Ways to build your platform:

• Blog- The past several years the blogging world has exploded, creating a way for anyone to establish influence and authority through their writing. If you want to build your platform then think about starting a blog. Whether you have or are thinking about starting a blog here are two aspects every blogger needs to know:

1.  Consistency- When it comes to blogging, consistency is key.  Have a goal to write X amount of posts each week then deliver on that goal. I found if you are consistent then people will consistently come back to your blog.

2. Content- Become a good writer who produces unique and quality content. This requires taking the time to become a better writer and finding your writing voice. When you do this people will want to read what you’re writing.

• Speeches or Presentations- If you begin to publicly communicate your message then it helps build your platform. This might be done through speeches or offering trainings. When you do present or give a speech it should be aligned with your niche and passions and you should be adding value.

• Products and resources- Another way to build a platform is to create and produce products or resources. This takes creativity and thinking about what you should produce, and then requires hard work and time to accomplish your product(s). If you do this it will expand your message and expertise.

• Consulting or mentoring-consulting and mentoring others within your area of expertise can help in building your platform. This allows you to bring value to an individual, company, or both. Through helping them become better and advance forward.

• Social media- Social media allows you to connect and network with like minded people. If you want to build a strong platform then begin to connect and build relationships with others through Facebook and Twitter.

Remember if you build a platform it will increase your influence and impact onto others.

Question: Do you have a strategic plan to build your platform?

4 Factors before building your platform:

1. Niche- A person needs to know their niche areas before beginning the process of build a platform. I have learned the importance of being more narrow than broad when it comes to a niche area. For example right now my niche areas are in leadership and talents. More than likely in the future I’ll expand those areas within the same genera.  I first want to become an expert in those areas before broadening my niches. I suggest finding and focusing on 1-3 areas you can become knowledgeable and the best in.

2. Passion- A person who want to successfully build a platform need to be focused within their passion areas. Finding your passions is not difficult. To help you identify your passions then ask yourself this question: If you had all the money and time you would ever want or need then what would you do? You need to get past the material factor like buying a big house and nice car and begin to think about what you would start doing. The things you would choose to do point in the direction of your passions.

3. Strength and talents- I have found if you want to build a platform then finding, developing, and using your strengths and talents is essential. When you have found and are focusing on them you begin to produce better results within the platform your building. This is because you are working within your strongest areas.

4. The why- Before embarking on the journey of build your platform you need to ask yourself the why factor. Why it is that you want to build your platform. It might be because you feel your purpose or a calling to share your knowledge, expertise, or story with others. The why aspect in building a platform can be the most reveling and important question you can ask yourself. I believe a significant purpose in building a platform should be to help and add value to others. It should not only be for the potential personal benefits but should be others focused. If you make a point to help and add value to others it will also begin to benefit you.

Questions: What other factors does a person need to know and think about before building a platform? How have you started to build your platform?

On a scale of light wind to tornado, How often do you encourage Feedback?

Feedback can hurt, but the way you respond to feedback reveals 3 major insights into your leadership capabilities.

Feedback is critical to the success of any organization.

Feedback allows your people to engage with your ideas and criticize your ideas with the hope that it will benefit the ultimate goal of the organization.

When you don’t encourage feedback it reveals 3 insights about your leadership:

1.  Reveals insecurities about who you are and your ideas.

If you decline feedback it could reveal that you are insecure about yourself or about your ideas.  People who are secure in who they are draw people in.  They are confident and willing to engage with people.  They understand relationship management.  Secure people get along with others, work to resolve problems and conflicts and recognize feedback as a means to that end.

As a Christian, our confidence isn’t found in what we do, but in God’s ability to work through us.  My confidence is rooted in His power.  As a Christian deepen your trust in God’s promises….by getting to know his promises!

2.  You have difficulty in finding the truth and moving on.

Do you have those friends that catalog every wrong done against them and then proceed to bring them up time after time?  Let it go!  Leaders don’t allow bitterness to burrow in their hearts.  They mine for the truth found in the criticism and move on and move forward with the project.

3. You move away from your Critics.

Critics in your organization or ministry are often the strongest leaders.  If you decline feedback you are most likely moving away from your critics and segregating yourself from your strongest leaders.  Instead you should be moving toward your critics with nothing to prove to them.  You are completely secure with your ideas and by moving towards your greatest critics you build trust, gain leadership, and mine for truth.

If you are insecure with yourself, cling to past offenses, and run from your critics it is time to re-evaluate your ability to lead and begin the difficult process of asking and engaging with feedback.

This process is critical to building a winning team and a successful outcome to any project or goal.

Question: What are positive reasons to engage in opportunities for feedback from your team? 

“Growth today is an investment for tomorrow.”  ~John Maxwell

“Most of us must learn a great deal every day in order to keep ahead of what we forget.” ~Frank A. Clark

“If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject.” ~Earl Nightingale

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather is.” ~Irish Proverb

“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers.” ~Warren Bennis

“By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” ~Ben Franklin

“When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.” ~Plato

“In order to do more. I’ve got to be more.” ~Jim Rohn

“You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread-stale and dry.” ~ Loretta Lynn

“Most of us plateau when we lose the tension between where we are and where we ought to be.” ~John Gardiner

“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser that he was yesterday.” ~Abraham Lincoln

“Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” ~Morihei Ueshiba

“Strength and personal growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” ~Napoleon Hill

“There are no great limits to personal growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.”~Ronald Reagan

Question: What are some of your favorite personal growth quotes?

The definition of creativity is, “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, and method.” This shows why it’s important to be a creative leader. If you want to influence your people and organization to a better future then it’s going to require creativity. Here are 4 ways to become more creative:

To read more click HERE.

The last several months I have had ample time to reflect on some things, God’s word, life, experiences and it has brought great clarity to my life. I am a growing leader but I am also called to ministry so this time has helped develop both. Through much prayer and revelation from God, I have discovered these few steps to apply in my own life first, I’d like to share them with you here because I am seeing their impact in my life, fruitfully. I believe if we, as leaders want to ultimately serve others and show the world that there is a difference in how we lead, we not only have to be examples but have to constantly examine ourselves, like the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5.

1. Fight your pride daily- I cannot emphasize this enough, Pride is a silent killer and will destroy you if you don’t recognize it and ask the Lord to deal with it. Jonathan Edwards wrote a great essay on Pride, it revealed at least 9 symptoms, it’s a real eye opener. A practical way I approach this is start my mornings, daily by confessing to God “Lord, I am prideful and selfish person, help me be humble and serve others.” Pray, listen to those closest to you, embrace and seek feedback as often as possible as soon as you close your ears to others….beware…pride is setting in.

2. Walk in the counsel of others- In Proverbs 15:22 we read “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” This has transformed me as a leader, if I can be honest. Through prayer, through God’s word I am able to discover and deal with my heart but then after I begin to gain clarity from reflecting and seeking the Lord I turn to my mentors, pastors I trust and ask them to counsel me, give me advise on what I feel the Lord is telling me. Since God is not the author of confusion I can trust he will speak in unison, so when I begin to discuss things with my Godly counsel the truth of what I am pursuing becomes ever more clear.

3.Remember to be thankful- It takes a mature and humble heart to remain thankful regardless of circumstances because we are prideful people and we LOVE to be in complete control at all times. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to “be thankful in ALL circumstances.” Not just the good ones but in all of them and as leaders, not everything goes our way, but the Lord is saying, be thankful, in other words, even come to the Lord and thank him for the trouble you are facing, for the problems and stress, thank him. He desires a heart of gratitude always. It might be the very trouble you are facing is God trying to work out something still not perfected in you.

Our experiences are all unique but we share the same emotions and in that we have common ground. My experience in leadership and ministry has not always been pleasant, I have been betrayed, hurt and disappointed many times but I have learned to implement these three important steps to keep me humble, keep me learning, help me to make the right decisions and to keep me thankful. My desire is to take what was intended for harm and allow God to use it for good; I hope these steps can help you too.

Question: How do you protect your leadership calling?

Manager- A manager is someone who is in control of a working function to allow it to continue working well. It might be managing a team, project, or an entire organization or section of it. Henri Fayol said this about what a manager does, “To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organize, to command, to co-ordinate and to control.”

Leader- A leader is someone who leads others with influence. They influence others to see and purse a better tomorrow by having a clear vision and obtainable goals. Dwight D. Eisenhower said this about what a leader does, “Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.”

Author and speaker Stephen Covey says this about the topic, “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” This shows a person can and should have both management and leadership skills while in a position of authority. For now I stop writing about this topic to hear your thoughts.

Questions: Can someone become an effective ManaLeader, having both management and leadership skills. What do you think are some benefits to becoming a ManaLeader?

They believe their current level of skills and talents will allow them to move forward.

They don’t see or understand the value of preparing themselves for the future.

They become comfortable and rest on their current level of successes and achievements.

They are not willing to put the time and energy into preparing themselves.

One of my favorite preparing quotes is by Seneca who said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” The people who are successful and have achieved great things are often called lucky, when in fact it has usually taken them years to get to where they are today. They have prepared themselves in their personal strengths and talents while focusing on their purpose and passions. Then when they begin to gain fame and wealth, people look at the results instead of the preparation. Everyone wants better results but not everyone is willing to pay the price to get those results.

The price to prepare and start doing those things that will lead you toward success and the next level is high. It requires time, effort, energy, consistency, focus, and discipline. The key to being prepared for opportunity is to daily move in the direction of your desired destination. To daily focus on the things that will allow you to be prepare for when opportunity happens.

Question: How are you preparing yourself for future opportunity’s?

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; noting on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~W. W. Ziege

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” ~David Brinkley

“You can not always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts.” ~Charles Popplestown

“The winner’s edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner’s edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success.” ~Dennis Waitley

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” ~Herm Albright

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” ~Albert Einstein

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. “ ~Winston Churchill

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” ~Maya Angelou

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going to live your life.” ~Joel Osteen

“The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”  ~Oprah Winfrey

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” ~Zig Ziglar

Question: What are some of your favorite attitude quotes?

Whether you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the team leader of a small department, there are certain key actions that leaders take which inspire people to follow them faithfully.

Be Open to Disagreement

When a leader is open to hearing the contrary opinions of their team members, it shows a level of respect for the team that is then reciprocated. Be willing to meet in person with subordinates to show your concern for their opinions – even if they contrast with your own.

Sacrifice Yourself

In times of difficulty, the leader of an organization should sacrifice him or herself before asking members of the team to make sacrifices. For example, before laying off staff, a CEO should cut corners in his or her own job perks, i.e. taking a temporary salary cut until the organization gets back on its feet.

Face Reality

It’s fine for leaders to keep the true state of their organization in quiet confidence, only sharing the situation with a select few higher-ups. However, it’s crucial for leaders to face the reality – however harsh – of the organization if they’re ever to navigate a way out of a bad situation.

Put Family First

Many leaders make the ultimate sacrifice of putting their business before their family. However, this often puts undue pressure on staff members to fill the role of both family and workforce, often putting in late hours with a boss who expects everyone else to sacrifice their personal life for their professional life as well.

Show Appreciation

If you’re happy with a staff member’s work, show appreciation to ensure a consistently high performance. Although bonuses and tangible job perks are ideal ways to reward high performance, a simple “thank you” in-person or by email can also go a long way in inspiring people.

Know your Weaknesses

Most people don’t get to be leaders without knowing and employing their own strengths. However, knowing your weaknesses can be just as important. Effective leaders demonstrate organizational management by surrounding themselves with a team of experts in areas they tend to be weaker in to ensure all bases are covered.

Balance Short-Term Goals with a Long-Term Vision

Unlike any other member of an organization, leaders must always have a grasp of the organization’s short-term direction and how it will ultimately fulfill their vision. For example, the CEO of an organization might know that its short-term priorities are cash flow management, but that the operations the company’s pursuing to secure cash flow aren’t interfering with a long-term vision, such as strategic partnerships.

Mentor Others

Effective leaders take an active role in inspiring their team to pursue their passions and encourage their endeavors. This may translate to offering professional development classes in your organization.

Be Humble

True humility, particularly from people in positions of power, can be inspiring and engender trust. Approach leadership from the perspective of “leading to serve.”

Be Frugal

A leader who splashes out on fancy cars and overly-ornate office furnishings, particularly after the organization has received funding does not inspire trust.

Don’t Ramble, Rant or Berate Others

Instead of “thinking aloud,” it’s important for leaders to organize and process their first impressions before blurting them out. Otherwise, team members could become confused about which priorities require action and generally lose faith in their leader’s decisiveness and discretion.

Meet Deadlines and Commitments

A president who fails to meet financial goals or a coach who’s late for meetings do nothing to inspire others to follow their lead. A leader who can’t be counted on to do what they say is in danger of a resentful, uninspired and uncommitted team.

Question: How do you feel that people can be leaders regardless of their positions
in life?