Leadership Made Simple

Leadership Without Awareness - is it possible?

EdOakley — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:09:30 +0000

The foundational part of any management or leadership development or training or learning is awareness. Can we possibly be effective leaders if we are not fully conscious of what is going on around us?

I have to work hard every day on not ONLY being aware of the little things going on around me, but also to (more…)

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Take a Video Tour of Making Managers into Leaders Institute!

EdOakley — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:28:32 +0000

We are delighted to pull back the curtains of Making Managers into Leaders Institute for the first time for all our subscribers and Institute Members!

We would love to hear your comments after taking the tour.

Enjoy the tour! Come back and click on Making Managers into Leaders Institute for more information.

Please comment below!

The Enlightened Leadership Team & Making Managers into Leaders Institute

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ROI for Soft Skills Training

EdOakley — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:33:47 +0000

I was talking today with a former Director of Executive Development for a major company - one of the best companies to work for in the U.S. He reminded me of how his organization was able to calculate ROI for the Enlightened Leadership Solutions work we had done for him.

There is a friendly little challenge for you at the end of the 8 minute video.

Listen to it now and provide your comments!

What are your thoughts about the video, the ROI calculation and the challenge? Comment now, or send us an email.

Best regards,

Ed Oakley & the Enlightened Leadership Team

ps: Click on this link Making Managers into Leaders Institute for detailed information.

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The Experiment in Leadership Development Continues: Audios Want to Play Too!

EdOakley — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:01:03 +0000

Over the weekend, as I was thinking of special people I wanted as guest speakers for our Making Managers into Leaders Institute, I began to think of our own current and former facilitators, coaches and consultants. I had never realized it before, but I was able to quickly write down six of their names who have gone on to become authors in their own right. And there might be more.

That is so cool! It must be a little like the feeling of being a grandparent (I can only speculate at this point. :-)). But it is tremendously gratifying for me to realize that AT LEAST SIX OF OUR FACILITATORS HAVE NOW WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED THEIR OWN SUBSTANTIVE BOOKS! I can’t wait for them to start contributing value to our library of management/ leadership development content - helping you solve your management challenges!

One of those special talents is Stephen McGhee, who has recently written an excellent book, “Learning to Believe the Unbelievable: Living Life as a Miracle Leader.” We will ask Stephen do a video soon for Institute members about some of his profound insights about leadership and management, and also a longer webinar for additional depth.

Meanwhile, here is Stephen reporting what happened as a result of one of his team sessions several years ago:

Turn up your speakers and click here to hear the two minute audio.

This is one of 101 audio learning snippets already in the Making Managers into Leaders Institute. We’ll be sharing more about the Institute this week.

What are your questions or comments? We are eager to know what they are.

Ed Oakley and the Enlightened Leadership Team.

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Leadership Made Simple Named TOP 10 Leadership Blogs for 2008!

EdOakley — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:29:41 +0000

Wow, wait to you see who we’re being compared to. We’re honored and grateful!

Please VOTE now for the #1 Leadership Blog. While we hope you’ll vote for Leadership Made Simple, we just consider it a privilige to be on the same list as these others.

After scrolling down and experiencing some of the videos on our journal/blog, then go HERE to see the competition and VOTE!

We appreciate your support!

In gratitude,

The Enlightened Leadership Team

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Leadership Development Experiment: What are we up to?

EdOakley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:38:36 +0000

Ok, it is time to share with you what we are up to and where we are in our Leadership Development Experiment. You’ve had a profound impact on changing what we “thought” we were going to announce already. That’s really significant, because we have been working on this for quite a few months.

Before a formal announcement, however, we have some decisions to make and you can have a big impact on those decisions.

Please watch the video and make comments, or email us at contactus@enleadership.com with your input.

So, the four questions were:1. What input do you have about any part of what Ed shared?

2. What would be the value to you if, as a member, you solved just 3 of your management challenges in the next 3 months?

3. Given that value, what would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for the Silver membership?

4. What additional services for the premium level, the Gold level, would entice you to seriously consider upgrading to that?

Thanks for your continuing support as our team works hard to bring you the services you want and need!

The Enlightened Leadership Team

ps: Following is an approximate transcription of this video on”What are we up to?”:

So, just what are we up to? Thanks for your continuing comments and emails. They have had a profound effect on what we will be announcing, and I’d like to tell you more about what that will be. Here are some of the components:

1st, we have a 10-hour slide VIDEO COURSE on Making Managers Into Leaders that we are chopping up in a way that you could watch a 10 minute segment or a number of segments and go back and pick up where you were by segment. Watch multiple segments for 30-40-60 minutes whatever time you choose to spend in a sitting. Your choice!

2nd, we have about 100 brief (1 ½ – 5 minute) AUDIO LEARNING points and stories from numerous Enlightened Leadership staff and clients. They are categorized by things like:

•   Bringing Out the Best in People
•   Conflict Resolution
•   Effective Meetings
•   Problem-Solving
•   Etc.

Next, we have 25 or so ARTICLES—also categorized. Some people like the written word so we’re considering transcription of all audio/videos…but we’ll wait and let the members guide that decision.

As for videos, wow! The feedback you’ve given us has profoundly impacted this project. Here are some general conclusions: 1.) Keep them short, even shorter is OK.

2.) Have a handout.

3). Blend seeing the speaker and slides when it would help the visual. You have said so much about videos that we are committing to our members to create 3 NEW VIDEOS per month, with slides & speaker and a handout. We listened and are excited about this.

Next, we’ll have an online FORUM that is also divided into categories. This is where anyone can ask questions and get answers from other members and from Enlightened Leadership staff. Once there is a critical mass of information, just
scanning a category could very well provide ideas for a solution. Initially, we will seed the forum with questions that invite comments. The idea is to start valuable conversations and develop a significant community.

We will also use these forum questions, comments and conversations to guide our video topics—with Just-In-Time learning in mind.

Next, we’ll have a monthly RECORDED WEBINAR of 45-60 minutes in length on a specific leadership/management topic. Some of these will be Enlightened Leadership staff. Some will be guest experts and organizational leaders.

Now, pricing has been our greatest stumbling block. Many of you have mentioned the challenge you realized that we have. Remember my passion—I want to make a difference in as many lives as I can… So, I want to provide a service for an
investment that can be pretty easily justified by anyone who wants to solve people issues and develop their management/leadership skills.

So, where we are leaning on the pricing issue is a two-tier approach—with some services available to the Silver Tier and some reserved for the Gold Tier.

Now, here is the plan, but don’t hold us to it. We are just talking with you about possibilities. We want you to join the conversation and help us.

The plan is that the Silver membership level will include everything we have mentioned so far. I want to be sure you heard that—the Silver membership will include everything discussed in this communication. That I’m pretty clear about.

So, please give us some feedback while it is fresh in your mind.
• What input do you have about any of this?
• What would be the value to you if you could use this membership & solve just 3 key challenges over the first 3 months?
• Given that value, what would you be willing to pay on a monthly basis for a Silver membership?
• What other services could we offer to the Gold members that would entice you to seriously consider investing in that premium level?

That’s it, please email us at contactus@enleadership.com with your thoughts or comment on the journal posting. Or, you could even call us at 303-729-0540 (in the U.S. 1-800-798-9881).

Thanks in advance for your continuing support in helping us provide what you need!

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Management Skills vs Leadership Skills, or is it AND…?

EdOakley — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:45:07 +0000

Hi all,

We continue to be grateful for all your feedback via email and comments. While it’s tough to respond to them directly, you can bet we’re reading them all and LISTENING!

This video in our “Experiment in Leadership Development” series addresses how we see management and leadership and their importance to each other. It might be familar to Enlightened Leadership clients, but the example story might be new to you.

The format of this one is VERY DIFFERENT. Please give us your perspectives on it!

So, please give us your comments, and if you haven’t already, fill out the survey. All of this will make sure our future products/services better fit your needs.And yes, we are working hard on something to announce. We’re not trying to hide that, but frankly your input has us scampering back to make changes and improvements. We’ve delayed the project for quite a while because of your input. And we’re not complaining, because we want the final “product” to make a huge difference for you!I’ve personally never known very much about marketing, but the feedback you’re giving us beats any marketing survey I’ve personally ever seen. It’s like you’re really engaged in determining what we release. What a concept!Keep talking to us about your management skills development needs, and we’ll keep listening.

Appreciatively,

Ed Oakley & the Enlightened Leadership Solutions Team

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A Personal Message from Ed Oakley

EdOakley — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:25:44 +0000

We’ll have more of the content videos, and now Ed Oakley wants to share a bit of his personal story and some perspectives received from your comments so far. Please watch the video and provide your feedback and/or answer the survey.

Thanks for watching. Please give feedback below or respond to the survey.
We’ll communicate soon with another content-rich video,the Enlightened Leadership Team

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Leadership Development: Effective and Easy Performance Reviews

EdOakley — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:35:30 +0000

This is the third in the series of videos in our Leadership Development Experiment. This one is focused on accomplishing Performance Evaluations, Assessments, Appraisals or Reviews easily and effectively. It focuses on bringing out the best in the employee, while making it easy for you to do.

Our perspective is that if Performance Appraisals are easy AND effective, you’ll do them more often - resulting in even more performance improvement.

Check it out!
Share your thoughts and value below! Also, complete our survey and let us know of other topics you would like to see on video.
Best regards,
The Enlightened Leadership Team

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Leadership Development: the Power of Focus

EdOakley — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:06:07 +0000

Dear subscribers,

We are so appreciative of the quality and quantity of the feedback you gave us on the first content video in our Experiment in Leadership Development. You guys (and gals) are awesome!

Following is our second in the series of videos.

Where we as managers/leaders focus our attention and energy has a huge impact on the results we get through others - the point of management and leadership. It also impacts our own personal results, as this video will clarify.

Watch the video and give us feedback - please!

Now give us feedback below and let us know what you would like to see on a video by answering the survey at this link. What would you like to see a survey about?Our best to all,Ed Oakley & the Enlightened Leadership team ELS home website

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