Leadership Lessons

June 2016

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe

What makes a great leader? Management theorist Simon Sinek

suggests, it's someone who makes their employees feel secure, who draws staffers into a circle of trust. But creating trust and safety - especially in an uneven economy - means taking on big responsibility.

Click here to watch and learn what it takes to become a great leader.

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: What Makes a Good Leader? Simple Ways to Improve Your Management Skills

What makes a good leader is the use of effective management skills such as spending 50 percent or more of their time listening carefully.

Great leaders understand that some of the best leadership qualities entail listening to others with undivided attention.

When was the last time you actually listened single-mindedly to one of your staff members?

Can you remember when you last listened to some without interruptions or distractions from either telephone calls or drop-in visitors, when you just focused intently on the person speaking with you, ignoring all else? When CEO Alan Mulally arrived at Ford, he used a technique he had refined at Boeing. He found a way to instantly shift the senior executives on his team from talkers to listeners by changing the way he evaluated his team's performance.

To learn more and to finish this interesting article click here.

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Book Review by a TLP Cohort #4 Member

This book is a very good read. The author really outlines his concept of leadership and provides plenty of interesting case studies.

He discusses the basic needs of people - to feel safe, to be productive, and to be needed. He gives examples of how well led companies can flourish and, conversely, how companies that only look to the numbers and profits can struggle.

A key point throughout the book is that leaders need to provide a strong Circle of Safety and always look at the human side of a company and its doings.

I would recommend this book to anyone - those in a leadership position, those looking to become leaders and even those who are just interested in learning the concepts of basic human interactions.

Applications for Cohort #5 Will Be Accepted Soon

A solicitation will be sent this week to begin accepting applications for the next Cohort in the Transportation Leadership Program - Cohort #5.

Any interested parties will have until August 31st to submit their application and letter of recommendation.

If you know someone who is interested, please share the following link with them to the overview of the program and an application form:

http://www.t2center.uconn.edu/TransportationLeadershipProgram.php

CT Creative Solutions Award Program - Now Accepting Submissions for 2016 Competition

As leaders, it is important to recognize the efforts of your team. If your staff has developed an innovative or cost effective way of streamlining a process or improving safety, take a few minutes to submit their idea for a creative solutions award. Details on the program, along with the submission form and guide on past winners can be found here.

Deadline is August 1st.