THE DREAM IN ACTION

When you are a leader people listen. Things get done because of your ability to see the big picture and communicate the intended outcome. You are effective because you don’t have to do everything yourself, you have the ability to piece the big picture  together and delegate tasks appropriately. Unfortunately, becoming a “listened to” leader is tough, and takes a ton of time to develop a leadership attitude. Getting people to listen to you is the most important part to developing your leadership persona. Here are some things that I think you can do to increase your leadership persona and get people to listen.

Just Get In Front

Sometimes being a leader is super simple: Just do things first, you’re done. You might feel dumb wearing a certain piece of clothing or driving a certain car but there is always one person to do everything the first time. Stop following others, stop being the wallflower, get out and dance. I hate to make yet another high school reference (those were the days) but they work so well in discussion of leadership.

If you have an opportunity to represent your company at a trade show or industry event, dominate the opportunity. Do things that no other company will being doing and get into the front of the crown and into the limelight. Again the same principle applies, if you make a mistake it’s only another learning opportunity and you’ll probably get some good attention anyway. There’s no such thing as bad press right? Show up first, adopt trends early, and represent your company or group to get that much needed leadership experience.

Confront The Complainers and Provide Solutions

In business it is very easy to complain or present problems. Because of how easy it is, people do it all the time. Where people fall short is they don’t present solutions. Here in lies your opportunity. Call out complainers, even point out that their just whining, then provide the information that they should have provided when making their complaint.

For example, in a meeting yesterday an individual pointed out the fact that our project has an issue. She brought it up over and over focusing on the negative. I quickly said, “These are issues that we are all aware of, thank you for bringing them to our attention, again. But we need solutions in order to move on.” This quickly got the groups attention, and now was my opportunity. Everyone knew this person was just complaining and it wasn’t adding value to only point out their complaining. So, immediately after I pointed out to the team that this person was only complaining, I said, “I propose we take action to solve these issues by option 1, option 2, or option 3. Which do you think is best?” By providing multiple possible solutions and initiating a call to action on one of my solutions, I instantly became the leader of that solution. Don’t be afraid to confront a complainer but remember to provide a solution.

Stand Up To People

You need swagger. It sounds like something that only cocky adolescents have, but their a reason the d-bag jocks got the girls in high school. It’s their attitude. Your swagger is critical to becoming well known and landing that job or convincing a VC to fund you. Be confident with your ideas and bold with your opinions. In my first job as a consultant I learned to talk in every meeting even if I was sometimes wrong, at least you are challenging ideas and stoking the conversation. What a valuable lesson to learn. The worst thing that can happen is that you were wrong, but even then, you still learn something. Way to many people are non-confrontational and they get dominated by those who embrace confrontation. Before you can be taken seriously as a leader you have to be able to contribute in uncomfortable situations, step out of your comfort zone and stand up to opposition with a little swagger.

Be Weird

Why is Dennis Rodman one of the most popular basketball players ever? Because he’s freakin weird! Of course he did a good job with the Pistons, Spurs, Bulls, Lakers and Mavericks, but Dennis stood out from the crown like no other player ever had. This is a trait that anyone who gets recognized has; they are “weird” in there own way. You need to do the same thing. Differentiate yourself in a way that people will remember. Whether you wear a suit everyday to a business casual workplace or you wear jeans from Wednesday to Friday, your ability to do “your” thing will get you attention, admiration, and leadership opportunities.

Aggressive Compulsive Disorder

Leaders want things to happen now. They are relatively impatient and very aggressive with their expectations of others because of their bold expectation of themselves. Practice small things so that you start to demand more of people around you and demand more of yourself. Try this: The next thing you want accomplished, ask for it in half the time. Tell your dry cleaners a week isn’t sufficient, you want your shirts tomorrow night. Start answering your phone, “This is Ryan, how can I help you?” Instead of, “Hello?” You’ll see that when you expect something of yourself and of other people, you get more from yourself and from others. Implement an aggressive compulsive disorder and you’ll get leadership respect in no time.

These are just a few ideas to becoming a better, more respected, more well known leader. As a leader you probably want attention and these tips will get you on the right track to developing a leadership persona that is critical to getting people to listen to you. Don’t wait around for things to happen, dive into one of these in your next email, meeting, or right now. Do them immediately and take action, leaders don’t wait for opportunities to come to them, they go out and grab them.