Brian Tracy believes that leadership is very much who you are, but it cannot be divorced from what you do. Who you are represents the inner person, and what you do represents the outer person. Each is dependent on the other for maximum effectiveness.
The starting point of motivational leadership is to begin seeing yourself as a role model, seeing yourself as an example to others. See yourself as a person who sets the standards that others follow. A key characteristic of leaders is that they set high standards of accountability for themselves and for their behaviours. They assume that others are watching them and then setting their own standards by what they do.
Motivational leadership is based on the Law of Indirect Effort. According to this law, most things in human life are achieved more easily by indirect means than they are by direct means. You more easily become a leader to others by demonstrating that you have the qualities of leadership than you do by ordering others to follow your directions. Instead of trying to get people to emulate you, you concentrate on living a life that is so admirable that others want to be like you without your saying a word.
In business, there are several kinds of power. Two of these are ascribed power and position power.
Kinds of power
Position power is the power that comes with a job title or position in any organisation. If you become a manager in a company, you automatically have certain powers and privileges that go along with your rank. You can order people about and make certain decisions. You can be a leader whether or not anyone likes you.
Ascribed power is the power you gain because of the kind of person you are. In every organisation, there are people who are inordinately influential and looked up to by others, even though their positions may not be high up on the organisational chart. These are the men and women who are genuine leaders because of the quality of the people they have become, because of their characters and their personalities.
Perhaps the most powerful of motivational leaders is the person who practises what is called “servant leadership.” Confucius said, “He who would be master must be servant of all.” People who see themselves as servants, and who do everything possible to help others to perform at their best, are practicing the highest form of servant leadership.
Over the years, we have been led to believe that leaders are those who stride boldly about, exude power and confidence, give orders and make decisions for others to carry out. However, that is old school. The leader of today is the one who asks questions, listens carefully, plans diligently and then builds consensus among all those who are necessary for achieving the goals.
Tracy discerns five of the qualities of motivational leaders. “These are qualities that you already have to a certain degree and that you can develop further to stand out from the people around you in a very short period of time.”
Vision
The first quality is vision. This is the one single quality that, more than anything, separates leaders from followers. Leaders have the ability to stand back and see the big picture. Followers are caught up in day-to-day activities. Leaders have developed the ability to fix their eyes on the horizon and see greater possibilities. Followers are those whose eyes are fixed on the ground in front of them and who are so busy that they seldom look at themselves and their activities in a larger context.
The best way for you to motivate others is to be motivated yourself. The fastest way to get others excited about a project is to get excited yourself. The way to get others committed to achieving a goal or a result is to be totally committed yourself. The way to build loyalty to your organization, and to other people, is to be an example of loyalty in everything you say and do. These all neatly tie in to the quality of vision.
One requirement of leadership is the ability to choose an area of excellence. Just as a good general chooses the terrain on which to do battle, excellent leaders choose the area in which they and others are going to do an outstanding job. The commitment to excellence is one of the most powerful of all motivators. All leaders who change people and organizations are enthusiastic about achieving excellence in a particular area.
The most motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to “Be the best!” Many people do not yet realize that excellent performance in serving other people is an absolute, basic essential for survival in the economy of the future. “Many individuals and companies still adhere to the idea that as long as they are no worse than anyone else, they can remain in business. It is prehistoric thinking. We are now in the age of excellence.” Customers assume that they will get excellent quality and if they do not, they will go to your competitors.
As a leader, your job is to be excellent at what you do, to be the best in your chosen field of endeavour. Your job is to have a vision of high standards in serving people. You not only exemplify excellence in your own behaviour, but you also translate it to others so that they, too, become committed to this vision.
This is the key to servant leadership. It is the commitment to doing work of the highest quality in the service of other people, both inside and outside the organisation. Leadership today requires an equal focus on the people who must do the job, on the one hand, and the people who are expected to benefit from the job, on the other.
Integrity
The second quality, which is perhaps the single most respected quality of leaders, is integrity. Integrity is complete, unflinching honesty with regard to everything that you say and do. Integrity underlies all the other qualities. Your measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life.
Integrity means this: When someone asks you at the end of the day, “Did you do your very best?” you can look at the one in the eye and say, “Yes!” Integrity means this: When someone asks you if you could have done it better, you can honestly say, “No, I did everything I possibly could.”
Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings. It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Integrity means that you tell the truth, and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships. Integrity means that you deal straightforwardly with people and situations and that you do not compromise what you believe to be true.
If the first two qualities of motivational leadership are vision and integrity, the third quality is the one that backs them both up. It is courage. It is the chief distinguishing characteristic of the true leader. It is almost always visible in the leader’s words and actions. It is absolutely indispensable to success, happiness and the ability to motivate other people to be the best they can be.
In a way, it is easy to develop a big vision for yourself and for the person you want to be. It is easy to commit yourself to living with complete integrity. But it requires incredible courage to follow through on your vision and on your commitments. As soon as you set a high goal or standard for yourself, you will run into all kinds of difficulties and setbacks. You will be surrounded by temptations to compromise your values and your vision. You will feel an almost irresistible urge to “get along by going along.” Your desire to earn the respect and cooperation of others can easily lead to the abandonment of your principles, and here is where courage comes in.
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