Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Don't Let Your Group Drink Dirty Water-Be a Leader

Don't Let Your Group Drink Dirty Water-Be a Leader
Free Download - 9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees By Dr. Vincent Kituku
Name: Email:

 

 

Don't Let Your Group Drink Dirty Water-Be a Leader

 

 

Are the people you lead "drinking 'social' dirty water?"

 

There is an Akamba, Kenya, proverb that says, "Syaasya ndongoi, inyusaa muuluu." This wise saying means when a herd of cattle lacks a leader, it ends up drinking dirty water. This saying is based on an observation in which the last herd to get to the water source finds the water has been made dirty by the ones that arrived before it.

 

All things kept the same for different groups, the ultimate outcome of success or failure largely depends on the effectiveness of a group's leader. With a visionary, involved, and inspiring leader success is not a matter of chance.

 

One of my childhood responsibilities was tending to our family livestock. We had a steer named Masikau that was trained by my grandfather to lead the herd to grazing areas. That steer led the rest, at noon, to the water source and in the evening it led them home. My job was to follow the last cow or goat-Masikau did the leading.

 

When that steer died, grazing became chaotic. We had to have two people, one leading the column of steers, cows and goats to the water source and one at the end.

 

However, it was years later that I learned the importance of a leader with elephants. The most vulnerable herd of elephants is the one without a leader. Once a leader is poached the rest become disillusioned, even in an environment they have called their home for years.

 

In whatever situation you lead, whether as a CEO, manager, parent, preacher or teacher, know that you directly impact the outcome of your entity's success or failure. Understanding the power of dreams, believing in others and getting people to love and be involved as partners for success are key aspects for effective leadership.

 

Take the case of Taft Elementary School in Boise, Idaho. The school has a little over 300 students and it qualifies for Title One (when about 50% of the students are in the discounted lunch program). This school has about 70% to 80% in the discounted lunch program. In general terms, that is an indicator of low income population. Yet that school's successful academic performance has challenged conventional wisdom, year after year.

 

It was the only Title One School in the Boise School District to pass the recent Idaho Reading Indicator Test. The score was 88%, the second highest in the district following Highland Elementary School that has less or about 10% of the students in the discounted lunch program.

 

Taft has been selected as the school of choice by parents living as far away as Nampa, Eagle and Meridian taking advantage of the open enrollment policy. About 107 students come from outside the school boundaries.

 

These spectacular results are the works of a visionary leader. Dr. Susan Williamson became the principal in the late 1990s. We met when she invited me to speak to the students on the importance of hard work, making the right choices, staying away from drugs, having dreams and never letting the lack of material possessions to limit oneself.

 

But Dr. Williamson's vision was to involve parents in their children's learning. "Our goal is to have 100% of parents involved in our students' success" she said. That is a tough goal. She continued by saying, "At times we would go to their homes if they couldn't come to school for teacher-parent conference...there was a time when one parent who worked as a car salesman couldn't take time off from work and we had to go visit him at his workplace."

 

The school has established programs for parents and students to work together, activities such as pottery, environmental club, reading night, mathematics night, you name it. Parental involvement in a child's growth is known as one of the fundamental factors for determining success.

 

Dr. Susan Williamson and the staff of Taft Elementary School have refused to allow the school they lead from "drinking the dirty water" of poor performance.

 

Questions to ask as a leader:

 

  • Do you have a vision for your organization?
  • Do others know that vision with the clarity that inspires them to act?
  • Do you communicate to motivate or to threaten?
  • Have you taken a moment to establish what success means to you?
  • Are you involving others as co-partners in your quest for success?
  • How do you manage change?
  • Are you providing opportunities for others to grow?

 

Leadership means different things to different people. But when people see success, they know, there was an effective leader in-charge of making success a reality.

 

Don't let your organization drink dirty water.

 

 

 

 





Dont Let Your Group Drink Dirty WaterBe a Leader - To learn more about this author, visit Dr. Vincent Kituku's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Linda Richardson
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website

John Brennan
John Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Dr. Vincent Kituku
(Visit Dr. Vincent's Website) Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku, a native of Kenya and resident of Idaho established Kituku & Associates in 1995 to provide new approaches for dealing with workplace challenges. He likens the unpredictability of change/challenges to life with water buffaloes that invaded African villages without warning, devastating social structures, uprooting the harmonious livelihood of villagers and leave them feeling insecure and stressed out. During chaotic times, people think that there is no solution for their perceptively overwhelming situation. They wonder, �Why do we have to change from what we are doing?� Some think they are not responsible for making change work. Vincent says, �When a buffalo invades your village, you can not waste time blaming others, whining, or wishing it had not happened.� His high energy, content filled and entertaining keynote and training programs challenge and inspire audiences for maximum impact mind shift. They learn how to set themselves apart at work and in life, re-discover talents and resources they need for growth, thrive by repeatedly providing exceptional services, be involved with something bigger than a career and move forward without leaving life behind. Dr. Kituku is one of the less than 7% speakers to earn the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) recognition, presented by the National Speakers Association. He has been the motivational speaker for the successful Boise State University Football Team since 1998.

Dr. Vincent Kituku is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Dr. Vincent Kituku's

Complete
List Of
Leadership
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Dr. Vincent Kituku's Complete List of Leadership Articles For FREE!

More Dr. Vincent Kituku
Top 7 Leadership Lessons Learned From Gardening
Whose Feather Are You Flying With
9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees
Managing Perpetual Workplace Changes
Dont Let Your Group Drink Dirty WaterBe a Leader
Dealing with the Failure Within an Organization
Discover and Use Your Personal Strengths
Job and Success Redefined
13 Known Strategies that Stop Employees From Screaming
Are You Sabotaging Your Success
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
George Ludwig  
Jay Kubassek  
John Alexander  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Ezine Choices Icon Ezine Choices
Instant Brochures Icon Instant Brochures
Managing Generations Icon Managing Generations
Find It. Use It. Icon Find It. Use It.
Ideal Website Template Icon Ideal Website Template
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Marketing Blogs To Watch In 2008
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008
 
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Joyce Edobor Benin City, Nigeria,
Joyce Edobor
Benin City, Nigeria
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Frank Cianciulli, $2.3 to $7.5 Mil in 2 years
Frank Cianciulli
$2.3 to $7.5 Mil in 2 years
Gord Hotchkiss, $113k to $1.5 Mil in 5 years
Gord Hotchkiss
$113k to $1.5 Mil in 5 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Asa Candler, Coca-Cola
Asa Candler
Coca-Cola
Gerry Schwartz, Onex
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
David Allen, Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done
Timothy Ferriss, 4 Hour Work Week
Timothy Ferriss
4 Hour Work Week
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Questioning Parked Domains and Google AdNonSense
By Chris McElroy
     Blogheads
By Chris McElroy
     10 Ways to Increase Your Blog’s Pageviews
By Chris McElroy

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More popular articles
- Crm Sales Force Solution
More Information