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March 22, 2023
Leadership is not what many people may think it is.
You may be aware of the traits that make up a leader but what really separates normal leaders from highly successful leaders may shock you even more…
And unfortunately, there are people that have diluted what it means to truly lead, who aren’t even leaders themselves.
Effective traits of leaders consist of discipline, intelligence, integrity, values, an ability to not care what other people think, an ability to be wrong, and the ability to take calculated risks.
People typically think that entrepreneurs are big risk takers, but my risks have probably been more calculated than anything else.
I believe it's more of a risk if someone were wanting to go get a job, unless the person knew exactly what they were doing.
So starting a company, I knew what risks were involved and the potential setbacks could result in.
So at that point, was it risky? I don't think so.
So this brings me to my next point, where you’ve probably wondered, “What about the traits of a HIGHLY successful leader?”
Well, that’s an interesting thing…
I can first tell you what it's not, it's not an artsy fartsy kumbaya that you hear from people you may know.
I won't name names, but there's a lot of so-called leadership gurus on the internet that have never run a company.
The biggest company they've run has maybe two to three people, a consulting firm out of their kitchen.
So if you ask people that have led hundreds or thousands of people, which I have done by the way, I can tell you that leadership is based on values of making sure that you have the ability to listen to what other people are saying, and you have the ability to digest it then be willing to change and adapt accordingly.
But you have to be willing to hold a position, because at some point you have to rule with an iron fist.
As an entrepreneur and as a CEO you’re going to have to make and stick with your decisions.
You may not know this but the most constructive ideas originate from single individuals, they're not made in groups.
It's always coming from one person when you look at history, just look at what Elon Musk has done.
Was that a group or an individual? It's an individual, so look at more examples of all the different people throughout history.
Individuals that created big movements, whether it was Buddha, Jesus Christ, Alexander the Great, and all these people.
They all created these movements in history, and it was all individually based.
So this idea that you're going to get comradery with a company and you should be there to listen and understand, is great, but at the end of the day, as a CEO you have to make the decisions.
Any leader will tell you that you have to listen, be compassionate and understanding, but you have to be able to hold a position as well.
And sometimes you have to rule with an iron fist and say, “This is the way it is, I’m sorry, it's not a survey. You're not running a whole company here.”
Companies are not democracies, there is no vote.
Organizations are not democratic because there was an individual that went out, took a substantially huge amount of risk and put a lot on the line.
And everyone in a free country has that same opportunity.
But the person in charge is ultimately responsible, not the group.
It's a dictatorship, and these online gurus will dramatize that up about what leadership is.
People will preach heavily about leadership as if it’s all about democracy.
Understand this first, the people who preach that have never run a business or company larger than 10 people.
But that’s not saying to not be empathetic or understanding.
You need to have the ability to rule as well. When you don't rule the whole thing falls apart.
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