What Motivates True Leaders?

By: Ryan May

The term "leader" has been used almost to the point of over-saturation, now branding anyone who serves in a leadership role. But there is far more involved in being a leader than simply holding a title.

The varied examples of leadership are many, ranging from the Fortune 500 to Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Though both lists contain highly successful companies, there is a often a noticeable difference in the way they're run, with one focused on a more traditional model of profitability (driven toward the bottom line) while the other seeks to provide a more modern approach to business, with leaders that strive to bring out the best in their employees, a process that in turn enables those people to contribute to the organisation more creatively - contributions that in themselves drive the success of the venture.

And this process starts at the top.

>Defining a Leader

There are a limitless number of ways to describe the attributes of a true leader.

However, taking into account the new focus on employee-centric companies mentioned above, leaders in these organisations are driven by what they can do for other people and, as such, often possess the following traits:
Readily willing to listen and make decisions based on a diverse range of views

•Acts as a guide or a coach, as opposed to those who dictate

•Provides credit for success to subordinates (rather than accepting it for themselves)

•Enables and empowers by providing free reign on business functions

•Enlightens people through development and education, whether based on the leader's personal experience or outside resources

•Inspires others through a level of personal belief in the business venture

•Motivates people through positive reinforcement and rewards

•Leads by example

•Serves people, looking out for their best interest

>Serving Others Through Empowerment

The above mentioned traits have one thing at their center: people.

And it's this focus on people that seems to motivate many of the most successful leaders, from athletic coaches to business entrepreneurs. Often possessing an innate ability to see in others what those people may not see in themselves, the true leader cultivates the best in people and genuinely wants to see them succeed.

Also viewed as a mentor, the true leader delivers empowerment by providing resources, enabling others to realize options and possibilities they hadn't thought of through exposure to external or internal education and development. Within this scenario, the leader is motivated to liberate subordinates rather than control them, thereby generating a more collaborative environment that leads to innovation, competitive edge and overall success.

Though this approach is impractical for military or law enforcement, where following the orders of an authoritarian leader is necessary due to the often confidential nature of information, on the whole, true leaders in the civilian world strive to help others learn, grow and develop by freeing them from the limitations that hold them back.

In doing so, these individuals inspire a natural state of loyalty that, as seen in the 100 Best Companies to Work For cited above, leads to unquestionable success.

You Don't Have to Be Born a Leader to Make a Great One

Are leaders born or made? From business school courses devoted to the topic to books and articles to many a thought leader’s opinion—this question has been debated for a very long time.

We’re all familiar with individuals who are clearly born leaders—whether they’re a part of our local community or someone we read about in the news. People like Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela are examples of individuals thought to be born leaders. When you stop and examine it further, many of the traits attributed to “born” leaders are related to things like being a visionary, having extraordinary courage, being decisive and having a positive personality—but these aren’t the only characteristics that hold weight. Learned traits—like being able to clearly communicate your vision and having emotional intelligence—are also powerful components in the making of a leader.

And it’s the leaders who are made that we often don’t hear much about—the folks who have made a commitment to honing their leadership skills through life-learning experiences, and personal and professional development. Some rise to the occasion out of necessity, becoming leaders because they care too much about their company not to.

As a small business owner, do you think of yourself as a leader? Do you dread or avoid the thought because when you started, you just wanted to own a business, not lead it? For most owners, thinking of themselves as a leader is uncomfortable and occasionally even impossible. In some cases, you may not even be aware of the gaps in your leadership skills. For example, if you’re not clear about your brand, then your employees won’t know how to market your business. Your decisions—everything from deciding to try a new piece of technology to avoiding uncomfortable confrontations with employees—influence each thing about your business. Yet, when you become aware of the impact, you’re more likely to improve and grow.

If you’re struggling with leadership, stop and ask yourself:

>Do you enjoy and embrace your leadership role? Do you remember why you started your business in the first place?

•It’s important to clearly define what you do and why you do it.

•Your passion is the foundation for inhabiting your role as a leader, regardless of what business you’re in or how many people work for you.

•The outcome of digging deep inside will be your own personal purpose statement—it’s all about what’s true for you.

>Do you have a vision for where you’re leading your team?

•In order to lead, you need to have a clearly written picture of your company’s future.

•Your vision will be the target you aim for and a means of motivation for your employees.

>How well do you communicate? Are your employees familiar with your company values?

•Having a clear set of values allows your people to “buy-in” more easily.

•Leaders who invest in their culture, clarify what’s meaningful for them and help their people grow, enjoy higher profits, steady growth and sustainability.

The answers to these question are at the very core of leadership. You may not know it, but this work is your responsibility and in your job description as the business owner and company leader. Although it may take you out of your comfort zone, it will bring you to a new place—one with a clear direction, one with passion and one where your employees feel a culture of ownership within themselves. As we like to say at PMCB, that’s leading.

Are Your Beliefs Serving You or Limiting You?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Are Your Beliefs Serving You Or Limiting You?

Did you know that if you move a goldfish from a small fishbowl in your home and take it to a river - it will still continue to swim in the same small circle it used to when in the bowl?  Why is the pattern the same?  Because it has accepted the belief that if it swims farther, it's going to bump its nose on the wall and that's a very painful exercise. It has always done it this way, swimming in circles. Any other way is "dangerous or impossible."

When you question your beliefs - you question your limitations.  If your beliefs serve you - they can withstand any scrutiny, obstacle or frustration.  If they don't survive the questioning - it is time to drop them and replace them with beliefs that serve you.

For instance, if you have the belief that you need money to make money, it will be very hard for you to succeed in business in a nosediving economy. This single belief pattern will hinder you from getting out of debt. It will create so many obstacles in your way to succeed.

If I believed it takes money to make money, School of Professional Mentoring & Capacity Building would still be on the drawing board.

Like the goldfish that has been freed to swim in the river, you still think you are limited. Your limitation is set by your beliefs. This factor alone makes so many people never to achieve their purpose in life.

The question in the mind of so many people is, "How can I tell for sure what I believe is true or not?" This is not rocket science. The simple question to ask is:
"Does this belief serve me or limit me. I'm I getting better believing this way?"

It doesn't matter whether your beliefs are "true" or "false."  What matters most is, are they moving you TOWARD or AWAY from what you want to make your life better? If they don't serve you, it is high time you replaced them with beliefs that will make you achieve your goals.

To Your Success!

The PMCB Team

Stop Making A Living & Start Making A Fortune

Stop Making A Living & Start Making A Fortune

The international bestselling author Jim Rohn once made a profound statement: "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."

The above quote is basically addressing how important it is to continue to self-educate yourself beyond what you have learnt from the formal setting. Formal education will take you a long way in life, but the question is "how long?" Whereas self-education uses the base of the education you received in a formal setting to make you see things in a new way. It helps you to grow and become more successful.

If you depend entirely on your formal education, it won't be too long, you'll start starving because your relevance in the marketplace will eventually nosedive to zero.

In School of Professional Mentoring & Capacity Building we teach people how to mix men, materials and money to make a fortune. Wouldn't you rather come to us and learn the 'how to'?

Registration for our Basic Entrepreneurship Development(BED) Programme is on; Lectures start May 9, 2016. You can register at the *CENTRE or send "Yes BED" to 0811-0059359.

*Main Auditorium, Rivers State Library Complex, #3, Bernard Street, Town, PH.

To Your Success,

The PMCB Team

Programme Promo

Programme Promo School of Professional Mentoring & Capacity Building Finally Opens Venue: Main Auditorium, Rivers State Library Complex, #3, Bernard Carr Street, Town, PHC. Day 1: Thurs. 21-04-16 Theme: "Developing Your Entrepreneurial Capacity Beyond A Declining Economy." Keynote Speaker: Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack(Executive Director, Rivers State Bureau of Public-Private Partnerships) Time: 10am Prompt Day 2 & 3: 22nd & 23rd April, 2016 Theme: Developing The Entrepreneurial Mindset Speakers: The PMCB Team *Registration Fee: N2,000 Time: 10am Prompt *Includes Breakfast You can register @ the venue or Pay into: Zenith Bank. Account Name: Professional Mentors & Capacity Builders Limited. Account No: 1014569202 To your success, The Professional Mentoring & Capacity Building Team

7 Ways To Be More Self-Disciplined, Because You Can Accomplish Whatever You Want

By Carolyn Steber

Doesn’t it sometimes feel like everyone on the planet is all successful and motivated except for you? Those people at the gym, that vegan coworker, your cousin the author — they all seem to have discovered ways to have more self-discipline. And they make it look so easy.

But self-discipline isn’t easy, and it wasn’t for them at first, either. Because the truth is, no one is born with the magic ability to publish books, or the miraculous desire to give up dairy. These things are hard to do, and the process sucks. So really, the only difference between you and the so-called successful people is that they stuck it out, and you didn’t.

That sounds way harsh, but it’s actually meant to be super relieving. I mean, those successful people aren’t better or smarter or faster than you are — they are simply more self-disciplined. What a relief to know that you can have all the same things if you put in the same amount of effort.
And luckily, self-discipline can be applied to pretty much everything. Learning guitar? Use some self-discipline. Quitting smoking? Self-discipline. Trying to drink less soda? Self-discipline.

You can do these things. They don’t require any special powers — just a little (OK, sometimes a lot) of extra effort. So if you want to make make a change, from something small like waking up earlier, to something huge like running a marathon, then here are some ways to stick with it until you meet your goals.

1. Do It Even If You Don’t Feel Like It

One of the biggest ruiners of self-discipline and self-motivation is that “eh, I’ll do it later” feeling. Maybe you’re tired, or it’s raining, and it just feels so much easier to stay on the couch. But if you keep putting things off until tomorrow, soon a week has passed, and then a month, and then years without anything getting done.
So keep this in mind — you’re always going to be tired, and it’s always going to rain. My point is, try not to use everything as an excuse. It may feel really difficult, but just get up and do it anyway. Write a few pages of your book, spend an hour practicing the piano, or go for a five minute jog outside. It may feel fruitless and difficult at first, but it’ll get much easier if you keep pushing forward towards your goals, even when you don’t feel like it.

2. Set Out To Prove People Wrong

It’d be great if we could stay disciplined for ourselves without anyone else in mind. But sometimes it’s good to draw a little motivation from all the haters, especially when we’re feeling less than jazzed about making a change. So think of the times when people shot down your dreams, or threw a a judge-y smirk in your direction. Wouldn’t it feel great prove them wrong?

3. Remove Any Temptations Or Distractions

If you get super distracted by Facebook, or can’t help but max out your credit card at the mall, then think of ways to avoid these temptations and distractions. According to Amy Morin on Forbes, “Although we’d all like to believe we have enough willpower to resist even the most alluring enticement, it only takes one moment of weakness to convince ourselves to cave to temptation. Making it difficult to access those temptations can be pivotal to increasing self-discipline.”
If the Internet is your downfall, then hide your phone or disconnect while working on a project. If you’ve been having a problem with your budget, then leave your credit card at home while you go out. Little changes like these take away the temptations and distractions, and make it easier to feel more in control.

4. Tell People What You’re Up To

If you’re making a big life change, or setting off after a major goal, then it might help to let some people know as a way to stay self-disciplined. Telling family and friends what you’re up to creates an “external deadline” as you work to deliver what others expect from you, and it can massively boost your drive to succeed, noted Tyrrell. Those of us with strict work deadlines and project end dates know this feeling all too well.
But what if you don’t have any external deadlines for your goals? If that’s the case, you gotta make some. For example, Tyrrell suggested writing up a contract, such as “I will write 100,000 words in two months,” and then signing it in the presence of friends. It might sound silly, but knowing people have expectations helps create a very motivating sense of accountability.

5. Be OK With Feeling Uncomfortable

Another huge ruiner of self-discipline is discomfort. Nobody likes those first painful days of working out, the horrible feeling of writer’s block, or the sense that they’re being deprived in some way (be it of leisure time, food, sleep, etc.) So it’s very normal to panic and back out of change.
It’s important to push through those first few crappy days of muscle aches, or writer’s block, or sugar cravings, especially since it will get easier. According to Morin, “We can usually stand a lot more discomfort than we think we can. Practice allowing yourself to experience uncomfortable emotions like boredom, frustration, sadness, or loneliness and increase your tolerance to the negative emotions that you may experience as you increase your self-discipline.”

6. Imagine Your Life Once You’ve Met Your Goals

If you feel like giving up on something, take a second and imagine your life after your goals are met. Are you basking in accomplishment? Do you feel super healthy? Are you rolling in extra cash? According to Erin Cox on HuffingtonPost.com, “The more clear you are about the way you’ll feel when you achieve whatever goal you’ve set for yourself, the more likely you are to hunker down and do whatever it takes to achieve it.” Picture it all in detail, and let that be your motivation.

7. Don’t Give Up If You Make A Mistake

Even with visions and external deadlines, it’s still possible to mess up from time to time. I’m talking about slacking off at the gym, temporarily giving up on your poetry, having a cigarette — anything you consider a slip-up that isn’t helping you reach your goals.
Don’t let it get you down, and don’t feel all guilty like you “ruined” something.. As Morin noted “Self-discipline comes easier on some days than others … Making mistakes is part of the process to becoming better. The way you recover from those mistakes is what’s most important. The key is to acknowledge your mistakes and move on from them with even more resolve to do better next time.”
If something is important to you, or it’s necessary to make a major life change, then stick to your guns. A little self-discipline is all it takes, so don’t give up.

Keeping Your Ideas Organised

By: Debbie Dragon

Ideas and inspiration can strike at any moment. You may have ideas for a new business, a product or service, or new ways of improving the efficiency of your operations. Regardless of what your ideas are about, if you don't want those ideas to disappear from your memory as fast as they arrived, you need to develop an organized method for recording your ideas when they occur - and another plan for what to do with all of those ideas you generate.

•Digital-Based Idea Organization

You've probably discovered it doesn't work to jot down ideas in your mobile phone, laptop, tablet and computer depending on where you are when inspiration strikes - because you have no idea where anything is later when you need to put those ideas into action!

Your best solution is to implement a web based application that you can access from any of your internet-connected gadgets.

This way, you can add ideas wherever you are, with whatever devices you happen to have with you at the moment, and they will all be in one, organized place for later retrieval.
You might keep it as simple as using Google Docs, and create folders for each topic you come up with ideas for (advertising, training, products and services, etc). Within each folder, you might then have a document of ideas pertaining to each topic. If you want to save web pages, you can create a spreadsheet of links within each topic and jot down a description or why you have saved that site in your idea bank.

If you are a fan of mind mapping for idea generation, you might like Comapping - an online version that lets you keep track of your ideas and tasks in a single map.

You can use it alone or share it with others.
Alternatively, if you like to see your ideas alongside the tasks you're currently working on or the projects you are responsible for - you might try using an all-in-one solution like a web based project management system. There are several on the market, including paid software and free options. WorkZone allows you to set up your entire work responsibilities, personal to do lists, and make use of the popular Gantt charts. Create a project for ideas and keep adding to it - the benefit to this system is you can literally schedule 'due dates' to remind yourself to review ideas and put them into action later so they don't just get recorded and forgotten.

•Paper-Based Idea Organization

Many people find a three-ring binder is ideal for keeping their ideas organized.

You can quickly jot down ideas as they occur to you, no matter where you are, and slide them into the appropriate section of your binder. You can also print information from a computer and insert into your binder, or rip pages from magazines and newspapers. Office supply stores sell inexpensive dividers that allow you to label each section in your binder. The labels you use will depend on the type of ideas you are organizing, but some examples may be: Advertising Ideas, Increasing Efficiency, Staff Training, New Products/Services, etc. For paper that is the wrong size for 3-hole punches, you can include dividers with pockets, or insert a folder to hold odd-shaped paper.

You might also decide to use the expanding accordion-style folders. If you use these to organize your ideas into the various pockets, it's recommended that you purchase the flexible plastic type rather than the cardboard file folders, as they will hold up longer.

Whichever paper-based organizational method you choose, you will still need to schedule time to review the ideas after they are saved.

On your calendar or to-do list, make a date weekly or bi-weekly to review ideas and start putting the best ones into practice.