The Leadership Factor

The Leadership Factor

Ideas from a book by John P Kotter and Practical Application by Steve Pohlit

John's book was published in 1988

Two areas gave me the idea for this topic

1. What we are experiencing in this country at the national governmental level

2. The key factor that is always in place with successful people I coach and those I those successful people I have worked with in the past.

The Leadership Factor is missing in our government which is why our debt is out of control. The level of success is directly proportional to the extent The Leadership Factor has been developed

In this article

The Leadership Factor is defined

The Leadership Factor is distinguished from the Management Factor

How my coaching develops The Leadership Factor

How you can develop your Leadership Factor.

How the Leadership Factor applies to all levels of people working in a business.

That agenda is enough material for a weekend seminar so in the next 30 minutes you will receive the key points.

The Leadership Factor Defined

For clarity we are talking about effective leadership and the definition applies to an entrepreneur, an employee, a business owner, CEO of a multi-billion international company. Effective, leadership is moving from where you are at to where you want to be in the right amount of time. Without saying we are talking about moving to a place that is in the best interest of all involved.

For purposes of this presentation where you want to be is defined in monetary terms and specifically profits. I am introducing students I coach now to begin clarifying what the financial plan is for 2012. An exception is a person I coach in S Africa whose year ends at the end of February. We have not yet begun to work on next year’s plan.

In connection with measurable targets, effective leaders develop strategic agendas that guide the action plans that when implemented will achieve the intended results.

Effective leaders keep people motivated then to implement the action steps. In coaching it is not unusual to find people who are making great progress, subsequently lose momentum when the coaching program concludes. This is why we encourage coaching continuity.

“An intelligent agenda for change and an energized network of appropriate resources works miracles” according to John Kotter Notice intelligent agenda and the word network extends beyond employees.

You have heard the next point before: You must have a clear definition of what you want in measurable terms and you must know why you want it. The bigger your goal, the bigger your why must be. The reason is that there is pain in change. Nido Quebein on progress says things happen when “the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of changing” It seems to be part of our nature to become comfortable with where we are. This is why people who commit to coaching as a general rule achieve their goals faster. Personally I have made significant progress in several key areas as a result of having a coach.

Summary Leadership Characteristics

1. Creating an Agenda for Change

2. Building a Strong Implementation Network

In order to be able to build a strong implementation network an effective leader has developed a vision of what they want to accomplish and the image of the culture of the organization that is your network. This applies if you are an entrepreneur. You network is your power team or third party contractors you are connecting with. Nobody is successful in a meaningful way without the help of other people.

Difference Between Leadership and Management

Most descriptions of management include the following processes

Planning
Budgeting
Organizing
Controlling

In reviewing these processes clearly planning and possibly organizing overlaps the definition of leadership.

Key Difference Between Effective Leadership and Stereotypical Entrepreneur

The stereotypical entrepreneur style can be found in companies that have small to medium sized companies. The style of this person is to do many of things required in their business themselves. They don’t outsource or leverage their time very well. They don’t hold others accountable. They often do not recruit well and don’t train well. The topics of focus and leverage are two of the most frequently discussed items with most coaching students.

Practical Example of The Leadership Factor

1. What is your business- how do you define it. I teach the executive summary. Some label this the executive summary an “elevator pitch”

2. What is your performance goals (financial plan including milestones)

3. What are the key action steps –this is where we address prioritization, focus and leverage.

Top 3 Support Tools For Confidence and Leadership Development

1. Journaling with pen and paper. This is where I create the picture in my mind on paper then translate that into my action plans.

2. Financial plan in annual format broken down by month and each month in plan actual variance format. Plan Actual Variance Format....The Gold Formula

3 Accelerated Accountability Worksheet or your weekly time commitment and action plan. This too is in plan actual variance format.

I have taught the financial plan and accelerated accountability system in past calls.

Leadership Skill Development To Make Part of You Action Plan Tracker or Accelerated Accountability Worksheet

A continuing program for developing industry knowledge and particularly transactional experience in your industry.

Develop relationship capital with leaders and achievers in your niche (networking)

Promote your reputation and track record. (networking, online presence, leadership at events)

Increase your expertise in transactions, management and goal achievement

Demonstrate a high energy level and drive to lead (health and mindset)

Remember: Leadership applies to the individual entrepreneur and CEO of a huge global business.

Summary

In my personal experience, in evaluating those I coach who are successful and in networking with successful people, I concluded the greater the confidence the more that was done to build success. I also noticed that inexperienced people taking guided action developed a high level of confidence quickly. It was these observations plus discussions with key people including one of my coaches that led me to the idea of The Confidence Success Blueprint. Much more to follow.

Steve Pohlit