Orrin Woodward Leadership Team

Welcome to my leadership blog. Ideas have consequences and the goal of this blog is to discuss ideas of consequence. Some ideas you may agree with and some you may disagree. No worries. The only rules are that you post under your own name and that you think and discuss in a civil manner. People who attack others only prove they have reached the limit of their logic. The Bible states, "Iron sharpens iron" and we will sharpen one another by what we read, write and think. The goal of this blog is to help us identify and follow truth in all areas of our lives. I encourage you to join our leadership discussion and transform yourself and others through the renewing of our minds.

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This is the blog where leaders come to learn with NY Times, Wall St. Journal, USA Today, Money & Business Weekly best selling co-author of Launching a Leadership Revolution & Top 25 Leadership Gurus List Best of the Rest Selection - Orrin Woodward. This blog is an Alltop selection and ranked in HR's Top 100 Blogs for Management & Leadership.

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Wednesday, October 31

Leadership Book Review

by Orrin Woodward on Wed 31 Oct 2007 04:22 PM EDT

Here is another review of Chris Brady and my newly released book. Al Olsen reviews our book for Armchair interviews. We appreciate the kind words from a fellow leader and learner. Leading is more than just doing the right things. It is also being the right kind of person. In fact it has been said, “You must be before you can have.” This is another way of saying success is from the inside out. In our book Chris and I describe this through the use of art and science. The Art side is who you and how you think and Science side is what you do. Many people try to shortcut leadership by emulating the actions without having the inside character. People can see this from a mile away and are not fooled by inauthentic leaders. To be authentic, what you are and what you do must be aligned. Study the Tri-Lateral Leadership concept in our book and rate yourself on Character, Task, and relationships. It is never too late to start leading in life. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

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Monday, October 29

Wall Street Journal Best Seller List & Character

by Orrin Woodward on Mon 29 Oct 2007 10:53 AM EDT

Well it is official! The Wall Street Journal list has ranked Chris and my new book, Launching a Leadership Revolution, the #3 business book bestseller. The credit goes to the amazing leaders who have shared this book word of mouth and person to person. Our goal in writing this book was to provide solid, practical and applicable information to develop skills for better leadership. I believe we can change the country by improving the ability of people to influence in a positive direction. So much of what we read in the media is negative and depressing, but we have a choice of being part of the problem or part of the solution. Chris and I decided along time ago to be part of the solution. No matter how narrow the path, no matter how much criticism we receive, we will do right. God has his own ways of blessing those who are faithful to his commands and not the worlds. Many times in life you will be tempted to compromise what you know is right for the convenience of not rocking the boat. As Jesus said:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." {Matt 6:19-24 RSV}

What if you had a choice to make between what you knew was right by God, but looked wrong for your personal finances? What if you knew you could ignore the issue and receive financial gain for doing so? This is where you must not only read the Bible, but apply it to your life. If you ignore what you know is right for financial gain then you are serving Mammon and not God. If you do what you know is right, then you are obeying God and let Him deal with the consequences. I would encourage every person to examine themselves on this character issue. Chris and I have developed the Tri-Lateral Leadership ledger in our book to help you examine your character. Remember what the great philosopher Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Have you examined your character lately?

Our world is so busy with phone calls, text, emails, and urgent appointments that very few people take the time to examine their thinking and beliefs. My friend Tim Marks states, “Know why you believe what you believe.” That is a great start on the journey of character. Do you know why you believe what you believe? How much money would it take to buy your character? Anyone can say they will choose God over Mammon, but it isn’t until the chips are down and you are at the fork in the road that you will know for sure. Shakespeare said, “To thine ownself be true” and this is wise advice. In order to be true to yourself you must know yourself. Character isn’t a one time thing it is a lifetime thing. To be a leader of principle you must not only spout the right words, but you must decide to live the principle when the going gets tough. You can and should be a leader of character and it begins with knowing right and ends with doing right. John Wooden, the great coach of UCLA said, “You cannot control your reputation because reputation is what people say about you, but character is what you are and you do control that.” God Bless you on your journey of leadership. Orrin Woodward

The following list was sent from our editor Rick Wolff and contains all the Hachette Group of Books:
Wall Street Journal Best Selling Books 10/26/07

BUSINESS
3. LAUNCHING A LEADERSHIP REVOLUTION, by C. Brady, O. Woodward (Business Plus)
8. MICROTRENDS, by Mark Penn, E. K. Zalesne (Twelve)
13. RICH DAD POOR DAD, by R. Kiyosaki and S. Lechter (Warner Business)
14. THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay)

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Sunday, October 28

Building Loyal Teams

by Orrin Woodward on Sun 28 Oct 2007 03:12 PM EDT

The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve its goals.” Rensis Likert

Rensis Likert was an educator at the University of Michigan and studied management styles. The above quote fits perfectly into Chris Brady and my beliefs on leadership. To lead a group of people you must first help everyone buy into the vision. Every group forms for a specific intent. There is some reason the group has gathered together for. The clearer the vision of where group is going helps in setting goals to obtain the vision. Most groups fail because there is no common vision; therefore, there is no loyalty to the group’s goals or leaders. Loyalty is earned by serving the team even at the expense of your own needs. Any leader that is not willing to sacrifice more than the group he/she serves is not worthy of the title of leader. By sacrificing your own needs for the good of your team you build a loyal team. A loyal team is willing to sacrifice as well because you have led by example.

An organization that has money can never buy the loyalty that sacrificial servant leadership earns. The great companies of today are learning these principles. Gone are the days where people do things because they were told to by indifferent and uncaring bosses. People want to know you care and why the team is doing something. Does this serve the whole team or just the “leader?” No you cannot buy loyalty. But you can earn loyalty and in Launching a Leadership Revolution Chris and I go through some of the principles to do just that. Remember what Jesus said, “He who wants to be the greatest of ye must be the least of ye, the servant to all.” True words of leadership that are as valid today as the day they were spoken. Are you earning the trust, respect and loyalty of your team? Are you serving your group or relying on your title to compel them to follow you? The answers to these questions make all the difference in the results produced. God Bless you on your leadership journey. Orrin Woodward

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Saturday, October 27

Leadership and Building Teams

by Orrin Woodward on Sat 27 Oct 2007 02:03 PM EDT

Here is some more good news from the publishing front on our release of Launching a Leadership Revolution. The newly released book hit #8 on the Business Week business book best seller list. I can remember when Chris and I got into a four+ hour discussion on leadership attempting to determine why some people develop into leaders and others do not.

From that discussion and months of work we self published our book. After selling tens of thousands of copies a former editor Russ Mack read our book and strongly advised us to have it nationally released. Russ volunteered his own time and effort to send the books to the New York publishing houses and here we are. (Thank you Russ for your diligence!) This is what I love about free enterprise. The more you focus on serving others the more it comes back to you. This book project has been a blessing for Chris and I and paying that blessing forward is part of our plan. We decided early in the book project to give 100% of the advance and royalties to charities to give others the opportunity to enjoy free enterprise. I believe people do not need hand outs more than a hand willing to lift them up and give them an encouraging word or start. Matt Abraham bought into the vision of this book and has done an excellent job promoting the release of LLR. We believe in surrounding ourselves with great people and giving them the freedom to do what they do best. The book project itself is an example of vision and developing the right team. This would have never happened without applying the principles taught in our book. Here is our new book in an airport bookstore.

The future belongs to the organizations who will lead with character and integrity. Gone are the days of top down management where people do things for “leaders?” through intimidation or fear. As Peter Senge states, “The only significant competitive advantage is your company’s ability to learn faster than the competition.” This means vision based leadership and casting a common vision where people willingly buy in. Buying a person’s time will not yield half the results of winning a person’s trust and loyalty to the vision. If you are leading an organization or department these are some of the questions to ask yourself:

1. Are you leading through vision or position?
2. Are you building a team or do you micro-manage all under you?
3. Do you trust your team to delegate key assignments?
4. Do you encourage and reward personal growth in your team?
5. Are you constantly developing others to replace your work?

The successful organizations of today and tomorrow will be the organizations that function more as a team with the leader being the biggest servant of all. God Bless you on your leadership journey and thanks for making LLR a best seller! Orrin Woodward

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Tuesday, October 2

Launching A Leadership Revolution

by Orrin Woodward on Tue 02 Oct 2007 07:56 AM EDT

The pre-orders on Chris and my soon to be released book Launching a Leadership Revolution are generating excitement. The book currently is number one in ethics and number five in leadership on Amazon.com. This is a tribute to many leaders sharing person to person. Our goal with this book is to teach leadership principles to make a difference in our world. No amount of income will ultimately satisfy, but the ability to make a difference in others lives does Chris and I are honored that Bill Hybels would recognize our book as a leadership must read. Keep reading, growing and leading and come say "hi" at one of the many book signings coming to a town near you! Here is the quote of the day by Abraham Lincoln, "Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." God Bless, Orrin

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