by Helena Escalante | Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Leadership: Debunking 5 myths
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Position
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: People Development and Personhood
Leadership: Climbing the steps
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 9 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Permission & Production
— From Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
Yesterday we learned about the first level of leadership: position, and today we will continue expanding on this topic. John C. Maxwell, author of Leadership 101, quotes Fred Smith (CEO of Fedex) as saying; “Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated.” And this is precisely what starts to happen as soon as you jump to level 2 of leadership and continue along the subsequent levels.
Level 2: Permission—People follow because they want to. “A person on the ‘permission’ level will lead by interrelationships. The agenda is not the pecking order but people development. On this level, the leader donates time, energy and focus on the follower’s needs and desires. […] People who are unable to build solid, lasting, relationships will soon discover that they are unable to sustain long, effective leadership.”
“Leadership begins with the heart, not the head. […] You can love people without leading them, but cannot lead people without loving them.”
Maxwell cautions us not to skip this level, as it is the most often skipped one. Taking the time to develop and nurture relationships is important, and it involves a process that “provides the glue and much of the staying power for long-term, consistent production.”
Here are the characteristics to master on this level before advancing to the third one:
Level 2: Permission/Relationship
- Possess a genuine love for people.
- Make those who work with you more successful.
- See through other people’s eyes.
- Love people more than procedures.
- Do “win-win” or don’t do it.
- Include others in your journey.
- Deal wisely with difficult people.
Level 3: Production—People follow because of what you have done for the organization. Maxwell says there is a major difference between levels 2 and 3. “On the ‘relationship’ level people get together just to get together… On the ‘results’ level people come together to accomplish a purpose.” The like to get together for the sake of it, but because they are results-oriented, they love to get together to accomplish things.
And it is at this level indeed where good things start happening: “Profit increases. Morale is high. Turnover is low. Needs are being met. Goals are being realized. Accompanying the growth is the ‘big mo’—momentum. Leading and influencing others is fun. Problems are solved with minimum effort… Everyone is results-oriented. In fact, results are the main reason for the activity.”
Based on this, here are the characteristics to master before moving on to the next level:
Level 3: Production/Results
- Initiate and accept responsibility for growth.
- Develop and follow a statement of purpose.
- Make your job description and energy an integral part of the statement of purpose.
- Develop accountability for results, beginning with yourself.
- Know and do the things that give a high return.
- Communicate the strategy and vision for the organization.
- Become a change-agent and understand timing.
- Make the difficult decisions that will make a difference.
The levels keep getting better and better, don’t they? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s installment of this miniseries where we’ll learn about levels 4 and 5.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about leaders you know who are at these levels. What can you learn about them? Are you at any of these levels? What actions can you take to proactively master the characteristics you need to advance to the next level?
FUTURE: Have you noticed that each level stands on the previous one? That’s right. Keep this in mind always as you move up: you can’t neglect the base when you move on to higher levels. It’s like doing algebra: you have to draw on a solid, basic knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, even though what you are doing now is much more advanced and complex than at the beginning.
Know someone who wants to learn more about leadership? Please share this post and the upcoming ones in this miniseries, thank you! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Leadership: Debunking 5 myths
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Permission & Production
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: People Development and Personhood
Leadership: Climbing the steps
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 0 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Position
— From Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
In this post, I had mentioned my surprise at learning that each of us influences at least ten thousand other people during our lifetime. (!) “So the question is not whether you will influence someone, but how you will use your influence.”
Continuing with this miniseries on leadership from John C. Maxwell’s book Leadership 101, and inspired by the statement above, I want to expand on what the author calls the levels of leadership. Maxwell says there are five levels—or steps—that we all take along the leadership journey. We can develop our influence and leadership potential by understanding what each step entails. And by allowing ourselves the necessary time to dwell and grow through each level, we can become the leaders we want to be.
So, what are the levels of leadership, you ask? Today we’ll take a look at the first one. Come back tomorrow to learn about the next ones.
Level 1: Position—People follow because they have to. “This is the basic entry level of leadership. The only influence you have is that which comes with a title. People who stay at this level get into territorial rights, protocol, tradition and organizational charts. These things are not negative unless they become the basis for authority and influence, but they are poor substitutes for leadership skills.”
In here Maxwell makes an important distinction: “A real leader knows the difference between being the boss and being a leader.”
| The boss: |
The leader: |
| Drives his workers |
Coaches his workers |
| Depends on authority |
Depends on goodwill |
| Inspires fear |
Inspires enthusiasm |
| Says “I” |
Says “we” |
| Fixes the blame for the breakdown |
Fixes the breakdown |
At this level, unfortunately, security is not based on talent. Instead, it’s based solely on title, which means that this step is often reached by appointment (whereas all subsequent levels are gained by ability). And since “people will not follow a positional leader beyond his stated authority,” this also means that the so-called followers at this stage “will only do what they have to do when they are required to do it. Low morale is always present… [and] when the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.”
What to do if you are at this level or know someone who is? Develop the following characteristics until you exhibit them with excellence, and you’ll then be ready to move up.
Level 1: Position/Rights
- Know your job description thoroughly.
- Be aware of the history of the organization.
- Relate the organization’s history to the people of the organization (in other words, be a team player).
- Accept responsibility.
- Do your job with consistent excellence.
- Do more than expected.
- Offer creative ideas for change and improvement.
Come back tomorrow to continue reading about the subsequent levels of leadership. You’ll learn the characteristics you need to develop in each step to move up the leadership ladder.
ACTION
TODAY: We’ve all interacted at some point with someone who exerts positional leadership and calls him/herself the boss as per the description above (yikes!). What can you learn from those people so as to not do it yourself? Consider them inverse mentors.
FUTURE: As uncomfortable as it is to be around someone at this level of leadership, be compassionate and remember the saying “every master was once a disaster.” Or if this was you at some point, stop cringing and forgive yourself. We all start somewhere in our leadership journey and build from there. Maybe if you extend a helping hand, offer friendly advice, or give helpful feedback, you’ll be able to assist the positional leader to move along the path toward the next step.
Know someone who wants to learn more about leadership? Please share this post and the upcoming ones in this miniseries, thank you! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Sales, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Position
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: Permission & Production
Leadership: Developing influence one step at a time: People Development and Personhood
Leadership: Climbing the steps
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 10 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership: Debunking 5 myths
— From Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
What is leadership? With lots of definitions and books on leadership, you’d think the answer to this might be an easy one, but it’s not. The essence of leadership and its different manifestations can sometimes be confusing. Why? Because nowadays the label “leader” is tossed around often and sometimes misused to describe position, knowledge or some other attribute as opposed to true leadership.
To that effect, in Leadership 101, John C. Maxwell sets a simple definition that is right on point:
“True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned. It comes only from influence. [Thus] the true measure of leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.”
So, how do we find and measure influence?
In this miniseries, we will first start by debunking the five most common myths or misconceptions that account for the majority of the confusing definitions leadership and, in subsequent posts, we will see how influence can be developed.
1. The Management Myth: “A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one and the same.” As Rear Admiral Grace Hopper so aptly put it, “you manage things, you lead people.” Maxwell says, “The best way to test whether a person can lead rather than just manage is to ask [him/her] to create positive change. Managers can maintain direction, but they can’t change it. To move people in a new direction, you need influence.”
2. The Entrepreneur Myth: “People assume that all salespeople and entrepreneurs are leaders. But that’s not always the case.” Maxwell cites the example of Ron Popeil, an inventor of gadgets and celebrity in his own right who became a household name by appearing in numerous infomercials. “Popeil is certainly enterprising, innovative and successful… but that doesn’t make him a leader. People may be buying what he has to sell, but they’re not following him. At best, he is able to persuade people for a moment, but he holds no long-term influence with them.”
3. The Knowledge Myth: “Knowledge is power,” is the famous phrase by Sir Francis Bacon, and Maxwell says that, “most people, believing that power is the essence of leadership, naturally assume that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are leaders.” Yet the author points out that this is not automatically true because there are numerous research scientists and philosophers whose knowledge is, “so high that it’s off the charts, but whose ability to lead is so low that it doesn’t even register on the charts. IQ doesn’t necessarily equate to leadership.”
4. The Pioneer Myth: “Another misconception is that anyone who is out in front of the crowd is a leader. But being first isn’t always the same as leading.” Maxwell points out the case of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. While being the pioneer comes with much merit, that doesn’t make him a leader. Many climbers have done the same afterward, but they aren’t following him. “To be a leader, a person has to not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.”
5. The Position Myth: “The greatest misunderstanding about leadership is that people think it is based on position, but it’s not,” says Maxwell. In the military, officers can pull rank and in business, bosses get away with people being cooperative because their livelihood is at stake. People respond to their superiors and that is mistaken as leadership. Maxwell quotes Stanley Huffty: “It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position.” Think about some of the known examples of leaders of a team or company who resign or are forced out and the colleagues follow: the leaders may lose the position, but not the influence because, as Harry A. Overstreet said, “The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person to participate.”
And the corollary to this last quote is one that Maxwell is famous for saying:
“He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.”
While leaders may have some or all of these attributes within them, they must still have influence for people to follow them and act upon their vision.
Come back tomorrow for the next installment of this miniseries to learn how influence can be developed.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about the leaders that surround you. Think about their influence. Who do you follow because you truly believe in them? Who do you follow because they have rank or authority over you?
FUTURE: Come back to learn how to develop influence. To become a leader, it’s important to develop influence in a way that empowers, elevates and enlightens others, always coming from a point of empathy and much generosity. It takes time, but it’s worth it—think about all the true leaders you admire and their journey to the top!
Know someone who wants to learn more about leadership? Please share this post and the upcoming ones in this miniseries, thank you! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 35 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Ask these questions to describe your successful, ideal life
— From No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline: 21 Ways to Achieve Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy
Each one of us has a different definition of success, yet we will all likely agree that no matter what our definition is, the pursuit and attainment of that success will bring us happiness. In his book No Excuses!, business guru Brian Tracy cites Aristotle as saying that the great question each of us must answer is, “How shall we live in order to be happy?”
He goes on to say, “Your ability to ask and answer that question correctly for yourself—and then to follow where your answer leads you—will largely determine whether you achieve your own happiness, and how soon.”
And to get there as soon as possible, we can start by defining what success looks like for each of us. Tracy suggests asking the following questions and answering them as if you could wave a magic wand and make your life perfect in every way.
If your business, work, and career were ideal in every way, what would they look like?
What would you be doing?
What sort of company would you work for?
What position would you have?
How much money would you earn?
What kind of people would you work with?
And, especially, what would you need to do more or less of to create your perfect career?
If your family life were perfect in every way, what would it look like?
Where would you live, and how would you be living?
What kind of a lifestyle would you have?
What sort of things would you want to have and do with the members of your family?
If you had no limitations and you could wave a magic wand, in what ways would you change your family life today?
If your health were perfect, how would you describe it?
How would you feel?
How much would you weigh?
How would your levels of health and fitness be different from what they are today?
Most of all, what steps could you take immediately to begin moving toward your ideal levels of health and energy?
If your financial situation were ideal, how much would you have in the bank?
How much would you be earning each month and each year from your investments?
If you had enough money that you never had to worry about finances again, how much would that be?
What steps could you take, starting today, to create your ideal financial life?
Why aren’t you already as successful as you would like to be, and what one discipline would help you the most to achieve all your goals?
What one skill could you develop that would help you to realize more of your goals?
If you could wave a magic wand and be completely disciplined in one area, which one discipline would have the greatest positive impact on your life?
As you begin to lay out your vision of success, pay attention to the very last question in each category (the things that you should be doing more or less of) and the very last three questions.
Self-discipline is the key to achieve what you want; however, it’s very important to lay out a plan first, so that you can then follow it with your self-discipline. For this, Tracy focuses on the Law of Cause and Effect, or sowing and reaping: “This law says that if you want to achieve success in any area, you must determine how success is achieved in that area and then practice those skills and activities repeatedly until you achieve the same results.”
Success guru Kop Kopmeyer aptly says that you must “learn from the experts [because] you will never live long enough to learn it all for yourself.” Remember that success leaves clues!
ACTION
TODAY: Set aside some time to answer the questions above and figure out what your ideal and successful life looks like. As you answer, a clear path will emerge and you will see what you need to do more or less of to head into the direction of your dreams.
FUTURE: Once you know what success looks like for you and what direction you need to go into, figure out who are the foremost, trusted experts in those fields, so that you can learn from them and follow in your footsteps.
Please share this post with someone who could benefit from answering all these questions to define their success, thanks! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 34 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Tenacity: 3 essential characteristics to keep going
— From Success 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
“Tenacity,” says John C. Maxwell, “is crucial to success.” He mentions that even people lacking talent and failing to have or cultivate other qualities of a team player are able to help the team succeed if they have a tenacious spirit.
But what does being tenacious mean?
According to the author, there are three essential characteristics that constitute tenacity and that help us keep going:
1. Giving all that you have, not more than you have. Some people lack tenacity because they think their project will require a superhuman effort to get done and they don’t believe they have what it takes to make it happen. Maxwell states, “Being tenacious requires that you give 100 percent—not more, but certainly not less. If you give your all, you afford yourself every opportunity possible for success.”
2. Working with determination, not waiting on destiny. “Tenacious people don’t rely on luck, fate, or destiny for their success. And when conditions become difficult, they keep working. They know that trying times are no time to quit trying. And that’s what makes the difference. For the thousands of people who give up, there is always someone like Thomas Edison, who remarked, ‘I start where the last man left off.’ ”
3. Quitting when the job is done, not when you’re tired. Maxwell cites the American actor Robert Strauss, who stated that “success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired—you quit when the gorilla is tired.” The author says that it’s not the first, but the last step that makes the difference, as that is where the race is won. “If you want your team to succeed, you have to keep pushing beyond what you think you can do and find out what you’re really capable of.”
So, how tenacious are you?
As food for thought, I’ll leave you with this quote from Napoleon Hill:
“Every successful person finds that great success lies just beyond the point when they’re convinced their idea is not going to work.”
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment to think of an area in your life where you could succeed with more tenacity. What is that area? Which of the three above characteristics have you not applied there? Say, have you not given it your all and quit because you got tired, before the job was done? Simply take away a lesson from that and start again. Armed with that lesson and the determination to get it done, you will find the tenacity to get to that last step you need to win the race and achieve your goal.
FUTURE: When you’re stuck or about to quit, think about these three characteristics of tenacity. Why did you decide to start in the first place? Go back to that mental place and you’ll find the motivation and determination to continue giving it your all and not quit until the job is done.
Know someone who needs a bit of inspiration and tenacity right now? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 53 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Model the best, remember the worst
— From LEAD RIGHT by Steve Ventura
There’s no question that we’ve all been exposed to many leadership lessons. These learnings come to us courtesy of the many leaders, both in business and in life, with whom we’ve interacted—or whom we have read about, watched on TV, or seen or heard from in other ways.
Steve Ventura, author of Lead Right, has a short, yet powerful idea to share with us today. He says:
“Think back on all the various people you’ve worked for. Some you’ll remember fondly—some not so fondly. Undoubtedly, some were ‘saints’… or at least they exhibited almost saintly behaviors. These were top notch leaders who showed you by their example, what you should be doing now. Emulate them; follow their lead. When in doubt, ask yourself ‘What would he do… how would she handle this situation?’ Then, DO IT!
Maybe your inventory of past bosses also includes one or two jerks… and you’d probably just as soon forget them. DON’T! You need to remember them clearly and frequently. They provide your best lessons on what NOT to do! By avoiding the kinds of behaviors they exhibited, you’ll make sure that, down the road, you never appear on any of your team members’ list of worst leaders.”
There you have it. As uncomfortable as it is to watch or to interact with people who are bad leaders, the lessons derived can be very valuable (albeit painful at times). Poor leaders are inverse mentors: they teach you how not to lead. Pay attention so that you remember to never do what they do.
Instead, emulate those leaders whose behavior consistently yields good results. Those are real role models and mentors.
“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.” – Oliver Goldsmith
ACTION
TODAY: Recall an experience that you witnessed, whether at work or in your personal life, that was the result of poor leadership. What can you learn from it? What lessons can you derive so that you don’t make the same mistakes?
FUTURE: When faced with a difficult leadership decision or challenge, recall those leaders whose example you value and admire, and ask yourself how you think they would handle your situation. Then act accordingly.
Know someone who would enjoy reading this post? Please share it via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
