Do you think leadership is about the size of your office? Or, do you think its about the formal authority you have? Guess what? None of these.

Leadership is a mindset. It’s a way of being. Gone are the days when you had to be the CEO or managing Director or Minister or President in order to be a leader. Leadership has changed over time. If you are alive, you not only have the opportunity, you have the responsibility to show leadership not only in your work or in your creativity or impact and influence, but even in your personal life.

I am excited that you are reading this…Stick with me as I share with you the 5 mindsets you should have as a leader.

Focus on what you want

Great leaders who have the mind-set of great productivity focus on the exact reward they want in the now, not from yesterday… no, no… in the now. They’re totally focused.

As a leader, I suggest you once in a while stop and go through your day. Ask yourself, “during my entire 5/8/7 hours of what I was doing today, how many of those hours was I focused on doing something that I want to achieve now.” Just take time and think about it. You’ll be surprised the kind of answers you’ll get.

Manage concentration for maximum output

There’s so much stuff going on out there. There are so many distractions that as a business leader, one of the greatest mindsets you must have, is the mindset of knowing that you must concentrate.

Great leaders always manage their concentration in an effective way. They know that every 60 minutes, they take a break. That break is to refresh and to reorganize them so that they get some energy then they come back and concentrate. This ensures that their productivity is constant all day.

So, the great mind-set for great leaders is to know, I concentrate on a project every 60 minutes, take a break, come back, concentrate for another 60 minutes and take a break, come back.

Focus on what will work today and, in the future, not what worked yesterday.

There’s a saying, “if it isn’t broken, don’t change it”. But the world is changing so quickly and fast that as a great leader, one of the greatest mind-sets you must cultivate, is a mind-set of working on something that will work today and in the future. 

Everything you do, get something, put your mind on it and ask yourself a question, “is this going to work today? Will it make a big difference in my future?” If the answer is yes, then you give it time.

Learn to discipline yourself better than anything else.

Some people call it time management. Time-management really is about personal discipline. It is about your ability to discipline yourself to do what you say you’re going to do. To have a schedule and follow it.

Having the discipline to follow that, having the discipline not to jump off and be distracted. That is what time-management is about. You’ve got to have the mindset and discipline to say “if it is time for business development, I have no distractions, my phone is off, my computer is off, I am totally concentrating on that. That is what makes a difference between those who are making it and those who aren’t.

They constantly practice and review the 80-20 rule.

Great leaders concentrate on 20% of the things that give them 80% of the results. However, they even go deeper. Out of the 20%, they say “what is the 20% of the 20%?” That means, they’re working with the crème de la crème of whatever it is they’re working on.

If it is clients, they’re working with the best clients meaning, they’re giving it a lot more in terms of concentration.

Usually, the 20% of 20% are the ones who pay you the most, the ones who are easiest to work with and, the ones who give you the motivation to come in and do what you have to do. 

Guess what? The world needs more leadership, therefore, don’t resign yourself to any form of mediocrity by saying “I can’t lead”. You are alive and you have the power so, go lead