What Leadership Skills Are Most Valuable?

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There are many leadership skills that are essential to businesses and organizations, as well as to leaders themselves. The list is long, and it can be difficult to determine what are the most valuable. However, commitment, the ability to allocate and delegate, and confidence are certainly leadership skills everyone should strive for.

Commitment

Commitment is a leadership skill that is vital to an organization. It is tremendously difficult for other people to follow a leader that does not appear dedicated. When a leader shows devotion, he or she also shows others that the cause is worth the hard work that goes into it.

The influential Daniel Golman refers this to as Pacesetting, and it is one of his Six Leadership Styles. In simple terms, it is leadership by example. In theory, a leader that works very hard and shows complete commitment will motivate the workforce to become more committed as well. Productivity should increase as a direct result of an increase of hard work.

Allocation and Delegation

As previously mentioned, hard work is significant. There is certainly something to be said for a leader that will get their hands dirty, so to speak, especially because it displays their commitment to the rest of the organization.

However, hard work is not always efficient. There is a well-known concept that suggests people should “work smarter, not harder.” With that in mind, two leadership skills that are particularly important are allocation and delegation.

Leaders and managers should lean on employees or team members within an organization to handle specific roles. This is “working smarter” because a worker that can specialize in his or her function will be more efficient individually. When there is a team of individuals that are efficient, and therefore, productive, the entire organization will benefit.

This also allows the leader to concentrate specifically on his or her individual responsibilities. For instance, upper level managers should spend their time developing systems and goals for increasing sales or implementing strong marketing strategies.

This would be Golman’s Authoritative style, eloquently described in a recent Fast Company article by Robyn Benincasa as when a “leader mobilizes the team toward a common vision and focuses on end goals, leaving the means up to each individual. If this style were summed up in one phrase, it would be ‘Come with me.’”

Confidence

Finally, leaders must show confidence, both in themselves and in others. People must be able to trust their leaders, and managers that do not exude confidence can create doubt in employees or other followers. In other words, it challenges an employee’s commitment to the organization.

Also, a leader must be confident in themselves and in other members of the team in order to allocate and delegate. He or she must trust the “work smart” ideology and be confident in their ability lead both by example and in the Authoritative style. Doing so will create an efficient and effective organization.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/leadership-qualities-00100000089425/index.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/1838481/6-leadership-styles-and-when-you-should-use-them

This awesome article is brought to you by eLeaP. Get more ideas on learning management systems from eLeaP.

Online Training in the Information Age

Online Training Resources

The pace of technological change, coupled with certain particular innovations, has meant that we now live in an information age, in which the pace of social change is considerably faster than at any other time in human history, and in which employment, the economy and the labour market evolve rapidly. Whereas once school leavers could expect to move straight into a company and then stay with them for the duration of their working life, times have changed rapidly in the global marketplace that exists now. The US Department of Labor estimates that the average school leaver  today will have 10-14 jobs by the time that they’re 38 years-old.

In accordance with this, the Internet has opened up a world of opportunity to commerce, but also a world of competitiveness. Increasingly, workers in the traditionally predominant Western economies and nations find themselves having to compete directly with people in the so-called ‘developing economies, and consequently having to develop the sorts of skillsets that allow them do this. An oft quoted statistic with relation to this pace of social change is that the country with the largest number of English speaking people is not the United States, but China.

The rapidity of this technological development, which has particularly intensified in the last ten years, has had a direct and profound impact on the training industry. This impact has been twofold. Firstly, it has obviously had a big effect on the way that training can be delivered, with IT-based and online training courses becoming a practical reality. For example, the eLeaP system is entirely Internet-based meaning that trainees can access it any 24/7 wherever in the world they are. Secondly, the technological revolution has necessitated members of staff being increasingly comfortable with the technology that now forms a focal point of virtually every office in the world.

This has lead to a situation in which there is something of a knowledge gap between what many people need to know, and what they actually know. And as training increasingly morphs into an online activity, this actually creates a curate’s egg situation; namely that people don’t have the skills to use information technology, but need to use information technology in order to train themselves up!

This quandary is one that the eLeaP training system successfully addresses by its intent to be as user-friendly as possible, and its Internet-based nature. While other online training courses have reportedly caused problems for some of the more IT illiterate members of staff, eLeaP has received glowing praise for its ease of use and intuitiveness. This is an essential facet of any online training system, as each one must grapple with the conundrum of being easy for those that are not particularly familiar with IT to use, while delivering powerful functionality for those that are.

In a global marketplace which is increasingly competitive, training staff effectively becomes ever more important. Fortunately, the technology that has helped forge this revolution can also provide the tools to narrow your employees’ knowledge gap. Get the best reviews and recommendations for training software solutions from WhataSoftware.com

This awesome article is brought to you by eLeaP. Get more ideas on learning management systems from eLeaP.

Training ninja

Business training

So I am on a quest to turn everyday folks into training ninjas – no not the kind who disappear in a puff of smoke. I am talking about training ninjas who can turn everyday materials into great business training pieces. How you ask?

Well first it starts with a little elbow grease – what do you have available to you? Do you have some PowerPoint files? Or perhaps some clips from previous training sessions?

  1. Gather: First let’s collect all the materials you have. At this point we are simply assembling files.
  2. Plan: What is the first topic you are interested in working on? How about some OSHA safety stuff or even some Microsoft Office training to help your staff become more productive.
  3. Design: So here’s where we come in. You can either do this part or you can ask for assistance. It’s free at www.eleapsoftware.com .
  4. Tools: You can use free flash converters like iSpring to convert your PowerPoint into ready e-learning materials.
  5. Screen Capture: Some have asked about capturing screenshots or recording their screens as they narrate a presentation or showcase a product. I recommend Camstudio. It’s free and it works.

We hope these few tips will get you going in the right direction. Remember ask us for any help.

 

If business training or e-learning is so easy…

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Open Letter To E-Learning/ Training Pros

So the other day I was conducting a live demo of the eLeaP LMS tool and got a question that made me sit up and take notice. Many of us in the e-learning space throw out buzz words and ‘cool’ phrases which while useful in certain settings, are a total distraction in others.

Terminology like SCORM, LMS, mobile learning, synchronous versus asynchronous, API, Single Signon, Gamification and many others might be make for super geeky conversation among the elites but are totally unhelpful when one is trying to assist a new customer or potential customer navigate the treacherous waters of vendor research, selection and implementation.

So what can be done?

  1. All of us need to use simple straight-forward descriptors of our goals, needs, features and requirements. Believe me, trying to appear knowledgeable in front of your colleagues by using buzz words which are incorrect only exposes one’s hubris.
  2. Spell it out. My best demonstrations or phone meetings are conducted when the client sends in a list of questions, requirements, features or just goals. This way we can go step by step covering what is important to that customer. With systems like eLeaP, you can pretty much get everything you need done, but I don’t want to bore you with a detail treatise about the minimum time setup for lessons if that is not something you particularly care about.
  3. Don’t just tell, show … I like to be able to take a potential customer through a simulation of actual needs and goals. If the idea is to create a training program with different multimedia presentations and which might also involve completing an assessment as well as submitting a feedback form and conclude with a discussion around pertinent issues, then guess what? I will actually try to show the client how all this will come together by doing a live demonstration. We go through questions and answers and if time permits, even letting the client try their hands on a few activities – all from the comfort of their offices.
  4. Trust the customer to know what do to do after all what is the worst that can happen? ‘Break’ something? Mistakenly delete a file? It can be recovered. My personal philosophy is to have the customers take the system for a test drive. If they have a particular presentation that they want to get uploaded to see how it will work, we go ahead and take care of that – no charge, no questions asked. Why you ask? Because we at eLeaP believe ultimately, we are judged by how well we treat our customers. We believe respecting customers and performing little acts of kindness here and there, well it just might brighten someone’s busy day. Heck they might even come out looking pretty smart to their colleagues for finding and implementing a system like eLeaP.

If you have questions (any question) on business training or e-learning, call us 877-624-7226. We actually like talking to people.

And to my colleagues in the e-learning space, a little humility goes a long way. Let’s remember we are in the learning industry – not the ‘show-off’ industry.

Sincerely,

Don Weobong

President, Telania | eLeaP | Azimio

Announcing the Release of the Latest Version of the Popular eLeaP LMS Platform Making Online Training Even Easier

Business training, , ,

Telania | eLeaP, a Louisville KY based Learning Management Systems provider has released the latest version of the hugely popular eLeaP LMS Platform.

While the competition is stuck with antiquated technologies and unwieldy software, eLeaP has just made online training a lot easier with advanced course management tools, smart menus for users and responsive reporting. What this means for you is easy course creation support for multiple content formats, streaming technology to deliver rich media content and interactive tools to encourage formal and informal learning – a sure way to generate excitement for your e-learning and training program.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/03/prweb5121344.htm

Why business training?

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Why should businesses conduct training? We have two main reasons for business training:

  • Government requirements or employment law or compliance required training
  • Business skills development or performance development training

Online business training has emerged as the key tool in creating a much more efficient and effective workforce and proves to be the true catalyst in improving business growth. The business training software provided by eLeaP encompasses wide range of features covering every aspect of business training management and is perfect for corporate education and e-learning. In this competitive business environment, the eLeaP business training software would prove to be the perfect solution for all your training worries.  Get the eLeaP business training software and reach for new heights of business success.

Employment law or compliance training includes sexual harassment training, OSHA training, Sarbanes Oxley or Bank regulations training etc. The reason to perform these kinds of business or corporate training is pretty straight forward.

Organizations that are faced with this requirement will typically engage professionals to conduct and document training records so that they can be produced in the even of litigation or some other request.

The second most common kind of business training is skills development or performance improvement improvement. This takes the format of new product training, leadership and succession planning and training, sales and marketing training and sometimes academic training. While most organizations commit funds and resources to this type of training, it is also quite easy to cut when times are tough.

In today’s hypercompetitive global marketplace, all organizations regardless of size or sophistication should really take a second look at buttressing the skills and performance training. How do you think successful organizations like Google, Apple, Motorola, Coca Cola etc continue to maintain their market dominance. Its because the place a premium on the quality of their people resource which means cutting edge training and e-learning programs.

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) has traditionally recommended a minimum of 40 hours of business training a year for every employee. Business training is not only important for the growth of companies and organizations but also for their employees, customers and students. Employee training leads to growth and development in the careers and upload mobility of employees. Business training also acts as an effective employee retention strategy, as the inability to see any progress and development in their skill sets is one of the major reasons for employee attrition. Business training can be imparted externally, internally and online. Online training is the most inexpensive, easy and effective mode of training. Online business training programs also called learning management programs or learning management systems (LMS) are a powerful and quick way to create online business training and e-learning.