Level 5 Leadership

Many of you have read the book entitled Good to Great written by Jim Collins. If you have, then you should be familiar with the term "Level 5 Leader". Jim Collins focuses on 12 companies that he refers to as "great" companies and picks apart how each one of them achieved this status. The first area that he discusses is leadership of the company.

What is a Level 5 Leader?

• A level 5 leader never in a million years will stop trying to become qualified for the job
• Channel their ego needs away from themselves and towards the success of the company
• Modest and willful, humble yet fearless
• Dedication and desire to make anything they touch the best it could possibly be
• Ambition and concern first and foremost for the company, not for one's own riches
• Sets up their successor for success
• Don't talk about themselves
• Fanatically driven to PRODUCE results

• Look out the window to give credit when things are going well, and look in the mirror when things aren't going so well, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly

Now look at the Level 5 Leadership image above. Where do YOU fit in on the pyramid?

Level 5 Executive: Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humiity and professional blend of personal humility and professional will.

Effective Leader: Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

Competent Manager: Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

Contributing Team Member: Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group meeting.

Highly Capable Individual: Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.

No matter where you are on the pyramid, if you apply these characteristics of a Level 5 Leader you will progress upwards towards the end goal of becoming a Level 5 Leader.

Be Motivated to Be Credit Worthy

Today we would like to provide some information to help you towards a debt-free world. Below is a tip on what a credit inquiry is, and how to avoid negative effects that are associated with them.

What is the definition of an inquiry and what does it matter to the credit conscious consumer?

CREDIT INQUIRY - "An attempt to seek information concerning interest rates and the availability of funds without disclosing your identity, or specifying the need or purpose of the proposed borrowing, or the specifics concerning your creditworthiness."(www.lectlaw.com)

When you take into effect that a credit inquiry can effect up to 10% of your overall credit score you may want to start paying attention. A rule of thumb is to be careful with these inquiries not to accrue more than 4 every two years. If you need to shop for loans, as for a mortgage or some other large sum then try and have these inquiries occur within a 10-14 day period. After seeing thousands of credit reports our friends at Credit2Buy can tell you that usually those who take care of their inquiries usually take care of the other aspects of their credit report.

To make it as simple as possible let's illustrate it like this. Imagine you are playing a game similar to 20 Questions. In this game however it is more like 4 Questions or 4 Inquiries. Use them wisely which means probably avoid giving your full name to used car dealers. They seem to have an affection of running your credit to see what mid sized sedan they can squeeze you into.
Remember:
A credit inquiry can effect up to 10% of your overall credit score.
Never accrue more than 4 inquiries over a 2 year span.
Don't give out your full name to used car dealerships.

For more information on the matter check out credit2buy's blog or email credit2buy@gmail.com

Making Progress Toward Your Goals

If you are tired of feeling like a little boy walking around a corn maze, lost, frustrated, no idea where to go next, then take heed to these principles and apply them as soon as possible.

TAKE ACTION: Joe Vitale says, “Do anything to keep the momentum going forward”. Don’t focus soley on ALL of the challenges that are ahead. By doing so only brings your forward momentum to a hault because you are stuck in the thought of how in the world am I going to accomplish all of this.

JUST TAKE THE NEXT STEP: You don’t have to be able to see your destination in order to reach it. When driving from California to New York, you can’t see your final destination, but by increments you eventually arrive.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESULTS, CHANGE WHAT YOU’RE DOING:
Ask yourself, “What can I do today so the next five years are not the same as the last five?”

EVALUATE HOW YOU ARE SPENDING YOUR TIME:
More often than not we spend our time on the little things. Take a second and figure out if this is a major thing or minor. If it’s major, then spend major time on major things. Don’t let the little minors interfere with you getting done what needs to be done! Once you see the major things getting checked off your to-do list, it will fuel more results.

MAKE SURE YOUR HEART IS IN IT:
George Lucas says, “You have to find something you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles, and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.”

PUSH YOURSELF TO REACH YOUR POTENTIAL:
Here’s what Cynthia Kersey suggests: Make a realistic assessment of your current abilities. Now imagine your abilities have increased by 10 percent. What could yo be doing if you immediately possessed 10 percent more abilities, skills and talents? You could be doing those things today if you believed you could nad pushed yourself – even a little bit- outside your comfort zone.