To have success in any business, and real success in life you must be a leader. Being a leader does not mean you have to be outgoing, does not mean you have to change who you are, it just means being a better more confident you.

Leaders lead with absolute vision. They are followed because others can see that they are on a path. If you are trying to convince people to follow you, you are not a leader.

As Eisenhower said, “You do not lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.”

Leadership is not something that you can take on and learn. It’s an organic process as people come to see you as a leader they want to follow. But here’s the trick. As soon as you see yourself as a leader, other people will to. So how do you do that? Well, it’s a very simple 5 step process, and all you have to do is keep applying it until your view of yourself and others’ perception of you begins to shift.

1. Create a Vision
Every great leader in anything has a vision. It’s a strong vision that they would not give up for anything. As I’ve heard one great leader say many times, making a decision is closing yourself off to all other possibilities. A leader knows exactly where they are going and go after it with determination and a knowing that it is their only possible outcome. It’s very obvious from the outside when someone is truly on a path and that is magnetic. A vision is more than just a goal, it is a whole picture for your future. It focuses on who you are going to become and the results you are going to achieve, where you are going to be and who you will be surrounded by. As each part of your vision becomes stronger and more specific you will become more confident in it and have more attachment to it. This is paramount to your leadership. Without this, you can never lead because you will not be going anywhere.

2. Find and Learn a Good System
People do not attain major changes in their lives without applying a good system effectively and consistently. People can only follow you if you have an effective path. If your goal is to become very fit and healthy you follow a diet plan or an exercise plan. If your goal is to improve your mindset, you apply proven exercises and practices on a consistent basis. These are just systems to get you to a specific outcome. The shortest distance between two points is a line. If you have a clear system that will take you from A to B you will get there a lot quicker than if you are constantly shifting your direction. So take the time to pick your system, learn it inside and out, and then follow it!

3. Add Value
Many people try to be leaders without adding value to themselves, and this is a huge error. If you don’t add value you have nothing to offer someone. If you don’t have more knowledge about or more capabilities for getting from A to B than the next person, they have no reason to join you. They would simply go find someone who can give them extra information. Adding value is simple: education. Get educated as much as you can, and never stop. To be an effective leader you must always be learning, keeping up to date, and understanding that you never have all the answers. If you are sitting back thinking you know everything there is to know about your business just wait one day and look again, there’s something new to learn, I promise.

4. Give Your Value Away
Again, you don’t need to tell people why they should follow you, that would just put them off. The real secret to leadership is that giving value away adds to your own value instead of decreasing it. Many people think they have to safeguard their secrets to keep ahead of everyone else, but then no one can really follow your path, and they wont see you as valuable. This also prevents your followers from ever getting anywhere, which in the end will be detrimental to how you view your own leadership. Every time you give away good quality information without looking for something in return you become more of a leader in the eyes of those around you. You have the confidence to know that there is an abundance of wealth, information, prospects, etc out there and that helping others will only help you.

5. Expect Your Followers To Be Leaders
Don’t handhold your followers along the path, just help them when they need it. This is further discussed in Creating Ongoing Success With Facilitative Leadership. Your followers will not achieve success themselves until they too become leaders. So point them in the right direction, help them get educated themselves, give them the resources and tools that helped you, then let them find their own path. Teach them how to create their own vision, and expect them to stop following you.

When your followers begin to become leaders, you have achieved true leadership.

The most important thing is seeing yourself as a leader. As you follow these 5 steps to become a leader your confidence in yourself and in your leadership will grow. And remember as Adlai Stevenson said,

“It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.” :)

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