Bronzi's 24 Hour Wealth

An important part of success in life is the ability to lead. It is important that we not only be able to lead others but be willing to lead ourselves. No one succeeds in life by simply following others. Sometimes we simply must strike a bold new path for ourselves.

Being a good leader is more than simply being at the forefront of the crowd. A leader must act. Too often in America, we simply accept that someone looks or sounds like a leader and too rarely do we actually look at the actions that leader performs — and that is the true test of leadership.

However, in order to become good leaders ourselves, we need to concentrate on actions rather than simple appearances. The title of this article refers to eight steps, but do not think of these as progressive steps like so many recipes or instruction manuals describe. Instead, think of these as actions that you must take on a regular basis.

First, be alert to new potentials. “Reality” is not absolute but rather subject to constant change. Think about inventors, explorers, and agents of social change who have achieved greatness. Some might simply say that certain people are successful because they are lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe so, but if they hadn’t had their eyes open for the opportunity, then it wouldn’t have mattered if they were in the right place.

Second, accept inspiration from wherever it comes; even your opponents. The wisest leaders constantly study their competition. In war, politics, and business we constantly see examples of this research and reconnaissance. Too many times though a certain study, many concentrate on finding a weakness to exploit. If you want to a be a leader of positive change don’t fall victim to this trend. Instead, if you find a weakness, make sure to avoid that pitfall yourself. If you find the strength then find a way to strengthen your own qualities to match.

Third, learn something new and promote in new ways every day. This means you must continually seek to expand your horizons, internally and externally. Feed your mind with new lessons and knowledge, but constantly expand your social horizons as well. Seek out and meet new people and immerse yourself in new social situations. You never know when these new experiences will help you in your leadership role.

Fourth, search for and find answers in subtle clues. Look beneath the surface and constantly question. This is an extension of the third step in that you are seeking new knowledge. But this also means that you will need to step off the traditional paths of knowledge. Don’t simply read books in the literary canon or the bestsellers list. Take seminars rather than classes as there is more room for questioning and debate. Seek out the unconventional thinkers, teachers, and writers.

Fifth, improvise if no existing solutions are available. No excuses. Necessity is the mother of invention. How do you know it won’t work if you’ve never tried it before? Remember, not all approaches need to come from the front. Look at your problem from all sides and systematically attempt different solutions in various combinations.

Six, make at least one person you care about happy every day. If you make it a point to be thoughtful and caring for one person every day then soon this thoughtful, caring behavior will become a habit and that habit will spread to the others around you. Making someone else happy also feeds your own personal happiness. Just imagine how much better the world would be if we all did a little bit more to spread happiness.

Seven, offer help, even if there’s no apparent advantage to you. This means more than writing a check. It means giving of your time and energy and yourself. Sometimes it will mean helping someone you don’t know and sometimes it can be a very personal action.

Finally, never let negativity be your last word on the subject. If your final words are negative than no matter how hopeful you may be about the potential of a project or action the lasting impression you give to others is one of negativity. Accentuate the positive and you are more likely to see a positive outcome.

If you follow these eight action steps not only you will be a better leader but also lead yourself to a more successful life.

As a Christian leader, you are held to high moral, ethical, and social standards.  As a leader, you are held to high standards, but as a Christian leader, that bar is raised even higher.  Why?  Because both the Christian and non-Christian social environment has tended to expect that Christians measure up to their self-proclaimed moral and ethical standards, as they rightly should.  What can you do to be sure you ‘stand up to the test’ in the area of Christian leadership?

1) Probably the most important thing you can do as a Christian leader is to clean up your act—if there is anything in your life, moral or ethical, which would not stand up to scrutiny if the entire world found out—you must eliminate it immediately.  Do not give anyone an occasion to think that you are a hypocrite.

2) Be sure that every decision you make is honest and ethical.  You cannot effectively lead, as a Christian or not, when your decisions and actions are not above-board, fair, and honest.

3) As a Christian leader, commit to telling the truth no matter what.  As a Christian leader, when you lie or tell half-truths, people tend to feel that your entire faith is a sham.  In fact, if you are habitually lying and telling half-truths, your faith may indeed be a sham.

4) Learn everything you can about the tasks at hand, even if it means working in the trenches for awhile.  No one likes to be led by someone who has never done what they are doing.  This doesn’t mean you have to become an expert, just participate in the menial work long enough to understand the frustrating aspects of the work.  Another benefit to this is, when you have actually done the work, you can more effectively brainstorm solutions to challenges when they arise.

5) Lead by example.  Do you expect your employees or secretaries to arrive on time for work, and dressed well?  Then you must do the same.  Sometimes it is so easy to think that you have earned the right to come in whenever you feel like it, or to return from lunch whenever you wish.  Sure, you may have earned the right, but you gain far more by setting the example for performance.  Do you expect others to work overtime when a project is behind projections?  Then you must be willing to do the same.

6) Although you may feel you have earned the right to delegate away all the work, continue to be involved in productive tasks.  By doing some of the work, not only do you gain the respect of your employees, but also you keep in touch with the flow of things.  As a leader, it is easy to become disengaged from the actual productive segment of your business, and resultantly make decisions that look good on paper and sound good around the boardroom table, but are actually worthless when the rubber hits the road.

7) Constantly reevaluate your own performance.  Often, you may spend so much time correcting the actions of others and solving crises you didn’t create, that you develop a sense that others aren’t as capable as you.  Consequently, you may not recognize when you are falling into bad habits that also need to be corrected.  Be the first to recognize and correct your own short-fallings.

8) Avoid pride.  Once in a position of leadership, especially if you are good at what you do, it is easy to begin to feel that you are invincible.  Once that occurs, you become vulnerable to pride, and may make decisions you would frown on if your subordinates made the same decisions.  Maintain full responsibility for your actions, and keep them above-board at all times.
Bonus Step:
9) Learn to manage your time.  When you are in a position of leadership and find yourself delegating away most of the time-consuming tasks, it is easy to lose control of your time.  Again, when your employees see you wasting your time, they will tend to do the same.

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Timing and positioning are everything when it comes to opportunity. Getting out in front of big trends in the early stages is where the real fortunes are made.

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