Leadership Principles | The Pillars of Great Leadership

The Visionary Chronicles Podcast

CHRONICLE: April 7th, 2023

 

"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."

                                                                               Alexander the Great

 

Leadership  Principles | The Pillars of Great Leadership

What makes for a Great Leader? Not just one who inspires confidence or provides direction, but someone who has the innate sense to see the future, envision a path to success, and inspire those who do not yet know this path to take the Journey with them.

These leaders inspire a team, a company, and a brand. They create a community outside the four walls, building Loyalty and inspiring everyone to reach a common goal with the confidence that they will succeed. With each of these qualities, it is easy to see why there are so few "true" leaders. Many delusional executives feel they are leaders, but it is merely a "chain of commitment" from the Team, not necessarily that they believe in their Vision.

For someone to be in this elite class of truly Visionary Leaders, they must embrace the unknown, stay calm amid the storms, show Compassion, learn from past failures, build Loyalty, and provide a Vision for others to follow passionately. I say passionately as this is crucial to execute the leader's Vision through others successfully. No great leader has ever succeeded by themselves, it takes an Army to take a leadership position in your market, and the more your leader has these Pillars, the more likely a brand is to succeed long-term. Success is not a "one-hit" wonder; it is a sustained level of success over generations.

In my new book, an AMAZON Bestseller,  The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands, I discuss these Visionary Brands and some leaders who successfully navigated their brands to generational success.

 

 The following are the Pillars of Truly Great, Visionary Leaders

1. Embrace Change; no leader can avoid Change, but those who do will ultimately fail and lose their sense of direction.
2. Embrace Failure; all great brands have failed to succeed, but you must be committed to Failure and Learn from these Failures.
3. Show Compassion; understand the balance between success and Failure… of your TEAM, not your product. Drive hard, Praise harder.
4. Build Loyalty; be able to build Loyalty to your brand, both inside and outside of four walls. Without Loyalty, the inherent value of your brand becomes either Equity or a Commodity, your choice.
5. Having a Vision; being able to see vs. having a Vision are two completely different attributes. Unless you can see the future, you will only be to visualize what is in front of you.
6. Execute the Vision; having built a Loyal team, ensure they are executing the Vision, and provide ALL the Praise to the Team, not your Vision. So they understand it is your Vision; there is no need to remind them.
7. Overcome Adversity; being able to have a plan when circumstances abruptly change is a key Pillar for a Visionary Leader. Take Covid; who knew the world would stop spinning? What is your Plan?
8. Show Humility & Appreciation; an insecure Leader is NOT a Leader. They are not humble, and they devalue contributions to the Vision. They do not share in successes and do not embrace Failure. Enough said..!

 

Great Leadership does not always mean the most intelligent voice in the room. But, more often than not, it is someone who is cognitive, logical, compassionate, and direct and can see the future when others can not.

 

Stay True, Stay Authentic, be Different, and be Great!

Enjoy the Journey!

 

Bryan Smeltzer, President

 LiquidMind Inc.

#TheVisionaryPodcast

#TheVisionaryBrandBook

 

@LiquidMindsite.com

@BryanSmeltzer.com

 

 © All rights reserved, Bryan Smeltzer, 2022

 

 

Bryan Smeltzer is a consumer products business executive and entrepreneur. He has held executive-level roles in business development, product, and marketing with some of the world's most prestigious brands, including; Oakley, TaylorMade, Adidas, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, among other international brands. He also founded a men's apparel brand, successfully running a profitable business for ten years, eventually selling to a VC firm.

He also hosts a Podcast called The Visionary Chronicles. In addition, he recently finished his first bestselling book, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands, and received the prestigious Readers Favorite Award for BEST Non-fiction, Marketing Genre book.

 

He is also a member of the Board of Advisors at UCI's BCIE along with their New Venture Program, an Innovation Advisor at the UCI's Applied Innovation program at the Cove, a Mentor/Advisor to UCLA's Price Center Venture Accelerator Program, and a Mentor/Advisor at the San Diego Sports Innovators Accelerator (SDSI) center.

Bryan currently oversees LiquidMind Inc., a global brand strategy firm that partners with both start-ups and established id to large-cap consumer brands to empower their businesses to think different, be different, drive a passionate culture, and execute relentlessly.

You can contact or  follow him at;

 

 bryan@LiquidMindsite.com

  @bryansmeltzer33

 @bryan_smeltzer

 @bryansmeltzer

 linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/