Consistent excellent leadership is daunting.

Ken is a 40-something with 3 small children at home. He is a successful entrepreneur who has had a rough start but persevered. Through his hard work, he got the flywheel turning and is enjoying the fruits of his labor. By all appearances, one would say he was a success.

However, Ken has been struggling a bit lately.

He's not been enjoying the business as much. His feeling of discontentment is getting noticed by his wife and kids. He seems distant at times in the evenings. He recently snapped at the kids, which he has never done before.

The reason is because his business doesn't seem to be going as well as it has since he started it. He used to have it all covered. The new sales were growing and he loved going after the next big deal. But now he's been spending more time servicing these new customers and can't get out and sell like he loves to do.

He's read the book The E-Myth. He brought on an assistant and she's working out well. But still he's the only one who can do the things for the customers that they need. He's been distant at home because he's wrestling in his mind with thoughts like:

"Should I risk bringing on another person? "

"What if I drop the ball on one of my accounts?"

"How can I get back to doing the selling?"

"If I don't keep selling, how will I sustain business?"

Ken's tried many things to stay productive. He's in a Vistage group, and that's been good for networking and getting ideas. But when he comes back to the office, Ken is still wrestling with the day to day. He's tried using mobile apps to stay on top of tasks. He's invested in expensive business software that claims to streamline everything. All of it has fallen short of what he really needs.

Can You Relate?

Is are some of you in Ken's story? Can you relate to parts of it? All of it? If so, I'd like to introduce you to a 5-Step system for increasing your confidence in the job you have to do to stay healthy, successful, and continue to grow personally. I'm not selling you on my 5-Step system here. I'm going to layout all the steps in this post for you to consider whether you can perform them on your own, with a coach, or with me.

5 STEPS TO EXCELLENT LEADERSHIP

Step One for Excellent Leadership: DOWNLOAD

Find someone you trust and verbally process everything that's in your head while the other person records your thoughts. This is called "Downloading". It immediately provides an instant sense of relief because you now know the extent of what's been flying around in your head (at least for the time being). This puts the locus of control back where it belongs - inside of you.

Step Two for Excellent Leadership: DIVIDE

• Now, you and I both know you can't get anywhere just staring at the sheet of paper with all those random thoughts written down. So separate all the thoughts into systems by affinity. This is called "Dividing". I use a framework with the following "buckets" or systems: Spiritual, Relational, Financial, Emotional, Physical, and Vocational. This positions you firmly on the balcony looking over the entire dance floor.

Step Three for Excellent Leadership: DISSEMINATE

• After Downloading and Dividing, you are prepared to map out a journey of execution. This is called "Disseminating". It's where you brainstorm all the possible goals and related actions you could commit to in order to move in the direction of fullest expression of your design. This will yield a lot of tasks and initiatives. The important thing to do at this point is to select the 20% of your brainstorm list that will yield 80% of the difference and make a commitment to act on them.

Step Four for Excellent Leadership: DAILY

• It's important to point out that, no amount of inspiration, intention, or passion will make something you desire become reality. In the end, it will always come down to the daily walk.

• What is the walk? The walk is you acting on the actions you committed to while tackling everything else you have to face in life (aka your whirlwind). The walk is the cable that connects you from where you are right now to where you want to be. It's your anchor. It's what keeps you steadily moving forward toward your goals in the midst of the whirlwind. The walk consists of one 90-day sprint after another. A sprint is a 13-week journey. For 12 weeks, you act on the actions, checking in weekly.

Step Five for Excellent Leadership: DIG

• This is not a linear process with a beginning and an end. Although one step builds on another, it's a cycle. While you're at Stage Four, daily executing on your actions, you'll need to do another Download. That's perfectly fine. In fact it's the accumulation of downloads that will begin to bless you with your own personal "big data". You'll be able to spot trends, patterns, and opportunities..

NOTE: Every trip around the steps means you are closer to your goals. There will be ups and downs. But it you stick to this process faithfully (the same process I use to build my business), you will most likely achieve greatness over the long haul.

ACTION STEP

• Take out a sheet of paper and your favorite pen. Start jotting down some of the things you enjoy doing. Meet with a trusted friend and share your list with them, asking them to hold you responsible for the success of your 5-Step program.

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