The Value Of Leadership And Character

It has been said that,

"It is the followers, not the leader who determines if a leader is successful."

Appropriate for the political season that we are in.

This blogpost is not about the election.

That is not the reason for this post.

A "gut feeling" or intuition, or, one of my favorite words, a prompting caused me to think about leadership and what it means. I pay attention to my intuitions.

So...What does a leader do to convince people that she/he is worthy of being followed?

Principles and Values

Leaders base their decisions on principles. Principles guide us like a compass. For those of us that are technologically inclined, maybe a GPS. And in turn, these principles help us guide others.

David Chadwick, spiritual leader here in Charlotte, recently discussed three principles to compare any leader by:

(1)Helping others achieve their goals.

Zig Ziglar said it best,

"You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."

Serving others first and creating loyalty.

(Guess what? Works in marketing too.) Being loyal to your followers creates loyalty. It is the law of reciprocity in action.

(2)Putting others first goes along with the second principle of "putting the team first". In most sports, "the team" wins the world series or other world championship. In business and sales, it is "the team" that builds a massive campaign to create massive sales which results in a massive success.

(3)There are many attributes that make successful leaders. Character and integrity come first. As a leader, do you care more about character than reputation?

Character is what you think about yourself.

Reputation is what others think of you.

What other traits do leaders have? Are you a person of integrity? Do you have strong values of faith? Are you able to say I am sorry? Sense of humor and able to laugh at yourself?

Only you, as a leader or not, have to answer for yourself.

Okay...so here are a couple ways to put these principles into practice. One of my friends in the network marketing business, Roberto Torres, put it best in one of his blogposts on being a leader:

-Remember that everyone likes a compliment.
-Wage only one "war" at a time.
-Don't feel insecure or threatened by your followers.
-Communicate your vision and dreams of success.
-When you make it to the top, turn and reach your hand down to the person behind you.

Choose the principles to be, do and become...

Show that person what it takes to be a leader.