Transcript Leadership Secrets

Leadership Secrets
From Attila the Hun
Presented by
Mark Buckner and Terry Cook
ADVICE AND COUNSEL
• A leader whose subordinates always agree with
him reaps the counsel of mediocrity.
• A wise leader never berates those bearing bad
news, but removes those who fail to do so.
• A leader who asks the wrong questions will get
the wrong answers.
• A wise leader never asks a question for which he
does not want to hear the answer.
CHARACTER
• The greatness of a leader is measured by the sacrifices
he is willing to make for the good of the people.
• A leader must always rise above pettiness, and
encourage others to do the same.
• A leader cannot succeed if he loses his nerve. He must
be self-confident, self-reliant, and willing to take risks.
• Self-centered, conceited, self-admiring individuals are
seldom great leaders.
CHARACTER
• Great leaders never take themselves too
seriously.
• A wise leader knows how to adapt and how to
avoid compromise.
• Weak leaders surround themselves with weak
people; strong leaders surround themselves with
strong people.
DECISION- MAKING
• Every decision involves some risk.
• Time does not always bring solutions, nor does
it always improve a situation for a leader’s
people.
• Quick decisions are not always the best
decisions. On the other hand, neither are
unhurried decisions.
DECISION- MAKING
• Errors are unavoidable when the unqualified are
allowed to exercise judgment and make
decisions.
• Leaders should not rush into confrontations.
When victory will not be sweet, a leader must
keep the people out of battle.
• The ability to make difficult decisions is a
defining factor in leadership.
DELEGATION
• Leaders are only necessary when someone is
responsible to see that actions are carried out
and directions followed. No king, chieftain or
subordinate leader should ever be allowed to
serve who will not accept full responsibility for
their actions.
• Wise leaders never place people in positions
where their weaknesses will prevail over their
strengths.
DELEGATION
• A wise leader never expects the people to act
beyond their wisdom and understanding.
• Abdication is not delegation. Abdication depicts
weakness. Delegation depicts strength.
• Delegation, like decision-making, always
involves risk.
DEVELOPING LEADERS
• Strong people have strong weaknesses. A leader's duty
is to help a person's strengths prevail.
• People learn less from success than they do from
failure. Therefore, people learn much faster when
faced with adversity.
• A good leader risks delegating to an inexperienced
person to strengthen that person's leadership abilities.
• The experience of people must be structured to allow
them to broaden and deepen themselves to develop the
character they will need when appointed to leadership.
DEVELOPING LEADERS
• Without challenge, a person's potential is never realized.
Thus, people are best prepared to become leaders when
given appropriate successively higher levels of
responsibility.
• Two types of people gravitate toward leadership, those
who are motivated by principles, and those who are
motivated by self-interest. A wise leader will select and
develop people motivated by principles.
• Appropriate stress is essential for developing new
leaders.
DIPLOMACY
• Diplomacy is the art of saying “nice doggy” until you
can find an adequate stick.
• Conflict is a natural state.
• People should not apply force when they can gain
through diplomacy.
• Do not consider all opponents, or everyone you argue
with, as enemies. These are accidental
enemies. Choose your enemies with purpose.
• Hospitality, civility, and courtesy can captivate the most
oppressive foe.
GOALS
• Superficial goals lead to superficial results.
Leaders should always aim high, going after
things that will make a difference rather than
seeking the safe path of mediocrity.
• Critical to one's success is a clear understanding
of what the leader wants.
• A Hun can achieve anything for which he is
willing to pay the price.
GOALS
• As a group, we will achieve more if we behave
as if the group's goal is as important as a
personal goal.
• A person's conformance does not always result
in desired performance.
• Written reports have purpose only if read by the
King.
LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP
• Never appoint acting leaders. Put the most capable in
charge, give them both responsibility and authority, and
hold them accountable.
• A wise leader never depends on luck but trusts the
future to hard work, stamina, tenacity, and a positive
attitude. Strong leaders stimulate and inspire
performance from their people.
• Being a leader is often a lonely job.
• A wise leader knows they are responsible for the
welfare of others, and acts accordingly. Shared risktaking will weld the relationship of a leader with the
people.
PERCEPTION
• A person who takes themselves too seriously has
lost perspective.
• A person's perception is their reality.
• People who appear to be busy are not always
working.
PERCEPTION
• It is good if your friends and foes speak well of you;
however, it is better for them to speak poorly of you
than not at all. When nothing can be said of a person,
they have most likely accomplished nothing very well.
• Contrary to what most chieftains think, you are not
remembered for what you did, but for what most
people think you did.
• If all people were blind, a one-eyed man would be king.
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT
• There is more nobility in being a good person than in
being a poor leader.
• Great leaders accept failure at some things in order to
excel in areas of greater importance.
• You must not let your desire to lead take the form of
over-eagerness. You must be willing to temper your
thirst to lead with preparation, experience and
opportunity.
• You must be willing to remain your natural self and not
take an aura of false pride in your countenance.
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT
• You must be willing to accept the simple fact that you
have flaws and will need to work every day to become a
better chieftain than you were yesterday.
• Be marked with armament that distinguishes you from
the masses. Own the biggest horse and sword. Be first
in everything, but never appear pompous.
• Every person is responsible for shaping their
circumstances and experiences into success. No other
person, and certainly no adversary, can do for a person
what they neglect to do themselves.
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
• People should be taught to focus on opportunities
rather than problems.
• Harness your peoples' desires for short-term
gains. Grant small rewards for light tasks. Reserve
heaps of booty for other times, and be generous with
items that hold a value to yourself.
• Disagreement is not necessarily disloyalty. A Hun who,
in the best interest of the tribe, disagrees, should be
listened to.
• Some people have solutions for which there are no
problems.
TOLERANCE
• Suffer long for mediocre but loyal people. Do
not suffer for competent but disloyal people.
• Every person has value. With some, it is to
serve as a bad example.
• To benefit from the strength of leaders we must
tolerate some of their weaknesses.
TRAINING
• It is the responsibility of all Huns to choose and fellow
only those chieftains who demonstrate a desire to lead.
Such leaders will be of no composite character. They
will be as different from one another as one Hun is
different from another. They will not be laden with all
human virtues, nor will they possess a flawless
character.
• Teachable skills are for developing people. Learnable
skills are reserved for leaders.
• The consequence of not adequately training your
people will be their failure to accomplish what is
expected from them.
TRAINING
• Learning by observation and through instincts
sharpened by tested experience, chieftains must
anticipate thoughts, actions and consequences.
Anticipation bears a level of risk that is willingly
accepted by a chieftain who will excel when
others turn to the comfort of personal security.
A Final Word from Attila
Those of you who are overly ambitious may attempt
to acquire these qualities over a short period. As I,
Attila, have found in my own life, these qualities of
leadership simply take time, learning and
experience to develop. There are few who will find
shortcuts. There are simply rare opportunities to
accelerate competence, and without paying the
price, no matter how great or small, none will
become prepared to lead others. Learn these
leadership qualities well. Teach them to the Huns.
Only then will we expand our ability to lead our
vast nation in pursuit of world conquest.