Six Things Great Leaders Do

I send most of my body language and intuition tips via v-mail (short videos delivered to your inbox).

Brendon Burchard is an admirable thought leader. During his talk How to Hire and Build High-Performance Teams, Brendon outlines his framework for leadership which he calls the 6 Es (published in his book The Student Leadership Guide).

Envision

Great leaders envision a compelling, different, and vibrant future. They have an alternative, clear view of what the world can look like tomorrow. It’s a practice … a daily practice … a long-term mindset and view.

Where there is no vision, people perish.

Great leaders continually ask themselves: Where are we? Where are we going?

Enlist

Great leaders enlist others to share their voices, perspectives, dreams, and desires of where they are going. Remember, people support what they create. To get buy-in from your team, enlist others to create with you.

Great leaders are always asking others what they think, what they feel, what they desire. Enlist others to shape the dream and stay dedicated to the dream. Great leaders have an honest, authentic, genuine desire to see other people be involved in the process and to enjoy the process

Embody

Great leaders embody their message, they stand for something. There is a congruence between who they are, the behaviors that they are enacting in the world, how they treat people, what they’re working toward, and what they say is important. Great leaders have integrity.

Empower

Great leaders empower people. They give them the decision-making authority and the trust that they will work toward this vision. They allow them the autonomy, the strength, and the input. They equip their teams with the knowledge, skills, technologies, tools, and training that will allow them to succeed. Great leaders do this every day.

Evaluate

Great leaders evaluate the key people and their contributions, skills, and needs. They evaluate the ethics going on in the organization and in the team. Great leaders ask themselves: Are we being excellent and ethical? If not, why? Are we progressing? If not, why?

Evaluation happens EVERY DAY. Great leaders give honest, direct, immediate, and constructive feedback to the people they are trying to influence and lead.

Encourage

Great leaders are the champion and cheerleader. They encourage on a continual basis. Great leaders have the desire to lead and lift people up, they want to get people up off their bums and get them excited about things. Great leaders motivate people with passion and their example.

Nonverbal Science Comment:

Knowledge of, and application of, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace enables great leaders to be effective in their encouragement and appreciation.