Ever wonder just how important good leadership is? It can make your business excel or get you booted from a multimillion dollar company. Take a look at James Altucher, author, entrepreneur, hedge fund manager, and starter of LinkedIn. Awesome right? Did you know he was fired from LinkedIn? Straight from his blog, Most Leadership Advice is Useless. Here’s What I Really Learned Running 20 Companies, he writes, “The reason? I was a bad leader”. Here’s what he says about what he really learned:
A) More success for others than for you
Most important by far: you care about the success of others more than you care about your own success. Everyone around you needs to ultimately become better than you.
B) Yes, and
a. yes and...
b. List what’s good
c. How you would improve
d. Figure out the vision that is the base of the idea that you are talking about.
e. Connect the “Why” of what you are suggesting to the initial vision. Does it work better than the initial idea?
f. Be open to the fact that you might be wrong. ALWAYS ALWAYS you might be wrong.
C) The Vision Rule
A LEADER TELLS A VISIONARY STORY. We are helping people in unique ways because…. We treat people better because….
A good story, like any story ever told, starts with a problem, goes through the painful process of solving the problem, and has a solution that is better than anything ever seen before.
First you listened to people, then you took care of people, but now you unite people under a vision they believe in and trust and bond with.
The key to their success is how powerful the story will be that they tell of that brand. Why are they delivering the greatest value? People need to believe in the story.
D) Dignity
If I don’t treat my own projects with respect then how can I expect others to?
If I don’t treat myself with dignity, then how can I expect the people around me to treat me, or even each other, with dignity?
E) There's always a good reason and a real reason
A leader listens to the good reason and comes up with a solution. But then listens even more closely to try and figure out what the real reason is. There is ALWAYS a real reason. Listen for that and see if you can help.
A good solution solves one problem. A real solution solves 100 problems.
F) Lead yourself
Before I can lead anyone I have to lead myself. I have to read. I have to try and improve 1% a week. I have a handful of interests and I have a lot of experience.
I have to get better at the things I’m interested in. I have to understand more deeply the painful experiences I’ve had, I have to every day practice the health: physical emotional mental spiritual, that I suggest to everyone else.
Sometimes I don’t. And I feel it. But that’s ok. Don’t regret. Today is a new day. Today is the only day.
The definition of “success” for me is: “Is today successful?”
Because who knows if tomorrow will even exist. Today is the only day I need to think about success.
And every successful tomorrow is determined by one thing: having a successful today.
Leaders can make or break a company. We must constantly practice and grow our leadership skills. How will you be a better leader today?
Read the rest of the blog here. Trust us, it’s worth it!