7 Steps to Transformational Influence
The problem I have with Jeremie’s book is it’s inescapably practical.
Jeremie and Kelly
Jeremie Kubicek, President and CEO of GiANT Impact, focuses on potential beyond current expectations. My impression is based on a 45 minute phone call and his valuable book, “Leadership is Dead.”
Jeremie’s book explains seven action steps to life-changing influence. Do them and you create positive trajectory for yourself and others.
Seven action steps to transformational influence:
- Give trust to become trustworthy. The first stage of influence is trust others.
- Become credible not just smart. Credibility comes with high levels of competency and depth of knowledge.
- Be intentional in your influence. Influence is a mix of purposeful action and virtuous character.
- Break through your walls of self-preservation. Abandon self-preservation for service.
- Pursue relationship before opportunity. Influencers establish authentic relationships that exceed any financial or personal opportunity.
- Give yourself away. Give for the benefit of others and work to meet their needs instead of your own every day. Giving is not about losing something; it’s about putting yourself out in the universe for the benefit of all.
- Become significant in your impact. To have influence you must be willing to be influenced. Make a list of those who have enriched your life. Follow their example.
Jeremie’s passion is helping people break through self-preservation into profound levels of influence by serving.
I asked Jeremie for the advice he most frequently shares. He said, “Oh, that’s easy, relationship before opportunity.” More on that tomorrow…
Which of Jeremie’s seven steps do you find most challenging?
How have you practiced one of these useful action steps?
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Part 2 of my conversation with Jeremie Kubicek: “Relationship before Opportunity“
I think the first time I ever heard the definition of leadership as “Leadership is Influence” is when I read it by Chuck Swindoll. I later heard it by John Maxwell. While many will think a title or position gives them leadership, I prefer to follow someone who has influential or be the one is influential and has people following. Liked the 7 points Dan.
Good point, Bill. The leading does not necc. lie in the title, it lies in the influence.
Great point, and I think you’re right there with most people. It’s interesting that whenever we change something at work, there are a few line employees that we have to bring on board for it to work. Those are the influencers, the real leaders in their area. If they don’t like something, no one else cooperates. Likewise, if I need something addressed, a quiet cup of coffee with one of those guys goes a long way.
Makes the case of the covert and overt leader, sometimes one is more effective than the other.
Yes, it is important to find out who holds the real power in the organization. If you can’t sell it to them, then no one else is going to buy it.
The quiet cup of coffee is a good idea..I like that
Thanks to you all for the kind words. I like the covert and overt thought. I do apologize for the typos. That is what being in a hurry does. 🙂
Good list. One of the issues I see in our new leadership is placing a premium on their intelligence before they embark on the issues of relationship and credibility.
Yes, you’ve spent a lot of time getting your degrees and certificates, but until and unless you have shown yourself capable of being in a sound, fruitful and faithful relationship, it is hard to lead people anywhere.
This ties into the final point that you must allow others to influence the way you think, and this must be visible to them before they will be willing to run with your ideas.
I am interested in reading this book as well. I heard about it during the recent Chick-fil-A Leadercast event earlier this month. From what you have posted, the book will be a helpful tool for any leader to sharpen his/her skills.
I too was interested to see this title on Dan’s Twitter feed as I also saw this being promoted during the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. It sounds like an incredible book and definitely have added it to my “to be read” list.
Seems like great thing to do as a leader giving trust and relationship over opportunities.
For me it may be intentionnal in my influence that may be the most hard, I guess it comes with practice, but at start, it’s hard plan how you will influence others in a good way. I’m more of a impulsive type and become a planner only when I master the skill.
Great stuff here.
These are great “ways of being” at work. The tangible results you see might be significant. However, the effect it will have on the work environment will be subtle, yet profound.
I find being intentional in my influence is challenging. I tend to just act vs. thinking through a strategy of how to influence but it seems to have served me well so far as I believe influencing is part of my character.
I currently practice the rest of Jeremie’s steps so I am very interested in reading his book. I believe continous learning is a key to being a good leader. It’s important to be a role model and practice what you preach if you want to influence people and have a positive impact.
I find number one to be difficult! It’s tough to allow yourself to trust completely. I find that I trust just a little.. Usually enough to just get by. But not so much that I risk getting hurt.
Jenn-
We all do it, if we’ve been hurt or let down by people in the past. The trust has to be built up on both sides. You give a little trust to get a smaller job done, without micromanaging. One of two things will occur: either the person will screw it up alone, or lean on your help to much, and not build up any credibility to be given additonal tasks; or they will get it right, maybe even astound you, and earn a little more trust for something bigger.
The alternative is to run ourselves ragged trying to get everything done by ourselves, or waste a ton of energy checking to see how people are doing their jobs, and correcting them at each step (micromanagement).
For a team, the team, to succeed and be worth anything, trust has to be introduced, built upon and grown.
And, the best way to teach anyone anything is to model it in what we do.
Definitely building relationships before opportunities is one that I practice. I have to gain the trust of those I’m doing business with and they have to see me as committed and trustworthy. I find on average that I have 6 forms of contact with a potential member before they are comfortable enough to join our organization. This may start with meeting at networking event, I may send a quick email the next day saying I enjoyed talking to them. A week later, I may send them an invite to join us at a meeting or event. Another phone call or follow up after that, maybe mail a copy of our monthly newsletter to them or stop at their place of buisness to shop, dine, etc. All of these actions may take place over several weeks and just when I’m about to let go….they send in a membership application. It about building and cultivating a relationship. Of course once they become a member, the cultivation continues…
This reminds me of the Stephen Covey trajectory of moving from dependence to independence to interdependence. Most people only want independence, but your true impact can only be made by harnessing your own ability with others. That’s what you’re writing about here, Dan — mutual trust, influencing and being influenced, being intentionally relational. Interdependence requires a much higher degree of self-knowledge and self-confidence than independence does, but interdependent people are the ones who change organizations, society and the world. There is no such thing as an army of one.
I have seen great thing occur by the simple action of giving trust. I have told others that this is the greatest thing anyone can ever give to another. It empowers and causes people to strive to live up to such a great honor!
So many good, basic ideas. Too many people think that leadership positions mean POWER. I would read this book, but I actually know a few leaders who would never read this, but really need to.
Great list!. I think 4 is probably hardest given recent circumstances, but I also believe that those who are doing the right things, for the right reasons, will end up just fine.
Thanks for sharing.
Chris
Couldn’t agree more.
I recently came across some Harvard Business research that found that when managers used influence tactics instead of positional authority tactics, they got things done a lot faster.
Here’s the kicker:
Informal leaders were much better at doing this than formal leaders – it was almost as if once leaders had the power, they tended to rely on this, even when – by objective measures – it was less effective.
Good information for any current formal, informal, or aspiring leader!
I would imagine Tim that the informal leaders have their network locked in and with high levels of network trust, shifts can happen faster than email.
Yep, I would imagine that’s true.
I also got the sense from the article that the informal leaders worked from an understanding of what actually creates behavior change – formal leaders who relied on power simply assumed that if they said it, it would be done.
Influence is essential to leadership, but it is not sufficient. The best leaders also inspire people. You can lead an organization with influence, but you have to inspire people to start a movement.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for stopping in to share your insights.
Now if I can just figure out how to inspire people.
Best,
Dan
Hi Dan, self preservation is the hardest challenge for me. Always giving puts you in a vulnerable position if you are not totally secure and confident and who is all of the time. Navigating this fence is difficult and sometimes treacherous and more than once I have fallen off. But then being a leader as John Maxwell says is “never being down, and always either up or getting up.” Best, Al……..I am over my budget so hope I win a copy, sounds like I need to read this book.
Will loan you a few bucks so you can stay on budget Al! 😉 I hear you about the ‘giving’ piece. Have to give to yourself, perhaps very consciously, which seems to fly in the face of much of what we do/be/do/be/do.
Hey Doc I appreciate your generosity. I am good at begging, a leadership trait I have developed over the years and very necessary in my line of work. 🙂 I hope Dan is reading this so he can take advantage of the “giving” opportunity. Being equitable is another leadership trait that comes in handy at times. 🙂 Best, Al
Hey if I win, will be sure to send it your way after I have read it, with all the good stuff dog-eared and highlighted to save you some time!
I also heard about this book on the Chick-fil-A leadercast! Sounds like a very practical book that I can definitely use. I am studying at HIU for my Masters in Ministry and am taking many leadership classes. Currently I am studying Primal Leadership – the emotional quotient of a leader. All great stuff! I’ll be reading this book one way or another. Thanks for writing about it.
When focusing on influence and trust, I tend to be more on the sidelines than in the middle of the action. In doing this, I find it difficult to remain knowledeagle about my teams projects. Is this just a self preservation mechanism fighting for its life, me not focusing at the right level or a legitimate concern? To influence, one must have in-depth knowledge, so this is a real conflict for me.
I understand what you’re saying, Mike. But unfortunately, even for those of us who don’t really want to get in the fray, or involved in organizational politics, to influence you have to knwo what’s going on. And, just as importantly. you have to figure out who has the real power, the real pull to move things.
To some extent it is self-preservation, but we can only move forward if we risk. And, sometimes when we risk, we’ll lose; but hopefully we will also learn.
Hi Dan,
I hadn’t heard of this author but his book is definitely on my “must read” list now. In order to influence others, one must be respected and trusted. It is all too easy to look out and care for #1- showing concern and care for others is much more difficult.
Thanks for the great book review!
It all kind of comes own to “Give and Ye Shall Receive” Doesn’t it?
Great concepts. Looking forward to the book.
Great list, and eloquently posted, thank you. Over time I have found “Trust” to actually become more difficult for me rather than less. I personally start every business relationship with an assumption of trust, but a couple of experiences during my corporate career sometimes has me fighting with this instinct. And with less trust, the “self-preservation” flaw can sometimes kick in!
Number four sounds more than a bit risky – abandon self preservation for service. I would like to read more about this action step in the book to understand this better. I am on board and have seen the value in the other steps, and especially agree with comments left by Greg above about interdependence.
I’m interested to read the section on being credible. I heard someone a few years ago speak on becoming incredible. The jest of the speech was we should strive to be credible in everything we do. Those around us should be able to rely on what we say as being accurate information. Setting our goals to include honesty and integrity will lead us to being in credible.
Can’t wait to read the book.
As a pastor/leader, I’m thrilled with the subtle but profound shift that is occuring in leadership culture. The other-centered focus is refreshing and powerful….not to mention effective! I’m just as prone to self-preservation as the next leader. Seems to come quite naturally. Kubicek’s reminder to “abandon self-preservation” for service is a great challenge with, I believe, great benefit and payoff when all is said and done. It’s a good word for our “me, me, me” society as well. Really looking forward to diving into Kubicek’s book. Thanks Dan for featuring it!
Ive found that as I “give myself away”……….relationships build, influence spreads, and my circle of significance widens. amazing how a lot of the principles mentioned are intertwined. I’ve found it starts with service and working for the benefit of others, as hard as that may seem in “recession times”.
Hey Dan,
Thanks for another great post. The one that really strikes me is number 5 Pursue Relationship before opportunity. I think in any lasting opportunity, relationships are the building block.
Reading this post reminds me of last month when we were talking about Greater Than Yourself.
Thank you!
Melissa
Some of these principals are easier to practice than others but I have found that all are true. Somewhat like Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Terrific post Dan. Thanks for sharing. I was just speaking with a friend yesterday about the power of influence in leadership.
Great post!
They’re all good but the one I keep coming back to today is “be credible, not just smart.” I end up mingling the two by asking questions that may seem pretty basic but asking the basic questions a) does give me a bit more “smarts” (usually) but more often than not b) says to the individual I am asking that I am willing to learn – and that willingness seems to help with my credibility. I find that with my volunteering hobby with the film school. Although the students are half my age, their technical expertise with aspects of filmmaking is exponentially more than mine. I think (hope) they like it when I ask about the technicalities – it makes me a better volunteer in the long run and hopefully signals that I want to udnerstand their world and make a more credible contribution.
Become significant – challenge here is that within employment many of peers are not worthy of being a mentor as they do not follow rules 3 to 6 and are only looking at ‘raid and burn’. Thus where to from here Books, Biographies, and other outside your immediate spear as diversification ads value. Do some charity/career work -0 a better view.
Give Trust- take time to know, care and accept those you deal with, sometimes being a mirror, an acceptor and councellor before you will look at business. We must trust what is said, shown and conveyed by feelings and mirror this – not for your wallet – this is all that is seen by clients peer etc- but by care and interest and yes try to understand what and why things are important. GIVE TIME TO DO THIS before work is done or while work os done.
Yes it works for me .
Interesting list Dan, all of which take purposeful thought to actually pull off. Although all are important, the ones I encounter most in my practice that leaders have the greatest difficulty doing are 4, 6 and 7.
4. To abandon “self preservation” for most leaders is like asking a leader to go on a saltine cracker diet with no water. Failing to show this in front of whom you lead results in your followers nailing you as a brown noser, which leads to all sorts of unpleasant ramifications.
6. I am not sure I like the phrase “Give yourself away.” Sounds like a father giving away his daughter in marriage. I prefer Enabling others to meet their own needs and the needs of the enterprise. For me “Giving” does not have the same punch as “enabling.” As far as the theme, I am in agreement with the line of the thinking.
7. Having the willingness to be influenced as a leader is a tough one to be sure; especially, when the leader thinks he/she is the smartest person in the room. Rather than emulating others who have enriched your life, which personally I think is almost impossible to do, I would suggest learning how to actively listen to those who might actually influence you. They just might have the nugget of insight you need to make a decision.
Remember, as a leader you don’t have to know ALL the answers.
Have a leaderful day,
Jim
Am still percolating on the credible/high competency/knowledge depth dynamic. Performance over time has to be a factor as well (again back to trust) which leads to consistency and it seems like consistency ties to credibility perhaps more than competency. May just be a chicken/egg thing.
So are there highly competent or knowledgeable people who are not credible?
I think there are highly credible people who may not have the depth of knowledge of an organization’s processes due to complexity and they still have strong capacity to lead.
Doc, I think it is way more important to be credible and not necessarily have all the knowledge and competence. Good leaders will realize and understand their deficiencies and surround themselves with the appropriate “cognoscenti” to make execution possible. On the flip side you can be the most competent and knowledgeable person on the planet and it will do you very little good if people won’t believe in you or follow you. Just look at the Bernie “Mad” scandal where you had extremely competent and knowledgeable folks with less credibility than Bernie obviously that could not convince other very intelligent people to listen and stop the swindling. So we don’t have to journey back in history to see how powerful credibility can be. The flip side and here comes your chicken/egg comment is that “gullibility” fuels all different levels of credibility. Go figure that one out. I prefer the egg/chicken scenario myself but that’s a story for another day. 🙂 Best, Al
And there is something ‘disarming’ and genuine about a leader who somewhat publicly owns his weakness (and of course efforts to shore them up). Gets to always learning. I am more of a biscuit and gravy kind of guy though…cholesterol be darned.
Dear Dan,
Relationalship before opportunity is most challenging today. The interesting thing that prevalent today is just opposite. People focus on opportunity before relationship. In fact, As the title of the book ” Leadership is dead” is very true. because relationship takes back seat today and opportunity supercedes it. The most prevalent practice today is ” Opportunity based relationship”. Better the opportunity, faster the relationship and when people get better opportunity, sooner and faster they break previous one. So, in the process there is no relationship, In fact it is the relationship with job.
I have practiced some of these useful action steps. I create trust in others. I try to become credible, for this I practice to be better day by day. I give myself for others without expectation. I agree to your point that giving does not mean losing. It means being credible and trustworthy and over and above creating relationship without opportunity.
I agree that today leadership is all about manipulation and maximising opportunity for self. Leaders try to get position than to make others leader. They block others path by reaching at postion and not allowing others to reach there. As long as people will think for position or power, leadership will be better considered as manipulation.
Ajay, well said. I agree 100%. Leaders that put relationship ahead of opportunity are generally authentic and people recognize that and tend do do things for you in return out of “good will” – it’s like an echange of good will from one to the other, and it goes both ways.
#4, Break through your walls of self-preservation. Abandon self-preservation for service. Indeed. Too many are concerned about self, and therefore never truly lead. Thinking about an upcoming trip to do some work with http://www.helpteachtheworld.org, in the countryside of Thailand, and a recent conversation I had with someone I once knew who I briefly reconnected with. After all these years, his life has become one of protecting his self and personal interests, yet he still has nothing. Give and it shall be given unto you. You can’t out give God. Self-preservation says it’s all about me and my stuff. Giving, being others-centered, says it’s not about me, it’s about others and sharing Gods love by serving others. It’s too bad so many don’t understand this, for if they did, we’d have more people serving more people unselfishly. Let’s strive to become a group that gives the most, and watch the world change for the better.
I think this is a great list and makes a lot of sense. I think that number 4 is particularly challenging depending on your work environment. Depending on your manager, their manager, your peers, etc. self-preservation may be an absolute necessity. It takes an incredibly strong leader to be able to abandon self-preservation for service if the environment does not support this. I do, however, believe you can find balance in this particular action step in any work environment. I look forward to reading “Leadership is Dead”.
Jeremie lays out a set of guides I wish more people would strive to implement in their lives, not just those aspiring to leadership roles or those already in them. Leadership and influence should occur at all levels and in all people. The principles Jeremie shares have given me a few new ways to view my own continuing journey of self improvement.
I personally find the “Give yourself away” step the most fraught. I am fortunate to do professional work in public education that is tied to my personal service and spirit goals. Drawing the line for what I keep–for myself and my family, especially as the mother of a young child–is a struggle. Perhaps because of the level I am at in my organization, I struggle with the “Become significant” step as well. I’m just now trying to think through what this really means. I am intrigued by the idea that this is tied to following the paths of those who have influenced me. I’m off to chew on that over lunch. 🙂
Bravo! Let’s hope leadership really is dead.
Every manager needs to learn how to ‘influence with intent’ and forget all the confusing talk of leadership – which, like Humpty Dumpty, everyone defines to suit themselves.
Warren Bennis has collected over 300 definitions!! It’s a sexy word that has pushed management into the shadows. As Mintzberg says, “No one wants to be a mangager any more, everyone wants to be a leader”.
So let’s teach managers how to influence with intent and stop confusing them with talk of leadership – which has been argued over since the time of Plato.
And, by the way, we could also teach them how to supervise responsively, set strategic direction and inspire people – and never mention the word leaderhip.
My personal challenge in this area is needing some form of validation that I’m actually having an impact. I often find that people are impacted, and are reluctant to provide feedback to me that I’ve impacted them. When I do receive some feedback affirming my impact, it really lights my fire and inspires me to do more.
To remedy this situation, I’m leading by example and letting people who influence / impact me know about the impact that they have on me. And I do this repeatedly so that I’m sure these people understand. My hope is that other people will follow my lead on this so more people like me understand our impact on others.
Just subscribed to your blog, it’s amazing and practical.
Welcome aboard Jim. I’m honored.
Great post and great comments!
Interesting list. I believe deeping in “give yourself away”. I have found giving myself away is a great way to connect with others and once you are connected, influence is possible.
I love points 6 and 7! They are crucial for effective leadership. The “giving away of yourself” leads others to trust you and enable you to deepen the relationship. Once a person feels and sees that you genuinely care (because caring is not without sacrifice), then you are in a position to influence them for the positive. It’s not about your personal gain, but for the whole. Leaders must always remember that they are a part to a whole.
People tend to think of Leadership as something that exists only at the upper levels. But the reality is we all have to be leaders in some way in some part of our community or family. Imagine the world when these philosophies are adopted universally. Our role should be to make sure they do – then we can call ourselves leaders.
Looks like a great book. Would love to win a copy. 🙂
Wow. That’s some good stuff. Wish I would have read this 8 years ago when entering ministry. Good stuff.
Hi, Dan – interesting book.
As I read your summary of the leadership actions, two words jumped into my mind: Faith and Self-Confidence.
Overall, Kubicek is describing the details of being a servant leader, one who puts service to others over service to self and concentrates on giving rather than getting. We certainly need more leadership like this.
Faith is the belief that things will work out. Faith is easily spoken, but hard to actually hold and live out. Faith is necessary when we start talking about trusting others or breaking through “walls of self-preservation”. Faith is externally oriented.
Self-confidence, equally necessary, is more internal. It’s the quality some possess that allow them to risk and to share. Not with the idea that things will always work out well, but with the core belief that their self-worth is not determined by outside events or other people, but is held within their own minds and hearts.
Thanks for sparking an interesting exchange. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s “installment”.
John
Yep….relationship is always first and is the cornerstone to everything else when we deal with our fellow man. Crafting a relationship from scratch is not hard and requires the initiator to have no special skills…except the natural ability to care about another human being enough to foster the trust to respond in kind.
Great title! This looks very interesting. I think giving up self-preservation is the hardest.
As Dean of Students and a home missions church planter, I have found all of those steps as crucial at some degree or level. As a Holiness folk, we tend to put a lot of weight to #4 & #6 in the list – we those as essential to Entire Sanctification. I appreciate your pulling together all 7 of those principles – they are very introspective, thoughtful and useful. As we like to say, “It’ll preach!”
I think I struggle most with self preservation (#4). I have a tough time taking the needed risks to really leverage my leadership. I hope that lessons from posts like this and a book like Leadership Is Dead will help me continue to work on this area.
The most challenging one for me is Rule # 4: Break through your walls of self-preservation. I like to play it safe and stick with acting based on past experience. To throw myself in without holding anything back….obviously the rewards are great, but the vulnerability…
These are all great & invaluable. Reminders to all that lead that it is about so much more than the position you hold. It’s more about you as a person.
Heard Steve Kelly from Wave Church say that ‘leadership is leading people in their thinking’ – and you can’t do that if they don’t trust you, if you don’t have some credibility, if you are not relational, if you are not intentional about your influence and everything else that Jeremie listed.
Great steps. You can see how they truly work every day. I recently conducted a survey to find out what Franchisees wanted from their multi-unit managers, and building a relationship of mutual trust came up as # 1 on everyone’s list. Now for “breaking through the walls of self-preservation”… I think that may be our biggest challenge, in a world where traditional seagull-style, auditing behaviours were what was measured.
I’ll read this book, and may have to get all of our leaders to do so too! Thanks for sharing.
Kubicek is phenomenal! His vision for the next generation of leadership/influence is spot on!
#2 make so much sense it hurts….
True Mark, true!
Building a relationship before pursuing opportunity is like asking a stranger for a free meal – it doesn’t work. People that we lead want to know that they matter, that their lives are worth noticing (just like yours, leaders) and that their dreams and goals are worth your time. And building a team is far more effective than most single leader efforts. It just plain more rewarding to multiply the successes together!
I know I struggle with becoming credible, I think everyone does- but #6, “Give yourself away” seems to be one I’m grappling with now. It seems for many young professionals and entrepreneurs (and I wouldn’t doubt it’s this way for more established folks) it’s hard to know where to draw the line between going the extra mile and becoming a doormat.
I have found that for many people it’s easy to give a bit more and really leave a strong impression with good customer service, yet with other people I work with/for it’s a struggle to not feel abused when you are putting forth extra effort sometimes at you own expense!
Great List looks like a great book one key part of the trust factor is being above reproach.
The principles espoused here mirror advice given many years ago: Do to others as you would have them do to you.
I believe that people are not realizing their ablity to lead and that may be why leadership seems to be dead. There are people out there leading, but they don’t realize it and in turn don’t try and improve these skills and in turn the leadership is lacking. One of the hardest things to admit as a leader is that you need help being a better leader.
Another great post, Dan!
I loved the list, but, I felt that the first one can be the most challenging one. Giving trust before it is earned is something that I struggle with at times. I loved the reminder to keep working on it!
Good to learn on essentials of influence. I like the first step i.e. Give Trust. It’s very useful step to get started with anyone and everyone who can be of definite help to you. Without trust, it’s difficult to assign or delegate things to others. In fact, trust can bring the individual level commitment and a will to work with positive contributions. It also helps in building long-term relationship.
I really enjoy the relationship before opportunity quote. It makes a lot of sense and I think that I will be doing that from now on.
Good ideas and causes can only make a difference if people are influenced to take action – building relationships is the foundation for change. Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Amanda Schalau
It all starts in ALocalWay 😉
Looks like a great read with great insight. Thanks for sharing!
I am currently doing my MA in Leadership at the University of Guelph and am astounded at how comprehensive and concise this list is. It touches on a number of principles of social psychology (reciprocity), ethics (relationship and service). I’d like to see one line on self-knowledge but perhaps that’s encapsulated in intentionality (which could also be organisational politics). GREAT LIST!
There is a lot of depth behind this list and a ton of empirical research too! Well done.
Titles are labels. To lead one must brand and walk the walk as well as talk the talk. One cannot push a string.
I think ‘Give yourself away. ‘ is the most challenging step. It starts with the process give. In my opinion, a good leader gives indirect information to lead others to paths. I mean that leaders should tell others about paths and let others decide, choose, and convince others about their opinions.
The seven principles are so profound because they are biblical principles. Many of these principles are found in the biblical record of Christ’s life. The principle I have seen most affect my construction business is putting my clients first and pursuing genuine relationships with them. When your clients know that you genuinely care about their business or home they call you first when they need something. Putting relationship first and genuinely caring about my clients creates win – win situations and they refer me to other good clients. Relationship first takes longer but it creates a business with integrity.
I like the process…would enjoy reading the detail!
As a customer experience professional, I profess that the customer relationship comes before profit. It makes sense that the same philosophy is applicable in all parts of business…..thanks for the GREAT list!
Like others, I think its a great list. For me, I believe the most important is to give trust. I find others are suspicious of motives, and so afraid of change that they fail to extend trust until someone “earns it” and that never gives the relationship the opportunity to blossom.
I just finished a big reflection through the scope of my cycling hobby. (see Reflection post) In my personal and professional life, I am doing the most work on #1 and #7. Trusting others and allowing those people to influence and help me improve. I just finished a D.I.S.C. communication exercise this week. I can already see how trusting others and learning more about other’s communication styles and needs is making me more trusting and influential. Thank you for this list and sharing the information from the book. I would love a copy.
Leadership is about relationships. Communication is the foundation of any relationship. Make communication meaningful and frequent.
Sounds like the kind of practicality I need and a great resource for giving to clients. Thanks
Looks like a must read.
Great book! Glad I found you on Twitter. It’s refreshing having positive and uplifting tweets to read.
Difficulty: trusting. It’s hard for me to trust without someone first proving themselves trustworthy through multiple opportunities along various responsibility levels.
Implemented: intentional influence. In 2005 my good friend really needed a better ecommerce solution for his clients. He had looked at over 100 options and was really frustrated. I decided to build a solution for him not only to serve my friend but also because I knew he had a vision for a market to serve developers first and foremost. FoxyCart is now not only meeting his needs, but the needs of developers around the world.
TRUST! Yes, I agree that trusting other people to start a relationship can carry you long ways with your team.
This post was just what I needed. Thank you so much
This is SO true! I inherited a team at work where they did not trust their previous leader at all!!!! But when they saw that I proactively (not naively, though) trusted them, the process of getting on the same side has been smoother than I thought!
Credibility is vital… probably more so than the rest of the list.
I agree with all 7 points provided! As an educator I definitely agree with the relationship before opportunity approach of influencing students in order to motivate them in the classroom and inspire them. It seems as though when I build that relationship/trust and not present myself as this scary instructor they are more likely to ask questions and become more intrinsically motivated to learn the material and succeed. I have colleagues that disagree with this leadership style and feel there should be more of a divide between student/teacher role, but I disagree. This may cause more of my day to be spent with students coming in my office than my colleagues, but the trade off is well worth it!!
This looks like a book many people need to read…including myself. It definately caught my attention!
“Relationship before opportunity” is a great phrase! It has so many applications to being more employable – which is the focus of my business. It’s at the heart of networking (whether external or internal), collaborative working, trust-building, working in a team, customer focus etc. It’s the critical path for establishing value-driven authenticity. Thanks for sharing.
From a sociological perspective, every recorded generation in history has placed prime importance on one aspect of humanity: RELATIONSHIP. The history of everything ever accomplished of significant importance for the good of mankind is the manifestation of “genuine relationship” displayed in unselfish, others-focused, meet-THEIR-needs actions. RELATIONSHIP is EVERYTHING, a common thread woven into each of Jeremie’s 7 Steps. Authentic Transformation, which takes time and must be systematic, changes people’s lives best and most effectively when in community with others, not in isolation.
Very interesting list. I’ll definitely be using those in my next presentation. Thank you very much especially #1. Trust in order to be trustworthy. Who will trust you if you’re not trustworthy? Or if you can’t trust others