Consider some prominent leaders and discuss how they inspired others to follow their vision?
Relate the Twelve Steps of Purposeful Action to the ways these leaders inspired others. Provide examples and references to support your comments.
This post was written by Brad Renter, who will lead the blog discussion for the week starting March 3.
A very good article on Vision and inspiration
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/nice_package_poetry_not_prose.html
What is a visionary? When we hear mention of such a person, it’s often in the context of talking about great deeds, brilliant insights and inspiring notions. Most of us, if called a visionary, would accept it as a compliment.
But what if someone said that you were often overtaken by impractical ideas, or that you seemed governed by the supernatural? That you were childish or foolish? Yet, if you look in your dictionary, these are some of the meanings you’ll find under the word “visionary.” And that’s exactly as it should be.
Children are masters of vision, imagination, and inspiration precisely because they’ve not strangled those gifts with so many rules about what’s acceptable or silly. They easily “make pretend,” create and envision. Vision is inseparable from impracticality; it’s fueled by creativity and inspiration, and in turn fuels and inspires others.
After all, if a thing were highly practical or utterly ordinary, it wouldn’t be very visionary, would it? Vision is inspired, as if by a source outside of our “business as usual” ways of thinking. Vision is the ability, or perhaps gift, to look beyond the ordinary and past the obvious, and imagine what might be possible.
Visionaries “see with their other eyes” and “hear with their other ears,” and are connected to a source of inspiration much higher and greater than their “smallest selves and minds” Visionaries light the way into higher and greater potential and possibilities.
It is a critical question-what are the roles of leaders in creative organizations? Based on an in-depth case study that includes examples of client work, Dimitris Lamproulis distills four vital mandates. Leaders articulate a vision. They foster a collective, open-minded approach to problem-solving. They nurture the overlap of work and personal activities to reaffirm the commitment to teamwork. Finally, they encourage innovation and an independent spirit.
Design companies within the competitive commercial world strive for continuous improvement through the best skills of their designers. Leadership, in this effort, is aimed at motivating staff to produce outstanding designs. But how do leaders actually achieve this? For answers, I turned to a leading multidisciplinary design firm located in Glasgow, UK, which I’ll call Axon Design. With a staff of 18, Axon has been in the market for 20 years, sustaining outstanding growth and completing projects for such clients as the Royal Bank of Scotland. I found that the essence of leadership can be distilled into four principles that enhance the actions and behavior of staff.
Leadership inspires an organizational vision.
Leaders inspire others with their vision. At Axon, the foundation of that vision is a belief in creativity and its ability to enrich the lives of clients, as well as designers. The result of this is a culture of respect for the ideas and knowledge of everyone on staff, and from that comes trust among employees and commitment to their efforts.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4143/is_200607/ai_n17173863
Leaders articulate a vision. They foster a collective, open-minded approach to problem-solving. They nurture the overlap of work and personal activities to reaffirm the commitment to teamwork. Finally, they encourage innovation and an independent spirit. Leadership inspires an organizational vision.
Leaders inspire others with their vision. At Axon, the foundation of that vision is a belief in creativity and its ability to enrich the lives of clients, as well as designers. The result of this is a culture of respect for the ideas and knowledge of everyone on staff, and from that comes trust among employees and commitment to their efforts.
Source http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4143/is_200607/ai_n17173863
Seems like we share the same thoughts and the same article.
Seven Steps For Changing The Ethical Culture Of An Organization
How can an organization, especially one facing ethical concerns such as those at the USOC, change its culture to one that promotes and rewards ethical behavior? ERC Principal Consultant Frank Navran identifies the following seven steps to organizational change:
1. State your position, philosophy or belief
2. Create formal organizational systems
3. Communicate expectations through informal (leadership) systems
4. Reinforce the policy through measurements and rewards
5. Implement communications and education strategies
6. Use response to critical events to underscore commitment
7. Avoid the perception of hidden agendas
Read more about these seven steps at:
/resources/article_detail.cfm?ID=785
hema,your points are really effective and excellent.It is critically important for the leader to be visible and ‘in the thick of things’, particularly at a time of crisis. More than ever, people need to see and hear the leader early and often throughout the crisis. (Good leaders already know that being seen and being accessible is an ongoing priority under all circumstances, but it is an imperative in times of crisis.) The leader’s presence alone provides morale-boosting confidence at a time when it is most needed.
Wow. These 7 steps seem very effective. Way to go Hema. But what do we exactly mean by the formal and informal systems in this case?
The many examples of leadership offer bothinspiration and insights into what makes an individual an effective leader. One’spast experiences–both personal and professional–contribute significantly to leadership attitude, style, and strategies. While there is no “one” style of
leadership that emerges as preferential, there are many components of differentleadership styles addressed in this chapter that offer strong guidance forcreating a self-style of leadership that is comfortable, creative, and effective.Key among research espoused by prominent leadership theorists is the need for leaders to know and understand their own strengths and weaknesses.
Very true Hema. It’s both your personal and professional life that directly affects you.