Follow the Leader!

Happy Monday! A few days ago, I got a call from someone I had tried to help a couple of years back.  They are a great individual producer of insurance products and were trying to run the gauntlet to become an agency. They had a about 20 agents who were in the fold at that time.  My advice...transition from being a producer to being a leader. Well, as you may have guessed...they didn't take my advice.  I am not the "I told you so" type (it was tempting) but as the excuses mounted I had a "Dr. Phil" moment.   "They are not following you because you are not a leader."  Silence. To allow that silence was tough for my personality as a "rah rah" optimist, but it was the only way.  To their credit, they admitted they could not let go of the security of producing to face the uncertainty of other's efforts and production. Leadership is risky...but rewarding when done right. So I am going to begin a series on leadership.  Much like Friday, I am going to borrow the voices of some great people to explain how effective leadership is accomplished.    "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."   John C. Maxwell    "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams      "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." Martin Luther King, Jr. "People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives." Theodore Roosevelt "A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." Arnold H. Glasow    "The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." Henry A. Kissinger  Today, I just wanted to leave you with some points to think about and reflect on what kind of leader you are.  For those of you who are running teams, sales organizations, or your own company, the next several days will give you an approach that I believe can help you establish yourself as the leader and take your team to the next level.   I don't have all the answers, but over a 30 career with over 25 of it in leadership, I have the awesome privilege of looking back and seeing a group of talented, committed people who with a phone call or email would follow me...   Why?...Because people will...   Follow the Leader!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!