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A change initiative may face many possibilities of resistance, among the greatest possible resistor is sabotage. Sabotage, occurs when someone tries to make the change fail on purpose and it happens more often than you think.

In any change initiative there can be many stakeholders involved. The change agent must perform a stakeholder analysis to determine all those who have a stake in the initiative and what their level of power toward the impact of the project. The change agent must be aware of the motivations of each of the stakeholders. The knowledge of each stakeholder’s interest in the project, as well as the power they can provide. The key stakeholders are those with great power and interest as they can change the initiative on a whim.

The servant leader’s first priority is to serve the organization. They put the needs of the organization and their followers before their own. They assist their followers to grow both personally and professionally.

Leaders encourage trust between themselves and their followers. Unlike traditional management style which uses different types of power the servant leader shares power through collaboration.

Social media has changed the way people review and recommend products and organizations. It has changed the way we interact with organizations. How we get help and report issues. If used right social media can boost an organization’s reputation.

An organization can post news and initiatives that promote a good image. It can increase the transparency of organization. Since social media is incredibly fast organizations also have less control of what gets out there. Organizations may have policies that do not allow employees to post to social media however employees can post about their organization using anonymous accounts to get the word out. Organization information can be leaked and once it is out there it is there to stay, be coped, forwarded and re-tweeted. Rumors spread. Consumers can backlash.

Consumers make their decisions of what products to buy and what factors have lead them to make their decisions. In order to be successful companies must try to understand all that they can about how consumers make buying decisions. They must also know how to segment consumers into groups that are most likely to buy certain products.

Empowerment falls under transformational leadership. Empowerment is different from traditional management. Instead we are trying to develop people in to high level critical independent thinkers. Followers that are able to think outside of the box. They are capable of great innovation and creativity. Followers that have a sense of purpose and are aligned with the goals and values of the organization. We are trying to create new leaders.

A focus group is a research technique to collect feedback from a small group of people. It is done in a group discussion where group members respond to questions given by the researcher/group moderator. It allows for the collection of qualitative data.

A survey for example is designed to get large number of responses to often closed ended questions where respondents pick from set answers. This gives numbers that can be charted and analyzed to get a representation of a larger group. Focus groups on the other hand delve deeper to expand on issues.

Leadership is simply someone who has one or more individuals who follow them.

I think what makes a great leader is that the individuals freely choose to follow the leader while the leader conducts with grace, has the necessary wisdom and is able to create an environment that motivates and encourages teamwork.

Managing team performance is essential to ensuring a high performing team. There are several things that a team leader must do to manage performance. A team leader must be knowledgeable about the business, industry and know the strengths and weaknesses of all team members.

A team leader must make sure that their team has the right people. It starts with selecting the best talent possible. After selection of talent, it continues by monitoring the performance of individual team members, they will know who the stars are and who the bad apples are. Performance reviews with each team member must be scheduled on a regular basis. A review should allow the team member to discuss their tasks and allow the team leader to offer support or change of the workers tasks. It must be done in a way that shows the team leader is open, honest and fair. It should look at ways for the employee to improve. It should also be a two-way conversation.