The average person influences approximately 10,000 people in their lifetime.

The average person influences approximately 10,000 people in their lifetime. Your actions and your life story are going to impact many people. It is up to you to decide if your influence will be positive or negative. You can make a positive influence on your own life and other’s lives by becoming a leader. 

Leadership is about taking the hard times and leveraging them to the advantage and goodwill of the team. Sometimes it takes pain, setbacks, and struggles to find opportunities. Tough times can become trampolines to higher mountains if you are true to your principles and values. Own what you speak, how you act, your experiences, your setbacks, and your struggles. It is the development of your life story. 

When times are tough, would you follow you? When times are good, would you follow you? When no one is watching you, would you follow you? The power of your leadership and influence starts and stops with how you lead yourself. Here are the 10 principles of personal leadership that have made me a person that I would follow.  

10 Principles of Leadership

1. Leaders put that team and people first all the time, not some of the time. Notice how the highest-ranking officers always eat last. That is because they are strong leaders who put the needs of their team above their own needs. 
2. Leaders are in the people business. Encouragement is oxygen for the soul. Are you encouraging people daily? The deeper the relationship you have with people, the stronger your influence will be.
3. Leaders take responsibility. You understand the scope of your being when you understand the scope of your responsibility. Understand what you are responsible for and accept full accountability. 
4. Leaders value what they say and how they speak. The words that come out of your mouth, and the tone that you use, present how you feel to another person. Your language broadcasts your beliefs. Whatever we speak, we strengthen. 
5. Leaders are great listeners. For many people, our egos scream so loudly we have no ears to listen with. When we speak, we can only say what we know, but when we listen, we have the opportunity to hear what we don’t know. 
6. Leaders serve and provide hope. Think about what you can do for others, and be authentic when you ask, “what can I do for you?” Encourage people to be the best version of themselves. When we give people hope and encouragement, people will start to believe in themselves. 
7. Leaders take action. Ideas without execution are worthless. Never ask other people to do something you aren’t already doing or willing to do yourself. Be willing to take the same steps you would ask someone else to take to achieve your goals.
8. Leaders have great character. What do you do when no one is watching? Leaders are their authentic selves in private and in public. Develop values and principles that you can be proud of and live by daily. 
9. Leaders never stop learning. To be a great leader, you must have a never arriving mindset. That means you are constantly learning from your own experiences and other’s experiences. You go to school on your attitude, emotions, language, character, and commitment every day. 
10. Leaders provide vision and have unshakeable faith in their vision. To be a great leader, you must be focused on your vision even when things aren’t going your way. Leaders understand current circumstances aren’t there to define you but to refine you. 

This is what I know about leadership, but it is not the ceiling. I invite you to take what I know about leadership and to add principles from your personal experiences. Every single day is an opportunity to take yourself to a new level. The average person influences approximately 10,000 people in their lifetime. Will you be a positive or a negative influence on someone’s life? You are only as good as your effort right now.