This morning, it was in the mid-50′s outside…not cold for people up north, but in Texas this is practically freezing! The wind was blowing making it feel even colder. Yes…I’m a wimp when it comes to cold temperatures, but that’s another story.

The polling location I went to was the Christ United Methodist church off of Coit road and Parker road in Plano, Texas. By the time I arrived at the polling place, there was a line leading out of the church about 75 people long….and I was at the end. I came prepared in a heavy coat and a warm hat to cover my bald head. But I was still fairly cold. Other people around me looked just as cold.

After about 30 minutes, I finally arrived at the entrance to the church only to find that I was actually at the end of a much longer line inside. ARGH! At this point, more and more people had arrived and the line behind me outside was easily up to 200 people…all cold and uncomfortable.

A few more steps inside and I noticed inside the warm church, just to the left inside the entrance, there was a completely empty gymnasium. You know, the place where kids get together and play basketball or volleyball. It was a full size court….and warm!

I thought to myself…why don’t we bring the line of all those people freezing outside into the warm gym? Then, I thought…why didn’t anyone do anything about this earlier? In a word: Leadership. Or lack of leadership in this case.

I started looking for someone “in charge”. There were a few people behind a desk that looked like church staff and so I got out of line and approached them. I asked, “Is there any way we could use the Gym to bring these cold people in from the outside?” His answer: “yah, we were talking about doing something like that”.

Leadership is the difference between talking about doing something, and actually doing something.

So, I said, “Well, how about we go ahead and do it?” And he agreed. So, we opened up the doors to the gym and started waving people in the line to move forward and into the gym.

After about 5 minutes, the entire line outside had moved inside, now filling half of the gym. Everyone seemed thrilled to be inside and at the same time disappointed that they now realized they were also at the end of a much longer line. A few of the people who were next to me in line commented that they had wondered about that too.

But here are some key points to share about leadership from this experience. Leaders…

1. See the problem
2. Identify the solution
3. Gain support from people who can make a difference
4. Act decisively

In life, far too many people (including myself) watch a situation unfold, think or talk about it, but rarely do anything about it. In this case, the teaching of my Christian faith and my empathy for the cold people outside and convicted me to take action.

Leadership is about Action!

It was a small gesture and took less than 60 seconds to implement. But it impacted the lives of hundreds of people who would otherwise stand outside in the cold for over an hour.

What small action can you take in your world to make a difference in other people’s lives? Take action the next time an opportunity presents itself.

Mercenary soldiers followed people who could pay them the most or offered significant rewards or “benefits” such as the spoils after a victory. These mercenaries quickly changed loyalty if someone else paid more. Who they served really made no difference. It was all about the big payoff.

In business it’s the same. Workers are free to leave and join another company willing to pay them more. As a leader, your job is to retain top talent without competing only in terms of money and benefits. Let’s assume for this article that you are paying a fair market competitive wage. I suggest you lead such that your people would never think about looking for a better deal.

Having those kind of loyal followers can’t be measured…they are invaluable. People who are treated with respect and who like their leaders rarely leave because of a few extra dollars. In fact looking elsewhere may never even cross their minds if you have your people’s respect.

So, how do you gain and keep the respect of your people? Here are 4 steps to follow:

1) Do what you say. Follow through on your commitments and never ask followers to do what you aren’t willing to also do.

2) Treat others honestly. Don’t lie to your people…ever. Be clear and straight forward with them. Respect your people enough to speak truthfully to them. They deserve it.

3) Maintain high moral and ethical standards. This is about character. Stay solidly in the white area, and avoid the grey areas. Do right at all times, with all people, with all things.

4) Follow Brad White’s Platinum Rule ™. Go beyond the Golden Rule. Treat others BETTER than you would like to be treated and BETTER than you or they deserve to be treated.

Do these things and you will gain the respect of your people and you will gain fanatically loyal followers.

Ok, so we’ve touched on how to gain respect. How do you keep their respect? First, keep doing those things which gained their respect in the first place. Second, avoid respect killers; those things that can cause respect and your people to start exiting in mass.

There are many things that can cause a person to lose respect for your leadership, such as failing to execute a plan, failing to properly prepare your people to overcome obstacles, lacking adequate technical or professional skills necessary for your position, etc… However, the most damaging respect killers have much more to do with your day to day interactions with your people. Here are the two respect killers to avoid:

1) Talk DOWN to people, talk UP about yourself, or act BETTER than others. This comes down to communicating respect FOR your people. It makes sense that if you respect others they will respect you back.

2) Fail to connect on a personal level; be disinterested in your people. Corporate cultures vary, but one thing remains…we’re all people. We all want to be and feel valuable to others. We want connections with other people more than we are often willing to admit. When we get to work, we’re still people. Get out of the mindset that “work is work and personal is personal and the two shouldn’t mix”. Be interested in your people and their lives outside of work. Go beyond “how was your weekend?” If you communicate genuine interest in the person (not just the worker), the connection and warm feelings it generates will command lasting respect.

2. Establish trust in your relationship. If you respond negatively to what you hear, use the information against them, or listen and then do nothing, they will lose trust and you are finished.

3. Don’t interrupt. Let them finish talking before you say anything. The key to listening is to STOP talking.

4. Don’t get defensive or attempt to justify or explain away their concerns. These are natural tendencies but you must fight off the urge with all of your strength. Otherwise, you shut down the conversation and will reduce the flow of information.

5. Promise to consider what they are saying and get back to them with what you will do. Don’t promise or commit to a specific action while listening. They don’t expect that anyway. And, if you do you may have to take it back later. Instead, afterwards thoughtfully consider the information and find a way to say “yes”. Saying “yes” to even a small part of their request will give them a win and add immeasurably to their willingness to follow you.

If inspiration is so important, why do most leaders struggle to inspire effectively? I believe it’s simply that we haven’t been trained effectively, nor have we seen it modeled effectively. It’s not like there is an inspiration class in college is there ?

To inspire your poeple to new heights, consistently do the following:

1. Paint a clear picture of how life will be once the goal is achieved
2. Communicate YOUR committment to achieving the goal
3. Communicate what it will take to make the dream possible
4. Explain what will happen if the goal is not achieved
5. Emotionally and passionately express how important THEY are and how THEY are crucial to reaching the goal

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The reason the distinction between motivation and inspiration is so important is this: for your ideas to have legs or a lasting impact, you must inspire…not simply motivate.

For example, motivation is enough to generate short bursts of energy or commitment to a goal. Inspiration is what motivates a person to spend their own time working on something. Inspiration is what gains commitment to spend a lifetime working toward a higher ideal or purpose. Inspiration will always lead to more impactful, farther reaching results than motivation.

So, the next time you need to get your team going and working toward a goal, seek to inspire. Connect with your people on an emotional level and help them clearly see the benefits that go well beyond themselves.

There is more to learn…For Newsletter Subscribers Only: the 5 “must-do” elements of inspiration. Don’t miss it….Subscribe to the Leadership Blog Email Newsletter (top left corner of this window).

The answer to that question is the difference between worldly leadership and servant leadership. If you care about the people you lead, if you have your follower’s best interests in mind, if you want to see your people succede, then you are a servant leader.

I believe many of the problems we see in corporate america are due to worldly leadership…being a leader primarily for your own gain and your own glory.

When you seek to serve others, and help them grow and succede, they will benefit, the organization will benefit, and ultimately the mission of your organization will be realized.

In the coming week, ponder this thought: Why am I leading? What am I doing to help my people be successful?

Now…go and BE that type of leader.