It’s been over a month since my last post. It seems the time has passed very quickly. I have started to write a new post on a couple occasions but felt the information was not targeted. This post is written specifically to YOU. Yes, YOU, each and every one of you. Many of you I have spoken with, personally, over the last month.
So, here is my Question for YOU- Are YOU a Leader or a Follower?
We have decided to be a Leader. My partner and I made some tough business decisions over the last few weeks. We launched our traffic exchange, Hot Flash Hits, in August of 2011. We have experienced good growth and are very happy where we stand in the industry today. Our goal has always been to bring quality traffic to our members websites while making the members feel like family. We want to offer our members the best possible services and rewards available.
I feel very blessed to have been able to learn from an astounding group of people. It is rare when you can listen and learn from people who are successful in your given industry. With that said, there comes a time when you need to take what you have learned and apply it to your own business. There comes a time when you have to stand up for the principles you believe in. There comes a time when you will have to make decisions which may be scary because the results are uncertain. There comes a time when you will either continue to be a follower or you will step up and be a leader in your industry.
So, after much discussion with my business partner, we are stepping out of our comfort zone and will lead our company along a path we feel will bring it the most success. We will stand up for the principles we feel are right for our members, our business partners and our friends. We don’t claim to be perfect, we don’t claim to have all the answers, we don’t claim you will make 10k in 30 days – what we will do is this: We promise to treat you with respect, we promise to value your opinion, we promise we will honor our commitment to you, we promise to be available to our members, and we promise we will work hard to bring you quality traffic to your websites while treating you like family.
So again, here is my Question for YOU- Are YOU a Leader or a Follower?
Many people are comfortable in the roll of follower. There is nothing wrong with being a follower as long it is your conscious decision and you still follow your own moral values. There may come a time when you can not continue to follow. That’s okay too. Although it may be scary to venture in to unknown territory, I feel it is important to stand up for the principles you believe in. The decision to be a follower or a leader is now, and will always be, yours.
Good post, Cathy. And I think if we are going to be leaders we need to be sure we are leading in the right direction. If we are going to be followers we need to be sure we are following the right paths. Do your homework. Don’t just join a program based on it’s promises of huge income. Do a Google search. See what others are saying. Read their terms of service. Make an informed decision and always, always listen to your gut. Mine has never steered me wrong yet!
Always listen to your gut is a good bit of advice.
If you can’t stand behind something 100%, why bother?
Great leaders are also great listeners too. You can feel this post coming from the heart and for that I respect you big time.
Thank you for the amazing post today I have bookmarked it ( notably one of only two )
I am among leaders everyday and often lead and Have not problems learning from others that have traveled down unfamiliar paths.
so I answer that I am truly Both a Leader and a follower
James Dias
I totally agree….a true Leader will continue to learn
and not limit themselves to one source.
There are millions of points of views out there surely
more than one can offer valid input.
We all begin as followers…I don’t believe anyone is a born leader. You gain leadership thru learning and experience. A true leader will also learn from their followers…as well as learn, from following others… It’s when a leader believes he has nothing more to learn that failure begins.
So as James says… My aim is not only to be a good leader but also a good follower.
You and Jo have proven to be both and it shows in your business. Keep up the good work!
Very well put Marcy —
I think that is a good motto:
“My aim is not only to be a good leader but, also, a good follower.”
I like it.
Well partner, another great post! We have made many tough decisions over the past year. The first one being to go into the ownership of Hot Flash Hits. Since we were both surfers we knew what we liked and didn’t like but being an owner is totally different. We set our goals, got our site up and away we went into the world of the unknown. It has definitely been a big learning experience and I too am grateful for the people we have around us that we have been able to learn from. I don’t think we ever stop learning. Some of the decisions we have made have been scary for us, we have had our ups and downs but through it all we stayed true to ourselves, our members and what we believed in. For that I truly believe we are better off.
“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.” ~ Jim Rohn