Go on Amazom.com someday and type in “leadership”.  Thousands of books will come up.  Each of those books touts a different angle on leadership.  Some books say that you should focus on power or communication or friendship or mission or goals.  Other books say that you need to lead through teamwork or accountability or managing or innovating.  There are so many different angles on how to be the best leader possible and develop the most successful and effective leadership.

But who’s right?  Which one is the best?  What is the best way to do leadership that could encompass every angle of how to be a great leader?

Serve.  Love.

That’s it.

The elements of service and love include everything that leaders should be and the heart from which leaders should operate.  Service gets the focus off of yourself and puts it on those around you.  It puts you in a position to show how much you care about people and the mission of your organization.  Love shows your passion for people.  Love also reveals your dedication to leading through tough times and leading for the right reasons.  Service and love – it shows your heart, your motives, your commitment, and your passion.

We could really delve into this more and more, but the heart of the matter remains: The best form of leadership that encompasses all the various angles of how to be a good leader is to serve and love.

Serve and love.

That’s the most relevant form of leadership.

That’s leadership in progress.

Then you need to do this one simple thing: make your leadership all about others.

Revolve your attitude and actions around others.  Serve those around you. Focus everything that you do on how it impacts the people closest to you.  And be humble.  It’s not about you.  It’s about others.

Now how does this make sense if you are trying to be a great leader and make a great impression?  It would seem counter-productive to make things all about others when you are trying to make a good impression of your leadership on those around you.  So how can making things all about others actually make a good impression for you?

The way this works is this: it shows everything about you.  It shows who you are.  It shows what is important to you.  By making your leadership all about the people around you, it shows what kind of leader you are.  You will make an impression on people when they can see what your leadership is all about.  And relevant leaders make their leadership all about others; it’s not about them.  It is all about others.

By making things not about you, that is actually the best way to make a great impression about you.

Attitude is one of those small things that we sometimes forget about.  Yet it acts like the rudder on a ship that can steer the entire scope of your leadership in any direction.  It is not a hot topic or a buzzword or anything like that.  But, again, attitude has a foundational effect on everything that your leadership rests upon.

So what is relevant attitude?

Relevant attitude has a lot to do with the people around you.  What do they need from you as a leader?  Do they need optimism?  Do they need determination?  Do they need some motivation?  Do they need some good ‘ol encouragement?  A relevant leader determines the mood of her or his followers and cooperates their attitude to fit in with whatever they need in order to accomplish the mission.   A relevant attitude is an attitude that interplays with those around you in order to further your mission and achieve your goals.

A relevant attitude is also very personal.  Leaders need to get to know the people around them so well that they can sense what kind of attitude they need that day: encouragement, motivation, determination, discipline, etc.  Relevant leaders shape their attitude to make their followers all that they can be and give them exactly what they need.  Attitude is not one-size-fits-all.  It needs to be personal enough to fit with what they people around you need.

Relevant leaders have relevant attitudes that impact those around them in personal and encouraging ways.  It is a fact that your attitude as a leader affects those around you.  Think about how your attitude generally affects those around you – good? Bad? Indifferent?  Update your attitude so that it cooperates with those around you to both encourage and motivate them and to spur your team on to achieve your mission.

Relevant leaders have relevant attitudes.

But leading with integrity isn’t easy.

Integrity demands a price.  Sometimes the price is very high; sometimes the price is not very high.  But if a leader wants to be a relevant leader, they have to live with integrity.  And that means paying the price every single time – no matter what the price may be.  Having integrity is not easy, but it is definitely worth it.

If you want to make progress as a leader, then you need to pay the price and lead with integrity.  Leaders who do not want to remain relevant with their follows or progress as a leader will put integrity on the back-burner.  They believe that integrity is not worth the time or the price that it demands.  And their leadership will be stagnant and ineffective because they ignore and de-value what is truly important.

Relevant leaders recognize the things that are important.  If you want to progress your leadership, you need to recognize the things that are truly important.  Integrity is one of those things.  It demands a price, but it is worth it.

So if you want to be a relevant leader – then live with integrity and pay the price.

Relevant leadership = Relevant life.

But what does this mean?  Relevant life is a life that understands and experiences the context of those you are leading.  Have you ever seen a movie where the big boss guy (or girl) lives such a different life than their followers to the point that the boss cannot relate to the followers at all?  Like the bosses who are eating at their fancy restaurants and wearing their expensive suits trying to connect with the blue collar workers who eat at McDonalds and wear jeans and a t-shirt?  Even though we all do not need to live the exact same as each other, there can definitely be a disconnect when a leader lives a completely different life than his or her followers.

So how can leaders live a relevant life?  Leaders need to establish connections between themselves and those around them.  A relevant leader – even if they do live a fairly different life than those they are leading – will find some thing that they can connect about.  Maybe it is sports.  Maybe it is kids.  Maybe it is supporting a charity.  Whatever it might be, leaders need to make sure that they intentionally have some connections between their life and the lives of their followers.  Also, leaders need to examine their life to see if there are any disconnections between themselves and their followers that would harm the relationship.  Sometimes leaders can do things with their lives without even realizing it that completely distance themselves from those around them.  This has to be resolved.  Relevant leaders  make sure that their lives are relevant enough to those around them that their leadership is not detracted but enhanced.

Relevant leaders need to live lives that are relevant to those they are leading.

How relevant is your life to those around you?

The reason that you are getting filled… is so that you can pour that back out.

The reason that you learn all of this stuff… is so that you can use it.

The reason that you are growing and being developed…. is so that you can make an even BIGGER difference.

But it all revolves around impact.  You can have all the tools in the world, but if you don’t use them – what are they good for?

Impact.  Impact.  Impact.

Impact is the only measurement.

How are you using the leadership tools and leadership development that you possess?

Who are you impacting?

Whether it is the good old-fashioned 1950’s or the weird 80’s or the technological world of today, the heart of relevant leadership is connecting with people.
Leading while connecting – connecting while leading. This does not mean that leaders can constantly be just doing fun stuff with their employees or team and not getting anything accomplished. Work still has to be done. But leading and connecting are not mutually exclusive. Leading and connecting can and should happen at the same time. Relevant leaders find ways to connect with their followers while they are pursuing their mission and goals. Also, relevant leaders find ways to achieve their mission and goals while they are connecting with people. Leading and connecting cannot be seen as separate. Relevant leaders find ways to lead while connecting and find ways to connect while leading.

Today’s world needs relevant leadership to continue progressing and moving forward. Relevant leadership revolves around people. In order to be relevant, leaders today can focus on doing this: leading while connecting – connecting while leading.