Synopsis
This is a simple book. You will not find fancy jargon to impress. Everything in this book represents an experience from life. It’s real stuff. No theories or trial leadership balloons. I want you to prosper and excel at leading others. But I also want you to learn the lessons of failure. As a leader, a critical characteristic is the practice of candor. For me, it’s about being transparent, honest, sincere, caring and many other traits. To become a great leader, you must be candid as you deal with employees and other followers.For every situation, there is a leadership principle that can help improve it. The beauty of the ideas presented in this book is their universal application. It doesn’t matter whether one is leading an organization, a family or a social group. I believe a lack of leadership skills can cause failures. I also believe a strong knowledge base can enhance your success. Leadership is where the rubber meets the road! Mastering the art of leading others is one of the most beneficial skills you can learn. It's useful to help grow a career, lead a family, or serve as President. Leadership is a learnable skill. It helps if one has some natural instinct on how to lead others. But, no matter where you currently are on the leadership scale, there is always room to improve. And that is one of the key characteristics of a successful leader, he or she is always open to new ideas.I’ve studied leadership principles and experienced first-hand opportunities to lead since I was 13. Coaches like John Wooden and Vince Lombardi were some of my early mentors. As a young coach, I looked up to these men. They were so successful. It was my dream to be as great a coach as they were.I’ve read hundreds of books on leadership and personal success. Og Mandino and Earl Nightingale were influencers on my personal motivation and success skills. (I had the wonderful experience of meeting and having a one-on-one conversation with both. Incredible memories.) Today I find the writings of John Maxwell a strong source of information.Learning about leadership is still my passion. There is so much to learn. It energizes me to think about all this “untapped” information.As I was thinking about the concept for this book, it occurred to me to make a list of leader characteristics. I found over 200 in a variety of books, articles, etc. I combined similar characteristics and ended with 169. No doubt, you can find others but, this is a start for your own personal research efforts.I made no attempt to tell you everything about each characteristic. My intent was to educate you a bit, stimulate your thinking and curiosity to learn more. I encourage you to read an item and spend time thinking about the message. Then, write thoughts stimulated by what you read. Spend time researching deeper on each topic of interest. Keep copious notes on any research you do. You want to be able to have a deep understanding and ability to implement the idea shared. If you do this for every item, your knowledge will grow in an exponential fashion. And, if you do this, it will take you a long time to finish my book! Throughout the book, I’ve applied the “candor” label. There is no sugarcoating the message. It’s raw, honest and direct. It’s simple and easy to apply. Use candor as a stimulus to help others in a caring and sincere manner. Candid conversations are what I want you to use as you lead others. In the long term, they will appreciate you for your truthfulness. The book is a “get out of jail” pass into reality. Be real and lead with candor. It will separate you from those unwilling to do so.
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