Common Mistakes Extraordinary Leaders Dont Make

When people make a decision (either consciously or unconsciously) to followyour leadership, they do it primarily because of one of two things: YourCharacter or your Skills. They want to know if you are the kind of personthey want to follow and if you have the skills to take them further. Yes,there are other variables but these are the bulk of the matter. This week wefocus on the kind of skills that cause people to follow your leadership,specifically things that an Extraordinary Leader doesn't do!

1. Not Riding Momentum - To increase your leadership effectiveness, you wantto learn to ride the momentum of the situation (the positive momentum ofcourse!). When we begin to experience bad momentum we naturally try to stopit and that is good, but many people also have the tendency to try to stopthe positive momentum as well. This comes from our basic desire to havethings "under control." Unfortunately, often when we try to control thesituation, we actually stop the good that is happening. So let go of thereigns and ride the momentum!

2. Flaunting the Privilege of Leadership - Leadership has its privileges,that is for sure. And rightly so! The entrepreneur who started the companyought to be paid well and reap the rewards for the risks that he or shetook. Unfortunately, human nature is still such that people can resent thesuccess and privileges of others, even if they worked hard for them.Therefore, an extraordinary leader will not be guilty of flaunting theprivileges they have because this is likely to cause a backlash and canactually harm their ability to lead. Whenever possible share the privilegesand rewards of leadership and your followers will love you all the more!

3. Picking People Who Won't Threaten Them - An Extraordinary Leader willalways try to pick people who are better than them! Again, human nature issuch that we think, "Wait, if I hire her, she'll have me out of a job in notime." Then we pick someone of lesser quality, while our competitor hiresthe good one and surges ahead. No, pick the best! If they are better thanyou, you will grow together as a team and you will still be the leader andpeople will respect you for your ability to pick - and lead - a winningteam!

4. Not Having a Second in Command Who Complements Them - An ordinary leaderpicks someone who is like them so they can feel comfortable. AnExtraordinary Leader picks someone who can do all the things that he or shecan't; someone who can see things in ways that he or she can't. AnExtraordinary Leader needs a right hand person who can compliment theirskills and style. This way the old adage is proved true - two heads arebetter than one!

5. Not Giving Power Away - An ordinary leader wants to do as much as theycan so they can be seen as a good, hard worker. They think that they lead byexample in this. An Extraordinary Leader knows that they need to empowerothers to do the work and make the decisions if the organization is to growand they are together going to make a difference. We must let others takeleadership themselves, even if it means they fail at first. This way wemultiply the organizational leadership and we go even further!

6. Unable or Unwilling to Make Hard Decisions - Leadership is a lot ofdecision making. Non-leaders don't like to make decisions because theyoperate from a subjective viewpoint. They aren't thinking about the overallhealth of the organization, they are thinking about who will get mad or whomight lose their jobs. While we want to be sensitive to these things, theExtraordinary Leader understands that sometimes hard decisions have to bemade for the sake of the organization - and they make them. Then they carrythem out. John Maxwell says that decisions are like crying babies: bothshould be carried out quickly!

7. Trying to Have No Casualties - This may be the greatest leadership lessonI have ever learned. The Extraordinary Leader knows that anytime theorganization will make ground, there will be casualties. In the movieGladiator, the lieutenant comes to tell Maximus that the troops are notfully ready for battle. Maximus sees that the other side is about to moveand if they don't move first, they will lose the war. The Lieutenant beginsto say, "The casualties will be too great," but Maximus finishes thelieutenant's sentence so that instead he said, "The casualties will be'acceptable.'" I realize now that when my organization moved aheadtremendously a few years ago, the people who got in a huff about it were thecasualties and that any time a group moves ahead, that will happen. Weshouldn't look for or enjoy casualties, but understand they will assuredlycome, and accept them. So move ahead!

About The Author:

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams.

To see Chris "live" at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on the subject of Secrets of Influence go to http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/ or call 800-929-0434.