Prepare to Lead — Prepare 1

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.
Abraham Lincoln

Preparing to Lead

Where have all the leaders gone?

Now you may say, what does leadership have to do with success in Internet and social media marketing or even life for that matter?

“Your business isn’t going to grow beyond your leadership (skills)”

The need for integrity today is perhaps as great as it has ever been. And it is absolutely essential for anyone who desires to become a person of influence. John Maxwell has written numerous books and articles on the subject of leadership. Here are the 5 levels of leadership.

1. Position – This is the most basic level of leadership. You have a title and that’s it. You will only be able to lead based on what that title enables you to lead with. Your authority only goes as far as the title and people will only follow you as far as your title allows. An example of this would be a first level manager in a company. People that you are managing will do just enough to please you. You are only leading them in name and your leverage is only what authority has been given to you from above.

2. Permission – This is when people begin to follow you because they want to. This is the true beginning of influence. You can begin to really grow as a person and organization when people follow you voluntarily.

3. Production – People begin to produce and follow you because of what they see you doing for the organization. People like what you do and also contribute themselves.

4. People Development – At this point in leadership, you have others follow you because of what you’ve done for them personally. You’ve poured into other people and they are growing in leadership themselves.

5. Personhood – This is the pinnacle of leadership and occurs when people follow you based on who you are and what you represent or stand for. John Maxwell says that this level is reserved for people who have spent years growing others and their organization. Very few people make it to this level.

Leadership and the ability to influence others is a must for the person who wants to succeed in life. Your ability to have successful relationships, a successful job or business and your overall satisfaction with life will have something to do with your ability to influence others and yourself.

“Your business isn’t going to grow beyond your leadership (skills)”

Indeed, Maxwell says leaders need to grow and develop themselves, so they can then develop the people in their organization. To do this, they must understand what it is that their employees value.

Developing an employee’s strengths and not correcting his or her weaknesses is a good place to start, Maxwell says. Even with great effort, he adds, someone lacking in talent in a given area can become only average at best. “Nobody wants to pay for average. When you’re developing people, find their strength zone and develop that.”

To add value to people, leaders must first value them, he says. “The Achilles heel of most leaders is that they don’t value people like they should. The first sign is when they start manipulating them—moving people for (the leader’s) own advantage —which is always wrong.”

For most people, it’s not what they are that holds them back. It’s what they think they’re not.

The new social media marketing has given new life to companies and employees who didn’t think that it would work. It has energized them in new ways to win, and helped them to be more competitive. Brand identities have grown in this market, and they have engaged more with their customers in conversation. Strengthening the relationship, and building loyalty.

Are you leading your team to victory or defeat?

When People sense Victory			When People Sense Defeat
They sacrifice to succeed.			They give as little as possible.
They look for ways to win.			They look for excuses.
They become energized.			They become tired.
They follow the game plan.			They forsake the game plan.
They help other team members.			They hurt others.