Six P's of Effective Leadership

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE, or RUMBLE.

There’s a lot that has been written, said, and shared about leadership over the years. ?History is full of examples of good leadership, poor leadership, great leadership, and bad leadership.?

But, if there was a quintessential phrase that defined leadership, one of my favorite quotes from my friend and mentor, Dr. John Maxwell, sums it up well.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.“

Think about that statement for a moment.? EVERYTHING, every single thing, rises and falls on leadership. Good, effective leadership not only elevates the leader, it elevates those he or she is leading, allowing everyone to rise together.? Poor leadership not only ends in failure for the leader, but also for those they are leading.?

In my book, Black Belt Leadership 101, I highlight the 10 essential qualities required to live life as a Black Belt Leader in Life. Together, these ten leadership qualities, when implemented and daily lived out, provide the foundation for anyone to effectively lead themselves and others well.

That is effective leadership.

My son, Joshua, presented me with a copy of the book, Masters of Command, highlighting the leadership of Alexander the Great, Hannibal of Carthage, and Julius Caesar. ??Each of these men was a Master of War, making life-or-death decisions for the men they led into battle.? They were not only battle tacticians, they had to learn how to effectively lead as statesmen, using their leadership to influence and persuade others.

Masters of Command is a fascinating historical read, with some amazing insights into the rise, pinnacle, and fall of each of these incredible leaders, and the lessons we can glean from each chapter of their lives.? You see examples of effective and ineffective leadership and the outcomes of each.

Hannibal did the unthinkable in his quest to surprise his Roman adversaries and gain a tactical advantage.? He led 30,000 troops, 15,000 horses, and 37 war elephants over the impassable Alps, marching directly into Italy to bypass Roman and allied garrisons to take the war directly to the Roman Republic. ?No one envisioned an armed invasion coming to Rome from the Alps.

In another example of effective leadership, Hannibal led his troops through a swampy and dangerous marsh to circumvent Roman garrisons in wait, setting up an ambush at a place of his choosing. The ensuing skirmish, the Battle of Trasimene, resulted in a bloodbath for the Romans, who lost at least 15,000 soldiers.

This lopsided military victory is often referred to as the greatest ambush in history.

When leaders are effective in their leadership, so are their teams.?

So, what does effective leadership look like?

Effective leaders must answer six essential questions, what I call the 6 P’s of Effective Leadership.? What are these questions?? You’re probably familiar with them, but haven’t considered them in this fashion.

1.????? Why?

2.????? What?

3.????? Who?

4.????? When?

5.????? Where?

6.????? How?

Let’s start with the WHY.

The WHY of Effective Leadership is about understanding your PURPOSE. ?It is your reason for leading yourself and seeking to lead others. ?Your WHY is what sets you apart as a leader and inspires others to follow your lead toward a specified goal, objective, or outcome. ?This is what motivates you to take action and invite others to join you in championing a cause.

I met Maria Conceicao a few years ago at a conference in Orlando. She epitomizes living the WHY of Effective Leadership.? During a layover as a stewardess, she was impacted by the unspeakable poverty she witnessed in Bangladesh. In that moment, she vowed she would make a difference by financing the education of several young girls.? Today, she holds nine Guinness World Records and runs educational programs that have put more than 600 children through school. ?Some have dubbed Maria the “toughest human alive.”?

The WHAT of Effective Leadership refers to your PLAN to effectively lead.? Now that you know your WHY, your passion project, WHAT is your plan to make a difference or bring about a positive outcome in this area?? ?

Maria Conciecao understood her WHY.? Her WHAT was raising the funds to fulfill her promise to herself and the girls she had met in Bangladesh. ?To raise awareness, she decided to do things no other woman had done.? She trekked to the North Pole and the South Pole, and summitted Mt. Everest. She learned how to swim so she could cross the English Channel.

Nine Guinness World Records later, she’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars so she can help more and more children escape the chains of poverty and have an opportunity to live their best life ever.

The WHO of Effective Leadership is about understanding the PEOPLE you are called to lead.? Your WHY will lead you to your WHO, the people who share similar values and have a passion for what drives and motivates you to make a difference. ??These people become your Team, your Tribe, or your Army.

Nelson Mandela’s WHY led him to his WHO, others like himself who were suffering under South Africa’s segregation policies, known as Apartheid.? After his release from prison, Mandela sought to unify a radically and politically divided country, rallying hundreds of thousands of people to follow his lead.?

Nelson Mandela’s leadership transcended South Africa, inspiring global movements for justice and equality which continues to this day.

The WHEN of Effective Leadership speaks to how you will PRIORITIZE what is required to meet and achieve your WHY.? This starts with strategic planning to establish your short-term and long-term goals and prioritize what is required based on importance. ??From there, it is taking action, adapting, adjusting, and continually moving forward.

The WHERE of Effective Leadership is the PLACE where you lead.? Effective leadership can take place anywhere, including your home, place of employment, within a volunteer organization, or in your community.?? Your WHERE may start small (and it often does), but it can expand ever larger to potentially become a global movement.

Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela both saw what started as a local movement for positive change grow to make a global impact as WHY, WHAT, WHO, and WHEN coalesced to garner the attention, passion, and commitment of others to make a difference.

The HOW of Effective Leadership is the PATTERN of how you lead.? Everyone’s style of leadership is different, and that’s part of what makes leadership unique.? While there are fundamental laws that govern effective leadership, how they are lived out is as different are each of us. Your personality will shape how you lead, as well as how others perceive your leadership.? We all lead best when we are leading in our “strength zone” so it is important to understand what are strengths are so we can focus our energy and efforts on these areas.

We also need to be aware of our weaknesses, so we can bring people alongside us who are gifted in these areas to help us keep moving forward.? ?

My leadership style will be different than yours, and your style of leading will differ from other people you know.? But we can both effectively lead if we make sure we’ve answered the six essential questions of effective leadership.

Effective leaders are creative visionaries. They are gifted communicators inspire others to follow them.? Effective leaders are accountable to themselves and to others. ?They are decisive and confident in their decisions.? Effective leaders are men and women of integrity who lead by example.? They are empathetic leaders who care about their people as much as they care about their passion project. ?

Effective leaders take the time to answer the six essential questions of effective leadership, and revisit them often as they continue to lead: ?

1.????? Why?? ??????????????? The PURPOSE question.

2.????? What? ??????????????? The PLAN question.

3.????? Who? ? ??????????????? The PEOPLE question.

4.????? When???????????????? The PRIORITY question.

5.????? Where??????????????? The PLACE question.

6.????? How??????????????????? The PATTERN question.

Know your Purpose. Formulate your Plan. Lead your People. Prioritize their Actions. Choose the Place You’ll Lead From. Define the Pattern of your Leadership.

These are the Six P’s of Effective Leadership.