Thank you to all of you who responded to last week’s leadership survey. The response has been amazing!

Your insights and sharing of information was great. I am really looking forward to sharing the results with you in my upcoming teleclasses. You have given me great ideas on what I can focus on to continue to provide you with valuable information for achieving your leadership goals!

For those of you who have not taken the survey, here’s your last chance. The survey will be closed this today August 27, 2008. Please take a few moments to complete the survey found at the link below. It is made up of 10 simple questions.

There is a special FREE BONUS for you upon completing this survey. Complete the survey and you will be immediately directed to the website where you will receive your FREE BONUS!

Click here for the Leadership Survey-
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=axTlevLnTF1SavijZ9VT3g_3d_3d

In line with my value of sharing knowledge creating power in others, I have been busy working on ways offer more leadership resources to you.  Over the last year I have been writing and writing about all my lessons learned, the tips and resources I want to share with you. The path to effective and powerful leadership develops over time and I have over 20 years of managerial and leadership experience to reflect on.

I am planning a Conversations with Leaders teleclass series where I invite respected and trusted leaders to speak with me in an interview on leadership. You will get to listen it and ask questions. I need your input and invite you to participate in a 10 question survey. This survey allows me to hear from you on the topics you would love to hear Leaders speak on.  Upon completion of the survey, you will find a gift waiting for you. Please take a moment and let me know your thoughts –

Click Here to take survey

The problem with being a leader, and a good one, is that people always expect you to lead. You forget sometimes that being a follower can be just as powerful. I was humbly reminded of this just recently as I made another life decision. I have chosen to accept an offer that came unexpectedly to be a follower. Well, sort of. . .

I am a member of the leadership team – Human Resources Director. What I love about this role are many things and two stand out:

1) the organization is not for profit with a commitment to serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community;

2) I still get to do what I love – coaching others, assisting others grow and putting systems in place to streamline processes; and,

Yes, I have the best of both worlds – I get to lead and to follow. My life will be simpler, less stressful, yet still rewarding with the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the life of others.

I am happy, not to say I was unhappy, how about I am happier!

This is also good news for you as now I will have more time to share more, speak out more and keep this blog rolling along. I hope you will join me in this conversation about “empowering passionate leadership” which I so dearly love. I want to inspire you to lead or to follow… in the way that has meaning for you.

Fearlessness and confidence are not just personality traits of passionate leaders – they are a way of life.  They approach all decisions with a swagger borne from past successes.  And each new personal or professional venture, even if it is a failure, is embraced like a lost child, and always welcomed home.

Passionate leaders are risk takers, and as such, invite the possibility – even the likelihood – of failure.  These leaders see a failure as nothing more than an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe.  It is but a learning tool, or a fork in the road.  Recovery for a passionate leader is swift, and direct, and focused.  Passionate leaders typically have several professional “eggs” in their basket so if one egg breaks, there are several more ready to hatch.  Perhaps the most remarkable facet of these leaders and their personal disappointments is how they quickly acknowledge the disappointment, mourn it briefly, and move on to the next grand opportunity. 

The passionate leader’s fearlessness is the catalyst for their success.  Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest professional basketball player to ever play the game, says “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”  An innate competitive fire coupled with remarkable competence inspire the passionate leader to “play through” the difficult times.

Passionate leaders derive great satisfaction not only from successful ventures, but also from giving every ounce of energy to the pursuit of a dream.  Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Airlines echoes those sentiments.  “We’ve got an engaging, edgy, vibrant, fun product.  It may or may not work, but we’re going to give it our best shot.”  The “Virgin” brand is known and respected globally, but Branson, like Jordan, can count many notable failures among all those successes.  Those failures were nothing more than speed bumps to an action adventure guy like Branson.  Passionate leaders overcome failure by never losing their momentum.  Failure may make them pause, but it never stops their forward progress.

You can read more about Richard Branson here

Passionate leaders who advocate or espouse working without a net are championing teambuilding and togetherness in the workplace.  The circus high wire performer who has no safety net is dependent on his coworkers and teammates to have all equipment in top working order.  This interdependency inspires each professional contributor to understand the value of their individual effort and its impact on the final outcome.  Likewise, today’s leaders understand that even though they may walk the corporate tightrope alone, their success depends on countless other lesser-known performers whose contributions are vital and essential.

Fearlessness and confidence are as contagious as any virus, and just as potent too.  The passionate leader who lives life this way, imparts these characteristics to coworkers and direct reports.  In the final analysis, these visionary “go to” players always want to take the final shot but always needs someone to pass the ball to them.  Their nose for career success and their competitive fire keep them on the cutting edge.  Their desire to share their next great adventure drives them to build and maintain great support teams.