Employees need to develop their potential for leadership because it will be required in many of the contexts in which they find themselves – not only in business and the professions, where organisational change is fast and furious, but in the wider community and family contexts, where interpersonal relationships matter so much.

For decades, leadership was perceived as something that only those with certain backgrounds, qualities and capacities possessed, or could possess.  However, leadership is now seen as something that many can develop, given the opportunity and appropriate context or situation.  Much current literature on leadership argues, for example, that:  “Leadership qualities and skills can be learned and developed. Today’s leaders are made, not born.  Leadership effectiveness begins with self-awareness and self-understanding and grows to an understanding of others…Learning about leadership and developing as a leader is a lifelong process involving preparation, experience, trial-and-error, self-examination, and a willingness to  learn from mistakes and successes.”

Komives, S., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T.R. (1998).  Exploring Leadership:  For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p. 5 and p. 30.

For some people, however, ‘followership’ rather than leadership is more comfortable.  There can’t be leaders without followers, just as there can’t be followers without leaders.  The two are inseparable.  It is common for people to be leaders in one context and followers in others, as Lee and King (2001) argue:  “Leadership in family and community situations may allow you to try new skills, styles and levels of responsibility.  It often allows more flexibility in terms of the length of time you hold a leading role and how long you choose to do so.  For some individuals who love to lead, the best expression of their values may be to remain primarily individual contributors at work and leaders in a non-work setting.”

Lee, R.J., & King, S.N. (2001).  Discovering the Leader in You:  A Guide to Realizing Your Personal Leadership Potential. San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass & Center for Creative Leadership, p. 9.

The terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ are often used interchangeably, but they are two different things. It is important that students recognise the difference between the two:  “Leadership is different from management, but not for the reasons most people think.  Leadership isn’t mystical and mysterious.  It has nothing to do with ‘charisma’ or other exotic personality traits.  It is not the province of a chosen few.  Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it.  Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action.  Each has its own functions and characteristic activities.  Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment.  Management is about coping with complexity…Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change…”

Kotter, J.B.  (1990). What leaders really do.  Harvard Business Review, 68(3), pp. 103-104.

Further, leadership and management are distinct, but complementary.  For example: “The manager asks what and when; the leader asks what and why.”

Bennis, W. (1989). Quoted in Sheldon, B.  Leadership in the Workplace.  Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 30 October 2006: http://www.txla.org/pubs/tlj75_4/work.html

“The function of leadership is to create change while the function of management is to create stability.”

Barker, R.A.  (1997). How can we train leaders if we do not know what leadership is?  Human Relations, 50 (4), p. 349.

It is crucial, then, that trainers and employees are very clear about what it is that is being learned – whether it is management, leadership or followership.

If you are interested in learning more about leadership and up-skilling check out our Leadership and Motivation Course

Ref: The Griffith Graduate Site .

The role of leader can be very stressful! Management studies have suggested that these roles include a very wide mix of activities, most of which cannot always be controlled or even predicted.

New managers and supervisors – especially supervisors – are almost overwhelmed with the demands of the job. They were probably promoted to be in charge of people, mostly because of their success in a previous role that was focused on developing a particular product or service. Suddenly, they’re faced with being in charge of people, which is much less predictable and has much less control than the supervisor had before. Consequently, the ability to manage time and stress is absolutely critical to the success of the roles of manager and leader.

The two topics of time management and stress management are often addressed together because they are so closely interrelated.

Myths About Stress and Time Management

1. All stress is bad. No, there’s good and bad stress. Good stress is excitement, thrills, etc. The goal is to recognize personal signs of bad stress and deal with them.
2. Planning my time just takes more time. Actually, research shows the opposite.
3. I get more done in more time when I wisely use caffeine, sugar, alcohol or nicotine. Wrong! Research shows that the body always has to “come down” and when it does, you can’t always be very effective then after the boost.
4. A time management problem means that there’s not enough time to get done what needs to get done. No, a time management problem is not using your time to your fullest advantage, to get done what you want done.
5. The busier I am, the better I’m using my time. Look out! You may only be doing what’s urgent, and not what’s important.
6. I feel very harried, busy, so I must have a time management problem. Not necessarily. You should verify that you have a time management problem. This requires knowing what you really want to get done and if it is getting done or not.
7. I feel OK, so I must not be stressed. In reality, many adults don’t even know when they’re really stressed out until their bodies tell them so. They miss the early warning signs from their body, for example, headaches, still backs, twitches, etc.

Major Causes of Workplace Stress

1. Not knowing what you want or if you’re getting it – poor planning.
2. The feeling that there’s too much to do. One can have this feeling even if there’s hardly anything to do at all.
3. Not enjoying your job. This can be caused by lots of things, for example, not knowing what you want, not eating well, etc. However, most people always blame their jobs.
4. Conflicting demands on the job.
5. Insufficient resources to do the job.
6. Not feeling appreciated.

Biggest Time Wasters

1. Interruptions. There will always be interruptions. It’s how they’re handled that wastes time.
2. Hopelessness. People “give in”, “numb out” and “march through the day”.
3. Poor delegation skills. This involves not sharing work with others.

Common Symptoms of Poor Stress and Time Management

1. Irritability. Fellow workers notice this first.
2. Fatigue. How many adults even notice this?
3. Difficulty concentrating. You often don’t need to just to get through the day!
4. Forgetfulness. You can’t remember what you did all day, what you ate yesterday.
5. Loss of sleep. This affects everything else!
6. Physical disorders, for example, headaches, rashes, tics, cramps, etc.
7. At worst, withdrawal and depression.

Wise Principles of Good Stress and Time Management

1. Learn your signs for being overstressed or having a time management problem. Ask your friends about you. Perhaps they can tell you what they see from you when you’re overstressed.
2. Most people feel that they are stressed and/or have a time management problem. Verify that you really have a problem. What do you see, hear or feel that leads you to conclude that you have a time or stress problem?
3. Don’t have the illusion that doing more will make you happier. Is it quantity of time that you want, or quality?
4. Stress and time management problems have many causes and usually require more than one technique to fix. You don’t need a lot of techniques, usually more than one, but not a lot.
5. One of the major benefits of doing time planning is feeling that you’re in control.
6. Focus on results, not on busyness.
7. It’s the trying that counts – at least as much as doing the perfect technique.

Simple Techniques to Manage Stress

There are lots of things people can do to cut down on stress. Most people probably even know what they could do. It’s not the lack of knowing what to do in order to cut down stress; it is doing what you know you have to do. The following techniques are geared to help you do what you know you have to do.
1. Talk to someone. You don’t have to fix the problem, just report it.
2. Notice if any of the muscles in your body are tense. Just noticing that will often relax the muscle.
3. Ask your boss if you’re doing OK. This simple question can make a lot of difference and verify wrong impressions.
4. Delegate.
5. If you take on a technique to manage stress, tell someone else. They can help you be accountable to them and yourself.
6. Cut down on caffeine and sweets. Take a walk instead. Tell someone that you’re going to do that.
7. Use basic techniques of planning, problem solving and decision making.
Concise guidelines are included in this guidebook. Tell someone that you’re going to use these techniques.
8. Monitor the number of hours that you work in a week. Tell your boss, family and/or friends how many hours that you are working.
9. Write weekly status reports. Include what you’ve accomplished last week and plan to do next week. Include any current issues or recommendations that you must report to your boss. Give the written status report to your boss on a weekly basis.
10. “Wash the dishes”. Do something you can feel good about.

Simple Techniques to Manage Time

There never seems to be enough time in the roles of management and supervision. Therefore, the goal of time management should not be to find more time. The goal is set a reasonable amount of time to spend on these roles and then use that time wisely.
1. Start with the simple techniques of stress management above.
2. Managing time takes practice. Practice asking yourself this question throughout the day: “Is this what I want or need to be doing right now?” If yes, then keep doing it.
3. Find some way to realistically and practically analyze your time. Logging your time for a week in 15-minute intervals is not that hard and does not take up that much time. Do it for a week and review your results.
4. Do a “todo” list for your day. Do it at the end of the previous day. Mark items as “A” and “B” in priority. Set aside two hours right away each day to do the important “A” items and then do the “B” items in the afternoon. Let your answering machine take your calls during your “A” time.
5. At the end of your day, spend five minutes cleaning up your space. Use this time, too, to organize your space, including your desktop. That’ll give you a clean start for the next day.
6. Learn the difference between “Where can I help?” and “Where am I really needed?” Experienced leaders learn that the last question is much more important than the former.
7. Learn the difference between “Do I need to do this now?” and “Do I need to do this at all?” Experienced leaders learn how to quickly answer this question when faced with a new task.
8. Delegate. Delegation shows up as a frequent suggestion in this guide because it is one of the most important skills for a leader to have. Effective delegation will free up a great deal of time for you.
9. If you are CEO in a corporation, then ask your Board for help. They are responsible to supervise you, as a CEO. Although the Board should not be micro-managing you, that is, involved in the day-to-day activities of the corporation, they still might have some ideas to help you with your time management. Remember, too, that good time management comes from good planning, and the Board is responsible to oversee development of major plans. Thus, the Board may be able to help you by doing a better themselves in their responsibilities as planners for the organization.
10. Use a “Do Not Disturb” sign! During the early part of the day, when you’re attending to your important items (your “A” list), hang this sign on the doorknob outside your door.
11. Sort your mail into categories including “read now”, “handle now” and “read later”. You’ll quickly get a knack for sorting through your mail. You’ll also notice that much of what you think you need to read later wasn’t really all that important anyway.
12. Read your mail at the same time each day.
That way, you’ll likely get to your mail on a regular basis and won’t become distracted into any certain piece of mail that ends up taking too much of your time.
13. Have a place for everything and put everything in its place.
That way, you’ll know where to find it when you need it. Another important outcome is that your people will see that you are somewhat organized, rather than out of control.
14. Best suggestion for saving time – schedule 10 minutes to do nothing.
That time can be used to just sit and clear your mind. You’ll end up thinking more clearly, resulting in more time in your day. The best outcome of this practice is that it reminds you that you’re not a slave to a clock – and that if you take 10 minutes out of your day, you and your organization won’t fall apart.
15. Learn good meeting management skills.

Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Studies by Stanford Research Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation among Fortune 500 CEOs found that 75% of long term job success depended on people skills and only 25% on technical skills.

This is true at other levels as well. For effective performance in the workplace, companies need their employees to have not only domain knowledge, technical and analytical skills, but also the skills to deal with the external world of clients, customers, vendors, the government and public; and to work in a collaborative manner with their colleagues.

The annual rankings of MBA colleges often place communication and interpersonal skills as the most critical skills needed for success in the corporate world.

Noted academic Prof. Henry Mintzberg while speaking on the importance of soft skills for MBAs, refers to the crucial “soft” skills – leadership, teamwork, communication, and the ability to think “outside the box” of a discipline – that separate the best from the rest in the management world.”

Companies are finding that they have to promote people faster than ever before to meet their growth needs.  At the same time, they are finding that the candidates do not have the necessary skills to make the transition from a technical or functional specialist to a team leader, supervisor or manager.  Companies in the IT, BPO, KPO, Biotech, and Pharmaceuticals industries have found that their people need soft skills to work effectively in cross-functional or project teams, local teams or global teams.

Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company,  can offer a tailored soft-skills program to benefit companies and address these issues and you can contact us for further information by clicking here.

UK – May 12th, 2008 – The skills survey report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development reveals that in 45 per cent of public sector organizations there has been a cut in training budgets over the past 12 months. The indications are that the continued post-Gershon squeeze is encouraging employers to reduce the head count and to cut costs across personnel activities.

Voluntary sector organisations continue to spend more per employee per year on training, compared with both the private and public sectors.  With 77 per cent in the sector reporting that funding for training has remained stable or increased, compared with 75 per cent in the private sector and 54 per cent in the public sector.

The report also shows a disconnect between what government is offering employers and what they feel they need from young people coming out of school, college or university.  Literacy and numeracy are still concerns for employers, but also there is a need for the so-called soft-skills.  Two thirds of respondent organisations feel that new employees lack both communication and interpersonal skills and over half report a shortfall in management and leadership skills.

“Learn Skills can offer employers web-based skills and compliance training to address these key concerns, by giving them access to a comprehensive course catalog”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, “and the Learn Skills platform can deliver both cost savings and consistent quality instruction to all employees and management resulting in increased and enhanced performance.”

Why are more companies choosing e-Learning for corporate training?
“e-Learning delivers more training to more people for less money. e-Learning saves time, money, resources, and it delivers measurable, tangible results”, according to Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance based company.
Instant access to information is one of the driving factors in today’s Knowledge Economy. Lifelong learning is the key to a successful career. The key to this success is moving knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it. e-Learning gives you the power to do exactly that. Virtually anyone can sharpen skills or develop new ones.
Key benefits associated with e-Learning with Learn Skills include:

• Inexpensive and Cost Savings: Without travel time or expenses, you’re putting more of your training budget into training, thus saving up to 40 to 60 percent. And students can access their courses as often as they need.
• Accessibility of Training: Deliver knowledge on-demand, with up-to-the-minute information. Learners can access training instantly, when and where they want or need it, either at the office or at home, 24/7.
• Flexibility: Students can choose from a variety of interactive self-paced courses, and they can take advantage of our extensive course listing. They have the option to complete a course in one session and split it into smaller chunks.
• Consistency: e-Learning is a more consistent delivery and not not reliant on the skills and knowledge of the trainer.
• Measurement: Learn Skills provides a selection of tools and applications to monitor learner’s progress, and produce detailed activity reports. You can easily monitor what employees have learned, when they’ve completed courses, how they performed, and their levels of improvement.
• Variety: Hundreds of in-depth courses are available instantly; covering everything from business skills and leadership to workplace safety and IT.

Learn Skills provides you with the learning environment that engages the unsupervised learner, resulting in employees who show more participation, more enthusiasm, and ultimately, greater learning success and increased productivity.

Our staff are ready to help you with any questions you may have, simply contact us.

Soft skills refer to a very diverse range of abilities such as:

• Self-awareness
• Analytical thinking
• Leadership skills
• Team-building skills
• Flexibility
• Ability to communicate effectively
• Creativity
• Problem-solving skills
• Listening skills
• Diplomacy
• Change-readiness

Many people often refer to ‘soft skills’ as ‘people skills’ or ‘emotional intelligence’. Hard skills are the technical abilities required to do a job or perform a task: essentially they are acquired through training and education programs, like those offered by Learn Skills.

Importance of Soft Skills

According to psychologist Daniel Coleman, a combination of competencies that contribute to a person’s ability to manage his or herself and relate to other people-matters twice as much as IQ or technical skills in job success.

Results of a recent studies on the importance of soft skills indicated that the single most important soft skill for a job candidate to possess was interpersonal skills, followed by written or verbal communication skills and the ability to work under pressure.

A constantly changing work environment – due to technology, customer-driven markets, an knowledge-based economy and globalisation that are currently impacting on the structure of the workplace and leading to an increased reliance on, and demand for, soft skills.

Soft skills are not a replacement for hard- or technical-skills. They are, in many instances, complementary, and serve to unlock the potential for highly effective performance in people qualified with the requisite hard skills.

Learn Skills provides a comprehensive range of soft-skill courses for employees who want to enhance their work performance and improve their employability.

Reference: sitagita.com

Galway, Ireland – 3rd September, 2008 - Learn Skills the web-based skills and compliance based company has now partnered with Interaction Training, a leading innovative learning solutions provider from Australia.

Learn Skills will be able to provide a comprehensive range of high quality, interactive course direct from the Learn Skills platform, a total of 89 courses ranging for basic Digital Literacy, ICT skills to Leadership and Management Training.  “The quality of these materials will greatly enhance the learning experience and lead to a more informed and skilled workforce”, said Sean Grifffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills.

Some of the more interesting titles include:

• Word 2007 (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
• Excel 2007 (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
• Goal Centred Time Management
• Stress Management
• Leadership Approaches and Theories
• Motivation Concepts

These courses are available for individual purchase or as part of a bundle options supported by the Learn Skills LMS.