Are you looking for ways to improve your leadership skills?
Join Dr. Richard Ringer, director of Illinois State University’s Organizational Leadership Institute, for a free, one-hour webinar from noon to 1 p.m. (CDT), Thursday, June 11.
Thousands of books, articles, and resources are dedicated to the topic of leadership, and Ringer notes sifting through so much information can become overwhelming. Instead of trying to memorize and keep track of 30 different marks of good leadership, he recommends narrowing the field of focus to five essential qualities and behaviors that have the biggest impact.
“If you do those really well, then the other issues you can manage more effectively,” he observed.
Drawing on research as well as personal experience, Ringer plans to discuss some of the things that matter most when it comes to leadership. The event is particularly geared toward people in early leadership roles and will highlight basic principles of leadership on which people can build a successful career.
The workplace provides a great realm for hands-on lessons in leadership, and Ringer’s goal is to provide foundational insights that will help add value to those experiences so that people can look at leaders they admire and see more clearly why those individuals are effective.
When asked why it is important to take time to become a better leader, he noted that success in that arena can make a tremendous impact in the lives of others.
“People don’t leave jobs; people leave managers,” Ringer said. “A good manager can make a miserable job bearable. A bad manager can ruin a perfect job, so leadership matters not just because it helps the organization be successful, but leadership matters because it has a direct impact on the way people feel and respond to how they’re spending a tremendous amount of their daily lives. It makes such a difference. Leadership ought to be concerned with the type of environment we’re creating, not just getting product out the door, not just dealing with clients or customers, not just selling insurance or making cars or whatever it is we happen to do as an organization. It’s also about the environment that we create for people. Is it a decent place to be? Am I respected? Am I validated? Am I doing things that somehow matter and somehow am I able to grow and develop?”
Register here for the upcoming webinar, which is organized by the Illinois State University Alumni Association.
Find additional virtual Alumni Association activities and resources by following this link.
