How To Be a Good Leader | Improve Your Leadership Skills

What Makes A Great Leader!

There might be a lot of leaders in your area, but there are only a few who know exactly what makes a good leader. As a leader, you're expected to bring you and your team to success. As a leader, your team looks up to you for guidance and support.
Wanting to know what makes a good leader is already the first step to achieving your goal. However, there is always room for improvement. Read on and find out how you can become an effective leader.
1) Teamwork
A leader might be the head of the organization or team, but he or she cannot function well without teamwork. Unfortunately, a lot of leaders let their position get into their heads. They move without consulting the rest of the team.
What makes a good leader is a sense of teamwork. Although you might be the one calling the shots, you can't completely disregard the people you're responsible for.
2) Strength
Another important factor of what makes a good leader is strength. Whether it's strength in making a decision, or strength in overcoming challenges, a good leaders knows not to show weakness.
A great leader doesn't cower from the enemy. He or she doesn't fear challenges or obstacles; but instead, he or she deals with them head-on.
3) Good Example
A great leader sets a good example for his or her subordinates. If you're very particular about tardiness, then you have to make sure that you're always on time, if not earlier than the others.
If you have strong feelings against cheating, then you yourself should not be tempted to cheat. Set a good example for the people in your team. Actions speak louder than words.
4) Responsibility
An effective leader takes responsibility. He or she doesn't try to figure out a way to escape the mess that might have been created. Instead, a great leader faces the issue and deals with the problems as they come.
Being responsible also means avoiding disaster and making the right decisions. Keep in mind that you're accountable for the rest of your team.
5) Quick Thinking
Quick thinking is an essential leadership skill. Most of the time, this is what saves the day. A good leader must know how to act swiftly and must encourage quick thinking among his or her people.
The success of a group has a lot to do with both the leader and the team. It's never just about one person only. As long as you remember what your goal is, you'll be alright. And these additional tips on what makes a good leader will only help you become a better person.

How to use Wiki?

The following link can help you know more about wiki:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

What is Wiki?

Wiki is in Ward's original description:
The simplest online database that could possibly work.
Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.
Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself.
Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users.

Homework, Homework and Homework....

I thought taking four graduate classes won't be so busy, but i think i'm worry... Finally the fall break is coming, actually we just got one extra day because we originally have threee days off each week. The sad thing is there are projects due and exam coming after fall break....OMG, is it will be study time again?!

Anyway, we are students, so......studying is our main job.....

Getting InStudy: CEOs with MBAs Deliver So-So Performance

Posted by: Louis Lavelle on September 16, 2010

Do MBAs make better CEOs? When a team of researchers from INSEAD posed this question last year, the answer they arrived at was a resounding yes! CEOs with the degree delivered better long-term shareholder value than those without one. Now comes some new research that calls that conclusion into question.

Researchers Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado at Boulder; Brian Bolton, University of New Hampshire; and Ajay Subramanian, Georgia State University, found that “hiring new CEOs with MBA degrees leads to short-term improvements in operating performance. We, however, do not find a significant systematic relationship between CEO education and long-term firm performance. CEO education does not seem to be an appropriate proxy for CEO ability.”

The study examined 1,500 companies from 1992 to 2007 and used several performance metrics including return on assets and stock returns. Among the CEOs for whom educational information was available, about 39 percent had MBAs, and of that group, 63 percent attended a “top 20” program. While MBAs overall did little to improve firm performance, the researchers found a “weak positive relationship” between CEOs with MBAs from top schools and company operating performance. So which school you attend does matter, just not a whole lot as far as your company is concerned.

As interesting as that is, the researchers also found something that had them scratching their collective heads. While a CEO's MBA had little or no impact on their company's long-term performance, it was a key factor in whether the CEO was hired in the first place. Even when a CEO with an MBA is fired, the researchers found that companies tend to hire another MBA to replace him. That's not a typo. From the study:

"These results suggest that CEO education does not play a distinguishing role in determining a CEO's ability related to enhancing firm performance. It is certainly possible that the CEO's education does have a critical influence in determining whether or not the individual becomes a CEO (or, even earlier, whether or not the individual gets hired into positions that may lead to becoming a CEO). Nevertheless, it is still rather puzzling (at least to us) that education affects CEO hiring decisions even though it has little effect on long-term firm performance."
The researchers aren't the only ones that are baffled by that finding. I'm a little dumbfounded too. Even if you view the MBA as some kind of good housekeeping seal of approval, if it does nothing for company performance, as the new research suggests, why would corporate boards keep hiring them?

Hugs for Friends

A friend never fails to be faithful even when others falter.

A friend will fortify your fragile frame.

A friend is a rare and ready rock you can run to in the rain.

A friend is not impatient or impolite.

A friend is interesting, inspiring, and indispensable.

A friend is a friend till the end.

A friend will embrace you even in the midst of your most embarrassing encounters.

A friend is devoted and dependable.