What makes a great leader?

Mindflow. Not mindset. A set mind, static thinking, not being open to new ideas from new people of all walks, is a recipe for the downfall of leaders and companies today. The many challenges society offers, uncertain economic times, and the speed of change mandate mindflow.

Great leaders tend to think differently than most people. In fact, people in the role of leadership do very little thinking before acting. Thinking is a leader’s most important skill and tool. Thus, great leaders adopt the mindflow of growth, abundance, expansion, and relentless, unwavering pursuit of shared outcomes seeking long-term greatness of people and the organization over short-term success. We will call these people “Growth Leaders.”

Growth Leaders Elevate Lives

A Growth Leader is someone who creates, inspires, prepares, and directs a team to perform, individually and collectively, at its highest level consistently under the most challenging conditions – all in pursuit of a shared valued standard of excellence or a specific result.

Growth Leaders do not believe that talent and ability are fixed. They understand that abilities and skills can be nurtured, encouraged, and developed through effort, perseverance, and examining the learning process. They believe that effort, determination, and learning from failure can improve the performance of themselves and their team.

Growth Leaders actively seek ways to encourage others to regard effort, persistence, and learning from errors as the route to mastery. Leaders who foster a growth mindflow within their people realize that the results achieved reflect their leadership. Leaders are a catalyst for the chain reaction to occur.

Growth Leaders lead from the guiding principle: “To inspire to aspire to desire to catch fire to go higher. Together we rise as one.”

Growth Leaders realize that as Zig Ziglar famously said: “You can have everything you want in life as long as you help enough other people get what they want.” So, they tap into a person’s natural and nurtured desire, commitment, responsibility, and outlook to be, do, and have something different, better, and more for themselves, their family, their co-workers, their company, and their community. By doing so, Growth Leaders build something different, better, and more.

It is my view that our sole/soul purpose in life is to be an ever-elevating version of ourselves and serve and elevate others. Growing others is one of the highest callings in life there is. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. Just as metal sharpens metal, one person sharpens another.

Leadership from the Heart

We are not capable of leading in a manner that is inconsistent with who we are as people at our core, regardless of the style we claim to embrace.

In other words, we all will lead based on our mindflow, attitudes, beliefs, values, emotions, needs, experience, conditioning, knowledge, skills, people we are leading, and situations. Goals and outcomes are determined in the minds and hearts of leaders. So, yes, we will follow our hearts.

Follow your moral compass and apply your personal standards of excellence, passion, caring, drive, and desire to grow; not just grow yourself, but those who follow, those you serve, and the community.

In whatever manner you choose to lead, there are certain roles you must fulfill to be a great leader of people and to achieve the goals you have established for your business.

Leader as Person

The key question to ask in this role is: “How can I lead from a position of respect, trust, and loyalty?” The answer to this question, and the foundation for gaining the respect, trust, and loyalty of your team, is not in how you lead, but rather the kind of person you are and the relationships you build with your team.

Leader as Performer

“How do I show my team how to be high performers individually and collectively?” For you to get your team to perform its best, you must know how to perform your best consistently.

Leader as Team Builder

“How do I build an inspired, aligned, and productive team capable of meeting our biggest goals?” One player can’t carry a team. Rather, everyone must work not only to fulfill their individual responsibilities, but also collaborate effectively to get the necessary results.

Leader as Decision Maker

“How do I ensure that I’m making the best possible decisions for my team and the company?” Your goal is to create a framework and process that will maximize the chances of your team making good decisions.

Leader as Change Agent

“How do I transform our company into an agile, collaborative, and purpose-driven force that is prepared for the challenges that lie ahead?” You must create a culture that can adapt to a marketplace and economy that is constantly changing.

Leader as Genius

Smart people think they have all the answers or think that they should. Geniuses realize how little they know about all subjects and ask better questions and more of them in their endless pursuit of growth. They surround themselves with people who are also lifelong learners. Leaders are readers, listeners, and observers with a voracious appetite for information that they convert to knowledge, wisdom, skill, intention, and execution. Energy drives thought to outcome.

Growth Leaders set their intention and execute with intensity and excellence in these six roles to ensure their probability of success and, while personal excellence is laudable, excellence achieved through others is admirable and rewarded now, in the future, and for eternity.

Pass on your passion. When you share your wealth of knowledge, you grow your fortune which pays back, pays forward, and multiplies with compound interest for all parties touched.