If you work in an international setting, it is not always easy to grasp every message conveyed or to share your thoughts and vision in a different language…
If you are not writing in a language that is yours, you have to get your point across all while being careful about what you say and how you say it.
Quillbot is an AI-based paraphrasing and grammar checking tool that guarantees a greater understanding and an adept communication style, tone and language.
If your writing is feeling flat or inappropriate for your audience, Quillbot helps you craft topic sentences from your own ideas and drafted arguments and keep the message of your sentence.
Furthermore, Quillbot provides the tools to refine your writing, vary your vocabulary by giving you several word options, and articulate your sentences in the style that you need whether your style leans towards formal, fluency, standard, creative or shorten.
This paraphrasing tool can even highlight grammar errors and include citations.
Finally, Quillbot facilitate your language improvement by providing feedback on the structure and sense of your sentences.
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Credibility, the quality or power to inspire trust and belief, is essential and strategic to career evolution.
Credibility is so difficult to acquire and to maintain but so quick and easy to lose.
Credibility is 45% how you look, 45% how you sound and 10% what you say.
In agreement with McCroskey, scholar in West Virginia University, there are five factors of credibility:
1. Competence
This quality is acquired when an employee has succeeded to champion the company’s vision, engage in innovation, focus on performance and results, and to build a high performance organization.
With competence, an employee is able to explain concept with the appropriate message and to calibrate a message to a specific listener.
Credibility is easily lost if someone:
Is not understanding or is reacting inappropriately to an issue at hand.
Is lacking better judgement in order to make the right decisions.
Reflects too long before making a decision.
2. Character
This quality is acquired when an employee has succeeded to foster a climate of innovation, to foster and model the company’s values.
Credibility is easily lost if someone:
Is lacking passion and drive for their work
Is arrogant. This character flaw can be corrected by changing your words when addressing your colleagues, expressing interest in them, asking for advice, listening more in conversations and sharing your personal weaknesses.
Cannot manage emotions very well.
Has it out for some people in their organization.
3. Composure
This quality is acquired when an employee has succeeded to manage workforce performance and delegate appropriately.
Credibility is easily lost if someone:
Is not timely (not punctual with deliveries, appears frantic and rushing,…).
Cannot manage emotions very well.
Maneuver their body language to manifest their belonging.
Decorate and manage their personal space.
Does not look the part by not applying the company’s dress code, by not grooming oneself when coming to work or even by not working out.
4. Sociability
This quality is acquired when an employee has succeeded to demonstrate interpersonal skills.
5. Extroversion
Extroversion as defined in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
This quality is acquired when an employee has succeeded to passionately drive the company’s strategy.
Review
So Smart But…: How Intelligent People Lose Credibility – And How They Can Get It Back by Allen K. Weiner is a self-development book is very relatable, accurate and was very difficult to read since I have met up with most of the scenarios and possess some of the corporate personality flaws discussed in this book.
Allen N. Weiner, in So Smart But…, provides tips on how to preserve and enhance your credibility in the workplace.
Furthermore, every argument is properly illustrated with realistic workplace scenario and is not gender biased.
According to Allen N. Weiner, to climb the social ladder, it seems that one needs to :
comply to too many non written rules, indicative of a rigid and intolerant society that is the corporate world. Is it possible to apply every single one of these rules to the cost of spreading oneself very thinly?
be likeable to succeed when, in my opinion, likeability can only take you so far. Indeed, in my experience, it is preferable and more effective to be respected in corporate culture because being liked puts you on equal footing with your pairs, constitutes additional emotional work and subjects you to fluctuating and random external opinion. Nevertheless, according to Allen N. Weiner, people who are not liked are trying to find excuses instead of trying to be liked.
Leadership is a collection of skills that need continual improvement, personal growth and learning.
Leadership requires a lot of self discipline and determination. It is important for leaders to open themselves up for improvement to start slow and fight their way up.
4. The law of navigation
Leaders need to effectively navigate their way through life, while knowing people are depending on them.
In order to give themselves the best chances at success, they:
Are realistic.
Have to stay focused and in control.
Have a solid vision for their destination.
Have enough visibility to change course in time if they want to.
Draw their itinerary from their past failures and successes.
Listen to what their team has to say.
Don’t make commitments lightly.
Plan the course of their action.
5. The law of E. F. Hutton
Leaders become real leaders thanks to their character, relationships, knowledge, experience, past successes and abilities. People will not follow you because of your position.
The law of E. F. Hutton helps you figure out who the real leader in the room really is.
To find the real leader, observe the reaction of the people in the room when the real leader speaks.
6. The law of solid ground
Leaders must communicate their character, exemplify their behavior, maintain their credibility and avoid breaking the trust of their followers.
When leaders make a mistake, they must quickly admit it and ask for forgiveness.
7. The law of respect
Leaders who are stronger and better leaders than their followers tend to gain respect.
8. The law of intuition
The law of intuition is a complex part of leadership, relies on instinct, facts and other factors.
Leaders who work with the law of intuition are able to sense a situation, to read people and themselves, to use their intuition to achieve their goals and to solve problems.
9. The law of magnetism
The law of magnetism states that who you are is who you attract.
Leaders who follow this law are able to attract the people who possess the same qualities as they do.
They attract people with same attitude, from the same generation and background, with the same values, life experiences and abilities.
Leaders who observe this law touch people emotionally, know how to communicate with people, connect with them and show that they care.
The more leaders work on the connection with their employees, the more employees are loyal and demonstrate a strong work ethic.
11. The law of the inner circle
The people in the leader’s inner circle will determine the leader’s potential.
Leaders understand that they cannot be a lone ranger and acknowledge the purpose and strengths of the inner circle.
12. The law of empowerment
Successful and secure leaders empower and believe in their team.
Those who don’t create a barrier that their employees cannot overcome.
13. The law of reproduction
The law of reproduction works in a way where only leaders are capable of developing leaders and by teaching them what they know.
Some leaders don’t develop other leaders because they don’t have time or because of their own insecurities.
14. The law of buy in
People buy into leaders who have a vision.
If they don’t like the leader or the vision, they get another leader.
If the leader is credible, then people believe that the vision is credible as well.
15. The law of victory
Leaders who observe this law refuse defeat, dedicate themselves to victory and find a way to achieve success.
16. The law of the big mo
Leaders understand that to create change they need to create momentum.
Momentum is contagious, improves performance and makes the leader look good.
17. The law of priorities
Leaders spend their time prioritizing and recognize that doing more does not equate success.
They use the Pareto principle and the three Rs( requirement, return, reward).
18. The law of sacrifice
Sometimes, leaders have to sacrifice themselves to succeed and to gain opportunities.
The higher you go up on the ladder, the more you have to sacrifice.
19. The law of timing
Successful leaders read situations, recognize when to lead and when to take the right action at the right time.
20. The law of explosive growth
Potential leaders are hard to find and to attract but leaders who develop other leaders multiply growth within their organization.
21. The law of legacy
Leaders who leave a legacy lead with tomorrow in mind, make developing other leaders as part of the culture, sacrifice for future success and pass on the torch.
Review
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow is an easy to read leadership development book.
In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow, John C. Maxwell makes a list of 21 laws of leadership to help people better themselves and their organization.
These laws are the universal foundation for every area of your life. They can be learnt, be in standalone, have serious consequences, be practiced on a daily basis.
Maxwell has spent most of his life in leadership position. So, he entertains us with uncommon, historical and adventurous examples that everyone can relate to.
Finally, he encourages leaders to learn and go apply what they learnt.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Leadership is complicated. It has many facets: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing—the list goes on. As you can see, many factors that come into play in leadership are intangible. That’s why leaders require so much seasoning to be effective.
The good news is that your leadership ability is not static. No matter where you’re starting from, you can get better.
The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader, and then the dream.
MANY PEOPLE TODAY WANT TO CLIMB UP THE CORPORATE LADDER BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAT FREEDOM AND POWER ARE THE PRIZES WAITING AT THE TOP. THEY DON’T REALIZE THAT THE TRUE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP IS REALLY SACRIFICE.
Most Millennials and Gen Z require more out of the companies they are affiliated with.
They demand a healthy relationship with their work.
They pay closely attention to their purpose within their role, to their leadership, to what their organization does and most importantly why they do it.
What is Shared Purpose?
Shared purpose is the reason why a company, leaders, teams matter and should bond together.
Shared purpose relates to a personal mission statement, to core values, to personal motivation, to a given motivation.
Shared purpose allows for deeper understanding of overall objectives, clearer expectations of performance and code of conduct, stronger resilience in the face of adversity, job satisfaction on all levels, and better team engagement and alignment.
Need support or want to land a leadership position? Check out our website or join our weekly training program!
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Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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The term “Ambitions” refers to your goals, dreams, purpose and your desires to achieve success…
Achieving your ambitions is not given to everyone.
It becomes essential to prepare yourself for your dreams, to plan for success and for obstacles.
1. Prepare yourself for your dreams
To prepare yourself for your dreams, you have to gain in self-awareness. Who are you? Where are you? What do you want?These 3 questions will help you identify and pursue your ambitions, gain in confidence and in clarity.
Indeed, before going after your dreams, you must be honest with yourself, understand who you truly are and your motivations for your actions.
You have to look past your fears, failures and negative emotions. What is going on underneath the surface?
To find out where you are going, it is important to assess your current situation so you know what to modify and what to improve on.
Furthermore, to figure out what you want in the long run, you have to look at everything that you have done and curated for yourself so far.
2. Plan for your dreams
Now that you know yourself better, it is time to size up your ambitions and put them into context. Does your ambition have a specific meaning? Does it have a long life shelf? Is it in service to others? Will it create a legacy? Is is feasible?
It becomes detrimental to plan for your dreams and then plan some more.
You don’t have to rush through the process.
Instead, you can identify yourself as a student and be a student of life.
Your curiosity will probe you to ask a lot of questions, especially to the people you admire.
3. Remove potential obstacles
There will be many obstacles in your way but you really have to keep at it. When you think you have remove all obstacles, expect some more.
You may have to explore various opportunities and endure different experiences before attaining your goals.
You will have to learn to find people you trust, to move forward when you fail, to select the right opportunities and to preserve your time and energy.
In addition, you will have to get rid of the habits, limiting beliefs and patterns that hold you back. Needless to say, your fears won’t go away on their own.
In case you fail, plan your response to the failure, admit it and be proud for going after your dreams. Failure happens and you must resist the urge to give up.
4. Act on your dreams
You don’t have it all figured out but now you are more self-aware, knowledgeable about your dreams and have a plan. You can start working on your dreams and downloading them into reality.
To stay on track of your dreams, you have to learn to say no respectfully and effectively.
Then, you can use your current ambition to build up another one and your failures to focus on your next move.
Furthermore, some ambitions are easy to achieve and others aren’t. Acting on your dreams requires that you make yourself available to people and opportunities that fit your ambitions.
To pursue your ambitions, you are going to need a strong community around you to keep you sane and on track.
To find a community, you have to get to know people, take up genuine interest in others and their ambitions, be available and present.
There is no need to compare yourself to others, to seek outside validation or permission. There are a million different ways to achieve your goals.
Review
Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It by Bob Goff is written for people who always suspected that there is more to their life, who wish to acquire success principles, to make real moves, who are serious about their dreams and want to advance them.
Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It will help you reframe your mindset, especially if you are used to dreaming or having your dreams shut down. It doesn’t have all the answers but definitely motivates and shares good success principles.
Using his personal experiences as support, Bob Goff does not introduce us to new life principles.
However, he provides us with a different, positive and sincere perspective on success that can inspire people.
It is strongly faith-based. Even though your system of belief lies elsewhere, you can always extract valuable principles from this book.
This book will help you get unstuck, on your way to executing your dreams and tending to your own fire.
Never give up on your dreams!
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Make no mistake, identifying and pursuing your ambitions is going to take a lot of courage and clarity.
[…]there is massive power in self-awareness. Don’t overlook or underestimate it. It’s not indulgent to spend some time reflecting on your life; in fact, it’s foolish not to.
Life can be delightfully wonderful, and it can also be punishingly difficult.
The path to your ambitions is not one long race; it’s a series of wind sprints that eventually covers the distance of a marathon.
Who you are right now is an accumulation of all you’ve done and all that’s happened to you. Some beliefs have limited you; perhaps you’ll discover more that will launch you.
It is also one of the most contemporaneous and most talked about topic…
Below, we have gathered 20 of the most classic quotes about leadership.
1. You are what you believe yourself to be. – Paulo Coelho
2. Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – Albert Einstein
3. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. – Stephen Covey
4. Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. –Â Og Mandino
5. Take action, an inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention. –Â Steve Maraboli
6. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – Mary Engelbreit
7. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius
8. I walk slowly but never backwards. – Abraham Lincoln
9. The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. – Bruce Lee
10. Well done is better than well said. – Benjamin Franklin
11. I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not trying. – Jay-Z
12. Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. –Â Og Mandino
13. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. – Mark Twain
14. If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. – Henry Ford
15. Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you. – Jim Rohn
16. I like criticism. It makes you strong. – LeBron James
17. When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful. – Eric Thomas
18. Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise. – Kobe Bryant
19. You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated. – Maya Angelou
20. Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. – Confucius
Last Words Of Advice!
The principles of leadership have been studied for a long time.Â
These leadership quotes are meant to inspire you, conquer your circumstances and keep moving forward.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
Your First Leadership Job: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others acknowledges the hardship of a first-time leadership position plus strives to guide and assist new leaders in:
Becoming “Catalyst Leaders”. “Catalyst leaders represent the gold standard—energetic, supportive, forward-thinking mentors who spark action in others”.
Coping with the transition from contributor to leader, dealing with the uncertainty of the new position
Building or improving leadership skills,
Communicating effectively with your team and your bosses,
Working with members of your team, coaching them, engaging with them and motivating them in order to obtain results,
Navigating organizational politics.
Several self-assessment tests, quizzes and diagnostics are implemented in the book to make light of a challenging situation, to evaluate and enhance your leadership skills.
According to YourFirst LeadershipJob, the catalyst leader should follow the following steps to ensure success:
Learn your organization’s culture and get to know your team and your bosses toget a better understanding of your role, your priorities, the expectations from your team and from upper management, the current reputation of your team, their preferred communication methods and finally, their good and bad habits.
Make a first good impression themoment you step into your new role. Judgement by your team will instantly be formed about your capabilities to lead.
Develop a leadership brand. In order to develop a leadership brand, be authentic (show your integrity through your actions), bring out the best in people (understand and improve your team skills, encourage, motivate and coach them), be receptive to feedback.
Address and meet your team personal needs. To do so, use the five KeyPrinciples: Maintain or enhance self-esteem motivate the team. Listen and respond with empathy to diffuse negative energy and create a positive environment.Ask for help and encourage involvement to show that you respect and value your team’s opinion, knowledge and skills.Share thoughts, feelings, and rationale to build trust. (to build trust)Provide support without removing responsibility. (to build ownership)
Implement or improve your common leadership interaction styles.
Start seeking performance results and meeting the company’s requirements/needs by developing an execution strategy (focus on the three major priorities at a time, manage time accordingly and measure task progress with indicators, create milestone for the team, by holding your team accountable for their own results)
Learn how to hire new candidates for a job by asking the right questions during the interview.
Develop a good working relationship with your boss.
Master meetings and make them meaningful. Your ability to lead will be estimated by your ability to organize and run a meeting.
Give positive or developmental feedback.
Learn to handle difficult employees.
Delegate tasks and the authority associated to the task accordingly to achieve results faster and more effectively. Delegating also helps to save up your time for higher priorities a tasks.
Review
YourFirst LeadershipJob: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others by Tacy M. Byham and Richard S. Wellins is a self-help book destined to potential, first-time or frontline leaders.
YourFirst LeadershipJob: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others is a clear and methodical how-to book that does not only define leadership but also shares tips on how to become a “Catalyst Leader” and how to withstand challenging situations that most first-time leaders encounter.
I largely recommend it to introverted, shy, unexpected leaders who don’t always know how to navigate office politics along to women who are ambitious but not confident in their leadership skills.
For my part, as an introvert and a woman, I have been in three unofficial leadership positions that started successfully but ended in failure. Before reading this book, I was not able to pinpoint my weaknesses nor able to fix my situation.
YourFirst LeadershipJob has been resourceful, reassuring and has given me hope that I can still pursue my journey towards leadership. I now have a positive perspective on my experiences.
As a result, I am currently learning how to earn my team’s trust, convey a message and share a vision with my team.
Favorite quote(s)
“Catalyst leaders represent the gold standard—energetic, supportive, forward-thinking mentors who spark action in others”.
Earlier in this book we pointed out that what makes you a successful leader may have nothing to do with what made you successful in the past. The challenges you face as a leader are much different—and they can be extra tough.
Thoughts, positive or negative, influence our character, our behavior, our vision, how we deal with setbacks, how we build and maintain relationships, has direct impact on our body and health, emotions…
For instance, negative thoughts affect our daily lives more than we think and can send us down a spiral of despair, depression, insecurity, anxiety and self-sabotage.
Needless to say, most people want to improve themselves, to evolve, to get ahead in their work life but have a tendency to welcome negative thoughts or ignore how to shut them down.
Unfortunately, they end up hindering their accomplishments and career advancements.
That is why it is necessary to control the damage caused by our mind, to discipline our thoughts and emotions, to build up a robust positive attitude and to find peace of mind.
Wondering how to process and control negative thoughts, emotions and how to use a positive mindset to get ahead at work?
Thoughts automatically appear in our mind. They come from past experiences and from the fact that we believe what people have previously said about us. They can be brought up by a word, an image or a memory and employ torture words that decrease our self-esteem, worsens situations, such as “should”, “must” and “have to”.
Because they are spontaneous, we think that they are true. In the long run, thoughts sometimes become rigid beliefs, absolute truths.
Therefore, it becomes an imperative to gain control over them. Disciplining your mind, controlling your thoughts and generating emotions regardless of your environment, regardless the level of attack help you become more mature, make healthier decisions, become more creative, escape, heal bad memories.
Maintaining A Positive Mindset
Positive attitudes can become difficult to maintain in challenging situations in the workplace. But once acquired, it is a habit that can help you overcome bad situations.
Indeed, positivity ensures progress, diffuses situations, alleviates stress, reduces fear, increases endurance, increase self-esteem, attracts positive results and better opportunities. It requires inner work and is independent of external circumstances of the outcome.
There are many ways to bring positivity into the workplace and to your mindset.
1. Identify the source of your thoughtsÂ
Identify the source of your thoughts and check the memories that you store in your brain.
Be selective about the information that come into your mind.
Stay away from the news because they will negatively affect you.
Have a joke of the day and send it to people who matter to you. Watch shows, listen to podcasts, audio books that will uplift you, inspire you and motivate you.
2. Identify triggers, patterns in your thought process
Identify triggers, patterns in your thought process.
How do they start? What my thoughts say about me? What are the consequences of my thoughts? What do you say regularly to yourself?
3. Be aware of the content of your thoughts
At some point, you must be aware of the content of your thoughts.
Therefore, you will be able to interrupt them whenever they don’t help you, to delete the negative ones and replace them with forward-looking ones. Changing thought patterns is difficult because our brain generally resist change.
4. Understand that you are not the prisoner of your thoughts
When you understand that you are not the prisoner of your thoughts, you will eventually become the one to change the atmosphere in the workplace, won’t allow the environment to drain you or define who you are and won’t let someone else control your behavior.
5. Think about who you want to become
It helps to:
Think about who you want to become and how you want to affect people.
Write down 5 dreams that you have ever have, find 5 words to describe yourself and think about it several a day.
6. Select and force your brain to redirect negative thoughts
When faced with negativity, select and force your brain to redirect negative thoughts toward more pleasant alternatives.
For example, think about the opposite of the negative thought, attach constructive emotions to an outcome, visualize a positive outcome for the situation or visualize the perfect life every day before you got to bed and everyday when you wake up.
7. Focus on what is going right
What’s going right for you?
Focus on what is going right instead of what is going wrong.
People give negative emotions more importance than the positive ones, which conditions our brain to bring up negative thoughts automatically and repetitively for a long period of time.
You have the power to choose and train your brain to give positive emotions more attention.
8. Accept the present moment
Improving your thoughts reside in accepting the present moment and understanding that it is inevitable.
How to focus and stay in the present? Understand that panicking and worrying is useless, that the past is unchangeable and the future uncontrollable, that every experiences have made you who you are today.
9. Give your thoughts a name
Give your thoughts a name and call them out whenever they send us down a negative spiral and challenge every single thought by speaking them out loud.
10. Be grateful
It is easy to complain and whine, so be grateful that you have a job and show appreciation in your contribution.
Get up early and work out before going to work to seize the day and release the endorphins throughout the day.
13. Create a positive work zone
Create a positive work zone by insulating yourself with headphones for example.
Also, avoid gossip at all cost, put up motivational objects around your desk.
Take regular breaks from your cubicle to stop thinking, to meditate and go to the bathroom.
14. Create a better work life balance
It becomes essential to create a better work life balance to protect your home life.
So, leave the drama at work, be strict with your hours, avoid staying late and taking work at home!
15. Behave positively as well
Meaning fake it until you make it…
16. Separate yourself from the negativity
Sooner or later, you will have to separate yourself from the negativity and surround yourself with open-minded people with a positive mindset.
One way would be to stick positive quotes on your wall of your cubicle or on your desk.
17. Change your surroundings
Take a class after work or find a hobby so you have something to look forward to at the end of the day.
18. Find better!
Finally, if this environment isn’t working out the way you want to, you can always discreetly find a more comfortable and productive workplace.
Last Words Of Advice!
There is a need for Positive Leadership.
Positive leaders have a moral compass, are purpose driven, communicate effectively, exhibit integrity and provide emotional safety.
Because they inject good energy into the team, they instill an atmosphere of trust and openness they rip enthusiasm, motivation, transparency from their team.
Positive leaders are able to impact their company culture, improve results, increase performance and enhance job satisfaction.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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