Are you looking to grow as a leader and game-changer in your life and business?
Do you want to harness the power of your ideas and turn them into ways that can suit your unique purpose and strength?
For those of you who don’t know me yet, I’m Kenny Chapman, and this post is long overdue.
I’ve been a leader in different service industries, from diaper delivery to HVAC, and, most recently, I started a leadership coaching business that helps others learn from the mistakes of my past and step into their own greatness.
Since founding Blue Collar Success Group, we’ve helped thousands of leaders in all sorts of industries make their businesses grow and reach higher potentials.
At the root of it, all is leadership and mastering the power of our driven minds.
This is why I handed over day-to-day control of Blue Collar and started a separate brand focused on life coaching and leadership for all people, but especially those in industries where you don’t get a lot of this talk, such as the in-home service industry.
Today, I wanted to give you a snapshot of leadership in a nutshell and what I’ve found through my own experience and working with many experts and drivers in businesses have told me.
5 Aspects Of Leadership In A Nutshell
Leadership is not simple, but at the same time, it’s not tricky.
Complicated, right?
My friends, there are a ton of facets, of sides, to leadership, but in my experience, there are 5 major aspects of leadership that, if you can master these, your success and happiness will skyrocket.
I’m not just saying this from nothing. I’ve learned a lot from the school of life and hard knocks.
From serving in the military to multiple marriages to failed business to too much drinking, I’ve been through it all.
Yeah. I don’t mince words here. We need to get to the real stuff to really step into who we’re supposed to be.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve learned from my mistakes and built very successful businesses, and now I help others to do the same.
That’s where these 5 things come into play.
Let’s dive in, my friends.
Find Your Purpose
To be a good leader, you need to know your true purpose.
I’m not a traditionally religious man, but I do believe we are put here on this earth for a reason.
We have natural talents and strengths and weaknesses, and we develop even more as we go through life’s experiences.
All of these come together to find out who and what we really are and what we’re supposed to be.
I call this “stepping into your greatness.”
I start with this idea as a leader with all my clients.
What is your purpose?
Look deeper than just business.
What drives you?
What do you enjoy doing?
Are there challenges you love to overcome?
Are there challenges that drain your energy every time they come up?
Life isn’t about the end. It isn’t about your profit at the end of the year or how many millions you make by the end of your life.
It’s about what you do and how you grow during that process.
Most of the time, when we struggle as leaders, especially with things that hold us back, it’s because we’re forcing ourselves into a place where we’re working against our inner purpose.
Finding that purpose and reinventing ourselves and our position allows us to step forward into what we’re supposed to do.
And guess what?
We’ll be 1,000% happier, more successful, and more effective than we were before.
And even better, we’ll open up a place for our team members to step in and find their purpose in the space we left.
Honest Reflection And Improvement
As part of this purpose-driven leadership process (by the way, a book of mine on this topic is coming out soon!), we need to always be taking a good hard look at ourselves.
We need to reflect and then improve each and every day to be a model for the team and make the business better.
This part’s tougher than it sounds, my friends. Sometimes, maybe even a lot of the time, we don’t like what we see.
Believe me. There have been plenty of times I looked at myself, and I didn’t like it.
When I was younger, I’d berate myself over it. Or I’d ignore it and keep making the same dang mistakes.
I don’t want that for you. I want you to have the courage to look yourself in the mirror and say:
You know what? I suck at this thing, but I need to get better. It won’t be easy, but I will make progress.
The way I recommend this to get done the most is by writing, journaling.
Yes, with pen and paper. Like the stone age.
It forces your conscious mind to slow down long enough for your subconscious to catch up.
Then, you really get in tune with yourself.
It also helps you regulate your emotions and get some distance.
Harnessing The Driven Mind
Leaders, like me and probably you, have what I like to call a “driven mind.”
This is the mind where you wake up in the middle of the night with a million ideas of how to make your business better.
This is the mind where you obsess over little things until it takes over everything, and you forget about what success you’ve had.
It’s where you push an agenda and new ideas so fast the people who follow you are confused.
It’s awesome.
And it’s terrible.
On the one hand, we have so much drive and passion for what we do.
On the other, our ideas come so fast we leave a trail of half-built and scattered waste on the road behind us.
Leaders, friends, whatever you want to call yourselves, it’s time to harness this awesome power we have.
How do we do this?
One huge part is slowing down the mind to allow for ideas to grow.
This is where the journaling comes in. It’s also where mediation, prayer, exercise, etc., come into play.
Time is like a sieve. It’ll let the small bad ideas through and the good ones stay behind.
Another huge part of this is around your team (more on this later too).
If you have a board or others on your leadership team, involve them in the process and encourage them to sharpen the plan or cut you off as needed.
As you plan, talk about the why of the idea. Why are we trying it?
Then get into the details.
Communicate this to everyone. Don’t just keep it up in your whirling mind.
This aspect is kind of the theme behind everything I do, so go check out the rest of the blog or my podcasts for all the other ways we get this done.
This post is just an introduction to a much larger topic.
Inspire And Allow Team To Thrive
No leader is worth anything without a good team.
The good thing is that all of these aspects you work on apply to your team too.
You want to encourage them to find their unique purpose and step into their greatness in your business.
Think about it: if you had a team member who was stellar at analyzing data, would you keep them installing water heaters?
The exact same thing works in reverse. Why would you put your best service person behind a desk? Let them step into their purpose and help the other team members learn how to be better.
I’m great at a lot of things. I’m also really sucky at a lot of things.
I love to look at data and build a long-term plan for success.
But I’m not good at gathering and compiling that data.
If every person has a unique purpose they can find through their own honest reflection and improvement, why would you hold them back in something else?
Use their strengths to help the whole team out.
I also want to point out something here you may or may not have noticed.
I never use the word “employee.”
The words “boss” and “manager” are horrible.
I’m all for the power of positive and intentional word choice and how it impacts your life.
My business is a team. I’m a leader, and my team is right alongside me.
The only way a business succeeds in the long-term without burning out through forceful and painful work is by letting your team learn from your example and go through these steps themselves.
Embrace The Pain Of Change
The last big one I wanted to touch on is around change.
Change is awesome, but it hurts.
All change hurts, but you can manage the pain.
I suppose you could try to avoid the pain. It’s what we as humans want to do.
But if you’re not changing and growing, you’re going backward.
Life wasn’t meant to stay still or go backward.
We were meant to grow and change and move.
Leaders need this ten-fold.
Your business will come up against change. Some of it will be good, some may seem bad at first, and all of it will hurt to some degree.
Embrace that pain; don’t shy from it.
Navigate the path forward by asking yourself why the change happened and why you need the new state of being.
Then, ask yourself what you need to get there and what training or resources may need to be added.
Then, get your team involved. Find the right spots for the right people or hire someone to fill that role.
You’ll get off the path. No change goes perfectly, but if you know why you’re changing, you’ll be able to course-correct and get back.
“Managers” react to change. “Bosses” command their workers through it.
Leaders guide and thrive and learn and grow and anticipate and conquer.
It still hurts, but I know which one I’d rather be, and I bet you do too.
Ways To Get In Involved
Friends, I’m fired up about this. Every time I go to coach or write or do a podcast, I get fired up.
I love helping people reach their potential. It’s my unique purpose in this world.
If you’re fired up like me, you probably want to get more involved. There are a few ways to do this:
- Check out my C.H.A.N.G.E 2.0 book.
- Join the email list.
- Subscribe to the podcast.
- Join our leadership Facebook group.
- Shoot me an email at KennyATKennyChapmanDOTcom.
- Check out the other dozens of articles on my website.
I’d love to hear from you!
Final Thoughts
There are a hundred other aspects of leadership I could talk about (and have, check out my books or talks), but this is about what leadership in a nutshell is.
I’m trying to keep it down to a nutshell, not some giant stadium.
Find your purpose through honest reflection, harness your driven mind, let your team step up and into their greatness, and don’t be afraid to embrace the pain of change.
Do these things, and you’ll be a leader worth following.
You’ll spark the change in your life and your team that will shock you.
My friends, I’ve seen it in my own life and countless others, and I want that for you.
It’s not easy, but it’s good to work and work worth doing.
Let’s get to work.
Now go make it a better-than-fantastic week!
Want To Learn More About Kenny?
Here’s my official bio:
Kenny Chapman is an acclaimed authority on helping people discover their true potential. His compelling teachings have inspired individuals worldwide to reshape their lives and organizations, creating lasting change and unparalleled success.
An entrepreneur at heart, Kenny built a highly successful plumbing/HVAC company which created the personal freedom to travel and pursue other endeavors. To date, he has owned nine companies in five industries.
Kenny has become a well-respected expert on business and personal development and was named one of America’s Premier Experts for 2011. Additionally, he was awarded The Tom McCart Consultant of the Year Award in 2014 for excellence in the HVAC industry. Kenny has authored two books: In-Home Sales Acceleration and The Six Dimensions of C.H.A.N.G.E and writes a monthly column for Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine. He has also been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX, as well as featured in USA Today.
Kenny developed his exclusive Blue Collar Coaching System based on the need for personalized solutions to everyday challenges that fellow business owners experience. He became a certified E-Myth trainer and has created a powerful sales training school for technicians. He has also established an extensive library of life-changing tools and programs, covering topics such as leadership, strategy, life balance, and planned implementation.
Kenny’s desire to share his message of success and fulfillment with others has also led him into the world of speaking for larger audiences. He creates his own workshops, delivers powerful keynotes, and has toured with motivational guru Les Brown. Kenny uses his masterful storytelling ability and natural humor to consistently captivate his audiences and create a powerful, relevant, interactive experience. His energetic, charismatic style never fails to challenge and motivate his audiences through his action-based message of opportunity and potential.
Constantly receiving the highest scores and accolades from clients and audience members alike, Kenny has mastered the art of customizing presentations that produce results for every organization and individual.