Imagine how great it would be to feel excited about your work every day, to arrive at your store or office inspired, exhilarated, full of fresh ideas and energy.  How successful would you be?  How much more would your business earn?  How much more productive would your team be? How much easier would it be to handle challenges and rough spots?  How many more referrals would you get from satisfied customers?

Now imagine this feeling multiplied by the collective focus and power of your employees:  even higher income, better employee and customer retention, more initiative in your staff, stronger, longer relationships with customers and lots of referrals and repeat business.  In short, a high-performing team committed to its goals, its leader, and each other. 

The energizer

How do you create this?  About a decade ago, we tried to answer this question by pinpointing the qualities of exceptional leaders.  After hours of talking, we ended up with a single sheet of paper—our definition of leadership.  Jotted at all angles were words like “trust,” “aspire,” “diplomacy,” “energize,” “genuine,” “mobilize,” “exemplify,” “spark,” “courage,” “perspective,” “respect,” “influence,” “humor,” and “positive inquiry.”  At the very bottom, we wrote three lines: 

“A leader is anyone who helps others grow.”

“Great leaders change how we think.” 

"A leader is mentor, coach, and confidante all in one"

What about you?  If you don't see yourself in our list, you’ve got lots of company.  Few people are natural born leaders.  The rest of us have to work at it—hard.

Use the resources below to start getting the most out of people by bringing out the best in them-and yourself.