Leadership is not a Privilege

Here is a great question for those who lead others, "Do you have the privilege to tell others what to do because your title and position allows you to?" If you are struggling to answer this question allow me to answer it for you, NO WAY!

There are too many leaders who feel they have the privilege to tell their followers what to do and expect them to do it, (with consequences if they don't,) just because their title has some form of authority attached to it.

If this is your leadership style I will let you know no one who leads others has this kind of privilege. This type of leadership is called "dictatorship," i.e. leading by fear and intimidation. 

Alright, at this point you're probably thinking, "Well I was promoted to a leadership position or I'm the owner, why don't I have the privilege to tell others what to do?" Great question! You do have the privilege to tell others what to do, however, the privilege comes only when you've earned it. Leadership is an earned position whether you're a newly promoted leader or a CEO and yes even if you own a company. You have to earn the right from your followers to lead them. 

OK I get it now, so how do I earn it? How do I earn the right to lead others? I'm glad you asked. If you want to be a good leader, you must earn the respect from those who follow you. To accomplish this, it is critical to show respect on your part first to your followers. You do this by listening to those you lead, by involving them, by encouraging them, by motivating them and by empowering them. This can be accomplished only if you as the leader are confident in yourself knowing you don't have all the answers, you are confident in showing vulnerability. 

Allow me to take it one step further by letting you know how to go from being a good leader to becoming a great leader. Pay attention now... 

A leader becomes great when they get their followers to "buy" into their vision as if it were their own vision and then gets them to complete the necessary steps to accomplish the vision, "willingly" not forcefully. How does a leader accomplish this? By adding one key ingredient to the things I mentioned earlier, "empowerment, encouraging, involving and so forth, you must unequivocally, unconditionally without hesitation give your followers' reasons to trust you. Trust is the foundation of great leadership. Without trust, the most you can ever be is a good leader and eventually to becoming a no leader. If your followers' trust you, without a doubt you can get them to accomplish anything.

To your growth and success

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