Everyone was very excited to attend the seminar. We expected to see some of the most influential leaders today in person – John Maxwell and Seth Godin to name a few. To our dismay, it was just a video broadcast. I knew it was too good to be true. Still, there were a lot of things that I learned from the seminar.
The program was facilitated by Francis Kong, a Filipino based in Manila who is an inspirational speaker and corporate trainer.
The first video was from John Maxwell. He is a leadership expert and best-selling author of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. He talked about the relationship between leaders and influence.
According to John Maxwell, “Leadership is Influence” and there are 5 levels of influence:
1. Position
- People follow you because you have position or authority but it doesn’t make you a leader. The downside: people who follow you will give the least amount of their time and efforts.
2. Permission: Relationship
- People start to follow you because you have a connection with them – they respect you as a person. Leaders should find a way to connect with their people and build a relationship with them.
- Good leaders listen well, constantly observing and is always striving to learn. Leaders shoud have an attitude of servitude – loves to serve.
3. Production
- Helping the bottom line of the company. Leaders become effective because they deliver results. Leaders should produce by example. Show their people on how to be effective and how to be productive.
- Gain credibility. Be a role model. Walk the talk.
- Who you are as a leader is who you attract.
- Leaders create momentum because momentum takes care 80% of the problems.
4. People development: Reproduction
- Good leaders don’t produce good followers, they produce good leaders.
- Success without succession is failure; always have a succession plan.
- You grow a company by growing people. There are three keys to developing people:
- Recruitment: know the characteristics of the kind of people that you need in your team/company.
- Positioning: successful leaders know what their people need to reach their potential.
- Equip (1) I do it: reproduce what you are. (2) I do it and you’re with me: mentor, coach and inspire. (3) You do it and I’m with you: show support. (4) You do it: show trust and confidence. (5) You do it and somebody is with you: train that person to train somebody; pass on what he/she have learned and it’s time for him/her to create and influence people to become leaders.
5. Pinnacle (personhood); Respect: People follow you because of who you are and because of what you have done. Be a mentor, a coach, role model and inspire people.
Now, ask yourself this, what level am I on with that person? You’ll be surprised that you are not on the same level with everybody.
The 2nd video was from Frans Johansson. He is the best-selling author of The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights of the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Cultures.
According to Frans Johansson, diversity drives innovation. The best ideas emerge when very different perspectives meet.
The sad thing is that innovation only becomes obvious after the fact; the difficult part is before the fact because we are horrible at predicting what ideas will work.
Our first step to changing the world is to start with an idea. The best way to start with this idea is at the intersection of different cultures and ideas.
Figure out something that you can do and make it happen. There is somebody making those connections and it should be you!
The 3rd video was from Seth Godin. An entrepreneur, marketing expert and best-selling author of 12 Books including “Linchpin“. He talked about desicions.
He says that the first decision is looking at the world and either seeing what is or seeing what we are hoping for.
The 2nd decision every company needs to make is: are you going to yell at people to try to get their attention or will you build a business based on permission? – earn the right to whisper to the ears of your customers. Build a relationship with them.
The 3rd decision that you have to make is: are you invisible or are you remarkable?
The 4th decision is: are you in the story business or are you in the fact business? – facts doesn’t matter anymorr. The story that you tell customers about your product is what matters.
The 5th decision is you: will you defend the status quo or will you invent the future?
The biggest decision of all: will you be an interchangeable person or an irreplaceable person? – interchangeable persons are good at doing the normal things while irreplaceable persons are the best at what they do. Touch people, do something that no one else is willing to do – to do art, create things.
The next decision is: are in the business of complying or do you want to own things?
The next decision is the difference between scarcity and abundance.
The future comes down to this: are you an accountant or are you an artist? – an accountant does the same things day after day. An artist on the other hand, creates things.
The 4th video was from Suzy Welch. A best-selling author, television commentator, and noted business journalist.
She said that when making desicions, start by thinking about its consequences in “10-10-10”.
10 days – immediate future
10 months – near future
10 years – future you want to create
Suzy Welch says that 10-10-10 works because it connects your decision making to your future.
Values also plays an important role in our lives. Values are like our fingerprints.
She gave 3 questions to ask ourselves in identifying our values:
- What makes you cry on your 70th birthday party? This question is about legacy.
- What do you want people to say when about you when you’re not in the room? This question is about character.
- What did you love about your upbringing and what did you hate about it? This question is about home.
When you connect your values to good decision making, you live authentically. Authentic lives are joyful. 10-10-10 sounds simple but it’s hard. You are forced to live what you believe.
To wrap it all up, for us to succeed and to be a great leader, we need to learn how to be influential, we should innovate; keep on finding ways to create the future, make the decision on what path to take, and know your values and live your life by those values.
Related articles
- AIM Success to bring leadership confab to Cebu (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- I Am Not a Leader (or So I Thought) (empwaynek.wordpress.com)
- 8 Transformational Leadership Lessons From Seth Godin (hubspot.com)
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