In our business, we have 5 fundamental strategies for success that we call: ‘The 5 Pillars Of Success’. These principles act as a sort of daily ’success checklist’ by which we run the business.
One of those ‘Pillars Of Success’ is ‘The Expectation Of Leadership In Yourself And Others’. Think about that statement for a moment. Our entire life, in all the various roles in which we find ourselves, we expect, and demand, leadership from those around us.
Now I know that there are many different definitions of leadership. Let me take a moment here to define what I mean by leadership. To lead, as far as I’m concerned, is to be in service for others. Leadership means service.
Leadership calls for respect, and has nothing at all to do with ‘like’. It took me a while to realize that ‘respect’ has nothing to do with ‘like’ and, likewise, ‘leadership’ has nothing to do with ‘telling people how to do something’. It has everything to do with empowering them to do things for themselves.
Leadership starts with respecting ourselves enough to be of service to ourselves. We need to show up every day in our lives and in our businesses and give both the level of respect that they deserve. Quite simply, we can not help other people before we help ourselves.
As a child, we don’t so much expect, we naturally assume, that our parents will be our leaders. At school, we look to our teachers to be leaders. As adults, in every single one of our daily transactions, there is an expectation of leadership from one person or another.
We expect our manager to make the right decisions and lead the company to success. We expect the shop assistant to lead us through our purchasing decisions. We expect the bank clerk to lead us through our financial transactions.
Wed expect leadership in others literally every day. But what of the leadership we expect from ourselves? If we expect those around us to be in leadership for us, shouldn’t we be expecting leadership in ourselves also? Shouldn’t we be demanding that we are also a role model?
So, the next time you find yourself getting frustrated whilst standing in line at the bank, or cussing the traffic warden for leaving a ticket on your car, ask yourself this: Do you stand in leadership for yourself and others in every area of your life?
If you are fulfilling your duty as a leader, then congratulations, I have no doubts that your life and your business are thriving at the moment. But if not, before you point the finger of blame at somebody else, remember that that you are no better than them, and people you know are pointing at and blaming you.
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This article was edited and distributed by Mark Walters on behalf of Mandy Swift, who was the original author. Next : Success Strategies