Liquid Leadership and Career Success

I love blogging.  I have met a whole lot of really great people who have something interesting to say and are really fun.  I often exchange career advice books with fellow authors.  The other day, I got one of the best books I have seen in a long time.  It’s called Liquid Leadership: From Woodstock to Wikipedia – Multigenerational Management Ideas That are Changing the Way We Run Things.  Brad Szollose is the author.

I love the title – leadership is fluid.  I love the subtitle even more because it reminds me of who I am.  I had just finished my freshman year at Penn State in 1969.  I couldn’t get to San Francisco (hey, how about those Giants?) for the summer of love and I couldn’t get to Woodstock because I had to work in a steel mill to make money for my next year of college.  But I definitely identify as a Woodstock generation guy.

Interestingly, I’m a big Wikipedia fan.  It’s the first place I go when I’m looking for information.  I do, however, verify what I learn there.  So Brad nailed it for me – my adult life goes from Woodstock to Wikipedia.

But that’s not the important thing here.  Brad lists seven laws of liquid leadership. 

1. Place People First
2. Cultivate an Environment That Is Free and Safe to Tell the Truth
3. Nurture a Creative Culture
4. Support Reinvention
5. Lead by Example
6. Take Responsibility
7. Leave a Lasting Legacy

I like what Brad has to say, and think he provides some great leadership advice.  However, I think that these laws are great career success advice too.  Let’s look at Brad’s points from a career success perspective. 

I will be referring to my latest career success coach book Success Tweets to help explain my perspective on Brad’s advice.  I’m still giving away free downloads of Success Tweets.  To claim your copy go to www.SuccessTweets.com.  And, check out the Success Tweets Blog at http://www.SuccessTweets.com/blog.  I’ve written 141 blog posts explaining each of the tweets in Success Tweets in detail.

Put People First

Success Tweet 121 says, “Get genuinely interested in others.  Help bring out the best in everyone you know.  Others will gravitate to you.”  This is another way of saying put people first.  Everybody has something to offer.  If you want to become a career success, look for other people’s strengths.  Help them capitalize on them.

Cultivate an Environment That is Free and Safe to Tell the Truth

Success Tweet 122 says, “Keep confidences and avoid gossip.  Don’t embarrass others by repeating what they share with you – even if it isn’t in confidence.”  If you want to become a career success you have to be trustworthy.  When you are trustworthy and don’t gossip you create a “safe zone” around yourself.  Other people will feel free to discuss important stuff with you. 

Nurture a Creative Culture

Success Tweet 85 says, “Always be on the lookout for new ideas.  Find opportunities where others see obstacles.”  Finding opportunities where others see obstacles is a good working definition of creativity, and some great career advice.  Looking for ways around problems and setbacks will challenge your creativity.  If you approach problems and setbacks as challenges to be solved, you’ll be amazed at the creative ideas that you’ll come up with.

Support Reinvention

Success Tweet 81 says, “Become a lifelong learner.  The half-life of knowledge is rapidly diminishing.  Staying in the same place is the same as going backward.”  Success Tweet 82 says, “Learn faster than the world changes.  In a world that never stops changing, you can never stop learning and growing.”  In other words, be willing to reinvent yourself.  Grow and change as the world demands.  Five years ago I never would have thought that I’d become a social media expert.  But I had to, if I wanted to continue to get my common sense career advice to as many people as I can.  Be willing to change with the times.

Lead by Example

Success Tweet 18 says, “You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.  Your values help you make decisions in ambiguous situations.”  My apologies to John Mellencamp for borrowing his lyrics for this tweet.  One of the best ways to lead by example – and we can all lead, even if we’re not in formal leadership positions – is to be true to yourself.  When people see you as someone who is consistent in his or her words and actions, they will see you as a leader.  When you make decisions and take actions based on your personal values you’ll be consistent.  Others will notice.  This will lead to your career success.

Take Responsibility

Success Tweet 33 says, “Take personal responsibility for your success.  No one is going to do it for you.  Adopt the motto, ‘If it’s to be, it’s up to me’.”  I preach personal responsibility to all of my career success coach clients.  If you don’t do it, no one else will.  Personal responsibility means doing what you say.  It means staying focused on your goals and not be deterred by temporary setbacks.

Leave a Lasting Legacy

Success Tweet 3 says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.  In part, Success Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.”  In other words, don’t be afraid to reach for the stars.  The old saying, “The problem is not in setting our goals too high and missing them.  It is setting them too low and achieving them” is true.  If you want to become a career success and leave a lasting legacy, create a mighty purpose for yourself – and then do what you need to do to realize your purpose.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  In Liquid Leadership, Brad Szollose presents some brilliant advice for leadership success.  1) Place People First.  2) Cultivate an Environment That Is Free and Safe to Tell the Truth.  3) Nurture a Creative Culture.  4) Support Reinvention.  5) Lead by Example.  6) Take Responsibility.  7) Leave a Lasting Legacy.  I think that Brad’s advice applies to career success as much as it does to leadership success.  Remember these seven points as you go about creating the life and career success you want and deserve.
That’s my take on the excellent leadership and career advice Brad Szollose provide in Liquid Leadership.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud