Finding the keys to great leadership (Web Sight, April 8, 2002)

It continues to be one of the hottest topics in the business world, management and leadership. There are countless questions about what it takes to be a good and effective manager, the kind that will convince employees to not only stay with your organization but hopefully give their maximum effort. Have a look at these Web sites and see if we can’t answer at least some of these questions.

Born or bred
www.managementfirst.com/articles/key_leadership.htm

“Leadership: key issues and best practices,” is an article by the European Foundation for Management Development. Questions considered include: What does it take to develop tomorrow’s leaders? Are leaders born or bred? What type of development did today’s leaders have? A brief but interesting read.

A critical talent for leaders
www.jboyett.com/mgt.htm

Joseph and Jimmie Boyett are the authors of The Guru Guide. This site might be considered a lengthy advertisement for the book, however, given the volume of insights presented, it’s worth a visit. Questions considered include: What is the one critical talent all leaders must possess? What is the secret of building winning teams? How do I motivate my people?

Growing leaders
www.pwcglobal.com

This article is a little tough to get to directly. But from the PwC homepage enter “Growing leaders” in the search engine. One of the hits you’ll get is for an article by Rose-Marie Brandwein, which provides excerpts from her book Growing leaders. Seven leadership challenges are identified including lack of a clear vision, the inability to initiate and sustain change and my personal favourite “conflicting messages.”

Leading in the public sector
http://leadership.gc.ca/menu_e.asp

This site is run by the Treasury Board Secretariat and therefore intended for leaders in the federal public service. While the cynical will wonder what kind of success they are having, there is some interesting reading here. By clicking on “All about leadership” from the navigation bar on the left and then clicking on “Readers corner,” users will be taken to a list of interesting articles on leadership. There is also a link to some leadership assessment tools and a look at leadership competencies for assistant deputy ministers and senior executives. Equally applicable to the private sector, this list includes: visioning, organizational awareness and communication.

Women leaders
www.catalystwomen.org/Press_Room/factsheets/factsclosinggap.htm

Catalyst is the non-profit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business and the professions. This “fact sheet” presents some interesting perspectives on the issues relating to the development of female leaders. In particular, attention must be paid to the issue of balancing work and personal interests, since the next generation of Canadians are very interested in striking this balance.

Management according to the Financial Times
www.ftmastering.com

The Financial Times regularly runs articles about management with its online edition (www.ft.com) but the giant of the business press industry has also produced this useful site to bring “readers the latest ideas on management and other key business topics in a structured, comprehensive and highly accessible format.” To get full access, you’ll have to subscribe but there are some freebies like a comprehensive list of links to business schools from around the world.

Researching issues for managers
www.gallupjournal.com

The Gallup Management Journal is the product of research, consultancy and pollster Gallup, and offers a slew of articles on management issues that HR professionals can disseminate to their executives and managers. The insight comes with a price, as members’ only restrictions on site material will likely encourage you to take out a subscription to the site if you find the info of value. Check it out if you don’t mind paying.

Management 101
http://management.about.com

A wealth of useful links and interesting information and helpful tips for managers. There is a Management 101 intro piece and advice for beginning managers. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find an article on management lessons learned from the television show Survivor. Another article explains how managers can find out if their employees trust them and if they should care. If you can put up with the annoying pop-up advertisements, you will find this a useful stop.

Joe Nunes is an actuary and president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. in Oakville, Ont. He can be reached at (905) 257-2038 or [email protected].

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