Calling all leaders! "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others." ~ Jack Welch

Over the years I have concluded that there are two distinctive leadership qualities that are used. The first one is the active leader and the second is the passive leader. Both may very well be successful with the work they do each day in support of the company's success. However, the one big difference in these two leaders is that one is still primarily growing him/herself, and the other clearly understands success for him/her and the company is focusing on and developing others. 

To be a successful leader, understanding your leadership style is essential. What are your strengths, and what areas need improvement? Here is a leadership quiz that will help you learn more about your individual leadership traits. At the end of the quiz it will provide you with the major characteristics of your dominant style. Learning more about your personal leadership style will allow you to assess what qualities are helping or hindering you as a leader. 

While we are, at our heart, a customer service and training blog and we will always be giving you tips about thanking your customers or your team, there is a bigger message and meaning to Thanksgiving. It is the power of thanking someone who has truly made an impact on your life.

So this week of Thanksgiving, after you have thanked your customers and thanked your colleagues, watch this beautiful video by Barbara Glanz, and think about giving thanks to someone who has touched your life deeply.  

Honesty is so refreshing, isn't it? I was recently at a restaurant with my daughter, and we had something so interesting happen that it's worth sharing. While looking over the menu items, we both wanted to order meals on the healthier side. When the server stopped to take our order, she quickly deducted, by our conversation and menu orders, that we were trying to be healthy. She mentioned to us, very confidently, that if we want a lower calorie and lower fat meal, the turkey burger is not a good choice. She told us that she found out that it is injected with fat for flavor, which triples the calories and puts the fat content at a very high percentage. How refreshing to know the truth!  And, how she did this was in a caring and informative manner and not in a way to slam the restaurant. 

We have all experienced the frustration of ineffective communication. There are so many reasons why this happens, and I certainly could stand to challenge and improve my own communication skills. Limited vocabulary or the inability to convey what you are thinking plays into this. Think about a person in your life that you feel is a great communicator, what do they say or do that puts them in this category for you? Conversely, think of that person that is only interested in what they can get out of the conversation. Their self-serving intentions become manipulative and exhausting. Creating the form of communication called "win-win" you must take each other's goals into account and work towards mutual understanding. Everyone benefits in win-win communication.

The definition of leadership is so much more than the words used in the dictionary.  There are so many facets to the meaning of the word.  Leaders are usually self-made and successful through hard work and making tough decisions.  The good news is leadership is not about a person's title on a business card.  Instead, it's about taking action and achieving goals, not about position.  So if we believe that leadership begins and ends with action, then all of us have certainly taken some positive form of action in our lives; therefore, we are all leaders.  I feel all to often people misinterpret their own ability to lead. To be a leader you don't necessarily have to have followers.  You just have to individually take action on achieving your own personal goals. Are you making a real difference in your world by your leadership, and what can you do to challenge yourself? 

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  The Golden Rule concept exists through hundreds of cultures and is known by millions; therefore, it should come as no surprise that it intersects with your business practices and behavior.  It should be your ethical pillar upon which your business sits.

Do you consciously consider with each business move that is made what impact will be felt, how will your decisions and actions show up, and what chain of events/emotions will occur because of them?  If not, you should.  For your business to earn the respect it deserves, you should carefully choose which steps to take and which words to speak.  You should handle the business and treat your employees, coworkers, vendors, and customers with the same regard that you would like for them to handle their work and treatment of you.  What, in the least, should we consider as we put the Golden Rule into practice in our businesses?