1. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. One of the quickest credibility destroyers is to be forced to make layoffs after you promised earlier that they wouldn’t happen.

2. If you don’t know, say so. There is more credibility in honesty than speculation.

3. Keep looking for opportunities. They’re still there, but harder to see given the current economic climate.

4. Re-recruit top talent. Underperformers hunker down in a tough job market; top talent realizes they still have options. Take care of your peak performers.

5. Be encouraging but avoid “happy talk.” The latter is naive and doesn’t recognize the real difficulties people are facing. Encouragement is a vote of confidence in the ability of your team to face the challenges successfully and be resilient.

6. Become rigorous in the pursuit of information. Much of what passes as news is nothing more than popular opinion. Dig deeper than others and qualify the information you find.

7. Be shrewd in budget cuts. Training and advertising are usually the first to go during a recession; they also create a bigger return on investment during a recession. “Common knowledge” is often an oxymoron when it comes to making cutbacks.

8. Keep playing to win. Many have become completely defensive and are simply playing not to lose.

Exchange: the present for the desired future

Experiment: with what works and what doesn’t

Envision: the specific outcome or end result

Enlist: others to achieve the vision

Enliven: your team to be inspired and work with purpose

Educate: so people become better in the process

Exchange: ideas about how to do everything better

Expand: thinking whenever possible

Exemplify: the commitment and behavior you desire

Encourage: everyone in the process

Exclaim: good news and who is responsible for it

Express: appreciation and credit

Enjoy: the journey

David Allen, in his bestselling book “Getting Things Done” says, “What potential crisis ought you be dealing with now?”

Ask yourself this question about your personal and professional life.

And think how different life might be today had Congress troubled themselves to ask this question a year or two ago.

Life in general and politics in particular can be very instructive for how leaders communicate. Both are full of examples, positive and negative.

It isn’t constructive to focus on the problem alone if you can’t offer a solution. Anybody can spot a problem; leaders help solve them.

Attacking your opponent is a weak strategy; focus on the substance of your disagreement, not the personality  behind it.

Spotlighting only what’s right is as credibility-killing as spotlighting only what’s wrong. Realistic leaders address the good and the bad.

Taking credit is never as just nor effective as sharing credit.

Accepting complete responsibility, even when others are involved, is the price of leadership. Leaders use the word “we” to talk about victory and the work “I” to talk about failure. Life isn’t always fair and neither is leadership.

Generalities are less helpful than specifics. When a leader’s message is vague, that is always an indicator that the leader him- or herself is vague.

Leaders disagree by engaging and discussing, not attacking and name-calling.

The low road is easy and heavily traveled; the high road these days is rarely crowded.

We hope that those of you who lead, train leaders or desire to lead, regardless of title, are as excited as we are about our new DVD training curriculum based on Mark’s best selling, You Don’t Need a Title To Be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference.

Mark’s dynamic new leadership training program begins with the story behind the book’s title of a woman who sought to make a difference, not gain a title, and consequently had enormous impact on her company, colleagues (and everybody who’s invested in this difference making book!). His concise curriculum demonstrates to you and your teams that anyone can be a leader on the job and in life by embracing the qualities that genuine leaders share:

• Thinking about what you want to accomplish before beginning a project; hardly a novel idea but too often not given enough attention
• Caring about and listening to others
• Focusing on the success of those around you rather than on individual achievement
• Looking for ways to encourage the contributions of everyone around them
• Drawing on the power of shared values; the glue that binds us to a common vision

You Don’t Need a Title Leadership training takes you beyond simple authority and shows you how to achieve true power with people (leadership) as opposed to merely exercising power over people (title). The idea of an Army of Lions led by a Lion is a central theme of Mark’s speaking and writing. Imagine that kind of power and purpose in your organization!

The You Don’t Need a Title To Be a Leader DVD Training Curriculum is now available through the Sanborn Store. By the way, in addition to many fine products for sale in our store, we also provide several free leadership resources for download along with a wealth of other articles, archived ezines and just great content in general that will help aspiring and experienced leaders alike, lead better.

If you want to know what kind of impact You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader can have on training up your leaders, you’ll be interested in this case study from the VP of Human Development for a $200 million medical equipment and services company.