After studying a leadership model called “The Ego Factor”, I noticed it pointed out that torpid growth, lost market share, and panic response management are more likely to occur if growth objectives are Ego driven vs. Profit driven.  This often leads to personal needs getting ahead of business needs and is a common symptom of the lack of leadership within an organization.

A servant leader makes a conscious choice to lead by being a servant first.  He or she is noticeably different from the person who is leading first, because of the need to alleviate an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions.

Good managers get employees to respect them, effective leaders get employees to not only respect them but more importantly they get them to respect themselves.

It has been shown that effective leaders go through a never ending development process that includes education, self study, training, experience and coaching and mentoring from one or several individuals that have a very positive influence on their personal development.  Leadership is the ability to influence, inspire and motivate others to accomplish specific objectives.  It includes creating a culture that helps direct the organization in such a way that it makes it consistent and coherent keeping short term goals and objectives in alignment with long term strategic initiatives.  The success of leadership in this process is directly influenced by the individual leaders’ beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills.

Position and title may give one power but power in itself does not make one an effective leader.  To become an effective leader there are specific skill sets that one must understand and master.  This does not come naturally. It takes dedication, passion and commitment to the process.  That commitment, dedication and passion includes a tireless effort to improve on specific skills and the development of a personal leadership methodology.  This is referred to as your personal leadership model.

It’s incredible to see so many people out their achieving their goals in times like this. The clock is ticking and so many of us are doing things that we’ve only dreamed of.

There are five frogs and they’re all sitting on a log. Four of them decide to jump off.  How many are sitting on the log???  The answer is five.  Why?  Because their is a difference between deciding and doing.  You have to make a decision that do it!  You have to see it through to the end.  So many times we get started in things and then we just stop.  We meet an obstacle and instead of going “You know what?  I am going to find a way through this, I am going to learn it..I’m not sure how I am going to change but I am going to get together with my mentor and we are going to talk about it and figure this out!”.

We all dislike correction, don’t we?  Understanding that correction is constructive criticism is a way to take a step back and put things in perspective, because we are in the middle of it and we can’t see what we are doing wrong all the time.  When we are setting goals, we need to always remember to apply the “M.A.S.T.” (Meaningful, Achievement, Specific, and Time) equation to it.  Meaningful.  Is it going to benefit you and others.  Is it going to be something that I can make a difference in somebody else’s life too?  Achievement.  Ask yourself if the goal is achievable because sometimes we set are goals so far out there that when we get into it, we get to a point where we say to ourselves “What was I thinking, I can never do that”.  Well, then you’ve set your goal so high that in your own mind, you can’t achieve it.  SO ask yourself, “Is it achievable?”  Specific.  Is your goal defined, is it specific?  Sometimes we get out there and we are all pumped up and we’re like “whoo hoo…this is what it is and….”  What exactly is it?  We always have to know what we’re running for.  Then there is Time.  Do we have time on it?  Do we have a time limit?  If not, then it will be forever and we will keep running after this goal forever.

After we put a MAST on our goal, we then need to ask “How much is this going to cost?  What price is it that I’m going to have to pay for this goal?”  We ask ourselves this because we are going to have to determine what the price is that we are going to pay…if we don’t set the goal!  Understanding that there is a price for everything.  Check and Adjust.

Don’t hang around toxic people, hang around the people that inspire you!