The Leader Maker E-Book

Harald Psaridis

• Herausgeber: Midas Verlag
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Seitenzahl: 180

Beschreibung

Many believe they know what makes a leader and how people should really be led. Harald Psaridis acquired this experience through over 20 years of hard work, and built up one of Europe's largest financial services organisations with a turnover of over fivebillion euros. The man from the real world of work radically challenges accepted management theory and offers concrete solutions which he himself has tested and carried out hundreds of times. This is leading by attraction which draws people nearer rather than pressurising them. His "Frontline Leadership" method takes us into a world as we would want it, where leadership characters are respected and esteemed thanks to their integrity, their values and their sense of responsibility. And who thus inspire their colleagues to deliver their best performance.

Leseprobe

THE LEADER MAKER

HARALD PSARIDIS

THE

LEADERMAKER

The Leader Maker

Be a Leader not a Manager

English Edition

© 2014, Midas Management Verlag AG

ISBN 978-3-907100-96-7

eISBN 978-3-906010-96-0

Harald Psaridis:

The Leader Maker – Be a Leader not a Manager

St. Gallen/Zürich: Midas Management Verlag, 2014.

Bibliographical information on the German National Library: (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek): The German National Library documents this publication in the German National Bibliography Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic information can be found at: http://dnb.d-nb.de

Translation: John Newman

Layout: Simone Pedersen

Cover: ZCommunication

Titelfoto: Manfred Klimek

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form (printed, photocopied, on microfilm or through any other process) or electronically edited, duplicated or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Publisher:

Midas Management Verlag AG, Dunantstrasse 3, CH 8044 Zürich

www.midas.ch | facebook.com/midasverlag

Contents

Introduction

Part I: The right attitude for successful leadership

What is Frontline Leadership?

My story: Why you have to read this book

The life and trials of a manager

Ten factors which make a good boss

1. The boss has to get involved

2. Honesty towards colleagues

3. Everyone must follow the rules – including the boss

4. Solidarity in the group

5. How to quash your fear of making mistakes as a leader and get the most out of your team

6. Showing new managers the ropes

7. Check your staff’s work

8. Leading without pressure

9. How to part ways with staff

10. A manager can make mistakes too

Part II: The Frontline-Leadership-System

Four steps to get started

Step 1: Leading yourself

16 character and personality traits of the true leader

Have a vision!

Set yourself a goal!

Step 2: Recruiting future managers and staff

The job description

The task description

The competence profile

What results do I expect from the candidate?

My career and position pitch

This is how you recruit the right new staff

1. Draw on your own potential

2. Always be building your network

3. Recommendations from customers

4. Recommendations from colleagues

The recruitment process:Making contact / first call

Structure of the first interview

1. Interview part

2. Introducing the company

3. Questions and decision part

Step 3: Leading individual staff

Goals, visions and planning

Onboarding

Step 4: Leading teams and building organisations

Teambuilding

Rules can be fixed, but values must be imparted

Developing systematic training

The ultimate goal of every leader

Guidelines for leading individual colleagues

The five most important principles of leadership

Set goals

Make decisions

Trust your staff

Give feedback

Don‘t leave your staff „in the lurch“

The secret codex for true „Frontline Leaders“

Different kinds of one-to-one staff meetings

The classical annual appraisal

The goal-setting meeting

The quarterly meeting

The situational guidance meeting

The Core-Leadership-Process

System for decision making

The Frontline Leadership System in practice

Epilogue:Four things for the road

Introduction

No man can properly command an army from the rear. He must be at the front ... at the very head of the army. He must be seen there, and the effect of his mind and personal energy must be felt by every officer and man present with it …

General William T. Sherman

Welcome to Frontline Leadership!

I’m happy you’ve decided to buy this book. In these pages you will discover many new things which will make you throw your ideas and views about leadership out of the window once and for all.

When writing this book it was particularly important for me to give you not only theory, but also what is probably the most effective leadership system of modern times: Frontline Leadership.

My goal is to offer you many “Aha!” moments, interesting insights and radical new ways of thinking that genuinely work in practice.

My almost thirty years of management experience in an international finance corporation have given me the drive to process all the knowledge I’ve gathered into a system which will help you lift your leadership qualities to a level you never even dreamed of.

That’s a big claim, I know, and a very bold declaration for the start of a book!

But believe me: Despite – or rather because of – these declarations and claims, I am proud to say that up to now every company and every management team to which I’ve given access to my Frontline Leadership System has been able to chalk up new levels of goal achievement and team performance. My wish is that, when you finish this book and snap it shut, you will have not only adopted my opinions on leadership, but also a new attitude to life which can make your future not only better, but also more exciting and satisfying.

Because it doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or an old hand, or whether right now you’re having to be convincing as a leader for the first time, or whether you’ve already led thousands of people: Frontline Leadership raises these qualities to a new, even higher level.

Actually, this book should really be about pirates. Yes, you read that right! About pirates.

On the one hand, the word “pirate” makes you think of a robber, a dangerous species; on the other hand an image of freedom and adventure also comes to mind. We see free people with character on the hunt for great treasures, and a never-ending voyage of adventure and excitement.

We can also see solidarity, unconditional trust and a code of honour which stands above everything, and which in any situation has precedence over an individual’s life or their own greed. And throughout these tales and these situations worthy of a story, we always imagine one person worthy of our greatest respect: the captain. This captain is not a leader because of theoretical qualifications or through inheriting a title… He is a true leader, a powerful boss, whose role is at the centre of events, who pushes forward and accepts one hundred percent of the responsibility for the victories and the defeats. If the captain leans back and does no more than delegate, he’s risking a mutiny; but when he brings up the treasure, he is granted glory and riches, and the task of sharing out the booty fairly. He’s my idea of a true leader, and comes very close to my philosophy of the perfect manager. But even if pirates and captains are completely lost on you, in this book you will find out a lot about leadership, and above all you will learn a lot about yourself. Every process in this area always begins with the self. Only those capable of leading themselves, and of allowing themselves to be led, will in the long run be in the position I would want for them. Because for me, leadership is not simply “directing” or “decreeing what will be done”.

To me, leadership is an attitude to life, and striving for exceptional performance within a group of people who are pursuing the same goal.

To me, leadership is the collective consciousness, the feeling of belonging, and the dynamic of a team which needs a central individual who will bravely and unhesitatingly push forward and actively take over responsibility. Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’ve used the term “true leader” several times. This is on purpose, because I’m convinced that many managers and theoretical leaders in companies simply aren’t leaders. Because someone who spends the whole day sitting behind their desk, just organising and delegating, is not a leader; at best they are a manager.

I’ll come back again to definitions in the first part; at the moment I just want you to be able to distinguish between “wannabe leaders” and “true leaders”.

Unfortunately in European companies we find far too few true leaders. Mostly we find only wannabe leaders, who may well work according to leadership theory, but who in reality fail dreadfully.

No doubt at every level of your company you too can think of several examples of people who are completely devoid of any leadership qualities, whom you only have to watch for a short time before asking yourself just how it is that these people find their way into these positions. You certainly also know at least one “true leader”, someone whose simple physical presence seems to make everything run smoothly. Whenever this person enters a room, they are immediately accepted and respected, other people will follow them, and every situation will see results generated or a problem solved.

Why this is, and how you too can become such a leader whom people follow and who gets results, are what this book is about. Take the necessary steps, and take the Frontline Leadership System to heart, and everything else will happen by itself. As soon as you work with the right attitude and the right tools, you and others will recognise your hidden abilities and qualities which will completely change your leadership. Now and in the future.

I wish you every success and a lot of excitement on your journey.

Your Harald Psaridis

PART 1

The right attitudefor successfulleadership

What is Frontline Leadership?