We are all Leaders

We are All Leaders by Keith Lawrence Miller

We are all leaders. Leadership is about influence. Leadership begins with the self and a valuable component of strong leadership is love. We specialize in leading ourselves and make choices to positively influence our present and future. To love anyone else we need to start with loving ourselves and to lead anyone else we need to begin by leading ourselves.

This challenge is bigger than first perceived and many people fail to make it past the starting gate because of initial poor choices that lead to social debt. Playing catch up mode in life prevents compounding growth of success from happening, but success is not unreachable if we start pushing the 200 ton bus today. The goal is to have something to show for life when it is all said and done.

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy

RuralLeaderMagazine.com | JULY/AUGUST 2015 21 of Needs is an important theory that outlines the progression of successful development. Briefly, we need basic needs such as food and water, and will strive to satisfy these needs at any cost. Poverty creates violence and we would all become animalistic if cast to the lower level of the hierarchy. Safety needs are next followed by the need to be liked by others or some would call it the need for love. This is the level most of us attempt to fulfill and fall short because of choices or faulty intentions. Strong leadership ability depends on satisfying this need and this need is fulfilled initially by loving ourselves. The following two levels are where history takes place and greatness is achieved. The need to be respected by others and the need to be accomplished are the fuel of higher level goals. When Rocky reaches the top step we all feel his energy and identify with his determination because it is human nature to want to reach that top step. Leadership starts within us and providing others with positive influence is a priceless gift that transfers throughout generations. Once inner leadership is accomplished then greater leadership challenges exist.

The main prerequisite for organizational leadership is for the aspiring individual to be motivated to be a leader. A lack of motivation to handle the enormous task of leadership will certainly end in failure. The second prerequisite for leadership is for the leader to have followers. Without followers there is no leadership. Leadership is relational - Leadership is psychological - Leadership leverages power appropriately - Leadership

is an ART. Effective leadership greatly improves all business processes at all levels. Strong leadership provides product differentiation. Servant leadership builds trust within the organization. Today's leadership requirement has turned the hierarchical pyramid upside down. Influence, providing vision, fulfilling needs for acknowledgement, and creating meaningful work for employees is mandatory of current successful leadership. The pay differential for leaders vs. mid-level employees is vast and these higher salaries create higher expectations. Technology has created a world where work never stops and providing leadership around the ever-changing organizational variables is integral.

Organizational leadership has changed forever and soft skills such as relationship building, collaboration, and change management are the key metrics for producing success. This statement is uncomfortable for most organizational leaders because it clashes with their leadership experience.

The previous statement is not a blanket statement for the leadership of yesterday, but rather, a harbinger of the leadership of our current future. Soft skills leadership will provide a competitive advantage and competing companies will rush to leverage the art of true leadership. As the environment changes so do leadership practices in order to be financially solvent. The ultimate goal of all business is to make a profit which starts and ends with successful leadership and all successful leadership starts and ends with the inner self.— About the Author The EliteProCoach Keith Lawrence Miller is an Elite ProCoach, Executive Career Coach, Consultant ICF Certified, and Credentialed Professional Business Coach. For more information, visit http://eliteprocoach.com/