mark Bowser: http://short.to/fq6k

Make it a great day. God bless!

Mark Bowser
JEREMIAH 29:11

Mark E. Bowser
President/CEO
Empowering Enterprises, Inc.
7723 Tylers Place Blvd. #280
West Chester, OH 45069
(513)252-GOAL

Superior Training, Superior Results!

Check out our Complimentary Success Newsletters at www.MarkBowser.com &
www.TakeActionSales.com

Come follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/MarkBowser

Connect with me on LinkedIN
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markbowser

Come visit Mark Bowser's blogs www.SalesTrainingToday.blogspot.com &
www.LeadershipStylesToday.blogspot.com

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Leadership & Freedom

American Conservatism: A CALL TO FREEDOM

By Mark E. Bowser

“Congress shall make no law…” so begins the first amendment to the United States Constitution. What does that mean and why were the Founding Fathers so adamant to including a Bill of Rights to the Constitution? The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are two of the most impressive and important governmental documents ever written because they put the focus

where it needs to be—The People. This country was founded on the foundation that the people lead the way, not the government. The government exists to serve the people not the other way around.

The Founding Fathers put guarantees into the Constitution to make sure the people lead the way. They called it the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution. These ten rights are the basis of America. They are the fundamental difference between this great land of ours and some of the awful dictatorships, Communist regimes, and other tragedies in world history.

Today, we are going to reacquaint ourselves to one of those pivotal amendments. Please join me for the next few moments as we take a deeper look at the first amendment and what it means for us, our families, our work, and America.

The first amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Let’s take a look at this amendment step by step and see what it

means. The first part talks about religion. What did the Founders really mean? Well, the first part of the amendment means that Congress can’t set up a state religion. Our country was founded on religious freedom. The first Americans started migrating across the great ocean because of religious persecution. They did not want to be a part of the State Religion – The Church of England.

So, when it came time to start this country, they wanted a guarantee that this persecution would not happen again. The amendment also says, “'or prohibiting the free exercise there of…” The Founders wanted to insure that the government also would not get involved with how a religion was to be carried out in daily life. You might be saying, “Ah, the separation of church and state.” Now, let me say something that might shock you. The Separation of Church and State philosophy

is not found anywhere in the Constitution. In fact, it goes against the intent of the Founding Fathers. “What?” You might say. “I was never taught that!” I know. The way the press and the liberal educators preach it so much one would think it was written in the amendment itself.

The phrase “Separation of church and state” is not in the Constitution. It is found in a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote. It was only a letter. It was not an agreed upon philosophy of the Founders. When discussing the Founding Fathers, respected historian Paul Johnson says, “Even the doubting and the unenthusiastic were quite clear that religion was needed in society, especially

in a vast, rapidly growing and boisterous country like America.” Even Jefferson believed religion was important. To prove this, all we have to do is read the Declaration of Independence, which he penned so beautifully.

Having said all this, what is government’s role in religion. The government’s role is to be tolerant and support the free practice of every faith. But it does not mean that government can’t be involved in religion. If that were the case then why does it say “In God we trust” on our money and why does the U.S. Senate have a chaplain? Paul Johnson says, “It certainly did not inhibit Congress

from identifying itself with the religious impulse as such or from authorizing religious practices where all could agree on their desirability.”

The Founding Fathers saw religion and education as vital elements if this American experiment were to succeed. In fact, they saw them going hand and hand. They believed that an educated morally driven America was the best America. In confronting Tom Paine who did not see the need

for religion, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “He who spits in the wind spits in his own face…If men are wicked with religion, what would they be without it?”

Religion and the free exercise of it was important to the Founders. So much so that the day after the First Amendment was passed, on September 25, 1789, The House of Representatives passed by a two to one majority a resolution calling for a day of national prayer and thanksgiving.

The next part of the First Amendment gives us the freedom of speech. Without this we cannot be free. Just ask anyone who lived in the old Soviet Union. Or ask those students in Communist China who confronted those tanks a few years ago. The right to speak up for or against our government gives us the free exercise of debate. America is strongest when with candor and politeness we can debate our differences. What unites us as Americans far outweighs what divides us. We grow stronger (and more free) when we take hold of the best ideas of all America.

Our next freedom found in the First Amendment gives us the freedom of the press. Without this freedom, you would not be reading this letter right now. We don’t have to agree with the press, but we must respect its freedom to print what it pleases. For example, there are many newspapers and magazines I don’t think are worth the paper they are printed on, but I will always fight for their

right to express their ideas. Having said this, I think that with the birth of the internet, we as a nation are going to have to continue some strong debates on where we draw the line of freedom of speech and the press. For example, I believe that there is never an argument in support of child pornography whether it is found on the internet or somewhere else.

Our next freedom given us in the First Amendment is the “'the right of the people peaceably to assemble…” This means that we can gather together as a group for any purpose as long as it is done peaceably. The government can’t stop us from meeting together in clubs, organizations, or even protest marches. This freedom in a way brings the freedom of speech to its highest level---unity.

The last freedom found in the First Amendment is for justice. It reads, “'and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” It is our freedom to have wrongs committed against us made right. It is the freedom to not be taken advantage of. The freedom of fairness. The freedom of right and truth.

So, as we embark on our daily routine, I challenge each of us to be conscious of our freedoms as Americans. We must never take them for granted. We must never allow them to be watered down or stripped away, and we must never give them up. For as Thomas Jefferson said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”