only dead fish swim along the stream...

33 tips to inspire leadership

1. In a world of noise and clamour, it’s only the different person who sticks out. So why try be like everyone else?
2. Leaders are green and growing. So improve yourself daily.
3. The ordinary wait for the energy to do a task. Leaders do the task and that’s where they get the energy.
4. A job is just a job if all you see it as is a job. Work is in fact a vehicle to promote your self-expression and creativity.
5. The most precious asset of a businessperson isn’t time, it's energy - so manage your energy properly.
6. Build a circle of family and friends. What’s the point of attaining success, yet arriving alone.
7. Good manners really do matter. Say thank you, say please and always be respectful. Remember that the ultimate test of a person is if they are well mannered to those who can do nothing for them.
8. If you’re in business, you’re in show business - and every day is a performance. So go out there and perform like a superstar.
9. “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” - Oscar Wilde.
10. To double your income, triple your rate of learning. The best invest in their professional and personal development. Do you? What have you done to get better as a person, as a businessperson and as a human being?
11. If you aren’t advancing as quickly as the company and people around you, you are making yourself redundant.
12. Celebrate for a nano-second because if you celebrate too long you become arrogant. The world has a funny way of tripping up those who act arrogantly and superior to others.
13. The only primary purpose of our business is the delivery of as much unusual value to as many people as possible. Remember that in every interaction.
14. Use music to boost your motivation, and using music while you exercise is a double winner! It’s the best endorphin that money doesn’t need to buy.
15. Brilliant ideas without execution lead to self-delusion. What makes Apple the world’s number 1 company is not the idea behind their products but their culture of execution.
16. Don’t work at being world-class for the money or the ovations. Do it for the pride you feel in a job well done.
17. Write your goals down. Break those goals down into annual goals, quarterly goals, monthly goals and finally weekly goals. Your daily “to-do” lists should reflect the direction of these goals.
18. Write down your daily “to-do” lists every night before work. Write down your weekly “to-do” lists on a Sunday night. Leaders don’t just rock up at work waiting for it all to come together.
19. Keep a note pad and pen on you at all times. The most successful businesspeople keep the best notes in the most organised fashion.
20. Work hard. Success stands at a foundation of hard work.
21. Leaders leave a trail of leaders behind them. If you’re not developing the best in others, you’re not leading.
22. You know you’re doing genius-level work when certain people start to dislike you. Business is not a popularity contest.
23. Judge your performance by how much your clients love you and how much your competition hates you.
24. Make time to have fun at work. You spend so much time at work, you might as well have a laugh when you are there.
25. Average people create average companies. To have a great company, hire and coach great people.
26. You will become like the people you spend most of your time with. So choose those people wisely. Even if they are your family.
27. Remember that your doubts are nothing more than the lies your fears have sold you.
28. If you’re not inspiring those around you, you’re not leading. You’re following.
29. Followers are dedicated to leisure. Leaders are dedicated to making a positive difference to those around them.
30. If you’re constantly trying to impress the people around you, you’re not leading. In fact, you’re doing the complete opposite. Remember that people are not stupid, they will make up their minds on what you do, and not by what you say you do.
31. Leaders make the difficult decisions that followers like to ignore.
32. Get belly to belly with your clients. Real relationships are not built on email, SMS, Facebook or by phone.
33. And of course always remember that businesses are grown one relationship at a time. So ask yourself how you have done in this regard every single day just as you walk out the door to go home.