What Great Leaders Actually DO

people always ask me Brendan what do leaders actually do you know maybe maybe you're leading a team or you're in charge of a large organization or you're just trying to even lead your own life I mean what is it that leaders actually do many of you know this was my graduate school work and in 2001 I wrote a book called the student leadership guide and I never had any clue that they would blow up the way that it has and this framework for leadership it's called e6 is from that book and it's been used at I think 40 of the top 100 schools in the world major corporations from around the world major associations have called me in to speak on this top because it's a great framework for leadership it's it answers that question what are the major practices of leadership that we must enact on a continual basis to be able to have the amount of influence and impact we desire in our work lives or in any role in which we're leading other people so let's get right into it the first e of these six e's is envision great leaders envision a compelling and different and vibrant future than what is here they have an alternative clear view of what the world could be like tomorrow then it is today right they have a shared purpose they believe that they and others would be compelled by interested inspired by and want to work towards and that's a big deal and you always read about in leadership right you have to have vision I mean it's biblical where there is no vision people perish right we know the power of having that vision so you have to sit down though and actually do it the reason we say envision versus just have a vision is you have to sit is it it's a practice of envisioning what should tomorrow look like for my team what should tomorrow be like for my business for my organization what should tomorrow be like for my life and not just tomorrow a long term mindset and view the dream right that magnificent obsession that that bold desire the moonshot goals and purposes and missions of life the bigger picture that's envisioning a different reality in the future than we experience today and that's what everybody gets excited about in leadership or there's no vision there's no leadership where there's no vision people perish so we have to envision and I say that these are six practices of leadership and not six steps because it's not like you do envisioning once and then you move on in the process we always have to continually sit down and envision where are we where can we be going is an active process if you set a vision one time and and you forget about it it's not going to help you accomplish the influence or the impact one in your lifetime or in those that you v ii ii here is enlist as you're developing this vision it's not just your vision and listing other people to share their voices their perspective their dreams their desires for where you could be going you know I think that the most important leadership lesson in the world is that people support what they create if people are involved in the ideation of a vision they're involved in creating ideas of brainstorming of figuring out what is that we are about what do we stand for where are we going a great leaders enlist that from other people there they're constantly asking people what they think how they feel what think would think things they desire and need and it's that enlistment that is always going on a great leader is always enlisting other people to believe in the dream to shape the dream to stay dedicated to the dream it's an honest and authentic and a genuine desire to see other people be involved in the process and to enjoy that process I mean it's so vital and that methodology of what you know how do you get people involved in it you're asking questions you're paying attention to their needs you're reflecting back to things that you're hearing you're always enlisting others to support and to build this vision this ideal future together the third thing that great leaders are always doing is embodying their message they stand for something there's a congruence between who they are the behaviors that they're enacting into the world how they treat people what they're working towards and what they say is important right that that's basic line is integrity you know it's a congruence believe between what we say we're after and how we are behaving there's nothing more important is there you know it's like it's that old message it's like you don't believe the message unless you believe the messenger so as leaders we have to stand for and demonstrate and show and portray what we are really believing it I mean are we really are is our team and the people around us seeing us work for it sweat for it sacrifice for it champion over and over and over again even when it's hard even when there's conflict even when people are pissed even when people want to quit are you still there do you still stand for if you do you become a legend third I'm fourth what we have to move on to is now empowering people empowerment means we give people the decision-making authority and the trust to be able to work towards this mission to allow them the autonomy the strength the input to equip them with the knowledge the skills the abilities the technologies the tools the training to allow them to succeed as they march with us to achieving something extraordinary and phenomenal that's vital that's what empowerment is about and a lot of leaders who come in with the big vision they get everyone excited you know that they seem like they want everybody involved and they do a great job of standing for it but they don't equipped their teams to kick some butt they never get to that place of real stride of real momentum and that happens all the time training other people and equipping them with everything they need to succeed has to be a vital practice of every great leader and they get it it doesn't happen just once that's a huge failure in the working world especially in corporate America great leaders come in they nail the vision they get people around it they stand for something but they only empower people at the beginning they give some training and then they just disappear training has to be consistent coaching to be consistent equipment people to deal with the new challenges the new tools new technologies the new competitive realities that's vital we have to have that in place right so we've got we've been doing this practice we envision a better future we enlist other people to help shape that vision to believe in that vision to support that vision we stand for something by embodying our own message we empower other people to be able to support and to be able to win then we have to evaluate so the hardest things that we do in all of leadership to evaluate the key people who are with us their contributions evaluate their skills evaluate their needs and to evaluate the ethics that are going on in our organization in our team are we being are we being excellent and are we being ethical is the questions that we're evaluating on right are we being excellent and ethical as we are progressing which I guess would be the third question are we progressing if not why are we being ethical if not why if our people are not being excellent if not why these are the questions that we have to ask as this practice and evaluation it's like every day as a leader you know you've got to keep your thumb on the pulse to see hey how we do it are we alive are we moving forward that evaluation also brings up their incredible challenge that we face as leaders which is to give honest direct immediate constructive feedback to those people who are trying to influence and lead you know to our collaborators to our friends to our followers whatever word that you use for them I mean it's vital it's vital that we are paying attention and seeing when things are going off the rails you know that we never check out I mean it's a consistent process of checking in and seeing how we're doing and paying attention to really evaluating the progress of our mission and that final thing that sixth thing that thing that makes the magic and courage you know to encourage the be the champion to be the cheerleader to be the person always motivating inspiring uplifting people to never just have you know a lot of leaders they get their pet projects and I get excited about in the disappear know man you need to encourage on a continued a basis you need to light people up you need to have it in your heart and in your soul that desire to want to lift people off you know to lift them up and lift them off their butts to get them excited about things you know if you can't motivate them with with your passion and your example then what are we doing you have to encourage people when this gets hard you know when you're working towards a mission it gets hard at a longer term the more people involved the bigger the organization the bigger the vision the bigger the dream the longer the duration to accomplish it the more struggle the more challenge the more conflict the more discord the more disappointment the more frustration the more doubt the more delay all those things happen leaders have to deal with them and the way they have to deal with it is always being that encouraging voice when the chips are down when it looks most bleak you're still that beam of light and when it gets dark when it gets challenging when there's conflict and turmoil and turbulent seas you're solid you're somebody that they know they can go to because you're always going to turn a negative into a positive you're always going to help them see the alternative view the next step you're going to champion people you're going to champion the mission of the cause that's leadership that's the 6yz of leadership envision enlist embody empower evaluate and encourage and I'll say what overlays all this is a philosophy about what we're doing then it's important to us that there's a purpose there's a mission to it that we feel that deeply within us is so powerful and we honor we respect and we love those who work with last night you know I never used the word I tried to maybe I use it in this video a little bit to give us context but I try never to use the word follower you know people aren't following you there they're actively engaged they are collaborators when you get people to collaborate with you in all areas of these 6yz you're building leaders you're building collaborators within the organization within the team with those who you are serving a magic happens it's now it's not just you the leader it's a group of us we are pure set of leaders we are the movers and shakers who are shaping and making this mission happen every single day we love to work together we have fun people are standing up they now are helping come up with vision they now are champing and cheering on bringing in and listing other people they now are doing all their standing for something they're living that value the truth they now are empowering other people and championing the cause they're your eyes and your ears evaluating how the organization how the mission is going they now are encouraging it so it doesn't just ride on your shoulders when we do that right then we have this thing called leadership [Music]

Channel: Brendon.com

Views: 1,582,791

Rating: 4.8782506 out of 5

Keywords: motivational videos, motivation, the charged life brendon burchard the charge podcast motivational video inspiring video, motivational speaker, leadership, highly effective leaders, Leadership (Quotation Subject), what leaders do, how to become a great leader, what great leaders do, leadership training

Id: 6SOTBHAcLV4

Length: 11min 40sec (700 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 19 2014