Leadership and Business Growth

“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!

Rule 1 of the Energy Bus is you are the driver!

This means you alone have the duty, obligation and responsibility to lead your own bus.

In other words..

You are responsible to lead you. No one else holds this responsibility.

This is a simple concept to understand but hard to own.

But that is exactly what’s required..

OWNERSHIP!

As when you break it down, leadership is ownership of the outcome.

This is rule number 1. 

Without this rule, none of the others matter.

So just like I sign off my podcast, Ill sign off today with this which accurately sums up Jon’s rule #1.

“Remember, that no one is coming to save you. You must save yourself. And the time is NOW.”

PS podcast with Jon was amazing. Episode drops on March 13 so stay tuned!

The title is from the best selling leadership book “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon.

Jon and his leadership teachings are top of mind today as I have an interview scheduled with him on our Fitness CEO podcast this Saturday that will be released in mid March.

He’s been a big mentor from afar and excited to share his ideas which have impacted my personal leadership.

Specific to today’s headline.. 

The Energy Bus is 1 of his best sellers that teaches readers how to cultivate positive energy and mindset to overcome life’s challenges.

Why is this important?

When you break it down, leadership is about creating and transferring energy and emotion.

The end result is to inspire your team to take action to help your clients, team and organization win.

In fact, cultivating energy is everything specific to your ability to inspire and execute. 

Simple outcome but not easy to attain which is why leadership is important but hard.

Looking ahead and over the next 10 weeks, we will break down each of the 10 key concepts in this leadership masterpiece.

10 Rules of the Energy Bus

1. You are the Driver
2. Move Your Bus in the Right Direction
3. Fuel Your Ride with Positive Energy
4. Invite People on Your Bus and Share Your Vision for the Road Ahead
5. Don’t Waste Your Energy on Those Who Do Not Get on Your Bus.
6. Post a Sign that Says’ No Energy Vampires Allowed’ on Your Bus
7. Enthusiasm Attracts More Passengers and Energises Them During the Ride
8. Love Your Passengers
9. Drive With Purpose
10. Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride

I was just interviewed on a guest podcast and asked for my best leadership advice.

Gulp.

Why?

Well, there’s been lots of learning lessons over the years around how to lead yourself, family and empire.

The truth?

Most things I learned around leadership have been through making mistakes.

But when I break it down.. 

There’s 1 piece of advice that is my guiding principle and the best way I know how to lead.

You see I’ve never been the biggest, strongest, fastest, or most capable leader.

In fact, I fall short in many ways.

But my biggest guiding light around the topic of leadership is to lead by example.

John Maxwell refers to this as “Morale Authority”.

In layman’s terms “To walk your talk”.

Ultimately, to be the model for others.

The value?

By being the model you want your team to follow, it creates a clear example and is very effective in leading others.

The problem?

It’s hard. Real hard.

Yes, I pride myself on committing to this.

Most times I execute well.

Sometimes I fall short.

But I keep it front and mind as a focus of my leadership.

And this is my message for you today.

If you want to gain influence (aka lead others)…

Be the model.

As a leader does not provide the message.

A leader IS the message.

Onward.

Consistency is the ally of strong leadership.

In other words…

The more consistent you are, the better leader you are.

This thought is front and center after both my HQ and Mission Viejo Fit Body teams executed our EOS Annual 2 Day Planning meetings last week.

While very valuable..

The truth is that it can be hard to execute.

With all the hustle and bustle in life and business, it’s difficult to stay consistent. 

You have to be proactive and pull yourself away from all the things on the plate to follow the process.

While tough to do, this my friend is where the magic lies.

As doing 1 Annual planning meeting provides value.

But 1 alone won’t move the needle long term.

It’s the act of quarter in, quarter out, executing the process. 

Another example closer to our world is your fitness. 

Pushing through a 2 hour gut wrenching workout could be a positive thing for your life. 

But doing 1 alone will not get you fit or leave you with 6 pack abs.

Instead, consistently working out even 20 minutes a day will actually get you fit long term.

So while difficult, I promise you this..

When you stay consistent, you look up after a few years and see how far you have come.

As I leave you today, here are some quotes to leave you inspired to be more consistent in 2024.

–

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” ~ Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.  ~ Robert Collier 

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” ~ Tony Robbins

“Trust is built with consistency.” ~ Lincoln Chafee

Leaders Bear Their Burden Well.

Let me explain.

My mother Donna called my brother Barrett last week.

She shared the news that our Uncle Ed who is 84 will have open heart surgery this coming week.

The kicker?

He just told his children and siblings last week after knowing for 4 months.

Now for some backstory..

My Uncle Ed is the patriarch of our family.

High owl, secondary eagle and a man of very few words.

But he’s the guy when poop hits the fan and you need help for something important…

You call.

He’s been the backbone of our family for decades and someone Donna, Barrett and I admire.

Now you might be asking yourself why he chose to wait to disclose this information to his family for nearly ½ a year.

The answer..

He didn’t want to burden his family during the holidays.

It was apparent to him that there was nothing that could have been done aside from creating worry.

Stoic Leadership as its finest.

This also presents the dichotomy to leadership and why it’s difficult.

Most times, strong and proactive communication is the best strategy for your following.

Default to this.

However, there’s times that you need to bear the burden alone as a leader.

This is why it’s called “The burden of leadership”.

To my Uncle’s credit, he’s an incredible leader of himself and family.

Most of his leadership lessons have been caught and not taught.

This is yet another.

So please learn this value lesson from Barrett and my Uncle Ed.. 

As a leader you must bear your burden well.

PS Please send good vibes this week for a successful surgery.