In today's episode, Dr. Paul Homoly makes the case that just being an expert doesn't make you interesting. You need to connect with people in a meaningful, deliberate way to convey your expertise.

We need to remind ourselves that belief is the master, and we have become the slaves to our belief. And our belief dictates the actions we take in all we do. But the good news is we can change our beliefs. And the exciting thing about believe is this-- if we change our belief, which is the cause, we also can change our experience, which is the effect or the result. We always have a choice about what we want to believe in and how we want our life to look. We are never permanently stuck with old, unworkable, broken beliefs.

Great vision precedes great achievement. Every team needs a compelling vision to give it direction. A team without vision is, at worst, purposeless. At best, it's subject to the personal, and sometimes selfish, agendas of various team members. As the agendas work against each other within your environment, the team's energy and drive drain away. On the other hand, a team that embraces vision becomes focused, energized, confident, intentful, and it knows where it's headed and why it's going there. 

Remember, vision gives team members direction and confidence. What is your vision? What are you doing to build the confidence of your team?

Great leaders always find a way for the team to win. Victorious leaders possess an unwillingness to accept defeat. The alternative to winning is totally unacceptable to them. 

Leaders who practice the law of victory have no plan B. Trust me. They'll just continue to fight until they win. 

What and who are you competing against? Anybody? For any purpose? What do you want to be victorious about? If you don't have that in you, then find it. If you want to do things bigger and better and greater, find the way that you can impact people. Make their success your point of focus.

Remember: The highest goal of leadership is not to gain followers or do work but to develop other future leaders. It takes all your energy, from what you do to who you do it with, showing they’re the most important factor in attaining your goals. Because they’re going to either amplify and magnify all your success — your total sum of your purpose — or they’re going to undermine it.

So you have no choice but to develop your people to the highest, most impactful contribution possible. And that has to be your commitment, not your job. Your joy and passion has to turn from the “what you do” to “who you do it with.”

You cannot lead people without really liking them. Intrinsic connection is a key to great relationships. So think about this: If you don’t like being around somebody, if you don’t like spending time with them, if you don’t like connecting with them, if you’re not really fond of being in the general presence of that person and you can’t connect that way, how do you create permission leadership?

It’s through developing people to their highest impact so that you can trust them to go and do it on their own. It says, “I am empowering you to make good decisions and to do the right things, because I trust that you understand you can represent the organization at the highest level possible. Therefore, I’m not going to constrain your ability to do that; I’m going to amplify it by assisting you and helping you so that we can impact the organization at the highest possible potential.”

How do you do that if you’re not spending time with somebody? How do you do it if you’re not connecting with them?

Only secure leaders give power to others. Leading well is not about enriching yourself. It’s about enriching and empowering others. The number-one enemy of empowerment is the fear of losing what we have. It’s the rate-limiting factor to your overall success. Many business owners will say to me, “But I have empowered my team.”

See, people get confused all the time about the difference between empowerment and abdication. Empowerment is not just saying to somebody, “Go figure it out. I trust you.” Empowerment says, “This is the impact I need and want you to make on the business. And I’m intelligent enough and focused enough and intentional enough that if you create this impact on the business, I will ensure that we create this impact on your personal, professional, and financial aspirations.” That’s where our intentionality grows together. That’s where our alignment comes from.

Look in the mirror and ask yourself this simple question: When I look inside my own organization, what would the people who work there — the people who help me — say was my legacy relative to them, not to the community we serve? The people I’ve brought into our culture to assist in creating that impact.

Because if you can’t say your legacy is that you made a huge impact on their lives — that you’ve taught them something, that you’ve pushed on them, that you’ve developed them, that you’ve trained them, that you’ve aligned them, that they’re accomplishing their goals and objectives and dreams by working with you — if they can’t say that, then you have a business that’s a “me” business.

If you want to amplify and magnify that — you want to attain true greatness — first start with what legacy you’re going to have with the team you’re doing it with.

Winning teams have players who make things happen. Catalysts are not consultants. They don’t recommend a course of action; they take responsibility for making it happen.

So think about this: Who’s the catalyst in your business? Who’s the person who just gets it done? And then has time and energy and effort to do more? Because that’s the type of people you want to surround yourself with.

They inspire and move the rest of the people around them because they realize, “Gee! If I actually do that and I get a better result, I do it the right way. Look at the good things that can happen from it.”

What you need in your life are as many catalysts as possible. The only way you can attract a catalyst is to be one yourself.

Teammates must be able to count on each other all the time, and especially when it matters the most. There’s an old saying when it comes to teammates: Either we’re pulling together or we’re pulling apart. Write and publish what you want, but the only missions, values, and ethics that count in your company are those that manifest themselves in all the behaviors of all the people contributing to the organization all the time.

You can’t have different people doing different things based on their own bias or opinions. Either we’re all straining and reaching and driving to attain excellence or remarkability in all we do, with accountability, with discipline, and with intentionality — or we’re not.