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Archive for the ‘Book Reviews and Insight’ Category

11 Crucial Attributes of Leadership That Are Necessary to Succeed in Business

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Leadership is defining as a person or thing that provides direction and guidance to others that follows. The dictionary is static so that definition is boring. People are more dynamic therefore the definition of leadership means different things to different people. I will be writing about leadership as defined by Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich” over the next 10 Articles.

The  are 11 leadership attributes are listed below:

1. Unwavering Courage
2. Self-Control
3. A keen sense of justice
4. Definiteness of decision
5. Definiteness of plans
6. The habit of doing more than paid for
7. A pleasing personality
8. Sympathy and understanding
9. Mastery of detail
10. Willingness to assume full responsibility
11. Cooperation

When we were growing up people always commented that it was okay to be confident, but not cocky. The person who is strutting around like a peacock was not respected. The person who had a sense of reliance or certainty without throwing up on you with it garnered respect. The unwavering courage of a leader is more self evident in the time of crisis. Henry Ford had a reputation of being obstinate, yet without this characteristic the Model T would never have been developed. Henry Ford believes in making decisions quickly, but was slow to change them. He commanded his team to continue to develop his V-8 engine, even though year after year they failed.

He had an unwavering courage in the midst of countless failures, so finally his vision was accomplished. If you were in charge of making those decisions how would you react? The most successful people make decisions quickly, but are slow to change them. The unsuccessful people make decision slowly and change them quickly. If he had stopped the gold might have been within three feet and he would never have known it. Henry Ford was a well respected individual in his time and still respected to this day. I will be discussing the other 10 attributes in upcoming posts on this blog.

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Mastering Details is a Major Part of Business Success

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Mastery of Detail is an excellent leadership attribute to have in developing a successful business. There are 5 fundamental principles that are essential to mastering the nuances of the detail. We must become skilled practitioners of the system that we use in our everyday business to get to the next level and beyond. I will use going through the process of focusing on your core business clients as a way to demonstrate the processes of becoming a true mastery of details.

They are 5 guiding principles in mastering the details in your business as listed below:

1. Initial Impact

You normally have a core segment of our clients that like clockwork always orders our products or use your service on a consistent basis. We sometimes take these clients for granted and instead focus on “new” business. We have these clients in our hip pocket so we “ignore” them.  When we ignore people sometimes our competitor come along and listens to this segment and you lose them as clients. If you had a system in place to counteract this minor detail, then loss of revenue would not have occurred.

We tend to spend our time on “new” business who tends to be people that are expensive to acquire whether they are asking numerous insignificant questions or taking up your time. They either order little or no business which makes acquiring new business a very risky investment. What kind of impact could we have if we changed our focus and invested in ways to pay attention to our core business?

2. Repetition

The key to running a marathon is the first step, so we must develop ways to keep our core clients happy.  Once we institute these methods we must make a conscious effort to use them on a regular basis. You should continue to chase new business, but you should only indulge in win-win relationship.  Repetition is the motherhood of learning so the more you repeat this practice the better chance it will become a standard practice in your business. When everyone in your organization is focuses on the simple detail of not ignoring your special clients.

3. Utilization

If you don’t use new ideas or concepts, then they will just die on the vine.  The old adage of use or lose is truly adaptable here.  The benefits of focusing on your core business will lead to referrals and increased revenues.  The main work is in the execution of the details but the benefits are unlimited.

4. Integration

We must repeat this process again and again and again until it is embedded in your business’s system.  When focusing actively on a certain detail, then it is integrating into the normal day to day operation of your business.  Once true integration occurs then we just have to follow up to make sure that integration is here to stay.

5. Reinforcement

The benefits of mastering this detail are in the follow up.  When you master one detail you must always make sure that your people continue to focus on this detail on a daily basis.  We inspect what we expect so if we don’t continually apply attention, energy and focus to reinforce this detail then it will just become ineffective

I use this example of tapping into an ignore resources in our business to show that to truly master detail is a commitment that you must make on a conscious level.  If you are able to identify the different areas of your business with this same focus there is no doubt that you will be successful in your business.  You must give attention, energy and focus to all the little details in your life and business to make the necessary changes.  Successful leader will use these 5 fundamental principles to become a true mastery of detail to take his or her business to the next level.

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Fear of Ill Health:A Hindrance to Your Success

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Fear of Ill Health is one of the six fears that Napoleon Hill discusses in “Think and Grow Rich” and you might wonder how does this fear relates to business. Would it surprise you to know that it does impact your performance in the business environment?  The first step in achieving riches is desire, but you must first cultivate your thoughts and mindset.  .

Fear of disease is a subset of Fear of Ill Health and may affect people in profound ways. Fear of disease produces physical symptoms when there isn’t the slightest cause for fear. The thoughts that you develop in your mind may lead to an inferiority complex that limits your performance in business.  Hypochondriac are the main reasons why patent medicines is booming, the vast majority of people going to the doctor truly have nothing wrong with them.  This fear manifests into very physical and mental repercussions.  If you don’t feel like you are physically fit, then you might not push yourself to the limit to accomplish a major goal.

When you feel inadequate, and you become focused on what happens if death overtakes you, how do you overcome it? The best way to eliminate this fear is by taking care of yourself physically, mentally, eating right and using effective preventative medicine.  We must enjoy our lives and we can’t go through life fearing everything.  We must focus on the things that we can control and let go of those that we have no control over. The things that I can control are exercising regularly, eating right and going to the doctor for my annual checkup.  I also will take the tests that are for my age groups even if it is uncomfortable. You must overcome the fear of ill health to make your business successful.

Fear of ill health leads to a physical and mental laziness that could impact your business in a negative way.  If you are in the process of solving a problem, but just when you are close to solving it you stop to irrational fears.  Maintaining a positive mindset has a lot to do with feeling that you are physically and mentally ready to overcome all challenges.  Even Superman has a weakness of Kryptonite that once he was exposed to it, he was unable to performed superhuman feats. The slightest imperfection in your psyche may lead you to personally sabotaging your success.

You must be present mentally in your business to accomplish your goals and objectives. If you have anything holding you back, then your business will not grow to its’ full potential.  Napoleon Hill talks about definiteness of decisions as a leadership attributes that will help you improve your business but because of your fear of ill health you are  respond slow in your decision making process.  The successful leaders are quick to reaching a decision and slow to change it.  Another attribute is unwavering courage and if you easily influenced by others which causing you to make plans that does not work.  Your business will continue to suffer so you must eliminate the fear of ill health.

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