I heard a great message from our pastor in church the other day that applies to life and business.  The message was about how to best raise our kids using the "4 L's."  I listened, I could not help but think about how they apply so well to entrepreneurship and leadership.

The 4 L's are as follows:  

1. Love Them
2. Lead Them 
3. Limit Them
4. Let Them Fly

Just by seeing them, you can probably guess how they relate to parenting, but they relate very well to leadership as well because you have to do them same with your team.

First, you must love them.  You hired them and made them part of your team.  You asked them to give a  (big) piece of their life to your mission.  By all means love them for it and show them that you care and appreciate it.

Second, lead them.  Your duty is to lead them and help them become their best and reach their full potential.   You are responsible for their success and helping their path in life, not to mention putting food on their table.  So lead them in the best way you can and do every possible to make sure they succeed and grow into the best in their role that they can.

Third, limit them.  This one may seem odd, but limiting goes hand in hand with leading.  Sometimes, to look out for people, you must restrain them or put limits and rules in place to ensure they and your business can succeed.  And also, so they know how to succeed.  For example, having rules for how to treat each other in the workplace or SOP's to follow to ensure the task is done at the highest standard are example of "limits" in that they help to make sure people are doing their best in the right way.

Fourth, Let Them Fly.  This is my favorite.  Once people are properly trained and know what to do to succeed within the limits - let them go to maximize their impact.  Give them the support, encouragement, and empowerment to make the most out of themselves.  Let them fly!

If you incorporate the 4 L's into your leadership, it will help you create a better team and build a better business, so get started with them today!

I recently had a conversation with a friend about the next 5-10 years and what we wanted to accomplish.  We both own great businesses and are somewhat semi-retired.  As we talked about the possibilities, I found myself challenging my friend and even myself as to the possibilities for us.  Needless to say that by the end of the conversation, we both agreed that we weren't thinking big enough and needed to spend some more time looking at the true potential we have in front of us.  

I love these types of conversations because even when you are doing well and think you have everything dialed in, there is potential to reach higher and challenge yourself.  

After the conversation, I was energized and started writing down my thoughts and pushing myself to what could truly be possible.  I asked myself where I was "comfortable" and thought through how I could move from comfortable to uncomfortable and raise the bar.  I looked at my current trajectory and asked a lot of questions of myself about why I was on the that trajectory and how I could make it even better.  I asked myself what I believe my capabilities and future.  I challenged myself when it came raising the bar on total income.  I also took inventory of the daily and weekly actions I am doing in my businesses and asked what I should keep doing and stop doing.

If you haven't done an exercise like this, you should every year.  You should challenge yourself to think bigger and ask questions of yourself no matter how successful you are.  There is a world of abundance out there and god-willing, it is yours to tap into.  So, think bigger and reach higher.