Friday, January 06, 2017

The Leadership DOJO – 5




Returns generated by hard work > returns generated by talent >> zeal and hard work is the cornerstone for success and not intellectual ability or luck. If you want to succeed, don’t put too much weightage on your talent as a sure-fire success factor, but put in your time and effort.

They develop EYES for opportunity, gaps in the market place.

They leverage the expertise & wisdom of mentors & advisers >> enlist mentors to challenge and provide different perspective. Great leaders are never afraid to ask for help and guidance.

They believe despite the facts stacked against them
>> find the strength deep within to keep going & keep believing in your dreams. At the end of the day, it is not the strongest person who wins the battle but the one willing to die for the win.

They focus on the mundanity of excellence >> do consistently and correctly, and all together produce excellence. Build in good habits. Always trying to improve and become excellent. Something as mundane as learning requires practice, practice, practice.

They work on the business, rather than in the business >> most of us get so mired with the operations and the daily grind of the business that we are soon in the thick of firefighting and saving the business that we lose sight of growing the business. To really work on the business, we need to step back and have perspective of the business.

They don’t operate on neutral >> to succeed in life, you can’t operate in neutral gear. You either move forward or going backwards. Consistently creating new products, innovating their business and finding new ways to grow. There is never a neutral zone. And they operate their accelerator mode by consistently listening to their customers, varying their products and by relentlessly pushing themselves and their business forward.

They know you don’t need to be the smartest in your industry
>> being smart is great but not necessarily important to ensuring your company is the best in the industry. It was more important to hire smart people to work for you. Talent acquisition, management & development.

They understand the difference between urgent & important >> investing time on important matters and not being fully engaged with urgent matters. Urgent matters will always be there and have to be resolved but to devote your entire day to urgent matters will ultimately result in a non-performing, non-growth business.

They know money is not everything >> most people start business for the money. But today, most of them are not driven by money. They have something deeper that drives them – a passion to solve a problem, a deep burning desire to make a difference in their community or a need to save the world. Research also tells that entrepreneurs who purely chase money will very likely crash & burn. Money can be a short term motivator but for sustainable long term commitment need to grow and nurture a business, there has to be a deeper purpose.

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