Leadership is A Skill You Can Learn

What is a leader?  A leader is a multifaceted style that encompasses more than managing people.  According to Kevin Kruse in an article for Forbes, “Leadership doesn’t automatically happen when you reach a certain pay grade.” (What is Leadership?)  It is a learning experience all its own.

"Leadership scholars define a leader as a person who sets attractive goals and has the ability to attract followers, or constituents, who share those goals. Above all, a leader must be trusted and respected. Trust between a leader and constituent’s opens up two-way communication, making it possible for them to realize their common goals." (Marvin Bower, The Will to Lead)

One of the most important aspects of leadership is good communication skills.  Whether it is coaching or delivering performance evaluations, leaders need to have the ability to communicate effectively.  Leadership and communication skills can be taught.  The ability to communicate and build teams is important for emerging leaders to be able motivate groups of people toward a common goal—the goal of the business. 

In an article, Businesses Don’t Fail – Leaders Do, Mike Myatt writes: ”Why do businesses fail? If you’re willing to strip away all the excuses, explanations, rationalizations, and justifications for business failures, and be really honest in your analysis, you’ll find only one plausible reason—poor leadership.”

In our new course series, Management to Leadership, instructor Dena Loverde explores the differences between managing people and leading them.  Not everyone is a leader, but with the skills learned in this course anyone can learn to be one.

Take a sneak peek at the lesson: Leader as Goal Setter, from the course Defining Leadership which will be posted live on our website: www.knowledgecity.com in the coming weeks.

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How Video Training Helps Students Learn

Online courses and video training have steadily increased over the last ten years.  Recent research suggests that 77 percent of academic leaders now consider learning outcomes in online education the same or superior to that of courses taught face-to-face.

KnowledgeCity’s online video training courses are taught with an innovative approach to learning.  We offer courses not in traditional lecture format, but in micro-learning sessions of: chapters and lessons broken down into minutes—not hours.  Video training in this method is more engaging; enabling students to understand and memorize the course material.

According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), training sessions should be 20 minutes or less with short breaks in between.  The ATD calls these “brain breaks.” KnowledgeCity structures its courses in a similar manner allowing students to absorb and comprehend the information they have just learned before moving on to the next lesson.

Why is this important? According to a study on the Primacy-Recency Theory published by the US National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health; during sessions of learning, recall of information is better at the beginning and end of a presentation.  This means that students in a traditional learning setting would listen to a lecture for an hour or more but the only retention they would have of the discussion would be information contained in the beginning (primacy) and the end (recency) of the lecture.

KnowledgeCity is helping students learn better and retain what they learn, by using this research to develop a fresh, modern course structure.  Another difficulty for students attending a tradition lecture type class is the inability to rewind and review.  If you have not taken notes or brought a recorder to the session you may be at a loss.

At KnowledgeCity, not only can you rewind and review as often as needed to grasp concepts, but student also have access to course files containing examples and outlines to help retain the knowledge they learned long after the course is completed.

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Top Paying Jobs for Women: 5 Highest Paying Jobs for Women

There was a time when women were relegated to only teaching, nursing, childcare, administrative assistant careers. Times have changed and now there are and increasing population of female CEO’s, doctors, lawyers, and politicians. Here are five lucrative professions women should consider when choosing a career path:

Careers in Medicine
Internal medicine (i.e. anesthesiology, dermatology, optometry etc.), compared to emergency medicine, is one of the high paying careers for women. Internal medicine, a medical specialty that deals with the prevention, diagnoses, and treatment for adult diseases, offers more flexibility for women who are the primary caretaker in their family. It’s less taxing and demanding compared to emergency medicine, in which physicians receives specialized training to care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention (i.e. cardiac surgeon).

Another possibility for more schedule flexibility is concierge medicine, where doctors charge a yearly fee for a set number of patients providing enhanced care. The median salary for female doctors of medicine according to payscale.com, a market leader in global online compensation data, is $135,725/year.

Careers in IT [Information Technology]
As more and more companies are relying on technology, opportunities are increasing for women in the information technology field. A computer-related occupation offers high paying jobs for women. The median salary for IT consultants is around $70,492/year. It’s career friendly for women. Work conditions are not as physically strenuous, is less mechanical, however mentally challenging versus other professions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment projection for 2006-2016, demand for IT occupations will rise in nearly all industries.

Careers in Law
Another top paying career for women is a career in law where the average female attorney/lawyers can earn up to $69,696/year. As law firms are recognizing that diversity of talent is essential for their advantage in market competition, there is a surge for law firms to retain talented women attorneys.

Careers in Sales Engineering
Career training in sales engineering offers women the potential to earn $62,427/year. Responsibilities of a sales engineer is to work with the company’s production, engineering, research and development departments, and with independent sales firms to determine how products and services can be designed or modified for customers’ needs. A job that requires the knowledge of an engineer, but with qualities of a sales person, sales engineer is the perfect job for women because women naturally tend to communicate better than men.

Careers in Financial/Investment Services and Counselors
Another one of the best paying jobs for women currently not being taken advantaged of is careers in financial/investment services and counselors. Women have natural characteristics well-suited for these jobs such as communicating, developing relationships, and educating; which are critical skills needed to be successful as a financial planner. The median salary for women in financial services is $53,890/year.

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At KnowledgeCity, Everyone can be a VIP!

Hello, VIP status! Now, VIP access means that you can get all the career training you need...FREE! KnowledgeCity.com is offering VIP members a FREE year subscription, which includes full access to every course on the KnowledgeCity.com Web site.

And here's the good news: it's never been easier to become a VIP. The only thing you need is a username and password. Don't have one of those? They're easy to get.

Just (1) visit KnowledgeCity.com/vip, (2) Create a user name and password, and (3) watch and learn! You can start taking any of KnowledgeCity's courses in just minutes. Brush up on Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Learn new skills on Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, or InDesign. Stay current with the latest business trends in project management, financial accounting, and money management, including how to use QuickBooks. Even learn tips and tricks for your job search, a winning resume, and a successful interview. KnowledgeCity has everything you need to advance your career. Visit KnowledgeCity.com/vip today.

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