I am often asked the question, “What makes a person a leader?”
My answer is that it is as simple as learning the ABC’s of leadership.
The entire alphabet is one huge acronym for all of the characteristics of great leadership. If you are already reading this article, it means you are a leader and you have the hunger to learn. Adopt these characteristics outlined below and you will have become a highly esteemed great leader.
A leader has a positive attitude and is always seeing the positive in everything and then verbalizing it. A leader guides and directs their follower’s attitudes by inspiring them to stay focused on the positive and eliminate the negative. A great leader knows their team members dreams, helps them convert their dreams into goals and then helps them write affirmations for those goals. A true leader acknowledges and appreciates the support from their upline and mentors and also acknowledges the success of their team members giving accolades where deserved. As a result, they become appreciated and receive admiration and accolades from their followers. They are also authentic, living in alignment with their principles and values and they do not put on any false airs which allows them to be approachable by all members on their team.
A leader has strong belief in themselves, the company, the company owners, the products and in the company culture. This belief inspires confidence for their team to also believe in the same things. A great leader is benevolent always sharing their good fortune with others less fortunate through missionary outreach programs.
A leader has a strong commitment to personal growth and self-development and to building their business by helping people on their team grow. They are also communicative and collaborative always discussing their ideas with their team mates to make them feel involved in the whole team growth process. A great leader is coachable and is therefore also a great coach. A great leader is also a cheerleader… always cheering their team along with comments such as “I am proud of you”, “I believe in you” and, “You are a true leader”, “Wow, that was great!”, “I just know you will be one of my diamonds soon because I can tell you are already a diamond in your mind.” Building their business by helping others grow is not just something to do, for them it is a cause or even a crusade. Above all, a great leader has the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and inspire others to do the same.
A leader has a burning desire to be successful and attain their goals and to help members on their team also find their ‘why’ and reach their goals. A great leader is a dreamer creating new dreams for them to pursue while always painting the picture of what it will be like when all of the dreams of their team have come true. They are constantly reminding their team the famous quote by Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” A true leader is also a doer and is constantly doing things to reach their goals. A leader diffuses any negative complaints from their team members or any other members of the company. If a member of their team complains that it is too difficult, the leader says, “Hey if was any easier, everyone would have done this years ago and there would be nothing left for us!” Someone who is not a leader would agree with the complaints of their team and they would all get dragged down. Positive leadership can inspire a team to eventually achieve their dreams and goals. A leader is also disciplined to do what they know ought to be done when it needs to be done.
A leader is always enthusiastic in a manner that is contagious and fires up the enthusiasm of the members of their team, knowing that, “Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm!” They know that en-theos means ‘God within’ and that their passion for being a leader is divine providence. A great leader is also empowering and looks for opportunities for their team leaders to lead. They delegate and then let their leader’s lead. A leader is always edifying their sponsor and their upline as this is how their team learns to edify them. Show me a team that is not edifying their leader and I will show you a leader that is not edifying their own upline leaders. A great leader is an encourager, always praising and lifting up their team.
A leader has great faith; faith in themselves, faith in the company, faith in the products and faith in their team. Their faith inspires their team to also exercise the same type of faith. They are also friendly to everyone. They are aware that no one on their team desires to look up to a grouch as their leader. A great leader is quick to apologize and ask for forgiveness if they realize they did something that offended anyone. They are quick to forgive when they receive a sincere apology and do not hold a grudge. They desire to put the incident to rest and stay focused on their goals.
A leader is grateful for their mentors and the members of their team that support them and generously express their gratitude to all who have assisted them in their successful journey. They generously use the words “thank you” and are also generous with their time and are true givers. They are also goal oriented and are always working on attaining their next goal while affirming that they already have attained it. A leader is gentle, always handling sensitive matters in a gentle manner.
A leader instills hope in the hearts of their followers and is constantly cheering them on saying “you can do it”, “you are doing it”, congratulations, “you have done it”. “I can just picture you walking across the stage at our next even as a new Silver.” They are also humble and their humility endears their followers. When they receive a compliment, or a congratulation for an achievement, they say thank you and then quickly return a compliment to the person who gave them the compliment telling them that if they did it then they (their teammates) can do it also. They are also known for their honesty in all their dealings. Great leaders are health oriented and eat healthy and do things to stay fit. They have a great sense of humor and laugh a lot. Genuine leaders are also huggers. They are not embarrassed to hug or be hugged, but also exercise discernment if the other party is not receptive at that point in time and always do so with discretion. A great leader is driven by a hunger to learn and grow so they can be the example to their team.
A leader inspires people on their team to believe in themselves and to perform their very best. A leader always operates from a position of integrity by doing the right thing all the time.
A leader is always joyful and spreads joy wherever they go by generously showering each member of their team with sincere compliments.
A leader is knowledgeable about their company, product and business building methods and is able to share that knowledge with their team in a manner that does not make them look like a “know it all”. They say things like “guess what I just learned yesterday?” or “Let me share with you what I just read in the book I am reading.” A great leader is always kind to everyone.
A leader is a listener. A leader listens to their mentors and takes advice and guidance. They also listen to their team members so they know their needs and desires. They are always listening to audio training and motivation seminars on personal growth and self-development. If you sneak into a leader’s vehicle and start the car, an audio message will start playing from one of the greats like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn or Dennis Waitley. A leader knows that, “To earn more, they must learn more,” and they are always hungry to learn something new about themselves, their products they are marketing, and how to be more successful. They laugh a lot and can laugh at themselves whenever they goof up. They can be funny when appropriate create laughter within their group.
A leader stays motivated by constantly listening to motivational talks and then uses that information to motivate members on their team. They motivate their team by their own example of their success in building their business.
A leader stays new. They never rest on their laurels they are always learning new things to share with their group.
A leader is optimistic and always sees the glass as half full instead of half empty. A leader is open and transparent and allows their team to be at ease with them.
A leader is persistent and will stick to the task and fiercely persist until the goal is reached. They are also protective of the company, upline and especially their personally enrolled and their entire team. Their team knows that their leader will “always have their back.”
A leader asks questions and then listens to the answers, as that is how they learn. A leader also quietly listens to the questions asked by their team members. A great leader has learned the importance of AAAQWAQ, which is an acronym for “always answer a question with a question” so they can probe deeper into what their teammate is really desiring to know, rather than just responding with a pat answer.
A leader is responsible. They accept responsibility to behave properly as a true leader would and they have “the buck stops here” mentality. A true leader respects the privacy of their teammates and respects all people for who they are. As a results a true leader is respected by their team. A leader is a reader because all “leaders are readers and readers become leaders”. They are constantly reading books and articles on personal development and business skills. A leader knows that to be a better leader, they must be a better reader. A leader is all about relationships, and develops great relationships with both the upline, fellow side line teammates and folks on their own team in their downline. A seasoned leader responds to situations rather than reacting to them. A leader is able to rise above the petty things that can distract them and their followers from pursuing their goals and keep their followers constantly inspired to believe in themselves and to always press on toward the mark.
A leader is strong in their convictions holding fast to their principles. They are supportive of team members. A great leader has a true servants’ heart and is also willing to serve others. They are self-starters and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done without anyone prodding them. A great leader also practices self-determination because they know the truth to the saying, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” They are also sincere in everything they say and do.
A leader is trustworthy and can hold in confidence anything shared with them by team members and can always be trusted to do what they say they will do. A great leader is always truthful. A leader is teachable and once they learn something they are constantly teaching and training their team what they just learned and other skills they need to succeed. A great leader is teaching their team how to become leaders; first by setting the example and secondly by mentoring and instruction, and then they let their up and coming team leaders lead by sharing the spotlight with them.
A leader is unwavering in their focus to succeed and are always uplifting their personally enrolled distributors and all members of their team. They are also uncompromising in matters of ethics and principle.
A leader values their relationships with their mentors and their team members. A leader has vision to see further into the future and see things as they can be not just as they are; and then they can sell that dream to their team.
A leader ‘walks their talk’ always doing what they say they are going to do. They practice what they preach. A truly great leader ‘preaches what they practice.’ A leader is a worker. They work diligently, always attending every event, listening to every conference call, using all the products and learning about the products and sharing what they learned with their team. As the result years of learning and life experience an exceptional leader is wise beyond their years and they share their wisdom in their teaching, training and mentoring.
A leader is eXpected to go the eXtra mile in helping their team succeed. A great leader is striving for eXcellence in all they do. A great leader eXercises emotional control and always keeps their cool.
A leader stays young at heart and is always youthful in their manner. They may have been around for a long time, but they are not old. A leader also understands the meaning of the axiom, “Your actions speak so loud that I cannot hear what you are saying!” A true leader leads by example knowing that teaching by setting the example is the most effective way to train their team. A leader knows that their team will do what they see them doing not what they are saying. When a leader is positive; their team stays positive. When your team witnesses you prospecting and doing presentations, they will also be inspired to prospect and give presentations. When your team sees you bringing new distributors to meetings, they feel compelled to enroll new distributors and bring them to meetings. It is called, “The speed of the leader”, or a more familiar term is, “Monkey see; monkey do!” The bottom line is that your group becomes a reflection of you.
A leader is zealous. They ardently pursue their mission with zeal and passion.
So, “how do I become a leader?” you might ask…
If you have a desire to be a leader, then you already are one. Now set your goal to become a great leader by adopting all of the characteristics outline above.
A great leader starts out by simply believing he or she IS destined to BE one, and then paying the price of reading and listening and learning every day and putting into practice what they are learning and then earning their position with their team as they realize that their team is now looking up to them as their leader.
Most entrepreneurs starting out do not possess all of the desired characteristics of a leader. It is a learning process that comes from reading and listening to audio’s and having a good coach and mentor and observing other great leaders and adopting their leadership characteristics. However, the greatest learning process is the on the job training of building an organization while learning how to be a great leader. The true measurement of your leadership will be not be just the number of followers you have, but also how many of them you inspired and mentored to become leaders themselves.
Use this article as a measuring tool to check your own leadership qualities. Circle in black ink all the qualities that you have attained, next circle in red ink all the qualities that need improvement and go to work on developing those characteristics. Mastering these skills will do more for your success in becoming a truly great leader than just about anything else you could do.
When you turn around and see that you have a bunch of followers that are looking to you for leadership… congratulate yourself… You have become a LEADER! When they have become leaders as a result of your teaching and mentoring you will have become a great leader! Once you have developed and mastered all the characteristics listed above in bold, you have become a truly exceptional leader. Exceptional leaders are rare, but now you know what you need to do to become one. Exceptional leaders do not judge their success by the amount of money they have in the bank, but rather by the number of lives they have touched and influenced in a positive way. I trust this article has touched your life and inspired you to become an exceptional leader. Enjoy the journey!
Paul
He has been known as the mentor’s mentor.
He was a former Amway Executive Diamond and had been #1 in the nation with several network marketing companies.
Paul had used the principles he taught to build several organizations to in excess of fifty and one hundred thousand distributors. One organization was approaching one half of a million distributor/customers.
Paul had held monthly volumes in his downline organization alone, in excess of 15 million dollars per month.
Many people ‘practice what they preach,’ but it is said of Paul, that Paul ‘preaches what he practices’ and had practiced his entire life.
On the social/spiritual side of life, Paul had spent much of his free time in Scouting, Jail and Prison Ministry and other outreach ministries.Most of all he was a GREAT family man.
Whether it was a group of 14 in a living room or a crowd of 14,000 in an auditorium, Paul iwas sure to have them laughing, crying, and ultimately motivated and inspired to become all of that which they are capable of becoming.
Paul’s philosophy was that, success in this industry is not measured by the dollars you earned but rather by the lives you have touched and influenced in a positive way.
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