This is Stacie Johnson and I am one of the sales and leadership coaches with Emerge Sales Training. In early 2018 I started teaching the Your Leadership Foundation course. What I love about this course is that leadership is a skill that can be learned. I have seen individuals grow in their leadership confidence and are really making strides towards becoming the type of leaders they have always wanted to be for their organizations.
I recently read a book titled, “The Leadership Journey: How to Master the Four Critical Areas of Being a Great Leader” written by Korn Ferry’s CEO Gary Burnison. One of the quotes from the book that I cannot stop thinking about reads, “The essence of leadership, of being a CEO: is emotionally and sometimes literally transporting people on a journey from one place to another, and inspiring them to believe in what they can achieve-that they can, indeed, reach a faraway destination.”
The quote strikes a nerve for me because I had a volleyball coach during college that is the epitome of this. He brought our team along the journey to a faraway destination that seemed so far from our reach. He believed in me and my teammates even when we didn’t believe in ourselves. How can one person have so much influence over others? He embodied the 4 critical areas that this book talked about that are:
- Look in the mirror – develop the self-awareness to lead yourself first. We talk about that all the time – you can’t lead others until you lead yourself.
- Embody purpose – start with the why, define the how (strategy) and the what (the vision).
- Don’t walk alone – leadership is always a journey with others. There is no leadership without followership. How will you create your following? Tap into your power of storytelling. People will feel the force of your passion and commitment in the stories you tell. They will believe and they will become inspired to act.
- Navigate beyond the horizon – plot the course beyond the line of sight of what everyone sees. You anticipate what is around the next bend, but not yet visible.
He knew where his strengths were and what gaps he had. He knew the purpose of what he was trying to create and how we would get there. He was on the journey with others and he was creating a followership. And he was anticipating what was around the next bend, but not yet visible for our team each day.
He took a bunch of small town USA girls and brought us together and we finished 5th in the national tournament 2 years in a row…something that our college had never done before! He was tough and pushed us beyond our limits of what we thought we could do. We became better volleyball players, but ultimately better people because of his influence.
So as you begin your leadership journey, or if you are already on the journey of leadership look at these 4 critical areas: look in the mirror, embody purpose, don’t walk alone, and navigate beyond the horizon.
Thank you so much for reading today’s post. If you want to learn the leadership skills that can help you reach that far away destination on your sales journey, go to emergesalestraining.com/courses and sign up for Your Leadership Foundation.
Not ready for Leadership but ready to take the next step in training for your sales journey? We have coaches that can help you find the course for you. Send us a message at team@emergesalestraining.com.
Have a great day!