Leadership is one of the greatest skills required by anyone who aspires to be successful.

Colin Powell’s Leadership Presentation below, provides a number of lessons & insights into what makes a good leader in today’s world.

I must admit that whilst I was reading through each lesson, I felt stronger & stronger about some of the decisions I’ve made & it has reassured me that I’m definitely on the right track.

It’s like Colin Powell wrote some of these lessons especially for the Area Monopoly Strategy & to help guide the way forward for real estate agents in this ever changing world, .

Here’s one of the quotes from Powell’s presentation that stood out for me… “Spare me the grim litany of the ‘realist’, give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.”

I know we will all get something different from this presentation. I’d be interested to know which lesson or quote had the greatest impact on you?

Every person has a different idea of what being successful means.

Goals are a very personal thing & it’s important that you don’t let others destroy your vision & feelings surrounding your goals.

Goal achievement should be measured based on your best not someone else’s best.

Whenever you set a goal it’s important if you really want to achieve the specific goal, that it is visualised, it evokes an emotional feeling & that there’s a deadline attached to the achievement of that goal.

Like once you’ve saved $30,000 by the end of 2010 you’ll go out & buy your 3 BR Villa with a new kitchen & double garage that’s located within walking distance of the lake or 10 mins drive from family or work, etc, etc.

Or once you’ve reached a certain target in sales you’ll take 2 weeks off & have a holiday in Thailand, Bali, Fiji, with your partner & see the Tiger Temple in Bangkok or other places of interest, etc.

The stronger the feeling that you can visualise & create in your mind for what will happen at the end of the journey towards your goal, the more likely you are to stay focused & ultimately achieve your goal.

Also, with goals it’s important to share your goals only with people who can help you achieve your goal. And, when you do achieve your goal, don’t be disappointed when others don’t share in your success celebrations. They only tend to if they have been involved in some way or if they benefit in some way.

Unfortunately, it’s just human nature.

For example, I have friend of mine who just achieved a goal that he had set out to achieve prior to Christmas. I am extremely proud of what they’d achieved & so was he.

Yet, others within the real estate industry saw his celebration as an opportunity to say that they could have done even better.

I think everyone could do better. Even the best performers within our industry will admit that they could’ve done better or achieved more.

But if you have actually achieved what you set out to achieve ahead of your deadline, then the fact is that you have succeeded. Which means that it’s time to celebrate.

I wish goal achievement was celebrated a lot more & more people would simply give people like my friend the pat on the back that they really deserve, rather than criticism or advice on how to do things better next time.