Welcome to this issue of Pat's Power Points.

In this Issue

	Pat's Power Points - Volume 1, Issue 7, May 2008
	These are the qualities of a true, passionate leader.....
	What's New?
	Who is Pat Mussieux?
	Action Steps for This Week:

In Other News

Did you know  ...

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
-Albert Schweitzer

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Pat's Power Points - Volume 1, Issue 7, May 2008

These are the qualities of a true, passionate leader.....

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy few weeks.  But I did plan time, while passing through Toronto recently, to stop and visit with my new friend, Fay Farmer.  Fay is one of the tour leaders for the World Tours (of which I speak frequently and fondly!).  Fay is an amazing woman and she inspires me.  I am blessed to have her in my life.

I want to spend the next few weeks talking about leadership.  This topic will be relevant whether or not you are a leader in business, in your community or in your family........in fact, I believe that each and every person should strive to develop these qualities!   There is something for everyone in the information I will be sharing.

“Before you become a leader, success is all about growing you. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

The highly successful people in the world are naturally leaders in their respective fields.  If you want to realize any level of success in your own life, then you need to make the commitment towards becoming a leader too.  Focus on becoming great at what you love to do in life and then step up to the plate and inspire others to do the same.  Leadership is about creating a strong foundation within yourself that is able to support and nurture those that are weaker than you are.

A very important distinction is that a leader is not a title or a position.  A leader inspires and motivates their followers to take action on their own volition without creating that negative aura of threat.  True leaders possess a passionate and powerful vision of what they want to accomplish and they share that vision with as many people as they can!  A leader inspires HOPE within their followers and it's that vision of hope that makes a true leader more powerful than any person of authority. 

In this series, I want to describe the important qualities that a person needs to possess in order to be a true passionate leader.  There are 14 in total.  This week, I will cover the first five qualities.

The Qualities of a True Leader:

1.  Be Visionary.  People will only follow a vision that is perfectly clear in their minds, therefore, it’s extremely important that you yourself must possess a crystal clear vision of what you want to accomplish and the direction that you want to go.

2.  Be Passionate About What You Do.  A leader must possess the highest level of passion for their vision in order to inspire those around them with that same level of energy.

3.  Be True to Yourself.  Always strive to display the highest degree of integrity that you can. Integrity is simply the act of being the same on the inside as you claim to be on the outside. People want to believe that you practice in your own life what you preach to them.

4.  Be Courageous.  Rudolph Giuliani once said that a hero is not one who is fearless. A true hero is one who feels the fear and yet moves forward regardless.

5.  Be Action-Oriented.  The universe doesn’t reward people for what they know, it rewards people for what they do and leaders are doers. Leaders are geared towards taking action and they realize that for a team to come together, it requires moving from potential to action. The decision is yours to make. While making a decision might lead towards failure, the act of failing to make a decision will absolutely guarantee failure.

 (Information source: Synergy Institute. Copyright © 2007 Tristan Loo. All rights reserved.)

Next week: The next 5 qualities of a true leader.

(For our new readers, I welcome you.  I invite you to visit my website (www.patmussieux.com) for previous issues of this newsletter.)

What's New?

1.  In the book, "Leadership Gurus Speak Out!", my chapter ("Chart Your Course") has lots of great information, tips and techniques on becoming a leader.

For the week Thursday, May 8th through to, and including, Thursday, 15th, I am offering the book at a discount.  You can go on line to my website: www.patmussieux.com and order the book for only $10.00 (plus taxes and shipping).  It will provide some helpful information as we discuss the topic of Leadership over the next few weeks.
 

Who is Pat Mussieux?

"Pat is a motivational speaker, coach, trainer and author.  If you are planning a conference, staff in-service or require coaching services for you and/or your managers, Pat is the person to contact: pat@patmussieux.com

" Pat is an effective executive coach. The linking of focused dialogue with her depth of corporate experience brought true change in those areas of leadership development I was pursuing."

Keith Taylor Senior Pastor
Beulah Alliance Church

Action Steps for This Week:

1.  Take a look at the Balance Wheel that we have been working with over the past few weeks.  You can easily label/identify each of the spokes with the characteristics/qualities of a good leader.  Assess yourself, on a scale of 1-10, on each spoke.  Identify where you have room to grow and set some goals accordingly.

2.  Each August, I attend an amazing Leadership Summit that is hosted by Willow Creek Church in Chicago.  It is called "The Leadership Summit" and is scheduled for August 7 and 8, 2008.   You can get information at www.willowcreek.com/events.  If you live in southwestern Ontario, details will be available in the near future from my church, Forest City Community Church (www.fccc.ca).   I highly recommend this Summit!