The 360 Degree Leader: Things to Remember

The Myths of Leading from the Middle of an Organization

• The Position Myth: "I can't lead if I am not at the top."
• The Destination Myth: "When I get to the top, then I'll learn to lead."
• The Influence Myth: "If I were on top, then people would follow me."
• The Inexperience Myth: "When I get to the top, I'll be in control."
• The Freedom Myth: "When I get to the top, I'll no longer be limited."
• The Potential Myth: "I can't reach my potential if I'm not the top leader."
• The All-or-Nothing Myth: "If I can't get to the top, then I won't try to lead."

The Challenges 360-Degree Leaders Face

• The Tension Challenge: The Pressure of Being Caught in the Middle
• The Frustration Challenge: Following an Ineffective Leader
• The Multi-Hat Challenge: One Head . . . Many Hats
• The Ego Challenge: You're Often Hidden in the Middle
• The Fulfillment Challenge: Leaders Like the Front More than the Middle
• The Vision Challenge: Championing the Vision Is More Difficult When You Didn’t Create It
• The Influence Challenge: Leading Others Beyond Your Position Is Not Easy

The Principles 360-Degree Leaders Practice to Lead Up

• Lead Yourself Exceptionally Well
• Lighten Your Leader's Load
• Be Willing to Do What Others Won't
• Do More than Manage - Lead!
• Invest in Relational Chemistry
• Be Prepared Every Time You Take Your Leader's Time
• Know When to Push and When to Back Off
• Become a Go-To Player
• Be Better Tomorrow than You Are Today

The Principles 360-Degree Leaders Practice to Lead Across

• Understand, Practice, and Complete the Leadership Loop
• Put Completing Fellow Leaders Ahead of Competing with Them
• Be a Friend
• Avoid Office Politics
• Expand Your Circle of Acquaintances
• Let the Best Idea Win
• Don't Pretend You're Perfect

The Principles 360-Degree Leaders Practice to Lead Down

• Walk Slowly Through the Halls
• See Everyone As a "10"
• Develop Each Team Member as a Person
• Place People in Their Strength Zones
• Model the Behavior You Desire
• Transfer the Vision
• Reward for Results

The Value of 360-Degee Leaders

• A Leadership Team Is More Effective than Just One Leader
• Leaders Are Needed at Every Level of the Organization
• Leading Successfully at One Level Is a Qualifier for Leading at the Next Level
• Good Leaders in the Middle Make Better Leaders at the Top
• 360-Degree Leaders Possess Qualities Every Organization Needs

Learnings from "The High Performance Entrepreneur"

• Comfort with postponed gratification is a critical requirement of entrepreneurship.
  

• Even if remotely, the thought of safety net haunts you and you cannot talk yourself out of it, you are not yet ready to set sail. When you build an organization, your own comforts must be subordinate to all other interests. Finally, there cannot be any thoughts of exit options in the event of a failure.

• Friendship can sometimes come in the way of creating great organizations. It is not best to start an organization just because you are good friends and have a great idea. Friendship can breed contempt and not only the companies go haywire, so do the relationships.
  

• While having a fantastic idea is a great starting point, unless there is a reasonable view of what larger business the company can be in, the life of an enterprise can be very short lived.
  

• Building the company is not like planting one giant tree. It is about creating an entire forest some day.
  

• If you do not need money, do not start a company. If you do not love money, it is unlikely that you will ever understand the nuances of generating wealth.
  

• Profitability is a social obligation of the enterprise.
  

• The foremost attribute of people who become entrepreneurs is the self confidence.
  

• Entrepreneurs value their sense of freedom, but they are also very disciplined.
  

• Providence is very powerful in our journeys and entrepreneurs should make room for it. It is not always what you bring to the table. Sometimes it is an unexplainable turn of events that changes your course.
  

• Entrepreneurship requires the ability to read patterns on the wall, flexibility and an uncanny ability to seize the moment.
  

• Even if you are entrepreneur material - possessing patience, resilience, empathy and politeness in very difficult situations - the sense of rejection can lead to occasional self pity. That is the last thing you need in such situations.
  

• Acceptance and rejection are equally transitory, they result in equally unpredictable outcomes and must be treated with equanimity, without involving your ego in the results.

• When you travel abroad, priceline.com is a quite useful website. :-)