Leading in Turbulent Times

Over the past year, one of the most popular themes in various leadership discussions across the country has been "Leading in Turbulent Times". I believe this is a timely message for leaders that needs to be discussed in every professional industry, because most professionals in America are facing some sort of crisis within their respective career-fields.

Even though many leaders and individuals may be impacted immensely by the negativity that swirls around during times of crisis, the powerful thing to understand about these times of crisis is that great leaders somehow always seem to emerge. For instance, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington emerged as a great leader, and during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln emerged as a great leader. During the times of inequality for women in America, Susan B. Anthony emerged as a great leader, and during a tough moment at AOL Time Warner, Steve Case emerged as a great leader. During the years of inequality in America, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks emerged as great leaders, and during World War II, Winston Churchill emerged as a great leader full of courage and strength.

Essentially, people have always faced tough challenges and great crises, but it was during those turbulent times that powerful leaders rose to the top to help communities, organizations, and nations overcome the issues and problems that threatened our forward progress. As we go forward into the 21st Century, not only do I believe that great leaders throughout our ownnation will rise to the top to deal with different challenges and obstacles, but I believe we can be instrumental in the development of these leaders by providing solid insight and wisdom into how leaders can be effective during these turbulent times. For this week's newsletter, I want to provide you with six key things that leaders can do to be successful during these stages of crisis within their organizations, community, nation, and the world!

LEADERS MUST HAVE A TIME OF HONEST REFELCTION

Although truth is not something that people always want to hear, the reality is that there are certain challenges and obstacles in life that we will not be able to overcome unless we are honest with ourselves. And quite frankly, a lot of the problems facing our organizations, communities, and nation today are only going to be solved when leaders are honest about the mistakes they have made over the past five, ten, fifteen, and twenty plus years.

LEADERS MUST BE OPEN TO CHANGE

One of the main reasons why people are unable to overcome various challenges or obstacles in life is because they either are not open to change or they never make the necessary changes to get out of a bad situation. With the advancement of technology, the explosion of knowledge, the pace of change, and globalization within our nation, being open to change is not only essential, but it's one of the key prerequisites to overcoming the unique challenges and obstacles of the 21st Century.

LEADERS MUST BE SOLUTION-FOCUSED

During times of crisis and challenge, most people will focus on the problem and be consumed with all the negativity that surrounds the different problems within an organization, community, or nation. Although I do believe it's smart to identify the problem, in order to overcome the negative situation, it's essential that leaders focus on solutions to the problem rather than dwell too long on how bad the problem is. When you think about great leaders of the past, one primary reason why they succeeded was because they developed solutions to the problems that arose rather than allowing the problems to consume and destroy them.

LEADERS MUST HAVE A VISION BEYOND THE CHALLENGE

Throughout the entire country, one of the things I always tell every audience is that you will not succeed as the leader of any organization, company, or group if you do not have a vision. In essence, vision is the foundation for any great leader who desires to succeed. Ironically, this principle is even more important during times of crisis and challenge, because it's the vision that provides the hope, passion, direction, expectation, and strength needed to overcome the obstacles that attempt to destroy us in life.

LEADERS MUST HAVE COURAGE

Courage is essential during tough times because it takes courage to stand up and overcome fears, doubts, uncertainties, and various other negative situations that leaders may face during these rough times. Also, courage is essential during turbulent times because it takes courage to make tough decisions, take calculated risks, and bring about the change needed within an organization or company that may have a tradition of doing things a certain way for 50 plus years!

LEADERS MUST HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

I know we hear about the importance of having a positive attitude all the time, but it's essential that leaders possess this attitude during turbulent times, because most people probably will not have a positive attitude. When a leader possesses a positive attitude during challenging moments, it will not only impact the leader, but it have a huge affect on others that are positioned to support the leader during the tough moments within an organization, community, nation, or world as well!

There are definitely more key concepts that leaders can utilize during these turbulent times, but I strongly believe that these six key principles are essential in helping leaders emerge as great leaders during these challenging moments within their organizations, communities, nation, and the world!

Leadership Lessons we Can Learn from Michael Jordan

It was just approximately three to four weeks ago when Michael Jordan was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. This special ceremony for Michael Jordan seemed to draw more interest from sports fans and experts across the country than usual because many basketball experts and fans alike consider Michael Jordan to be one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. Although this on-going debate among fans and experts about whether Michael Jordan is truly the greatest basketball player of all time will go on for many years to come, the one thing that many can agree upon is that Michael Jordan was a great leader on the basketball court. And like many of the great lessons of leadership we can learn from great leaders outside of the world of professional sports, I believe that there are seven key leadership principles that can be learned from Michael Jordan’s career that can help anyone in their specific area of expertise.

Leadership Lesson #1
Great Leaders Have a Championship Mentality

One of the most powerful attributes about Michael Jordan on the basketball court was the fact that he possessed a championship mentality. In essence, he not only knew what type of attitude he must possess in order to succeed in his area of expertise, but he knew how to apply that attitude and use it to his advantage on the basketball court. He provided insight into this championship mentality when he was quoted as saying, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Leadership Lesson #2
Great Leaders Have a Strong Work Ethic and Strive to Become Better Everyday

Although Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player on the planet during his years in the NBA, he was still considered to be one of the hardest working athletes in professional sports and was known to strive to become better each and every year. The powerful lesson that we can learn from this great leadership attribute is that great leaders must have a strong work ethic and must always strive to become a little better each and every day!

Leadership Lesson #3
Great Leaders Have a Passion and Will to Succeed in Their Area of Expertise

One of the key things that people always talk about when it comes to Michal Jordan was his passion and will to succeed on the basketball court. In essence, regardless of how difficult the challenge or situation seemed, Michael Jordan had a passion and will to succeed on the court so strong that he was able to overcome many of the challenges and obstacles that attempted to stop his success. And like Michael, if we’re going to overcome the challenges and obstacles that we face as leaders on a daily basis, we must have a passion and will to succeed!

Leadership Lesson #4
Great Leaders Lead by Example

If there was one primary leadership concept that Michael Jordan utilized to help others succeed, it had to be his ability to lead by example. I mean, you had young kids throughout the entire country wanting to be like Michael Jordan because he was so effective at leading by example. As leaders, it’s not only essential that we tell others what is right or wrong, but it’s important that we show others what is right or wrong by our actions!

Leadership Lesson #5
Great Leaders Make Others around Them Better

Personally, I believe this is a leadership quality that Michael Jordan had to develop over the course of his career, but once he developed this leadership attribute, it not only helped him succeed on the court, but it enabled him to lead his team to win multiple championships. The lesson that we can learn from Michael Jordan in reference to this leadership principle is that making others around you better not only makes life easier for you as a leader, but it can be the very thing that elevates your career, organization, or company to the next level!

Leadership Lesson #6
Great Leaders Have the Courage to Deal with Tough Situations

One of the toughest situations a basketball player can face is to take the final shot of game when the outcome of the game is on the line. Michael Jordan not only had the courage to take that shot every time, but he was willing to be the person responsible for the loss if his shot did not fall. As leaders, if we are going to be great, we must have the courage to deal with and be responsible for the tough situations and circumstances that many people try to avoid!

Leadership Lesson #7
Great Leaders Always Have To Overcome Some Obstacle

Imagine this, one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history was cut from his sophomore basketball team in high school. In the midst of this horrible situation, Michael Jordan not only refused to give up on his dream of playing basketball, but he overcame the obstacles and used the challenge as fuel for his future success. As leaders, we are always going to face challenges that try to kill our dreams. Whatever you do, don’t give up, but use these very challenges as fuel to become that much better in the future!

Are You An Effective Leader of Generation Next?

As many of you know, for the past few years I have not only been an avid researcher on issues and topics related to Generation Y (those born between 1977-1994), but I have listened to many different perspectives from men and women who serve as experts on generational issues within the workplace. Although I believe this generational workplace discussion is vitally important, one of the key solutions to many of these generational problems within the workplace is effective leadership. In essence, I believe that seasoned leaders who understand how to effectively influence, lead, and develop leaders of this younger generation will not only solve many workplace issues amongst the different generations, but they will create more effective and powerful companies and organizations as well.

Ironically, after researching, reading, and listening to several generational experts, there are very few of these experts that talk about the importance of seasoned leaders being able to effectively influence, lead, and develop leaders of Generation Y. After a few months of promoting my newest leadership book on this subject matter with seasoned leaders, there are four key leadership concepts that I believe all leaders of this younger generation must possess in order to become more effective at influencing, leading, and developing leaders of this younger generation in America. Although I do not have time to go into great detail with these four leadership concepts, I would like to give a brief glimpse of these four leadership concepts that I strongly believe all leaders must possess with this emerging generation in America.
Leadership Principle #1
Leaders of Generation Y Must Be Ethical

If there was one leadership concept that I believe is vital for today's leaders to understand and practice when interacting with Generation Y employees, it would be ethical leadership, which I define as a leader who leads with values such as integrity, honesty, equality, fairness, and compassion for others. The reason why I feel so strongly about this leadership concept is because not only do members of Generation Y value this aspect of leadership highly, but I have seen many organizations and companies fail immensely because of unethical leadership. As a leader of Generation Y, make sure you are an ethical leader!


Leadership Principle #2
Leaders of Generation Y Must Adopt the Servant Leadership Model

If there was any major shift that today's leaders need to make within various organizations and companies across the country with members of Generation Y, it would be the adoption of a servant leadership model. The servant leadership model consist of leaders being people who care about their employees, are willing to make sacrifices for their employees, listen to their employees, desire to better their employees, and lead from the standpoint of a servant rather than a high and mighty boss that everyone in the workplace is scared to interact with on the job. Although there are many great leaders who have become great leaders because of this leadership style over time, until leaders of Generation Y adopt this leadership style in the workplace, they will continue to talk about common problems with this younger generation and will have a very difficult time influencing, leading, and developing leaders of Generation Y.

Leadership Principle #3
Leaders of Generation Y Must Be Inspirational

When you think about the 2008 presidential election, one of the main reasons why President Obama became the first African-American President of the United States was because he was able to inspire the youth of America. In essence, he was able to motivate, encourage, and challenge them to make history. Like President Obama, if any leader desires to be effective with men and women of Generation Y, they must be inspirational leaders who are able to motivate, encourage, and challenge their employees on a daily basis to become the best that they can be. One of the main reasons why this leadership strategy is so important is because studies have shown that 80% of Generation Y desire to make an impact in the world!
Leadership Principle #4
Leaders of Generation Y Must Be Exceptional Team Leaders

The final key leadership concept that I truly believe all of today's leaders who desire to be effective with this emerging Generation Y in America must possess is exceptional team leadership skills. Personally, I believe a leader who possesses exceptional team leadership skills is a person that has a vision, is effective at bringing different people together for a common cause, is effective at selecting the right people and positioning them to succeed, and has a strong ability at developing future leaders to carry out their tasks when they are away from the job. This concept is very important because studies have shown that men and women of Generation Y have a stronger desire to work in teams’ verses working independently.
Obviously, there are many other key leadership concepts that all leaders must possess, but if a leader is effective at applying these key leadership strategies, I believe they will be effective at influencing, leading, and developing leaders of Generation Y.

Is Jesus the Greatest Leader of All-Time?

Throughout the past few weeks on the road in different cities and states as a leadership speaker, I was not only fortunate enough to speak with several different audiences on the topic of leadership, but I noticed an interesting trend in all of my presentations. When I asked these different audiences who they believed was the greatest leader of all-time, I often heard people from different places shout out the name "Jesus!" The unique thing about this response shared by many people was the fact that I was not speaking in a church, but I was speaking at different leadership conferences geared towards student leaders in business and government.

As a Christian myself, I personally believe that Jesus is the greatest leader of all-time, but instead of just stating this opinion because I am Christian, I decided to think about this reality from the perspective of a leadership expert verses an individual that believes in Christ. Although this was different for me as a Christian, I began to learn some unique things about Christ from a leadership perspective that helped me better understand why so many people believed Christ was the greatest leader of all-time.

For instance, as a leader, Jesus Christ not only impacted billions of people with his message, but he impacted the lives of many people when he was alive, he inspired men and women that walked with him to carry out his message unto death, he is valued as a great leader by people who do not even believe in his message, and his message and life story has been passed down and advanced from generation to generation for the past two thousand years.

After learning about these unique qualities about Christ from a leadership perspective, not only can I make a strong argument about him being the greatest leader of all-time, but there are several different leadership concepts that we can all learn from Jesus as well. For the next few moments, I want to share with you the following key leadership qualities that we can all learn from Christ.

Leadership Principle #1
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Leaders Must Have Courage

When you read about the life of Christ, you not only learn about an amazing man, but you see a leader who had the courage to speak the truth with it was not popular, stand up to any challenge or obstacle that came his way, and give his life for the betterment of mankind. These three experiences in the life of Jesus Christ reveal to us how powerful we can become as leaders when we have courage.

Leadership Principle #2
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Leaders Must Have a Purpose

The fascinating thing about the life of Christ is that he not only took time to help people in need, and reach out to those who others may have considered outcasts, but he also stayed focused on his ultimate purpose as a leader. As leaders, it's great to take time for extra things in our life, but it's also important that we stay focused on our initial purpose and vision as a leader regardless of how hard or rough are circumstances might be in life.

Leadership Principle #3
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Leaders Must Be Forgiving

I think one of the hardest things to understand as a leader with so much pressure riding on your job is that everyone who works with you is going to make a mistake and no one is going to be perfect at their job. In essence, at some point, someone who works with you may frustrate you, but how you deal with that person can determine your success as a leader. In the life of Jesus Christ, Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples who would start the first church, not only denied, rejected, and betrayed Christ, but he made many mistakes walking with Christ as well. In the midst of all these mistakes, Jesus not only forgave Peter, but he empowered Peter to continue his work on the earth. This powerful truth shows us that a compassionate and forgiving leader can go a long ways towards helping a team or organization be successful in the 21st Century.

Leadership Principle #4
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Leaders Must Have Integrity and Be Honest

Any leader who desires to be effective in the 21st Century with this emerging generation in America must be a leader that has integrity and is honest. When you learn about the life of Christ as a leader, you will find that he was not only honest with everyone, but he was a man of Integrity. In essence, he was a leader that not only talked the talk, but be lived out his message for others to see as well. As leaders, it's crucial that we are honest and possess integrity like Christ.

Leadership Principle #5
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Leaders Must Have Compassion for Others

When you study the life of Christ from a leadership perspective, one of the key aspects of his effectiveness as a leader was his deep compassion for others. In essence, Jesus Christ was a leader that showed great compassion for everyone regardless of who they were within his circle of influence. This compassion for people in need and those that others may not have cared about is easily seen in several different stories throughout the Bible. As leaders who desire to be great, it's crucial that we have compassion for others in need and those who have the opportunity to serve as leaders.

Leadership Principle #6
Jesus Christ Shows Us That Great Leaders Leave a Legacy

Although I believe there are many qualities that make up a great leader, for me personally, the key quality to me that determines whether a leader was great or not is their legacy. Basically, any leader that desires to be great must be someone that not only makes others around them better, but leaves a legacy for future leaders to carry out past their lifetime. As a leader, Jesus Christ not only left a legacy, but he made others around him better. If anyone desires to be a great leader, it's crucial that they leave a legacy in their profession and field of interest and make people around them better.

From this day forward, if you believe that Jesus Christ was the greatest leader of all-time, instead of saying "What Would Jesus Do?", ask yourself, "How Would Jesus Lead?" in this particular situation

Lessons of Greatness That We Can Learn from Michael Jackson!

For the past couple of weeks, millions of Michael Jackson fans have been impacted immensely by the surprising death of Michael Jackson. For me personally, it was not only a shocking experience, but it was the only time in my life that several of my close friends decided to call me and text me about the death of a huge icon in the music industry. After listening to the stories on television and online, I must say that this incident has saddened me and caused me to really think about Michael Jackson as an artist and person. Although I did not necessarily agree with all of Michael Jackson’s personal decisions, I do believe he was one of the few pop singers and performers that modeled greatness in his area of expertise. And, as we remember Michael Jackson, I would like to remember his greatness as an artist by providing you with four key things about greatness that we can learn from Michael Jackson.
Greatness Tip #1
Great People Practice, Practice, Practice

One of the key reasons why Michael Jackson was so successful as an artist was because he practiced, practiced and practiced. In essence, Michael Jackson became an amazing singer and dancer because he took the time to practice his craft consistently. If you want to be great in your area of expertise, it’s crucial that you practice, practice, and practice to be the best that you can be.

Greatness Tip #2
Great People Make Huge Sacrifices

One of the most talked about issue in reference to Michael Jackson’s singing career is that he had to make great sacrifices as a child in order to become the great singer that he was at an older age. Although some people believe that this sacrifice as a child had a negative impact on Michael Jackson, without that sacrifice at a young age, I do not know if we would have considered him one of the greatest musical artists of all time. The positive lesson that we can learn about Michael Jackson’s huge sacrifices as a young man is that great sacrifice for a cause will produce great results. The question is, how much are you willing to sacrifice?

Greatness Tip #3
Great People Maximize their Gifts/Talents

When you look back in history, there were many great singers, but one of the reasons why I believe Michael Jackson was so successful was because he maximized his gifts and talents as an artist. In essence, he used what he had to the best of his ability. For instance, instead of just being a great singer, he was a great dancer and performer as well. This was demonstrated in an article that I once read about Michael Jackson. It described how Quincy Jones, who produced Billie Jean, told a reporter that he had tried to cut the song’s intro, but Michael Jackson had balked, “That’s the juice", he had said. "That’s what makes me want to dance.” This shows us that great people make sure to maximize and use all their gifts and talents at 100%.


Greatness Tip #4
Great People Have Courage

Anyone who has ever done anything great has had to possess the courage in order to become great. Not only did Michael Jackson become a great singer, but he had the courage to be different, take risks, be the best that he could possibly be, and be who he was regardless of what people thought about him. In essence, Michael Jackson was a man of courage and that’s a key reason why I believe he became one of the greatest pop artists of all time. If we’re going to achieve greatness in our area of expertise, we must have courage.

In remembrance of Michael Jackson, be someone who strives to be great in your own personal area of expertise!

Leadership Lessons We Can Learn from the LA Lakers!

As many of you know, the Los Angeles Lakers just won the NBA Championship this past Sunday. Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I am a huge sports fan who watches almost every Lakers game on television when I am at home in Los Angeles, California. Although I had several different article ideas on leadership this month, after watching the post-game interviews with various NBA experts, coaches and players, I thought there were some powerful leadership lessons that we can all learn from the Los Angeles Lakers this past NBA Season.


Leadership Lesson #1
Great Character Counts

Throughout the entire NBA Finals, there were many powerful statements made by different experts, coaches, and players, but the most powerful leadership statement to me was made by Coach Phil Jackson when he said that Derek Fisher's greatest asset as an NBA player was not his skill level, but it was his great character as a player, person, and leader of the team. This statement revealed to me that talent is great, but without great character, it will be very hard to become a great leader at any level.

Leadership Lesson #2
Great Leaders are not BORN, they are DEVELOPED overtime

Many leadership experts have debated whether or not great leaders are born or made. Although I have always believed that great leaders are made after studying leadership for quite some time, the development of Kobe Bryant as a leader of the LA Lakers over the past five years is a great example of a good leader developing into a great leader overtime.

Leadership Lesson #3
Great Leaders know how to put their members in positions to succeed

The powerful thing about life is that "one man's trash can be another man's treasure." With the LA Lakers, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown were nobodies on their former teams, but once they became Lakers, Phil Jackson was able to use their talents and position them for success on the basketball court. This basketball example shows us that great leaders who know how to position their members for success can achieve much more out of their members than leaders who do not know how to position their members for success.

Leadership Lesson #4
Great Leaders trust their Team

Throughout the entire playoffs, the key for Kobe Bryant as the leader was to trust his teammates to come through at crucial moments during the game. Thankfully for the LA Lakers, Kobe was able to trust his teammates and they were ultimately able to win an NBA Championships together. As leaders, it's crucial that we surround ourselves with people that we can trust to help us all succeed together as a team.

Leadership Lesson #5
Great Leaders execute well under Pressure

When you look back on the entire NBA Finals, most games were won by the team that was able to execute most effectively under pressure. Unfortunately for the Orlando Magic, they failed to execute more effective than the LA Lakers and hence, they ended up losing the series. Similar to sports in life, the leader who is able to handle pressure effectively will be the leader who will see greater results rather than someone who does not handle pressure well.

Leadership Lesson #6
Great Leaders endure Challenges

During the playoffs, it was evident that the other point guards were playing better than Derek Fisher at certain moments. Due to this evidence, many reporters were curious if Phil Jackson was going to bench Fisher and play the other point guards who were playing better at the time. Ironically, Phil Jackson stayed with Fisher through all the struggles and challenges that his point guard was facing on the court early in the playoffs. Ultimately, this was a great decision because Fisher ended up making one of the biggest two shots for the LA Lakers in the entire playoffs. This experience revealed to me that as a leader, we not only need to stick with our plans, but we need to stick with people that may be having a hard time presently.

Are You One of the Top 10%?

This past weekend, I had an engaging conversation about the younger generation with one of my best friends who serves as an HR Manager for a major Fortune 500 company in Denver, Colorado. Are discussion began with leadership in relevance to Generation Y and quickly moved into an in-depth conversation about recruiting the Top 10% talent in the college market.

Although this topic of discussion has not been of much interest to me as a leadership speaker who focuses mainly on issues that revolve around leadership, I was curious to hear how my friend defined the Top 10% because I personally did not believe the Top 10% should just be based on attending the best college and achieving the best grades in your class. Surprisingly to me, my friend felt the same way as me about the Top 10% and explained to me how being in the Top 10% from HR standpoint dealt with so many other factors beyond the college you attend and the grades you achieve in your class. He also agreed with me that everyone has the ability to be in the Top 10% if they are able to receive the proper training in their area of expertise.

As many individuals graduate college, aspire to move up within their company, and be the best they can be within their area of expertise, I wanted to share with you twelve key things that my friend and I believe people must possess in order to be considered the Top 10% in their area of expertise.

Strong Skill Set

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must possess a strong talent and skill set for your specific professional arena. This can only happen for people who know what their skill set and work continuously to be the best they can be with their skill set.

Positive Attitude

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must possess a positive attitude on the job, which means that you focus on the positive instead of the negative and possess an attitude that impacts others around you!


Great Character

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that possesses great character. Great character means that you are someone others can trust, you are someone that has integrity, you are someone that fair and just, and you are someone that does what’s required of you in your area of expertise.

Passion

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that possesses passion for your work. This ultimately means that you are someone who cares about your job, loves your job, is willing to go the extra-mile to be the best at your work, and refuses to let anyone or anything stop you from achieving great success in your area of expertise.

Team Player

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that is an exceptional team player. Being an exceptional team player means that you are someone who works well with others, understands how to work effectively in a team setting, gets along with others on the job, and is willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the entire team.

Strong Leadership Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that has strong leadership skills. As a leadership speaker, there are many different aspects of becoming a strong leader, but one key thing to understand is that great leaders are not born, they are developed, which means at some point you will have to work on your leadership skills in order to be a great leader. This process can occur in college or in your area of expertise.

Teachable

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that is teachable. This ultimately means that you are a person on the job that is willing to learn, is willing to hear positive and constructive criticism, knows how to listen, and does not believe that he/she know everything. Although this concept seems easy to do, many people fail within various organizations and companies because they are not teachable.

Professional Etiquette

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have professional etiquette, which is ultimately adhering to the company culture in which you work and being an example of the standards set by the company to others. For instance, as a business professional, if its required for you to wear a suit and tie, make sure you wear a suit and tie to the job. Also, if its good business within your company to respond to emails within 48 hours, make sure you are someone that responds in 48 hours. Basically, professional etiquette is doing what is professionally required in your area of expertise to the highest level.

Problem-Solver

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be a problem solver which is someone who is not only effective at solving problems on their own or in groups, but its someone that focuses on solutions to problems rather than the problem itself.

Strong Work Ethic

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong work ethic, which consists of someone who works hard at their job and works at being better at what they do on a consistent basis. Since it’s basketball season, the greatest example of this concept is Kobe Bryant because he is not only one of the best players in the NBA, but he is also one of the hardest workers in the NBA as well.

Strong Decision Making Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong decision making skills, which consists of someone who is extremely effective at making good choices and making the right decisions in tough moments. For instance, if your on the job and your friend is not doing his job effectively, are you willing to make the tough decision to replace him with someone else for the betterment of the team or will that be something to hard for you to do? This is just one of the many tough decisions that talented people must make within their company or organization.

Great Communication Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong communications skills, which consists of being able to communicate effectively to the members of your team, being able to effectively communicate to people of different backgrounds than yours, and being able to effectively communicate in front of an audience as a public speaker. Although some areas of expertise require less communication than others, at the end of the day, the talented 10% are able to communicate their message effectively to others in a group setting or one on one conversation.

Like most people, I believe that are several others key factors as well, but applying these simple twelve basic things effectively in your area of expertise can really position you as a great candidate or leader within any company or organization!