Post written by
Laura Kozelouzek
Earlier on in my career, I thought that the practical aspects of leadership would make my business stronger, such as learning how to communicate effectively, make decisions under pressure or ensure payroll was always done on time. I’ve come to realize that while these things are all important, embodying the spirit of the business and leading by your own example is the number one way to create an amazing culture. Leading yourself before others might sound basic and simple, but it is something that very few people are able to truly hold themselves to.
Launch With Self-Leadership
When we start out with a new venture, often we’re at the peak of our motivation. We’ll do anything to get those first sales and make the operation profitable. We’ll fight to get those high-paying clients — even the low-paying ones — when we are starting from zero.
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The beginning of any venture is the height of self-leadership because the mission and the direction are clear. In the beginning, we live and die by our mantra. We’re holding on to it with white-knuckled fists.
When we don’t have anything else, all we have are our beliefs and our thoughts — about what you stand for, who you are as a person, what you do, who you’re doing it for, why people need it done this way (as opposed to other ways) and how people’s lives are going to change as a result. And if you hadn’t been able to get yourself excited about all of this on a core level, in the beginning, you would have failed because nobody else would have gotten onboard.
Keep The Passion And Stay True To Your Mission
Yet as time goes on and we experience some success, we get a little bit less mindful of our direction. Maybe we get a little comfortable. Perhaps we get a little bit less eager to take on city hall, to return that call from a client right away, to send the handwritten thank you card or to smile in the hallway when we see a new hire. Little by little, complacency creeps in.
For most of us, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that we are the embodiment of the company’s mission. This is where the danger lies. The unintended and seemingly ironic consequence of business success is the inherent tendency to take it for granted.
Lead In Order To Serve
I’ve created and run multimillion-dollar companies with over $50 million in enterprise value, and before doing that I was a top executive at real estate empires that were even bigger. Somewhere along the line, I realized that the best way to lead is not by controlling the masses, by pushing people to do what I say or imposing negative consequences for failure to comply.
Rather, I see leadership as the ultimate act of service. Understanding the responsibility you have as a leader is the first step in getting others to allow us to serve them. Before others can trust you, you’ve got to trust you.
If we want others to buy into what we are selling, there is no stronger influence than showing them that we are completely and utterly sold ourselves on what we are trying to accomplish. As the leader, we have got to be visibly shaken up on the inside by what our company does. People need to see it every single day — it’s as vital as having oxygen to breathe. They need to see you renew your vow to them and to the business by making them feel the flame at every touch point.
While this is all very pie in the sky, here are some practical applications to consider and questions to ask yourself:
Embody Your Company’s Mission and Values
If your company has a mission statement and set of values, ask yourself if your behavior and attitude really align with them. Do you embody these values every day? For example, if one of your company’s values is compassion, does your company actively donate to charity? If clear communication or transparency are values, do you actually exemplify them in conversations with clients and staff?
Do you take steps to make sure that your employees uphold the company’s values and understand its mission? Or are they just words on a piece of paper that nobody pays attention to?
Ensure Client Satisfaction
Are you 100% sure that you are delivering to clients what you said you would? Make it a goal to follow up and know what your clients are really experiencing. Does what you are giving them match up with what they thought they were getting? When was the last time you celebrated a client anniversary or milestone?
Are you willing to swoop in and rescue a difficult client from leaving, or do you assign responsibility to one of your staff who perhaps may be struggling to please them? Additionally, do you volunteer to support your sales team by offering to make a follow-up call on a salesperson’s behalf to a difficult prospect or a “stalled” opportunity? Or do you consider business development a burden that receives only minimal time and attention?
Be Accessible And Enthusiastic
Do you make regular appearances in your office, or are you invisible, out of office and concealed behind a closed door most of the time?
When was the last time you celebrated (or acknowledged) one of your team members’ “work anniversaries” of joining your firm?
In the last 30 days, how many times did you feel you could have been more enthusiastic about a goal that you or your team was trying to accomplish?
Lead Yourself First
If you’re seeing lackluster results and wondering where the disconnect lies, it probably has something to do with your own leadership of yourself. Lead yourself first and get sold on your company, its mission, your team and service, your clients and sales prospects. Go beyond excitement and get to the level of deep commitment to your business. That is where the true leadership lies.