Success Strategies – Step Up And Be A Leader

In our business, we have 5 underlying strategies for success that we call: ‘The 5 Pillars Of Success’. These are 5 principles that are used as a daily ’success checklist’ by which we run our business and our lives.

One of those ‘Pillars Of Success’ is ‘The Expectation Of Leadership In Yourself And Others’. Think about this for a minute. Our entire life, in all the various roles in which we find ourselves, we expect, and demand, leadership in others.

Now I know that there are many different definitions of leadership. Let me take a moment here to define what I mean by leadership. To lead, as far as I’m concerned, is to be in service for others. Leadership means service.

Leadership calls for respect, and has nothing at all to do with ‘like’. It took me a while to realize that ‘respect’ has nothing to do with ‘like’ and, similarly, ‘leadership’ has nothing to do with ‘telling people how to do something’. It is to do with empowering them to do things for themselves.

Leadership starts with respecting ourselves enough to be of service to ourselves. We need to are absolute best at home and at work and give both the level of respect that they deserve. Quite simply, we can not expect respect from others if we don’t respect ourselves.

As a child, we don’t so much expect, we naturally assume, that our mother and father will be our leaders. At school, we expect out teachers to be leaders. As adults, in every single one of our daily transactions, there is an expectation of leadership from one person or another.

We expect our manager to make the right decisions and lead the company to success. We expect sales assistants to lead us through our purchasing decisions. We expect bank clerks to explain the state of our finances and to lead us through our financial transactions.

Wed expect leadership in others literally every day. But what of the leadership we expect from ourselves? If we expect leadership from those around us, shouldn’t we shoulder some of the responsibility of leadership too? Shouldn’t we be demanding that we are also a role model?

So, the next time you are standing in line at the bank, or cussing the weatherman for getting the forecast wrong, ask yourself this – Are you a good leader for others in all aspects of your life?

If you are a good leader, congratulations, I have no doubts that your life and your business are thriving at the moment. But if not, before you point and accuse other people, remember that every time we point a finger, three more are pointing back at us.
—
This article was edited and distributed by Mark Walters on behalf of Mandy Swift, who was the original author. Next : Success Strategies