Leadership Trends and Realities

Entrepreneurial Leadership and The 5 Freedoms

Hal Alpiar, thewriterworks.com

World renown family therapist and author Virginia Satir spoke with me once after a workshop she ran at the University of California. She told me that small business growth and strength, and family growth and strength could both be most readily achieved with the acceptance and conscientious practice of what she aptly called “The 5 Freedoms.”

I share these with you here, now, not as some plaque to hang on your wall, or slogan to bang into your head, but as a road to travel. You may want to slow your brain down and digest each, then ask yourself how your family, small business or professional practice might grow stronger, quicker, by following your commitment to pursue this road.

The 5 Freedoms

by Virginia Satir

To see and hear

what is here,

instead of what should be,

was, or will be.

To say what one feels and thinks,

instead of what one should.

To feel

what one feels,

instead of what one ought.

To ask

for what one wants,

instead of always waiting

for permission.

To take risks

in one’s own behalf,

instead of choosing to be

only “secure”

and not rocking the boat.

How and when and where can you use this road to help guide your business and family development interests? Please be sure to let me know if this message works for you, if it helps you think big, and to share it.

Overwhelmed? Make Decisions.

Hal Alpiar

The most overwhelming thing about being overwhelmed is getting your decision making mechanism activated. The holiday season gives rise to getting your personal leadership gears stuck. People to see. Places to go. Events. Gifts. Special meals. Family reunions. And always, there’s business and career. So much to do and so little time.

“Personal Leadership”? Yes, I did mention that. As in leading your SELF through all the excitement, clamber, congestion, over-indulgence temptations, and disheartening year-end assessments, to a place of reckoning.

That translates to getting UNstuck by getting back in touch with your ability to prioritize and make decisions. There’s really no place else to start except with yourself. If you aren’t healthy and moving forward, how can your business be?

Here’s an old standby method that always works and will help you get UNstuck now. . .

START by listing the 6 critical personal leadership categories at the top of your Word page or Excel grid or piece of paper: spritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, mental, financial. Then itemize random points/parts/ issues that need attention under each heading. Maximum 3 minutes for each column. (If it takes longer to think of, it’s not critical!)

Then, consolidate all items that can be addressed in a bundle fashion or that may represent duplication of effort.

Next– and always with the understanding and expectation that priorities can change in an instant– assign priority number values to each item in each column. Maximum 1 minute per column.

NOW, assign * or ** or *** to each #1 item in each column, then to each #2 item, etc. Take *designated #1 item and attack it. NOW. When it’s done, move on to *designated #2 item, and so on, through**designated #1 items, etc.

Always be prepared to re-prioritize based on what may end up in your face that changes the circumstances. The trick is to use determination and stick-to-it-ive-ness to take each challenge to a point of resolution before moving ahead to the next one. 

When you clear the decks of issues that jam up your personal leader-ship skills, go for the rest of the overwhelm. You will be enormously more successful at business, career, and family leadership when you simply start making decisions about how to first deal with you so the rest of what you do is coming from a position of strength, and a true leadership posture.

Oh, and take lots of deep breaths and make it fun whenever you can. Those are choices, you know.  

DON’T SURROUND YOURSELF WITH YOUR SELF!

Hal Alpiar,
www.BusinessWorks.US

Besides the number one ailment of entrepreneurs – being under-capitalized – a close second place is awarded to the All-American crushing entrepreneurial ego! This business venture is my idea. I can do it better than anybody. I want people working with me who will ask how high when I say “Jump!” Yup! BTLS (“Born To Lose Syndrome”) it’s called.

Generally speaking, and it’s unfortunate, most people who start, buy or inherit a business or professional practice tend to think the opposite of proven success experience, at least at the outset, and completely blow off the idea of hiring and surrounding themselves with those who are better, smarter, wiser and more experienced than they are. 

Don’t rely on my opinion. Ask any successful business owner or manager you know. You’ll find that those who truly make a difference with the pursuit of their ideas are those who surround themselves with excellence. It’s the mark of a true leader. If you have an ego problem, work at it. If you don’t, it will kill your business or practice.

Accept the fact that someone who has studied and practiced law or accounting or IT or training or marketing or operations, or finance is probably better equipped to make and recommend decisions in their areas of core competence than you are, even though you are great, have great ideas, and are probably a better salesperson than you could ever hire. 

Rule of thumb for successful start-ups and departmental streamlining: Find and hire the best, smartest people you can in every area of the business that you do not have exceptional command of. Support them. Encourage them. Challenge them. Reward them. And, above all, respect them and listen hard to their recommendations.

DON’T SURROUND YOURSELF WITH YOUR SELF!               

Although it is commonly misunderstood –and many attribute the categorization of being ”a jack of all trades” to the word, “entrepreneurship” – entrepreneurship is in fact a really unique form of leadership. It’s unique because it carries the added burden and challenge of being creative while it benefits by the opportunities that creativity produces.

Carry, in other words, entrepreneurial spirit into all that you do while you drop the limitations that entrepreneurial ego fosters. Surround yourself with high quality, high energy people who know more than you and focus –not on competing with them, but–  on being their leader and the spokesperson for your brand. Success will come MUCH quicker.

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Leadership Starts Without Followers

Leadership Starts Without Followers

Hal Alpiar, 
www.BusinessWorks.US

Now what exactly do I mean by such an apparent contradiction? 

Answer: That leadership begins (and thrives) with attitude. “Yeah, Hal, right! Sounds great, but what kind of attitude and HOW does someone get it? Like it falls from the sky, or what?” Good questions. No it doesn’t “fall from the sky,” but it does begin at the beginning.

Leadership begins at the beginning, without a following, without an entourage, without an expedition, without a master plan, without a goal line, and without intentions of superiority or competitiveness. Effective leadership starts simply, with a mindset that exudes integrity at every turn in the road.

Leadership starts with an attitude that explodes in words and actions which set examples. Exemplary words and actions– by their very nature, by their very implementation– attract the attentions and admiration of others. True leadership attitudes ignite, engage, motivate, and sustain without ever having to ask others to roll up their sleeves and dig in to work alongside you. When people step it up and rise to the occasion, others rise as well to follow.

A TRUE LEADER DOESN’T START OUT WITH A GOAL TO BECOME A LEADER.                                  

A true leader simply demonstrates the qualities of behavior that set her or him apart from the pack, but this is accomplished by taking action, notby talking about taking action, or by aiming to play a leadership role.

Neither do great presentation or oratory skills make a great leader.Walk the walk beats talk the talk. Track-records speak louder than words. Show me what you’ve done and show me how to do it are far more important follower requests than tell me how great you are.

Effective leaders are great activists who consistently strive to teach and motivate by quietly doing. He or she is a great innovator, and a great solutions creator who takes entrepreneurial pursuits to completion, who doesn’t stop short with an idea, and who thrives on the sense of accomplishment that accompanies each step of bringing an idea to fruition.

Leaders move constantly forward. They turn over every stone and readily adjust themselves, their approaches, and the processes they use along the way, unafraid of taking action without having all the information.

Focusing on the finish line is not leadership. Focusing on each step, as the fortune cookie might say, prevents one from falling on one’s face, and almost always wins the race.