Chad Schapiro: Everyone is a leader

It doesn't matter where we are in our lives or what we've done we are all leaders. Have you taught anyone anything? Have you driven in the car with others? Do you have any siblings? Have you ever been with a child? In all these cases we are in charge of managing and leading others. Our growth in this area is not only relevant to us and our lives but the lives of others are riding on it as well. We have got to forge ahead moment by moment forward to the benefit of the entire world, which starts but does not end with our world.

There are different types of leaders. The first 4 are not recommended but the last one is where it's at:

1. Reluctant Leader. They think they are not the leader and don't really want to be. It's tough for this person because without thinking about it they are missing the point that they are already leading others. Hopefully they will realize that this is part of life and be open to doing the best they can.

2. Tyrant Leader. A task master of sorts. They demand respect. When not respected they will lash out at you and expect people to shut up and do it.

3. Whining leader. They will lead but don't do it with any optimism and excitement. They are grumbling along the way and making it more difficult on everyone.

4. Micro-managing leader. Every little detail has got to go through them. This slows them down and the growth of their people.

5. Empowering leader!!! This leader loves to help all those involved. They work diligently with those that follow allowing them to go make mistakes and grow as they go.

How to be an empowering leader:
1. Lead. Take responsibility and lead yourself first. We've all heard the saying lead by example. We've also heard "jack of all trades, master of none". If we aren't producing the amount we would like our followers to produce then guess what we have got to do first and foremost. That's right leader ourselves with the focus on mastering our own high levels of production and then at that point focus on other parts of the business. I have seen so many people not produce enough themselves but get bogged down on doing different things themselves (training and managing others) that take the focus off their own production.

2. Recruit others. An empowering leader will never have enough talent around them. I use to think that when I have my team in place I could just kick back. I have now learned that there will always be an opening for bigger and greater things that recruiting other quality people will fill.

3. Train. Notice the order of things. We lead ourselves first and then we were able to focus on training others. We need to model what needs to be done and walk them through as simply as possible.

4. Empower. They need to feel encouraged to go out and do things on their own.

5. Support. When they make mistakes, when they get their emotions hurt, when they struggle we need to be there to support and love them. Notice the key word "when" and not "if". It has happened to us all and it will happen to them as well.