5 Simple Leadership Fundamentals

5 Simple Leadership Fundamentals

The leader does not have to be the boss, the leader is not automatically the person who signs your paycheck. Remember, leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Leaders come from ALL levels of the organization.

Always remember and don't ever forget; Any one can be a manager but not just any one can be a leader. It takes someone with a special kind of something to be a leader. Please do not get those two confused.

All leaders, no matter who they are or where in the organization they are ranked, share the same 5 Simple Leadership Fundamentals. Of course, there are plenty of other fundamentals but these are the Top 5.

1. The mission is bigger than the man

The mission of the organization is why the organization exists. If it were not for the company's mission and vision there would be no sense of direction and purpose. The company would just be a place where people came to "hang out" for 8 hours every day and ultimately, the organization would not last very long.

Leaders must ensure that everyone knows why the company is in business and that each stakeholder is critical to the life-cycle of the organization. The leader cannot do it all by herself, that is why she motivates others to achieve the common goal: Creating and Maintaining a Successful Organization which in turn, makes all Stakeholders Successful.

2. Do as I do is the only way to lead

A leader knows and understands that the only way to keep the people you lead motivated is to ALWAYS do as you do.

The "Do as I say" mindset is strictly reserved for those minor league managers that have not been properly taught to do, teach, and believe otherwise.

3. Create more leaders

The mission of any leader is to create more leaders. I firmly believe the truest measure of a leader and her leadership abilities is by the number of leaders she has created and is creating.

If a leader is not doing anything to foster the growth of those he serves, he's just a manager with a touch of jealousy and insecurity. That is the bottom line.

4. Treat others they way they want to be treated (with respect)

Every leader wants to be respected. Here's a little secret I want to share with you: every leader gets respect because she respects others. A real leader will respect everyone that follows him as well as those that do not follow him. Everyone gets respected by a true leader and in turn, as if by magic, everyone returns that respect. It is the classic give and take. Give respect and others will respect you.

Do as your Grandma used to tell you, "Be respectful."

5. Before you can lead, you must first learn to follow.

All leaders had to begin somewhere. All real leaders begin as followers. World War II hero and US General George S. Patton was a young plebe at West Point at one time, as was US Army General and US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Former General Electric Chief Executive Officer and Author Jack Welch started with GE, in 1960, as a Junior Chemical Engineer and over the course of a twenty year career he moved to the top of the company.

Everyone must start at the bottom. Everyone must pay their dues. Everyone. Do not think about cutting corners because there is no short cut to being a leader. This applies to the children and immediate relatives of the CEO, President, or Owner of any organization, as well. Do not for one minute think you have it made. Your family elder worked, scratched, and clawed to the position they are and nothing should be just handed to you. Whether you think you deserve it or not. To truly deserve followers you must not hesitate to get into the trenches and get your hands dirty.  The only way to get into the trenches and get your hands dirty is to do so by following a leader who will show you the way.

As I mentioned, there are plenty of other fundamentals to great leadership but these 5 Simple Leadership Fundamentals I feel are the most important. All other Leadership Fundamentals, Skills, Traits, and Abilities are based on these five. 

Now, get to work.

Thank you,
David Guerra

I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com

To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

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10 Simple Tips for Creating Successful Employees

10 Simple tips for Creating Successful Employees

Employees are the ones that make things happen in any organization. They make good things and bad things happen. They can make magic or rain down a curse of epic proportions on any organization. That is why as a leader you have to ensure you are doing everything you can to ensure success with every employee, volunteer, intern, internal stakeholder on an individual basis, as well as a group.

Here are 10 simple tips that I recommend you use to develop successful employees, either one-on-one or as a collective.

1. Dialogue
Always ensure that every conversation is a DIALOGUE (a two-way conversation) and keep the monologue to an absolute minimum. Better still, leave the monologue for Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman.

2. Listen
Be an active listener. Do not stand there and nod your head. Really listen. Take notes if you have to. Hey, taking notes worked when you trying to pass Calculus, it can work when you are trying to ensure you really understand somebody. 

3. Ask
Ask Questions. Ask lots and lots of questions. Do not tell yourself you have no questions. You have questions and you must ask them.

4. Get to know them
Get to know your employees. Do not take any of your employees for granted. Never take any stakeholder for granted. Who knows that employee may be your boss or your competition one day. Then you will really have to re-think how you could have made the relationship better when you had the chance.

5. Ensure they have the tools to do their job
Every one wants to do a good job. How can they do a good job if they don't have the tools. Go out of your way to make absolutely certain they have plenty of paper, pens, chalk, dry erase markers, surgical tools, and whatever they may need to do the job. If they refuse to do a good job then that is on them and not on the lack of tools and supplies.

6. Ensure they know you have their back
Go out of your way to make certain that each and every employee knows you have their back. They need to know it and see it everyday. Then again, they also need to know that you will have their back provided they are always truthful and forthcoming, and not behaving bad just because they know someone has their back. That's not what having their back is about. Having their back is based on mutual dialogue, understanding and clear expectations of and from each other.

7. What are their expectations of you
You cannot lead what you do not know and understand. If your employees do not share what their expectations of you are then how will you know if you are a great leader? Ask them what are their expectations of you, then move heaven and earth to achieve, maintain and exceed those expectations.

8. Ensure they know your expectations
You cannot expect success if the ones that follow you do not know what you expect them to do and not do to achieve that success. Be crystal clear when you are explaining your expectations. Even if you have to draw them an infographic make absolutely sure they understand.

9. Train Them
Training is everything. Train, Train, Train and then train some more. Training is how the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII and training is how Germany national football team won the FIFA World Cup in 2014. Everyone, every organization and every group that has ever won something or become the best at something does so by training. Train your employees every chance you get. Remember, everything is training and training is everything.

When I was serving in the US Army we had a saying, "If it's raining, we're training." Get out there and get them trained, maybe even cross-trained.

10. Get Yourself Trained
Speaking of training, be sure you take some time to get yourself some training. As a leader, the first thing you should always admit is that you do NOT know everything. Remember, it is managers and supervisors that say things like "I know this job like the back of my hand" and "you don't need to tell me how to do this job" and of course the old, "I'm in charge so I know it all." Yeah, don't be that guy.

Take time to learn the latest trends in your industry. Find out and know what is just over your organization's horizon. Read a book (my book), attend a seminar, take a three day course, do something! When you are done getting trained tell everyone about it. Share it the next time you train your employees.


Thank you,
Dave Guerra

I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com
To order your copy of The Walking Leader:  Amazon Paperback / Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble

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MIDDAY NUGGET: Are You Doing it the Old Fashion Way and NOT USING SOCIAL MEDIA?

Are You Doing it the Old Fashion Way and NOT USING SOCIAL MEDIA?

The other day, there was a small business owner walking around passing out flyers. Very admirable. When he entered my office building, I asked him to sit down and talk a while about the . I asked him to show me his flyer. It was postcard size, front and back. It was loaded with images and information. It has a phone number on it but that’s all.

That’s all? What do you mean that's all?

Yes. It had no web address, no Facebook page address, and no twitter handle. Seriously!
I asked him where these three things were on his flyer. He said that he had a Facebook page but no webpage or twitter.

I pointed to the front door and showed him our company info. I told him this is 2014 and you have to have that information ready for anyone and everyone. Whether they become a customer/client or not they might know someone who needs or wants your service.

He just gave me this look of what is this guy talking about?

He then said something that just floored me, “I am doing this the old fashion way and I want to get my customers by word of mouth and by going out there to meet them.”

Excellent. That’s the right idea. A righteous idea. However, what happens after you leave?

Huh.

What happens when you leave the office and the person that you talked to does not want your service but has a cousin who is looking for it. Do you really think that flyer will stick around? NO! It offers that first point of contact nothing so it goes into the trash.

With no Facebook page, twitter address, or website to visit that piece of paper (flyer) becomes as valuable as a used Kleenex. COUNT ON IT!

He just refused to get it.

That’s alright. Sometimes, it takes people a couple of bats over the head before they get it. However, I feel that for this guy it may be too late before he gets it.

As with any business, there is plenty of competition out there. His business is not unique, his closest competitor is less than a quarter of a mile away, and it is located on major thoroughfare. It is actually on one of the most popular streets within a 100-mile radius. He has location, location, location going against him and I am more than certain there are plenty of other business owners that have that going against them, as well.

However, that’s when going ONLY old fashioned will not work. You, me, and everyone that wants to do business in 2014 has got to fully understand that it is the shotgun effect of using social media consistently and effectively that will get that much needed attention and that attention will turn into sales of your product or service.

If you absolutely have to go Old Fashioned, how about trying this: Go Old Fashion using the New Fashion Devices, Media & Apps.

Thank you,
David Guerra

P.S. I do invite you to join the conversation and tell me what you think about this blog post.

As always you can read this blog post in its original location at http://daveguerra.blogspot.com

I invite you to
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