Principle Based Leadership

Principle Based Leadership

Principle Based Leadership

Transformational Leadership Series:

What is a leader? Or better, what is a leader’s role in an organization? If the answers to these questions could be culminated to one single sentence it would be: to execute the mission of the organization in the most efficient, effective, and ethical manner, at the highest level. Now, how many individuals do you feel would have correctly ascertained this inquiry? The purpose of our transformational leadership series is to meet you where you’re at in your leadership journey, and bring you to the next level. This will happen through developing a personal foundation and undergoing a series of paradigm shifts as you read and apply the information that you learn in this series.

What is a leader?

A leader is a term that is often thrown around, and often poorly defined. According to Google, it is “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country.” Since this definition is broad, we will be focusing specifically on a “leader” within an organization, whether that be a not-for-profit charity or IBM. A leader is an individual whose purpose is to execute the mission of the organization at the highest level.

If you were to guess what percentage of leaders take a deliberate approach to decision making, what would you guess? 60%? 25% Lower or higher? It turns out that only 5% of leaders have a deliberate decision-making approach, which means the other 95% are basing their decisions off of their mood or based simply off the facts that they have. (cite) The main difference between these 5% vs. 95% is that these 5% will give you the same results regardless of your situation. So, what does it take to join the ranks of these elite principal-based leaders?

Find your center

The first step is determining your center as an individual. Your center, often referred to as your true north, is who you are and what you stand for. It is the motivating factor that causes you to make Decision A instead of Decision B. It is what differentiates you from any other leader, and really from the rest of the world. Perhaps one of the best ways to find your center is to ask yourself, what is your goal with being a future leader? Do you desire power? Wealth? Prestige? Or perhaps do you find yourself motivated by other reasons, such as, people, responsibility, or because you truly believe in the mission of an organization. Take a moment and analyze what inspires you to be a leader and what your true motivations are. That is your center.

Building a principle framework

Now that you have found your center, you can begin to build a principle around your framework. These specific principles are what you will be standing for as a leader. When determining your core set, ensure that they truly are what you hold of most worth so that you can be most effective with your representation of them. All decisions that you make from this point on should all be based off your defined decision criteria, and no decision should be made impersonally.

Regardless of whatever principles you choose to make up your framework, it is highly recommended that you include mutual respect as one of them. The application of mutual respect demonstrates that you not only respect the other individual but that you also respect yourself.

Corporations who exhibit Principle Based Leadership

A good example of an organization that holds a core set of values is Netflix. Their values consist of judgment, communication, curiosity, innovation, courage, passion, selflessness, inclusion, integrity and impact. These principles are a differentiating factor between employees that are rewarded and those who are let go from the company. Through holding individuals accountable to living the values, they have created a unique culture of principle based leadership.

As you develop your own principles and follow them (preventing imminent hypocrisy), you will be able to be a more effective and more respected leader in your organization, by those who work for you and work with you.

 

We hope you found this article about “Principle Based Leadership” helpful.  If you have questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us or visit our Family office page  or our website at www.GROCO.com.  Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.

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Alan Olsen, CPA

Alan Olsen, is the Host of the American Dreams Show and the Managing Partner of GROCO.com.  GROCO is a premier family office and tax advisory firm located in the San Francisco Bay area serving clients all over the world.

Alan L. Olsen, CPA, Wikipedia Bio

 

 

GROCO.com is a proud sponsor of The American Dreams Show.

 

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The American Dreams show was the brainchild of Alan Olsen, CPA, MBA. It was originally created to fill a specific need; often inexperienced entrepreneurs lacked basic information about raising capital and how to successfully start a business.

Alan sincerely wanted to respond to the many requests from aspiring entrepreneurs asking for the information and introductions they needed. But he had to find a way to help in which his venture capital clients and friends would not mind.

The American Dreams show became the solution, first as a radio show and now with YouTube videos as well. Always respectful of interview guest’s time, he’s able to give access to individuals information and inspiration previously inaccessible to the first-time entrepreneurs who need it most.

They can listen to venture capitalists and successful business people explain first-hand, how they got to where they are, how to start a company, how to overcome challenges, how they see the future evolving, opportunities, work-life balance and so much more..

American Dreams discusses many topics from some of the world’s most successful individuals about their secrets to life’s success. Topics from guest have included:

Creating purpose in life / Building a foundation for their life / Solving problems / Finding fulfillment through philanthropy and service / Becoming self-reliant / Enhancing effective leadership / Balancing family and work…

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MyPaths.com (Also sponsored by GROCO) provides free access to content and world-class entrepreneurs, influencers and thought leaders’ personal success stories. To help you find your path in life to true, sustainable success & happiness.  It’s mission statement:

In an increasingly complex and difficult world, we hope to help you find your personal path in life and build a strong foundation by learning how others found success and happiness. True and sustainable success and happiness are different for each one of us but possible, often despite significant challenges.

Our mission at MyPaths.com is to provide resources and firsthand accounts of how others found their paths in life, so you can do the same.

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