BEING A LEADER IS ALL ABOUT CREATING CONNECTIONS

Being a leader is all about creating connections.

And while most people fixate on the ‘outside’ connections, if you want to be a leader the first connection you need to make is to yourself.

If you don’t understand who you are and what you stand for…

And you don’t live according to your stated principles…

Your odds of building a loyal, trusting following are nonexistent.

As Aristotle said: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

So, here are 3 ways to develop the self-knowledge required of a good leader:

1 – Define Your Core Values

If you’re a leader, whether in a large or small capacity, you’re going to be faced with some hard decisions.  

Roy Disney had a phrase “When values are clear decisions are easy.”

Understanding your core values provides a roadmap for decision-making.  

Not only does this help clarify things for you…

But it helps your teammates understand and predict what you’re going to do and why you’re going to do it – an unpredictable leader creates an environment of uncertainty and anxiety.

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2 – Understand Your Temperament

Are you introverted or extroverted?  Do you prefer to be spontaneous or well-planned?  Are you intuitive or data-driven?

Understanding your temperament is important in understanding where you’re likely to be naturally energized, knowing how to communicate with people of different temperaments, and finding teammates who can make up for your weaknesses.

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3 – Articulate Your Vision

Understand where you’re going, why you’re going there, how you’re going to get there.

What does success look like?  What are your win conditions?  What contribution do you want to make?

When articulate your vision, you need to ensure that it’s in alignment with both your values and your temperament.

Too often I see people who say they ‘want to make a difference’, but their vision is about laying on a beach in the Bahamas.

Or they’re an introvert trying to master the door-to-door game (a mistake I once made!).

In your role as a leader, it’s your primary job to get people rallied around your vision.  

If you can’t articulate it to yourself, you can’t communicate it to your team.

And if it’s not true to who you are, they’ll smell the incongruence from a mile away.

Every Parent Must Watch This.

LIZZY ANJORIN

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE BEST IN PEOPLE?

Are you looking for the best in people?

I'm not just talking about 'seeing' the best in them.

I mean really 'looking'.

It's the difference between being a passive observer and an active agent.

As a leader, part of your job is to nurture people and help them grow...
Which is not a passive event.

'Looking' for the best in people entails doing some digging.

It means getting to know them.
Recognizing their strenghts.
Understanding their values.
Realizing their virtues.
And then picturing them living in alignment with those strengths, values, and virtues.

Once you do that, you're likely to see more in somebody than they themselves do.

Psychologists have this concept called 'the looking glass self.'

It says that we come to view ourselves the way we think others view us.

What does this mean?

It means that simply by picturing somebody being their best...
we're helping them to become their best.

So stop just 'seeing' the best in people.
And start looking for it.

Most People Want Something More Out of Life

Most people want something more out of life...
But most people don't know how to actually get something more out of life.

The separation between 'wanting' and 'getting' comes down to three things most people don't get right:

👉 They don't understand or haven't articulated their values. 

Without an understanding of their values, a person is unable to determine what direction they should be moving, what activities are worth pursuing, or what life they want to be living.

Put simply, they are unable to establish priorities.

👉 They are unable to organize around those priorities.

Life is filled with demands on our time and money. 
The problem is, most of those demands have very little or nothing to do with bringing a person in closer alignment to the things they value. 

Experienced entrepreneurs usually understand how this works.

You've got to trim the fat. 

You've got to turn Thirsty Thursday into Thoughtful Thursday and your booze budget into your book budget.

👉 They lack the discipline to execute on their priorities.

This is where the rubber meets the road. 

It takes discipline to stay in and write another blog post while your friends are out drinking.
Or to attend a webinar when your favorite show is on.

Discipline is about consistency.

It's in the culmination of small activities that that results in success.
But small activities, which are easy to do, are also easy not to do.

So if you want more but you're struggling to get more...

Ask yourself: which of these three am I missing?

Your path forward starts there.

UNDERSTAND WHO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH.

Understand who you want to work with.

Your 'Ideal Client'.

In a world where you have access to over 2 Billion people on Facebook alone there's no reason to spend your time on anybody else.

How do you determine your 'ideal client'?

Well, it's more than just jotting down some demographics.

"Women, age 30-35, income $35,000, two kids, married, college educated"

This is an alright start (I guess), but doesn't actually give you anything to work with.

Instead ask:
"What is my ideal customer passionate about?"
"What are their goals and dreams?"
"What do they read, or watch, or do for fun?"
"Are there certain defining moments that my ideal clients have experienced?  Were they laid off?  Did they start a business?  Did they just have a kid?"

If you've got hazy thinking you're likely to get hazy results.

Bring your ideal client into focus and watch your business take off.