The Right People – who you are is what you attract

Effective leaders are always on the lookout for good people. We all have a list in our head of what kind of people we would like to have in our organization – and chances are that list is very similar. What is your perfect employee? What qualities do they possess? Would you be surprised that is doesn’t matter what you want – that it’s more determined by who you are? Are you a leader – chances are you’ll attract similar people. Are you exciting and have good work ethic – same thing; like attracts like.

Do you have a team full of excited and motivating individuals who want to be better – chances are it’s because you possess these traits and are attracting these qualities out of those you are leading. Of course we all are different and have opposing strengths/weaknesses to balance each other out (and this is vital and important in a successful organization). But those that are drawn to you probably have more similarities then differences. For example, if you think that you have a team of negative people who are not very exciting and motivating, then you better take a look at your own attitude and demeanour.

Several areas that are important to have in common and attract:

1.attitude: People who view life as a series of opportunities and exciting challenges are not going to be attracted to those that don’t. And vice versa, those that do will not stick around long for those that don’t. I don’t want to hear others talk about how bad things are all the time – especially if we are trying to reach a common goal

2.values: People are attracted to leaders whose values are similar to theirs. It doesn’t matter whether the shared values are positive or negative – either way, the attraction is strong. Think about adolf hitler – he was a very strong leader, but his values were terrible; and hence he attracted like minded individuals who also had terrible values.

3. leadership ability: people naturally follow people stronger then themselves. If you are not a very good leader, then chances are you are inhibiting the eventual leadership ability of those you are leading

How do the people you are currently leading look to you? Are they the strong, capable and potential leaders we desire? Or could they be better? Remember, their quality does not depend on a hiring process - although that will narrow it down to those that possess the potential, which leaves it up to us to mentor. The ultimate success in creating a great leader depends on us. If the people we are leading could use some work and improvement then it’s time to look at ourselves and start by improving that.