3 Keys To Unleash The Leader In You
Everyone wants to change the world. We all have a desire to achieve great things and on our road to success, we are told about countless important traits such as work ethic, motivation, and ambition. And yet, the one trait we don’t hear about as much as others may be the most important of them all — leadership.
Leadership is the measure of influence you have in your life. This is crucial as you become more successful because the higher you go in life, the more influence you’ll need. Although leadership is so vast and intricate in nature, there are 3 foundational keys that anyone can apply in order to become a world-class leader: win hearts, read the future, and level up your friends.
Key #1: Win Hearts
What is a leader without influence? The truth of the matter is that monumental influence always precedes monumental impact so your first priority as a leader is and always will be to win the hearts of those around you. True people-magnets typically focus on a few things:
Value
How many people are better off with you in their life? People are attracted to those who can add value to their lives. Your potential as a leader ultimately comes down to your ability to serve those around you.
Talent
The law of attraction states that we bring in what we are. Talent attracts talent so if you want to win over high-standards people, you must first level up your own skills and focus on personal growth.
Courage
The world’s most powerful leaders are able to stand up for their cause and in the face of failure or harsh criticism. Inspire those around you by standing alone and stepping up to face challenges no one else would whether that’s being the first to speak or unapologetically sharing your opinions.
Success
Nothings says credible like a proven track record. Your accomplishments paint a picture of your capabilities as a leader and give people reassurance that you’re the real deal.
Key #2: Read the Future
In order to be prepared for the challenges that life throws at you, you must be able to anticipate what’s coming. Once you’ve developed a better understanding of what’s in store, you can effectively prepare to succeed. Here are a few keys to developing 20–20 future-vision as a leader:
Draw on Experience
In our lives, we go through many ups and downs, wins and losses, and successes and failures. Each of those life experiences provides invaluable lessons on what and what not to do. By thoroughly reflecting on our experiences, we can not only make sure that our next big decision will be more calculated and wise than our last but also accurately predict what’s to come.
Examine Conditions
Although it’s important to focus internally and draw on your experiences, it’s also important to look externally and examine the conditions around you. Understanding the resources, limitations, opportunities, and happenings in your daily life will help you realize what’s possible going forward.
Listen to Others
There’s no such thing as a one-person show in leadership. Regardless of how talented we are, we don’t have all the answers and that’s where your people come in. Gather their insights, advice, and ideas to maximize your potential as a leader and determine the best course of action for the future.
Key #3: Level-Up Your Friends
True leaders gain power by giving it away to others. Now it seems like empowering others to become better is a given but in reality, it’s something that a lot of people avoid doing due to their own irrational fears. Here are the most common ones to be aware of and overcome in order to be a changemaker:
Lack of Security
People fear that when increasing the value of others, they are at higher risk of losing their place in the workspace because they’ll become expendable. The opposite is actually true though. If you make those around you better, you make yourself invaluable to your workspace and people will recognize that.
Low Self-Worth
You can’t give what you don’t have. If you are lacking in self-worth, you will not be able to empower others to realize their own worth. You must be fully confident in your capabilities, goals, and people in order to become an empowering machine.
Fear of Change
Empowerment can create a ripple effect of change. It leads to people growing, innovating, and creating new systems in their lives. Being too comfortable and attached to the old way of things can be a detriment to your leadership.
The Key Takeaways
To take such a multi-faceted topic and boil it down to three keys is very difficult. The fact of the matter is that leadership is so nuanced and layered that it’s impossible to simplify it into a handful of points. In order to be a powerful leader, we must make daily efforts to live by leadership and expand our knowledge on it every single day. That’s what separates a leader from the crowd; the ability to constantly grow and develop themselves.
That said, here are three foundational keys to being a standout leader:
Win Hearts: Build your influence by winning over the people around you
Read The Future: Prepare to succeed by anticipating the future
Level-Up Your Friends: Gain power by giving it away
If you want to further research into leadership, I strongly recommend The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership. The book goes extremely in-depth into what it takes to become a world-class leader and is written extremely eloquently.
