Leadership is a quality we don’t all possess but it is one we can acquire. Many of us believe that it can only be something inherent but we can work on achieving it. Developing self confidence leads to feeling good about ourselves. To develop such confidence means being good at something or feeling valued for something we do. The army has, for instance warrior leadership courses to encourage the leadership skills needed to lead men in battle… We may be involved in, say, voluntary work and be valued for our work in community leadership. Such leadership skills are needed in every sphere of life. They are needed in the office and in sports and social clubs. It doesn’t mean being bossy, though, it means leading by example. It means giving encouragement to those who need it. A good leader convinces his followers that they are worthwhile people and shows them the vision of just what is possible in life.

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Now is the time for managers to be motivational. Ina time of deep economic depression we all need words of encouragement to overcome the problems faced by companies today. Most of us will always remember it when someone pays us a sincere compliment. We will remember it too when someone makes a suggestion that resonates with us. So words are critically important and in the work context they need to be motivational words. You might tell your staff how important it is to target your customers or how necessary it is to accept the challenge of change in business. You might share your belief that companies don’t succeed in business, people do. You could talk about cutting company costs or explain how important it is to make innovation your business. In other words what you should say to your staff should be about changed attitudes and different approaches. The recession won’t just go away. We have to find ways of overcoming it and managers need to motivate their staff to work with them for the benefit of all.

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Have you ever looked at something upside down? Whatever it is will look different to when it is the right way up. The same applies to your life. Look at things differently and you will be surprised at the result. We are living in harsh economic times and the outlook can look very bleak. Perhaps by looking at it from a different angle you could find that there are positives that can be taken from tough times. Taking things differently is another way of saying, “Open your mind.” It means being receptive to new ideas and a different outlook. It means seeing the positives rather than the negatives. Instead of things being black and white they may prove to be bright and colourful. It’s hard to change well established patterns of behaviour. It’s difficult to do things in new ways. It’s difficult too to change your mindset but it can be very productive. It’s up to you. Look at things differently and you may find it’s well worthwhile.

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Clear communications count. That’s true whether you are in a business or a family situation. If you are a public speaker, of course, it is even more important. When you give a speech your values, your principles or your goals have to be communicated clearly and concisely. That means that you have to prepare what you want to say so that it is clear in your own head before you start to speak. It means that you have to speak aloud clearly and, if necessary, use a microphone properly. Lack of such communications can cause havoc and it is no wonder that induction courses often stress the need for one person to give a message and the other to repeat it back to ensure that he has heard it as it was said. Quite often people only hear what they want to hear. So when you are ending your speech you have to ensure that you repeat the message you want to get across loudly, clearly and concisely.

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Journalists look at things differently when they are in war zones. They don’t follow the party line given out by dictators and their lackeys. They say what they see is happening on the ground. It’s a useful idea in everyday life too. We are often so absorbed in what we are doing that we fail to realise that we could do it differently. Maybe we should look at our lives the way an investigative journalist would and see what the outcome would be. Certainly having a fresh approach or a new slant to what we do or think can do no harm. It’s refreshing. So if you always work late trying to catch the boss’s eye or you play cards every Thursday of your life perhaps you should consider other options. There is nothing wrong with being orderly or having a routine of course. What is wrong is letting such a routine dominate your lifestyle. Maybe the hours you are working means that you are less efficient than you could be. Maybe your card playing friends would like to have a go at scrabble once a month instead of playing poker. So surprise yourself and others by standing back and looking at things differently.

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Does grammar matter when you are giving a speech? That is something that many speakers fail to take into account. Their own grammar may be faulty and they may not even realise that fact. So they could make mistakes such as saying, “There’s twenty ways to fire a gun” instead of “There are twenty”. If the speech is captivating and the speaker is enthusiastic he or she may get away with it. There will, however, always be people in an audience who will flinch and switch off. That’s a pity because all the speaker needs to do is to get someone in the know to check what he or she has written before giving the speech. After all if you were a chauffeur you would ensure that you knew the rules of the road before driving. If someone sets themselves up to be a public speaker the least they can do is ensure that they speak correctly. That is not to say that they cannot use local expressions in their speech. Then too writing for the spoken word is one thing while writing for the written is another. We speak more casually and pause in different places for effect. Being a good public speaker does not mean necessarily knowing the difference between a gradable and non gradable adjective. Nor does a speaker necessarily have to be able to define Appositive clauses. However much grammar changes over the years though there is still a difference between singular and plural and between past and present tense. So whether you are speaking about leadership or success it’s up to you to get the basics right.

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Fix your focus and achieve your goals. That’s good advice in every sphere in life. After all many of us are hazy about exactly what we want to achieve. We may have a general idea but really have not tied it down to something concrete. Yet it is only by fixing your focus that you can concentrate on actually doing something towards achieving your aims. If you decide you think you want to be a doctor, for instance, your first focus must be on passing your examinations to enable you to go to college to study medicine. You might also focus on getting some practical first aid experience by joining an organisation like the Knights of Malta or the St. John’s ambulance brigade. You might discover that you are too soft or too unsympathetic to cope with accidents and emergencies never mind becoming a physician. It’s better to have a short term focus with a long term goal in mind. That makes it easier to accomplish because fixing your focus is like giving yourself a step towards that future goal. Once you have reached the first step you can fix your focus on the next one. Life may throw some twists your way but if you fix that focus you will be like a sailor pulling a boat full of your dreams nearer and nearer to shore.

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January is a time for a fresh start. That applies in the business world as well as our New Year resolutions about giving up smoking and losing weight. It is a time for companies to reconsider their successes and to question their failures. It is time for new strategies to be put into place. The current recession means it is also definitely a time to cut company costs. In a year where business will undoubtedly be cut throat it is worth considering how to promote team creativity in the office. There is no doubt, you see, that you have to make innovation your business if your company is to be successful. That means that you have to accept the challenge of change and be ready for it. This is no time to rest on your laurels no matter how successful your company has been to date. Times are changing and you have to be ready to improvise, adapt and be innovative if you want to keep abreast of the competition. It’s definitely the time of the year when staff motivational speeches are necessary. It’s also well worth remembering to consult and consider your staff. After all companies don’t succeed in business, people do.

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Will you toast the New Year as well as sing Auld Lang Syne? Most of us go to a party of some sort on this night of the year and it is surely appropriate that we would raise our glasses in a toast to the year that is to come. It is, after all, our future. The toast would not need to be long of course, merely one that says goodbye to the past and welcomes the future. It could be a challenging speech, suggesting that we tackled world hunger or the recession. It could be a more personal speech referring to those present and what you wish for them. Your toast could be poignant referring to those you have loved and lost or you might make it more light-hearted and optimistic. It is good to be optimistic you see when those bells ring out on New Year’s Eve. “Life is a challenge meet it” is the ideal message at the beginning of 2011.

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Why are most New Year’s resolutions so boring? Most people seem to think that giving up smoking or going on a diet will change their lives. Unfortunately, though, few people keep such resolutions. This year why not try something achievable that will make a real difference in the coming year? You might, for instance, decide to commit a random act of kindness every day. If you did you would not only change your own life but that of others too. Why not develop confidence and learn the secret of self belief? There are many ways you can achieve that. You might, for instance, take public speaking lessons. The ability to be able to think on your feet and speak clearly and concisely is one that will help in many facets of your life. You might decide to challenge yourself and reap the rewards. That challenge could be to change jobs, learn Chinese or join a charitable organisation. It might be to become a Catholic or adopt an orphan from a third world country. It could be to join a political party or it might even be to take early retirement. Whatever it happens to be by accepting that challenge you will be changing things and you might feel so good that you would actually diet or give up smoking too. So risk it, a risk is worth taking and it’s a resolution worth making.

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