How Great Leaders Inspire Their People

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Health & Well-Being, Improve Academy, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Workplace Learning
Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

As a leader, you are not leading things. You are leading people. If you want them to follow you, to help you succeed, you must take care of them. You must not abuse them. And you must treat them with love and respect. If not, they are not going to invest in you.

Everything starts with who you are. How you show up, what you do when you are there, and how you talk to them. They matter.

According to Annette Verschuren, ‘The biggest and hardest personal transformation you will need to make in order to be a great leader is shifting from accomplishing things on your own to achieving things through other people.’

‘Puting yourself on the line may look a lot like failure and rejection before it translates into success.’

‘People rarely know what they’re capable of achieving until life puts them to the test. That’s why your success as a leader depends so heavily upon your ability to do just that.’

‘The main thing preventing people from reaching their goals is procrastination- most often in the form of the hunt for a brilliant plan.’

‘In order to quickly move on opportunity, you don’t need to be the smartest, most experienced or best educated person in the room. All you really need is a brazen attitude.’

‘Leadership is about identifying and creating opportunity, and setting a bold vision. No one will give permission to do this; you need to give yourself permission.’

‘Great leaders don’t fixate on being bad or good. They focus on being better. Focusing on getting better is the first step in effecting tangible, positive change. And getting results is what ultimately gives a leader her power.’

‘Taking the time to truly understand yourself and your values is profoundly important to your professional success.’

‘Knowing and consciously embodying your core values gives you the emotional strength, certainty and decisiveness of a credible leader that others will follow.’

‘Your ability to be successful as a leader is directly tied to your ability to stay organized.’

Source:

Annette Verschuren (2016). Bet on Me: Leading and Succeeding in Business and in Life

Give More Than You Take

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Health & Well-Being, Improve Academy, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Workplace Learning
Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

People are looking for other people who care. If you care about other people, you are a change agent. You are a giver, not a taker.

Givers give to others. Takers take from others. Givers are in it for others. Takers are in it for themselves.

Let me tell you something: If you want to live a meaningful life, it is better to be a giver than a taker.

Because, according to Paul Polman and Andrew Winston, ‘Transformative leadership requires broad partnerships.’

‘Cultivate a sense of responsibility and duty to serve the world, and encourage people to bring their values to work.’

‘Help people in the business find what they do uniquely for the world (their purpose).’

‘Embrace empathy, compassion, and humility, and openly seek help and partnership from others.’

‘Reward courage, speak truth to power, and do what’s right for even if there are costs.’

‘Look forward to understand how the world’s needs will evolve and where the company’s purpose can best serve the world.’

‘Remove rigid constraints on what the company can work on, and give people space to think big, work for the long-term, and invest in the future.’

‘Work with society by proactively inviting them in instead of waiting for them to bang on- or knock down- the door.’

‘Worry less about who gets the credit, or how to compete on issues, and focus on broader solutions.’

‘Lead the work on the biggest, most complex shared problems.’

‘Listen to smart critics to undertand systemic challenges and hurdles.’

Source:

Paul Polman and Andrew Winston (2021). Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take