The Key to Loyalty II

I love being a professional speaker. I love inspiring people and traveling all around the world to speak to people committed to their personal and professional growth. The last eight years or so, my main topic has been The Art of Influence, from my book of that name.

I love teaching leaders and sales people how to influence others. It isn't trickery, or techniques, but something deeper that creates a nearly unbreakable bond between leader and follower or between seller and buyer. It is really about the character of influence.

One of the main points in my presentation is how to create loyalty among employees, customers, and co-workers. Loyalty is so important in influence because it creates the strongest bond. It is what takes you through the hard times. Everything is easy and everyone is on board when the going is good, but when the going gets tough, loyalty is the glue that holds things together.

So what creates loyalty? Service. Being a servant of those you are leading or to whom you are selling. Or, as I put it in my speech, consider other people's interests more important than your own.

This doesn't mean that you don't consider your own interests. You should. But it means that rather than being selfish, you act with selflessness. The decisions aren't based on what's good for youbut what is good for others, for the team, or for the client.

Service is demonstrated over time. The longer you can show that you are working for them, the more loyal they will become. People are skeptical. They expect you to be self-serving. Prove them wrong.

My mentor and co-host of our television show True Performance was the late Zig Ziglar, the epitome of the motivational speaker. One of my favorite quotes by Zig was, "You can have anything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want out of life."

In other words: Serve others and you will achieve what you want to achieve.

I've always found it fascinating that on the McDonald's signs they put "Over a billion served." Not sold, served. We aren't called to sell. We are called to serve. We aren't called to dominate people with our leadership, but to serve others. And in doing that, we actually achieve our goals.

So, are you a servant? Do you consider the interests of others more important than your own? Are you always looking out for the other guy? If not, focus on being more attentive to the needs of those around you. Doing so will create the loyalty you are looking for from your employees, customers and co-workers!