Level up leadership

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”

The crow answered: “Sure, why not.”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, (perhaps like your boss), you must be sitting very, very high up.

Many senior and mid-level managers sit down, do nothing, and make business difficult, and that’s all because of their ego and power play. How do you deal with people like these?

This is why these words are music to my ear.

“I attended your Level Up Leadership program start of this year and it really has helped me not only in my career but more so in the area of my family life.”

Another one said, “I sent three of my key people to your “Level Up Leadership program and ….” With a sheepish smile on his face this senior executive said, “my people really changed…It’s unbelievable but they did.”

Another business owner said, “He used to be a perennial pain in our organization. The only thing that prevents him from being fired is that he is really good with what he does and he drives the business. But at the same time he also drives his people away.

Somebody in my office suggested that he be sent to your training. The program isn’t cheap but dealing with the problems this manager of mine creates from time to time is equally costly.

And so I sent him to your training. The people in the office even had a bet on it. Most people said that the training investment was a waste of money.

I tried to maintain neutrality though deep inside I have to confess that I was of the persuasion that the money spent would go to waste.

The only person who held on to the hope that the program will do the manager good was the same person who recommended your program.

After attending the seminar, this guy comes back to the office and was a changed man. He became gentle and respectful, now converses with his direct report, smiles more often, and the best thing of them all? His numbers and the performance of his team soared!

I thought this would last only for a week or two but it has been months now and this manager continues to shine.”

And then the business owner says, “I will send more of my people to your next runs. And by the way, many people in the office lose in the bet.”

I launched Level Up Leadership as a new program just the start of this year but to my delight the program has caught traction and is attended by more and more participants in every public run. Many corporate clients today want me to run the program exclusively as well.

Guess how much money I have spent in advertising and marketing the program? Practically nothing! This is the best proof of business operating under what is called a “Reputation Economy.”

Any person who has a blog, a FB page or any digital platform and has a following is now a major player in the “Reputation Economy.”

The new experts and the most effective critics in this economy are friends, relatives and trusted industry experts who would rate, comment, critique and most importantly recommend or dissuade others from either attending the program, buy a product or totally ignore it because they have gone through it and their opinions are reliable and trustworthy.

Consumers, clients and customers look at online reviews before making a purchasing decision and they are influenced by these reviews.

HR practitioners check out applicant’s social profiles before they are scheduled for an interview. This is why many young people still do not get it. When they come across an offensive tweet, a rude remark, or a distasteful post, never expect the HR people to call.

If you do not have a presence in LinkedIn then you may not be much of an authority and if you do not have a good number of followers and tweets then perhaps you are not very important or influential?

This is Reputation Economy.

I have had clients both here and abroad who would invite me to do keynotes or give training programs simply because they have checked my performance and reputation through the digital economy.

This explains why Level Up Leadership spreads so fast and is doing so well and unless I mess up the trend will continue.

Well, I guess our parents have been right all along. They taught us the value of a good reputation. But they never knew that a reputation today would be so widely visible, so fast to spread, so speedily known and so significant a platform for personal as well as business opportunities or….the destruction of it as well.

Whether online or offline your reputation matters. It is increasingly difficult to bluff your way through life. The best way is to maintain integrity at all times and to never compromise on ethics and what is right even if it is inconvenient.

And the opportunities will come.

Guess what the Scriptures say? “A good name is better than silver and gold.” And this was long before anything went digital!

(Send your high potential leaders and experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership this Oct. 27-28 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660 for details.)