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This week I have been reflecting about why I do what I do. Why I spend my time helping and coaching others, and why I chose leadership as the foundation for my work. I discovered there are three key principles that are important to me.

(Watch the video)

First, leadership is about leading yourself, more than it is about leading others. Leadership of self is about how you find your passion and purpose. It is about how you define your values, set your priorities, and define your daily agenda. Leadership is about being the person you want to be, and being an example for others.

Second, leadership is for everyone. I truly believe that everyone can benefit from learning more about leadership. Many people don’t recognize this fact. This is what drives me to help people increase their own awareness.

Third, our attitude is set only by ourselves. We wear our attitude. It affects our daily success, and it is 100% under our control. When you increase your ability to lead yourself, you increase your capability for a positive attitude. Many times our results are a direct reflection of the attitude we carry. Remember our attitude can also be contagious to those around us!

John Maxwell said many times, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Successful people have learned that it is a never ending journey, and that every new step increases awareness. I am glad you have learned that too.

Have a great week, and until next time, focus on your success!

(Rather watch the video?)

The world needs better leaders, don’t you agree? We don’t have to look very far to see some very poor leaders in very visible positions. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

What is your strongest memory about a situation where you felt empowered? How did it impact you? How was your performance enhanced?

When a strong leader empowers others, he or she unleashes higher performance. I know in my past, when I was in empowered situations I felt a high degree of ownership. Empowered people become highly motivated and committed to success.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were empowered, but upon reflection you discovered that you or your team were not as effective as possible?

Sometimes when we are empowered, we jump directly into action. We focus on success. However, we can increase the effectiveness of being empowered by considering these two simple points.

1. Get input and advice from others. Just because you were empowered to lead, does not mean all the solutions should come from you. Assess all the stakeholders and gather input continuously, and adjust your team’s actions accordingly. This will keep your measure of success and the organization’s measure of success aligned.

2. Empower others. Again, just because you were empowered to lead a task, does not mean all the power should reside solely with you. Empowering others on your team will amplify their performance. Let the power flow through you to the team to increase their engagement. Develop a strategy that allows your team members to grow and develop.

Those two ideas are simple and straightforward, but they are often overlooked by leaders that are focused only on meeting their goal. Include these two activities into your actions when you are empowered and you will increase your performance, and your team’s performance.

What do you need to be doing right now? I ask you this question from two perspectives. First, do you know what you need to be doing? Second, if you know, why are you not doing it?

David Allen in his productivity models (Getting Things Done), uses an analogy of altitude to better define the things you need to do. At ground level, there are the actions that you have already defined, it is your to do list.

At the 10,000 foot level, it is your projects. These are things you are committed to do, but will require multiple actions. At the 20,000 foot level, it is the view of your area of responsibilities. This can be home, work, community, etc.

At the 30,000 foot level, you define your 1 to 2 year goals. This is the list of things you want to accomplish within this time frame. At the 40,000 foot level, you may view your 3 to 5 year vision. In broader terms, why are you working on the projects you have in front of you.

Finally at the 50,000 foot level, you view your life. This is a definition of your life long dreams and aspirations. It is the legacy that you want to achieve.

When I ask you if you are doing what you need to do right now, it would be difficult to answer properly without a view of all these different levels. Finding alignment from top to bottom will allow you to achieve your targets. If your to do list is cluttered with actions that are not related to your projects, or your 3 to 5 year vision, then your dreams may remain just dreams.

We want to make our dreams a reality, and a coach can help you define these levels. Sometimes we need a guide to help define the actions we need to take right now.

 

If you are not scared about what tomorrow will bring, then you are not living up to your potential. That’s right. If you feel cozy, comfortable and content then you are not achieving all that you could do.

Some of you are probably shaken up by that thought, and most of you are thinking too small. If you could be best in the world at one thing, what would you choose? I hope none of you answered “television watcher”, because even if you were the best, no one would notice.

So whatever you did choose, are you working towards it? Are you aspiring to be the best you can be at the one thing you would like to be the best at? Are you sacrificing to make your dream come true?

John Maxwell explains in The Law of Sacrifice, that you must give up to go up. Success is not gained without a price. Only you can decide the cost you are willing to pay for your dream.

It is 2014, and it is time to:

1. Follow your passion
2. Think big
3. Do it scared
4. Learn from your mistakes as you go
5. Carry on relentlessly
6. Live up to your potential

It is okay to be scared. If you are going to achieve your dream, you will need to go into the unknown where it is uncomfortable. Great! Now that we have that settled, let’s get started.