“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” – John C. Maxwell.
Related Book: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
John Maxwell is one of the most influential leaders of all time and he is letting you know that YOU are a leader. That’s not my words, that his words.
Every person has influence, whether you know it or not. You have influence with your family, friends, coworkers, and the Starbucks barista that you visit every morning before work.
There are people in your life that know you, care about you, want to know you, and you may influence people that don’t even know you’re influencing them. Influence isn’t always a positive thing, either. There might be people that have a negative influence on your life – perhaps you have a negative influence on somebody else’s life!
Regardless, we all lead something, whether it is a team of people or just ourselves. If you want to become a better leader, learn how to handle more complex situations, and grow from where you are right now, continue reading these 4 keys to becoming a better leader.
- See yourself as a leader.
Most people do not associate themselves with leadership. If everybody did see themselves as a leader, there would be no more leaders! It is rare that someone wakes up in the morning and diagnoses themselves as a leader.
Usually, we think that we become the leader when we get the job title, pay raise, or house design that we have been working towards for a long time. “Only when I reach that point will I start to lead.”
If you still actively have that thought cross your mind, you will most likely not be a leader – and it’s highly unlikely that you will even reach that certain threshold. Leadership is active, and it starts when you make the choice to start.
You must see yourself as a leader right now. Wherever you are on the scale of life, be that a college student or on the verge of retirement, you must see yourself as a leader. Now, this could quickly air itself on the side of pride.
Let me shut any proud thoughts down. Seeing yourself as a leader means seeing yourself as a servant. You are conditioned to believe that if you could climb the corporate ladder high enough then you can start to give back. Leadership, though, is not caring about the ladder rungs but about the people above you, below you, and to the side of you.
That leads us to key number 2.
- Become a servant leader.
Arrogant leaders can be quite successful. Aggressive leaders can accomplish a lot and become very wealthy. Proud leaders can get a lot of attention. What’s wrong with these character qualities, though, is that it leaves the human connection lacking. Leadership is ALL about people.
Without people, you wouldn’t have anything to lead. Without people on your side, your leadership won’t last long.
That is why servant leadership is the most helpful tactic that you can employ in leadership. Not that it is a tactic to deploy, but rather a character quality to embellish. You are a servant, meaning that you feel burdened and tethered to those around you.
Related Books: Servant Leadership by Ken Blanchard
Yes, as the leader you should feel responsibility for people. You should learn to care about them, what they care about, and how they operate.
Regardless of if you are in a position of authority or not, being a servant leader will take you far. People love to follow a leader who is humble. Become the kind of leader that people want to follow.
- Take initiative.
This one is very important. Most people enjoy following because it is much more comfortable and less damaging to your ego.
People are so scared of messing up that they rarely want to try, and they hardly ever want to be the first to try. Reading aloud in class? No, thank you. Calling someone for a favor? Nah, I’ll procrastinate.
Taking initiative is consistently doing what normal people do sometimes. It is constantly looking for the door to make something better. There are countless ways on a daily basis to take initiative.
The first way is simply in your own life. How do you handle your health? Your fitness? Your finances? Your relationships? Do you take responsibility for those things or do you wait until the last minute? Do you wait for your accountability person to reach out?
When we do not take initiative in our own lives, we become dependant on other people pushing us. The problem with this is that people move cities, or we lose touch, or they can’t see us when we are alone with the door closed.
You must be fully and completely responsible for your actions. You also have to take initiative with projects and other people around you. If you want to be a better leader than you need to simply lead things.
Leading implies that you take initiative – that you are first. Remember point number two though, that those who are first should see themselves as a servant.
- Always look for new opportunities.
Your comfort zone is killing your leadership ability. As a leader, you are responsible to find new ways to grow or to change or to improve. This may be an opportunity that you were not expecting or even in a category that you are not familiar with.
This means that you have to be okay with change. Leadership is all about change – and how you respond to it will determine whether you succeed or not.
New opportunities are all around you. New chances to buy or sell things and make some extra money. New chances to start a new hobby or to meet someone new. You have opportunities for dozens of positive interactions with someone random on a daily basis. You never know where those will lead.
You have to be a leader on the lookout.
New opportunities are close by – are you going to take advantage of them, or let them pass you by?
Leadership is extremely important, and I believe that you are a leader. If you want to get better at leading your everyday life, you have to see yourself as a leader, become a servant, take initiative, and always be on the lookout for new chances.
The great thing about leading something is that there is always room for growth and something new to challenge you with.
Leadership is not for the faint hearted. Well, good leadership isn’t anyways. Are you up for the challenge to become the best leader you can be?
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