JUDGE WITH KINDNESS, FOR EVERYONE IS FIGHTING A BATTLE

 People will always judge you, even your loved ones

The Fame Game, Netflix 

Judging others is something of the basic of human behaviour.  We were taught since childhood to never judge others, instilling the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.  In most cases, it’s the feeling of insecurity that makes us judge others. Judging others can sometimes linked to the instinctual drive to evaluate threats.

People are judged based on their character or inherent traits rather than the situation itself.  This will almost always leads to unfair judgments.

People also tend to judge what they don’t understand.  Judgment can also stem from a person’s background, cultural environment, and past experiences.  These type of judgments are often bias and dangerous because they happen automatically and can influence our actions and attitudes, reinforcing stereotypes and discrimination.

So, it’s important to understand why we judge others:

- it provides a path towards more empathetic and less anxious living 

- it’s about refining the judgment processes to be more mindful and informed 

- able to enhance interactions and emotional landscape 

Some people can be quite judgmental and therefore it’s crucial to distinguish between making value judgments and being judgmental.  Value judgments reflect our discernment based on our values and priorities.  Being judgmental is us thinking that our opinions and values are ‘right’ and judging others as ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’.  That’s us being arrogantly thinking that we’re better than others.

To break the judgments habits, we need to:

1. take a moment to understand the person’s background 

2. recognise your own insecurities 

3. work on building yourself up instead of tearing others down 

4. learn to create more self awareness 

5. examine your friendships and associations 

6. Focus on building connections based on positivity and mutual respect 

7. create and be the best version of yourself 

Judging is an easy process that doesn’t require much thinking or reasoning, whereas understanding is harder as it requires deep thinking, patience, compassion, and an open mind.  

Judging others is actually a natural cognitive process, influenced by social norms, personal experiences and psychological biases.  Judging others does not define who the others are, but it defines who we are.  It’s just like the story of a woman who judged the washings of her neighbour as not that clean when actually she’s looking through her dirty windows and therefore sees the neighbour’s washings as not clean.

So we can see that judging shut us down and prevent us from understanding the full situation or the new truth that is not known yet.  There are a few recommended steps to escape this judging loop:

1. Be judging, seek to understand with an open mind 

2. Know that there may be something about the situation that is not fully understood 

3. Be empathetic and give the benefit of the doubt 

4. Try to understand the situation or circumstances 

5. Practice self awareness 

6. Understand ourselves 

7. Learn to be more self aware when judging 

8. Move on to adopt more interesting thought patterns 

9. Be more appreciative and compassionate of the world 

10. Avoid fitting the world into our optics

11. Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle.

Reference 

catharicspacecounselling.com

mike-robins.com

arcadiancounseling.com

times of India.indiatimes.com

SKILLS LIES IN THE HAND, NOT THE TOOLS

We often hear that skills are the key to success.  But tool is actually just a means to an end.  The actual skills lies in the analytical mindset that is able to turn information/data into valuable insights.

A tool without skills is like having a hammer but not knowing how to build.  Whereas a skill without tool is like having a project but no bricks.  Tools doesn’t matter when it comes to creativity.  It’s important to learn the why and how in order to gain the fundamentals that makes a professional.

It’s an illusion to believe that tools are everything just because tools can make us look cool in the process to success.  It’s good to remember that tools are just part of what it takes to make something happen.  Mostly it’s creativity, problem solving, and passion that matters.

Tools are useless in the hands of an untrained person, even if it’s the best tools.  Ultimately, it’s the skills of the person using the tool is what creates a functional, and productive result.  The skills will amplify the power of the tools, turning them into instruments of progress and innovation.  This is the reason why people always confuse between knowing how to use a tool and actually having an excellent skill.

Tools are for execution whereas skills are strategy and value.  So it’s actually okay not to be great on the tools.  There will be a point in time when tools really do matter.  Just like the saying ‘The camera doesn’t make the photographer, but without good quality camera, the photographer won’t be able to capture a good photo’.

Do not get caught up in learning the tools when it’s the skills that will help us the most.  Tools come and go, whereas skills develop if you nurture them.

Reference 

https://medium.com

https://stratco.nz

https://linkedin.com

https://brndnsmth.medium.com

https://buenatura.org

https://ellenrohr.com

https://cambelldatascience.com

podcast.stugyabroadacademy.in

LEADERSHIP IS AN INFLUENCE RELATIONSHIP

 The managing style of leaders is essential to the team’s success.  The leaders need to provide compelling directions for team members to achieve objectives.  It is said that leadership style may affect the team’s effectiveness.

Organisation today need effective leaders who understand the complexities and challenges of the rapidly changing global environment.  It’s considered important because leadership styles can affect the quality of work life.

It’s important to know that leadership is not a person nor is it a management.  Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers.

Professor Joseph Rost (1991) said leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purpose.  It no doubt is true that leadership includes the discipline of top-down management, but it actually extends far beyond that.

Everyone in every organisation is in a leadership role.  Leadership is gifted, not claimed.  Followers determine leaders, leaders do not determine followers.  Ultimately, leadership is a social process that depends on contingent needs of followers and the capacity of the individual to realise their leadership potential.

Dr. John C Maxwell writes about the Law of Influence in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  He said that the accurate measure of leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.  He measured influence in 7 areas I.e. character, relationships,knowledge,intuitions,experience, past successes, and ability.  Dr. Maxwell outlined 5 myths about leadership:

1. The management myth where management and leadership are 2 equal terms.

2. The entrepreneur myth where the assumption is all entrepreneurs are leaders.

3. The knowledge myth with the assumption is knowledgable people will be a good leader.

4. The pioneer myth 

5. The position myth 

The 21 Laws of John Maxwell 

1. The Law of the Lid - there’s a limit to our potential.

2. The Law of Influence - refers to the power or capacity to produce desired results 

3. The Law of Process - leaders are learners have the capacity to develop and improve skills 

4. The Law of Navigation - charts the course, carefully seeing where they want to go 

5. The Law of Addition - focuses on advancing others

6. The Law of Solid Ground - a solid character, with integrity, authenticity and discipline 

7. The Law of Respect - must be strong and worthy of respect 

8. The Law of Intuition - the power to discern the true nature of a person or situation 

9. The Law of Magnetism - constantly attracting followers and new leaders 

10. The Law of Connection - bring or join one thing to another 

11. The Law of Inner Circle - those closest to us will determine our potential 

12. The Law of Empowerment - give the means, power or opportunity to do 

13. The Law of the Picture - lead by example 

14. The Law of Buy-In - getting support for ideas, visions, and strategies 

15. The Law of Victory - find a way for the team to win 

16. The Law of Big Mo - Mo (momentum) is a close friend of effective leaders 

17. The Law of Priorities - focussing on what is most important is so much more effective than being busy 

18. The Law of Sacrifice - the need to be willing to give up 

19. The Law of Timing - must know when to seize the moment, when to move forward, and when to back off, what to improve and how radical those improvements should be 

20. The Law of Explosive Growth - recognises developing leaders around them 

21. The Law of Legacy - make an impact on the world; leave a legacy of succession, create leadership culture, assure lasting success, value team leadership above individual leadership, choose a life of sacrifice not a life of success.

Some may say that leadership is transient and discontinuous.  Windows of leadership will come and go.  Remember, leaders lasting values can only be judged based on how well the organisation did after the leader is gone.

Reference 

https://trainingindustry.com

https://daveshoenbeck.com

https://trinitasadvisors.com

linkendin.com

Articles 

Leadership Styles and Job Performance: A Literature Review (Mohammad Al-Maliki, Wang Juan, School of Economics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan China)

Leadership Styles (Nanjundeswarasamy T.S., Swany D.R., Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India)

Leadership Definitions Application for Lecturers’s Leadership Development (Reni Rosari, Faculty of Economies and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

SHORT NOTES: Leadership Themes and Styles

 LEADERSHIP THEORIES 

1. Great Men Theory 

- Thomas Carlyle (1847) claimed that leaders are born 

2. Traits Theory 

- Born leaders were endowed with certain physical traits and personality characteristics 

- Jenkins identified 2 traits; (a) emergent traits (heavily dependent upon heredity), (b) effectiveness traits (based on experience or learning)

3. Contingency Theories (Situational)

- recommended that no leadership style is precise 

- no single right way to lead 

- leaders have to adapt to the particular situation 

4. Style and Behaviour Theory 

- acknowledge the significance of certain necessary leadership skills 

- Yuhl (1989) introduces 3 leadership styles: (a) democratic leaders, (b) autocratic leaders, (c) laissez-faire leaders 

- Fiedler and House (1994) identified 2 additional leadership styles; (a) consideration structure, (b) commencing (initiating) structure 

5. Process Leadership Theory 

- Greenleaf 1970s) focuses include: (a) servant leadership, (b) learning organisation, (c) principal centred leadership, (d) charismatic leadership

6. Transactional Theory 

7. Transformational Theory 

LEADERSHIP STYLES 

1, Transformational Leadership Style

- comprises of 3 components:

- (a) contingent reward - focuses on achieving results 

- (b) management by acception (active) - have inherent trust in their workers to end the job to a satisfactory standard and avoid rocking the boat 

- (c) management by exception (passive) - avoid specific agreements, failure to provide goals and standards to achieve by staffs; waits for things to go wrong before taking action (Bass and Avolio, 2004)

2. Transformational Leadership Style

- (a) Idealised Influence (Charismatic) - attribute of a leader which inspires followers to take their leader as a role model 

- (b) Inspirational Motivation - encourages the employees in the organisational pursuit drawing the best out of them 

- (c) Intellectual Stimulation - measure the mentoring, coaching, morale, building strengths of individualise consideration i.e. display concern for their workers needs, and are equipped to boost and coach development of desired workplace 

Conclusion 

Leaders with essential traits will have the ability to take certain actions to be successful.  4 styles of leadership are established under optimal style of leadership:

- participating 

- delegating 

- selling 

- telling 

Reference 

Journal of resource development and management, vol. 16, 2016 - Zakeer Ahmed Khan Phd, Dr Allah Nawaz Irfanullah Khan Phd, Department of Public Administration, Gomel University, Deva Ismail Khan.

SHORT NOTES: Leadership - A Comprehensive Review

 Concept of leadership has evolved and developed over the years.  Most leadership research suggests that leadership is an important determinant of organisational effectiveness.  

THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP 

1. GREAT MEN THEORY AND TRAITS THEORY 

- Great Men Theory sought to identify the inherited traits leaders possessed that distinguished them from others.

- Traits Theory assumes that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership.

2. BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES 

- leaders become successful and effective according to what they actually do when dealing with subordinates 

- autocratic vs democratic behaviours

3. CONTINGENCIES (SITUATIONAL) THEORIES 

- different situations requires different leadership styles 

- i. Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership: relationships oriented; tasks oriented 

- ii. Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory 

- iii. House’s Path Goal Theory: 4 classifications of leadership i.e. supportive leadership; directive leadership; participative leadership; and achievements oriented leadership 

- iv. Vroom, Yetton and Jago’s Contingency Model 

4. CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP THEORIES 

- emerged around the 1980s

- new styles: charismatic leadership; transformational leadership; transactional leadership; servant leadership 

- transactional leadership motivates followers to perform their jobs; focuses on economy; focuses on who will better perform their jobs 

- Transactional leadership insists on satisfying the needs of their followers; has the ability of satisfying followers 

- servant leadership is where the key is ethical and caring behaviour; motivated by the intention to serve 

Reference 

A comprehensive review of literature, research and theoretical framework, Sait Revda Dinibutun 2020

Short Notes: LEADERSHIP IN THE ORGANISATION: A Conceptual Review (October 2018)

 Leadership is a must.  Hence there exists the need for a leader who can understand and handle the complexity and challenges of the world.  Thus arise the need for the leader to always improve the quality of their knowledge relating to leadership. Leader is a must figura in an organisation who has to know the clear vision and how to achieve goals.  Leadership is one of the most significant branch of management.

Transactional Leadership 

- emphasises the clarification of goals and work standards 

- focuses on tasks completion and employee compliance 

- the leaders rely quite heavily on organisational rewards and punishments to influence employees performance 

- motivate subordinates through the use contingent rewards, corrective actions and rule of enforcement 

- also capable of giving punishments for poor effort or unsatisfied outcomes 

- the thing is, this type of leadership causes short-term relationships between leaders and subordinates 

Transformational Leadership 

- leaders uphold the interests of employees 

- encourages subordinates, provides inspiration and motivation for subordinates to innovate and create positive change 

- this type of leadership creates long term relationships between leaders and subordinates 

- leader becomes a figure that is admired and imitated by the subordinates 

- subordinates are given space for expressing thoughts, and able to develop their thinking towards the future 

- they prioritise teamwork 

Reference 

researchgate.net

IT’S OKAY TO FALL, EVERYBODY FALLS DOWN

 People struggle at times from their failures.  Some people give up as soon as they fail.  But the main thing is how to get back up as soon as we fall.  Remember, getting up as soon as we fall is nothing new, it has been with us since the day we first learned to walk, run, cycle etc.

So, as we get older, do we really get back up right away when we fall?  The question is whether we are bold enough to get back up again when going through the downs of life.  Falling down is necessary to human life simply for the moment of standing back up.

Different people react differently to the fall.  Whatever it is, we need to make peace with the fact that we may fall many more times throughout our life.  For most of us, failing down carries a certain negative connotation, eliciting thoughts of pain and embarrassment.  But don’t forget that everyone falls.  The beauty is that without falling down, there is no getting back up again.

Falling is not failing, it’s just a part of success.  Falling teaches us about resilience, courage, and support.  It’s just as a steppingstone.  By falling it will teach us that we need to improve ourselves and our skills, and thus gaining new perspectives.

Just as falling down, failure and mistakes are part of our life.  It allows us the chance to grow, provide us with something to look back to, and subsequently something to learn from.

Notice that even in falling there exist a forward motion, so some say it’s still progress in the process.  Generally after falling, people walk a bit clearer, and much more aware of the surroundings.

The healing process:

1. Acknowledge the fall

2. Feel the fall 

3. Let go 

4. Admit the need for help 

5. Ask for help 

6. Accept help 

7. Make no judgement of the falling 

8. Self examination 

    - what serves us

    - what needs to stop 

    - where to start 

    - what we need more of

    - what we need less of 

9. Take a long term view to rebuilding 

10. Recognise the stages, layers of healing, and rebuilding to be done.

11. Aim for holistic wellness 

12. Create goals and milestones along the way 

13. Celebrate and mark progress 

14. Keep motivated for the long term 

Reference 

https://mike-robbins.com

https://edenbabel.com