Be emotionally curious

Work on cultivating personal connections with your colleagues, and allow them to get to know you. 

You don’t have to be “the greatest person in the room” or make sure “everyone is blown away by your charisma.” You just need to have good rapport with your colleagues. That way, they won’t impute negative intentions or motives to you.

Start by giving them your undivided attention in one-on-one situations. Turn your body toward the other person, freeze in place, and listen.

Charismatic leaders think outside the box and aren’t afraid to push the limits.

While others may see this kind of push as risky, these leaders are the ones leading the way and driving innovation. When a problem arises, leaders don’t see only the difficulties. Instead, they rise to the challenge and see it as an opportunity. In business, this creativity can lead to powerful change and transformation, which can inspire and motivate others.

"Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it.” - Simon Sinek 

Because leaders value innovation, they are focused on the future and how they can improve it. They have a dream and direction that motivates and inspires others. 

• Know your "noble cause." Jobs understood that if teams don’t find their work meaningful, they perceive challenging directives from a leader as arbitrary demands rather than a call to sacrifice for a higher purpose.
• Tell your story early and often. If you can’t weave your ideas into a clear, compelling story, those ideas remain abstract words likely to be forgotten.
• Push, but within boundaries. Make sure you have a clear end point and time line in mind before you go into "push" mode. Intense work with no clear end in sight is demoralizing.

1. Empathy. Give trusted co-workers the benefit of the doubt by assuming the good in them. It goes a long way toward instilling loyalty and trust in you from your team.
2. Awareness. Care deeply about the welfare of the team members. Don't view them only as cogs in a machine.
3. Building community. Build community where both employees and customers can thrive.
4. Persuasion. Rely on persuasion rather than coercion to create internal motivation required to complete the task effectively.
5. Conceptualization. Servant-leading entrepreneurs focus on the big picture and don't get overly distracted by daily operations and short-term goals.
6. Growth. Care passionately about the personal and professional growth of each member of the team.

Probably the most influential step you can take toward creating a consistent practice of success is to invest in the systems that make your life run like a well-oiled machine.

Systems allow you to leverage your and other people’s time.

We all plateau. It’s frustrating but also a normal part of life. The key to bursting through ceilings, be they mental, physical or financial, is to hold yourself accountable. That doesn't mean accountable for doing it all, but accountable for getting help.

You’ll be surprised by how much further and faster a little help can take you. 

There’s a big benefit to repetition. Routines help you establish good habits and keep you moving forward.

With positive routines in place, you often begin to see results quickly.

A mentor is someone who is on the same career path as you, but further along.

They guide you through things like how to avoid potential pitfalls, and how you might approach the next steps of your career.

Money is related to happiness. If you don’t have enough money to feed your family, more money will more likely increase your happiness. 

But once you have met all of the basic needs, money is less influential.

People are happiest and perform their best when they are actively engaged in what they are doing. 

To find happiness in your work, the key is to have projects that take you just outside of your comfort zone.

When thinking about social currency, understand that you have value.

You may not be able to pinpoint what is valuable about you. But everyone has value. You can be worth $1, or you can be worth $100. The decision is yours.

Your circle of influence can play a large role in building your social currency.

Before you can build strong connections, understand that connections don’t just happen by chance. Everything you say and do is going to impact your relationships with people, and no one will want to form any type of relationship with you if you don’t demonstrate some type of value (demonstrated by what you think and how consistent you are).

Keep yourself informed and speak with conviction. Use words like “I am sure” vs. tentative words like “I think, I hope and I feel.” Use humor, even if it is self-deprecating.

Don’t: Confuse humor with bad joke telling. And don’t overdo on the self-deprecation to the point you push yourself out of the conversation that it takes away from who you are.

Be open, approachable, gracious and graceful. Walk up to someone, smile, make eye contact, shake hands. Introduce yourself by saying your name.

Don’t: Overdo it. When you smile, be authentic. If your smile is not in your eyes, people will know you're faking it.