Are all leaders readers? The successful ones are.
As you may have read, over the next few months, I will be diving into MY TOP TEN leadership books. They are the best books for leadership development-period.
I began with Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. (If you’d like to go back to the full list, click HERE.
Last week I shared the first principle in the book How to Win Friends and Influence People: no complaining, no condemning, and no criticizing. People that are highly successful understand that when we complain, we condemn and we criticize, we automatically put ourselves on the wrong side of success. Were you able to use that principle over the last week?
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
-John Quincy Adams
Today’s principle is share genuine appreciation.
Today’s challenge out of How to Win Friends and Influence People, is to find someone to share genuine appreciation with. Who do you know, who do you have in your life right now, if you just take a second think about it, that you could share some genuine appreciation with today?
Let me share a quick story with you. This morning my wife and I were getting ready for the day. She made a nice breakfast for us. As she was cooking, there was a love song that was playing on the radio.
It reminded me of a video that I saw a few years ago of a man proposing to his girlfriend. It’s a great song and in that video, she’s sitting in the back of the car driving slowly down the road and all of these people are coming up and they’re dancing and singing. It’s an awesome engagement.
So I shared how much I appreciated her making some healthy food for us and asked if she was willing to sit so that I could share the video with her.
As we watched the video together, I got a chance to tell her how much I love and appreciate her. and remind her of all the things she’s done to make me happy over the last 24 years. I immediately started my day with today’s lesson in practice.
Share an appreciation. The more that we share genuine appreciation for others, the more we win friends and influence people in a positive way.
People love to feel valued. They absolutely love that.
“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.”
-Unknown
So show others how much they mean to you through genuine appreciation. As a result, you will have increasing success in your life. Do this consciously over the next 7 days!
Again, here is a list of my “go-to” books for leadership growth: Best books for leadership development!
“Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.”
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