Build Yourself Into a True Leader

Build Yourself Into a True Leader –
Then Empower Others into True Leadership!
by Art Burleigh

“To build your business, you must build yourself.
To help others, you must first help YOU;
and to change the world, you must change yourself!”
~ Randy Gage’s

True Leadership doesn’t just show up one day; it doesn’t just happen. You cannot take a pill that will instantly make you a leader. Attaining the qualities of a True Leader requires a journey. The sooner you depart, the faster you will get to your destination – provided you remain attentive, aware and focused as you strive to “get it” along your journey. If your effort is high, and your goals and vision are clear and strong, you succeed much faster.

For most of us, it’s a tough journey with plenty of challenges, learning experiences and navigation along the way. While those ‘bumps along the road’ can be darn frustrating, they ultimately provide great depth of character and conviction in our beliefs – so eventually we come to know when things are right and when we’re finally on a faster track to success. And we come to know how to empower others – the new leaders we’re building for our team. We learn how to teach and train them better – to provide high quality mentoring – so they can almost glide up an even faster path to success than we were able to find.

How does that all happen? It all starts with you! Back in the late 90’s, Microsoft asked us “Where to you want to go today?” A recent ad for Minolta goes deeper: “Why do you get out of bed each morning? Is it your job? Is it to fulfill a hope or dream? Is it the alarm clock? Is it the chance to make a difference, however great, however small, in your work, your family, your community, and possibly even the world in which you live? Your answer could change your life. It could also change the lives of those around you.” Powerful!

How valuable you can be to others and what an extraordinary contribution you can make to this world if you embrace the challenge of becoming a better mentor and teacher to all those who sincerely desire to become the new True Leaders! And how valuable that will be – for them and for you.

Building yourself first, and then building new True Leaders and empowering them can bring you that security, that happiness, and abundant prosperity that is your reward in successfully building and supporting a growing and vibrant organization. True Leadership is apparent whether it is a family unit, an academic institution, a division of the service, a governmental agency, a traditional business or a Network Marketing business.

12 Key True Leadership Ideas that will help you build yourself and others into better leaders

These are easy to understand, simple and down-to-earth. Are they easy to do? No way, and know this, what is easy to do is also easy not to do. If building leaders were easy, they’d be everywhere, providing True Leadership. Obviously, they’re not. Building leaders takes hard work, practice, and a continuing effort to improve yourself. Remember: True Leaders are built, not born.

1) True Leaders are both modest and confident.
Leaders certainly need a healthy ego, but a big ego that’s out of control can kill ‘em and make them look absolutely foolish. True leaders know that the goal is not to make themselves more powerful; it is to empower others into stronger leadership roles. True Leaders understand that in Network Marketing, the only way you can get to the top is to build new leaders and make them successful.

2) True Leaders are great listeners.
Many people still need to practice this skill. When you listen, you will learn exactly what your prospects and emerging leaders need and want if you ask sincere, probing questions - and you actively listen to answers without an agenda of your own. Excellent listening springs from genuine curiosity. Beware of grandiosity – the belief that you already have all the answers. It’ll pollute your listening and make you deaf to new, valuable knowledge! Always seek first to understand by asking questions and listening.

3) True Leaders are authentic.
When you first know who you are, and when you ‘walk your talk’ - you earn the respect and trust of your colleagues. No one believes and follows a leader who doesn’t first believe in herself. When you walk the walk, you have paved the way and gotten massive results. Others will pay attention.

4) True Leaders are great at giving encouragement, and they are never satisfied with status quo.
True Leaders are always setting new, higher goals – for themselves and for their organization. They are always building and testing both courage and stamina throughout their team. They are so busy giving recognition that they don’t need it themselves.

5) True Leaders have imagination and creativity.
True Leaders aren’t surprised by miracles - they expect them. They are never surprised by what others call unexpected connections. They spot subtle or even obscure relationships that can be valuable. They organize and lead conversations between people who might not normally interact with each other; they facilitate new relationships. And they see new patterns and possibilities that allow for important innovations or realizations.

6) True Leaders provide direction, vision and empowerment.
They provide direction and vision from asking probing, insightful and revealing questions. This is different from feeling responsible for providing answers. No leader is smart enough to know everything about how to handle every challenge that’s encountered as an organization grows and navigates its way through the market place and provides services and/or cutting-edge products to society. But True Leaders sense when the right questions need to be asked to find solutions to those challenges. Reminder: Leaders aren’t always “in charge” or “in control” – but they are aware, alert, in touch and out in front.

7) True Leaders protect their team from danger, while doing their best to open their eyes to reality.
False leaders usually want to keep the peace and not take risks. They are often disloyal, don’t follow the True Leader, and want to be insulated from dangers - rather than be empowered enough to be mobilized to face the challenges head on. That’s why True Leadership is rough and sometimes dangerous; and that’s why even the smallest land mines will trip up false leaders as they struggle towards achievement. True Leaders are respectful of those who have helped them succeed.

8) True Leaders initiate positive change and they are strong enough to take a stand on values and principles.
True Leaders are followers of True Leaders. It’s not a cult to be a follower of a True Leader if that True Leader has integrity to always be looking out for what is best for the entire organization.

“True Leaders ask,
‘Which values, principles are so central to our core that if we lose them, we lose ourselves?’ When that key question is asked early enough in the game, and course corrections are made, a lot of agony and frustrations are avoided – and success, achievement and prosperity are reached so much sooner!”
~Donna Green – a major leader in Art’s organization

9) True Leaders lead by example.
They actually “talk the talk, and walk the walk.” Their small gestures send big messages. True Leaders have an essential obligation to live their lives according to the principles they espouse. People are hungry for good strong leadership. They’re watching what you do. So if you want people to follow your lead, make sure you are communicating correctly and performing responsibly – so they can hear you clearly and see where you’re going!

10) True Leaders don’t play the blame game. They look at all events that happen as opportunities to personally grow.
Even the smartest leaders – whether as parents, teachers, mentors, or business executives – all make mistakes. Bill Gates was once sure that the Internet would never have a big impact on Microsoft’s business. The progressive mind-set for the 2000’s is: Try, Fail, Learn, Adjust Correct/Re-aim and Try again.

“When I fail, I only look at what I did right.
I never take advice from anyone more messed up than I am.
I am a winner, a contributor, an achiever, I believe in me.”
~ Tom Hopkins, renowned master sales trainer and author

Leading is learning. The great teachers, the True Leaders, know that the best way for them to learn the material is to study it well enough to be able to teach it to others. Their learned expertise then qualifies them to lead. Leaders learn and are readers; and readers are leaders.

11) True Leaders seek out and network with other leaders.
They look for leaders to build fine, new, long-term relationships. They take initiative and seek out those more talented than they are to build relationships with.

To be more effective as a leader and to increase your influence and deepen your impact, you can’t play The Lone Ranger! Seek allies, network with like-minded colleagues, be aware of emerging leaders – and mentor them, build them into stronger leaders. Remember that they are Independent Contractors, not dependent contractors. Not everyone in your organization is going to become your close or best friend. You will find out, as time goes by, those who are truly loyal and those whom you really don’t want to cultivate a fake friendship with.

There’s a lot to learn. Seek out mentors, the True Leaders who have already blazed a trail and attained success, stature and respect in many fields. Study them. Go to where they are teaching, attended their seminars no matter what the investment, develop relationships and friendships with them, serve them, help them – and you too may be rewarded by gaining new knowledge and skills. Some of these mentors may be found within your own company, most are found outside that arena.

Study resources like the book, True Leadership – How You Can Provide it and Become Secure, Happy and Rich!, which I’ve co-authored with Network Marketing legend, Jan Ruhe.

True Leaders seek to develop actual relationships with those whom they admire the most. They listen to hours of tapes, read hundreds of books, and go to work on their personal growth and development programs. I have done this for years. I remain a student even today.

Company events, leadership rallies, annual conventions and special leadership trainings you put on yourself – are all valuable resources to meet and network with other leaders. Make sure that you attend the right events. Just attending an event that does not improve your bottom line is not going to make any difference. From experience, I have found that listening to those who are actually living the lifestyle I want are the people I have chosen to be loyal to.

All of us need to get recharged now and then – and major and minor events can be a place to do that. Books, seminars and tapes are brain food as well. Feed your mind.

12) True Leaders know that their job is to build more leaders.
It’s likely that in your world – your family, your community, your institution, your company, or your own business – there are not yet enough leaders at all levels to keep your organization changing and charging into the future. The team with the most and best leaders wins! Your ultimate and most rewarding job is not just to be a True Leader yourself – it’s to build more leaders. A True Leader is first a loyal follower. In Network Marketing, the real key is to build leaders and to make them successful. Always be working with 2-3 emerging leaders.

To do this, all of the other 11 keys to True Leadership above need to be mastered. Paying attention to all of these keys will help you create a huge Win-Win situation for everyone you lead.

These ideas on the values and attributes of True Leaders are not new. Sure, they’re heralded in today’s books on making better families, stronger companies and achieving success, but these True Leadership qualities are the same as those of heroes and sheroes dating back to ancient mythology.

So, the pathway toward True Leadership for today’s aspiring champions and future leaders is already well worn by all the heroes who have gone before us. Because we can learn how they overcame their challenges, without having to endure all those painful experiences first hand ourselves, our journey to success can be accelerated.

We know that True Leaders, like heroes of the past, do things beyond the “normal” range of achievement. They act courageously. They are driven by big visions and strong self-motivation. They seek knowledge from many sources, educate themselves, and then bring back the new ideas they’ve learned to help empower their team. It’s a cycle – just like with mythological heroes. True Leaders embrace positive change (point 8 above) and engage in this process of transformation - from unknowing to knowing – just as ancient heroes did on their journey from dependency to independence.

“A True Leader knows that being a leader is a never-ending process of learning and becoming.”
~ Dr. Herb Oliver (“All Leaders Are Not Artists” – from True Leadership)

Attributes of idealism, high morals, ethics and courage guide the True Leader, just as they guided heroes and sheroes from ancient times.

In Network Marketing for sure, helping others succeed and mentoring them into stronger leadership roles creates for you - the True Leader – the rewards you desire. You will get greater time freedom, financial freedom, freedom from the rat race, a chance to finally move from money to meaning, from receiving to contribution. You will be able to pay back what you have been blessed with, and create – for both yourself and for an emerging group of leaders on your team – a secure, happy and prosperous life of purpose.

Are you ready to take on the role of a True Leader – or become an even better leader?

As a True Leader’s belief systems grow in strength, they become more capable of “painting vivid mental pictures” and transferring their vision. Their principal job as a leader of their group becomes making the future real for people who would like it to be real. People who get into Network Marketing must have some level of belief. They must have some level of faith to decide to do the business. No matter how successful they’ve been in any other business – when they’re new, they don’t fully believe in Network Marketing. Not yet.

Why not? Because they don’t have any evidence of their own yet. When you bring in a brand new business-builder, that person has no evidence that this business is really going to work for her. She’s got evidence that it’s worked for you – or, if you’re just starting out, she’s got evidence that it worked for somebody in your upline who’s been successful. But she has no evidence of her own . . . not yet!

So what does your new person really need from you? It’s for you to transfer your vision to them and to be the substance of their hope, their dream for new success by coming into partnership with you and your team. So empower them with the vitality of your beliefs, and act with conviction and enthusiasm. Show them the systems and tools that work, and direct them to the resources they need to build their own belief systems.

Show them how coming into partnership with you and what you have to offer can benefit them by helping them get what they want – the things and the freedoms that have been missing from their life. If they are truly on a leadership track, they really feel that they deserve these things, and they’re passionate about getting them. Empowerment, direction and substantiated vision are what they want and need from you!