When we think of traditional leaders, we envision a confident, courageous and dogmatic type of individual. Everything they do seems to work well, so they advocate everyone mirroring their activities and they boast of their achievements.
Modern day leaders do not behave in that way. Particularly with the usage of social media, it’s very easy to provide your insights in a matter-of-fact manner to draw people into what you do. It’s the quiet leadership that works best. Thoughtful leadership takes all of this to a new level.
What is thoughtful leadership?
Thoughtful leadership is helping those who are following in your footsteps, and those who can benefit from your expertise through community service.
When you put into practice benefiting these two groups, you help society. And when many put this practice into place, we create societal change. It’s not pie in the sky any more. With the advent of social media and the ability to reach millions, change is very possible and very real.
What do you wish to change or advocate? How are you able to help others help themselves? A number of entrepreneurs known to me all fit the description of having helped communities around them as they began to build their business. The result was they found far greater success together than they would have found alone. In the eyes of their communities, they are the leaders.
Serving communities and teaching others is one of the best branding activities to be incorporated into your business plans. Good word of mouth spreads, referrals come your way and business grows. The upward-spiral effect continues, and you have quietly placed yourself in the leadership role.
You may have heard the sales expression, “qualify your best matches”. Networking terms speak to finding “like-minded” people. As you concentrate on a given path, such as community service, others similarly minded individuals will seek you out.
The quality of what you offer
The service or teachings that you offer should have strong value, and address a specific need. It should be consistent with the remainder of your business, not just a random act. What do you currently do that others wish to know about? For example, interviewing follows the sales cycle. My community service is teaching job seekers how to sell themselves on interviews to get hired. The subject matter is complementary to my sales training program.
Consider what you had wished to know about your business when you first began. Most likely, this is what others now wish they already knew as well. Are you able to volunteer your time to a group? Have you created a list of tweets to share the information with your following? Are you supplying these answers on group forums online? Did you produce a blog or video to share?
There are so many ways in which we may get our expertise known today. It’s up to you to choose the ones that excite you the most and will be time efficient along with developing your branding plan.
Incorporating multiple venues for communication into your business plan, and serving communities, your personal brand becomes “the quiet leader”. New opportunities come your way and business grows better than ever. In fact, it becomes a very Smooth Sale!
Author:
Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.” Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.
