Principles of Effective Leadership #2

We all “influence” at least 250 people in our lifetime.
Therefore, we each have the responsibility of Leadership.

from Power to Change.com 4/13 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz 7/13

2. Know what your Strengths are: To be leaders, we need each other to reach our goals. Each of us has only some of the skills needed to do a great job. We need to surround ourselves with people to fill in our gaps. 75 year-old Muriel Tower, an experienced entrepreneur, said, “You get things done through other people. #1 in business is get the “best person” for the job. #2 delegate, #3 supervise – go back and see that they did it.” In order to be effective, you need a Team to work with. We lead on the basis of our strengths; we gather our team on the basis of “their” strengths that we need to build a strong organizaeion.

What is your Leadership Style? Are you a Visionary? A person who can see the big picture & feel comfortable taking risks? Or are you a detail person–an administrative type? (You see the need for systems & order. You do things right and at the right time. You are efficient.) Perhaps you are more of a People Person–a people gatherer. You love people and can sell anything to anyone, but don’t care about details. Or maybe you’re a Loaner (no, Loaner), just love working by yourself – hard worker, a producer. Let someone give you a challenge and you’ll love it.

Multi-Function ??? Before you are 30 years old, you can probably used all of the Leadership Styles (without too much difficulty) to a > or < degree. But once you are over thirty, you realize it wasn’t efficient to do the things you aren’t good at. It uses up too much energy & stress. When you know what you are good at, surround yourself with a team who are good at the other Leadership Styles. Leading your Team. When you have that Team, meet with them regularly and have a Mission statement that you work toward and a Vision of where you want to go. Review it often with your staff, so you don’t lose your focus. Set short & long term goals, and evaluate at least 2 times a year [but quarterly is better], to see how you are doing. Your Team will be motivated toward reaching your goals together, if they feel “involved” in setting & reaching them. Give credit where credit is due. Say “thank you” to the people you are working with. Encourage them often!
Understanding your strengths and the strengths of others is a key to effective leadership.

3. Strive for Excellence. The people you want to influence will not rise to a higher standard of excellence than what they observe in you. The authors of Megatrends for Women writes, “Male or female, the effective leader wins commitment by setting an example of excellence.” We always want to influence leaders and we have to do things “right”, not only do the “right “things. Leaders must strive for excellence. Strive for excellence and you will motivate others to do the same.

[ Persistence, Be willing to take a Stand – and stand alone if you have to, be Ready for Resistance in the next Premium