7 Leadership Secrets To Being A True Leader

Regardless who you are currently leading or want to lead, if it is a big business, a political organisation, a sports club, a church or a network marketing organisation, the simple 7 leadership principles will make a difference.

7 Secrets I Learnt From The Leadership Pill by Ken Blanchard

1. Leadership is not just what happens when you are there. It’s what happens when you are not there.

   This is a very useful distinction and should become an outcome for anyone who wants to lead. Team that functions even if the leader is not around is something unique and requires a different level of skills. The next points will give couple of ideas how to get there. A great leader builds their people. The better your people, the more free time you have.

2. Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for people.

   Isn’t it an interesting twist in perception and sequence? There are so many organisations that do exactly opposite. This model helps to remove from constantly focusing on just getting a quick financial gain that looks good in a short term, but on the other hand it can strongly damage the two most important parts of your organisations: your customers and your team.

3. Leadership is not something you do to people, it is something you do with them.

   Simple but powerful truth. If you are setting off for a team leading journey, remember to take your team with you. Communicate and involve. Simple but also so often forgotten.

4. The key to effective leadership is the relationship you build with your team.

   An extension from the previous points. The relationship you build with your team should be the way how you judge your success as a leader.

5. Sharing the big picture puts everyone on the same page.

   Effective communication will always be the key leadership skill while building a team. A clear vision gives the strong sense of direction, or even a sense of excitement and a powerful drive, if properly communicated.

6. You will go a lot further if you stop to refuel.

   That is something I must admit I have been guilty of. It is so crucially important to pause, relax and change your perception with different activities, different people. So take time for sport, short trips, dancing, reading watching movies, hiking etc. If you are scoring and winning take time to celebrate, if you are missing your target and not really getting what you want, find time to reflect and get some distance to gain new perspective. Albert Einstein put it nicely: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”

7. The highest achievement of a leader is winning respect and trust of your team.

   Again, I love what Ken Blanchard is doing here. Measure your success of leadership not by financial numbers but trust and respect. These two ingredients will lay a solid foundation that will be a springboard for long lasting financial results.

Hope these 7 nuggets from Ken Blanchard take your leadership skills to the max!