Want to raise your level of effective leadership?
Take a look at the “Law of Respect” – people naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves

Wherever you are on your leadership journey, you can begin to see this pattern emerging.  People who are a 5 or a 6 (out of 10) in leadership will tend to respect and follow the vision of 7’s, 8’s, 9’s or 10’s.

How do you gain the respect of followers?

Here is a “top 10” list:

1. Be good at what you do.  This is a critical first step.  People will not respect incompetence.
2. VALUE others  – really consider them not as “resources” to be used, but as unique people with value as a person. 
3. Loyalty – Do you stick with the team until the job is done?  Do you give credit  to the team for wins?  Do you publicly take personal responsibility for team failures?  When the team knows that you’ve “got their back” they will have more respect for your leadership.
4. Talk less, listen more.  This is almost always a great place to start.
5. Offer sincere appreciation – these days people can spot a phony a mile away!
6. Don’t judge others – perhaps you’d make an even worse choice if you were in their shoes!
7. Be honest – really!  You don’t have to say everything you know, but people will know they can’t trust you if they catch you in a lie.  Besides, it’s just easier to remember the truth than whatever story you told to each person!
8. Let others praise you – if you’re praiseworthy, others will notice and comment.  If you’re not, you won’t snow anyone anyway.
9. Do you respect yourself?  Do you have integrity – keeping promises to yourself – even about small things – like being on time, watching what you say, watching what you eat?  If you don’t respect yourself, others won’t either.
10. Do you take yourself too seriously?  Perhaps learning to laugh at yourself is a good place to start.  My wife does a good job of helping me see when I’m taking myself too seriously, and she’s helping me learn to laugh at my foibles.

Giving respect to others is the first step in gaining their respect.

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This post is another in the series based on John Maxwell’s book – The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Leaders have to understand “The Law of Intuition” when it comes to decision making.  John Maxwell says that “Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias”

Not everyone is intuitive when it comes to leadership, but everyone possesses intuition.

What does intuition mean, anyway?

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This post is another in the series based on John Maxwell’s book – The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

The Law of Addition says that “Leaders Add Value By Serving Others”

What do you do – as a part of your regular routine – to add value to others?

In the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell tells the story of Jim Sinegal – the co-founder and CEO of Costco.  In a season of excess in the corporate leadership structure, Sinegal makes just $350K/year plus modest stock and bonuses.  He does this because of his philosophy

“I just think that if you’re going to try to run an organization that’s very cost-conscious, then you can’t have those disparities.  Having an individual who is making 100, 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong…. This is not altruistic.  This is good business.”
Quote from USA Today, 9/24/2004 “Costco Wins Loyalty With Bulky Margins”

Costco employees are paid on average 42% more than their competitors, and payer lower health care costs.  Sinegal wears a name tag – just like every other employee, and he visits every store every year.  He leads by showing people that he values them both emotionally and financially.

He cares about those people he leads, and it shows both emotionally and financially.  This week, Costco reports double-digit increased sales, and strong results against BJ’s and Sam’s.

Making it a point to add to others is powerful – it inspires performance, it creates loyalty, it helps people have a better experience at work, which makes them better performers.  It’s the engine that supercharges team performance.

So…

• What are you doing to add value to those your team?  
• How do you serve those who are “under” you, or who are your peers?

“The bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves, but how far we advance others.”  John Maxwell

Adding value to others is a key part of “Raising Your Game”

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John Maxwell describes the Law of Navigation –
“Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course”

Two Antarctic explorers sought to reach the South Pole.  Roald Amundsen, and Robert Falcon Scott.  Amundsen saw success with few unanticipated challenges, while Scott and his entire team perished.  A comparison of the two journeys can be found here.

“I may say that this is the greatest factor — the way in which the expedition is equipped — the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.”–from The South Pole, by Roald Amundsen.

Here’s John’s P.L.A.N. A.H.E.A.D. acronym to help with planning:

P = PREDETERMINE a course of action
L = LAYOUT your goals
A = ADJUST your priorities
N = NOTIFY key personnel

A = ALLOW time for acceptance
H = HEAD into action
E = EXPECT problems
A = ALWAYS  point to successes along the way
D = DAILY review your plan

Planning well as you chart the course to your goal is a key part of “Raising Your Game”

If you’re in the DC area summer 2011, you may also want to check out the National Geographic Antarctica exhibit.

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Let’s talk about what John Maxwell calls “The Law of Process” – Leadership develops daily, but not *in* a day.

John identifies 5 phases of leadership development:

1. “I don’t know what I don’t know” – Did you know that leadership is influence, and you can learn how to develop your skills influencing others – even if you’re not “the boss”?
2. “I know that I need to know” – At this phase, you know that leadership is out there, and you need to figure something out about it.
3. “I know what I don’t know” – Leaders in this phase are aware of their weaknesses and strengths and begin to develop coping strategies so that they can be effective.
4. “I know and grow, and it starts to show” – Here’s where you start to get payoff – people intentionally watch you to see how you do it – your meetings run more smoothly, your projects run faster, you get more done, and people respect that.
5. “I simply go because of what I know” – This is where you’ve practiced these principles so consistently that you do it out of habit – and you’re really effective because of it.

This week I spoke with a leader in the banking industry who knows he needs to grow his skills in lending.  His “process” is that even though it’s not his responsiblity today, he started reviewing every loan that the bank issues.  That way he expands his knowledge of the business climate and the process that the bank follows as it meets the needs of their clients.  Great example of modifying his processes to grow his skills.

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