EntreLeaders understand that ultimately the only power they can use to grow a quality team is the power of persuasion. Persuasion is pulling the rope and positional leadership is pushing the rope. And we all know you can't push a rope.
You cannot lead without passion. Passion causes things to move, and passion creates a force multiplier. Passion actually covers a multitude of sins. Real EntreLeaders care deeply, and that is basically what passion is. Passion is not yelling or being wild; it is simply caring deeply. When you care deeply about the organization, lots of things start to happen naturally.
"Nothing happens unless first a dream." Carl Sandburg
EntreLeaders are always dreaming about what can be and what is yet to come. We wake up in the morning and have two ideas over coffee, three more on our morning run and six more ideas when in the shower. Dreaming is the lifeblood of people and organizations that are alive and thriving.
Being able to "see" is a skill that must be present or developed in an EntreLeader. People with no vision simply have jobs; they exist but aren't going anywhere because they aren't aware there is anywhere to go. In Proverbs the Bible says, "Where there is no vision the people perish." With no vision in your organization, you perish; you can't make payroll, your team becomes just employees, morale goes down, turnover goes up, sales go down.
The corporate mission statement is further clarification and definition for your dreams and vision and assures you that your goals are aimed at the right target. The "mission statement" is based on agree-to intangibles (vision, values, guiding principles and assumptions/beliefs) by the leaders of the organization:
•Assumptions/beliefs: A reality map formed through your collective reinforced experience. This would be a manifesto of the mental models you use and believe in to create your work and personal lives.
•Values/Aspirations: An attitude or world-view depicted by one word or one single concept observed through one's behavior. Values often influence people's choices about where to invest their energies. Please recognize that values change over time. Being "fair" means something different for a person at 44 than at 4 years old.
•Vision: A word picture of the future leading from now through near to far reality. You energize people to support your purpose or life signature with an overarching description of what you see.
•Guiding Principles: A universal operating standard that guides decision-making both personally and organizationally. Use guiding principles to align, create trust and walk the talk by putting everybody on the same playing field. Energy isn’t wasted in the politics of the team, organization or community because there aren't different rules for everybody.
For Peter Drucker, leadership is about communicating with people, uniting them behind a shared mission and values, and mobilizing energies toward accomplishing the mission or purpose of an organization. An effective leader leads followers with dignity, and inspires them toward achievement. That means that leadership is a means to an end--the mission it serves is the end.
Goals convert vision/mission into energy. When you lay out exactly what you want to do in detail, you immediately start feeling the room move and the earth shake. Your business plan is comprised of a series of: goals (the main objective), sub-goals or tasks required to achieve the goal, key success factors (metrics) and standards (quality requirements).
A goal must have these characteristics:
1. Have economic value.
2. Require an action by someone (beside yourself)
3. Specify an accomplishment date.
4. Be realistic.
5. Allow for impartial evaluation.
The way to create unity is through shared personal goals. For example, if you know the salesperson next to you is saving to buy his first home two years from now, you are his biggest cheerleader when he makes a sale. In short, this creates relationships. Many business leaders have made a huge mistake in separating the tasks or sub-goals from the person and his or her life.
Sources: Dave Ramsey: EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches
Reality Checklist for Entrepreneurs
Sales by Objectives (SBO) slide show (click and then scroll down)
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