If you want to succeed as a leader, you need to be comfortable with moving around the spectrum of leadership styles. Sticking with just one style means that you become predictable and hence, as a leader, dispensable. It also means that your style of leading may not fit the needs of the team or task. So, learn what the 4 leadership styles are and develop yourself to become skilled in each of them.

1. The Directive Style. The directive leadership style is the style most people equate with "strong" leadership. When people say they want more leadership, they usually mean they want more direction. In military terms, this is leading from the front or by example. Although the directive, -- or command-and-tell -- style, is out of favour today, it is still the style you must use in new, unfamiliar, or critical situations when the team face a threat.

So, if the directive style is not your natural style, how do you become more effective at it? Here are 7 quick clues:

1. put more effort into planning so that you look ready

2. look the part: dress confidently; make every move count; avoid hesitation

3. rehearse your performance so that you look authoritative in front of others

4. master assertive language: talk clearly and a little louder than normal

5. keep your communication short and to the point; cut out the use of descriptive adjectives.

6. get active; look busy; be a good time manager

7. be decisive; make up your mind and go with it.

One other useful pointer: it is easier to start with a hard impression and soften it later than to start with a soft impression and harden it later.

2. The Consultative Style. If the directive style puts task before team, the consultative style puts team before task. This is the style you'll use when you need to talk to the team, hear what they have to say, understand them, and take them with you. If the directive style calls for a typically masculine approach, the consultative style calls for a typically feminine approach: hard versus soft.

To master the consultative style, you need to master team meetings. Use the following approaches:

1. get the team together, if necessary, off site

2. avoid too many meetings with individual team members or you will create mistrust and suspicion

3. involve the team in the planning of meetings

4. be prepared to hear things you don't like

5. decide where on the scale you want to be: at one end, the purely consultative in which you listen and then decide; or at the other end, the consensual where you and the team decide together

6. practise concentrated listening

7. give everyone a chance to talk. Notice who doesn't speak readily.

Find a balance. Seek contrary views to the loudest.

3. The Problem-Solving Style. The problem-solving style of leadership goes under various names. Ken Blanchard calls it the "selling" style (in contrast to "telling"). Other writers call it the participative style or negotiating style or the win-win style. If the directive style is top-down (ie from you downwards) and the consultative style is bottom-up (ie from them upwards), then the problem-solving style is sideways: us together as equals working things out. The problem-solving style is the right style to use when there is conflict in the team. Here are some techniques to use to make you a better problem-solving leader:

1. believe that in every conflict with the team, there is a solution in which both sides (you and the team) can get what you want

2. state your own position clearly and consistently. Listen carefully to theirs.

3. focus on issues not personalities

4. find the emotional blocks such as their fears and anxieties. These often result in people playing games. Knock these down by building trust.

5. seek common ground

6. battle on to find a creative solution based on principles

7. summarise frequently.

4. The Delegated Style. For those who are not used to the delegated style of leadership, it first looks like an abdication of leadership. It's the style where you take a back seat and appear to do nothing. In reality it is one of the hardest of styles to use. It means letting go of control so that the team can make their own decisions. You trust them and first time round that can be hard. Here are some ways to develop your delegating style:

1. Make it safe for the team to try things out.

2. focus on them: "What would you do?" "What do you think?" "What do you feel we should do?"

3. resist the temptation to jump in and rescue them when things go wrong; they can learn so much more by sorting it out themselves.

4. move gradually. If people aren't used to this style, they may suspect your intentions.

5. praise every success

6. find the right distance: not too close that you are seen to be checking them, not too far away that they feel abandoned.

7. check back regularly that things are OK.

Your ability to move around these four styles, and the shades in-between, will tell others just how good a leader you really are. You won't always get it right. Sometimes, you'll call the team for a chat when they want decisiveness. Sometimes, you'll try to sell your ideas when what they want is for you to leave them alone. But as you develop your reading of situations, you'll come to know instinctively just what your best action should be.

2011 New Trends Sweet Bikinis

2011 New Trends: Sweet Bikinis for This Lovely Summer (1)   by SanseedCom

in Other    (submitted 2011-06-01)

Monokini

Swimwear trends don't move in quite the same cycles as other fashion trends. That's because it's hard to reinvent the bikini or the monokini: In the need to balance functionality and sex appeal, designers are limited to what they can actually do. Despite this, one-piece and bikini trends are certainly still influenced by some other fashion trends. Now let's just go on with the second part of the article talking over the fashion bikini trends of 2011.

Bandeaus

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A New Trend in Selling

A New Trend in Selling Online – The Bid Auction   by Derek Cromwell

in Business / Entrepreneurship    (submitted 2011-01-02)

It was a shock to hundreds of thousands of people in the late 90's and early part of the millennium when they discovered that people were making a full-time living through bidding and auction sites online like eBay. The search was on for many to break into this business as they tried to find and develop their own system of trading, buying and selling online through portals like eBay.

This has been hard to do for a lot of people as power sellers dominate sites like eBay and Amazon. Amazon may not be an auction site, but the low prices available there have made people rethink regular shopping trips to big box retailers. Many have flocked to these sites - especially eBay - in hopes of getting a taste of ecommerce and bid auctions but now, in recent years, the opportunities are coming from another source.


Are HollywoodS Million Dollar Designers Missing

Are Hollywood’S Million Dollar Designers Missing the Hottest New Trend For Celebrity Kids?   by Deborah Danker

in Family / Parenting    (submitted 2011-08-17)

Are Hollywood’s Million Dollar Designers

Missing the Hottest New Trend For Celebrity Kids?

For Immediate Release:

Contact:

Deborah Danker

Danker and Danker Public Relations

615-371-6117

Nashville, TN - Bravo’s “Million-Dollar Decorators” know how to put together rooms for grown-ups, but are they missing out on the latest trend for the children of their clients?


Are Maternity Clothes Necessary

I remember my mother telling me about the times when she was pregnant. She was wearing nothing more than my father's jeans and his working shirts throughout her pregnancy. No maternity clothes for her because she was too poor to buy them at that time. Remember, in her time, which was about 30 years back, maternity clothes used to cost a bomb.

And yet, if you walk along any shopping center these days, you'll notice at least three or four maternity clothes fashion houses catering to the specifically 'large' needs of a pregnant mother. And since the web and the Internet is such a magnanimous thing these days, what about online maternity stores? I'd safely say there are just about half a million legitimate maternity stores right now flailing around the Internet wires for business.


Article Directory Free Expert Article


Baby Clothing Designer Know How

These days, a child clothing designer is no longer confined to designing baby clothes that conform to baby clothes standards in terms of functionality and materials used, but take it a notch higher by experimenting and integrating style with function and using luxurious materials such as cashmere, angora, or the most breathable cotton which were once used only in adult wear.

A baby clothing designer now uses a variety of styles and materials that will incorporate the timeless designs of yester-year with the classic designs of the now generation and of course they will also use the designs that evolve from their own imaginations, those that they may hope will ignite a trend towards their own personal style. Above all else they are designers so it stands to reason what works well for baby clothing will translate into clothes for adults, children and babies alike.


Bali Clothing Retail Business

Introduction

Clothing is a big ticket item around the world. No matter what culture you live in, what language you speak, what gender you are and what you do for a living a big part of the expenses of your life is going to rest solely on clothing. Without clothing, it is not only unpleasant to appear in public but in most places it is also socially unacceptable except in other areas. There are many times when clothing is something that people do not really think about, but at others things like designer clothing are thought of a great deal both by the companies that make them as well as the customers that buy them.

This begs the question as to whether or not certain clothing businesses in certain places have the ability to survive. Designer clothing is something that many people are interested in constructing a business around but at the same time it is also something that many people don't really understand when it comes right down to it. Designer clothing has a very special niche market whereas normal clothing is open to everyone. The Bali Clothing Retail Business deals in both designer clothing and normal clothing and manages to do well at both.


Bookish Baubles—new trends in jewelry

Bookish Baubles—new trends in jewelry design   by Sarah Abramson

in Art    (submitted 2010-11-30)

Bookish Baubles--new trends in jewelry design

Traditionally, jewelry functions as an ornament to decorate our bodies. It adds to the beauty of our style and expression. It gives the wearer confidence. It can remind us of something important or deeply personal such as a religious icon, family crest, or wedding ring.

Contemporary jewelry makers are developing new ways to make their jewelry unique. Recently, I found one such way that took me by surprise: jewelry as a literary reference. I am impressed by the frequency and interpretations of this trend. Jeremy May, for example, uses books as the jewelry's material. Betty Pepper uses books as a display. Jeanine Payer takes advantage of actual, quotes, and axioms in her work.


Buying the Right Kind of Moda

There are thousands of different types of shoes out there in the market. So, if you are looking for only one pair, it is going to be a bit difficult. However, the best way to go for it is to consider what exactly you want. Once you consider your criteria, you are likely to reduce the number of options and eventually, you will be able to pick up the shoe that is most useful for you.

Thousands of brands are there to produce shoes. All of them have their own distinct features. So, before making choice, it is important that you gather some information about the products that they manufacture. At the same time, you should be cautious about the style that you are looking for and whether that will complement your physique. For example, if you are obese, it is wise not to choose the high heeled shoes. For, that can affect your balance while walking. Obviously, there are hundreds of different styles available that are equally attractive if not more.


Cashback Shopping New Trend in India

Cashback Shopping- New Trend in India   by Deepali

in Shopping    (submitted 2011-07-24)

Shopping is loved by everyone past, it was said that shopping was the passion of women, but it is this passion that has got attention of Male Clan as well. Now it does not matter, you are a girl or a boy everyone can be seen shopping. With everything going digital shopping has also changed from rushing to store to more convenient online shopping. Now with changing trend in shopping world almost all the stores have also gone online. Now with online shopping everything has become very easy and within range, easily one can see what is available in store then driving several Kilometers to just know that store is out of stock. Online Shopping not only saves time and petrol, but also save money in form of discounts and Cashback. Cashback as name implies is the Cash that you get back after shopping. Some might think that it is not possible, but it is now you can save even on Marketing Retail Price.