Blog

One of the secrets of the millionaire mind is-that in order to become wealthy you need to have leadership skills. This skill is very important to become a millionaire. Moreover, in my experience of interacting with wealth builders, one thing stands out they are great leaders.

What exactly is leadership?

Before we go on talk about this important skill, I believe it is important to define leadership. The dictionary defines of leadership as an act or instance of leading, guidance or direction.

Michael Masterson, bestselling author, of Power and Persuasion: How to command influence in your business and personal life believes a leader’s primary job is to get people to do what needs done.

To be a successful leader you have to know how to deal with people.  There are many great leaders, who are not wealthy, who are successful in many areas of life. However, if you want to become wealthy you need to know how to get people to cooperate with you-to accumulate wealth.

The key to being a great leader is the way; you get people to do things for you. There are two ways to get work done- you can bully people, or inspire them. These two ways have their own benefits. However, when you become a bully to get things done-you will ultimately diminish the power to influence other.  People despise bullies and they will resist anyone who tries to violate their freedom in order to achieve selfish ends.  Stories l of bullies in government, and business abound. They all end up in one place-the rubbish bin of history. The best way to lead is to inspire others to do what needs done. When you inspire others, you will spark and rouse their spirit.

Our schools do not teach leadership skills. The media and our society have fed us with many myths about leadership and IQ.  The reality: your ability to be a leader- is unrelated to your IQ. Leaders are not born. Leaders emerge.

Dr Thomas Stanley, bestselling author, The Millionaire mind, disproves the myth that having a high IQ and SAT scores in school confers you the skill to become a leader. The results of the survey he conducted amongst real millionaires are revealing. : The majority of his respondents graduated with average grade point averages. It was only in the attorney and physician categories of millionaires that rated intellect or superior IQ high as a success factor for becoming wealthy. Dr. Stanley millionaire respondents are from the data   collected from IRS and Census Bureau records.

What traits do you need be a good business leader?

I believe you need three critical traits to be a good business leader. The first trait is the willingness to take charge and get things done. The next trait, you need to have is the courage to believe that you can do better s in providing value to the market you serve. In addition, you need to be able to create and communicate a compelling vision that people can follow you to accomplish for your business.

How does great leadership apply to becoming a millionaire?

In order to achieve wealth you need leadership. Because, if you study the lives of majority of millionaires, and billionaires who made their fortune, you will see a common thread-they made their fortune through building or investing in businesses. The next thing almost all of these wealth builders do is -they sold either part or the whole of their businesses- to make a fortune.

Now it takes a takes leadership to create a company with zero sales, with no prospects of surviving to become a multimillion-dollar enterprise. It takes the ability to communicate and lead people to accomplish this feat. It also takes leadership to create a company perceived as valuable by the marketplace, that investors are willing to buy.

Richard Branson is an example of a great business leader that readily comes to my mind. Branson heads the Virgin group, a conglomerate of over 300 branded companies, employing   approximately 50,000 people in over 30 countries. Global branded revenues exceeded $20 billion in 2006 according to a statement on the group’s website.

How is Richard Branson able to run a successful multinational company?

Branson is able to run a worldwide organization, because he is a leader that has an eye for seeing opportunities where others cannot see them. In addition, he has the courage to act.  Richard Branson dropped out of college .His teachers rated him a poor student in his SAT scores.  However, the school system could not identify Branson’s most important traits-his ambition and his ability to connect with people and inspire them- even though he had failing grades.

These key traits – ambition, audacity and willingness to inspire, helped Branson build a fortune.

When I read Branson’s biography and listened to his interviews, the whole idea of leadership as a success factor for wealth creation, made sense.

Let me explain.

If you are a man of ideas that can communicate your business in a clear and compelling manner, people will want to be part of your vision. As a result, you will attract the right people and capital to succeed in business.

The good news is you can develop leadership skills like Branson. You don’t have to be audacious like him. All you need is to make a decision to commit to be a great leader.

How to start to develop the leader in you

I believe that becoming wealthy or successful is result of acting in a particular manner. You can learn and develop the skills you need to be a great business leader and become a millionaire in no time fast. It’s easier than you think to begin learning the skills to become a leader. In fact, the learning you need is right now close to you.

The fastest way to develop your skill as a leader is to volunteer to take on more responsibility in your place of work, church and community. The key is to take action immediately, what my mentor calls ready, fire…aim

When you take on more responsibility, you will have the chance to make decision. You will also have to write more memos and make presentations to the influential people in your work place or in the community. By practising decision-making, communicating your ideas-you stretch your mind. I believe that when you start to act you will stretch your mind and become a better leader.

There are many benefits to taking part in these activities. The first one is that people will begin to know you and you can quickly build a network of contacts. The second spin off is that your confidence to take on challenges will increase, because you are training your mind to develop courage. Finally, because of you are working with and leading others -you’ll notice your ability to communicate ideas will improve.

I believe you should take action because; one of the main reasons many people avoid starting a business is the fear of failure. When you volunteer to lead, take charge, communicate and begin to influence people others-you will banish the fear of failure.

This one skill, being a successful leader is one of your key to developing the millionaire mind to become wealthy.  Take action today decide you will develop it.

Think rich to get rich

Akin osho