Are Your Attracting the Right Outcomes as a Leader?

Based on theories derived from the science of quantum physics, we know that what we focus on we also attract into our lives.  Therefore, it should not be a secret that the Universal Law of Attraction is alive and well and always acting on and responding to the tendencies and focuses of a leader.   That’s why I believe it is important to get clear about what the underlying motivations are that a leader gravitates to when in a position of leadership and how those leadership traits will attract or not attract the desired successful outcomes. For example, some of the traits that I believe are critical to understanding and predicting the effectiveness of ones leadership approach are:

1.   High energy level and stress tolerance: predicts the degree to which a person has the ability to perform under pressure and function in the presence of chaos; helps leaders cope with the hectic pace, stressful situations.

2.   Self-confidence: predicts the degree to which a person has an action oriented approach to problem solving, a self-confident leader is more likely to attempt difficult tasks and more persistent in the pursuit of difficult tasks.

3.   Internal locus of control: predicts the degree of belief a person has that events in life are determined by their own actions, therefore, they believe they can influence their own destiny; they take more responsibility for their own actions.

4.   Emotional stability and maturity: predicts the degree to which a person will have a more accurate awareness of their strengths and weaknesses; oriented toward self-improvement; less self-centered.

5.   Personal integrity: predicts a person’s ability to be honest, ethical and trustworthy; able to keep promises; able to build trust among others.

6.   Power motivation: predicts the degree to which a person will seek positions of authority and power and will be more attuned to the policies of the organization.

7.   Achievement orientation: predicts the degree of drive and ambition to accomplish a particular outcome; able to set challenging yet realistic goals and deadlines.

8.   Need for affiliation: predicts the degree to which a person will enjoy working with others and building relationships; willing to include others not only in the journey but in the creation of the desired outcome. 

In assessing one’s leadership traits or tendencies, one can potentially predict in advance how successful or not one might be in a certain situation. For example, the need for achievement, if too high can actually undermine leadership effectiveness and attract a lack of support for a particular outcome if not careful. If the need for personalized power is too strong, the person is likely to exercise power impulsively and seek to dominate people to keep them weak and dependant thereby attracting non-resourceful teams and individuals. One should look at all of these traits and tendencies (and others) and the potential impact they can have on leadership effectiveness as well as ineffectiveness. Being honest with oneself and to others will help a leader ensure they are able to attract the resources and outcomes they need to be successful in a particular leadership situation.

Don’t Just Create a Vision, Become the Vision

I’m sure you are familiar with Gandhi ‘s quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world” and Zig Ziglar’s quote “You must be before you can do”. You may not have realized it but both where zeroing in on what it truly means to be a Harmonic Leader with a vision. With the same sense of responsibility, I believe every leader must “become the vision they want to achieve”. 

Effective leaders must be able to purposefully inspire and energize people to act in a direction towards a goal they understand and believe is worthy and meaningful. Therefore, the Harmonic Leader must possess the ability to create, communicate and become a powerful vision that will not only excite the minds of their followers but inspire them to go "beyond" their current boundaries.

Own the Vision

One of my favorite bible verses states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18.) I once had an executive tell me that he didn’t want to create a vision because “what if he gets it wrong, he might get fired”. To him it was “safer” to just wing it and embrace whatever happens as something he expected to happen all along. Now don’t get me wrong, he wrote a vision (one of those one-sentence visions that you have to figure out on your own what it means exactly). It was a safe vision because no one understood it and he wasn’t explaining it. If you had to ask, you were the one who needed help, not him. 

Okay, I don’t like to use this term and I don't mean it personally but “what a cop-out”. I think he failed to realize that the vision wasn’t about “him” it was and will always be about “them”.   He failed to realize the “power of a vision” in getting people to do and create things they never dreamed of or thought they had the ability to create. Harmonic Leaders know that they must first possess confidence and a strong belief in their own abilities if they truly want to influence and change the present course and action in the organizations they lead.

Create a “Vision Story”

A Harmonic Leader also needs to practice "idealized influencing" that arouses strong emotions and reactions within the follower that leads the follower to closely identify with the leader. One way this is accomplished is through the creation and communication of a compelling “vision story”. One leader I know and would label as being a true Harmonic Leader, was very good at crafting visions that captured and motivated the employees to rally behind a common cause and goal that she saw as worthy. For example, in helping the organization emotionally connect with where she wanted to take the organization, she crafted (with the help of her leadership team) a 4 page detailed vision of what the future would be like. She knew the "one sentence" approach was not enough to move the mountain she saw before her.  The vision she created was written as if it was 2 years in the future and a person, while walking around and observing a different kind of organization, was describing in detail everything they saw and experienced from not only the perspective of the employee but of those the employees served.  It was vivid and emotionally captivating. In fact, in order to ensure people could actually see and feel the vision, one exercise that was used when it was rolled out to the teams was to read the vision to them while they closed their eyes and actually envisioned themselves 2 years in the future seeing and hearing everything that was described to them. 

This leader used various motivational speeches and techniques to inspire the organization to emotionally connect to a new future. I knew this leader had truly influenced and transformed the team when not only the goals as planned where achieved but also the organization was known to have a strong attachment to this leader. She not only created the vision but also became the vision in the process. Harmonic leadership involves evoking strong emotions while inspiring others to look at things differently, all of which are proactive influence tactics.

Be Your Greatest Salesperson 

Developing and communicating the vision is just the beginning. The Harmonic Leader knows that they must also be able to continually "sell the vision", continually convince others to climb on board, stick it out, whether in good times or bad. In other words, they must become the vision they want to achieve in the eyes of those they lead. How the Harmonic Leader not only "frames" but also sees and becomes the voice of the future and the organizations purpose is critical for long-term support. 

This can be illustrated in a story that has been passed down concerning three replies from three bricklayers when asked about their job. When the first bricklayer was asked what job he was doing, he replied, "I am laying bricks, one on top on each other". When the second bricklayer was asked what he was doing he replied, "I am building a great wall". However, when the third bricklayer was asked what he was doing he replied, "I am changing the world! I am building a new gateway to the west. A place where people from all over the world will have an opportunity to come and visit new places, meet new people, make new friends. I am building one of the most advanced travel facilities in the world. Millions of people will benefit from the work I am doing. This airport will change lives!" The difference in how each bricklayer saw their same job is an example of how important it is for the Harmonic Leader to create, communicate and "frame" the future purpose of the organization. The first two bricklayers where just doing their jobs, however, the third bricklayer was inspired and motivated because he was changing the world.

In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I will share with you one of the Universal Laws that support the message of becoming the vision you want to achieve. Enjoy and may your leadership “be” an example for others to follow and ultimately manifest.

The Law of Example

You are the example that others will follow. This law states that any person placed in a position of significance, serves as an “example” for others to follow. Those who serve as an example of greed and power are therefore creators of the tragedies, which they and those who follow them manifest. Those who serve as an example of love and service are therefore creators of the hope and fulfillment, which they and those who follow them manifest. The creative choice of example is totally up to the chooser, you!

A quick video from one of my "virtual mentors" to instill a "new thought". Enjoy!

10 Universal Laws to Know

For as long as I can remember, one of the sayings I always used when I felt people where stuck in the past was to "think a new thought".     This was before I ever heard about the Law of Attraction or Universal Laws in general.  Little did I know I was on to something very foundational and basic when it came to creating what you want.  That little phrase went on to "brand" me not only as a "new thought leader" but as the leader who always encourages others to "think a new thought if you want to create a new reality".  

With that in mind, I will share with you a few basic Universal Laws I have come to know and understand that not only support the importance of "thinking a new thought" but the importance of understanding the rules of the universe if you want to be successful in the game of life.  More to come later........

Law of Thought  

Thought is the ultimate creative source. This law states that energy follows thought and those that wish to energize only need to direct their thoughts toward that, which needs energizing. One must keep in mind that every moment we are creating or altering our experiences through the power of our thoughts. The life we see and experience is a product of our thoughts, our beliefs, our attitudes, our notions, our visions, our intentions, our emotions, our feelings, our expectations, etc…. in other words, all that we think, speak and expect we create.

Law of Harmony

Everything in our universe, including us, is in a constant state of vibration, producing an orderly harmonious (or disharmonious) flow at all times. To be in harmony is to be in harmonic balance and agreement with the Universe. We all seek in one way or another to live in harmony, the supreme potential of balance. This law states that when we reach this harmonious state we often find ourselves tempted to try and force things “into” it versus finding ways to become in “flow” with what’s happening in our Universe. These disharmonious actions will create vibrations that often prevent the desired change or results we seek from taking place. To be in harmony is to be in the natural non-resistant flowing of the universe.

Law of Choice (or Empowerment)

We make choices every instant of our lives. We are empowered to choose our thoughts and thus our ultimate actions and experiences. This law states that we are co-creators with the Spirit and behind all that we create is pure energy. Through our thoughts and visions we create our own realities. We create what we want to have manifested by giving our attention to it. We can also remove from ours lives those things we no longer want to experience by removing our attention from it and refocusing our energy and thoughts somewhere else. The golden rule is where your thoughts go your energy flows.

Law of Courage

Courage is not about being fearless; it’s about facing fear with the right action. This law states that fear departs when action enters. Having courage is having the ability to not only face your fears, dangers and risks but to do so with the intention of diffusing those fears, dangers and risks. Therefore, one must balance the degree of courage needed in any situation in proportion to the degree of risk, danger and fear that exists and must be diffused.

Law of Respect

Respect is essential for true understanding and lasting relationships. This law states that looking for respect means going beyond the surface appearance and to search for a deeper meaning and purpose. Without the law of respect we would never be able to realize and appreciate the true beauty and potential that exists within those that we have the honor to meet in our lives.

Law of Attraction

Opposites don’t attract, like attracts like. This law states that you attract what you are, not what you are not. Opposites do not attract, as it is commonly believed, it is like energy that attracts like energy. Consider radio waves as an example. When you tune into a certain frequency, you attract that same frequency to come through via your radio. The same happens in life. When you focus on something, you attract into your life what you give your attention and focus to. Keep in mind, “as you are is what you attract and what you attract is as your are”.

Law of Karma

The Buddhist teaches that “for every event that occurs, there ill follow another event whose existence was caused by the first and this second event will be good or bad based on how skillful or unskillfully the cause was executed”. This law states that a result comes from deliberate action, either good or bad. Therefore, the responsibility for an action is born by the person who commits it. There is good karma and bad karma, both are a result of the actions, good or bad, taken by the one responsible.

Law of Dharma

Everyone has been gifted with a unique talent and purpose in life. This law states that we all have a unique path and purpose to fulfill in this life called by some “our destiny” and by others “our fate”. It is our quest in life to not only discover this unique talent but to use it “on purpose for a purpose”. It is about discovering your true self in order to live out your true-life mission.

Law of Vibration

Everything vibrates, nothing sits idle, not even you! This law states that everything in the universe is in a constant state of motion. Nothing in the universe rests and everything in the universe is always moving and this is the base for manifestation. Solid items, such as tables, chairs, cars, etc…. all vibrate at a very low frequency which is what causes them to appear solid. The rate of vibration determines the difference between the physical and the non-physical world we experience. Our thoughts and feelings are energy and they too vibrate. We attract like energy based on the vibrations emitted by our thoughts. This is how we manifest the physical in our world from the thoughts we give our attention to.

Law of Manifestation

Everything we see in our reality began as a thought. This law states that everything we manifest begins as a thought or idea. It is our ideas and our thoughts that create the beliefs we have which in turn create the reality we experience. In other words, “mind creates matter”. If you want to change your experiences or your reality, then you need to change your mind. Remember to “change the way you see things and the way you see things will change”.