ISPARK
Earlier this year I sat down to create some leadership principles that I run my business and life with. I’m sharing them with you to inspire you to take time to reflect on what your principles are. We all have them internalized, now it’s time to write them down. Just in case you don’t notice, it’s an acronym that spells out ISPARK.
Innovation
– A great leader is always looking for opportunities to make an impact in the world. Whether it’s a way of doing things differently than they’ve been done or creating brand new sectors altogether.
Systems
– Every leader knows the importance of systems and processes. Without them, there is no scaling and without scaling there can be no massive growth. Systems are all about creating repeatable steps that can be duplicated easily in mass.
People First
– All great leaders value people more than anything. Think of Sam Walton, “If you want a successful business, your people must feel that you are working for them—not that they are working for you.” Without the right people and without treating people right, you will go nowhere fast.
Awareness
– You can call it emotional intelligence, social awareness, or just plain old awareness, but the point is that you need it. Awareness means that leaders understand the repercussions of their actions and their words. This is massively important and in our current environment, it’s something that is widely missing among many “so-called” leaders of our world.
Resilience
– With all the things that will go wrong in your business and in your life you must be passionate enough and have enough grit to get through it. Being a great leader requires resilience because things will get hard and there will be days that you wished you were not leading the way!
Kindness
– With so much hate, anger, and wanton opinions it feels like kindness is a lost principle. I’m here to remind you that the greatest of all true leaders are the kindest and most compassionate. They lead with love, they lead with hope, they lead with grace, which means they lead with kindness. Kindness is the most amazing strength of all! It brings down walls and it unites people because leading with kindness means putting your ego to the side and being empathetic.
