When you drop a pebble into water, you create a series of concentric circles that ripple across the water touching everything in it’s wake. Leadership is the same way. Who you are and what you do comes from your center and as you talk, guide, mentor and teach, your actions ripple out impacting and influencing all who are in your area of influence.
Your influence is never neutral.
Your body language, tone, words, habits and behavior will either light their passionate fire or douse their flames.
Model the behavior you expect others to emulate.
Always expect more from yourself than you expect from others. Always expect yourself to do the most, help the most, give the most. Be the most doing, helping and giving person you know.
When we study military history, we find the most respected Generals did not seek comfort. On purpose they experienced the most adverse conditions, just as their soldiers did. They modeled the behavior they expected from those they led.
This created an awe among the warrior followers, an admiration which caused them to fiercely follow the Generals into every dangerous battle.
Here are some questions to help guide you toward modeling what you want from those you lead:
How do you handle failure?
How do you handle pressure and adversity?
How do you exhibit patience and persistence?
How do you create balance & congruence in your daily life?
How do you deal with criticism?
How well do you listen?
How do you give to others?
How do you accept responsibility and demonstrate accountablity daily in your actions?
How do you do all you can to be the best you can be each day?
How do you show respect and trust in others?
How you express yourself in these and other behaviors is how your followers will learn how to express these as well. Take some time to self evaluate and rate yourself on each of these questions and develop a plan to shore up the influence areas you feel might need to be improved.
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