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Leadership

  • 5 Qualities of Leaders and Motivators Part 2

    This is the final part of a two-part series. If you missed out on part 1 please click here before you continue. In part one I talked about the first two qualities and these are vision and courage.

    We learned that we are all born with these qualities and that the difference between leaders and followers is the expression of them to the world.

    I also talked about the importance of vision and courage in leadership. In this issue, I will write about integrity; realism, and responsibility as the other qualities of leaders and motivators.

    Integrity

    “In the arena of human life, the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action “~ Aristotle.

    Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

    I believe integrity underlines all other qualities. The measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life. How honest you handle other people’s finances for example?

    Can someone trust you with their valuable possessions? Can you be trusted with handling say public matters even when it means that you will lose popularity in the short term?

    Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings. It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

    Integrity means that you tell the truth and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships.

    Integrity means that your dealings with people are straightforward and that you do not compromise on what you believe to be true.

    “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” ~ Thomas Jefferson.

    Realism

    “True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing” ~ Jean Cocteau.

    The fourth quality of leadership is realism. Realism is a form of intellectual honesty.

    It is a way of seeing, accepting and dealing with situations as they really are without being influenced by your emotions or false hopes.

    The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes it were. This objectivity and refusal to engage in self-delusion is a mark of the true leader.

    A leader accepts situations as they are and transforms them to his advantage.

    Those who exhibit the quality of realism do not trust luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems will go away by themselves.

    These all are examples of self-delusion, of living in a fantasy land. Yes, I know that miracles do happen but not without you playing a part.

    The part you play and the amount of faith you have will definitely be a determining factor in the general out.

    A good leader insists on seeing things exactly as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way.

    As a leader, you get the facts, whatever they are. You deal with people honestly and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth.

    This doesn’t mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing the truth in the best way you know-how. Thereby excising your integrity in the process.

    Responsibility

    It is said by Brian Tracy that “the happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.” This is the mark of a true leader.

    The fifth of leadership is responsibility. This is perhaps the hardest to develop.

    It is the duty of a good leader to take and accept responsibility no matter what the outcome is. In the same manner, as when the outcome is positive he takes all the parting on the back. He should take the brunt when things have failed.

    If instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, you make excuses, blame someone else and simultaneously become angry and resentful and blow up, this may cost you.

    Personal leadership and motivational leadership are very much the same. To lead others, you must first lead yourself. To be an example or a role model for others, you must first become an excellent person yourself.

    There is no dodging responsibility. Know also that you are responsible for your own life. Your very own life is in your hands.

    You are responsible for your actions. Wrong or right, good or bad they are your actions. If you want to become more, more of you is expected.

    “Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” ~ Tony Robins

    Conclusion

    Finally, take action. You know that all mental preparation and character building is merely a prelude to action. You become a leader by motivating yourself.

    Motivate yourself by striving towards excellence, by committing yourself to become everything you are capable of becoming.

    You motivate yourself and others by continually looking for ways to help others improve their lives and achieve their goals; you become a leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.

    Remember that we all have the five qualities in us wake them up and see how far you can go.

  • 5 Qualities of Leaders and Motivators Part 1

    “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” – John Quincy Adams.

    This is a two-part series in which I am illustrating the 5 qualities of leadership and motivators.

    We are all born with leadership qualities regardless of our situation the difference is how much of it, we show the world. How much of it are we utilising?

    I thought to talk about these just so as to remind us about our leadership qualities. You may not be in a leadership position but you are the leader of yourself.

    If you are a parent like me then you are responsible for providing leadership to your family. Men and women are leaders and both possess diverse leadership qualities.

    This diversity of qualities between men and women complement each other. One cannot do entirely with the absence of the other.

    Find herewith, the five qualities of leaders and motivators.

    Vision

    The first quality is vision. All great leaders have a vision and they are persistently pursuing it. Whatever the vision maybe it becomes the driving force for success.

    Perhaps vision is the single most quality that, more than anything else, that separates great leaders from average leaders.

    The more clearer the vision you have the more likely you are to succeed.

    “All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.” ~ Brian Tracy.

    A good leader does not get caught up in the day-to-day activities this is the work for his followers. The Bible says “where there is no vision the people perish” ~ Proverbs. A great nation can also be seen from the kind of leaders they have.

    But remember that we are all born with this quality called vision. If you focus on your area of interest it does not matter what area it is, you will be a great leader in that respect.

    “Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements” ~ Napoleon Hill.

    The best way to motivate others is to firstly motivate yourself. I have attended some personal development workshops and the first thing that strikes me is the level of motivation by the speakers.

    Believe me, if you yourself are not motivated and are trying to motivate others it will show. For example, you cannot talk to people about how to make money when you do not have the money to show for it.

    You must at least show some potential for earning the money or demonstrate that you are actually earning the money. I sometimes come across adverts in the streets, about how someone will give you some lucky charms for getting rich when they themselves are living in poverty.

    One of the most powerful tools for all motivators is the commitment to excellence. The best motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to strive to be the best.

    Be it in business or in whatever area, you must strive to be the best. If you are not the best strive to be among the best at least standout.

    Courage

    “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” ~ The Bible.

    The second quality of a leader is courage and it is the distinguishing characteristic of a true leader. You can often see it in a leader’s words and actions.

    A true leader speaks with courage and boldness. It is always easy to set a vision and standards for yourself. But it takes a lot of courage and humility to abide by your aspirations.

    We all have what we want to be or rather archive in life. At least I have formulated my life’s purpose and am moving towards achieving it.

    The distinguishing factor is having the courage to make certain unpleasant decisions that will help us in the long run.

    When you set certain standards for yourself trust me temptations will come your way, so do not compromise with your standards. When you are tempted show your courage by resisting them.

    Remember when I said that we are all born with these qualities? It is the level of growth that differentiates leaders from followers.

    I believe that all growth comes from the inside. And that, what we are, is a result of what has developed from the inside. Or better still what we are is a reflection of what we harbour.

    The foundation of character is the combination of courage and integrity. The first form of courage is your ability to stick to your principles, to stand for what you believe in, and to refuse to budge unless you feel right about the alternative.

    Courage is also the ability to step out in faith, to launch out into the unknown, and then to face the inevitable doubt and uncertainty that accompanies every new venture.

    I give the example of Alexander the Great, the King of Macedonia. He became King at the age of 19 and managed to conquer great nations with mightier armies than he had at the time.

    Simply because he refused to remain at home when his soldiers went to battle instead he was the first one to charge at the war front. He leads by example by letting his men know that he believed in the outcome of every war or battle they fought and that motivated the soldiers to do even more.

    Conclusion

    For now, I end here. In the next series, I will mention the remaining three qualities of leaders and motivators that is integrity; realism, and responsibility.

    “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

  • You Are Naturally A Good Leader In Waiting

    Leadership begins with you. We are all born leaders. It doesn’t matter where you are or what kind of work you do, you are born a leader. Our lives are governed by the small things that we do every day.

    “One of the responsibilities of leadership is to seek out and develop the latent talent of those members who, for various reasons, have never had a real chance to demonstrate their ability.” – Clem Renouf.  

    I like to define leadership as the “ability to influence.” We all have the ability to influence. In you, there is the ability to “influence” waiting to be awakened. 

    Most people have not awakened their leadership abilities; some may say they have never been given the opportunity to do so. I want to encourage those in this bracket to create the opportunities themselves. 

    There is no better opportunity than that created by you. I have created this blog as an opportunity to help someone out there. 

    I believe that this is a perfect opportunity and forum for me to show my leadership qualities and I am improving on them on a daily basis. I am neither a guru nor a perfect human being but I strive just like everybody else to become a better person every day.

    If you take the time to improve just 1% of your everyday life, say your work, imagine how much you would have improved after a single month.

    Improving ourselves is the beginning of showing leadership qualities. There are many ways in which to improve our leadership qualities but I live by the following four principles:-

    Learn

    I know that one of the most powerful tools for leadership is the ability to learn. This ability is in all of us.

    Read and read and read. Read books that motivate, inspire, and strengthen your character; books that remind you of other greatest leaders of the world.

    Some of my favorite books are the Holy Bible, the Master Key System by Charles Haanel, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, and The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles.

    Knowledge is paramount to whatever we do in our lives. The more knowledge you gain the more you increase the ability to do something even better.

    I have a target to read at least one new book alongside one of my favorite books every month. But I read the Bible every single day. The bible is a wealth of motivational quotes.

    I encourage you to do even more by reading two books every month. I have written an article entitled “Knowledge is Key to Success” where I outline the importance of learning and acquiring more knowledge.

    Learning never ends. Each day we are alive we are continuously learning new things.

    Apart from reading you can also learn by listening to audiobooks on various subjects such as team building, personal motivation, and relationships.

    Attending seminars on motivational topics, team-building talks, and many other subjects will uplift you.

    Make a point to have a continuous learning life. You will also realize that you are a student of yourself. Some of you do not know yourself very well.

    Have an open mind and a keen interest in learning new things. Do not resist change but embrace it.

    Most of the time we as human beings are always resisting change. Explore the change being introduced for opportunities to express your leadership qualities.

    Usually, change brings with it new and different opportunities, explore them, don’t be content with what you have.

    Visualisation

    Perhaps at the centre of all human development is the state of the mind. Our outer achievements are a direct reflection of our inner achievements.

    What we think results in our actions. If your thought is constructive the action is good, if your thought is destructive so are your actions.

    Everything that was created was first conceived in the mind before being given birth to the world. This also is true about you and me.

    Before you can be, visualise yourself to be. You cannot be without seeing yourself to be.

    To awaken the leadership quality in you, you must realize that all achievements begin in the mind. Your dominant thoughts have a direct bearing on your character.

    One common attribute of great leaders is that they spend most of their time thinking positively and remain focused.

    We all have dreams and it is entirely up to each and every one of us to keep them alive and bring them into reality.

    To be a leader you must find time, especially in the morning to visualize yourself achieving your goals. Have time for yourself.

    Find the most appropriate time during the day when you can spend at least an hour to yourself. Mine is usually early in the morning at about 5.00 am.

    I also encourage you to be an early riser. This gives you time to read, meditate and exercise. I know that waking up earlier is not easy for some people but it gives you the early push.

    The start is always difficult but once you make it your way of life it becomes a part of your routine.

    Set Targets

    Setting and reconnecting on a regular basis with your targets is a good success discipline. Good leadership ability demands that you set goals that are achievable.

    I have one philosophy, set goals that are achievable but over-deliver. Exceeding your goals gives you a sense of good feeling.

    You must try as much as possible to set yourself targets, maybe on a yearly basis and broken down into smaller bits that will help you monitor your own progress.

    Target setting is helpful in whatever area of your life. One must learn to set reasonable and achievable goals.

    Yes, I know that sometimes we set goals that are difficult to achieve but we must try and reach them anyway.

    One of the best ways to monitor your goals is to write them down, say in a diary. Review your achievements on a regular basis and compare them with your main goals.

    Remember that your life and character are made up of the small things that you do every day. Try and improve on your weaknesses say by 1% every day and see how much improvement you will have made in one month.

    Stay Healthy

    Leadership is influenced by what you eat. Staying healthy is also influenced by your diet and your way of living.

    One sure way of staying healthy is having a good diet and regular exercise. Try as much as possible to eat a healthy and balanced diet.

    I must be very honest, I am not as disciplined as I should be when it comes to diets but I exercise on a regular basis.

    There is no point being a leader and not in good health. We must try by all means to keep our bodies in good health and enjoy the days of our lives.

    If you have noticed “what you eat determines how well you will perform.” Avoid overeating and train yourself to eat at the right time. Also, eat in moderation. Staying healthy is key and beneficial to us all.

    Conclusion

    Leadership is a very wide and difficult subject. What I believe is that we are all born leaders and it is the ability and willingness to take up challenging roles that differentiate us. Many of us think being in high offices is leadership. 

    I want to believe that we can all be leaders in whatever spheres of life we choose.

  • Leadership in SFI Affiliate Marketing

    Affiliate Marketing combined with good leadership skills could yield much more good results than many people would imagine.

    Like in any other business good leadership skills are cardinal to achieving greater results. One of the biggest mistakes committed by affiliate markers is not providing good leadership to their downline members.

    A good leader is not only concerned with his needs but has time to find out how he can help others succeed. In other words, put your friend’s needs before yours.

    Remember success will come as your downline members become more and more successful. I have devised a list of good leadership skills and they are as follows:-

    Caring and Compassion

    You need to know what your downline is doing wrong or right so that you can offer them help to improve. Remember you are responsible for them just as your upline or sponsor is responsible for your success.

    As a leader, you always have to be ahead of your team. You can only achieve this by reading and learning. Dedicating yourself to one program and knowing it is the best thing to do especially if you are just starting out in affiliate marketing.

    Make sure you find a good affiliate marketing program to market, SFI is one such program. It has all the tools and literature to help you get started.

    There are many ways to show that you care for your affiliates; call your affiliates just to find out if they have any specific problems regarding the program, send an email, chat with them using Skype, or any other means you can use to interact with your downline members.

    If you can meet them in person, the better. You would be amused just how much a phone call can change someone’s mind.

    The SFI program has many tools you can use to contact your affiliates. It also has tools you can use to contacting your upline.

    One other popular way to show your affiliates that you care is to give them gift vouchers. Again I must mention that the SFI program has the tools you can use for all these.

    Information Sharing

    Information should be shared in order for it to be appreciated. Read as much as you can for the benefit of everyone in your team. The more information you are loaded with, the more you can pass on to your affiliates and equip them with it.

    Remember as a leader you should always strive to be ahead of your affiliates. One would wonder why the emphasis on being ahead of your affiliates. The answer is very simple they will ask you questions and you need to be prepared in order to create confidence.

    There is so much to learn about the SFI Affiliate Marketing Program. I get amused at how much I learn every day by visiting my SFI affiliate program’s member’s center. Always read the news alerts they have a tendency of giving an idea where the whole program is moving.

    There are so many other sources of information in the SFI program including the members’ forum and articles posted by Gerry.

    Click here to join SFI Affiliate Marketing Program

    Sincerity and Honesty

    You will realize that affiliate marketing is all about creating relationships. The stronger the relationship the better the chances of making lots of money.

    The key to better relationships is sincerity and honesty. Without this,  it is very difficult to succeed. How many skewed people would you like to deal with?

    Non off course so are you prospecting affiliates? When giving out information try as much as possible to be honest and to give accurate information.

    Be sincere and create some sense of trust amongst your team members.

    Be Active

    The only way you can convince people or your downline about success is by showing them that you are an active affiliate member.

    Better still be at least an executive affiliate member. In fact, SFI has a policy of removing inactive members from their list. I personally feel this is a good policy as it keeps all members active in the program.

    There are many ways of being active in the SFI affiliate marketing program. Most of the activities earn you versa points. You earn 2 points just by logging in to your member’s area.

    You could earn some free points just by joining the booster club, sending mail to your downline, purchasing goods from triple clicks is one sure way of earning good points.

    Ensuring that you qualify as an executive affiliate by earning 1500 versa points every month will surely convince your affiliates that you are an active and committed member of the program. The more active you are the more likely that you earn more versa points.

    Know the Program

    Seek first to understand then be understood. A good leader will have better knowledge and understanding of the program. Your downline is as good as you are.

    They are a reflection of your work and knowledge. Teach them how the program works and they will replicate it to your benefit. Remember you can only teach what you know so please and read and understand the program.

    Remember knowledge is power, read and understand the program. SFI affiliate marketing program has tones and tones of reading material.

    The more you read the more knowledge and understanding you acquire. The more knowledge you have the better equipped you are to imparting information to your downline.

    You could also ask your upline how to be as successful as they are. I would also encourage you to read the FAQ section every now and again.

    There is no substitute for reading if you have to know the program very well. Understanding the program will also give you added advantage in making decisions about certain products and investing your money in better sections of the affiliate marketing program.

    Be Accessible

    A good leader should be accessible. You cannot call yourself a good leader if you do not receive feedback from your downline. You have to be accessible at all times.

    Accessibility is key to leadership. There are many ways of being accessible; telephones; emails; skype etc. take advantage of them.

    Choose whatever, communication media suites you and ensure you retain and maintain accessibility.

    Conclusion

    There are many other attributes of being a successful leader in SFI Affiliate Marketing Program these are but a scratch of them.

    They are the ones I employ and find them worthwhile. Am sure they could also work for you. By the way, there is no manual on leadership.

    Do not be a slave to rules but let the rules be your guide exercise some common sense in different situations.

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