Follow the Leader.
Remember that game?
Well it is more than a game, it’s an essential skill in business.
Sam Sklar sent us Harvey Mackay’s essay on Leadership which quotes a number of thoughts from John Maxwell.
We all tend to rise to a particular place and say, “here we are, come up and join us” whether to staff or potential clients.
That won’t work.
You have to go to where the people are.
Maxwell says, “The first responsibility of a leader is to find out where the people are and connect with them. When you connect with them, you can relate to them, and you can move them.”
You’ve heard before that relationships are the foundation of leadership. You have to develop trust.
Maxwell says, “People won’t go along with you until they get along with you.”
Get close to your staff and your clients to connect with them.
Experience can be a great teacher for all of us in making connections, but growing older is not necessarily growing wiser.
Leaders need to reflect on their experiences and ask, what am I learning from this and what am I going to change?
Maxwell says, “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” We don’t grow because we exist, we grow because we are intentional about it. If we stop learning, we stop growing and we stop leading.
Maxwell says, “You need to discover your strengths and grow them. Don’t just focus on your weak areas because all you will do is get average…..and people don’t pay for average”
In addition to growing your strengths, ask yourself each morning “Who can I add value to today”. This is a leadership quality, improving others through leading by example. Helping people change their thinking can help them change their lives.
“And it all goes back to the Zig Ziglar quote”, Maxwell said, “If you help people get what they want, guess what, they help you get what you want.”
