Leadership Prep

Hello again. 

Part of the journey through my business life is to get to know leaders and
influencers...I mean really get to know them, inside and out.  As such, over
the years I have written about the luminaries and leaders whom I respect.

A question I often get at speaking engagements is what does it take to

prepare to be a leader?  Here are some of the thoughts I've gathered over
the years which answer the question "Do I have what it takes to lead?" 

Enjoy!

Chris Widener

Leadertship Prep!
 
So you want to be a leader?  Or you want to be a better leader?

It can be done, you know.

No matter where you are in your leadership journey, you CAN move
forward.  You CAN lead better. You CAN lead more people. You CAN lead
your organization to higher ground. Yes, you CAN!

But....There is always a but isn't there. It is not  a bad thing, It is a heads

up, know what you are getting into, prepare yourself. YOU CAN so read
on...

But let me tell you this: You won't do it via osmosis! It won't just "happen."
Growing in your leadership is not something that comes from the fairy
godmother of leadership. You can't touch the hem of Jack Welch's garment
and become "Super-Leader!" Oh, that it were that easy!
So what does it take?
Time.
Experience.
Training.
Hard Knocks.
A Mentor.
Discipline.
And a few others.
But let's start at the very beginning. You want to be a leader. That's good.
You want to be a better leader. That's good too. But what comes first?
Preparation. Leadership Prep. What is it? What needs to happen in order to
get yourself ready to become a leader? As you get ready for 2002 and you
want to take the next step in your leadership, take these last days of
November and go through a little reflection on Leadership Prep.
Before you become the leader you want to be:
 
Count the cost. Leadership is hard. There will be times that you say,
"Leadership isn't worth it. These people are crazy and I don't deserve this."
It is true. You don't deserve it. But you choose it. You choose it because
you want to lead people. You want to improve their lives. You see the
higher ground that they cannot see and you desire to take them there. It
will take time. It will take money. It will sap your strength and energy.
Count the cost, my friend. Leadership is not for the weak and timid. Yes,
the rewards are great, but so are the sacrifices. Prep yourself for the cost
of leadership.
 
Assess your strengths and weaknesses. Too many people dive into trying
to lead and end up dying out because they were not honest with themselves
about their strengths and weaknesses. They get going and realize that they
should have strengthened themselves in certain areas because now it is
killing their ability to lead. If you know your strengths, then you can focus
yourself on them and allow yourself to be successful through them. If you
are aware of your weaknesses you will be able to stay away from them, or
hire to cover them, and thus allow yourself to become even more
successful as a leader. So prep yourself by becoming exceedingly clear on
your strengths and weaknesses.

Settle in for the marathon, not the sprint. Very few - I mean VERY few -
people get big leadership assignments at early ages. And when they do,
even fewer of the few see things happen fast in their leadership. No,
usually things happen slowly. Why do we think they will happen fast then?
Because those are the only stories we hear on TV and read about in
magazines. "Twenty-five year old starts business that grows to $20 million
a year in sales in JUST TWO YEARS," Sells a lot better than "Forty-five
year old works hard for twenty years and builds lasting business that
makes a difference in her community." Right? Right. So, unless you are one
of the chosen few, you will need to prep for a marathon, not a sprint. This
is both a mental and emotional adjustment that needs to be made. Prep for
the long haul!

Develop a learning attitude. You have perhaps heard it said, "Leaders are
readers." It is true. Even more so, leaders are learners. I don't know any
leader who has attained any level of leadership who doesn't keep him or
 herself on the edge of learning. One of my mentors runs a company that
you would all know by name - in fact, you probably used one of their
products today, no matter where you live in the world - that does billions
of dollars a year in revenue (Yes, with a "b") and he still takes time each
year to go to a school of leadership! He is already a tremendously
successful leader yet he is still working on it! THAT is a learning attitude!
If you want to lead, prep yourself for it by developing a learning attitude.

Acquire a love for people. In reality, we do not lead organizations or

businesses. No, we lead people. We are successful if we know how to lead
people. People are the name of the game. And the best way to become a
leader of people is to love people. Others can tell instinctually whether or
not we love them and have their best interests at heart. If they do not know
that we care for them they will not follow. Leadership is the art of directing
people who we care for and desire to help. In other words, we love people.
If you have an issue with people, chances are you are not ready to lead
them. To prep yourself for leadership, acquire a love for people. If the
other things are in place, then they will want to follow you.
 
You CAN become a leader. I truly believe that. If you are already a leader, I
know you can become better. Take a long, hard look at yourself and see if
perhaps there are some areas you need to prep yourself in regard to
leadership so that when you really get going you don't have to stop and go
back!
 
Leadership Prep - that's the place to start!
 
P.S. Today is the last day to take advantage of the special offer on my
Winning with Influence 8-part audio program.  That means that right now is
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f.ree.  

Evaluating Your Associations, Part 1 by Jim Rohn

If you were to evaluate the major influences in your life that have shaped the kind of
person you are, this has to be high on the list: the people and thoughts you choose to
allow into your life. My mentor, Mr. Shoaff, gave me a very important warning in those
early days that I would like to share with you. He said, "Never underestimate the
power of influence." Indeed, the influence of those around us is so powerful! Many
times we don't even realize we're being strongly affected because influences
generally develop over an extended period of time.
Peer pressure is an especially powerful force because it is so subtle. If you're around
people who spend all they make, chances are excellent that you'll spend all you
make. If you are around people who go to more ball games than concerts, chances
are excellent that you'll do the same thing. If you are around people who don't read,
chances are excellent that you won't read. People can keep nudging us off course a
little at a time until, finally, we find ourselves asking, "How did I get here?" Those
subtle influences need to be studied carefully if we really want our lives to turn out
the way we've planned.
With regard to this important point, let me give you three key questions to ask
yourself. They may help you to make better analysis of your current associations.
Here is the first question: "Who am I around?" Make a mental note of the people with
whom you most often associate. You've got to evaluate everybody who is able to
influence you in any way.
The second question is: "What are these associations doing to me?" That's a major
question to ask. What have they got me doing? What have they got me listening to?
What have they got me reading? Where have they got me going? What do they have
me thinking? How have they got me talking? How have they got me feeling? What
have they got me saying? You've got to make a serious study of how others are
influencing you, both negatively and positively.
Here's a final question: "Is that okay?" Maybe everyone you associate with has been
a positive, energizing influence. Then again, maybe there are some bad apples in the
bunch. All I'm suggesting here is that you take a close and objective look. Everything
is worth a second look, especially the power of influence. Both will take you
somewhere, but only one will take you in the direction you need to go.
It's easy to just dismiss the things that influence our lives. One man says, "I live here,
but I don't think it matters. I'm around these people, but I don't think it hurts." I would
take another look at that. Remember, everything matters! Sure, some things matter
more than others, but everything amounts to something. You've got to keep checking
to find out whether your associations are tipping the scales toward the positive or
toward the negative. Ignorance is never the best policy. Finding out is the best policy.
Perhaps you've heard the story of the little bird. He had his wing over his eye and he
was crying.
The owl said to the bird, "You are crying."
"Yes," said the little bird, and he pulled his wing away from his eye.
"Oh, I see," said the owl. "You're crying because the big bird pecked out your eye."
And the little bird said, "No, I'm not crying because the big bird pecked out my eye.
I'm crying because I let him."
It's easy to let influence shape our lives, to let associations determine our direction, to
let pressures overwhelm us, and to let tides take us. The big question is: Are we
letting ourselves become what we wish to become?
Next week, we'll take a look at the three forms of disassociating from negative
influences.

Vitamins for the Mind

by Jim Rohn
Emotions

Emotions will either serve or master, depending on who is in charge.

Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to
know how to feel, how to respond, and how to let life in so that it can
touch you.
Civilization is the intelligent management of human emotions.
Measure your emotions. You don’t need an atomic explosion for a minor
point.
Women have an incredible ability to pick up on emotional signals. For
example, there are some wolves that are so clever they have learned to
dress up like sheep. Man says, “Looks like a sheep. Talks like a sheep.”
Woman says, “Ain’t no sheep!”
"Vitamins for the Mind" is a weekly sampling of original quotes on a
specific topic taken from The Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn. The
burgundy hardbound book with gold-foil lettering is a collection of
more than 365 quotes on 60 topics gathered from Jim's personal
journals, seminars and books and spanning more than 40 years. Click
here to order The Treasury of Quotes.

On Friendship by Zig Ziglar

Somebody remarked that a stranger is simply a friend you haven't met. My trusty
1828 Noah Webster dictionary says that a friend is one who is attached to another by
affection, which leads him to desire his company, or one who has sufficient interest to
serve another.
The dictionary definition amply describes Mike Corbett who, along with his friend
Mark Wellman, started the assault on El Capitan on July 19, 1989. El Capitan is a
sheer rock wall 3,569 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley in northern California. It
is one of the most difficult mountains for rock climbers to scale. The combination of
difficulty and danger is sufficient to test the strength and courage of even the world's
most elite climbers.
It took Wellman and Corbett seven days to make the climb. They encountered
temperatures of up to 105 degrees and wind gusts that made the ascent even more
difficult. When they reached the summit, Corbett stood in triumph, but Wellman just
kept his seat. Wellman is the first person to scale El  Capitan without the use of his
legs.
Wellman had given up climbing in 1982 after he was paralyzed as the result of a fall.
From that point on the only rock climbing he did was in his dreams. Then Corbett
convinced him they could climb the mountain together. Wellman certainly couldn't
have done it without Corbett, who led the way and helped Wellman move through
each stage, higher and higher. On the seventh day, Corbett was unable to secure the
pitons in the loose rock skirting the summit. Knowing that a misstep would send them
both plunging to their deaths, Corbett hoisted Wellman onto his back and clambered
the remaining distance to the top.
An old but very true statement holds that if you would have a friend, be a friend. I
encourage you to be a friend as Mike Corbett was to Mark Wellman.