8 Essential Leadership Principles:

Whether you realize it or not, YOU are leading people. Understand and apply these principles to lead well.

1. 🌅 Lead to a Place Worth Going

Vision matters. Great leaders know where they are going and their passion is so palpable that people are drawn to go with them. They are driven towards their vision whether anyone comes along or not. Are you leading the people around you towards a destination that matters?

2. 🟰 Be Consistent in Your Words and Actions

We have all been disappointed by the leader who says one thing and does another.

Do what you said you would do. If you do, people will respect you because they know they can trust you. Provide that level of dependability to the people you lead.

3. 🤝 Be Humble, yet Confident

Let’s be honest, the Achilles' Heel of most leaders is pride.

Carry yourself confidently, but recognize that you would have never ended up where you are alone. There is always someone who has guided you, encouraged you, and wanted your good. You are in fact human, and you will always have needs on some level that you are unable to meet.

4. 🗣️ Communicate with Clarity

We have one mouth to speak and two ears to listen. With this physical reality in mind, do twice as much listening as you do speaking. This allows people to feel that you respect them and actively consider their ideas, and demonstrates to them that each of your words matter.

When someone finishes speaking to you, allow 3 full seconds of silence to pass while looking at their eyes, and then speak. This accomplishes several things at once.

• They will know their ideas and concerns were heard.

• They feel understood.

• Your message will carry more weight because they are ready to listen.

TIP: In any speech or presentation you give, sprinkle in 2-5 second moments of silence after your main points. This gives your words space to be understood and captures the attention of your audience. Deliver your points clearly and remove all barriers to understanding.

5. 🖐️ Invite Questions

Great leaders invite questions from those they lead. Why do they do this?

1. Questions reveal gaps in understanding.

2. They engage all parties in critical thinking.

3. They promote serendipity.

4. They help catch mistakes.

5. They can create unity and common purpose when everyone is on the same page.

6. 👍️ Give Genuine Compliments

Tell someone when they have done a great job or possess a quality you admire. Do this in front of other people.

One way to do this that can be more gratifying to the recipient is to try Alex Hormozi’s compliment method. Here’s how it works:

Say the compliment you want to give someone, loud enough for the recipient to hear, but making it seem as if you think they can’t hear you.

I like to think of this as gossiping for good.

7. 👎️ Confront Privately

Praise publicly, and confront privately.

When you have an issue with someone, have the conversation in private out of respect for them. As uncomfortable and difficult as the conversation might be, they will appreciate that you addressed the issue in private and not in a public setting. This also conveys professionalism and decency to the person you are having the conversation with.

8. ✈️ Lead from the Front

Model what you want to see in others. To cause any type of change you must start with yourself.

It is unreasonable to expect someone to do what you are unwilling to do yourself.

Final Thoughts

What qualities and principles of good leadership would you add to this brief list? I’d love to hear where you have seen these done well and where you have seen them done poorly.

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Rock on,

Camden