LEadership And Management Begins With You: Will You Take the Elevator or the Stairs

True leadership involves having a clearly defined vision, individuals who need to be guided, and a structured pathway forward. However, my research and personal experiences have led me to uncover another aspect of leadership that is often overlooked. The attitude that a leader brings into the role and leadership activities determine their long-term effectiveness. A positive attitude towards leadership will get you further than a negative one. Going even deeper, the attitude towards what I refer to as the 4PT Method of leadership determines the level of personal satisfaction, the culture of learning, and the organization’s climate.

The 4PT Method stands for personality, priorities, perspective, positioning, and transformation. Effective and influential leaders know their personalities, strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, drives, and possess high levels of personal intelligence. In addition, true leaders know their priorities, purpose, unique gifts, values, and the importance of positive relationships. Another area of importance is the personal perspective that can significantly influence biases, limiting beliefs, and the ability to lead effectively. Finally, how a leader positions his or herself to analyze weaknesses, personal training, and growth determines their ability to transform into the best leader they can be.

According to John Maxwell, there are five levels of leadership, position, permission, production, people development, and pinnacle. The lowest point is the position or title that needs to be more effective. The highest level, the pinnacle, is the highest level where leaders are followed not because of the position but due to respect and admiration; everything in between those extreme levels is an opportunity for reflection and growth. With proper training, leaders can effectively grow from a level one (position) leader to a level five (pinnacle) leader by implementing the 4PT Method into the learning process.

For proper growth to develop within an effective leader, one must understand the circles of control, influence, and concern. The circle of control represents things the leader can control personally. These things relate to individual personality, priorities, perspective, and personal positioning in life. The circle of influence represents things that a leader can influence, such as emotions, relationships, decisions, actions, and leadership style. Finally, the circle of concern represents things that the leader cannot control, such as the past, future, activities of others, actions of others, opinions of others, what people think of you, and how others take care of themselves.

This workbook will focus training on the circle of control and influence. As stated earlier, the circle of concern is an area over which leaders and individuals have little to no control or influence. All that can be done as a leader is to focus most of their energy on internal factors so that the areas of influence can be improved. Effective leadership can take place when the leader’s energy is focused on becoming the best version of themselves. As stated by Brian Tracy, a leader can soar as high as their weakest critical success factor. For higher heights to be manifested, personal and professional growth and transformation must occur.

Topics covered in this book include:

The Leadership Thought Process
Leadership Energy and Drives
Different Human Personality Dynamics
Leadership Systems
Systems Thinking
Organizational Bias
Problem Analysis
Change Management
Important Leadership Principles
Important Leadership Rules
Leadership Planning Tools
The 4PT Method to Leadership Transformation