I had the privilege of speaking to Zig Ziglar not long ago. He asked me if I had written a book and I said yes, I had. Next he asked, if the book contained lots of encouragement? I had to think about that. Yes, I think the book is encouraging; after all, it helps leaders succeed at strategic planning and avoid the many models that are hard to implement and often fail. That's encouraging. But, did I set out to write a book that was full of encouragement? I must admit that wasn't something I had really thought about.

As I considered that question, it occurred to me it also pertained to leaders. As a leader, are you encouraging? Do you approach others with lots of encouragement? If you understand individual motivation, you know that true motivation is internal, not external. As a leader you cannot really motivate your people. What you can, and must do, is help them realize and act upon their own internal motivation.

Too often leaders and leadership "experts" concentrate on external factors to motivate people. Such things as pay, compensation, time-off, and the great pile of other incentives are held up as the way to really motivate workers. While most people probably appreciate them, these incentives don't really have the motivational effect many think they do. Only when workers are challenged and provided with opportunities to improve and accomplish can they realize that internal motivation. When that internal motivation is activated, the worker becomes more productive, more engaged, and certainly more valuable to the organization.

That's where encouragement comes in.

The Seven Skills of Resiliency
By Georgia Feiste

Resilience is the ability to persevere and adapt when the twists and turns of life go amiss. We all need resilience. It is the key to success at work and satisfaction with your life. Some think it is the basic ingredient to happiness and success, preparing us to emotionally or psychologically handle adversity, which means facing our situations bravely and with confidence, rather than giving up and feeling helpless.

Research has shown seven major factors contributing to the development and strengthening of resilience.

1. Pay attention to your thoughts. If your thoughts about the situation you are facing are inaccurate, your ability to respond effectively will be severely compromised. It's important to identify your "self-talk" when faced with a challenge, and understand how it affects your state of being - your behavior and feelings.
2. Shun thinking traps. Aaron Beck, the "father" of cognitive therapy, revealed seven thinking traps that make people particularly vulnerable to depression. a) Jumping to conclusions; b) tunnel vision based on a biased view of the entire situation; c) amplification of negative events and diminishment of positive events, or vice versa; d) making things personal, automatically blaming yourself when things go awry, or the flip side; e) blaming others when things go wrong, becoming the angry victim; f) oversimplification - always and everything generalizations; g) mind reading - assuming you know what the other person is thinking. Let's add an eighth - h) emotional reasoning, measuring reality against the emotions you feel at the moment.
3. Deeply held beliefs. These are ideas about how people and the world should operate, who they are and who they want to be. Often these values guide us in behaving in ways true to ourselves, but sometimes they get in the way of our ability to live the kind of life we want and explain why we react the way we do.

Read this article...

Acquiring all the books written by U.S. presidents would result in a surprisingly small collection. Though there are some anthologies of presidential papers and speeches from the 19th century, true autobiographies are rare, the most notable being that of Ulysses S. Grant. That's all changed beginning with Harry S. Truman. In fact, since Truman, every president with the obvious exception of John F. Kennedy, has written some sort of post-presidential memoir. Their writings provide an interesting look behind the fence of the White House and into the rarified atmosphere that is the U.S. presidency.

Of course, past presidents seem quite interested in their legacy and might be accused of writing memoirs to burnish their image as they fade into history. As an amateur student of history, I enjoy reading these books; but, to me their real value is the portrayal of what is certainly one of the most difficult and unique leadership challenges any person can shoulder.

The reader of an autobiography must always keep in mind that the work is written by the subject, and therefore must be critically analyzed. Presidential autobiographies have an additional problem in that the author knows details about the events they relate that must be forever withheld from the general public. With these cautions in mind, I read Decision Points by George W. Bush.

President Bush took office under a cloud. The election of 2000 was a trying experience for the candidates in particular and the country as a whole. Though this cloud would stay with his presidency for the entire eight years, to his credit Bush did not let it sway his agenda. That agenda was to push for education reform - until September 11, 2001.

As Bush details the events that followed that historic day the heavy weight of leadership clearly emerges. He explains his thoughts immediately following the attack and why he took the actions he did. He demonstrated that a leader is most effective when able to remain outwardly calm and remember that people are relying on him or her for thoughtful leadership.

Many other events happened during the Bush years and he is refreshingly honest about what he feels he didn't do well. In discussing Hurricane Katrina and the devastation the Gulf Coast, he clearly lays out the mistakes that were made, including his decision to fly over New Orleans, instead of landing. Again, his explanation provides a good lesson for leaders.

What is the biggest impediment a leader faces?

In my experience, the biggest impediment most leaders face is themselves. Of course it's easy to blame other things for leadership difficulties. There's always the lack of training, a bad boss, incompetent staff, etc. Leaders who make the effort to learn leadership, understand their people, and apply the basic principles are usually successful.

Please send your comments to comments@planleadexcel.com

The first crew occupied the International Space Station in 2000. There has been a continuous human presence in space ever since.

In 1947 the United Kingdom launched fruit flies into space aboard a V2 rocket. The little pests became the first living creatures in space.

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another celestial body: the moon. In 1972 Eugene Cernan became the last human to set foot on another celestial body.

A total of 38 nations can boast having put astronauts into space.

Russian Sergie Kirkalev holds the record for the longest time spent in space at 803 days.

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