JohnValenty.com

I get asked a lot what it takes to succeed. With perseverance and attitude at or near the top, leadership has got to be a close second. If you don't have it, you are likely working alone or only with paid employees, family and the closest friends. That will severely limit your success. Leadership cannot be bought and it is not something like authority which you can be assigned by another person. You've either earned it or you haven't.

If you want the immense benefits of what leadership has to offer, then there's no better time to start earning it than right now. Before you start, let me save you some time. You might as well quit now unless you have the commitment to develop yourself into the full leadership package. Have you ever seen "a little leadership" work in a person? Not really. That's why the saying goes; "lead, follow or get out of the way."

You can have almost all the qualities of a leader, but if you're missing just one, you'll struggle until you find it. Here are just a few qualities of leadership that you need:

- Leaders have integrity. That simply means they do what they say they will do. Their word is as good as gold.

- Leaders acquire expertise in their field. How can you master leadership and lead others if you're not mastering your own field?

- Leaders fail temporarily, but they never give up.

- Leaders own up to their mistakes and never use excuses.

- Leaders embrace problems as opportunities to find solutions.

When you are worthy of following, people will begin asking you for advice. Are they asking now? 

If you don't already have it, developing your leadership effectiveness will likely take some time. Start with mastering your own thoughts, actions and field of expertise. People like to follow experts. If you are not developing expertise in something, why should people follow you at all? So, what do you intend to master?

My favorite leadership development material is by: Jim Rohn. You simply can't go wrong by following his simple straight-forward advice. I say "simple", because everything he teaches is really easy to do. The problem as Jim puts it; is that it is equally as easy not to do. Since most people don't even work on the simple stuff, you can imagine, a person can really become a star just mastering the basics. You can do it!

Be well,

John Valenty