Leaders are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, many people we call leaders are leaders in name only. It’s not that people have chosen to follow them; we must follow them because they are our supervisor or boss. If you want to be the kind of leader people want to follow then you must learn some basic leadership skills. Here are a few to get you started:

In order to be an effective leader you must act effectively.

Peter Drucker once wrote, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” While doing things correctly is mandatory, that doesn’t necessarily qualify you as an effective leader. An effective leader is one who has a vision for his organization and has a strategy in place for achieving that vision. What he or she does is governed by the priorities and goals that are an integral part of that strategy. By having a clear cut vision and understanding what must take place in order to pursue that vision an effective leader is able to tame the tyranny of the urgent and focus on the things which are truly important.

In order to be an effective leader you must embrace change.

I’ve always considered myself a progressive when it comes to the topic of change. However, as I have grown older, I have noticed myself becoming more resistant to change. This can be a danger for any leader. Our experience can be one of our notable strengths as long as it doesn’t blind us to the necessity of change. An effective leader is one who can objectively view suggestions of change and evaluate them under the microscope of his/her vision. Effective leaders recognize the fact we live in a time of rapid advancement in terms of technology, communication and many other areas that affect our businesses. Not all change is going to be beneficial for your business. However, once you have examined how a particular change can prove beneficial in the pursuit of your vision you should learn to embrace it passionately.

In order to be an effective leader you must own up to mistakes.

I recently watched an interview with an NFL quarterback of a team that had just experienced a loss. The interviewer asked him, “What does your team need to do in order to overcome the shortcomings we saw on the field today?” The quarterback responded something like this: “We had several issues today, but those are on me. And I’m already planning on ways to fix that.” As the leader who is championing the priorities and goals you have set you are destined to make some mistakes. How those mistakes are handled is what sets the effective leader apart from the mundane. Accepting responsibility and learning from those mistakes is crucial. Team members are much more inclined to follow the leader who accepts the responsibility for mistakes and shares the glory of successes rather than a leader who blames others when things go wrong and takes all the credit when things go right.

In order to be an effective leader you must not think too highly of yourself.

When you are an effective leader, people notice. Things are getting done. Goals are being met. The company is growing and much of it can be attributed to your leadership. However, the moment you begin to think too highly of yourself is the moment you become more susceptible to mistakes. Past successes can give us a sense of accomplishment and a healthy self-confidence that enables us to take strategic risks. But if that sense of accomplishment and self-confidence gives birth to pride we are in grave danger of losing the very perspective that enabled us to succeed in the first place. An effective leader is one who never loses sight of the importance of his/her team and values them just as highly as he/she values themselves.

There are many more traits that enable a person to become an effective leader. If you are interested in training your team to become effective leaders, contact Chris Mahan of the Mahan 9 Group and ask for more information regarding our Leadership Training Seminar which can be tailored specifically to your needs.

Effective managers understand they cannot afford to have control issues nor can they lead their team through micro-management. Managers who are at the top of their game have learned the art of delegation. Here are 7 tips to assist you in improving your management skills through the practice of delegation.

Understand what delegation is - and what it is not.

Delegation is much more than simply assigning projects to others. It includes providing the authority and latitude necessary to get the job done well. When delegating a task, make certain you provide the person to whom the task is delegated the right to make the decisions necessary in order to complete the task. Delegation also includes developing the members of your staff by challenging them and stretching them - encouraging them to develop their own set of talents and abilities. In so doing, you build up your staff enabling them with opportunities which allow them develop new knowledge and skills which will strengthen your entire team.

Communicate expectations clearly.

When delegating a project make certain you effectively communicate. You want to clearly identify the parameters and the purpose of the task in question as well as make certain those working on the project understand its importance. Clarify all deadlines including expected progress reports and final due date. Make certain the person assigned the task knows what authority they have to accomplish the task. Written expectations are always preferred to directions given orally.

Provide ongoing oversight without suffocation.

Just because you have moved the task off of your to-do list and on to someone else’s does not mean you can forget about it. You need to check up periodically on the progress being made. Make certain progress reports are delivered as scheduled. Make yourself available in the event the person working on the task has questions or needs direction. If the feedback provided indicates the task is off target, deal with it earlier rather than later. Yet all this must be done in a fashion that does not make the person assigned the task feel they are being suffocated or micromanaged. Your role is to ensure the project is being completed in an effective and timely manner not to dictate how this is to be accomplished.

Avoid becoming the place to go for an answer.

You are not helping your team to develop if you are always providing the answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. I remember how frustrating it was to go to my dad and ask for help with a math problem. My frustration occurred because I just wanted him to give me the answer. But he would make me work through the problem to discover the answer on my own. That same principal needs to be practiced when you delegate. If the person working on the task runs into a problem, don’t let them “upward delegate” by throwing the problem back in your lap for you to solve. Insist that when they come to you with a problem they also bring at least a couple of possible solutions that you can discuss.

Don’t fall into the trap thinking you could accomplish the task faster and better.

OK. Maybe you could. Remember, every time you assign a task to someone on your team and they successfully complete that task, they have gained experience which makes them a more valuable team member. So, yes, you probably could get the project completed faster and more competently today. However, the person you are training by delegating that task may be developing into the team member who can get that task done faster and better than you a year from now. So you must choose – do you want your team to be at the same competency level a year from now or do you want it to develop so, as a whole, it is much stronger in twelve months?

Banish the fear of becoming irrelevant.

Some managers do not want to delegate for fear their team members will develop their skills and abilities making the manager’s role irrelevant. That will only be true if you delegate all the work to your subordinates and do nothing with the time you have freed up in your own schedule. Remember, the main reason you delegate is to assign tasks that can be handled by others to others then use the time you have freed up working on those tasks which can best be accomplished by no one else but yourself. In so doing, your department becomes more productive and you are continuing to develop your skill set. Your superiors aren’t going to deem you irrelevant – they are going to recognize your achievements and the accomplishments of your team. Your value as a member of the company will increase, not decrease as you learn to effectively delegate.

Delegating requires strategic thinking.

As a manager you must know the strengths and weaknesses of your team members. When you delegate, you make those assignments based on which team members have the greatest capacity to succeed at the task at hand. You must plan ahead. Not only with regard to how much time each project will require, but by thinking through the projects you are going to delegate over time in order to enable each subordinate to develop their competence. By developing a strategic plan for delegation, you not only get the jobs done, you are also developing your team in the process.

Learning to delegate, and learning to do it strategically, can help you develop into a highly successful manager. Contact Chris Mahan of the Mahan 9 Group to set up a training event designed to assist your managers in developing the knowledge and skills necessary to delegate effectively.

Many feel that meetings not only waste a great deal of time but believe they are also are unproductive. Yet we still call, or get called to meetings. Here are a few points to consider when scheduling and chairing a meeting:

Start with an agenda/End with an action plan.

Every meeting should be administered according to an agenda. The agenda puts forth the reason for the meeting and lists what needs to be accomplished over the course of the meeting. Ideally, the agenda should be given to attendees prior to the meeting so they can come prepared – both mentally and with whatever resources they need in order to contribute to the topics to be covered. As each topic is addressed, tasks necessary to follow up on the agenda items must be assigned. These assignments form the action plan which is designed to ensure the meeting accomplishes the stated purpose(s). The action plan needs to include the tasks along with the names of those responsible for each task. It should also include a due date for each task.

Start on time/Stay on topic.

Always begin (and end) your meeting on time. If people are late, do not allow their entrance to interrupt the meeting in progress. Do not recap what has already been discussed. Do not acknowledge their tardiness in front of the group. If you consistently begin on time and show by your actions that latecomers are not given any preferential treatment you will discover that attendees will soon be present and ready to begin at the stated start time. (How to handle chronic latecomers, as well as how to handle the tardiness of superiors to your meetings will be discussed in another paper.) Once the meeting has begun, use the agenda to move through the topics to be discussed. Do not allow participants to hijack the meeting by initiating new topics or use existing topics as a springboard to a different issue. When you chair a meeting, you will find it necessary to interrupt participants who get off topic. You must do this! Inform them they can bring up their issue at the conclusion of the meeting if time allows or that you will put the topic on the agenda for the next meeting. Then redirect the conversation back to the topic at hand.

Limit participants.

Not everyone needs to attend every meeting. When you prepare the agenda, carefully think through each item and make a list of who needs to weigh in on a decision on that topic or who may have the resources you are going to need. You then use this list when determining who to invite to the meeting. Keep in mind what kind of decision you hope to arrive at and what tasks you will assign for follow up on each topic. This will help you as you decide who needs an invitation to attend. For instance, someone who may need to be present as an idea is finalized doesn’t necessarily have to be present during the incubation period of the idea. Limiting the number of attendees at a meeting will not only help to keep the meeting moving and short, but will also dramatically decrease the feelings people have of wasting time in a meeting.

Be aware of the surroundings.

Not every meeting should take place around a table. In fact, not every meeting should take place in a room with chairs. When setting up for your meeting, consider what kind of interaction you believe will help drive the meeting and make certain the surroundings provide the necessary atmosphere to enable that kind of interaction. A planning meeting where participants will be expected to type/write will require a table. A short meeting in which decisions will be made quickly without a great deal of discussion may best be handled in a standing only environment. Other issues related to surroundings would include the availability of necessary supplies/equipment and heating/cooling issues.

Make certain all participants are engaged.

Do not allow one or two attendees to dominate the meeting. If you notice there are participants who are not engaging in the discussion it is your responsibility to draw them in. There are many ways to do this including calling on them by name and asking for their thoughts or conducting the discussion in a fashion which requires each participant to speak when it is their turn. Spectators in meetings are much more likely to feel they are wasting their time than those who are actively engaged. And by receiving input from all participants rather than a select few you are much more likely to hear better ideas. If there are those in the meeting who attempt to do all the speaking, politely, but firmly let them know you’d like to hear from the others. If they don’t get the hint, go back to tip #3, make note of their behavior and don’t invite them to future meetings.

Give value to each meeting and to each participant.

One of the worst things you can do subsequent to a meeting is to not follow through. That’s why you develop the action plan prior to adjournment. If participants see their ideas and input evolve into to some form of action, they understand the time they invested in the meeting has value. It may also be a worthwhile investment on your part to touch base with a participant who shared ideas in the meeting which were not implemented. By letting them know they were heard they will be more apt to contribute again in future meetings. When participants believe a meeting has value and is not a waste of their time, they will be more likely to attend, be on time, come prepared and offer valuable contributions.

Why hire a professional writing service when you're perfectly capable of writing your own material? Here are just three things to consider before embarking on your own writing project.

Hiring a writer can save you time and money.

As a business owner or exec at a company, you bring your own special skill set to the table. It includes your personal strengths, training and experience. For some, that will include the ability to communicate clearly and concisely via the written word. However, for most, it does not. Many gifted workers would admit that writing is a tedious chore that eats into their time and depletes their energy. Think about your own experience. How many times have you sat before a blank computer screen, tasked with the responsibility to produce copy to be used in your company marketing or training? The blinking cursor appears to be mocking as you struggle to put on paper the thoughts swirling through your mind. You most likely were able to finally produce something - but at what cost? How long did it take you to write something satisfactorily? How much energy did it consume to produce the end product? What else could you have accomplished in the amount of time you struggled to write those few hundred words?

Outsourcing your writing needs frees you up to concentrate on the things you do best. You save time because a professional writer can produce the copy you require in less time than it would take you to do so and will usually produce a much higher grade product. You save money because, rather than wasting time struggling with a task for which you are ill-equipped you can focus on accomplishing the tasks for which you are uniquely suited.

Attention to Detail Matters!

If writing is not your forte and you struggle to put into words the ideas you have in your head, you are more likely to make spelling and/or grammatical errors as you write. Those mistakes do not go unnoticed by your co-workers or customers. While spelling may have little to nothing to do with successfully accomplishing the goal of your business, it can affect the way others perceive you and your business. A lack of attention in one area of your work may cause others to question if that same lack of attention to detail affects other areas as well. You want your clients to have the utmost confidence in your ability to provide excellent service or top quality products. In order to accomplish that, everything about your business needs to be as polished and professional as possible. For some, their first introduction to you is what they read in your marketing materials or on your website. That is why it needs to be well written.

The business person for whom writing is a hassle is already struggling just to get his or her ideas down in print. To have to go back over what they have written to ensure it is well written requires more time and more energy, thus costing them more time and money. A professional writer proofs their work and provides a finished product which reflects the quality the business owner wants to project.

Think Like a Client.

You live with your business day in and day out. You know your services and/or products as well as you know your own name. You can probably rattle off the benefits your products/services provide to your customers at a moment’s notice. But do you know how to think like your customer?

Hiring a professional writer brings with it the added advantage of another perspective. As the writer compiles the information you desire to communicate, he or she will typically ask questions as to how that information relates to the needs of your customers

 The writer will ask many of the same questions your clients would ask and then present the answers in a way your clients will understand and appreciate - in language they will easily comprehend, devoid of insiders jargon. The result is your copy is written more from a client’s perspective than from yours - answering the questions they are asking rather than providing details of little interest to them.


Writing is easy - if you don't care much about quality. Writing that is clear and concise is a much more difficult task. Unless the ability to write quality material is in your arsenal of skills, you should consider hiring a professional writing service to assist you and your business in achieving the success you seek.