Brian Sperry Kirk Blake Creating Effective Leaders Imagination Dr. Seuss once wrote y alp!a"et starts wit!

! t!is letter called yu##. It$s t!e letter I use to spell yu##%a%ma%tu##. &ou$ll "e sort of surprised w!at t!ere is to "e found once you go "eyond $'$ and start poking around() In t!e world we live in today *ust anot!er presentation+ or *ust anot!er lecture+ will !ave followers disinterested in a matter of minutes. ,s leaders we need to find ways to gra" our followers attention+ turning work or w!atever it !appens to "e we are leading into somet!ing en*oya"le. -sing our imaginations or going "eyond ') as Dr. Seuss calls it+ !as "ecome an important part of "eing an effective leader in today.s fast paced society. /oday our world !as "ecome overrun wit! tec!nology and media. /!is makes it almost impossi"le to find a moment t!at our "rains are not stimulated "y some sort of video game or maga#ine article. Because of t!is+ w!en giving directions or presenting a goal to a group of followers it is common to see eyes gla#e over and !eads !it ta"les. In t!e past t!e president of an organi#ation or any person in a leaders!ip position simply !ad inform+ delegate+ and support. /oday t!ere !as "een one more duty added to t!at list0 t!is duty is to entertain. 1o+ t!e workplace !as not "ecome a circus or a comedy clu" "y any means0 !owever it !as "ecome increasingly difficult to grasp t!e attention of your followers and keep it. -sing your imagination is t!e key to ac!ieving t!is. Some may call it t!inking outside t!e "o2) or "reaking away from t!e norm) w!atever you c!oose to call it+ it simply is entertaining. I.m not saying you need to tell *okes+ or even to try to get you followers to laug!. /!e literal definition of t!e word entertain is to provide 3someone4 wit! amusement or en*oyment) t!is can "e ac!ieved in many different ways. Eac! and every person takes en*oyment from different t!ings w!et!er it "e reading t!e newspaper or painting a picture. /o entertain is not *ust telling *okes+ it is literally stimulating t!e mind. ,s leaders we must find ways to make a person t!ink+ rat!er t!an *ust getting t!em to listen. 5inding ways to do t!is may take you out of your comfort level at first0 "ut as time progresses you will see t!at not only are your followers more involved in w!atever it is you.re doing+ "ut also t!at t!ey are performing "etter. /!ere is a saying I !ave always "een told and I !ave always found true+ it goes if you feel well you perform well.) I t!ink it is important t!at we !elp our followers en*oy w!at t!ey do0 it will create !appier followers and increase productivity. In todays fast pace world we as leaders must take our roles to t!e ne2t level+ it is no longer accepta"le to *ust inform and !ope for t!e "est. 6ur followers e2pect more of us+ t!ey e2pect to en*oy t!e environment t!ey work in and t!e tasks t!ey are given to complete. It is our *o" to make sure t!is !appens "y going "eyond ') in our presentations or our lectures. -sing our imaginations will make our work places more en*oya"le and increase productivity of our followers. 7ork Cited Seuss+ Dr. 6n Beyond 'e"ra(. 1ew &ork8 9andom :ouse+ ;<==. >rint.

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