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True Leaders Are All In

 The most dramatic move in poker is the “all in” move where all of your chips are thrown into the pot. Let’s face it — even the most disciplined poker face will show signs of tension when the “all in” move is exercised. It is easy to understand why. It is do or die time. You are betting that your hand is superior (or that everyone else that is still “in the game” will go with your bluff) – and you put everything at risk.

Why Not Go All In?

As an entrepreneur we have a unique viewpoint in our business lives. The idea of all in is one we all have come to face at least once in our businesses. Our corporate world peers rarely ever reach this level of commitment – especially in their organizational lives where the game is much more about positioning, politics, and being opportunistic. The “finesse” game gets rewarded most – with savvy players carefully picking their wins and avoiding potential “black eyes.”

I am curious to know the things in your work life where you personally are “all in.” What products, projects, processes, or new strategic initiatives have the benefit of not just your full attention – but are being driven by your whole leadership presence. By “all in” – I mean you are fully committed to championing and leading the meaningful change that is needed for your business to truly thrive.

When we are “all in” – we gain the special powers that come from making a commitment. We are released from the anxiety of waiting and making small incremental gestures – and rewarded with a feeling of confidence for stepping forward. We also gain access to the additional resources that come our way as others will always gravitate to action, meaning, and leadership.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. – W.H. Murray

Are you “all in”? It’s a great question. It’s not just about what we bring to a problem – because we do bring a lot of sincere effort. It’s more about what are you withholding. We often withhold the best part of ourselves – the passion that comes from personally committing to something that is truly worthy of our commitment – worthy of being all in.

Isn’t It Time You Go All In?

Be Best In The World – Home Business – Any Business

Being Best In the world at something – at one thing – matters so much! The fact of the matter is for your home-based business nothing matters as much as identifying what you and your home business are going to be the Best In The World At!  Our culture celebrates and loves superstars: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Oprah. Sports, business, Music, Hollywood! In business – top salespeople, top performing divisions, #1 this and #1 that! We all look at lists and want to know who is on top and – who for that moment is the best! Nobody except rabid fans ever remembers who lost the super bowl! OK so how does this apply to your business, franchise or home-based business?  Stick with me for a few  minutes!

As much as I love Chris Anderson’s book – The Long Tail.  This about the opposite extreme of that graph that starts high on the left and slides down to the long tail (short stuff) way out on the right!  If Chris is about getting the long tail – Being the Best In The worlkd is about Getting the Tall Head!  It’s about getting the juicy-est meat of the market!

Winners win big because everyone loves a winner! Number one producers continue to win sales contests because everyone loves a winner. First companies to a market niche dominate a niche and continue to dominate it because everyone loves a winner!  Everyone loves the #1 guy/gal/company in the market. 

This is really all about a statistical law – Zipf’s Law – #1 in the market will always outperform #2 by 2-3 times!

Now apply this to your life.  Your child has a rare life-threatening illness – do you want #2, second best or an also ran?  You have a very unique job that needs to be done and you are reviewing resumes to hire a special candidate for the role.  Do you tell your assistant – “give me the second or third best resume” or “give me an average resume…”  No you say “Give me the best!”
OK so now you are saying – “Glenn… yeah but … how to I compete with… so and so…?”  Here is the key for you and your home business. Marketing is not about mass marketing – it is about niche markets! There are millions of niche or micro-markets! This is about niche target prospects! Best is no longer an objective mass term – it is specialized!   The world is getting larger and larger – we have access to more now in a growing interconnected world than ever before! But specialization is helping keep the world smaller and smaller – manageable – allows us to avoid information/selection overload. You now can define your world – what you want – to be exactly what you desire from anywhere in the world! See How

You have the idea… you know your passions, your skills, your success track.  Pick your niche – identify your first – one thing and now go out and be the best at your one thing!

Be Your Personal Best – Learn About The Ancient Greek Term Arete’  – http://www.WhatIsArete.com

Leadership Generosity

As I put out quotes each day on Twitter – most of you know I focus on a keyword. Today’s keyword was generosity and I was amazed by reflecting on it – how infrequently we see the word used these days. My reflection went deeper and longer when one of my new friends on Twitter @ianooy (Ian) thanked me for a quote and then asked me to explain it. After spending 15 minutes thinking about how to tweet back an explanation I decided to do a blog on it and what it meant for me. It may take me off my time line for launching my Twitterentrepreneur.com training by a day – but the opportunity to speak about this was prime!

Here is the quote

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present ~ Albert Camus

I have long reflected on the whole issue of generosity as an important quality of leadership: observing and craving leaders who had it, and identifying those who lacked it. Here is the perfect opportunity to express my thoughts and beliefs on “Leadership Generosity”. I have many people, leaders, authors, bloggers who have sparked my reflection and post on this.

When we think of generosity, our thoughts usually turn to gifts of money or charity. In the context of leadership, there are many gifts that don’t have a monetary value, but whose value is priceless (sorry Mastercard).  These include:

• Giving someone an initial chance and/or a second chance;
• Giving someone the benefit of the doubt before judging; and
• Giving others a reason to want to work with you.

Leadership Generosity entails giving others latitude, permission to make mistakes, and all the information that they need to do their job. It’s making sure they have the authority that goes with responsibility – it’s giving them due credit for their ideas. In a nutshell, all of this translates to generosity of spirit, a quality we admire in leaders.

Generosity, a word which derives from “of noble birth,” used to be associated with members of the aristocracy who, by virtue of their privileges, were expected to show generosity towards those in lesser standing. A leader too, by virtue of their position, and the power and privileges that they hold relative to those they lead, has the same expectations and obligations. A prime obligation is to lead with a generous heart, and to be guided by a nobility of mind. It is the habit of giving without coercion. A leader’s generosity has a positive spreading effect. Conversely, its absence can also have a series of negative consequences that, if a leader paused to reflect on them, may stop them in their tracks.

Most people seek to find real meaning in their work – they want to feel that they are a part of something bigger and something better. They want to know that what they do matters. That it makes a difference in the world. This has been such a motivation for me personally in building my own home based business.  A leader with a generous spirit understands this need, and connects the dots for people – the dots that help them see how the work they perform, no matter how small it may be in the scheme of things, has impact.  This is such a key component to building a network marketing business that lasts – truly serving others!

It brings me to the Albert Camus Quote ~ He said:

“Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present.”

How often, as leaders, we are so focused on future achievements, on realizing the vision of the organization, meeting and exceeding our goals – that in the process, we neglect the people who are there now. We can easily neglect our simple daily interactions with people today! We have a tendency to be too self-absorbed. We can become self-involved to the point where, without intending it, we exclude others; and we often only consciously notice that we have excluded them when they have become disengaged. Self-absorption prevents generosity. Once in a while, leaders must stop and ask themselves: Am I giving enough to the people around me – NOW?  Our generosity now has such an impact on our future!

While generosity in its pure sense seems altruistic, you may still get something back from it: surprise dividends in the form of a recycling of goodwill, a surplus of cooperation, and the sheer satisfaction of seeing another benefit from our giving of ourselves, our time, our attention, our knowledge, the very best that we have to offer those who cross our paths at work or life.

Here are some action steps to enhance our Leadership Generosity:

Give people a sense of importance and meaning

Consider what small actions you can take today to make people feel that the work they do is important, and that they themselves, as people, are important to your team. Help connect the dots for them and help them see how they can and have helped others

Give encouragement and feedback, not criticism

If giving frequent criticism is your style of management, consider some of these questions: Is your motivation genuine, or is it to gain points? Are you picking the right moment? Are you stopping to reflect how you might deliver the feedback while still honoring the other person?  As a leader, giving people the gift of not just our appreciation for good work, but our genuine admiration for their talents, is generosity of spirit at its pinnacle. This is the difference between saying to someone: “Great job” versus “That was pure genius;” or “I appreciated your help” versus “I couldn’t have done it without you.” When it comes to genuine praise, like the sun at high noon, give resplendently. When you see good work, say it, and say it from the heart, just as you thought it. Free up the thought, and let it breathe – let it fly out there in the form of generous words, and watch what you get back. Giving is ultimately sharing.

Give people visibility

Giving people visibility on your team is a special gift we can give to help others shine and grow. Knowing that your leader is representing us well to senior leaders and upper management in your organization is a high-octane motivator, and engenders fierce loyalty.

Know when to forgive

Martin Luther King said that “The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.” Consider how harboring vindictive thoughts, even though so compelling at times, is nothing but violence to oneself. A characteristic of a generous person is a total lack of resentment – it’s in effect being too noble, too big for that. Who do you need to forgive? What do you need to let go?

Share your knowledge and experience

Resolve to become a philanthropist of know-how. What knowledge, expertise, or best practices can you share with others as a way to enrich them? Share with no expectation of return!

Give anonymously

Real generosity of spirit is doing something for someone without their knowledge. I have had the pleasure of listening to John Jackson every morning for the last few months as a new leader in our organization and he ends each of his calls with this call for generosity – Do something for someone today that will really help without them ever knowing you gave that help.  That is real generosity!

Finally, take some inspiration from Walt Whitman’s beautiful words: “The habit of giving enhances the desire to give.” Giving, leading with generosity, being grateful are all like building a muscle. It requires practice and persistence – once it becomes habitual, you will emerge as a stronger leader.