This is Part I of a two-parter Leadership Series by Jeff Tan.

Staggering search results when the word "leadership" is Googled:

•177 million hits on "leadership"
•6.39 million hits on "leadership articles"
•4.15 million hits on "leadership development"

That's way too much information to read, understand, digest, internalize, practice and master in order to grow as a leader. And as we all want to become outstanding and effective leaders, there must be a simpler "magic formula" out there to help us.

Good news! There is a simple yet totally effective way to grow into the leader we want to be, and there are just four simple steps to it, distilled from the best of the 177 million Google search hits. Here are the four steps which look like most other leadership tips, but take a closer look and you’ll see a very different approach to leadership development:

Step 1: Know Yourself – Lead Yourself
Step 2: Learn It
Step 3: Do It
Step 4: Teach It

Step 1: Know Yourself – Lead Yourself

A leader must lead himself or herself before leading others. When you know yourself right down to the core, you become a congruent leader.  Congruence happens when who you are (your core values, beliefs and identity) matches what you say and do (your actions and behavior).  When you're congruent, trust exists and the unconscious messages we constantly send out matches what we really want to say.

Unconscious messages? What's that? From the study of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), or the art and science of personal excellence as many like to call it, we know that we're constantly sending out unconscious messages through our unspoken body language. This is often what counts far more than the spoken word.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Action Step:Find your core values using NLP techniques so that you can Know Yourself to Lead Yourself first. Visit this link for more info: http://www.revtc.com/training/
podcast.aspx

Step 2: Learn It
The key question is, "learn what?" Learning leadership theories is good, but mastering sales skills is even better! There's no typing error here – the key to becoming a truly outstanding leader is to become a sales professional.

Think about this. Sales is all about understanding another person's needs and wants. Sales is about understanding and respecting different human behavior. Sales is about connection, friendship and trust. Sales is about communicating to influence. Replace the word sales with leadership in this paragraph, and voila!, you have a powerful definition of leadership!

Action Step:  Read a sales article or attend sales training. Not just for yourself but for your entire team or family. Learn it today.

Step 3: Do It

Leadership is not an academic pursuit. Leadership is a passionate pursuit of influence and inspiration to bring the best out of yourself and the people around you. One cannot talk about leadership; you must do it and continue growing.

Action Step:  Find a leadership tip you particularly like, and use it immediately to influence or inspire someone close to you. Do It and watch their reaction. If it's positive, do it again. If the reaction wasn't positive, ask yourself why and change your behavior.

Step 4: Teach It

It's universally acknowledged that the best way to learn and master a new skill or tool is to teach it. The act of sharing information forces you to raise your knowledge and skill levels which in turn, makes you a better leader.

Action Step: Gather a group of friends and share what you know about this article, or go on a leadership blog and leave a comment, or better still, start your own leadership blog to share your leadership ideas! Teach It.

"Just do It"
- Nike -