Leadership Skills

Examine the root word “Lead” carefully.

L – Learning all the information possible from great books, live seminars, cd recordings and personal interaction with other positive attitude, forward-thinking successful people.

E – Examine your own internal thoughts, beliefs, words and actions. Are you allowing old negative programming to hold you back from achieving all of your dreams and goals?

A – Achieve all of your goals by focusing your energy on the target. When you focus on a goal and direct all of your activity toward that one specific objective for as long as it takes to accomplish it, your success is guaranteed.

D – Delegate just enough responsibility to your team members or followers to develop their potential to achieve their own goals and lead others.

When you learn, do a comprehensive internal self-examination, and focus on achieving all of your own goals, you now have a path in place to guide others to duplicate you’re achievements. You can not guide someone else to accomplish things you have not achieved. There is as lack of credibility when you tell others how to do something you have never done. There is never a long line to ask the advice of the person at the bottom of the success ladder.

First achieve the goals and then provide the system for others to duplicate your results. The old saying of “fake it until you make it” just does not have credibility. So you ask, what to do until you do have proven results of your own. Edify your boss or your supervisor or your coach and mentor. Point to their success until you have success of your own. Always, always be honest. Do not claim to have positive results until you do.

Learn to celebrate every little victory. Record each small victory in a journal and celebrate each one. These small accomplishments will grow into bigger achievements. Your experience learning and growing will actually assist you in effective leadership. People relate to you and your challenges as they progress through their own challenges.
Being honest about your leadership journey also adds to your credibility. None of us started at the top. Read our stories; we faced challenges and setbacks as well as victories on our way to personal leadership.

I do not believe there is or ever has been one effective leader who has not “paid his or her dues.” Every one of us has examined ourselves and our leadership thoughts many times. We examined and re-examined our leadership styles. We evaluated our personal leadership and our leadership skills over and over. We made adjustments and adjusted the adjustments.

Only after walking the path ourselves were we able to direct someone else through the same system to reach their own personal success. First we made the journey through the success minefield, then we were qualified to guide others through that minefield to their own personal success.

Even now, after they have achieved their goals, effective leadership demands a constant process of adjusting to modern innovations. Business, success nor leadership stands still. Each one remains a moving target. In order to effectively delegate these skills and techniques, we must continue to focus and keep our own leadership skills sharp.

Learn, examine, achieve and delegate. You must follow each and every step in order and then keep repeating the cycle. Leadership is constantly evolving and the best and more effective leaders never take themselves or their followers for granted. Effective leadership skills are a precious commodity. Delegate them to others and the world will constantly improve. Effective leadership is a privilege, an honor and a responsibility.

I take my leadership, coaching and mentoring seriously. Come visit me at Elaine4Success.com. Let me help you navigate the minefield of success and leadership.

Paradise Isle

Is your tent pitched on “Someday Isle?” There are two different tents pitched there – content and discontent. John C. Maxwell wrote in his book, “Think on These Things” about Which Tent Do You Live In (chapter 27.) Regardless of whether you choose to live on Paradise Isle or Someday Isle, you have chosen to live a life of being contented or discontented.

A truly contented person understands exactly where they are right now and where they intend to go. The contented person has a purpose for their life and their actions. Contented people place a value on their future; they possess a determination to persist until that goal is achieved.

By contrast, a discontented person whines, complains about how it is someone else’s fault, and mopes around feeling sorry for themselves. The discontented person moans about how other people have received all the breaks in life. Instead of getting up out of the tent of discontent and working for a better life, they find it easier to stay stuck in lack and depression.

Truly contented people know that the challenge to achieve is not only worth the effort, but is the only long term solution. They count their blessings for what they already possess and maintain a grateful heart for the opportunity to make a better future.

If you truly want to move from discontent to content, you must take new action. No matter what you do in life, you must maintain a positive attitude and a learning spirit. Learn how to restructure your thoughts, your words, your actions and your results.

Your mindset of being content or discontent with your situation makes all the difference. Making that mental shift can present a challenge. Some are able to make the mindset shift on their own by having a series of exercises; however, most people require more than a “do it yourself” system. The most expedient and personalized method is to hire a coach and mentor for guidance.

Success in life always goes to the content mindset, never the discontent mindset. Whether you are seeking personal success or business success, you must dissolve the discontent mindset. Of course if you enjoy being miserable, be my guest.

Every successful person throughout history has experienced challenges and setbacks. The difference between the successful and the failures is the content, growing mindset. The other element in common for the successful is that each one had a coach and mentor to guide them.

I invite you to move from the sparse tent of discontent on “Someday Isle” and move in to the plush tent of being content on Paradise Isle.

Come talk to me; let me help with the moving experience.

Dust Off Your Dreams

Yesterday is a cancelled check and tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is our current cash. Use today wisely.

How happy are you with your current work and financial situation? Today is a new day and the opportunity for a new beginning. When I was young, I had a list of 100 things I wanted to do and places I wanted to see. Over the years many of those items have been checked off the list. How about you? How is your list doing?

I wrote an article once called “Someday Isle.” Are you still living on Someday Isle? Someday I’ll do this or someday I’ll do that or someday I’ll go visit my dream vacation spot. Time keeps moving forward. What we do with our allotted time is under our control. If you temporarily are low on financial resources, that can be corrected. When you run out of time, it is all over.

Being broke or out of work is a temporary situation. Being poor is a state of mind. Revamp your mindset to prosperity and use the time and resources you have wisely to improve your life and financial situation.

You are only out of solutions when you decide that you are out of solutions.

Dust off your dreams and put the sparkle back in your eyes and your future.

This economic downturn has many people searching for solutions to put their financial future back on track. Start by honestly looking at your current financial situation. Make a detailed list of assets (things you own), liabilities (things you owe), and available income sources.

If your current income potential seems to fall short of meeting all of the bills you owe, then consider dusting off that dream of owning your own business. Starting a home based business can be done on a part time basis with very little cost. Not only does a home based business offer the potential of additional income but it remains the easiest way to set your own hours; you work whatever hours you have available.

Low start-up cost, flexible hours, no outside office cost since you work from your home, and the potential of additional income make owning a home based business an excellent solution. The home based business industry is the fastest growing industry in the world right now.

Selection of the ideal home based business for you presents the next issue. I suggest you consider the following factors:

1. Select a company you will be proud to represent – a company with integrity. You can check this through any number of governmental and internet sources. I suggest you choose a company incorporated in the United States rather than offshore. There may be a reason the company chose to move the main corporate office offshore – taxes or legal problems perhaps.

2. Select a product people really need in every economy such as marketing or financial education. Avoid the “flash in the pan” fad products. Even some lotions, potions, pills and juices will fade in popularity during the economic downturn.

3. Look for a compensation plan where you are NOT passing up any sales. Marketing time, effort and money becomes even more important for you and your new people especially at the start of a new business.

4. Look for products which are stand alone. People want versatile products; they want products they can use in a variety of ways. For instance marketing education and financial education can be used in many different ways for all economic levels.

“There is only one way to make a great deal of money, and that is in a business of your own,” said J. Paul Getty, oil tycoon.

Feel free to contact me for additional coaching and mentoring. My mission is to help.