7 Principles of Influential Leadership
As a leader, your core job is to rally your team around the mission - no ivory tower barking of orders. True leadership means serving those you lead. Servant leadership is the gateway to becoming an influential leader as well as the road to continued success. The attitude you adopt and actions you take will shape your leadership style.
There are 7 key principles I’ve used throughout my career as a leader to build influence. From cop to accountant, it doesn’t matter what type of leader you are. These universal principles work for all leaders.
But before we get into my 7 principles, let’s establish some basic groundwork. Much like building a house or a business, there are a few foundational pillars that must be in place to lead people.
First, what is your mission? Is it clear?
Assuming you have a clear mission in place, you begin empowering your people with everything required to execute that mission. Get them the tools, training, teammates, technology - anything needed to devote full energy toward accomplishing the objective. When you recognize and serve their needs first, they'll move mountains for the cause.
Second, understand your role. Your job is to clear hurdles, not hoard perks.
Never reserve the prime parking, premium offices, or the best and newest technology for yourself while your team gets “second best” in terms of resources. That's backward leadership, and it’s demoralizing to your people. Influential leaders prioritize their team's needs and growth over self-indulgent perks.
Now that we’ve established a few essential basics, let’s get into my 7 principles of influential leadership.
1. Be Humble
Lead through quiet humility, not boastful self-promotion. Underestimating someone's talents gives them an upper hand. Disarm egos and let your true strengths speak loudly through selfless actions. Lay the foundation to inspire others to follow you, not demand it.
2. Be a Passionate Visionary
Showing zeal for the vision energizes people and conveys a compelling "Why" that inspires best efforts. An impassioned vision becomes a unifying rallying cry. But you must walk the talk daily, living out the vision with unwavering conviction to spark hope and belief in achieving what may feel very daunting.
3. Set Expectations and Boundaries
Upfront expectations prevent frustrations. Be honest with your team. Tell them you'll make mistakes, and you expect they will as well. But, always own them and learn from them. Empower people to question the unclear without judgment. Implement guidelines balancing empowerment with accountability. Proper expectations create an open, growth-oriented culture of ownership.
In addition to clear expectations, set boundaries around self-reliance and accountability. Test their resourcefulness in pushing through obstacles independently before seeking help. There's a line between escalating true roadblocks and dependence on you to do it for them. When you have defined boundaries, you are able to preserve mutual respect while offering a supportive safety net.
4. Teach People How to Find the Answers
Don't just dole out answers - guide people to discover solutions themselves through questioning and analysis. Foster their critical thinking to become self-guided problem solvers, not just order takers who are dependent on you. Equip them with skills to synthesize their own answers long-term.
5. Create Influence on Your Teams
Provide strategic opportunities and permission for self-motivation, not overt demands. Prime the circumstances for teams to organically raise their own standards through positive peer influence. For example, provide resources to all team members that will help them develop or get “better” at what they do. Encourage them to leverage the resources available to them, and then recognize those who do. Those who choose to take initiative become influential on your team.
6. Surround Yourself with the Right Advisors
Don't just surround yourself with deferential yes-men. You need proven experts, those who learned from failures, and most critically - candid advisors courageous enough to push back respectfully when you need course-correction. Seek the right balance of supporters and rivals committed to your leadership growth. And have these Advisors cover different aspects of life, not just your work.
7. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get in the Trenches
Influential leaders get their hands dirty alongside the team in the trenches. They do not just delegate from on high. Investing personal time and energy demonstrates an ethic of service over self-importance. It builds relational credibility fueling morale and commitment. To take this a step further, there are five actual positions of leadership that influential leaders learn how to navigate. Grab a free copy of my ebook about these positions of leadership.
Final Thoughts
Your leadership influence flows from intentional self-sacrifice in serving a greater cause, not authoritarian demands of sacrifice from others. Embrace these principles to become an influential, respected leader others willingly follow - one who vividly charts the course, empowers people to navigate it themselves, and walks with them through every hurdle on the arduous yet rewarding path of personal and professional development.
