Leadership and Business Growth

It’s been an inspiring 10 weeks going through Jon Gordon’s 10 leadership principles from his bestseller The Energy Bus.

I trust you received value that you apply to better your leadership.

Looking ahead, I want to share with you the 3 pillars of leadership which are at the foundation of the way I look at leadership. 

Simply put:

• Lead Yourself
• Lead your Family
• Lead your Empire

The order is paramount and here’s why.

You cannot lead your family, a team, a department, a coaching group, a company, or a franchise system.

If you cannot lead yourself first.

Bottom line.

In the next 3 weeks, I will share with you 3 principles on how to lead yourself better.

Stay tuned.

Leadership is tough.

It takes guts and is not for the faint of heart.

It requires sacrifice.

It will test you.

Most times it’s riddled with pressure and is uncomfortable.

While true.

Still, it’s a journey.

One to be enjoyed.

How?

Now and again, take a step back.

Smell the roses and have some fun.

After all, leadership is about the ride toward the destination.

So take time to enjoy it.

Then back to work.

You must know why and cast your vision around it as a leader.

Let me reframe this and ask you a question.

What’s at the foundation of your desire?

What do you truly value?

Whatever this is for you, this is at the foundation of your mission or purpose. 

Your purpose should be based on what you value to the core.

It should have an emotional charge to it.

After all, emotion creates motion.

For me, my core value is FREEDOM. 

FREEDOM is what I value.

 As such, I’ve developed a purpose: to teach leadership, promote capitalism, and defend free speech.

At the core, I believe these 3 pillars create both FREEDOM which creates human prosperity.

I’m emotional about my purpose. 

I will fight for it.

It shapes my thoughts, actions, and decisions including my career focus and the companies that I lead. 

Rule 9 states you must develop, define, and drive with purpose.

This will create inspiration for others to ride your leadership bus!

The people of your organization, are the organization!

This includes your team, clients, vendors, and partners.

Sometimes leaders lose sight of this which is a grave mistake.

To provide some perspective..

In the Fit Body world, we have state-of-the-art studios, stacked with high-quality functional fitness equipment and provide strong fitness and nutrition coaching.

But If you strip it all away.

Guess what?

What remains is the PEOPLE which is the most important part!

In fact, without the PEOPLE, nothing else matters!

As a result, great leadership LOVES and LOVES on your people.

This is what creates relationships, culture, and long-term success.

As a sign-off, I will leave you with a tangible set of action steps to help you show the love.

The Five-Part Action Plan for Showing Love to Your Team Members

1. Make time for them.
2. Listen to them.
3. Recognize them.
4. Serve them.
5. Bring out the best in them.

As the rule indicates..

Enthusiasm is powerful tool in leadership.

Why?

When you break enthusiasm down..

Enthusiasm creates EMOTION.

And EMOTION moves people.

Humbling myself as I reflect..

Much of my success as a leader.

Isn’t because of the smartest.

It’s not because I have magical leadership powers.

Thats far from the truth. 

It’s due to my enthusiasm towards people, our team and our mission.

I believe it in whole heartily as its my passion!

This my friend is why it’s so important to follow your passion in life.

More than just a “woo-woo” tag line.

Passion creates enthusiasm in you and others.

And we learned from rule #7.

Enthusiasm attracts more passengers and energises them during the ride on your leadership bus.

“Negative people create negative corporate cultures, while positive people do the opposite.” – Jon Gordon.

Real talk:

Energy Vampires will crush you, your mindset and organization.

Don’t believe me?

Consider how you speak English..

What accent do you have when you speak?

I sound American.

Not because I wanted to sound American when I was younger. 

In fact, there was nothing intentional about this.

It’s due to the fact I grew up in the USA.

My environment shaped the way I learned to speak our language. 

My wife Tatiana is the opposite.

She speaks beautiful English, but speaks with a different cadence.

It’s noticeable that she sounds different.

You see, she sings English like she sings Brazilian Portuguese.

The environment in her youth, shaped her ability to learn our language. 

The morale of this story?

Your environment shapes and influences you.

So don’t fool yourself by thinking you can allow a negative influence in your environment without having consequences.

Since leadership is about influence.

You can ONLY let positive people influence you and hop on your energy bus.

Therefore, no energy vampires.

Bottom line.

The truth?

Strong leaders embrace this rule. 

Weak leaders negotiate on why their long standing relationships with these vampires should still be allowed.

That used to be me until I made a choice to be a better leader.

Your choice.

Onward!

Your job as a leader is to be the CRO (Chief Reminding Officer) of your mission, vision and values.

This is why having clarity to what your organization stands for is critical and the foundation. 

This foundation will attract the right people and repel the wrong people.

That’s a good thing.

You see, Leadership is about taking a stand for good. It’s about taking a stand for what you believe in as an organization. 

And then welcoming everyone who resonates.

And wishing everything who doesn’t the best on their different path.

The truth is everyone will not resonate with your message, and that’s ok!

Be prepared for so you reserve your energy and focus for those who want and need it from you.

Here are some favorite sayings..

• “Like attracts like.” 
• “Winners hang with winners.” 
• “You are the average of your 5 closest friends”.

They are widely used sayings because they are true.

In fact, this universal principle grounded in physics and was popularized with the framing of the Law of Attraction.

Specific to business, growth and leadership..

It’s also why its mission is critical for any organization to establish a mission, vision, and values.

Without this foundation.. 

It will be impossible to attract the right people to your company. 

So todays message is to ensure to establish your target and the core principles in which you stand for.

Only then can you attract the right people to join your bus interested in helping you build your vision which is the objective in Leadership rule #4.

As a leader you need to cultivate positive energy in your organization.

Yes, YOU are the catalysis!

Bottom line.

This is mission critical to your leadership and team’s success.

Why?

Positive energy propels your bus (aka company) forward. 

While vision and focus steer it along the right path..

Negative energy generates inefficiency and positive energy acts as a potent fuel.

Success requires embracing optimism in your daily life.

Since negativity infiltrates any void..

Maintaining a positive mindset, emotions, and actions is crucial to prevent it’s intrusion.

Your team remains dedicated and focused when fueled by positive energy, but it starts with cultivating that energy within yourself.

But remember..

YOU have to be the spark to Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy!

Leadership is about vision, movement and growth.

The famous adage is true.

“You are either growing or dying.”

There is no stagnation in life. 

Either direction is a journey towards somewhere. 

As a leader..

You must pick growth!

The good news as a leader?

You don’t have to know it all..

You don’t have to be perfect..

But as a leader..

You do have to be moving toward growth.

You must be guiding your people to a better place.

You must be moving your leadership bus in the right direction!

Now go forth and lead!