Expand Your Box (ESI)

Enlightened Self-Interest.

I created a concept called Enlightened Self-Interest (ESI).  ESI means to understand what is in my best interest with the intent to choose and take action. It allows you to get clear on what is important to you and marshal your resources to focus your time, energy and money to accomplish great things (for you). This concept is documented in more details in the book, Make a Difference: From Being Successful to Being Significant, available on amazon.com.

To accomplish anything important in our lives we have to do things have not done before. We need to solicit feedback from others to better understand our impact. We need feedback systems in place to allow us to self-correct. We need to understand how our actions and behaviors impacts others. When we do these things we do not get out of box – we expand our box!

It is impossible to get out of our box. We can only expand our box, make it larger. This expands our visions and allows us to see things differently; to see possibilities where none existed before. This is what a leader does. A leader create the vision (ESI), sells that vision, communicates that vision and helps others to see the bigger picture; whether in sales, personal development, business growth or personal growth. A leader helps others expand their personal box (vision of the world.)

When you embrace your ESI, you expand. Many time your ESI changes and you expand further. You might start out solving a specific problem (I need to grow sales). You might then grow your ESI into a strategy (this is how we will do things.) Ideally your ESI will evolve into your purpose (I will change the lives of one million people.) It is, as most things, an evolution an expanding, a becoming.

So what’s in it for you? The more selfish you become in executing your ESI, the more you expand you personally. You create a larger view of the world.

And…

As you expand yourself you are able to give more to others, to expand their box, to grow their perception. You can do this because you are seeing things differently, thinking differently and acting differently.

As human being we are driven to continually prove to ourselves the vastness of our influence and connectedness. You realize your boundaries are nearly limitless. Every business owner wants to expand his business, every mother wants their children to expand and become all them can be, each of use wants to know we are leaving a mark and our time spent (in business, in life, in a relationship) was purposeful.

Explore your ESI and give yourself permission to expand your boundaries and see who you really are and what you are capable of.  This is about personal leadership, business leadership and community leadership.

Enjoy!

Ron Finklestein

www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788

Are You a Leader?

A good friend of mine wrote this article for a local magazine. The article received great reviews and because of that I ask him if I could post it here. The author’s name is Dale Stefancic.  To find out more about Dale, email him at dale@dalestefancic.com or visit www.EntrepreneursOnCall.com

LEADERSHIP

 

Leadership is a powerful word.  With it, there is an amazing amount of responsibility,  should you decide to assume the role of a Leader.  Often the question of are leaders born or are they made is frequently debated.  I believe both situations exist;  just as someone is born with a gift to be an artist, pro athlete, talented musician, actor or actress.  You can be born with the gifts to be a leader.  Can you become a leader?  I believe you can.

Leadership is reserved for those individuals that have vision, passion, compassion, drive, desire and unending will to attend to a higher level.  It may be as simple as having the leadership for your family.  To have them take the safe path, keeping them out of harms way, demonstrating through actions the correct and best way to get things accomplished.  Leadership is not attained by a title such as supervisor or business owner.

Leadership is a constant demonstration of one’s ability to lead through action with passion and purpose to illustrate the intended result.

While working in the business world, I have seen too many times  management just delegate responsibility or tasks without knowing first hand what it takes for the desired outcome  they look for.

Leaders are respected and listened to because they have demonstrated time and time again they have done what it takes to overcome and are willing to demonstrate to others through action and gain the respect needed to be valued and listened to.

The majority of leaders should know and understand that people are the core building blocks of their team and/or organization.  To be an effective leader, you need to understand the core building block of your people and their respective values.

Many organizations just look at their people in a professional capacity. This short sighting will miss the mark.  To ensure your leadership fits and attracts the right people, doing the right things take into account all the roles each person comes to work with, within and outside their team or organization.  You may have to address their personal roles outside of work such as parent, little league coach or volunteer.

Many times a person’s role shows up at work.  A leader is no different and you must understand and be aware of it.  The right leader will identify their own growth and development and prioritize them.

Keep in mind, you get the people you deserve.  It is our decision.  For you to attract and lead better people, you need to become the leader that those people need and deserve.  That means you first need to invest in yourself.  Keep improving one of your strengths and make your weaknesses strong.

Leadership begins from within.  Identify core roles, prioritize them and plan on development and then acting on them.  Any relationship begins with you.  Leadership begins with you.  To be effective, it is dependent on your ability to communicate well.

All communication begins with a thought before it is translated into words and messages. How many of us have allowed ourselves to speak first and think later?  What was the result?  In many circumstances, it created some unwelcome ripples in our life and in our leadership.  With sound leadership, our internal and external communication must be open, honest, clear and timely and at times radical.    When our thoughts line up with our words, our actions will follow in alignment.  You are congruent.  You walk the talk.  When you do that, people do what people see.

Be creditable.  This is who you are.  A creditable leader has quality of relationships and has earned the right to lead, versus it being a granted position.  Leaders are authentic, trustworthy, and compelling.

Be competent in what you do.  Leaders are expected to get it correct, which means problems need a proactive approach.  Usually problems will stem from three areas-people, strategy and execution. Your problem will most likely always fall into one of the three categories.  Identify which one and solve it.

Lastly, I want to mention consequences.  How do you do things and what was the consequence of your action?  How did you make your decision?  How did you choose to communicate your decisions and what was the impact on others?

Decide if you are a leader or if you need to work on yourself in some capacity to become a leader!

Dale Stefancic

 

To Your Success,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788

www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com

Aboutbusinesssuccess.com is a web site devoted to your personal and business growth. It contains marketing articles, personal growth videos and relationship building strategies.

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