Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Cairo demanding a change in the Egyptian government. It appears to be a grass roots movement with no real leaders. Is it? That's something the world may, or may not ever know for sure. So, why do I bring it up? Because the situation in Egypt, and others like it, provide a very important lesson for leaders in any organization.

The idea of a leaderless movement sounds nice, but is most likely never what actually happens. Humans do tend to display a herd mentality which can make it difficult to identify the true leader. If people are sufficiently unhappy about something, it doesn't take much of a spark to get a protest started. Whether there was a clear leader at the beginning, one or several will probably emerge fairly quickly, and we may never see the people working behind the scenes. These national events should serve as a cautionary tale to organizational leaders. If leaders aren't paying attention to their people, small problems can quickly become big problems and a leader you may have never seen will emerge to lead the herd in revolt.

As most senior leaders know, in every organization there is an informal leadership structure that exists alongside the formal one. The power and effectiveness of informal leaders varies, but can be directly related to the organization's culture and the effectiveness of its formal leaders. Leaders ignore the informal structure at their own peril. When workers reach a sufficient level of unhappiness, the results can range from high turnover to violent and criminal activity. Though perhaps not obvious, the informal leaders will often be the ones who foment the unrest. Informal leaders are not all bad though. In fact, they can be the source of two very valuable benefits.

Implementing Change Management and Dealing With Resistance
By Asma Zaineb

Change Management is a vital and a complex task. It requires dealing with the "system" as well as people in an organization to be competitive in a fast-changing technological world. To execute change an organization requires managers who can provide strong guidance with outstanding managerial skills.

Once the management identifies and plans to inculcate change, the following steps need to be followed for successful implementation:

Step 1: Communicate the change: Communication acts as a mortar to implement the desired change. Communicate issues such as these need to be addressed by organizations:

1. What changes need to be implemented?
2. Why is change necessary?
3. What are the consequences for the organization and employees by not adapting to change?
4. What training needs will the organization provide?

By addressing the above concerns, employees can reduce unknown fear by reassuring the training availability for the new skills that need to be upgraded. In turn, it also acts as a motivational factor to implement change.

Step 2: Collate management and employees: This involves making managers and employees to voluntarily involve themselves in the change process. It requires enabling the manager to empower employees with the necessary learning according to the skill set that needs to be upgraded. Employees must participate in the learning program with enthusiasm and upgrade the required skill set.

Step 3: Reward through Performance Tracking: Track the performance of the new skills implemented in the change process. To enable people realize that they are making progress in this area, acknowledge the change accomplished. Divide the target goal into short-term goals. Reward and celebrate short-term successful goals. This will enable organizations to subdue their critics and negative thinkers for successful progress in implementing changes. This will enable employees to get motivated.

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Many of us feel, as leaders, that we have a difficult, sometimes even impossible job. There's never enough time, money, people, etc and the consequences of not getting the job done are unthinkable. But few will ever have the crushing responsibility for the very lives of great numbers of people. As a military commander in World War II, General Omar Bradley held the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers in his hands, knowing that the best decisions he could make would not prevent loss of life; that the best he could do is reduce that loss as much as possible. Our problems pale in significance.

Bradley has been recognized as one of the best military leaders in American history, and there is much a modern leader can learn from him. He is one of a very small handful of senior officers who built the U.S. Army into the organization which was able to win World War II. He understood how to get the best of people, even in the most impossible situations.

Like most autobiographies, A General's Life gives the reader insight into the author by starting with his early life, but this book also provides an interesting view of early 20th century America. For instance, in the first 14 years of his life, various diseases claimed three family members including his father and a younger brother. His father, a teacher, walked the six miles to school and back every day. He died of pneumonia in the winter of 1907-08.

Bradley guides the reader through more than 88 years of American history as it can only be told by an insider. His unabashed views of fellow senior leaders during the war, and after, shine an interesting, and very instructional light on leadership at the highest levels.

How do I formulate a strategic plan using a highly participatory method where all stakeholders are involved?

My approach to strategic planning addresses this issue. One of the first steps in the planning process involves creating a leadership team. The team is best made up of the leaders directly under the senior leader. There are two reasons for this. First, these are the people who will be responsible for accomplishing the organization's goals. Just as important though, this team ensures all parts of the organization are represented. Especially in larger organizations, it is rare that everyone knows everything about what the organization is doing.

If the organization is very small, it might be advisable to have everyone involved in the planning process; however, I don't recommend this for larger organizations. Though there was a popular movement some years ago to involve lower level workers in the planning process, I've found that doesn't work well and can actually be embarrassing and have a negative impact on those workers. Strategic planning is a leadership responsibility.

There is involvement at all levels though. Once the leadership teams determines goals and objectives, the members of that team should present those goals for which they are responsible to their own areas and solicit feedback from the people whose efforts will accomplish the goals. They are the experts and their input must be respected. Also, once the plan is complete, the entire organization should understand it's parts and, most importantly, clearly understand why they are important to making the plan a success.

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Chrysler built B-29's that bombed Japan, Mitsubishi built Zeros that tried to shoot them down. Both companies joined to form Diamond Star to build cars.

New Zealand was the first nation to allow women to vote.

When Gaius Caesar was a boy, Roman soldiers affectionately nicknamed him "little boots" for the boy-sized military footwear he sported. Unfortunately Gaius grew up and became emperor, incongruously retaining his boyhood diminutive. "Little boots" in Latin is "Caligula." As you may know, he was a bloodthirsty, sadistic fiend.

A chip of silicon a quarter-inch square has the capacity of the original 1949 ENIAC computer, which occupied a city block.

An apple, onion, and potato all have the same taste. The differences in flavor are caused by their smell. To prove this - pinch your nose and take a bite from each. They will all taste sweet.

Mr. Peanut was invented in 1916 by a Suffolk, Virginia schoolboy who won $5 in a design contest sponsored by Planters Peanuts.

It takes more than 500 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.

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