On Monday afternoon I have the privilege to teach leadership to over 100 realtors from Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty. Led by Todd Walters, I am very impressed with the faith-based and missional culture of this organization. When you put others first, you will never be second is one of the core values of this company.
They reached out and asked if I would be willing to teach to their team leadership principles from my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders. I told them it would be an honor.
I want the readers to get a picture of what these realtors will be taught. The following are My Speaking Notes From Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty. You will see some of the sections do not have the best grammar. Remember these are my speaking notes.
Apex Leaders Build Great Teams – The most common trait among Apex Leaders
Chapter 1
- Your team is your primary difference-maker.Your team is a reflection of you the leader and vice versa.
- Skill. Work Ethic. Passion. Skill + Work Ethic – Passion = Independent Contractor. Skill + Passion – Work Ethic = Wasted Effort. Passion + Work Ethic – Skill = Rudy.
- Nick Saban.“We are not in the talent collection business. We are in the teambuilding business.” All his teams look the same. He has a template.
Apex Leaders Are Humble Chapter 2
- Zappo’s
- Tearing down the walls between people, all successful business is personal, treating your employees as equals, leaders pick up packages, load the truck, call customers, empowering staff to take cares of customer needs, author Joseph Mitchell states these type of organizations are 20% more profitable than traditional top-down organizations.
- “The humility to prepare and the confidence to pull it off.” – Sir Laurence Olivier on why he was such a great actor
Apex Leaders Continually Improve Chapter 3
- Pride and arrogance are enemies of continual improvement. Complacency is an enemy to continual improvement.
- Continual improvement is needed in case of leadership transitions. New leadership has no emotional attachment to us. All leadership is temporary. Our message can become stale.
- We are not owners of our careers and positions, merely renters. We must be good stewards of our assignments and leave our organizations better than we found them.
- Your goal should now be position, wealth, status, or championships. It should be personal growth.
Apex Leaders Work Hard, Very Hard – the second highest rated trait (this chapter contains a ton of quotes on hard work) Chapter 4
- “If I’m already ahead of you and work harder than you today, you’ll never catch me.”
- Hard work beats talent and competence when talent and competence doesn’t work hard.
- Proverbs 6:10-11 – “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep – So shall poverty come on you like a prowler.”
- Success smells a lot like sweat.
- Hard work – arriving early, lonely work, focus on fundamentals, 10,000 Rule, it is inside-out not outside-in, is about preparation, it enables fast starts, eliminates distractions, helps with focus, maximizes marginal time, you up hard work on days off, brings peace to a leader’s life.
Apex Leaders Form Strong Relationships Chapter 5
- Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – drawn together by a similar reason for their success – curiosity, avid readers, hard workers, positive attitudes, mutual disdain for frivolous things, both wrote down “focus” as most responsible for their success. Buffet said, ““I wanted people with similar values, similar objectives, (people who could) pour in intelligence, energy and their own funds. Every life is of equal value, (people who) see the world as I do. They want meaning and persuasive powers and getting many governments and people involved.”
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest philanthropic organization.86% of the world’s children have access to vaccines. Buffett will ultimately give approximately $44B to the Foundation. Through an initiative called “The Giving Pledge”, 156 billiionnaires now pool their resources to serve the poor and under-resourced.
Apex Leaders Make Others Better Chapter 6
- Walter Szulc, JR shark attack – 2012 kayaking off Cape Cod. Trouble comes suddenly and silently. Your ears must be to the ground. Others see problems before you do. He was the last one to see the shark. A good team gives you 360 degree vision and multiple perspectives. The shark was bigger than the kayak. When leaders wait too long to address issues, the problems can become unmanageable. When Szulc noticed the problem he immediately paddled to shore. Passivity is never your friend. Family are your best friends. His daughter warned him to stay out of the water. He did not listen prior to going into the water and he could not hear them while in the water. After the beaches were closed, many people went back into the water after the lifeguards got off duty. Though the odds may be small, the stakes are too great for leaders to mess up.
Apex Leaders Show Consistency Chapter 7
- As a leader, your ability to handle conflict, crisis, disappointments, shifts in the market, downturns in the economy , false accusations, and challenging times is often not determined by your competence but your private consistency.
- Henry Aaron – From 1955 through 1974 he hit between 20 and 47 home runs each season.27-26-44-30-39-40-34-45-44-24-32-44-39-29-44- 38-47-34-40-20. We over-celebrate big results and under-appreciate consistent excellence. Aaron reminds us greatness is not always achieved through short-term spectacular results but sometimes through long-term consistency.
- Consistency is needed for platforms. Consistency is the platform for greatness. Let God bring the opportunities to you. This presupposes you have been prepared for the assignment. God uses the broken, humble, dependent, and consistent person.
Apex Leaders Give Generously – Chapter 8
- Financial Leaders – lonely, go to them, do not talk about money, talk about their lives, be their pastor
- Do not under-challenge or avoid financial leaders in your life. They take their responsibilities seriously. Give them tasks worthy of their involvement. A great vision attracts financial leaders. A small vision repels financial leaders. These leaders also care about their legacy. They want to accomplish something great with their lives and are intentional about doing so.
- Financial leaders are risk-takers by nature and unafraid of failure. However, do your homework. Financial leaders deal in reality–not fantasy. Commitment will be low if they feel projects or initiatives are poorly planned and unachievable.
- Finally, financial leaders understand return on investment.
Apex Leaders Lead By Example – Chapter 9
- Pat Summitt – 1984 Olympic medal, 8 NCAA Championships, first to reach 1000 wins, never had a losing season in 38 years (84.1% winning percentage), 7-time National Coach of the Year, 18 assistants became head coaches, 100% graduation rate, started in 1974 at 22 years old, washed the uniforms, drove the bus, did doughnut sales, slept in the other team’s gym on mats. In 2012, Coach Summit was rightfully honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Apex Leaders Deliver Results – one of the primary things which separates Apex Leaders from others – Chapter 10
- Jesus – Conclude by giving just a small list of His accomplishments.
I can’t wait to do this teaching. If you would like for me to speak to your church, business, non-profit, athletic organization or academic leaders, click HERE and let’s have a conversation.
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