Soft Leadership

So you've got big plans for the future...Great, so do I! A year or so ago, while I was reading  Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, I realized that I wanted to have a career sharing leadership and business principles. I think it would be fun and I like learning. I recognized that this dream was a long way down the road, but I had better get started doing something now.

So I follwed Gary's advice on branding yourself and started this blog writing about the things that I am interested in. I enjoy it, it's fun, and I'm learning.

I'm sure someday I will look back on this and be embarrassed. However, I've learned that if you're not launching too soon, you're launching too late. Or better put, if you're not embarrassed by your first version, you've launched too late.

In this video, Derek Sivers teaches that "Version 0.1" is the thing you can do right now to get started because "Version 4.8" will come eventually after much trial, error, and refining. The important concept to realize is that you'll never begin if you're trying to start with "Version 2.0". Apple launched the first iPad even though deep in the basement of their R&D Dept. they had a prototype of the iPad 6. The point is, you'll never launch if you're waiting until the product is perfect.

This week I've been reading up on leading meetings in modern times. In doing so, I came across this quote:

A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. - Lao Tzu

Then I came across this video and learned that it's really the first followers who are the leaders. 

Here are some key points:

• A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous.
  
• To lead, you must be public and easy to follow.
  
• You must show people how to follow and embrace them as equals so it's not about you, it's about them.
  
• Your leadership needs to be about the movement, not you.
  
• First followers are critical to beginning a movement, nurture them, embrace them, build them up.
  
• As more people follow, it becomes less risky and more will join in.
  
• Leadership is over-glorified, it's really the first follower that transforms a lone nut into a leader.

Enjoy the video!

In my last blog post I wrote about how unnecessary business plans are because nobody knows the future. It sure would be nice if the line graphs always went up and up...but that's not reality. Here in this video Derek Sivers, author of Anything You Want, explains the following:

1. A complex and thorough business plan does not guarantee success
2. How business plans can change quickly

My favorite quote from this video is:

"No business plan survives first contact with the customer."

Check out this case study to learn the above principle in great depth and these other lessons: 

• Business plans are the leading cause of startup death
• Rapidly changing markets require continuous business model iteration/customer development
• Your ability to raise money has no correlation with customer adoption

It's amazing how some people just won't admit that they "don't know." They can believe in their plan so much that they can't adapt as needed - this is how business plans stifle progress. No matter what you've got planned, once you get into the real world, everything will change. It's better to understand this from the start. Enjoy the video!