Keller Williams defines leadership as: “teaching people how to think, so they can do what they need to do, to get what they want, when they want it.” But how, exactly, do you teach someone how to think?
Start With ‘Why’
Start by casting a powerful vision. In Start with Why, Simon Sinek explains that “people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.” Great leaders cast a powerful vision that people relate to, buy into, and are compelled to follow. Your people need to know why you do what you do, as well as how it relates to them. And your vision has to be big — just when you think it’s big enough, think bigger. People will follow you because they see you as a vehicle to achieving their own goals and dreams. If your vision and goals aren’t bigger than the sum of all of those that you are leading, you can’t be that vehicle. As Gary Keller reminds us, “If people aren’t laughing at your goals then they aren’t big enough.”Find the ‘Who’
Next, get into business with talented people. Talent pushes for solutions, actively searches for what they want, continually raises the bar and wants to be associated with other talent. We’ve all heard the old adage that you are the sum of the five people with whom you associate the most. This is particularly true in leadership. Ask yourself the following questions:- Who are the five people I am learning from on a regular basis?
- Who are the five wealth determiners in my circle?
- What relationship am I missing in my business life that would change my world?
Train Your Talent
Once you find great people, you have to train them. Implementing an effective 100-day training plan with a talented hire can increase performance by 40 percent. Take the time to teach people to take effective action, and then reward them for their actions. If you spend time training, what you are creating is a self-managed individual, an individual who you’ve taught to think. In training, make sure to focus on what matters most, and be clear about the results that matter, because in life and in business, not all things matter equally. In the book The One Thing, Gary Keller talks about the Pareto Principle, wherein 20 percent of what we do will yield 80 percent of our results. Teach your talent good habits, and create systems for accountability around those habits. Make sure your people know what their 20 percent is and your team will flourish.Motivate with ‘Why’
You have cast a powerful vision, gotten into business with talented people, trained them to be effective and focused on what matters most; so, now what? Motivate them. Motivation is different for everyone, but generally, it’s their why, their sense of purpose in both business and life. My first MAPS coach told me that people can’t say no to their own goals and dreams. However, only five percent of people actually reach their goals. Why is this? Because most people don’t actually write down their goals, or if they do, they neglect to write a plan for achieving them. Utilize target planning, GPS and other written goal-setting and planning tools to help your talent create a plan to get to their “why.” In helping your talent connect the dots between their daily activities and their goals and dreams, you teach them to begin creating good habits. Habits enable them to do what they need to do, to get to what they want, when they want it. By asking them powerful questions, helping them discover the activities that will get them where they want to go, and creating opportunities that meet and exceed their goals, you’ve helped them to think differently. You’ve thus made an impact on their lives, touched their hearts, and earned their loyalty. On a never-ending path of mastery, this is the vision of true leadership, one which I feel compelled to fulfill as my own purpose and my “why.” Colleen Basinski, Team Leader/Broker, Keller Williams Realty