by Sharon Michaels (Read about her here.)

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Whether you are building an online marketing team, own a storefront with employees, or organize a monthly professional networking group, your leadership skills can often mean the difference between success and failure.

What are the traits of a great leader?

Interestingly enough, in 1954 Raymond Cattell developed a Leadership Potential Equation. This equation was based on the common basic qualities of the top military leaders of World War II. In fact, this equation is still used today as a guide for defining the traits of effective leadership. Here are a few traits from Raymond Cattell’s Leadership Potential Equation:

1. Self-confidence – Self-assuredness, self-confidence and resiliency are common and important traits among top leaders. They trust their own judgment and instincts and do not necessarily need the approval of others to make well thought out decisions.

2. Healthy energy – A leader is well aware that good health is a prerequisite to good leadership. With leadership comes the need to take care of oneself in mind, body and spirit. Healthy energy begins in a healthy body.

3. Enthusiasm – People want to follow positive, energetic, upbeat, optimistic leaders. They want their leader to enthusiastically look for and focus on solutions to day-to-day challenges.

4. Knowledge – A powerful leader should know what she’s talking about. There’s nothing worse than a leader who doesn’t walk her talk. The most charismatic leaders lead by example.

5. Emotional stability – Good leaders handle stress, anger, frustration and disappointment in positive and empowering ways. Emotional maturity is a must for effective leadership.

6.  Empathy – Personal power and recognition must take a back seat to the well being of the team. Empathy builds trust. Without a leader who is trustworthy, there is no team.

7. Charisma – A charismatic leader can rally a team to be and achieve their best. A leader with charisma can paint a vision of the future that her team will want to build upon and aim toward.

8. Goal oriented – Leadership means knowing how to set group goals—goals that will motivate and excite the team to grow and thrive personally and professionally.

I doubt if anyone is born a great leader. It is how a person handles the circumstances they are given that often determines true leadership qualities. Looking through these traits, how do you rank yourself as a leader? Remember, you can learn to lead.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read these excellent articles:

7 Steps to the Best Leadership Style and

Leadership Skills: Boost Your Business Acumen! and

5 Things Leaders Must Do to Stop the Gossip Mill

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or SharonMichaels here.

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“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”  Carl W. Buechner

Have you ever attended a comedy club where the comedians had you laughing constantly? When the lights come on, you were wishing for more because you had a great time and the comedians made you feel good.

Have you ever participated in a meeting, conference call, presentation, or face-to-face conversation feeling the complete opposite? You feel like time isn’t moving. You can’t wait to walk away and you’re bored to tears. Because the speaker is ineffective, you don’t remember the key points or ideas and there is nothing to quote.

Being memorable and quotable requires you to:

• Grab and keep the attention of listeners.

• Be clear, concise and to the point.

• Communicate a message that meets your listener’s expectations.

• Manage the amount of information you share.

Whether you are delivering a presentation, facilitating a meeting of having a face-to-face conversation, you’re objective is to influence action. When you are memorable and quotable, your listeners will remember more of your message for a longer length of time.  As a result, you’ll have more impact and influence on them.

Most of us never get close to being memorable and quotable because we frustrate our listeners. We communicate too much information and our message imparts information overload. Our listeners become frustrated because they begin to feel overwhelmed, confused or exhausted. In most cases, their reaction is to stop listening. They may be nodding their heads, giving you the impression they’re listening, but in reality you have filled their cup to capacity and it is now overflowing.

To make sure your listeners remember and retain the information you are communicating, create your content following “The Rule of Three,” which states that the human mind remembers in groups of three. This explains why we remember our phone numbers and Social Security numbers. When you offer more than three key points, your listeners are busy trying to remember each key point; they walk away with none of them. Keeping your key points to three or less will also help you remember what you came to communicate.

Identify up to three key points that will support your objective, meet your listener’s expectations and influence them to take action. Your key points serve as a road map that provides direction. Key points establish the framework for the action you want your listeners to take as a result of your message.

Always state your most important key point first. I know this sounds obvious, yet how many times have you saved the best for last? If you begin to run out of time, you end up racing through your most important key point, throwing it at your listeners and hoping they will cling to the idea. Often they will miss it!

When you state your most important key point first, you don’t need to worry about running out of time and failing to communicate a critical piece to your message. It’s not a make or break if you don’t have time to communicate your least important key point. Remember, your listeners don’t know what your key points are until you share them.

Leave your listener wanting more. You’ll have more impact on your listeners when you follow the rule of three because they will be able to make a decision to take action. When they walk away feeling frustrated, they end up with nothing!

The more memorable your message becomes, the more quotable you will be. Apply the following elements to your message to make it easier for your listeners to quote you.

• Use stories and examples relating to the experiences of your listeners.

• Speak their language. What phrases or acronyms do they use that you can apply to your message?

• Invite your listeners to connect, engage and interact with you. Ask them questions, have them repeat key take-aways, or restate your key take-aways at least three times throughout your message.

Be sure to visit our site, WomensMedia to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

For quick updates for Business Women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here, or StaceyHanke here.

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On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Add Confidence and Credibility to Your Presentations

or you may enjoy this: 10 Tips From Gretchen Rubin on How to Be Happy at Work

It may help to listen to:

How To Get Motivated —5 Steps For Motivation
or read it here.

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By Stacey Hanke (Read about her here.)

(Listen to it here.)

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Do you walk into a room like you belong there? Does your posture communicate confidence—or uncertainty?

Last week I attended a conference and was observing individuals as they walked into the room. The individuals who caught my attention walked into the room as if they were saying, “I’d rather be having a root canal than entering this room.” Their posture conveyed a lack of confidence and credibility. Not only did they walk with hesitation, but their seated posture communicated uncertainty.

If only we could see what others see when we enter a room, sit in a meeting, or participate in a face-to-face conversation. If you want to be taken more seriously and have more impact and influence, a powerful place to begin is with your standing and seated posture.

The challenge with communication behavior is that there is no right or wrong. Throughout this year’s podcasts, I’ll give recommendations on what I’ve found are the most effective ways to communicate with impact and influence.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

On our website, WomensMedia you should read this: Table-Talking Your Way to Networking, or this: 8 Tips for Fearless Communication in the Workplace .

It may help to listen to Gender Communication with Authority And Care —A Business Woman Can Be Careful Without Losing Her Authority
or read it here.

For quick updates for business women you should follow NancyFClark on twitter here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter.  We make it easy!

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, http://www.womensmedia.com/ to get Expert Advice for Business Women.

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Starting out in rocket science and computer technology, I was often the only woman in the room.

That’s another way of saying, the stereotype others had of me didn’t fit with the group, I was well aware of these assumptions.

I’ll bet you’ve had the feeling—at one time or another—that people have stuck a stereotype or label on you that made you out to be less than you are.

You may have felt like an outsider to their groups.

In their minds they could be thinking:

• She’s not important,
• She’s not educated,
• She’s not capable,
• She’s not assertive,
• it could even be, “Oh, she’s a mother.” and further questions might end right there.

You can see how this limits the opportunities a person is willing to offer you. In my Business Tip of the Week, I discuss how you can prepare ahead to cancel these negative, incorrect, stereotypes.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Or on our website, WomensMedia, you may want to read What Keeps Women from Reaching the Top?

For quick business updates you should follow me on twitter here.

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(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Women in Business.

I’m sure every woman has noticed this here and there at work:  A smart woman deferring to a man who is not entirely correct—and she knows it—and he doesn’t—but he’s speaking with confidence and a loud voice. It always makes me wonder why she’s deferring to him by not speaking up.

My Women in Business Tip of the Week teaches you how to show authority with men, without ruffling any feathers.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

In another podcast, you may want to listen to How To Manage Your Project —Organize A Project With Five Easy Steps

Or on our website, WomensMedia, you may want to read 8 Tips for Fearless Communication in the Workplace

(Listen to it here.)

Finally, and dramatically, public perception has changed!

Five years ago, anyone could say, “ A woman or an African American man cannot be elected President,” and it would be assumed to be true. Now, even though Hillary Clinton did not win, we can picture either type of candidate having a viable chance in the future. Imagine the change: Race or gender no longer eliminates you from becoming President of the United States!

This perception is percolating down into our business world with the outstanding performance of a number of female CEO’s. We have seen that a woman can successfully grow a small company into a major player, such as Meg Whitman did with eBay. She formed a fledgling Internet idea into a company with revenue of 8.46 billion dollars a year. She now has her eye on another arena—politics.

The Rules are Changing

You no longer have to dress like a man or act like a man to reach upper management—the level that was forbidden by the glass ceiling. You can act in a style that’s comfortable to you as long as you show others they can have confidence in you. My Tip of the Week shows you how to do this.

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

What if you asked 2,250 adults across the U.S. who makes a better political leader, a man or a woman? And what if you divided leadership into 8 character traits?

Luckily for us, the Pew Research Center found the money and the people to fund a well-run survey asking these exact questions. What did they find? They found a paradox in our society.

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

If you own the company and feel like making coffee, running the copier, and wiping smudges off windows, go ahead with the busywork. But if you work for others and you’re concerned that they may not view you as Leadership Material, drop these tasks as soon as you can.

In my Tip of the Week, I tell you how to bundle a Delegation Package that will save you time and will help develop a lower level employee while you’re at it!

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.
Is 40 Years Too Long To Wait?

There sure aren’t many women in the corner offices, or in the next level down either.  Recent research by Catalyst shows that 84% of these offices in major U.S. companies are occupied by men. At the rate women are moving up, it will take 40 years before we see equality. That’s too long for me. Is that too long for you?

What Can We Do About It?

There are 2 things women need to do to have a CEO-ready resume—and they’re not impossible. Take a few minutes to learn what you need.

(Listen to it here.)

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

I’m sure every woman has noticed this here and there at work:  A smart woman deferring to a man who is not entirely correct—and she knows it—and he doesn’t—but he’s speaking with confidence and a loud voice. It always makes me wonder why she’s deferring to him by not speaking up.

My Tip of the Week teaches you how to stop deferring to men, and how to do it without ruffling any feathers.