Our Greatest Privilege

Even though it's political season, I still don't think voting is our greatest privilege. The opportunity to vote for the president in a democratic nation is an unbelievable privilege. It means regardless of the individual's race, gender, income, title, authority, assets, religious beliefs, size of home, number of children, geographic area, personality, or opinion of Donald Trump, every citizen gets the same weighted vote as any other citizen.

However, everyone, including people in communist nations, has an even greater privilege every day. That's the privilege to lead. Leadership simply means the ability to influence how other people think in ways that generate better sustainable results both for the organization and the people in it. The capacity to lead, like voting in a democracy, is available to every person regardless of their race, gender, title, income, authority, assets, home, number of children, geographic area, personality, or opinion of Donald Trump.

To me, that is awesome. Think about it. You have the same opportunity to influence the way other people think as anyone else. The greatest challenge to being an effective leader is throwing away all of those goofy tapes that say, "When you get to be head of the organization, then you can lead the way," "When you're older, then you can lead," "If you just become more charismatic, then you can really be the leader for this group." ENOUGH NONSENSE!

I love the topic of leadership. I love the concept of leadership. Effective leaders, which are people who really influence others in ways that generate better sustainable results, are THE necessary prerequisite for organizational success. No strategy, no brand, no financial position can withstand the lack of leadership and still generate sustainable and positive results.

Having said all of this, I hope you understand how powerful the privilege of leadership is for you. You get to vote for the president once every four years, but you can influence how other people think five times a day. Leadership is the open tap of society. Everyone can provide influence on an on-going basis.

This article is more about the privilege than the tactics, but since I'm a "how-to writer" I'll mention briefly how to be a leader. Here we go:

1. Make a list of the people who have influenced you to think in a way that generated better sustainable results.
2. For each name, write down how they effectively influenced you.
3. Look at the list and determine how you could use these proven leadership techniques to influence the people in your life.
4. Constantly work to improve your delivery of that technique.
5. Repeat the process.

Here's an example. I'm a freshmen in high school and my freshman advisor tells me, "Dan, high school is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to pace yourself." This advice generated sustainable results for me because even though many times my career has not unfolded exactly the way I wanted to I always kept in mind that it's a marathon. If I just keep going, eventually breakthroughs happen.

He used an analogy of a race to influence my thoughts. Bingo. There's a leadership technique that I can use. For example, I can use the analogy between voting and leading.

Have a great month and be an influencer!

Republishing Articles

Each month my e-newsletter gets republished in approximately 20 blogs, on-line publications, and internal publications for businesses, universities, and not-for-profit organizations. If you would like to republish all or part of my monthly articles, please send me an e-mail at dan@thecoughlincompany.com with "Republishing Article" in the subject heading. I will send you the article in a word document. All I ask is that you include my name as the author of the article and a short paragraph at the end of the article about me with a link to my website.

Book Recommendation: It's Your Biz: The Complete Guide to Becoming Your Own Boss by Susan Solovic with Ellen Kadin

Recently I read a magnificent book for people who want to start their own business. The thing I like the most about, It’s Your Biz, is the absolute honesty with which it was written. It removes the glossiness and sexiness of owning your own business and breaks in down into reality. Click here to read Dan's review of the book.

Take care and have a great month!

Dan Coughlin

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