Leadership Training - Success Principles

Leadership training - Success principles

The role of a leader is: To get the best results from themselves and others.

In fact, that is a good goal for which everyone should aim - to discover how to get the best results from yourself and others.

If you could get the best results from yourself and others, then that would increase your chances of achieving success and happiness.
So what are the principles you should adopt and which ones should you ignore? Which will result in getting the best from yourself and others and which will cause you to fail?

The three success principles:

1. Personal initiative
2. Persistence
3. Preparation

The three failure principles:

1. "Something for nothing" attitude
2. Overdose of anger
3. Unfounded pessimism

The Success Principles

1. Personal initiative

Personal initiative is the positive trait of doing things before they need to be done and before anyone asks you to do it because you can see from the evidence of your own perception that the task needs to be done.

Personal initiative is the rejection of:

• Waiting to be asked to do it
• Waiting to be told to do it
• Waiting until the situation has become desperately late and has degenerated into a crisis.

Personal initiative is the product of switching on your mental machinery and thinking for yourself.

Lack of personal initiative is the product of switching off your mental machinery and relying on other people to tell you what will happen next.

General principle of success No 1

Don't switch off your mental machinery and wait passively to be told what to do.
Use your personal initiative.

2. Persistence

Persistence is the positive trait of continuing to exert effort towards the achievement of your goal even after, (especially after) a series of defeats, setbacks and disappointments.

Persistence is:

• A rejection of giving up too early
• A rejection of running away from trouble
• A rejection of failure

Persistence is the product of deciding to switch on your mental machinery and rebuild your plans of action following a defeat, setback or disappointment.
Lack of persistence is the product of switching off your mental machinery and accepting the latest defeat setback or disappointment as evidence of permanent failure.

General principle of success No 2

Don't be too quick to accept the latest defeat, setback or disappointment as evidence of permanent failure.
Following disappointment, use your personal initiative and rebuild your plans of action using the information contained in the defeat to inform your revised plan.

3. Preparation

Preparation is the positive trait of organizing, prioritising, practicing and perfecting all the actions needed for the successful performance of a task - before you get there.

Preparation is:

• A rejection of guessing
• A rejection of panic
• A rejection of making it up as you go along (winging it)

Preparation is the product of deciding to switch on your mental machinery before the event.
Preparation is a commitment to be match-ready.
Lack of preparation is the product of switching off your mental machinery and trying to "pull off a miracle" on the day.

Tip: Only the Gods can perform miracles. If you are not a God, then adopt the following rule...

General principle of success No 3

Don't be too quick to try pulling off a miracle on the day of the event.
Before you get there, organize, prioritise, practice and perfect the actions needed for the successful performance of a task.

Quote from Alexander Graham Bell

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

The Failure Principles

1. The desire to get "something for nothing"

If you ask a farmer if he can obtain a crop without planting any seeds he will say No.
If you ask a physicist if you can have a cause without an effect she will say No.

The reason is that the universe keeps very good accounts. Everything has to be paid for:

As the song says: "Nothing comes from nothing, Nothing ever could"

If you want something good to happen, then you have to pay the price.
If you aren't willing to pay a price, then don't expect many good things to happen.

A "something for nothing mentally" is the negative trait of expecting good things to happen without having to do any good things.

Something for nothing mentally is:

• A rejection of the need to work
• A rejection of the need to think
• A rejection of personal initiative

A "something for nothing" mentally is the product of deciding to switch off your mental machinery and hope someone else will pay the price.

General principle of success No 4

Don't try to get something for nothing

Be prepared to pay the price in thought, time and effort.

• Nothing comes from nothing
• Nothing ever could

2. Overdose of Anger

Anger is the emotion triggered when a past event has gone badly for you - or for someone you care about.
Anger may be justified. But the uncontrolled expression of anger is often the cause of failure.
In fact you could say that "anger is the equivalent of stupidity".

When you are angry you are more likely to:

• Over-react
• Say the wrong thing
• Do the wrong thing
• Misinterpret the situation
• Mess up your performance
• Do damage
• Hurt others
• Hurt yourself

Generally: ANGER is not good.

Albert Einstein "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools."

General principle of success No 5

Don't be too quick to lose your temper.
When things have gone wrong for yourself or others you care for, then practice:

• Controlling your thoughts
• Controlling your speech
• Controlling your actions

3. Unfounded pessimism

Pessimism is the emotion that is triggered when you project that the future is not going to be good.
Unfounded pessimism is the negative trait of ASSUMING that the future is going to be bad.
Unfounded pessimism is the rejection of:

• Hope
• Optimism
• Happiness

Hope, optimism and happiness are based on the opposite pattern, ie It is mentally and practically better to ASSUME that the future is going to be good.

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, then you're right". Henry Ford

"If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win,
But think you can't,
It's almost certain that you won't.
If you think you'll lose,
You have lost.
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind." Arnold Palmer

General principle of success No 6

Don't assume the future is bad.
Hope, optimism and happiness is based on the opposite pattern.
ASSUME that the future is going to be good.

Your success begins with a state of mind.

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Definition: Personal initiative

Context: Business leadership. Genus: behaviour. Differentia: 1. The person acts before anyone asks or forces them. 2. They act because they alone see that work must be done. 3. They decide and plan using their own thought. 4. Their purpose is to raise results or stop problems.

Article Summary

Strong leaders follow three success principles: act before asked, keep going after knocks and plan every step; when they drop the something-for-nothing idea and control anger and gloom, they lift their own and their team's results.

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About the Author: Chris Farmer

Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years' experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.

Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.

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