01: How to Become a Great Leader

Great leadership is simply being disciplined at applying the principles of leadership.

The expectations are high. You feel the pressure to deliver results. Many people are counting on you, not just the board or your executive team, but also every person in your company who counts on their employment to provide for their family. If you are responsible for a public company or a venture-backed startup, the shareholder and analyst scrutiny can be suffocating.

You've worked hard to get to where you are. Hourly jobs to help you get through college, years playing the corporate game to set yourself apart for limited promotion opportunities, and working long days, nights and weekends either for your boss or to launch your business. You've amassed thousands upon thousands of airline miles and hotel and rental car rewards points that provide you great travel status and almost free vacations with your family, but also bring a sting of regret due to the impact on your personal life and relationships for being away from home so much.

But you did it. You made it to the top of your profession. Your company is just starting to hit its stride and momentum is building. Things are looking good! This is what you've dreamed of and worked for your entire life. It's time to enjoy the success of your labors and keep the promises you made to yourself and your family.

Then you get hit with a global pandemic that changes the game in ways you never could have anticipated. New ways of working, new customer needs and purchasing patterns, a new emphasis and consideration on what truly matters most to people, especially how they spend their time and resources. And once you think you've figured that out, you get slammed with an unprecedented spike in consumer prices due to inflation which causes nearly everything you've built to come to a screeching halt.

You are left there stunned and, if you're honest with yourself and those you truly can be vulnerable with, you're not sure what to do. How do you restart your company's growth engine and navigate this new world?

How do you restart your company's growth engine?
        

Does any of this sound familiar? If it does, then you are just like me because that's my story too. I think it's the story of many executive leaders trying to build something great while facing these realities.

The wonderful thing is that there is a way forward. A way to harness these challenges, learn from them, and come out stronger, both personally and professionally. The way and means is through leadership and leadership development. Not just any leadership, but a specific leadership approach and philosophy called principle-centered leadership.

There is a way forward.  It's called principle-centered leadership.
        

I have always been a student of great leadership. I've spent more than 25 years studying and learning from history's best leaders, not just those in recent memory. I believe that there are principles of leadership, fundamental truths that serve as a foundation for a system of belief, behavior or a chain of reasoning, that if understood and applied, can help any leader know what to do and move forward with confidence.

I have proven this in my own work as a business executive and leadership mentor. I've helped to grow businesses from $30 million to more than $170 million in annual revenue. I've helped entrepreneurs and CEOs navigate the trickiest strategic issues and turnaround businesses. I've done it using the principles of leadership.

I have been encouraged so many times by so many people to share my life's work collecting and applying the principles of leadership. This newsletter is fulfilling my promise to them, and to me, to do just that. I'm going to strive to deliver an issue once a week. That gives me time to hopefully write something of value to you, but also enough time for you to digest the principle and have an opportunity to apply it. I hope this opens up an avenue for us to interact and learn together how to become better leaders.

In my executive coaching, I have used the following leadership development path to help guide mentoring sessions. Leadership is developed, and operates within, the following three areas. They are listed in a specific order which I will explain at a future time.

1. Leadership of Self
2. Leadership of Team
3. Leadership of Organization

To help me, and you, learn and master the principles of leadership, they will all be categorized in one of these three areas of leadership. I look forward to growing with you each week.

I have also created a group here on LinkedIn called the League of Leaders. It's a place where people interested in developing themselves as principle-centered leaders can gather to learn, connect, and discuss the principles of leadership. I invite you to join if you want to go to the next level in your leadership development.

As a parting thought, I love this principle taught by one of my mentors, Jim Rohn:

"It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

Similar to this image from RedBull capturing a team competing in a world cup sailing race, picture yourself navigating rough waters. The wind is coming at you from everywhere and the boat feels like it's going to capsize or be thrust into the rocks. Note the truth that the wind can be harnessed. It can be used to create strength and direction. The key? The captain of the boat. The leader. It's how he or she sets the sail that then determines how the wind will take them where they need to go.

Like a compass, principles are the means to set the sail and harness the winds of adversity. Great leaders understand this. Great leadership is simply being disciplined at applying the principles of leadership. In this newsletter each week, I'll show you how to do just that and become a great leader.

Thank you for reading.