7 Traits of High Impact Leaders

"High impact leaders say no to the status quo while others hate to see it go." ~ Mack Story

Note: The following is an excerpt from my book, 10 Values of High Impact Leaders.

While followers maintain the status quo, high impact leaders are looking for ways to grow. Followers are great for maintaining the gains, but they are often resistant to creating the change. Leaders are not satisfied with only maintaining the gains. They look for opportunities to improve themselves, their team, and their organization. They live by the motto: "Without change, there can be no improvement."

There are also subgroups within the group referred to as leaders. There are low level leaders and high impact leaders.

A low level leader attracts lower level followers. This low level leader is doing their best to unleash and lead their followers effectively. On the other hand, a high impact leader attracts not only followers, but also other leaders and is primarily focused on developing those leaders. Typically, a low level leader directly leads their followers, but a high impact leader not only directly leads other leaders, but also indirectly leads their followers.

• Low level leaders are satisfied with accidental growth. High impact leaders are passionate about intentional growth.
• Low level leaders are focused on success. High impact leaders are focused on significance.
• Low level leaders get it done. High impact leaders make things happen!

“Good leaders look at people's strength and make use of it; great leaders look at people's potential and make the best of it.”   ~ Denis G. McLaughlin

7 Traits of High Impact Leaders

1. Continuously invest in themselves.

High impact leaders know the most important thing they must never stop doing is developing themselves. They know they can't grow other leaders or their organization beyond their own leadership ability. High impact leaders are relentless in their pursuit of growth and spend countless hours and thousands of dollars on their own personal development. Without this hunger to grow and develop their own leadership ability, they would be just another leader among the masses getting mediocre results.

The side effect of their passion: they have amazing teams that are always achieving amazing results.

2. Continuously invest in their top leaders.

High impact leaders are not selfish and stingy when it comes to growing their leaders. They live with an abundance mentality. When they identify a high potential leader, they put them on an accelerated leadership development program. They expect their top leaders to be fully engaged at all times with leadership development. As a result, they make the funds available, allow them time for development, and encourage them to attend leadership training seminars and leadership certification programs.

High impact leaders know this: the return on developing their leaders, although hard to measure, is greater than the cost.

3. Create and maintain an internal leadership program.

High impact leaders take leadership in their organizations to a very high level. They create an internal, ongoing leadership program for their entire team from top to bottom. They train the trainers. They not only have outside leadership professionals come in to help develop their top leaders and themselves, but they and their top leaders actively engage in training their lower level leaders and followers. High impact leaders know the best way to learn leadership is to teach leadership because it makes them accountable for modeling what they teach.

4. Focus on the strengths of their leaders.

High impact leaders quickly identify the strengths of their leaders. They want to leverage the strengths and ignore the weaknesses. They know when a leader is allowed to work in their strength zone, they are unstoppable. They know nothing energizes a leader like results. When leaders are allowed and encouraged to work in their strength zone, they exhibit high energy and experience a deep passion, while simultaneously motivating and inspiring others around them to action. High impact leaders make sure their leaders are intentionally positioned within the organization to take advantage of their strengths. They don't wait for it to happen by accident. High impact leaders make it happen intentionally.

5. Do not treat leaders the same.

High impact leaders do not hesitate to reward leaders doing the right things. Not only are they rewarded, but they are publicly acknowledged for their contribution. If you want to see your top leaders walk out the door, treat them like a mediocre leader. In an explosive growth atmosphere, high impact leaders are not treated the same. They learn more, so they earn more. They lead by example, so they are made to be the example. High impact leaders are quick to shine the light on the behavior they want to see in other leaders. They spend more time with them, ask them more questions, and give them high profile special assignments.

They send the message: "If there's any doubt, this is what I'm looking for in a leader."

6. Make time for their leaders.

High impact leaders invest time with their leaders. They tend to apply the 80/20 rule. They spend 80% of their time with the top 20% of their leaders. The top 20% are typically responsible for 80% of the results in the organization. Low level leaders do just the opposite. They spend 80% of their time with the bottom 20% of their leaders trying to get them on board. What a waste of time! They are not on board because they don't want to be on board. Focus on those wanting to make things happen, and they will make things happen.

Schedule meetings with your top leaders, go to lunch with your top leaders, or schedule an off-site leadership retreat for the top 20%. That's really a win-win because everyone gets to grow together on purpose for a purpose. These top 20% leaders will lead and develop the other 80% for you.

7. Give their leaders more responsibility.

High impact leaders feed the need. They know their leaders want to do more, be more, and have more. They take their leaders outside of their comfort zone and place them in the growth zone. They continually challenge their leaders to grow by giving them ever increasing responsibilities that stretch them beyond their current level of awareness. High impact leaders know when a leader isn't being stretched, they aren’t being challenged to reach their full potential. They’re leaving a lot on the table.

Stretching does not come naturally to everyone.

There's a story about a country boy called Bubba who was once offered a full-time job by a landowner who was having problems with beavers building dams on his property. The landowner hired Bubba to rid the creek of all the beaver and even provided a rifle for him to use.

Bubba was excited because it had been a while since he had a regular payday. Not long after he started, a friend stopped by to see Bubba and found him sitting on a grassy bank, kicked back with the gun across his lap.

"Hey Bubba, what’s up?" he asked.

"Working,” said Bubba half asleep.

"Working on what?"

"Getting rid of the beaver in this creek."

His friend looked over at the creek, and just about that time a beaver popped up from beneath the water. "There's one!" the friend exclaimed. "Shoot it Bubba!"

Bubba didn't even wiggle. Meanwhile the beaver dove back under. "Why didn't' you shoot it Bubba?"

"Are you crazy?" replied Bubba. "Do you think I want to lose my job?"

As this simple story reveals, not everyone is looking to stretch themselves. Many are happy to simply coast along and maintain the status quo. But, for a high impact leader, stretching themselves and others is a part of their mission.

“Everyone chooses one of two roads in life- the old and the young, the rich and the poor, men and women alike. One is the broad, well-traveled road to mediocrity, the other the road to greatness and meaning.” ~ Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Many leaders want the benefits of multiplication but are unwilling to pay the price to attain it. Therefore, they remain at the helm of a mediocre team or continue leading a mediocre organization. It's not the people's fault. It's the leader's fault.

Before you can lead others to explosive growth, you must experience explosive growth. If you haven't achieved explosive growth in your personal life relative to character growth, start there. If you have, the next step is to define and refine a competency that will allow you to grow professionally. As you achieve results personally and professionally, you must continue to invest in developing yourself in order to one day be in a position to invest in and develop others.

"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” ~ Eric Hoffer

Click here for details on my High Impact training program.

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Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact !

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Mack’s story is an amazing journey of personal and professional growth. He began his career in manufacturing on the front lines of a machine shop. He grew himself into upper management and found his niche in lean manufacturing and along with it, developed his passion for leadership. He understands that everything rises and falls on leadership.

Mack is the author of Blue-Collar Leadership Series, Defining Influence, & 10 Values of High Impact Leaders. He's an inspiration for people everywhere as an example of achievement, growth, and personal development. His passion inspires people all over the world! Order signed copies here.

Mack’s experience as a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Speaker includes an international training event in Guatemala with John as part of the Cultural Transformation in Guatemala where more than 20,000 Guatemalan leaders were trained.

Contact Mack at 334-728-4143 or [email protected] for Keynote Speaking, Corporate Training, Professional Leadership Development, Cultural Enhancement/Transformation, and Process Improvement.