7 steps to leadership mastery

7/29/2019 7 Steps to Leadership Mastery

1/22


2/22

Copyright 2007 Brent Filson Filson Leadership Group, Inc.

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery

by Brent Filson


3/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery


Time to Call in the Expert?

Are you discouraged by

lackluster results at your

organization?

Do you want to shake up the

status quo and createpositive changefast?

Want to know how to

galvanize your organization

for consistent results?

In this special report by Leadership Expert Brent Filson, you'llacquire seven revolutionary ideas on how to tap into your "innerleader to maximum organizational results and careersatisfaction.

Discover Brent Filsons leadership secrets that have helpedthousands of executives and managers worldwide achieve theirgoals while cultivating working relationships that ensurecontinual results, day after day, year after year.

These are proven, practical ideas you can put into action rightawaywhatever size your organization or market you serve.Dont wait another day wondering what you can do to achievefast, continual results for your organization.

Want to find out more about leadership that increases profits?Visit www.actionleadership.com for additional advice, tools, andinformation.
http://www.actionleadership.com/


4/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery


Contents

Step One: Clarify the Action You Want 1

Step Two: Link Motivation to Action 3

Step Three: Plan Smarter For Results 5

Step Four: Build Your Action Team 7

Step Five: Create a Climate for Success 9

Step Six: Ramp up Results 11

Step Seven: Cultivate Continual Results 13

Brent Filsons leadership methodologies recast the way you

think about things; and on a deep and powerful and gentle way,

they change the way you do your job.Laura Arling, GeneralDirector of New Business, John Hancock

I have applied his tools and techniques in multiple companiesand on multiple continents and found universal results. In my

latest assignment, I applied his principles to help improve

operating margin by over 30 margin points.Paul Conroy,Business General Manager Honeywell Europe.


5/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery


Step One: Clarify the Action You

WantGetting your team and your company all workingtogether, pointed in the same direction can be a dauntingchallenge. I dont know about you, but when my kidswere still living at home, even getting the crew of fourout the door at the same time took a supreme effort.Getting a team or 12 or 100 can be even more daunting.

Whats the key to getting your team moving together,moving projects out the door, and improving yourcompanys productivity?

Have you ever watched a rowing race with crews of eightoars people putting their all into making their boat fly? Inrowing, everyone knows the objective is to get across thefinish line first. To make this happen, each oarspersonneeds to know exactly how and when to pull their oar.When they do it right, the boat seems to lift off and moveforward at amazing speed.

In business its the same. To get everyone workingtogether you need to make sure each member of theteam understands the goals and the specific actions youwant them to take.

What action is your team taking this week? Today? Rightthis minute? A well-defined action plan will help yourteam focus their time and energy to achieve results.

Thats why I suggest my clients create Action FlowCharts that offer a visual roadmap of the path fromaction to results. For example, think of a recentlycompleted project.

On the right side of the chart, write the results youwanted. On the left side, write the sequence of actionsthat led to the results. Could you have changed thesequence or the actions themselves to get better results?


6/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery2


Pay attention to the process. Avoid the conventional,linear approach to action and results. Transform thesequences of actions into action processes that can beused in a variety of settings.

When everyone on your team and your company is inalignment with your goals and has a clear understandingof the actions necessary, youll find people pullingtogether to get you to the finish line faster.

Learn more about leadership techniques that help youarticulate your vision to your team in a way that capturestheir attention and focuses their energies for results.

"Brent Filson is one of the most talented communicatorsin the world. If you want to learn to motivate two, two

hundred or two thousand people to take action for

results, his lectures and seminars are a must!"Joseph Mancuso, CEO of the Center for EntrepreneurialManagement.
http://www.actionleadership.com/ezine/v2n10.html


7/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery3


Step Two: Link Motivation toActions

What do most people do when they get hungry? Theirhunger prompts them to seek out food. Cavemen wenthunting for bison or looking for berries. Today, we openthe refrigerator, hit the cafeteria or a restaurant. Threetimes a day, your hunger motivates you to take action.

Similarly, a different type of hunger motivates people totake action. Its the hunger for achievement,recognition, autonomy and increased income. The key tomotivating people is to tap these inner needs and make

sure they understand the connection of their needs tospecific actions.

So how can you, as an effective leader, help them satisfythat hunger and accomplish your own goals as well? Letssay youre charged with increasing the margins for aspecific product line. You might point out to your team,that should they accomplish this objective within acertain timeframe, a bonus (increased income) tied to apercentage of the profits earned for a month.

If thats not feasible, maybe youll recognize theirachievement by promising a dinner celebration or freevacation incentive.

Youre probably thinking, Why cant I just order my teamto take action? You could try acting like a general in thearmy, barking orders and making threats, but few adultsin the workplace respond well to that kind of treatment.Would you?

Of course there are people on every team who want to beordered to act. In this case, its best to give them whatthey need while weaning them off their fears of decision-making and autonomy.

But generally, youll find that if you appeal to youremployees inner motivation and help them get what theywant: achievement, recognition, autonomy and increased


8/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery4


income, youll find that youll get what you want too:commitment, responsibility and performance.

Learn more about how to lead your team onto successwhile creating mutually supportive and beneficialbusiness relationships.

"Brent Filson's Three-Trigger Motivational Process makesthe Leadership Talk all the more concrete. I keep and

refer to the wallet card frequently to keep me on course.

His two-day intensive is a winner!"

Mark Goldman, Office of Career Development andEmployee Work Life, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center


9/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery5


Step Three: Plan Smarter ForResults

It might be a clich, but If you fail to plan, you plan tofail. A strategically consistent, focused, and action-oriented plan can determine the success or failure of yourorganizations goals. But its not enough to get the planon paper.

How can you get your team to do more than read, fileand forget your plan? How can you motivate them totake the necessary incremental steps every day, everyweek, every month to ensure your organization achieves

its goals?

Great leaders cultivate a culture of action. You can too.Start by revolutionizing whats often the greatestimpediment to tangible action: the office meeting.

How many meetings have you attended where theagenda is abandoned within the first 10 minutes? Howmany times have you left a meeting wondering if any ofthe action items agreed to would actually beimplemented?

Heres one solution: At your next meeting, the firstagenda item should be an Action Report. Its a first-hand, five-minute account from someone on your teamabout how he or she recently (since the last meeting)motivated someone to take action.

Forewarn your team ahead of time that any one of themmight be selected for this task at the last minute. Thatalone serves two functions: Itll ensure that not only

everyone will be prepared with an action item, but it alsogives your team an added incentive to be focused onaction during their workdays to ensure they havesomething to talk about at the next meeting.


10/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery6


To maintain the momentum of your meetings, be sure toconclude them with highly defined Next Steps, i.e.,when the actions will happen, how the actions aremonitored and evaluated.

Want your meetings to yield fast, continual results?Discover proven action triggers in The Leadership Talk.

I've been using Brent Filson's methodologies for morethan seven years. And they get results! They not only get

results on a tactical level but a strategic level too.

Richard Brown, President and Global General Manager,Fortune 100 Company.
http://www.actionleadership.com/articles/0018.html


11/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery7


Step Four: Build Your ActionTeam

If you know your audiences needstheir problems, theirinterests, and their valuesyou will have a far betterchance of successfully soliciting their cooperation. Thatway, you can present your goals in the context of theirneeds or their concerns or their problems, so your chancefor success increases.

Say your teen-age children resist doing their chores.(Just imagine!) The lawn is overgrown, the sink is piledhigh with dirty dishes and you know the big football

game theyve been eager to attend is this afternoon.

Using this example, you might convince your son ordaughter to complete their chores, because doing sofrees you up to drive them to the football game on time.Otherwise, if you have to do their chores, theyll have noway to get there and might be late or even miss thegame.

So its important to not only explain the purpose of aparticular action (clean kitchen, mowed lawn, happyparents), but the meaning the action has for them (theyget a ride to the football game!).

In addition, action plans must be consistent with yourteams confidence, abilities and your organizationsavailable resources.

What happens if you have a history of not followingthrough on offers to drive your son or daughtersomewhere, or your family car is known to break down

frequently? Your proposal will be greeted withunderstandable skepticism. Will they really get to thegame?

Similarly, if you want your team to agree to your planand see the outcome relevant to their needs, your planmust be consistent with your resources and your trackrecord or integrity.


12/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery8


Want more on how to develop a successful action team atyour organization? Learn how to achieve criticalconfluenceuniting your needs with those you lead inthe Critical Confluence.

Brent Filson's leadership methodologies continue to be

foremost in helping me get far more results at our power

generating organizationand get those results in thebest possible ways, by establishing an environment by

which people at all levels are continually motivated to do

their best.

Ashton Harrilal, Supervisor, Powergen, Trinidad, WestIndies.


13/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery9


Step Five: Create a Climate forSuccess

Small start-up companies, established organizations,Fortune 500 corporationsthey all have one thing incommon: eventually or occasionally momentum slows,growth stagnates and a pervasive atmosphere of apathy,fear, and failure sets in.

How can you best prepare for this profit-threateningproblem? What will help your team and your organizationmaintain confidence, stay resilient, and continue to moveforward even in the face of economic downturns, market

upheavals, and other challenges?

Your leadership can provide your organization with thefortitude to withstand the battering of forces in andoutside your control by establishing a climate of successthat plans for, rewards, and sustains the process ofsuccess.

Yes, successthe continual kind of success that servesthe needs of everyone in the organizationis a process.

Its up to you to drive the motivational imperative intothe DNA of your organizationeven in the subtlest ofways.

For instance, youll have a far greater chance for successif you convince your team not what they must do, butwhat they get to do to promote their needs in the contextof the organizations goals.

Even where you speak to your team influences success.For instance, the team of a manufacturing plant will be

more receptive to action requests given informally on thefloor rather than in a conference room where layoffs andbad news have been repeatedly announced.

As a process, rather than an end goal, success issomething your team can strive for minute by minute. Soobserve their performance whenever possible. Pay


14/22

7 Steps to

Leadership Mastery10


attention to what they do and how they do it. Are theydoing it on time? If not, why not? Are they eager toreport their results to you? These observations will giveyou an indication of their motivation or frustrations soyou can intervene and correct their course or applaudtheir efforts.

Learn more about how to create the process of successand Shared Dreams, one of the most valuable leadershiptools youve never heard of.

I have applied his tools and techniques in multiple

companies and on multiple continents and founduniversal results. In my latest assignment I applied his

principles to help improve operating margin by over 30margin points.

Paul Conroy, Business General ManagerHoneywellEurope
http://actionleadership.com/ezine/V4n12.html


15/22

7 Steps to



Step Six: Ramp up Results

The success or failure of any organization hinges to a

great extent on how its leaders deal with the status quo,one of the most formidable foes to action, change andresults.

Change can be threatening to some members of yourteam. You may hear some mutter, We tried that beforeand it didnt work or Its more complicated than youthink. How often have you heard, Thats not the waywe do things?

The status quo is the enemy of the "more results, fastercontinually" because the status quo is in business to bethe status quo first and get results second. Its numberone priority is always self-preservation.

How can you get your team to keep an open mind? Howcan you allay their fears of change? What will it take foryou to win over the supporters of the status quo?

Try The Way of the Question Mark. Practicing the Wayof the Question Mark can enhance your relationships with

the people you lead so you get a lot more results as aleader. Its simply this: when faced with a status quosupporter, make a conscious effort to put a questionmark at the end of what would otherwise be a declarativesentence.

Asking the question rather than using a declarative getspeople reflecting upon their situation rather than thethreat of change. The question prompts people toanswer, and when they are answering, they may engagein such reflection.

Say you want to introduce a new product. A leader couldsay, I want your team to launch by September.Practicing the Way, you might ask: Whats the bestway to get this product to market by September? OrHow can I support you as the team readies the productfor launch?


16/22

7 Steps to



You may not like the answer; but often their answer, nomatter what it is, is better in terms of advancing resultsthan your declaration. Also, their answering the questionmay prompt them to think they have come up with agood idea. People are more enamored of their own greatideas than they are of yours.

Learn Proven Action Triggers solicited from leaders in thetrenches, whose careers depend on their ability tomotivate people day after day, week after week, forresults.

Brent Filson knows how to help others get results! Hisprograms are proven in a variety of settings including

industry, government, non-profit and the military provingthat the way he practices and coaches leadership can

work for any organization willing to invest the time and

energy necessary to influence their people to produce attheir highest productivity levels.

Joe Javorski, Director, Worldwide Staffing, AnalogDevices


17/22

7 Steps to



Step Seven: Cultivate an urgencyfor results

How can you instill urgency in your team? What will ittake to get them to not only accept the organizationsgoals in the context of their needs, but to implement theactions necessary to achieve themnow! Its a matter ofhabit.

We are all creatures of habit. Think about your day andhow predictable it has become. You read the paper afteryour coffee. You read your emails before your morningstaff meeting. Youll check last nights box scores right

after dinner. Habits are comforting and innocuous and,often, are the biggest threat to urgency.

Recognize that urgency comes from solutions. A key wayfor the leader to speak and act to trigger urgency is tooffer solutions to problems. All people everywhere haveproblems. People will not make the free choice tourgently be committed to the leader's cause unless anduntil they know that in doing so they are solving theirown (not the leader's) problems.

One of the most serious impediments to urgency is whenyou and your team disagree on the stakes involved withthe issue you face. The stakes are what are in danger ofbeing lost if a certain course of action is not taken.Simply ask, "What will happen if we don't take thiscourse of action." Their reply can define the stakes fromtheir viewpoint. You can't get cause leaders unless theyagree with you on the stakes.

Once you agree on the stakes, then a powerful call-to-

action talk can jump start your success. Deliver it byframing it with their most urgent need.

For instance, say you want them to commit to a course ofaction by signing their names on a piece of paper.Instead of asking them to simply write their names, say,We know the most important issue is job security. This


18/22

7 Steps to



action plan will help job security. It wont be easy, butwell get there together.

Discover the single worst thing many leaders do thatjeopardizes continual success and their promisingcareers. And learn about a proven leadership system thatdelivers a tremendous value to your organizationand toyou.

I have encountered myriads of leaders and leadership

programsbut Brent's methodologies are really special.

He not only focuses on having leaders consistently getactual results (not just talk about getting results); but his

methodologies have people become engaged inprofoundly human ways. Furthermore, he makes

leadership and getting results a true joy!"

Dr. Jeanne-Marie Col, Dept. of Economic & SocialAffairs, the United Nations.
http://www.theleadershiptalk.com/


19/22

7 Steps to



About Brent Filson

Brent Filson honed his early leadership skills as a rifle

platoon commander in the U.S. Marine Corp. For the past20 years, he has helped thousands of leaders in business,government, and non-profit organizations worldwideachieve significant increases in measurable results byenhancing their leadership effectiveness.

A graduate of Wake Forest, Brent is the author of 23books (some one millions copies sold) and more than 100articles on leadership. His books and articles have beenfeatured in over 300 magazines and newspapers.

His latest book, The Leadership Talk: The GreatestLeadership Tool, has been selected as a National Finalistfor ForeWord Magazine Book Awards and as "Best Bookof the Year" by Independent Publishers Association. Hehas been a sought-after guest on more than 150 radioprograms discussing his leadership philosophy andprocesses.

Brent Filson doesnt just teach you how to lead. He

inspires you to do it! Duncan Maxwell Andereson,Senior Editor, Success Magazine


20/22

7 Steps to



"Your books are excellent!You offer all sorts ofintriguing ideas, which Ihave not seen in any otherbooks on the subject.

Bravo!"

Richard Jacobs, VicePresident of ExecutiveCommunications, ThePrudential InsuranceCompany of America.

Learn to Lead for Faster Results

Take 20% off the cover price ofThe Leadership Talk: TheGreatest Leadership Tool, while supplies last.

The Leadership Talk: The Greatest Leadership Toolwillhelp you not only understand how to motivate your teamto get results, but precisely how to keep them motivated,day in and day out, with powerful, practical steps forlinking motivation to continual results.


21/22

7 Steps to



In this essential leadership guide, youll discover:

Proven action triggers for leaders who must motivatepeople to get results.

The three indispensable questions to ask when facingevery leadership challenge.

One simple adjustment in your thinking that motivatespeople to be your cause leaders.

Defining ways to transfer your motivation to the peopleyou lead and having those people feel as strongly as youdo about the challenges you face.

Unique methods for establishing strong relationships thatcan enrich your leadership and your life for years tocome.

There is a hierarchy of verbalpersuasion when it comes toleadership. The lowest levelsare speeches andpresentations, which primarily

communicate information. Thehighest and most effectivelevel is the Leadership Talk.The Leadership Talk achievesmore than simply conveyinginformation; it establishes adeep, human, emotionalconnection with the audience.Its in the realm of thatconnection that leaders get thebest results. Brent Filson


22/22

7 Steps to


Learn to be a stronger leader.We guarantee it!

This no-risk offer gives you a 30-day, money-backguarantee. If youre not completely satisfied with TheLeadership Talk: The Great Leadership Tool, simplyreturn it to us for a complete refund.

Brent Filson's 'Three-Trigger

Motivational Process' makes theLeadership Talk all the moreconcrete. I keep and refer to thewallet card frequently to keepme on course.Mark Goldman, NASA GoddardSpace Flight Center

7 steps to leadership mastery

Documents