Now that I have shared my 6 “must-haves” of leadership qualities or skills, there is one more thing that I need to back end this with to reinforce those plans of actions for attainment. I don’t care if you are a stay-at-home-dad (or mom), an auto mechanic, a stadium beer vendor, a rocket scientist, a fortune 5 CEO, or a salesperson. It matters not what your title is, but only who you are and subsequently, what you do. You must act – do something about it! You can’t sit on the couch and dream about it. That accomplishes nothing!
Leadership teacher and author Jim Rohn wrote – “The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn and shine with increasing clearness on your path.”
“as you advance.” Those are the three keywords. I believe that most of us, including myself sometimes, during adversity, instead of proceeding and going forward, stop and even freeze. That’s just kind of a natural human tendency to say, “Oh, my, what’s happening? I am a victim of this circumstance. What now? I suppose I will just wait and see.” And instead of moving forward, as we should, or advancing and learning and growing and developing, we have a tendency just to put everything on hold, play the victim and kind of cross our fingers and close our eyes and just hope it all goes away. And of course, it doesn’t just go away. There is currently no end in sight to the health and fiscal crisis of COVID-19. Sorry, I dislike that word as much as you do, but future readers, after we are beyond this (and we will be) should know what I am referencing. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us.
One of the teachings I love is what John Maxwell calls “advance attraction”. Advance attraction is when you really know who you are, and you know what you want, if you proceed, if you advance, if you move, then people, resources, opportunities will begin to flow to you. But they only flow to the person who moves. They don’t flow to the person who waits, stops, or puts everything on hold. You must advance. I know that, but it doesn’t always come easy, and of course, John and Jim Rohn also know that.
One thing I know for sure, if I don’t become that person, I won’t lure supporters, and neither will you. And it isn’t just about our title or income. It is about who we are and who we are becoming. Either way, advancement is rarely if ever automatic. It takes intent and work – not to mention vision, initiative, communication, servanthood, courage, and passion. It may begin as “You are what you do” but hopefully will become “You do what you are”.
If you ever find yourself stuck in a spot, don’t fret too much, or give up. It happens to everyone. Abraham Lincoln is a classic example to one who failed miserably but didn’t give up on his vision. Here is President Lincoln’s road to the White House:
Failed in business in 1831
Defeated for the legislature in 1832
Second failure in business in 1833
Suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836
Defeated for Speaker in 1838
Defeated for Elector in 1840
Defeated for Congress in 1848
Defeated for Senate in 1855
Defeated for Vice President in 1856
Defeated for Senate in 1858
Elected President in 1860
Abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment in 1865
We have a saying in our company – “Be Persistently Present”. President Lincoln was, and you and I need to be if we want to be a positive influence in this world. He had 10 notable failures before he became president. How many are you willing to endure? It may take several. As I quoted in a prior blog, Brian Tracy wrote, “With every goal there are obstacles. And the bigger the goal the bigger the obstacles”.
Find your passion. Develop your vision with courage from that passion. Communicate your vision so that you will attract the supporters needed to help you. You won’t likely be able to do it alone. Take the initiative to live out that vision. Fail forward. And don’t forget to serve others with your vision to make the world a better place. And finally, don’t stop because times are difficult. You can’t quit your way to success. Just keep moving. What do you say?