This will be the first of 16 weekly installments on The 5 Pillars of Influential Leadership.  Over the next sixteen Thursdays, I will break down the 5 Pillars and show you how becoming and influential leader will not only improve your job skills but your personal life as well.

The 5 Pillars is a project that I have been working on for almost two years and am looking forward to officially launching “The 5 Pillars of Influential Leadership” Coaching program on May 9th.

Why the 5 Pillars?  I have spent more than 30 years in the business world and although it has been primarily in the Construction world, the 5 Pillars philosophy works across all industries.  In fact, while developing this program I realized that it can have a significant impact on your personal life as well.

During these thirty years, I have seen good leadership, poor leadership and no leadership.  My friend, mentor and partner, John Maxwell has a few thoughts on leadership:

“Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership” as well as “Leadership is Influence, Nothing More and Nothing Less”

If you follow his logic, it would make sense that everything rises and falls on influence.  I have observed that our great leaders were great influencers and I believe that there is a progression that they all followed along their path to becoming great leaders.  Think about it – in almost everything we do, we attempt to influence an outcome and that outcome generally depends on getting results from others.

In becoming leaders that produced results and gained respect, they developed skills along the way that were directly related to their success.  The progression of these skills I call The 5 Pillars of Influential Leadership.  Although there is overlap within the Pillars and they do not always need to be completed in exact order, solid development in one will produce greater success in the next.

PILLAR 1 – AWARENESS

It is imperative to know where you are, where you have been that got you there and most importantly, where you want to go.

PILLAR 2 – ENVIRONMENT

Once you have a firm grasp on your current condition, evaluate the environment you are in and whether or not it is conducive to growth.

PILLAR 3 – GROWTH

Knowing where you are and where you want to be, along with an environment conducive to growth will allow you to start growing your skills and moving towards your potential.

PILLAR 4 – COMMUNICATION

Effective communication requires success within the first three pillars. Additionally, influential leaders communicate in a way that helps others to achieve more and move towards reaching their own potential.

PILLAR 5 – LEADERSHIP

Influential leaders know exactly where they are and where they are headed.  If they don’t have an environment conducive to their own growth or the growth of others, they create one. They are life long learners and are able to not only communicate, but connect with others.

Over the next 15 weeks, we will break down each Pillar into three sections:

• Personal – How the individual improves themselves.
• Business – How our actions impact our business and business relationships.
• Community – How we as individuals and employees impact our community including our families and friends.

Wayne Dyer said that “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”  The 5 Pillars will help you to change the way you look at both your business and personal lives.  I look forward to seeing you next week when we take on the challenge of increasing our personal awareness.

For more on The 5 Pillars of Influential Leadership and to view my video click here

To view my guest post in the 2013 International Leadership Blogathon click here

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Barry Smith   www.buildingwhatmatters.com      4/4/13            photo by author