The Truth About Leadership, The 7 ‘Must Know’ Truths to Win

Do I need to learn all this?

No, not if you are content to follow.

Leading is not being branded nor a stud on stage.  We covered that and other leadership tips in the previous post.

I found the 10 truths about leadership in James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner’s book, “The Truth About Leadership,” not just valuable but profound.

Let’s face it, we cannot lead where we will not go…and we can’t go some place if we don’t know how to get there.

I covered 3 of the 10 Truths about leadership, leadership attributes.  Here is my spin and application on the other 7.

Might want to score yourself 1-10 on the following points.  I did and I help my teammates do the same thing, not as a judgement but as a starting point.

4.  Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart

People know where they are.  You’ve got to see the future and paint vivid pictures.  Think and Grow Rich‘s Napoleon Hill learned ‘imagination is the only bridge to real enthusiasm.’  Without that we are dead in the water, and when you talk future, make sure you link it to weekly and daily actions.  This is a network marketing skill.  Leaders like Success Coach Kathy Zimmer get that – inspire a future, then walk people step by step through what to do daily.

5.  You Can’t Do It Alone

There is an old saying that ‘it’s lonely at the top’.  It’s a load of crap.

The truth is no one makes it to the top alone.  No one makes it without a true master mind alliance.  Leaders get this…not all top money earners…and that is a big, big problem.

So sad.

Most people in MLM who are making good to great money never made that kind of dough before.

Ego.

Ut-Oh.

It’s not about what you are making, it’s about what you are leaving on the table.  The only way to maximize profit for everyone is harmony in the relationships.  Ego must go, and realizing by EVERYONE that no one would be making anything if it wasn’t for EVERYONE is a great first step towards harmony.  Leader’s take this step over and over.

Get constructive feedback and be more concerned with what is right, not who is right.

Stay away from ALL GOSSIP and model that.

6. Trust Rules

They must trust you and we’ve gone over Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust, in a 5 part series before.  Kathy Zimmer’s recent post about improving yourself is brilliant.

See, she ‘get’s it’.  She knows the best way to improve the team is to improve yourself, but Kathy gets the next level of that.

Next level?  A leadership attribute …Modeling.

Trust goes up when the team sees you working on you instead of ‘going to the whip’ and telling them what they need to do.

7. Challenge is the Crucible for Greatness

They are change agents…but wait…you must know this first.  This ain’t in the book.

MLMers sometimes promote what they think are cool ideas for change, acceleration to the group.  DO NOT DO THAT…YET.

Come across a cool idea or way to get more names…

Test before testimony.

Do not let your group be the guinea pigs.

Do it yourself, then, when you find some stuff that works, do it with them.

Test before testimony, then promote change.

You must be able to say, “yes, this works,” and mean it.

8. You Either Lead by Example or You Don’t Lead at All

In the end, reps will do what you do, not what you say.

Get on the phone 3 hours a day to new prospects for 90 days and you’ll never have to give a motivational speech or listen to an excuse.

Model.

The time to stop talking and start walking?

Now.

Got a great guy, had some great successes…calls me daily about who is not doing what.

Hasn’t sponsored anyone personally in 7 weeks.

End of story.

9. The Best Leaders are the Best Learners

They learn and keep learning. Faye is a great example of that, of this crucial leadership tip.  Going over her blog for 23 weeks of entries shows what real leadership is about – learning, applying and sharing, with just a ‘touch’ of vulnerability and a lot of humility.  Who would not want to follow.

Why?

Instead of applying pressure on others, she models.

“When I am through learning, I am through”…Wooden.

Share, don’t tell, and it inspires folks on 2 levels.

1. The material, 2. They know you are committed to improving the team by example.

10. Leadership is an Affair of the Heart

Passion.

The Ancient Greeks asked one question when someone died.

“Did they have passion?”

An entire life defined by the answer.

Leaders have passion.

Could be for:

Plan

Product

Helping others

Financial freedom

Does not matter – if it is in your heart and shows authentically, people will follow.

LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES

Here are 5 tips that if you follow daily you’ll hit most of these 10 leadership truths daily.

Score yourself 1-20 on each of these.  Don’t judge yourself, just consider it a starting point and focus on the one you scored the lowest on the first week.

1. Model the way…are you a leading by example leader, a ‘going to the whip’ or ‘relationship’ leader?  (whip and relationshippers are doomed with the example.)

2. Inspire a shared vision.  Your shared vision should be their vision.  Do you know their goals?

3. Challenge the process…with skills and practicing them with folks.

4. Enable others to act by setting up a schedule with them

5. Encourage the heart by working with, not telling what to do.

Shoot this to your leaders, let me know what you think below.

believe

mark januszewski

world’s laziest networker