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Dear reader,
This issue we explore the lives of Trung Nhi and Trung Trac, two of the most legendary figures in the history of Vietnam. We also feature the articles 'Adaptive Leadership' and 'The Eternally Successful Team' which we hope you will find inspiring.
LeaderValues offers a practical values driven approach to leadership development, based around the 4E's of Envision, Enable, Empower and Energize. You can study this model online or contact us for details of our Leadership programs, keynotes, workshops and assessments. We also welcome your articles and contributions for publication. Enjoy this issue!
| Adaptive Leadership |
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I use the term not just in the sense of a trademark, but more importantly to draw attention to a way of leading. I selected a chameleon for my logo because most people readily recognize it as a symbol of adaptation. Adaptation is a dynamic process of mutual influence. All creatures act on their environments, and their environments, in turn, act on them. We are all engaged in co-creation in our offices and in our families by virtue of the influences we exert on each other.
Adaptive leadership is given to impacting the environment. It addresses a very active form of leadership, not a passive effort taken merely to adjust to circumstances as found. Biology teaches that relationships between living entities are circular and interactive. Our organizations are also living systems, being composed not just of capital goods and technology, but of people.
Organizations are capable of intelligent, purposeful collective action, actions taken to influence their environments in desired directions. We know that, like all living organisms, our organizations can learn, adapt and grow. We know that they too have life cycles of birth, growth, maturity and eventual decline.
Read the full article by Charles Albano »
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| The Eternally Successful Team |
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What makes for a successful team? Some key differentiators have stood the test of time. Everyone I speak with agrees with the concept of 'teamwork', yet eyes glaze over when the topic is discussed in a vacuum. More concepts and theories are not what people are looking for. Rather good practical advice, the type that can be put to immediate use and produce quick results, gets their attention. So with that in mind, here are some tips that have worked for others...
There are four essential elements of teams that make the experience adventurous and successful: goals, interdependence, commitment, and accountability.
Teams Need a Unifying Purpose - Does your team have a common purpose, or goal that unites you? To find out, try this exercise. Ask each team member to write down what the team's goal is and compare the results...you may be surprised (maybe not) to discover that there are as many versions of the purpose or goal as there are team members.
Find out more from Brian Ward »
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| Lessons and quotes |
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"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers"
Ralph Nader
"It's not what you say, but how you say it!"
Mae West
Leadership quotes.... »
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| Keith Hall's Book Review |
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"Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know"
Marketing Insights from A to Z is an ambitious undertaking. Marketing legend Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at North-western University's Kellogg School of Management, and has already written 25 books during his 40 year career. In this admirably slim volume, he took on the challenge of compressing his accumulated experience and wisdom on marketing, management and leadership into a compact and easily digestible format.
Not surprisingly, Kotler has very robust views on leadership. He challenges the reader with assertions like, "All managers should be leaders, but most are administrators; good leaders don't want yes-men - be ready to fire those who agree with you; the leader lives with risks - followers are lucky because all they have to do is carry out orders; and leaders can be corrupted by success".
Most business books follow the logical beginning-middle- end approach, though sometimes 'beginning-muddle- end' would be a better description. Marketing Insights adopts a completely different approach, arranging its material as a simple alphabetical listing of 80 key concepts. The structure is like a miniature encyclopaedia, which allows the reader to look up any topic in the book and obtain a complete, authoritative account of the subject encapsulated into just a few pages. This 'sound bites' approach is ideal for people who don't have much time for reading and just want to get straight to the core message.
Discover more about this book from Keith Hall »
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| Featured Leaders |
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Two of the most legendary figures in the history of Vietnam are Trung Nhi and Trung Trac (The Trung Sisters) who jointly ruled Vietnam during the first century AD.
Daughters of the powerful Vietnamese lord and military leader Me Linh, the sisters lived during the Chinese Han Dynasty rule. They grew up witnessing Chinese oppression of the Vietnamese people and spent their childhood mastering the arts of warfare and weaponry.
Trung Trac married Tri Sach and together they protested against the forced assimilation and exploitation of the Vietnamese people. This led to the assassination of Tri Sach by order of the Chinese governor of Chiao Chi in 39 AD. The sisters, drawing on the widespread feelings of discontent, organised a rebellion army of 80,000, which included 36 female generals. Legend states that the Trung sisters killed a much feared tiger and used its skin to write a proclamation urging the people to join them against the Chinese.
Within two months the sisters and their army had retaken 65 cities. This early revolt led to the creation of the first royal government of Vietnam, along with the expulsion of the Chinese. For the first time in a century and a half Vietnam was an independent country.
The sisters ruled Vietnam with remarkable fairness and wisdom, inspiring loyalty and promoting peace, prosperity and freedom. They later committed suicide when immense Chinese forces recaptured the region, but nearly 2,000 years on remain a source of pride for the Vietnamese. Temples have been built in their honour and the people of Vietnam celebrate their memory every year with Hai Ba Trung day.
Melanie Smith
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