Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit!

Your people should always know where they stand in terms of their performance.

They need to know how the business is doing, don’t pad or diminish hard messages.

Leaders establish trust by giving credit where credit is due. (Never score off your people by stealing an idea and claiming it as your own.)

Goal setting is an important tool for your success both in and out of the gym. To start, the most fundamental element is to know what you want. Think about it…if you don’t know where you’re going, then how the heck are you going to get there! One technique that always works for me is to write it down on paper. Get out a sheet of paper and make a list. Start with a long-term goal…something that you would consider your ‘ultimate’ goal. This can be as fantastic as achieving a body just like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s or becoming a multi-millionaire. The sky’s the limit, so don’t think that anything is unrealistic or impossible because all that does is limit you. Next, start a new list of the things you want to achieve this year. It’s important to be specific (“I’m going to lose 25 pounds, get my body-fat down to single digits, and gain 2-inches on my arms.”). And finally, the last list is your day-to-day list of the things you need to accomplish each day or week in order to progress towards your ultimate goal. Don’t wait—align your thoughts and your actions to make this the beginning of all the amazing things that are coming your way!

 Mastering the agenda requires setting the direction:  

       The essence of leadership comes down to putting an organization or business on a particular path.  Set a direction before making operational decisions.

►    Define and build on core competencies:  

        It sounds so fundamental, but companies to this day make the mistake of not properly defining their key business.  Once the core business is defined, put the necessary resources behind it to make it grow.

►    To lead, embrace the difficult decisions:

        In order to fix an ailing business or to promote turnarounds, you may need to make decisions that are not popular or comfortable in order to progress.  Ensure that you have the best and right people on the bus, and adjust or remove those that don’t fit.

►    If you are committed to a topic, never stop selling the message:

      Be responsible for you own level of preparedness.  Communicate your vision, agenda, mission often.  When the stormy times come you will be the steady force that guides your business through to success.