Hugh McColl is the former chairman and CEO of Bank of America (before the troubles) and a former Marine. I read an interview with him the other day and was reminded of some the essentials of leadership and am passing them on to you.

Defining Leadership – McColl states that leadership is the ability to get people to follow you. They do so because they believe they can accomplish their (bolded by me) goals more easily or more assuredly by following you then they could alone.

In other words, they are in it for themselves first not for you. That classic WIIFM (what’s in it for me) comes to mind. As a leader you must help them understand the link between corporate and personal goals and get them to work towards them. Of course, that becomes a communications challenge and depends on your ability to paint an inspirational picture.

Learning to be a good leader – McColl suggests we observe good leaders and emulate them. He goes on to say, “You can’t fool people – you either like them or you don’t; you either care about them or you don’t.” Remember that chapter five of my book, NO YELLING, is titled Take Care of People.

He lists optimism as one of the key qualities of being a good leader. You can’t win unless you think you can. Clearly, with the challenges we are facing today we need more leaders. We need optimism. Stay Inspired and lead those around you.

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