The Key to Your Success: Leadership

Leadership

Basic leadership skills are very important to your success in this business, or any other. Two of the most fundamental elements of effective leadership are Decisiveness and Persistence. A leader must be able to confidently make decisions and have the courage to stick with them. This sounds obvious, but read the text below and ask yourself whether you could improve in these areas. You can be as great a leader as you make your mind up to be!

The power of DECISION

Those who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. Those who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.

Tips on Making Your Own Decisions

The majority of people who fail to achieve their goals are, generally speaking, easily influenced by the opinions of others. They permit the newspapers and the gossiping neighbors to do their thinking for them. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by opinions when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking. You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it, and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people to enable you to reach decisions, acquire these facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.

Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want, and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life decide quickly, and firmly. The world has the habit of making room for the people whose words and actions show that they know where they are going.

The power of PERSISTENCE

The basis of persistence is the power of will. Success does not respond to wishes. It responds only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.

There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of persistence. They are:

1. A definite purpose backed by burning desire for its fulfillment.
2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.

Powerful Reading for Leaders

Please take a look at some of our favorite books. Personal Growth is now one of the most important things in the advancement of your leadership abilities. By now, many reps look to you for guidance. You are now a True Leader in the Network Marketing Industry.

Just a few bits of wisdom from the classic, Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

(Please excuse the gender specific language. It was written in the 1950's)

The Major Attributes of Leadership

1. Unwavering courage based upon knowledge of self, and one's occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage.

2. Self-control. The man who cannot control himself can never control others.

3. A keen sense of justice. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.

4. Definiteness of decision. The man who wavers in his decisions, shows that he is not sure of himself, and cannot lead others successfully.

5. Definiteness of plans. The successful leader must plan his work and work his plan.

6. The habit of doing more than is expected or asked for. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.

7. A pleasing personality. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factories of pleasing personality.

8. Sympathy and understanding. The successful leader must understand his followers and their problems.

9. Mastery of detail.

10. Willingness to assume full responsibility. The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers.

11. Cooperation. The successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same. Leadership calls for power, and power calls for cooperation.

The Major Causes of Failure

1. Lack of a well-defined purpose in life. There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal at which to aim.

2. Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity. We offer no hope for the person who is so indifferent as not to want to get ahead in life, and who is not willing to pay the price.

3. Insufficient knowledge or education. This is a handicap which may be overcome with comparative ease. Experience has proven that the best-educated people are often those who are known as self-made, or self-educated. It takes more than a college degree to make one a person of education. Any person who is educated is one who has learned to get whatever he wants in life without violating the rights of others. Education consists, not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently applied. Men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more particularly for what they do with that which they know.

4. Lack of self-discipline. Discipline comes through self-control. This means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself. Self-mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle.

5. Procrastination. Most of us go through life as failures, because we are wishing for the time to be right to start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be just right. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

6. Lack of persistence. Most of us are good starters but poor finishers of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for persistence.

7. Negative personality. There is no hope of success for the person who repels people through a negative personality. Success comes through the application of power, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality will not induce cooperation.

8. Lack of a well-defined power of decision. Those who succeed reach decision promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. Those who fail reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change them frequently, and quickly.

9. One or more of the six basic fears.

a. The fear of poverty
b. The fear of criticism
c. The fear of ill health
d. The fear of loss of love
e. The fear of old age
f. The fear of death

10. Over-caution. The person who takes no chances generally has to take whatever is left when others are through choosing.

11. Wrong selection of associates in business. This is one of the most common causes of failure in business. We emulate those with whom we associate most closely.

12. Lack of concentration of effort. The jack-of-all-trades seldom is good at any.

13. Lack of enthusiasm. Without enthusiasm one cannot be convincing. Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the person who has it, under control, is generally welcome in any group of people.