Question From Darren Stevenson of Voyageur Oil and Gas Corp.
Sponsored Entry - Voyageur Oil and Gas Corporation - Darren Stevenson CEO
Question: Dear Shane “Leadership is taken not given” do you agree or disagree with this statement.
Answer: Dear Darren,
Thank-you for your generous contribution to the MSMF and the Natalie E Pinch Memorial Library. Your question is a great one. Although leaders can be “made” or developed one cannot give another person leadership. They can give them a position or a title but this is not necessarily the mark of a leader, we have all seen children born into wealthy families squander their wealth because they were given a title or a place in society.
Leadership development is a two way street. The leader and the developing leader must have a high level or rapport, a solid mentoring relationship and the mentee or developing leader must be willing to answer the call to leadership.
I see so many managers today frustrated because they want someone to succeed more than the other person actually wants to ascend from a leadership perspective. The potential leader must step up to the plate, fully understanding what price and sacrifice must be made to take their life or business to the next level. Then they must step forward and through action demonstrate their intent.
Does this answer your question?
This is blogathon entry number 26 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Sales Blog, Sales Management Blog |
Final thoughts on Mentorship - Blogathon Entry # 22
The End of the Relationship
We are often mentoring people because we have a road map or insight on how to get somewhere that they want to get to. It’s okay for someone to outgrow the mentor or even outgrow their goals before they get there. As a team we can mentor someone on starting a successful consulting practice, we can even train a sales force of 500 or 1000 people, but when the mentee starts requiring advice beyond our scope and experience at we know it’s time to help them find a new mentor. Some people may see it as a failure to no longer be able to offer additional insight or direction to a mentee, but we would like you to reflect on the following quote from an unknown Japanese author:
“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.”
- Japan 300 B.C. - Author Unknown
This is blogathon entry number 22 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Sales Articles, Sales Blog |
Sales Podcast - Transferring Leadership
This sales podcast is focused on how to prioritize an invest in our staff for maximum ROI as an organizational leader.
This is blogathon entry number 21 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under * Sales Podcast, Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Sales Management Blog, Sales Training, iPhone Podcasts |
Why Your Corporation Needs a Mentorship Program
“35% of employees who do not receive regular mentoring look for another job within 12 months”
- Emerging Workforce study by Spherion
Too many organizations invest heavily in recruitment yet fail to retain star performers because they lack a thorough plan and process for starting their people right and continuing to develop them. Winners want to win quickly; hire a winner and you have to have the tools and mentorship program in place to help them win.
Furthermore winners leave when there’s no more challenge or personal or professional growth opportunities. When recruiting University Graduates one interesting statistic to note is that “More than 60% of college and graduate students listed mentoring as a criterion for selecting an employer after graduation” (MMHA)
In a recent study of 3000 companies done by Accenture Analytics and 18 other organizations globally found that the top 25% of companies in multiple industries as compared to the bottom 25% were those organizations that had significantly more mature and effective human resource development plans with strong leadership and mentorship development components in those plans. The bottom-line is mentorship and people development makes a difference to your bottom line.
The need for mentorship is particularily true for the millenial generation or generation Y. This demographic tends not be of the live to work mentality. They don’t just talk about “balanced lifestyle” like their boomer parents did, they put lifestlye first and see work as a tool to support that lifestyle. Recent studies also show that without mentorship Generation Y is not equipped with the contrast between their sheltered (and good for them by the way!) upbringing and the realities of the work-force and the demand of society financially, socially, and otherwise.
Having a solid mentoring process along with training, personal development and a good dose of entertainment can help retain the up and coming star players of tomorrow.
This is blogathon entry number 19 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause. Also if you live in Vancouver please check out the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Leaders of Tomorrow Mentorship Program.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Sales Articles, Sales Blog, Sales Management Blog, Sales Training |
Leaders of Tomorrow The Importance of Mentorship Part 2
Mentoring tomorrow’s leaders today is high value, high impact strategic investment in the longevity and success of our community and economy as a whole. In most western cultures we tend to think in quarterly terms or at best annually when it comes to business and leadership success. And when it comes to creating a succession plan for ourselves and our organization that will reap results in 5 or 10 years from now, it might all seem like a warm and fuzzy idea. More and more we are becoming more insular and less connected to our communities and even our own corporate team. People send e-mails to the guy in the cubicle beside them instead of popping their head around the corner and saying hi.
This may not seem like a big deal but what we’re losing is the tradition of connection between our elders or mentors and the next generation. What’s lost here are the high impact tidbits of tacit knowledge, the street smart lessons, insights learned in the school of life, values, access to the mentors resources and networks, and opportunity to learn the often untold principles of success that aren’t taught in University or found online. In all of it’s glory it’s too easy to hop onto the web and get an answer (who writes that stuff anyway?). But it’s about using the information and sifting through what is relevant and what is not. The very personal exchange that occurs through mentorship and even connecting with our peers is lost. The information age has spawned the disinformation age. Try weeding through and verifying the facts you find on one of the 9 billion WebPages indexed by Google and MSN.
As mentors and leaders this knowledge and ability we have comes with a responsibility. We believe strongly that if members of our community can share the roadmaps they have discovered and experienced, along with their insights from these journeys be it for business, personal, marital or spiritual success and through sharing this insight by investing as little as a couple hours a month the difference that can be made in many lives will be massive. Doing this within our community, including the chance to increase our shared prosperity will build the kind of high impact legacy we can all be proud of.
This is blogathon entry number 18 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause. Also if you live in Vancouver please check out the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Leaders of Tomorrow Mentorship Program.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Sales Articles, Sales Blog, Sales Management Blog |
The Importance of Mentorship Part 1
“To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.”
- unknown
The Role of Mentorship provides an important role in the development of global socio-economic infrastructures. It provides critical capacity building support and opportunity for entrepreneurs, corporate executives and government officials and leaders in creating long term stability and competitiveness for nations and their economies. Mentorship in the areas such as fine arts, sciences, and the not for profit sector is paramount to improving and sustaining the quality of our lives as a whole. Building capacity is means strengthening and increasing insight, ability and talents, as well as visioning and implementation and execution skills in a specific discipline or disciplines. For instance Vancouver’s economy boasts a strong, growing high tech sector but still has only begun to tap its global potential.
This is largely attributed to capacity gaps in marketing technologies and distributing them on a broader platform. In order to increase the capacity to grow and export Vancouver’s technology base and applications, building the sector’s mentorship capacity and resources can help the key entrepreneurs, executives and innovators within the local technology sectors meet their full global market potential. Mentorship can provide a prospective road map from someone else who has walked the path before - like an entrepreneur who taken a tech company from 12 employees in a basement apartment to 500 employees and a listing on the TSE with global distribution.
Typically, however, the steps, pitfalls, and challenges aren’t well documented traditionally; they’re taught, and modeled by mentors and leaders and passed on to their protégées and partners. Its a proven fact that the higher mentorship capacity levels you have and the higher the quality of mentorship in your community the higher capacity economically, environmentally, and socially you will have. Unlike traditional education environments, corporate training programs and courses, mentorship is a very personalized form of support and transferring knowledge. It is primarily based on a specific relationship between two people and at times between an individual or group of individuals or advisors. [This is the first post of a two post series on this topic Click Here to Read Part 2]
This is blogathon entry number 17 for the MSMF Blogathon. Visit this page to learn how you can support this cause.
July 26, 2008 · Filed Under Blogathon 2008, Leadership, Managing Complex Selling Relationships Blog, Sales Articles, Sales Blog, Sales Management Blog |
In a Rut or Plateau in Sales?
I thought I’d share this quote with my readers. I’m sure very soon I will be doing a podcast on this topic. Fred Shadian (Who will be speaking at our Sales Performance Meetup tonight) shared this with me yesterday.
We were talking about heros, warriors and winners. Fred Shared this with me:
When a hero plateaus it’s usually because they have not accepted their calling
This is such a powerful quote. When we plateau, greatness is before us but we’re at that place (the rut as some refer to it) and it’s because we haven’t fully embraced our mission.
ANSWER YOUR CALLING
July 21, 2008 · Filed Under Events and Seminars, Leadership, Sales Blog, Sales Management Blog |
Sales Blog Entry on Free Leadership Self Assessments
I have put together a series of self assessments on coaching and leadership which are provided free (not-for-profit use and distribution only.) Here are the assessments:
Five levels of leadership self assessment
Coaching skills assessment
Enabling versus equiping self assessment
I would appreciate any feedback and comments on the usefulness of these tools and how we may improve upon them.
Shane Gibson
Shane Gibson is the author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals and President of Knowledge Brokers International Systems Ltd. a leading sales performance and leadership development organization. Shane divides his time between his entrepreneurial projects, speaking at major conferences and mentoring salespeople and entrepreneurs.
Quick Links:
Sales Training Canada
Sales
Training South Africa
Sales Training Boot Camps Vancouver
Complete Sales Action System
Managing Complex Business
Relationships System
Subscribe in iTunes to this Sales Podcast
November 13, 2006 · Filed Under Leadership |
Sales Blog and Podcast Entry - PSI - Personality Style Indicators
I am certified facilator of the assessment tools developed and produced by the Consulting Resource Group. At times I struggle a bit communicating how critical it is to understand our own unique sales and personality style when dealing with other people. Ken Keis president of CRG put it well in his last e-zine article so I cut and paste a good portion of it into this blog entry as a follow-up to yesterday’s sales podcast on selling to the different styles:
How can you ever be intentional with your decisions and actions in
life, if you are not completely clear about your own personal style and its
related strengths, preferences, and challenges.
It’s a biological fact that we are born with a natural predisposition to a
distinct personal style. It’s not something we can choose to avoid. We take our
personal style with us, everywhere we go
After conducting over 2000 programs and writing on the subject for more than 16
years, I am absolutely convinced that without a full understanding of your
personal style—and the personal style of everyone with whom you interact on a
personal or professional level—you are missing critical knowledge that can
contribute to fulfillment for all the individuals involved.
It’s like flying a plane in a dense fogbank. Without training in aircraft
instrumentation, you are living by a hope and a prayer that you can make it to a
safe landing site. That is the way most people live their lives—but that need
not be true for you!
CRG is unique in that we teach a holistic development model wherein your
personal style and your personality are two separate concepts.
Your personality—the totality of who you are—is composed primarily of six
Personal Development Factors™ that contribute to your personhood.
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Your Personal Style
You were born with it and it stays consistent throughout your lifetime.
-
Biophysical Factors
They include your gender and any illnesses (and wellness levels),
addictions, or injuries that affect your engagement of life.
-
Self-Worth Levels
They affect how and when you engage your life and the various challenges
that life brings to you.
-
Environmental Systems
Your country, your local area, geography, and your culture all highly
influence your perspective on life.
-
Social Teachers
These include people who have shaped your viewpoint during your life—
parents, teachers, mentors, friends, family, etc.
-
Emotional Anchors
They include events in your life—both positive and negative—that leave an
emotional imprint.
The CRG model acknowledges that who we are is based on
both nature and
nurture.
Research confirms that we each have unique and specific style preferences at
birth. From that moment, our personal style starts to play a powerful role in
our lives. Here are some of the things that are influenced by personal style.
- Choosing supportive child-care environments
- Parenting style
- Learning and instructional styles that meet your specific needs
- Selecting the right job and understanding job-style fit
- Accepting the differences in yourself and others
- Getting along better with your life partner
- Coaching others
- Customer service, sales, and leadership
- Designing a life that plays to your strengths
- Having the confidence to reject feelings of guilt and the pressures to
change from those who are different than you are. That includes peer
pressure, parents, and teachers. - Building teams that complement your business needs
- Starting a business
- Hiring and promoting
- Resolving conflict
And much more!
If you really want to succeed in life, knowledge of personal style is
non-negotiable.
Recently, I facilitated a team development process for a billion-dollar
organization. Even though some team members had been through our
Personal Style Indicator in the past, they identified the
PSI as the single-most-important element to take participants to the next
level.
October 26, 2006 · Filed Under Leadership |
About Shane Gibson
Author of Closing Bigger the Field Guide to Closing Bigger Deals
Shane Gibson is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer and entrepreneur who has addressed several thousand people over the past decade in Canada, the US, South Africa and South America. He combines a diverse background in sales force leadership, new entrepreneur development and extensive sales and leadership coaching. Shane is a contributing author to Knowledge Brokers International (KBI) Ltd.’s The Complete Sales Action System™ and a master trainer in the Managing Complex Business Relationships System. Shane is President of KBI North America.
Shane Gibson has been published in numerous publications on the topics of Leadership, Marketing, Sales, Strategic Communications and Assessing Business Opportunities. He has also addressed the topic of Entrepreneurial Leadership in magazine, radio and television interviews. More recently Shane was interviewed in the Financial Post and Profit Magazine on sales performance. In March 2006 Shane Gibson was a guest speaker at the World Summit for Young Entrepreneurs, a gathering of over 1000 entrepreneurs from 70 countries organized by the UNDP and the WTU.
Internationally, KBI has implemented large-scale sales performance programs with SAB Miller, SIEMENS Industry and Transport Division, ACER Computers, BMW, Vodacom, and dozens of major financial services companies on three continents.
Shane’s North American clients include:
The Vancouver Board of Trade, The University of British Columbia, Pacific International Securities, The University of Victoria, Fitness World, Ladies Only Fitness, InfoSat Communications, ALS Environmental, The BC Automotive Retailers Association, Dye & Durham, Cendant Rent A Car (AVIS Rent A Car Budget Rent-a-Car), The Financial Advisors Network, The Pacific National Exhibition, Travel Insurance Coordinators & Trent Health, TOS Insurance/Hub International, Sauder Business School, Allied Van lines.
March 17, 2006 · Filed Under Shane Gibson Bio |
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