Mark S. Brown

John Maxwell said, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

That statement is filled with truth. Passion is more important than position, and even more important than the vision itself. You can’t achieve the vision without it. Passion is the fuel that gets you moving.

Here are two things you need to know about passion.

1. You need to align your priorities with your passion. This is not as easy as it sounds. We spend a lot of time doing things that are not important, or things that deplete our energy. If you are working in alignment with your passion, energy is not a problem, you will have it.

2. You need to feed your passion or it will go out. Some people never find their passion. Or if they do, they lose it, because they can’t feed it. It is like being stuck in a job you hate, without finding a way to escape. Part of everyday needs to be focused on your passion. Otherwise just like a fire without constant feeding of firewood, your passion will die.

If you watch any NFL game, you will see passion in alignment with action. The level of intensity is high. The level of engagement is high. You can achieve that same level of performance within yourself. But you must choose to fuel yourself with passion. It is not going to happen by accident. You can choose to fuel your passion and achieve your vision!

Humility is an important character trait, but so is self-esteem. So it is important to balance the two.

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Humility is important because it allows us to value and respect others. It also helps us to accept our failures and learn from them. Without humility all other character traits are weakened.

Self-esteem is important because it is the trait that lets us live to our potential. We cannot give to others that which we do not have. Self-esteem is a realization of the unique value that we offer to the world.

The thing to remember is that high self-esteem and pride are not equal. If you are afraid to look bad, then you are too prideful. But if you are willing to look bad to learn and grow, then your self-esteem is in alignment with adding value to yourself.

Humility provides an opportunity to see things how they really are, how you can learn, and improve.

So how do we keep humility, self-esteem, and pride in balance? We must maintain perspective about life. We must see the bigger picture. You can be humble and have high self-esteem if you know how your actions, desires, and goals fit in the bigger perspective of this world.

So when you feel your stress level rise, or when you get frustrated about a situation, or when you are hesitant to do something new, just relax and think from a higher level. Put things in perspective, and move forward.

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.

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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!

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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.